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Guidelines For Practicing A Musical Instrument

by Fat Chords

February 1st, 2011

Guidelines For Practicing A Musical Instrument

Author: Marty Buttwinick

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Tags:rhythm , learning an instrument , Practicing music , Piano Lessons , Bass Guitar Lessons , Guitar Lessons , musical skill , how to practice , guitar , bass , piano

Practicing a musical instrument correctly is vital for efficient forward progress. Practicing incorrectly can add years of time to your runway as well as damaging your body. After twenty-five thousand hours of teaching bass, guitar and piano, here are some fundamental guidelines to apply.

1. Be there. Have your attention on what you are doing.

2. Be willing to learn something. You cannot learn if you think you know it all already.

3. Understand what you are practicing and why you are practicing it. Keep you personal goals in mind and aim for that result.

4. Accept the fact that learning to play well doesn’t happen over night. Learning musical skills take time. You could learn certain small motions or ear training topics in a few minutes, but you need to invest enough hands-on repetition to develop stable skills. A beginner can take anywhere from twenty to seventy hours of practice to even begin to get the feel of things.

5. Learn to relax your body when playing. Accumulated tension is one of the biggest causes of body problems, rough playing and a host of ills. There are about 120 muscles, bones and tendons in both forearms and hands, and all of these “parts” are learning new motor controls. While you are learning control you will get tense. It is natural to use force to do something until control is developed. Not being relaxed when you play is like driving a car with the brakes slightly depressed. The brake pads are going to wear out real fast and you’re in for a bumpy ride. Notice and release tension when you play. Tension can occur in any part of your body: hands, wrists, arms, neck, shoulders, lower back, face, mouth, legs, feet.

6. Learn how to practice at the “right” speed. To play anything well you need to develop complete control over what you are doing. Control is developed by repetitive actions at the speed that you can actually do the thing you are suppose to be doing. If you go too fast you can’t “grab a hold” of whatever it is and it’s like screeching around a corner in a car while driving too fast in the mountains. Go too fast and you end up in the trees. (And if you ever got mad and frustrated while practicing I bet you were just going to fast!)

7. Understand the words and symbols on any written materials you are using. (I was giving a kid a piano lesson recently and she almost fell asleep in the middle of her lesson, but was bright and awake when she walked in. I snooped around and discovered that there was one symbol in a song book that her dad got her that sent her under the table. I found the symbol, defined it for her and she instantly brightened up and came back to life.)

8. Learn to sing in tune if you don’t already, regardless of the instrument you play. If you can’t, this is easier to learn then you might think. It’s almost impossible to fully enjoy playing music if your ears aren’t working, and the way to train your ears is to sing. I don’t mean singing as a vocalist but as a musician. This just means to be able to hit the right notes with your voice without any attention on how it sounds.

9. Develop a good sense of rhythm. Having good rhythm is vital, probably the most vital aspect of being a musician. Good rhythm can be developed with the proper drills. If your sense of rhythm is really bad it could take some time; however, you CAN develop good rhythmic ability with efficient instruction and drilling.

10. Realize that people progress at different speeds according to current skill levels, past experience and inherent ability. Only compare your self to yourself, and if you want to move faster than you are, fine tune your practice approach and put in more hours.

11. Have fun. Music isn’t worth doing if you can’t have some fun while doing it. Not all studies are fun — many things aren’t. But there is always a way to make some part of what you are doing fun and rewarding.

* * *

Marty Buttwinick

http://personalizedmusiclessons.com

Email: buttwinick@earthlink.net

Bio:

Marty Buttwinick is a veteran musician, band leader and music copyist. As a music instructor, he has delivered over 25,000 hours of one-on-one lessons helping students achieve their musical goals and dreams.

Keyword list:

Practicing music, learning an instrument, rhythm, musical skill, how to practice, guitar, bass, piano.

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Guidelines For Practicing A Musical Instrument

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How to Develop a Good Musical Ear

by Fat Chords

January 20th, 2011

by Paul Graham Raven

How to Develop a Good Musical Ear

What do we mean when we say that someone “has a good ear?” Actually, the term can mean several things. When someone has a good ear, they can accomplish at least one of the following:

1) they can identify, usually by note name, the various pitches that they hear, and sing those pitches in tune;2) they can identify chords by name; and/or3) they can identify instruments or combinations of instruments within a musical work.

Having a good ear is something that most musicians strive for. Having a bad ear means that you can’t recognize or label the music you are hearing – an important skill for performers and composers.

I run a songwriting website, (The Essential Secrets of Songwriting ), and I know how important a good ear is. If you are a songwriter, having a good ear is vital because the best way to improve your songwriting craft is to listen to the music of the professionals. But if you can’t really identify what you are hearing, you’re missing out on opportunities to improve. Throughout my years as a music teacher, I have observed something interesting and very important. The marks that my students make in music theory studies are usually very close to the marks they receive in ear training. And more than that, I can usually gauge how a student is going to do in one course by looking at their progress in the other. For example, students who do well in theory but poorly in ear training will usually see their ear training marks rise over time. And students who have great ears but weak theory skills will generally experience better marks in theory over time. In other words, music theory and ear training go hand in hand. The first and most important thing you can do to improve your ear is to improve your theory skills. Why? When you understand how music is structured, your ears have a reason for what they are hearing.

Here’s one good example. In any key, there are three or four certain chords that work well to reinforce that key, and are more likely to occur than any other chords. Knowledge of theory helps you know and identify those chords. So when you are listening to music and trying to identify the chords you are hearing, you can focus in the most likely choices. Besides improving your theory skills, here are some other pieces of advice for you:

1) Try some of the ear training websites that are out there. Just do a search for “online ear training” and you’ll find lots of resources that can help.

2) Try purchasing some ear training software. These days, most university aural perception programs incorporate computerized training into their curriculum.

3) Try writing down the melodies that you hear being played. Transcribing music in this manner actually does not require strong music reading skills, and you will find that what skills you do possess will improve greatly and quickly. Take a simple song, and play it on your CD player a bit at a time, writing down whatever notes you hear. Even if you aren’t sure of the rhythms, write whatever pitches you can. If you’re stuck on a note, find it on your guitar or piano, and then write it down. This is the best ear training exercise there is!

Practicing your instrument is crucial to becoming a better musician. But be certain that you don’t neglect your ear!

Gary Ewer is the author of The Essential Secrets of Songwriting and Gary Ewer’s Easy Music Theory. He is currently an instructor in the Dept. of Music, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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Categories Music Theory
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The Various Steps To Create A Musical Group

by Fat Chords

January 17th, 2011

by dumbledad

The Various Steps To Create A Musical Group

More and more people, especially young people, are approaching the world of playing music, rather than only listening. That music is an important part of our lives is undeniable, just think how it puts us in a good mood to listen to a song that we like, even in times of stress, and many people listen to radio every day in the office, from their computer. The music allows you to spend your time in a much more pleasant way, so many young people decide to make it increasingly important in their lives.

Thus boys and girls must learn to play an instrument, and for the most interested it is time to write some pieces and maybe record some pieces, however. Typically, a recording studio consists of two or more spaces: a control room, or control room, equipped with apparatus capable of recording data on a support, to route the sound into the appropriate channels and to manipulate it for various purposes; there is also a room (or more) called “live room”, intended to accommodate those who (or what) makes the sound. These rooms are soundproof, if they host very noisy instruments, and to prevent the produced sound is recorded by microphones that may be in other rooms.

The shooting room is a room soundproofed and well cared for, where the sounds are taken before being transferred into the control room.
The control room is the environment, also acoustically isolated and cared for, where are the mixer, monitors and other signal processors such as multi-track recorders, multi-effects, CD recorder, DEC, DAT, and more. In this environment the sound technician changes and mixes audio signals.
Obviously using this equipment has a certain price, but there are the more expensive and the more economical. Also this is a fundamental step to promote your music.

Certainly to start you need to invest in the tools and equipment, especially if you want to start doing some concerts around, such as amplifiers, guitars, drums, music auctions. Now you can save a bit of money with online retailers, which often offer big deals for many objects. In this manner a group of beginners can start to make hear their voices around. The instrumentation is in fact central to a group. But one of the most important thing is the harmony between its members, doing rehearsal together quite often and perhaps at regular intervals, creating a repertoire including some covers and original songs. Before recording it is important to have rise a bit from the ranks, having played around a lot, in various pubs and clubs, fairs. Although in the beginning you have to settle for little , this is the only road to be known and famous in this environment and thus create a loyal audience.

This article was written by Martina Meneghetti with support from negozio strumenti musicali for any information, please visit amplificatori per chitarra or for insurance visit bassi musicali.

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Learn tips on how to read and write intervals on sheet music in this free video clip on music theory and music lessons. Expert: Ryan Larson Bio: Ryan Larson is a young jazz composer whose teaching technique focuses on the basics of music theory in all twelve keys. Filmmaker: Christian Munoz-Donoso
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Categories Music Theory
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Piano is the King of Musical Instruments

by Fat Chords

December 21st, 2010

by J Morrissey

Piano is the King of Musical Instruments

In all musical instruments the piano is the costliest instrument. The piano has ability to give the loud and stunning sounds and it consists of the wide variety. Piano is very difficult to learn. The piano consist of different parts is present in the piano they are listed below.

1.   Keyboard
2.   String machine
3.   Hammer
4.   Damper
5.   Strings and pedal
And the piano consists of seven notes.

There are two types of modern piano they are:

1. Upright piano
2. Grand piano

It is measured according to the shape and volume of the piano. The grand piano is used only in shows it is very big in size to carry its length is about 9 feet long. The grand piano weight is 79 tons and this piano is very costly. The upright piano is cheap and it is easy to afford and it is small in size. This piano manufactures only for the piano lovers.

At present the most expensive piano is Steinway grand piano this piano is made at the year 1888. And the piano is sold out at the rate of 180000 pounds in the year of 1980 in New York. Piano is loved by the music composers because the sound in piano is exclusive and the range of 88 keys. The piano plays the vital role in all kinds of music. Piano is the king of musical instrument compare to other musical system.

If the piano is made from china then it gives so many good varieties. People will recommend the pianos that are made in china. There are 4 pianos that are specially made in china they are

1.   Traditional grand pianos and
2.   Upright pianos
3.   Educational piano
4.   Digital piano

The uses of educational piano:

The educational piano is used for the children and electronic piano for the beginners.

The uses of digital piano:

The digital piano is used for the current and the suitable to use. If the person house is in traditional style, the person can select wooden piano. If the person wants to play the piano for fun then the person can buy 61 key-rolling it’s a good selection. And the person should buy the piano benches of good quality and valuable prices.

How to select a piano?

Piano is the costliest musical instrument, the person should be very cautious while buying the piano. The person should notice different types of instruction to buy the piano they are
1.   Sound
2.   Tactility(touch)
3.   Tone
4.   Stability

1. Sound:
The good piano has fresh and eternal sound and the piano can create the sound softer at the same time the person can play louder.

2. Tactility (touch):
It is very ease for both beginners and the experts to touch the good piano.

3. Tone:
Each and every piano have their regular intervals and it can be adjustable. The frame of a good piano is well designed and it the time can be extended and the time interval is adjusted.

4. Stability:
In this stability the person can adjust the sound of the piano whichever is good to hear .The person can adjust in the piano.

Alex is a Professional writer working with Gigasonic and he writes articles for Marshall mic for sale. He written many articles like Marshall Microphone and Buy Nord Piano. For more information about all our services, go to http://www.gigasonic.com

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Kawasaki Music Platinum Series – 49 Keys Musical Keyboard

by Fat Chords

December 5th, 2010

Kawasaki Music Platinum Series – 49 Keys Musical Keyboard

10 Instruments, 10 Rhythms, 6 Drum Sounds
29 Demo Songs, Record & Play
Ready to Rock Out of the Box

Kawasaki Music Platinum Series – 49 Keys Musical Keyboard, 10 Instruments, 10 Rhythms, 6 Drum Sounds, 29 Demo Songs, Record & Play, Ready to Rock Out of the Box