Saturday 18 May 2013

Benefits of Music Lessons | Can it boost brain development?

Can music lessons boost brain development?


A large number of parents from different countries across the globe, are now allowing their children to take music lessons from an early age. Some children start from as early as four years old.

This great interest by parents may be influenced by the positive results of researches done on the benefits of music lessons on young children. As a matter of fact, some researchers indicate that students who participates in learning a musical instrument performs well in their academics.

Today I want to share an article with you on how music lessons can boost brain development in children.

Let me know what you think about the article. I personally find it to be very interesting and support most of the views of the author. Click on the link below to view the article.

Early music lessons boost brain development 

 

Thank you for visiting.

Remember to leave your comment.

 

 

Choose-piano-lessons.com is one of the fastest growing piano lesson websites online, visit them today. Go to choose-piano-lessons.com for free beginner piano lessons.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Free Printable Sheet Music on the Internet


Free Printable Sheet Music on the Internet
by Carlinton Singh



Many individuals are in search of free printable sheet music online. However, there are only few websites that will allow you to download some of their music for free.

I do not want to disappoint you, but most of the sheet music that you are searching for online are not for free. This is because of the penalties that an individual or company can face for breaking the copyright law. You should also realise that the sheet music that you are able to download for free on the internet are mostly for music students at the beginner’s level.

For me though, I do not see anything wrong with spending 0.99cents up to $2.00 for sheet music that I really need. However, I have created this post so that you will be aware of websites to visit for free sheet music.

Here are two websites that you can visit and find free printable sheet music.



This website has been on the internet since 2001 and has a large collection of sheet music for almost any instrument you can think of. And guess what, you can find several free sheet music that are shared by the members of their website. This website is safe to visit and you have the option of becoming a member which is very easy to do. When you are a member, you have more access to all the resources that they have online. However, you also need to know that not all the music sheets there are for free.



A couple of weeks ago I was browsing online for some sheet music for some of my piano students and I was directed to this website. Music-For-Music-Teachers.com is a resourceful website. They have sheet music for vocals, piano, guitar, recorders and so on. I have downloaded a few of their music without paying a penny. All the music sheets that I have printed from their website are PDF files, so I was able to download them on my computer and print them. I was done in a short time.

I am sure that there are more websites that offers free printable sheet music. If you know about any please let me know so that I can spread the word.






Friday 4 January 2013

basic guitar chords for beginners

Today's guitar lessons for beginners!

Hi guys! Today I want to share a video on basic guitar chords for beginners.
Thanks to Beefcakejcc for sharing this video on his channel.

The video is clear for students who are just learning to play basic major and minor chords on the guitar.



Please let me know what you think about this video by leaving your comments below.


Have great time practicing!

Tuesday 25 December 2012

Today’s Featured Keyboard Instrument – Roland Jupiter 50



Today’s Featured Keyboard Instrument – Roland Jupiter 50
by Carlinton Singh

Hi friends, today I want to feature one of the newest keyboard instrument that will catch the attention of many keyboard players in 2013.

It is the Roland Jupiter 50 (the smaller version of the Roland Jupiter 80).  For the pass four decades Roland has built a number of electronic keyboards and synthesizers that are loved by many musicians across the world.

 
Some of Roland’s popular keyboards/synthesizers are as follow;

JUPITER-8
JUNO-60 
 JUPITER-6
JUNO-106
D-50
JV-80 
V-SYNTH 
XP-50 
XP-80 
FANTOM X
FANTOM G
JUNO D 
JUNO G 
RD 700 
JUPITER 80 
JUPITER 50

Since the 21st century, Roland has put out some great electronic keyboards on the market. The Jupiter 80 and Jupiter 50 are among them.

Here is a demo video of the Jupiter 50. It really sounds great and has a lot of features.

Thanks to Sonic-State on YouTube for sharing this video on their channel.



Please remember to leave your comments!
Thank you for visiting!

 

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Trumpet Lessons | Trumpet Fingering Chart for Beginners


Trumpet Lessons | Trumpet Fingering Chart for Beginners

Today I want to take a shift from my piano lessons and do a brief trumpet lesson. 

The trumpet is a brass wind instrument. It is very loud and has a bright tone color. It is played in the treble staff so therefore we can say that its pitch is high. The mouth piece and the valves are the main part of the instrument that is used to change the pitch of each note.

Like many string and woodwind instruments, the seven letters of the musical alphabet are located on the trumpet. As a matter of fact all 12 keys or tones in music can be played on the trumpet at more than one octave.

While the trumpet may be smaller than other brass instruments, it is used to play the lead role within the brass section of a band or ensemble.

Let take a look at the different fingering position for each note on the trumpet. I have provided a trumpet fingering chat for you. Many beginner trumpet players will find this trumpet fingering chart to be useful.

All credits go to Yamaha.com for preparing this accurate trumpet fingering chart for us.


Go to Yamaha.com for more information on musical instruments and software.
Thank you for reading this article. 
Please leave your comments!

Monday 3 December 2012

Today's Music Lesson - The Orchestra


Music Lesson – The Orchestra by Carlinton Singh

Today I want to share some information on the orchestra.
The orchestra can be described as a large instrumental ensemble with a wide variety of musical instruments. It is made of four families of musical instruments; they are string, woodwind, brass and percussion. The strings are often refers to as the core of the orchestra.

The organization of this unique ensemble can be traced back as far as the 1600s and have developed during the baroque period. During this period there were smaller orchestra groups that range from about 15 to 40 persons. However, as music changes over the centuries, the size has grown immensely. Some time over 100 musicians are used in an orchestra.

Now let us take a look at the different families of instruments that make up the orchestra.

The String Family
 The string family is made of string instruments. The strings on these instruments are plucked or bowed in order for them to produce sound. The main string instruments that are used in an orchestra are violins, violas, cellos and double bass.

The Woodwind Family
In this family the instruments are referred to as woodwind because they were traditionally made of wood. These instruments can be described as a long tube with holes on them. The holes are covered by the fingers or by pads that are controlled by our fingers. Some of these instruments carry a small strip of wood on the mouth piece called a reed. Some woodwind instruments are piccolo, flute, clarinet, oboe and bassoon.

The Brass Family
Instruments of the brass family are wind instruments that are loud and bright in tone color. These instruments are mostly used when the music climaxes. The range of pitches created by a brass wind instrument is controlled by the mouth piece, valves and slides. Brass instruments are often referred to as the horn section of the orchestra. Some instruments that make up the brass family are trumpet, cornet, french horn, trombone, euphonium and tuba.

The Percussion Family
Percussion instruments are those that you hit and shake to produce sound. These instruments play a vital role in the orchestra. There are several percussion instruments that are often used in an orchestra. They are xylophone, glockenspiel, timpani, gongs, cymbal, chimes, triangle, bass drum, snare drum, tenor drums among others.

Even though modern instruments are sometimes included in the orchestra, we can all say that it has not lost its flavor. The elements of music are still expressed in modern orchestras. 


Do you have more information to share about the orchestra the level it in the comments box. Or.... Simply just leave a comment if you like this article.

Monday 17 September 2012

Basic Sight Reading Lessons for Piano Players


A number of persons learning to play the piano are some time turned off from learning because they are having difficulties with sight reading. Some individuals say that they have been trying for months and even years to acquire this skill but they are unable to see success.

Today I want to share some basic information with you that will help to enhance your skill in reading sheet music. However, it would be best to take a look at the phrase “sight reading” first.

Sight reading can be defined as the ability to read and performance a piece of music at the same time.

Many great piano players and composers of the 19th century, dedicated a lot of time to learn this skill. So if you dedicate some quality time and get a great music teacher to guide you, then you will be able to develop this great skill.

Here are some simple things you can do to improve your skill in reading sheet music. I have used them with my students and they worked.

Learn to identify the keys on your piano with your fingers without looking too much at the keyboard. Use this strategy every day in your practice sessions until you are able to do it accurately.

Now try playing your scales and arpeggio without looking too much on the piano keyboard. Do this as often as possible.

Take some time to study the lines and spaces of the treble and bass staff. Then take any sheet music and touch specific notes and say the letter name of each note. Try doing this as quickly as possible. Use this approached with other sheet music from time to time. (Please do not mark your music sheet when doing this exercise.)

Study other symbols such as key signatures, time signatures, tempo marks, dynamics signs among others.

Tap or clap the rhythmic patterns of the piece so as be familiar with it. Do this for the treble and bass staff. You can use a metronome during this period.

Be confident and work closely with your music teacher during your music sessions. It would be good if you get a music teacher who is willing to be patient with you.

Make sure you outline the objectives to be met for each piano class. Practicing what you have learnt during your music sessions is also very important. But also challenge yourself with materials that you have never played before.

When practicing sight reading by yourself, you will be tempted not to follow the schedule time as planned. But it is very important that you use up all the time you have set for your practice sessions. I am sure that if you keep doing all that was discussed early consistently, you will see some improvement.

Please leave your comments! Share other important tips you have on sight reading.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Guitar Lessons | Basic Chord Chart for Beginners

Guitar Lessons - Learn how to play major chords on your guitar.

Hi! Today I want to introduce to you some basic guitar chords that you should prepare to practice. I have created a Guitar Chord Chart for you. You can print it or save it to your computer for easy access.

The chord chart below shows the basic representation of all the major chords that can be played on the guitar. As you can see there are only twelve major scales in music and so all the major chords on the chart below are named based on the major scale they are constructed from.

Here is a basic illustration outlining the twelve major scales in music.



Now here is the chord chart with the twelve major chords that you should practice. 
I must say that it will not be an easy task practicing all the chords on the guitar chord chart above. So my advice to you is to practice them one chord at a time. Of course your fingers are going to hurt from time to time but if you keep practicing the pain will automatically go away.


Please remember to leave your comments!!