Knowing music theory really matters! Musicians should invest their time and money in music theory.

A number of musicians in this modern era are having problems with sight reading. Most of them started their musical development learning to read sheet music; however, they have been drawn to the skill of playing by ear. Even though playing by ear is an excellent way of becoming a great musician, one should note that the content and theory in music is very important. A lot musician who play by ear are not able to explain certain context of music theory and this is a great disadvantage.

It is very important that musicians invest some time and money in developing the skill to read music. Even though this aspect of music is time consuming it will only make the individual a better musician. This means that musicians who can read sheet music well and are able to play by ear, are more flexible and will end up getting certain jobs and opportunities over others.

It is good to start making the adjustments to your development in music. The earlier you start the better it is for you. Go to amazon.com and ebay.com to get special offers on music theory books now.

NB> (Want to visit Amazon’s online store? Then make use of the links on this site.)

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A number of persons have displayed their frustration when learning to play a musical instrument. Some person gave up because the time they have does not allow them to go directly to a music teacher. Sometime free lessons and illustrations on the internet are not clear enough and only those who are able to play a musical instrument benefit mostly from these resources.

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GUITAR LESSONS FOR BEGINNERS: Playing C major scale on the guitar.

Hi my friends! Today I am going to show you two different ways you can play the “C major scale” on you guitar. Remember a major scale begins and ends with the same letter name.

Let us take a look at the C major scale.

C       D       E       F       G       A       B       C      -   (C MAJOR SCALE)

1        2        3      4        5        6       7        8

Now, you should notice that each letter of the scale is assigned a particular number. The numbers are there to tell you what degree of the scale is a particular note. Each degree of the scale will be illustrated in sequence showing you how to play the scale. The scale starts from the 1^st note and ends on the 8^th note.

The illustrations below show you two patterns as to how you should play the C major scale on the guitar. The first illustration shows how to play C major scale using the Lower strings with no open note while the second illustration shows how to play the C major scale using the higher strings which includes open notes.

I hope you enjoyed todays lesson. Remember to practice!

Here are the links for previous guitar lessons on this site.

How To Play The Guitar - for Beginners
How To Play The Guitar - for Beginners Part 2
Guitar Lesson Part 3
Guitar Lesson for Beginners Part 4
Guitar Lessons for beginners (part 5) - Playing G major scale on your guitar.

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Music Theory Lesson: Time Signatures (part 2)

In our last music theory article I shared some information on what are time signatures, bars and barlines. Today I want to continue sharing information on the topic Time Signatures (simple time signatures to be specific).
Time signatures tell us the number of beats that are in each bar of a piece of sheet music. Here are the three simple time signatures to be discussed today.

Each time signature shown above tells us the number of beats to be played in each bar. The top number tells us how many beats to play while the bottom number tells us what type of beat is is being used. In this case "4" at the bottom tell us that crotchet or quarter note beats are used. A quarter note equals 1 beat.

Now let us discuss each time signature in more details.

This time signature is telling us that there are two beats in each bar. This means that you will have regular steady counts of (1 2) in each bar. For example - say you have four bars to play using this time signature, then you will count 1 2 - 1 2 - 1 2 - 1 2. The "two over four" time signature does not mean that you will have only two crotchets or quarter notes in each bar, but you can have any type of notes in each bar once they adds up to two beats. Look at the illustration below.

The next time signature we will look at is;

This is what the "three over four" time signature looks like on the staff. When you see this time signature it means that there are three beats in each bar. The functions for each number was discussed earlier and it applies to this time signature and other simple time signatures also. The 3/4 time signature has regular steady count of (123). For more than one bar you will count 123-123-123-123 and so on. Below is an example illustrating notation using 3/4 time signatures.

The next time signature we will look at is;

The 4/4 is the most popular time signature. It tell us that there are four beats in  each bar of a piece of music. It has a regular steady count of 1234. When you play music with this time signature in multiple bars you will have a regular group of counts - 1234 - 1234 - 1234 - 1234 and so on. When the 4/4 time signature is used you can have all the different notes represented in a bar once all the notes in each bar adds up to 4 beats.

This illustration below should help;

N.B. For music theory books please visit amazon.com. There are a number of good books on their store that will help you. You can use one of the amazon link on this site to take you to there store in seconds.

Please leave your comments.

Copyright (c) 2011 by Carlinton Singh.

Cheap soundproofing techniques for small home studios

Do you want to soundproof your room and do not have the money to it?

Well I will be sharing one in-expensive way how to do it. Although this method is not the prefect solution for a small home studio, it should be a great start until you can get some money to do proper soundproofing. I have tried it before and it worked well. However, I did my recordings during the after noons and in the nights after 10:00 p.m.

Here are the materials I used.

1.      Thick cardboard (The types that large appliances and equipments come in. Collect as much to cover the entire area.)

2.      Used Egg trays (Collect as much to cover the area.)

3.      Double side tapes (especially the ones used on floor carpets)

4.      Drill and wall screws (optional)

5.      Drapes or thick curtains

6.      Wood glue

7.      Hangers and rods for drapes

Simple Steps

·        Place card board to the wall by using the double tape and screws to hold it to the wall. Make sure you do this from floor to ceiling level.

·         After all the card board is up glue the egg trays to the card board. (After egg trays are glued to the card board you might have to leave it to dry for 24 hours.

·         Install the hangers at suitable locations so that the drapes can be hanged on them. (I had my permanent hangers installed before everything else.)

·         Then hang up drapes to cover the card-board and egg trays mounted to the wall.

·         You can also hang drapes at the door entrance and windows to keep out extra sounds from outside.

N.B. You can always choose whatever design you want for your studio and make your own adjustments. You can also use other methods of your choice to mount the card board and egg trays to the wall.

I hope you enjoy this project, have a nice day.

What is the best age for a child to take music lessons?

A number of parents have asked musicians at what age it is best to teach children music. The answers received can be very interesting at times. Today I want to share my view on this matter.  I know that I will help clear up any doubt that exist and motive parent’s interest in allowing their child to take music lessons at an early age.

The question asked frequently by parents – (At what age should my child start taking music lessons?)

Before I give a specific answer to the question I would like to let parents know that music is naturally apart of human nature. While some persons might not agree, I want to highlight that there is no factual research that have given any proof as to where and when music started. When a child above 12 months old can dance and shake to music without any instructions this tells me that human beings are created and born with this unique gift.  

From my experience of teaching music to different age group for more than 10 years, I can say that I have seen great results when children start taking music lessons from ages 5 or 6. While teaching this age group I have realized that these children will follow basic instructions given to them clearly and their interest and attention span is fairly high. Five and six years old children will be able to sit in a music lesson for 20 to 35 minutes. But younger children have shorter attention span. Most 5 and 6 years old children are able to use their fingers to do a number of things. When your child is involved in music lessons from as early as 5 or 6 years old, they tend to do well in the future and most of them turn out to be great musicians as early as age 10.

What about the younger kids? Children younger than five years old are good at manipulating objects and are still exploring their surroundings. Their attention span is shorter and parents might waste a lot of money having them doing music lessons so early. I would recommend that parents use this time to create a musical environment for their children. Parents can do so by buying some musical gadgets and some “kiddie’s versions” of musical instrument to develop their interest in music. A lot of parents have done this and it worked well in their favor.

So based on my experience in teaching music to children, I would say that between  ages 5 to 6 is a good time for children to start doing music lessons. Yes! Let them learn to play the piano, guitar and even the drum kit. Age five and six is the later part of the preoperational stage of cognitive development in one of Jean Piaget’s theories. Children at this stage are able to understand basic information and are able to relate to their parent, peers and teachers. However, some parents allow their children to be involved in music lessons as early as 4 years old.

It is very important that parents do researches pertaining to child development. This will give them an idea as to what age is suitable for their child to be involvement is extra and academic activities. However, there are some children who are born with higher IQ (Intelligence Quotient); these children normally catch on to practical and academic activities faster and earlier than others.

Copyright (c) 2011 by Carlinton Singh

Music Theory Lesson: What are Time Signatures, Bars and Barlines?

Today we will be looking at some other important aspect of the music: Time Signatures, Bars and Barlines.

First let us discuss the meaning of the term "Time Signature".
Time Signatures are musical symbols that tells us number of beats or counts that are in each bar of a piece of music. There are different types of time signature but today we will only look at "Simple Time Signatures". Time Signatures are numbers written above each other that appears at the beginning of a piece of music after the clef sign. Below are examples of simple time signatures.

Each time signature has its own meaning and function in music.

Now let us take a look at how each time signature is presented on the staff and the meaning of each.

When you see this time signature on the staff it means that there are two beats or counts in each bar.

This time signature tells us that there are three beats or counts in each bar.

This time signature means that there are four beats or counts in each bar.

N.B. >  There will be a follow up lesson on time signature, explaining the concept in more details.

Now what are Bars and Barlines?

"Bars or Measures" are divided sections on the staff or stave on which musical notes are written. Each bar includes specfic notes or rest based on the time signatue used. Bars or Measures are formed by barlines. Barlines are vertical lines that are used to separate each bar on a piece of sheet music.

The diagram below should explain.

Here you see that the area on which musical notes, rest and other symbols are written is called a bar or measure. Bars or measures cannot be formed unless there are barlines.

Barlines are used throughtout the entire music but a double barline is used when the music comes to an end.

Here is an example of a double barline.

Thanks for participating in todays lesson. Have a wonderful day and remember to subsribe or leave your comments. 

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Bob Marley - The Great Reggae Artiste Ever.

Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) is no doubt the greatest and most popular reggae artiste of all times. Even though he is not around he is still touching the lives of many individuals around the globe.

Bob Marley was born on February 6 1945 in St. Ann, Jamaica. His passion was music and so he dedicated his life to it. His career in music grew to maturity but he was taken away by the most feared sickness – cancer. He died on May 11, 1981.

May 11, 2011 makes it 30 years since Bob Marley have passed. But we still remember some of his greatest hits and still sing them today.

It is our duty to preserve this part of our musical heritage so that generations to come will enjoy it.

Let now listen to this message from Bob Marley.

ONE LOVE

Teach yourself how to play a musical instrument and how to understand music theory.

Hi guys! I hope you are enjoying life.

In this modern era there should be no complainning about resources. Today individuals can teach themselves how to play a musical instrument to some level by just browsing the internet.

The information that I have posted on this blog is very useful. I enjoy sharing information because there are persons searching for answers. Please feel free to subscribe and take advantage of the information that I have shared over the passed few months.

Have a great day!

PIANO LESSON - PLAYING G & D MAJOR SCALES ON THE PIANO. (LEARN PIANO LESSONS TODAY)

It has been a while since our last piano/keyboard lesson. In our last piano lesson  an article was done on the concept of major scales. The term "Major Scale" was defined and illustrations were showning how to play the C major scale on the piano.

Today I will be showing you some illustration as to how you can play the G and D major with the right and left hand on the piano.

For those of you who would like to view the previous piano lesson on major scales you can click here.

Let's begin! First let us take a look at both G and D major scales.

G Major Scale

D Major Scale

It is very important that you look carefully at the notes used for each scale. In G major scale you will play the all the notes in the natural or white key except for F sharp. When playing the D major scale you will play D, E, G, A, B as natural keys but F sharp and C sharp will be played on the specific black key assigned to them.

If you are not clear as to how to find the sharp keys, please click here for a lesson on that topic.

Below are illustrations showing you how to play the G and D major scale on the piano. Please try and analyse the techniques used.

ILLUSTRATIONS FOR G MAJOR SCALE

1.

2.

ILLUSTRATIONS FOR D MAJOR SCALE

1.


2.

 NB - (RIGHT FINGERS IN ILLUSTRATION 2 FOR D MAJOR SCALE SHOULD BE LEFT FINGERS)

The illustrations are clear and simple, once you have the basic knowledge of the letters of the keyboard then you will be able to play them.
Play each scale slowly first then increase in speed as you go along. Play the scales using each hand separately until you can play them fluently. Then try playing the scales using both hands at the same time.


Copyright (c) May 2011 by Carlinton Singh. Please remember to subscribe and leave a comment.