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.

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 19^th 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.

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.

Click here to view the first guitar lesson on this blog site!

Please remember to leave your comments!!

Free Piano Lessons for All

Free Piano Lessons for All

 Are you still searching for free piano lessons online? Have you lost confidence in some of the information sites that are dedicated to teach you to play the piano for free?

Well, a number of individuals are still not convinced that they can learn to play the piano up to professional level from the numerous lessons that are offered for free on the internet. I know that there a number of websites that are offering free piano tutorials to individuals who are interested. But I must say that you will have to spend some quality time searching the internet for these websites.

Apart from this blog site, there are a number of sites on the internet with quality information that you can take advantage of. Below is a list of websites that you can go to, but please be prepared to spend some time on these sites. All these sites offer some if not all their lessons for free.

 Websites for Beginners

 For individuals who are searching for free piano lessons they can go to;

1) www.choose-piano-lessons.com- This website offers quality content for persons who are just learning to play the piano and is designed to teach you the basics in an effective way. This website has a lot of illustrations that will help you understand the information clearer.

2) www.zebrakeys.com – This website has become very popular over the past two years. It offers a number of piano tutorials for free at the beginner and intermediate level. There are a lot of graphic illustrations and videos on this website.

3) www.pianolessons.com – This website has a lot of free piano lessons presented in video formats. You can even sign up for free instant lessons which will be mailed to you on a daily or weekly basis.

What about www.youtube.com? – YouTube is a great resource centre for all individuals searching for free piano lessons online. There are a lot of musicians especially pianist who have created several videos for persons who interested in learning the piano. Some of the lessons are broken down into easy steps so as to create a reasonable pace for individuals who are watching. The beauty about youtube.com is that the videos can be downloaded once you have access to the internet.

Learning to play the piano for free is not a bad idea, and I do not wish to discourage you from wanting to learn without paying any money. However, I have personally discovered that some of the most effective piano lessons online are not for free. You should remember that some of the DVDs and EBooks that are been sold did not just appear over night but a lot of time and effort were invested in them.

Try doing your own investigations and find the most appropriate piano programme that will give some success.

Have a great time practicing on your piano!

Click here to participate in your first piano lesson.

PLEASE REMEMBER TO LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS!

Piano Lessons - Beginners Piano Lessons

Hi guys, it as been a while since my last post. I must say thanks to those persons who have been following my blog, I am very grateful.

In march 2011, I was searching for some method as to how I can share information about something that love to do. I came across blogger after some moments of research. I must say that I am very passionate about playing music which as been a part of my life since I was a child. Today I am glad that I can share my passion to you.

I have written articles on piano lessons, guitar lessons and music theory. All of these articles were designed to help individuals who are interesting in playing the piano, keyboard or the guitar especially beginners. Today I must say that I am happy that a number of persons have learned something from my blog. And so, I will be writing more articles in the future especially about music.

Since march I have seen some success in using the internet as a tool for teaching music and so I have decided that I will be taking advantage of what the internet has to offer. My friends, I am now designing my first website which dedicated to teach individuals how to play the piano. I have been doing some research and I am dedicated to create a unique piano music information center that will benefit all my followers. I am not able to say when my website will be ready but when it is up you will know.

For persons who are new to my blog and would like to take a quick look at some of  the beginners piano lessons that I have published, just click on the the links below.

BEGINNER PIANO LESSONS LINKS:

HOW TO PLAY THE PIANO

BASIC PIANO/KEYBOARD LESSON

LETTER NAME OF THE BLACK KEYS ON THE PIANO/KEYBOARD

PIANO/KEYBOARD LESSON (TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR)

PIANO LESSON - HOW TO PLAY MAJOR SCALES ON THE PIANO

Remember that your comments are very important so please leave them.
Have a great day, and continue to support this blog.

The Benefits of Online Education and How its Changing the Way We Learn

GUEST POST

Article written by:

Lindsey Wright

In the past, many students in smaller communities were limited to small schools where they would spend most weekdays of their lives until they turned 18 years old. However in the current era high quality educational materials are easier to access than ever through the Internet, no matter whether students are located in a village in Kenya or in the heart of New York City. Furthermore, online education makes the idea of lifelong learning no longer just a pipe-dream, but a very achievable reality.

One of the most easily recognizable limitations of traditional education is the lack of physical space. In traditional brick-and-mortar teachers and students have to be present in the same location at the same time in order for learning to take place. However online learning is already beginning to remove some of these limits by allowing teachers and students to interact virtually, as they do at Virtual Music School; where students play and receive feedback from instructors via Skype.

More generally, online education is changing the way students and teachers interact. Many initially feared that online classes would lead to an environment where students and teachers would have less and less interactions, yet the opposite is actually true. For instance, video conferencing allows for students and teachers to have one-on-one tutoring sessions that are convenient for both parties. Online classrooms also remove some of the more distracting social elements of learning at a brick-and-mortar school, which allows the teacher to focus on teaching instead of managing student behavior.

While much online education is interactive, the Internet also allows people to more freely access non-interactive educational materials, such as books and lectures. For example, many universities, such as Princeton, offer lectures by professors in all fields free of charge on their websites. While viewers do not get college credit for viewing them, these lectures allow anyone with Internet access the chance to be taught by some of the greatest minds of our generation. The Internet also provides teachers with access to educational materials like lesson plans and written works, and allows them to more easily collaborate with each other in order to develop the best curriculum for their students.

Although the means of education may have begun to shift toward the online spectrum, the aim is the same -- to help people learn. For teachers, it makes the educational experience more manageable and creates more opportunities for one-on-one teaching, which is particularly useful for helping struggling students. For students, it makes learning easier to access and allows for  continuing education as long as the desire to learn remains. Better yet, online education makes people across all sections of society better able to understand the world and advance in it regardless of the conditions into which they were born.

All credits goes to the author of this article!

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS!

Free Music Theory Lessons: What are key signatures?

Hi! Thank you for coming to my music lessons blog. Today I want to share some information on  "Key Signatures". If you find this article or the entire blog to be of interest to you please feel free to subscribe. You can also share this blog with a friend. Now let's get going with today's article.

Key Signature

Music can be written in major and minor keys. Both major and minor keys are based on particular scales. When a piece of music is composed from a major scale we can say that the music is written in a major key. When the composition of a piece of music is based on a minor scale we can say that the music is in a minor key.

In order for us to know the key of a piece of music we need to look for the key Signature.

What are Key Signatures?

Key signatures are sharp or flat signs that comes after the clef sign on the staff. You should note that the key signature comes after both the treble and bass clef. The number of sharp and flat signs is based on the major scale that is used.

For example – C major scale has no sharp nor flat so therefore there will not be any sharp or flat sign at the beginning of the music nor anywhere else.

Below is a diagram showing what the key of C looks like on a piece of sheet music. The diagram is also accompanied by an illustration of the letters in the C major scale.

Below are diagrams of different key signatures and their scale. Key Signatures are named from the relative scales.

KEY - G MAJOR

The Key Signature for G major is one sharp. The note falling on the F line or space will be called F sharp.

 KEY - D MAJOR 

The Key Signature for D major is two sharps. All falling on the C and F line or space will be called C sharp and F sharp respectively.

KEY – F MAJOR

The Key of F major is one flat. B will be replaced by B flat.

KEY – B FLAT MAJOR

The Key signature for B flat major is two flats. All B and E note on the staff are change to B flat and E flat respectively.

KEY – E FLAT MAJOR

The Key signature for E flat major is three flats. Natural notes such as B, E and A with be change to flat.

 
Each sharp and flat in a specific key signature takes control of each line and space that they are located on. In other words the sharps and flats that form the key signature of a particular key changes the name of the lines and spaces they are placed on at the beginning of the staff. Therefore if a sharp is placed on the F line then that line will be called F sharp through-out the entire music. The same thing is been applied is the sharp or flat is placed in a space.

This was a great lesson. Thank you for participating.


Please leave your comments! Your comments are very important.

Copyright (c)  October 2011 by Carlinton Singh. All Rights Reserved.

Free Piano Lessons - Learn how to play "lean on me" on the piano

Hi guys! Today I have created a music sheet teaching you how to play the melody for "Lean On Me" by Bill Withers. This song was one of my favorites when learning started to play the piano. I must say that I have been busy and so I have not posted any piano lessons for a while but I know you will enjoy playing this one.

Use the model of the keyboard below to assist you, if you know the letter name for each key on the keyboard then you don't need it. 

Practice the melody for "Lean on me " by Bill Withers using the music sheet below.
You can click on the music sheet for a larger view.

Visit choose-piano-lessons.com for more free lessons!

Thanks you for participating in today's lesson.

 Please feel free to leave your comments!!