9 May, 2008 (10:40) | Practice
Scales are a staple of music practice and some people feel as though they are useless, so why do we practice scales? For starters scales are the “alphabet” that we use to make songs. A song in the key of C Major usually uses notes mostly from the C Major scale (c-d-e-f-g-a-b-c) and in traditional western music since we’re thinking of the key as C Major - we treat that note as more important than the rest - (it is emphasized more - played at the end of the song, the beginning… etc.) There are MANY examples of songs that use scale or scale like passages in classical music and that’s another good argument for the practice of scales. But…
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Popularity: 91% [?]
2 May, 2008 (10:48) | Piano Lessons, Practice
Most people think practicing the piano is about training the fingers. (Or practicing any other instrument for that matter.) To a certain degree you do build up motor skills and muscle strength as you continue to practice any instrument. Wind instruments you build lung capacity and embouchure…. but with any music lessons the main thing that your working on building is the brain. There are several qualities that you improve when you practice and the more you can find other ways to develop these qualities the better, I think, your practice time can be.
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25 April, 2008 (10:36) | Piano Lessons, Practice
I remember early on when I was taking lessons and in band I hated counting out loud. It seemed so monotonous and silly. I “knew” when I was supposed to play the notes anyway. Well, of course, now that I’ve got a few years and some experience between now and then, I know how essential counting can be. I remember in college the definition of music that we made use of was “sound organized in time”. Well, without some sort of counting it’s hard to consider it organized… When you’re playing through a piece and “counting in your head” how consistent are you at keeping that count steady? Do you give yourself a bit of a break when you’re searching for notes? Counting out loud seems to help many people hold themselves a bit more accountable and keep to a steady pace. If that doesn’t help…
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Popularity: 81% [?]
18 April, 2008 (10:11) | Music Lessons, Piano Lessons
With private music lessons there is a slightly different relationship between student and teacher than there is in group class settings. One on one lessons give both the student and teacher a better chance to know each other and to make the learning experience better. At least, that’s the way it is ideally. So many students though are afraid to speak up and say “I want to look for different music”. Personally, I don’t mind if a student does want to look for different kinds of music to play. Really I like it, because it shows that they’re interested in playing music but their interest lies in a different area.
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11 April, 2008 (12:03) | Training the Brain
One of the things many of my students know about me is that I’m a perfectionist. Yes, I’m detail oriented with my students, but I’m hardest on MYSELF. I have a few students that are self-oriented perfectionists too and I’ve noticed that one of the things we have in common is that we sometimes ignore improvements in what we’re doing and focus instead on what we’re still lacking. This is the wrong approach….
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Popularity: 60% [?]
4 April, 2008 (12:57) | Music Lessons, Piano Lessons, Practice
I know I’ve seen a lot of students that fit the category of Speed Demons. They think if they’re going to do anything they’ll do it as fast as possible. If they can keep a steady tempo that’s all right depending on the song. Of course, the real problem is usually the speed demons are blazing through two measures at a time. Then they stop and figure out the next few notes and blaze ahead again. One of the first rules I try to emphasize to my students is that you need to keep a steady tempo.
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28 March, 2008 (16:32) | Piano, Piano Lessons
It’s really very common, within the first few lessons I’ll hear from most of my students. “What are these pedals for?” Of course, most of the time we really don’t discuss the pedal for quite a while in the method books, but I like to take that opportunity to open the lid of the piano and give a couple minute peak into what happens when notes are played and what the “right pedal” (sustain or damper pedal) does. For those that haven’t wondered about the pedals and even for some that have, I thought I’d spend a few minutes on the topic. You might come across something new or something to think about.
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21 March, 2008 (16:17) | Practice
You have these images of practice time being without distractions. Like folding clothes, you just sit down and proceed to do the task. Practicing an instrument though, takes not just your physical presence, but your MENTAL presence as well. As children, we don’t have nearly the number of distractions that adults do, but they still have other things that invade the thoughts and distract from “complete participation” in practice. I’ve mentioned ideas previously of making to-do lists before sitting down to practice and setting timers to take some of the workload off the brain, but sometimes the gear shift from day to day chores, scheduling to intense practice is hard to say the least. Where I’m driving is this idea…
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Popularity: 38% [?]
14 March, 2008 (03:05) | Ear Training, Music Lessons, Practice Resources
First off, in College Ear training (Aural Skills…) was my favorite, maybe because it was something that was easy to quantify. You could work with software or on your on and you could tell when you missed and you could tell when you got it and you could mark your progress. Now, I do kind of miss ear straining… ummm training and from time to time I look at software to practice keeping at least a good sense of relative pitch. I’ve found THE software to do it. What’s even better is that it’s available for Windows, Mac and Linux so most anyone with a PC can use it.
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Popularity: 38% [?]
7 March, 2008 (03:58) | Site Info
Over the last little while and over the coming weeks, I expect we’ll have several changes going on the site. For starters, the webhosting account upgrade should be done well before you read this post, as should a basic upgrade of our backend software. I expect to be rolling out a few new features here after that. The main added feature is the Web Directory. For a long time I’ve wanted to do a directory related to Music only, with a specific highlight on Asheville related music links. The expected link for that is http://directory.ashevillemusiclessons.com Additionally, I expect to get into a bit more audio content as time goes by. Right now, I’ve been busy juggling posts for several sites and trying to get a bit of breathing room on those and a few other projects. Translation… that zoom h4 full review is coming. Also, I may be adding a mailing list to the site. (Maybe a monthly email of recent posts?) I’d like a little feedback from visitors if that’s something they would be interested in. I’ll leave this post open for comments just in case anyone cares to chime in with their thoughts. My ideas for this site certainly don’t end there, but I think that’s about where I’ll leave it for the moment. If you have any additional suggestions for the site, please feel free to post them here.
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