During a recent long distance relocation, the Blevins family received significant damage to a family heirloom. This wonderfully tuned instrument, a beautiful walnut wood baby grand, had been handed down to them in a will from a deceased grandmother and had been an important piece of family tradition. It was a gorgeous item of furniture but its damage was extensive and they were forced to consider purchasing a new baby grand.
Fortunately, as the unpacking continued further, they were pleased to see that many of their musical accessories remained unscathed. Their piano stool survived the move in excellent shape. They soon found their bench cushions, as well as their piano lamps, metronome, sheet music, and their collection of songbooks and hymnals. They soon realized they had everything they needed for their music room except of course, for their damaged centerpiece. In the home they had always taken extra care to use a piano cover, a grand piano cover to be exact. They had bought the covers special from a woman who sews piano covers by hand. The Blevins had never purchased a keyboard before, and were not sure where to begin. They thought about what they were looking for in the instrument they were going to purchase. Since several family members were keyboard players, they certainly desired a high performance instrument. They would consider it a bonus if they could enjoy the instrument as a piece of fine furniture. They had been spoiled before with their now damaged antique bringing its wood beauty to their décor. They hoped to find another piece that would be visually attractive, as well as highly functional. They took a look at the music room in their recently acquired house. They asked themselves what kind of keyboard would be the best fit. They considered three different instrument options.
The first type of instrument they priced was of the baby grand variety. This was the type they were most familiar with. They knew they liked the style and measurements of that particular instrument and felt that baby grand’s were capable of producing a rich, deep sound while still being a pleasing volume for a residential property. They felt that in respect to its appearance as a piece of furniture, it was an eye-catching fixture in the music room. However, price wise, they weren’t sure they were ready to spend the large sum required in the purchase of a baby grand.
The Blevins family also decided to investigate the selection of an upright. They had heard that upright keyboards, like baby grands, also provide a rich tonal quality, but are slightly smaller in dimension then the baby grand style. While they had many style options with their grandmother’s baby grand, they liked the potential décor options with an upright. For example, they had always loved the style of the 1940′s and knew that an upright style would be a pleasing compliment with that decorating scheme. The price point was more appealing than that of the baby grand, yet still a bit on the high side for their budget.
The third consideration was the purchase of a spinet type instrument. They did not have prior information about this type, only that they were widely known as an economical purchase. As they played a floor model in a music store, they noticed that its quality was slightly less dependable than either the baby grand or the upright. They found its size to be cute and compact, and liked the fact that it could be easily moved because of its wheeled legs. They found its price point to their liking too.
Filed under Music by on Aug 29th, 2009. 1 Comment.
You might think learning the guitar is a one night thing. But if you do it the right way, it can be. Learning the guitar doesn’t come after a day or even after a week. Dedication and practice were my keys. I don’t mean practicing just a few random tabs and then leaving it all for the next day. That is not an adequate practice session. Real practice involves trying to play as much as I could, learning the steps along the way. Everyday, during free hours, I had to show discipline and determination running through the basics.
You are going to enjoy it when you make time for practicing. This is a great break from studying and working. But for those days that you just don’t feel like practicing the same chords you haven’t gotten the hang of since yesterday, that takes devotion. You need to have discipline.
Fundamentally, you have to remember how to practice and how much you practice.
An hour of practice can be really fun during the start, but if you start getting too lax, you have to know when to pick up the pace. Invest at least half an hour everyday and that will be fine. You’re not required to break your back trying to practice the whole day. This is so you built the habit of playing on a regular basis. You don’t need to have a strict schedule, a small part of your day just for practicing is enough.
But when it comes to practicing, you have to take note of the way you do it. For instance when learning a new song, you don’t have to keep playing it until you know it back to front. It’s wiser to keep moving on to stimulate yourself. When you gain enough skill in playing different things, you can then go back to those songs. The same can be said about going too fast. Remember that we said you don’t have to play the song perfectly, but you do have to learn to play it well before anything else.
You should also consider splitting your practice sessions into different segments. Assigning the biggest part of the session to things you haven’t quite figured out yet would be very helpful. Another piece could be reviewing some parts that you think you have mastered. Don’t keep your head up in the clouds or this might make you slack off when you practice. You have to be certain that you have something to prove your skills before being too proud of them. Like doing a few complicated tab successions.
Doing the same things all the time does not equate to practice. You have to exercise discipline, challenge yourself, and learn how to review what you have learned. Until you know how to play the guitar by heart, do not stray from your agenda. Keep doing this until you realize you have no need to check references while playing. All of this will contribute to you becoming a great guitarist.
Want to answer the burning question how do i play guitar? Discover how you can learn how to play guitar using step by step instructions, tutorials, jam tracks and famous songs at http://www.howdoiplayguitar.com
Filed under Music by on Aug 28th, 2009. Comment.
You love music, you write music and produce it. Your starting you a record business and your not totally sure what to do or how to do it. You have many people around you that are wanting to become your business partner in your new record company. The thing is you don’t know most of these people that surround you. The best thing to do before you venture into a deal with clients and partners is to search criminal records of these people to make sure that your future partners are not scammers. This way you can start your new record company off on the right foot.
Filed under Music by on Aug 28th, 2009. Comment.
You may not think that playing a guitar is as serious as playing more physically straining sports, but it is.
Can you imagine running a mile without stretching your leg muscles? Then you’d see that playing your guitar continuously well without stretching just can’t be done.
You likely don’t assume this, but playing a guitar can mean some serious hand and arm muscle damage.Which is why you should remember to do a few warm ups before any gig or guitar session.
Have you ever experienced that pain in your hands while playing your favorite song?That can turn into a serious injury if you continue like that. If the pain persists and worsens, you should stop.Just warm up next time so it doesn’t happen again.
One of the often used methods of warming up is by doing a few scales that you run up and down a number of times. Try to loosen your muscles by doing scales and increasing your speed gradually.After that comes chord transitions.After making a few minimal chord transitions, work it out from there. Start simple and increase your speed just like when you were doing scales.
When you think you’re ready, keep a comfortable playing position. Keep your hands where they can play comfortable and give them enough space for playing.If you feel pain, no matter how little, change positions.You?ll be able to avoid straining yourself while throughly enjoying making music.
It is best to prepare yourself by warming up before playing, so give yourself a friendly reminder every time you pick up your guitar.Doing this makes guitar playing safer and more comfortable.
Want to answer the burning question How Do I Play Guitar? Discover how you can Learn How to Play Guitar using step by step instructions, tutorials, jam tracks and famous songs at http://www.howdoiplayguitar.com”
Filed under Music by on Aug 24th, 2009. Comment.
The net has made it easier than ever to learn to drum. You can get a drum lesson on the web now, so that you can begin nowadays without ever even leaving your house. I have a friend who has been doing just that. He has subscribed to a website which, twice a week, gives him an interactive drum lesson online. It’s just like collecting fitness lessons from a person with a personal trainer certification. The technology of it is just extraordinary. It can truly show him the beats as it is playing. There is even a feature that will listen to his playing and make comments, but unfortunately it requires pricey midi triggers to detect the notes.
Of course, all of this technology is truly definitely neato, but it still doesn’t beat a real face to face lesson in my opinion. Sure, there are advantages to taking a drum lesson online. You can take it any life span you want, it is cheaper than a normal lesson in person, and finally, it allows you to not leave the house for your lesson. Just like lessons on how to get rid of belly fat that you would get online. But when you get down to it, there are things that a real teacher can tell you that a drum lesson on the web simply can not. First of all, he can tell you when you are creating mistakes, and what to do regarding it. Even if a drum lesson on the web can detect your mistakes, it won’t be able to detect more subtle things like amplitude and “feel”. To learn truly rudimentary techniques, all you have to do is practice, and listen to an specialist play, but to learn some advanced licks requires a bunch more. You want some 1 who truly knows their street around a drum kit to do that, and that is a hard a person to find online. Trying to can be more irritating than yeast infection symptoms.
Although I took my first drum lesson online, I soon discovered that I truly would do much better with a real, live teacher. I soon found my teacher, and began studying how to play drums. The difference was amazing. The drum lesson on the web did a tiny for me, but the teacher I got showed me right away how to become a better drummer. It was a drumming lesson I won’t soon forget that started it. I never even realized that I needed to develop hand independence to advance past the basics until my teacher told me that, but once she gave me some tips, I was soon on my street to becoming a great drummer.
Filed under Music by on Aug 23rd, 2009. 1 Comment.