Hobbies

Piano arranging is the process by which you take a written piece of music and rework it with chords, adding new bass accompaniment, fills, or even slightly altering the song’s structure. And while it’s a process that takes years to truly master, anyone with a basic education in piano and a working knowledge of a few key techniques can create an inventive, satisfying arrangement. It all boils down to one thing: chord recognition. And anyone who plays a little piano can learn piano chords to add excitement to their piano playing.

Most people learn to play the piano by playing just the written music. Playing by written music is exactly what the phrase says it is — playing the exact notation on a piece of sheet music. But playing by chord symbol is a little different. Instead of following the harmony note by note, you follow the chord symbols (i.e. C7 or F) written above the harmonies, filling in the gaps with…well, whatever you want as long as it sticks to those chords. Of course, you’ll still read the melody (it is, after all, often what makes the song recognizable) but even that is completely open to interpretation. Playing by chord symbol allows you a freedom that playing by written music simply doesn’t. The freedom to create. The freedom to invent. The freedom to arrange chord patterns in the way you want.

This is counterintuitive, I know. Our natural response to seeing our child struggle is to find a way to help, not to add to the burden. If a child is struggling, why should we risk setting them up for failure in music lessons?

The answer is simple. Playing music has been discovered to have a direct and almost immediate effect on the brain of the student. That’s right. Music lessons have been shown in a German study to have a significant impact on the way the brain functions after as little as five weeks!

What they found, when comparing a group of students taking music lessons with a control group that was not, was that students who had taken as few as ten music lessons over a five week period exhibited a significant ear to hand link.

We all know, if only instinctively, that music has a profound effect on us. If we didn’t believe that music affects us then singing lullabies to calm children and help them sleep wouldn’t be universal. In reality melody, harmony, and rhythm probably impacts the human brain in ways that are far more profound than we realize. We all know that an up tempo melody from our favorite performer stirs and energizes us just as a slower melody can help us relax or even prompt sad emotions from the depths of our soul, but did you know that evidence has been found linking the merging of melody, harmony, and rhythm with pain management?

The direct implication of this is that by incorporating the right melody (we’ll discuss what defines the right melody in a moment) into your schedule it is possible to reduce your need for pain medication and thereby save money and aggravation.

Sound good? I know it does to me. Who wouldn’t like to save a little more money that they are already sending to the pharmaceutical companies. And the best part is that the melody(s) that you need for pain management may already be in your collection.

Some people think composing is this miraculous thing that only genius’s do. What a myth! It’s a skill that can be learned. What can’t be learned is the intuition that guides the creative force. What can be learned is the technique. And the most important part of composing technique has to do with THINKING IN PHRASES.

A musical phrase can be 2-bars long. It can be from 4 to 8-bars long as well. It is a unit of music that composers use, along with repetition and contrast to create ENTIRE SECTIONS OF MUSIC. There is no secret here people. It’s like building up a structure. That’s why music is often referred to as frozen architecture. It is built up. The building up creates FORM. A structure such as ABA form can be composed of the A section (8-measures) B section (4 or more measures) then back to the A section.

Now you may be thinking, it looks logical but how does it transfer into actual music? Ah, this is where you get your feet wet and actually try composing a piece. We start from simple means and learn the principles of repetition and contrast first. We start with an 8-bar phrase for the A section.

Yowza! Did you hear that hideous noise? It sounded like a combination of nails on a chalkboard, a cat in a dryer, and a baby wailing at the top of his lungs. Do you have any idea of what made that awful sound? As a long-time musician, I think I may have the answer for you. It’s a guitarist fiddling for the first time with his new amp.

Before I bought my first amp, I wouldn’t have thought that a human could produce such a horribly wretched sound. But, now I know better. In the process of finding the perfect settings for your guitar and amp, you are sure to discover all kinds of disagreeable screeches and squeals, shrieks and screams. And, believe it or not, these unpleasant and often other-worldly sounds are all part of the learning experience.

I’ve often been asked to give beginners online advice on how to dial in their amps and guitar settings. For a number of reasons, this is no easy task. As you know, the experience of sound is totally subjective. What I may like, you may not. This said, it’s hard to give definitive advice about guitar and amp settings.

Eric Clapton performs his slow-handed magic on his. Even with just nine fingers, Jerry Garcia kept countless Deadheads dancing as he played with his. At the mere sight of his, the King of Rock-n-Roll could make a grown woman faint. Of course, I’m talking about guitars. Professional musicians have been stroking and strumming, picking and playing the world’s greatest guitars and making the world’s greatest music. If you want to play like the pros, you’re going to need to know what guitars are rocking their worlds.

Since 1946, Fender guitars have defined rock-n-roll. Fender’s line of world-famous instruments, such as the Telecaster®, Stratocaster®, Precision Bass®, and Jazz Bass® guitars have rocked the world stage for decades. From the very beginning with Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, and Muddy Waters to the modern maestros such as Stevie Ray Vaughn, Kurt Cobain, and Eric Clapton, Fender guitars are a must for the serious professional and aspiring amateur!

A Guitar Named After A World War I Battleship ? What Will They Thin Of Next?

Did you know that the health and beauty of your brass instruments require extra special attention? It’s true-their wellbeing and happiness depend upon it. While we’re not talking about putting your tuba on a weight-loss program or taking your trumpet to the spa for a makeover, you do need to treat your brass instruments with care or they’ll refuse to come out and play. So, grab that brass and get ready for a workout-it’s time to clean!

When was the last time you saw a dirty French Horn in the orchestra? Probably never, right? That’s because professional musicians know how to take daily, monthly, and yearly care of their instruments. Now’s your chance to do the same! Starting with daily care, follow these tips to maintain the health and beauty of your brass.

Note: Because brass instruments vary, be sure to learn the specific cleaning methods for your particular instrument. For example, rotor instruments like the French horns, rotor tubas, and rotor trombones should always be cleaned by an experienced repairperson.

One of the rules of practicing we all hear over and over is “Be sure to practice slowly.” (I’m guilty of this too!) Often the result of this is a feeling of inhibition, which leads to tedium. Picture yourself filled with excitement and yearning in setting out to learn a new piece. Suddenly a voice from the darkness whispers: “Don’t touch those keys! Sit erect, play slowly, stay strictly in time, watch that fingering…” and your smile is gone. I’m beginning to feel a cramp just talking about it.

The fact is, a certain amount of slow practice and attention to small scale detail is absolutely necessary. But there is something lacking in the approach so many of us have taken; we set out to make music, and end up playing what amounts to no more than a series of sterile exercises.

How can we overcome this problem?

First of all, it’s important to remember that music comes to life through shading, dynamics, differences in touch, the shapes of its phrases, the rhythmic vitality that is so much a part of the right tempo. These qualities are all missing in a slow, rigid “practice” version of a piece. They are just as essential as correct fingering, and they don’t come across without careful work.

John Lennon wasn’t always my favorite Beatle; at first it was Paul. But gradually, over a period of time, it was John Lennon who won my heart. I think the transition began sometime during the latter part of the 1960s. Back then, it seemed to my young mind, that the world was falling apart. Revolution and anarchy were on the doorstep. John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy had each been assassinated, riots were springing up all over the south, Watts was burning and the war in Viet Nam was escalating. Out of the turmoil a growing hunger was born among many of my generation, including myself, for truth and peace.

During this period I had one brother who was fighting in the jungles of Viet Nam and another who had recently returned from overseas. I can remember taking part in some of the protests at my school, which consisted of “sit-ins”, walking out of class, and wearing black arm bands in recognition of the soldiers who had died. The Peace Movement became very important to me and my hero in this effort was John Lennon. John and Yoko were staging several protests in hopes of raising public awareness and support for peace in Viet Nam, as well as other human rights issues they cared about. I followed there activities with great interest and gave what I could to their cause. So you can imagine how strange it seemed after all those years, to find myself standing in the boyhood home of John Lennon, quietly paging through a book which he had written.

“The real communicating artists seek unique expression. They are not interested anymore in sounding like their heroes, they are searching constantly, developing and refining their own unique voice.”

There are musicians who are more than comfortable remaining anonymous. You know, happy to hide behind their guitars or keyboards and be sidemen to the stars of today or tomorrow. Then there are those that have grandiose aspirations of stardom, adoration and limelight. And then there are those who have a driving desire and need to say something original artistically, to express themselves and to communicate that expression to an audience, be it a small niche market or wider demographic.

Those falling into the first category can make a living, albeit fairly modest as a general rule. Those falling into the second category often live in a little bit of a dream world and, depending on their tenacity and ’smart’ skills, usually end up disappointed because the focus is set on the destination rather than the journey. The third category usually reap the rewards of the second category gaining all the success and limelight, but as a result of focusing on their art rather than the shallow and flighty end of the musician’s world. These are usually the most fascinating people too, because they generally have a little mystery about them and because they actually possess what most entertainers really want; sincere and dedicated talent!