Tuesday 25 December 2012

Today’s Featured Keyboard Instrument – Roland Jupiter 50



Today’s Featured Keyboard Instrument – Roland Jupiter 50
by Carlinton Singh

Hi friends, today I want to feature one of the newest keyboard instrument that will catch the attention of many keyboard players in 2013.

It is the Roland Jupiter 50 (the smaller version of the Roland Jupiter 80).  For the pass four decades Roland has built a number of electronic keyboards and synthesizers that are loved by many musicians across the world.

 
Some of Roland’s popular keyboards/synthesizers are as follow;

JUPITER-8
JUNO-60 
 JUPITER-6
JUNO-106
D-50
JV-80 
V-SYNTH 
XP-50 
XP-80 
FANTOM X
FANTOM G
JUNO D 
JUNO G 
RD 700 
JUPITER 80 
JUPITER 50

Since the 21st century, Roland has put out some great electronic keyboards on the market. The Jupiter 80 and Jupiter 50 are among them.

Here is a demo video of the Jupiter 50. It really sounds great and has a lot of features.

Thanks to Sonic-State on YouTube for sharing this video on their channel.



Please remember to leave your comments!
Thank you for visiting!

 

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Trumpet Lessons | Trumpet Fingering Chart for Beginners


Trumpet Lessons | Trumpet Fingering Chart for Beginners

Today I want to take a shift from my piano lessons and do a brief trumpet lesson. 

The trumpet is a brass wind instrument. It is very loud and has a bright tone color. It is played in the treble staff so therefore we can say that its pitch is high. The mouth piece and the valves are the main part of the instrument that is used to change the pitch of each note.

Like many string and woodwind instruments, the seven letters of the musical alphabet are located on the trumpet. As a matter of fact all 12 keys or tones in music can be played on the trumpet at more than one octave.

While the trumpet may be smaller than other brass instruments, it is used to play the lead role within the brass section of a band or ensemble.

Let take a look at the different fingering position for each note on the trumpet. I have provided a trumpet fingering chat for you. Many beginner trumpet players will find this trumpet fingering chart to be useful.

All credits go to Yamaha.com for preparing this accurate trumpet fingering chart for us.


Go to Yamaha.com for more information on musical instruments and software.
Thank you for reading this article. 
Please leave your comments!

Monday 3 December 2012

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.

Monday 17 September 2012

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 19th 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.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

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.


Please remember to leave your comments!!

Thursday 5 April 2012

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!


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