Archive for the 'Music + More' Category

Finding Singing Lessons that Work for You

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

Every little town has teachers who sang some opera or Broadway at sometime in their past, and now have set up shop as teachers. But all too often they have no experience with, or appreciation of the genres of music many singers love to sing. Here are some guidelines for locating the right teacher for you and finding singing lessons in the UK that work for you.

1. Take a session with a teacher (many offer free first sessions). During that session listen carefully and ask such questions as: “I love to sing punk (or metal or country, etc). What is your opinion about that?” If they even hint at wanting to change you from what you love to sing to what THEY feel you should be singing, DON’T GO BACK. It’s your voice and you know what you want to sing. The job of a good voice teacher is to help you become better and better at what you already sing, not to change you.

2. A session with a teacher will also tell you their approach to teaching. If you don’t respond well to a strict authoritative demanding teacher, that isn’t going to change, and you probably won’t improve nearly as well as when you work with a teacher who puts you at ease, is knowledgeable and doesn’t yell. On the other hand, if you’ve always responded well to strict discipline and heavy handed teachers you’ll know if this is the right one for you. You must be able to trust and feel comfortable with the teacher. You’re purchasing their services. Be very choosy. Just because many singers recommended this person doesn’t necessarily mean they are right for you.

3. Ask around. Visit some clubs and when you hear a singer you like a lot ask them if they study and with whom. If they don’t study, perhaps they are familiar with a teacher in the area who comes well recommended. Don’t rely on credentials alone to influence your choice. Some of the worst teachers for pop and rock singers are professors at major universities. The same goes for the teacher who is known for working with all classical or opera singers. They may be great teachers, but they probably won’t be great for you.

4. Be aware that you are doing this to challenge yourself and improve. The right teacher shouldn’t be “milk toast.” You’ll know after that first session if that teacher is going to inspire you and challenge you to find your potential.

5. Ask questions. If you are female you need to know where they stand concerning the development of your chest voice. Too many teachers classify students as sopranos or altos, and teach them that the chest or head voice is bad for you. Pop music demands you be able to use all the parts of your voice.

Chicago Music Lessons: Completely Real

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

Even 5 year olds that care about music shouldn’t
help but to find a good teacher who gives guitar lessons, or the
instrument to his or her preference, and master it. A professional
guitar school in Chicago probably has talented instructors who will
demonstrate you learn to read and play in various types of sounds,
styles and rhythms. A music student wouldn’t have to walk terribly far
to find a Chicago music school offering likable and professional
guitar or piano masters.

Let’s talk about piano lessons. You know, the piano is a
tremendously popular instrument (I also recommend picking up the the
xylophone). They are adored for their flexibility. A talented guitar
teacher would let you play a remarkably mind-blowing diddy each
lesson. Unlike traditional piano classes, brand-new Chicago piano
teachers are the hip up-and-coming way to jam with and to guitar, or
piano.

So what, maybe you only recently picked it up or you haven’t played
since you plopped took your first breath–Lake View Chicago piano
lessons should encourage you learn the tunes that you hear. Consider
these piano lessons in
Chicago
, Parent and Kid singing lessons, easy music classes for
kids and especially accoustic vocal lessons. It never fails, many will
still tell you to study your the bedrock skills like guitar scales and
musical timing before moving onto beloved violin music you love. You
can ask those bozos to back off, because most music schools are
low-cost,

Spirited music students are training in a completely different
philosophy. Essentially there are lots of various plans of attack!
However, the greatest thing to recall is that singing lessons, and
music classes of any genre was meant to be fun. It’s hard to fail
making music, because whatever discordant note you strike, can be made
to belong by the following measure. Piano teachers can never be
besmirched.

From Kings Of Leon to Michael Jackson: in 2009, Fans Buy Tickets Online

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009

It’s ALWAYS been tough to get hold of a ticket for a concert or a sports event. For Instance, the whole 2.5 million tickets were bought up for the 2009 U2 tour of the US. So just how can someone who’s in full time employment get their mitts on a ticket if they’re selling out so quickly?

They have to buy one resold online.

Not so long ago, the only method to purchase a second-hand concert or sports ticket was through a dodgy ticket tout just outside the premises of the event. This meant paying over the odds, or even perhaps being given bogus tickets which would likely be identified as such as you tried to enter the event – and that means you miss the music gig or sports event while throwing away your dosh by being defrauded.

However, the situation has improved for sports and music fans. Thanks to the web, the ticket resale niche has cleaned up its act in the last decade. Now there is so much competition to resell tickets on the internet, the market has actually become self-regulating. You’re selling the ticket for HOW much money?! I’ll look elsewhere! Many vendors offer very cheap insurance if the gig or event is called off. And with stiff competition online, secondary tickets have come right down in price to the point that sometimes you’re not paying much more than the face value price. Many ticket purchasers look at prices between dozens of traders selling resold tickets for the same concert / event. They check the sale prices, seating, insurance, and even previous history of the seller prior to deciding to purchase or not – so the force has considerably transferred away from the dodgy tout of days gone by to the ticket buyer.

Today you can get tickets for many kinds of concerts and sporting events. From soccer to basketball matches to cricket, to getting hold of front row seats for your favourite band; resale tickets offer a 2nd chance to go to the gig you want to go to. So what to anticipate online? Use a search engine like Google and type in your keyphrase like Kings of Leon tickets, and you will see a large array of resale ticket brokers who have the ticket you’re looking for.

Not everyone is content with resale tickets though. Some individuals label secondary ticket vendors as leeches, and wish to see the banning of resale tickets. They don’t seem to see the valuable service resale tickets bring : there’s such a small sliver of time that someone can buy a ticket when it goes on sale the first time around.

Piano Lessons for Kids – Piano Tips for Young Students that Really Work

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

Learning strategies are important for piano students. Having developed great learning strategies over years of teaching experience is what makes good teachers. Young piano students, however, need a bit of guidance to practice their music at home using effective strategies to develop good playing habits. Without this they may not acquire the basic knowledge and skills necessary to move forward. Plus, there is no point in having your child spend 30 minutes practicing incorrectly without learning their pieces when the material can be mastered in 10 minutes with good practice habits.

Imagine little Susie or Johnny at the piano delighted to be learning to play, but having so much trouble mastering their first lessons at home. They’re not getting the guidance they need because their parents who may not play the piano assume they can’t help and that the weekly piano lesson is all the guidance their young student needs. These assumptions are not true. It’s easy to help your young student at home even if you don’t play the piano. Here are 5 tips for parents to help their young children use effective learning strategies at home and develop good paying habits.

Remind your child practicing piano at home to:

1. Sing the note names as they are played. Pre-reading music has the names of the notes written on the note heads. Students need to say the names of then notes as they are played so they learn to visualize what keys are under their fingers in beginning hand positions C and Middle C. Without this simple knowledge, students will not b able to go on to learning to read notes on the staff.

2. Keep eyes on the music, not the hands. Once students have their hand position, they need to keep their eyes on the music and not look down at their hands. This way they are developing a keyboard in their imaginations. This is also necessary for reading notes on the staff, which is just a map of the piano keyboard.

3. Sit back on the piano bench and reach out to the piano. Students will not be able to use their small muscles in the fingers unless they are reaching out to the piano with their arms extended and elbows slightly bent with elbows pointing to the walls and not the floor.

4. Round the hands over the keyboard. The fingers need to stretch down to the piano keys from the top knuckle and then retract back to a rounded hand position. This allows for finger flexibility and control.

5. Play each song 5 to 7 times a day. It doesn’t take long for a young student to practice their beginning lessons. But each song needs to be played about 7 times using good playing strategies. For the average student whose teacher has assigned them two songs, this will take about 5 minutes a song. That’s a ten minute practice session. And that’s really all beginning students need to do to learn their lessons. But without these strategies they could sit at the piano for hours and never learn what they need to know.

Guide your young piano student at home with these 5 practice easy to use practice tips and no one will ever know that their parents don’t play the piano!

Cynthia VanLandingham - EzineArticles Expert Author

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You’ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child – right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f’ree internet newsletter so you can download f’ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com