Mega Music Talent

Posts Tagged ‘instrument’

It is always interesting and advantageous to learn at least one musical instrument. It is a good way to express yourself through music, develop your skills and boost your confidence.

Playing a musical instrument is more than just a pastime. Not all people appreciate music. It helps in personality development but once they do, the way they perceive life will surely be more positive. The profuse benefits one could reap in learning to play a musical instrument are astounding.

Life is too short, as much as possible you would want to try out everything and never miss out a chance to play an instrument. So now embark in a journey and see how you can take advantage of playing an instrument.

You open up your world to meeting lots of different people. It gives you access to a lot of avenues. You get the liberty of interacting with a diverse crowd. Music serves as a bridge connecting not only musically inclined people but all those who appreciate it. It is a perfect channel for you to get along with very talented musicians, ask advice, exchange opinions and most of all gain new friends. Read the rest of this entry »

To some, the violin is considered one of the most beautiful musical instruments that exist. The violin has been around for centuries and has been a favorite to a lot of people for a long time. The violin is also very beautiful in both appearance as well as how it sounds. The violin can remind you of love, happiness, sadness, and even anger. The violin can truly bring out emotions inside of you that you haven’t experienced for a long time, or take you back to a time long ago.

So, instead of having to rely on listening to others play the violin, or if you don’t know anyone that knows how to play the violin, why not learn how to play the violin yourself? That is why I decided to write this article. So here we go, here is a list of 5 reasons why you should learn how to play the violin.

First off, buying a violin is not expensive as you might think! Some people assume that you have to spend hundreds of dollars to get a violin. That’s not true. There are good violins that you can buy for under $100. The Cecilio CVN-200 violin which I recommend goes for $100 on Amazon. So you don’t have to have a lot of money to buy a violin.

Second, it’s not as difficult as you might think to learn how to play a violin! You don’t even need to take any classes. There are some great programs online that you can buy and learn how to play the violin right from your own computer. Hopefully you don’t live in an apartment though.

Third, learning how to play the violin (or any musical instrument) is a great hobby. You’re using your mind, you’re listening to music, you’re learning a new skill, all at the same time. In addition, if you are going through a difficult time in life, the violin is a great way to take your mind off things.

Fourth, by learning how to play the violin, you could make a lot of people happy. If you knew how to play the violin, you could play it for a spouse or partner. Now wouldn’t that be a great valentines day present if you wrote a song for them? What about if you went on the street and played the violin to make a little extra money? There are a lot of ways that playing the violin could come in handy.

Finally, when you think about it, the violin is considered to be quite a historical musical instrument. People have been playing the violin since the 16th century. The violin is also the instrument that represents the ideal typical small town community from centuries ago. You could argue that owning a violin is kind of like owning a piece of history.

Well, hopefully these reasons have convinced you to consider buying and learning how to play the violin. No one can argue with the fact that it’s a beautiful instrument, and at $100 or less for a violin, it’s fairly inexpensive.

Good luck!

Author Bio: Justin has written dozens of articles on the internet and has been writing articles for many years. If you want to learn how to play the violin, consider checking out his blog at the link below. How To Play Violin

1. Some of you may think of someone playing the electronic keyboard as a “pianist”. Well you’d be wrong. They would actually be referred to (by someone who knows what they are talking about) as a “keyboardist”. Sounds clumsy, but it’s true.

2. The term “electronic keyboard” is used to mainly describe the cheap end portable home sequencing keyboards, but is also commonly used to include many variants such as the digital piano, the synthesizer, the electric organ and the arranger keyboard.

3. Many electronic keyboards commonly use MIDI signals to send and receive musical data. MIDI is essentially a sequence of instructions that identify the sound used, the note pressed, the duration of that press, although the complexity of the MIDI system will vary with each keyboard. Some cheaper end models of electric keyboard (such as keyboard toys) simply will not output that data.

4. Many keyboards have the ability to add a “foot switch” or “sustain pedal” as it is commonly referred to. The application of the foot switch enables a pressed note to “ring” for longer and better replicate the sounds of many keyboard based instruments including the organ and the piano.

5. Electronic keyboards across the world have been commonly built by instrument manufacturers such as Alesis, Casio, Ensoniq, E-mu, Kawai, Ketron, Korg, Kurzweil Music Systems, M-Audio, Moog Music, Ne-Ko, Roland, Technics, Yamaha and Sonic to name but a few!

6. Features that keyboardists would be interested in when choosing a keyboard include touch response, after touch, polyphony (the number of notes that can be played at the same time), multi-timbre (playing more than one instrument at the same time), tempo, split point (the ability to split the playing area into different instruments), style, synchronisation, auto harmony, wheels and knobs (to control and vary different features on the keyboard) and response (weighted or spring loaded).

7. Synthesizers are actually slightly different from the standard electronic keyboard in that they can produce a variety of sounds by generating, combining and distorting signals of different frequencies. Unlike the keyboard, the synthesizer produces an electric signal (rather than an acoustic signal) which can then be played through an amplifier of some kind. Synthesizers are most commonly controlled by a keyboard device, although this is often integrated into the machinery.

8. Perhaps the most infamous synthesizer is the Moog Synthesizer, famous for its role in many 1970s and 1980s pop hits and popularly used by artists such as Jean Michelle Jarre and Duran Duran.

9. The earliest incarnations of the non-electric keyboard are the pipe organ, the hurdy gurdy and the harpsichord. The organ is the oldest of these from perhaps as early as the third century AD.

10. The first keyboard to be powered by electricity is said to be the “Ondes Martenot” which appeared in the early 20th century (approx. 1928). It is actually still played today in some French conservatoires thanks to some compositions written specifically for the Ondes Martenot. It produces eerie wavering notes and was produced by “varying the frequency of oscillation in thermionic valves”. Whatever than means…

Author Bio: This article was written by Chappell of Bond Street’s Yamaha keyboards department.

What a nightmare beginner piano lesson books can potentially be! It’s hard enough following the instructions of a second rate teacher that is attempting to communicate on a one to one basis with you. Now imagine a second rate manual or e-book, recently downloaded for piano assistance. Imagine the following instructions within the confusing purchase:

“Play legato while remembering your accentuation within this simple triple time.”

“Make sure that the sixteenth note syncopation is accented in the animato section.”

“Assume the triplets with a non-legato touch, while providing a sustained, rich sound in the allegro ma non troppo section of the final movement.”

What? Legato, simple triple, non troppo and syncopation are hard terms for a beginner pianist to grasp. If you know nothing about music, then the terms just mentioned are a recipe for a fairly substantial migraine, possibly accompanied with abdominal aches and pains.

In a world of online promises, much can be said about the sheer amount of information that one can attain. One of the tricks in buying the right type of beginner’s piano guide is to read carefully through the materials offered for free on the product’s author’s website. It’s a good bet that if you are not following the information on the actual site, then you are not going to enjoy the product being offered.

Websites are a bit like sampling food. The last thing that you’d do in a super-store is buy a sampled food product that has you doubled over in pain in aisle four, two minutes after having taste-tested it.

From an author’s standpoint, putting yourself in the shoes of your potential target customer or client is essential. In writing a manual for a beginner instrumentalist, assume that no knowledge is known about the instrument. All aspects, no matter how preliminary, should be covered. In the case of piano playing, clefs, notes, timing, rhythm, and all other essentials should be clearly demonstrated with both words and charts (possibly videos and mp3s as well).

Authors should also watch their vocabulary, as music is filled with many terms and phrases, in a variety of languages, which cannot be assumed knowledge for your potential client.

Experience comes into play when writing. If, for example, you have had a vast amount of teaching experience, then knowing how you dealt with your most challenging of students plays a key roll in writing effectively as an author. That having been said, potential buyers should weigh the author’s experience into the equation when purchasing a beginner’s guide.

However, experience is most certainly not a substitute for enthusiasm, style of writing, and effective communication of intelligent content. If, as a potential purchaser, you feel a connection with an author’s website, then that is most likely your best bet in calibrating whether or not you will enjoy the product being offered. Experience and references provide, of course, a nice auxiliary in making your final decision.

So what do you do the next time you come across a beginner piano website that has statements such as:

“Assuming the weight of your forearm in calibrating a bright martellato effect, don’t forget a sudden diminuendo to accommodate the string pizzicatos and legato oboe line that provide your accompaniment.”

I’ll tell you what you do. Run! Or better yet, click your mouse and move on. Beginner piano lesson books don’t have to be that complicated.

Come and join the author, Daniel E. Friedman, at http://www.musicmasterstudios.com for assistance in music education and comprehension.