To sing well, you need to breathe well. What does that even mean? Read on to find out more! The human voice is an amazing instrument that we carry with us everywhere we go. Part of what creates the unique sound of your own voice is air flow through the vocal chords as you exhale while singing or speaking. Therefore, controlling your breathing can help you control your voice! You may find yourself thinking, “But Read more…
Do you envy those musicians who can play by ear? Or perhaps you are one of them and wonder how it all works? Well generally it’s all about the patterns. Here’s some ideas to think about… Look for the patterns in the song: Most songs have easily identifiable sections like a verse , chorus or bridge, but within those sections, if you look closely, you will see that there are other patterns within those sections. For example, the drummer may play Read more…
We get asked this a lot. Why can’t I teach myself, or get lessons online? Of course, we are a little biased but here’s some things I might say in response… A tutor knows what you don’t know. Sure, there are hundreds of resources around on the Internet so why not use them? Well, remember that your tutor knows what you don’t know. If you don’t know why you should learn a natural minor scale, or what a scale mode Read more…
Did you know that you can learn more about music just by listening to songs? Try listening to a song by your favourite artist. Can you name the time signature? Try tapping out the beat. Is the tempo fast, or slow? Does it change during the song? You could create a “Time Signatures” playlist out of songs you know, to help you identify and understand time signatures. If you’re not sure what the time signature Read more…
I’ve always admired those people who can wiggle their ears, especially those who can move the left and right ones independently… no… wait… not that kind of ear training Mark! Of course, what we really are interested is musical ear training—the ability to hear a series of notes, a rhythm, or a chord pattern and understand it sufficiently to play it back , or sing it. Once some basic skills in this area are gained Read more…
Get a great instrument teacher and you’re all sorted, right? Well, it certainly helps, but have you ever thought about what it means to be a good student? After all, a good student with a great teacher has to be the most awesome of combination for your learning. Here’s a few points to consider: 1) Be prepared: This is pretty obvious but “can I borrow a pick” and “I left my music at home” are very common phrases that we hear from students. Why Read more…
Over the years I’ve heard countless musicians say that they won’t learn theory because it will “restrict their playing”. I’ve even heard someone say that they won’t learn scales—they would rather make up their own (I’m not convinced that this person will find a musically pleasing arrangement of music’s 12 notes that hasn’t already been found by millions of musicians over thousands of years but it’s an interesting idea!). It’s important to understand that although the two things are closely related, Read more…