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Learning to play classical guitar is a skill that should be regarded seriously. Classical guitar has a long record and many practices that must be respected and defended when you learn how to play classical guitar.

Attitude

Attitude is a crucial factor when you learn how to play classical guitar. When learning there are a couple of things you must do before you start. You have to be prepared to let go of all your old habits, and be ready to accept new habits and instruction simply. Many people fail at classical guitar because they can’t let go of old habits learned with modern guitar.

The art of classical guitar

Classical guitar is an art form that goes back many centuries. The traditions and history involved in classical guitar are wonderful and interesting. It is important when you first learn to play classical guitar that you take the time to research the history and beginnings of the classical guitar to give you a full understanding on the instrument.

Become one with your guitar

When you learn to play classical guitar you need to understand your guitar and make it an extension of your body. Movement should be smooth and fluid. Playing classical guitar should feel natural and spiritual, this will be displayed in your music and the way you appear when playing. Become one with your classical guitar and you will find everything else will come easily to you.

Relaxation

When you learn how to play classical guitar relaxation is vital. Learning to chill your body and move with the instrument will make sure you move thru chords and notes simply. Often it can be difficult to let go of the stiff stiff position we are used to while playing modern guitar, but when you let go and relax you’ll find your music will improve.

Teachings

Many teachings have been authored for people who need to learn how to play classical guitar. Finding the proper technique for you may be a long process. The simplest way to find the right teaching technique for you is to analyze and try different teachings till you find the one that works best for you.

Basic principles

Understanding the principles when you first learn how to play classical guitar is crucial to future success. Fundamental principles will offer you a good foundation for success in the world of classical guitar.

Classical guitar is a fun and rewarding instrument. When you first learn how to play classical guitar it may appear like you’ll never improve or become as good as the pros. The thing to keep in mind is the pro classical guitar players all started where you are. They were all once newbs too and they achieved success by practicing and learning their craft.

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Jarvis D. Burris

If you ask any experienced pianist they will tell you that it took them years of practice and dedication to get them to the level of skill that they possess today. So is it possible to learn to play piano fast? You may not be able to instantly move from the world of the novice to that of the professional pianist but that is not to say that there are not ways to quickly improve your playing.

One method in particular that will have you playing piano fast is that of taking note of your posture as you play the piano. It might sound like something that wouldn’t make a lot of difference but take some time to study pianists as they play; they all have great posture and never seem to struggle to play the piano. You can know all the basics of playing the piano but without having correct posture you will never be able to know how to play piano fast.

It is easier to teach children how to correct their posture at the piano but even adults can improve easily with the following five posture pointers:

Pointer 1 – As you sit down to play the piano create an image in your mind of yourself as a giraffe, your long neck elevating your head toward the ceiling of the room.

Pointer 2 – Imagine that your arms are now the wings of a bird; stretch them to your sides so that your elbows become horizontally pointed.
Pointer 3 – Your fingers are the legs of a spider; walk them over the keys of your piano as such.

Pointer 4 – As you sit beside your piano consider yourself to be the greatest pianist that ever walked the face of the earth. Let confidence ooze out of you.

Pointer 5 – Imagine that the bench has been coated with some potent super glue to prevent you from shifting forward. Your elbows should be level with your stomach, with your fingers just reaching the keys.

Using your imagination may feel strange at first but the more you utilize these five pointers as you prepare yourself to play the easier the process will become, and the more successful.

The next time you sit beside your piano make sure that you take these five pointers and do them one at a time; they will only help you to improve your playing if followed effectively. You will never see a pianist slouching by their instrument so why should you be any different?

A good posture will start you on the path to piano playing success, and will help you to learn piano fast. Remember that your lessons are important and although you will want to play piano fast if you don’t spend the time going over the things that you have learnt you will never be successful. Don’t skip past lessons that you are struggling with and don’t forget to return to old lessons thinking that you won’t need them again.

The truth of the matter is it is impossible to learn to play piano fast, but small improvements to your posture as you sit beside your instrument will certainly help you. How is your posture even now as you read this article? Keep those five pointers in mind and see what difference they make as you try to play piano fast.

Copyright Lauren Paltrow (Stage Pianist)

Are you looking into the different ways of learning how to play the guitar? Would you like to play the guitar in a band? Or are you simply looking for online guitar lessons for beginners? The guitar is still a very popular instrument among both children and adults alike.

My eight year old child came home one evening very excited, after spending the day at his friend’s house.

“I want to learn how to play the guitar Dad”.

“Why son, what has made you suddenly decide you want to play now?”

“Because they are amazing that is why Dad. Jack (his friend) has an electric guitar and he let me play on it.”

“OK”

“Can you buy me a guitar Dad?”

“Calm down!”

“Please dad”

“We will have to wait and see”

As you can see my son was rather eager to learn to play the guitar which has to be a positive thing in reality.

I am certainly not an expert when it comes to any form of musical instrument; my line of work varies between offering business cost cutting, selling front doors and advising people on where they can obtain cheap hotel deals. I therefore decided that it would be prudent to try and find a professional guitar teacher.

My son has now been learning to play his new guitar for the last six months and he is still as eager today as he was back then.

I actually think that it is has been superb for his overall character building and you never know he may one day become part of a famous band such as the Rolling Stones. Well the early signs are very positive and last week he even performed in front of his school friends at the morning school assembly. I went along to watch him and I have to say that I was extremely proud and that he was extremely impressive.

Playing piano by ear removes the necessity to drag your music sheets with you wherever you may go to play. It opens the door to be able to make beautiful music as simply as humming a tune. Perhaps you have always desired to play the piano but have never been able to master reading music. If any of that appeals to you then it could make sense for you to learn to play piano by ear.

Many musical professionals weren’t blessed with having piano instructors come to teach them the basics, many of them didn’t spend hours wading through musical manuals. Instead they learnt to follow the tone of a piece of music and to play along accordingly.

Before starting to play piano by ear you will need to assemble the required equipment. First and foremost you will need access to a piano or a keyboard. Ensure that your chosen instrument is in tune and stretch your fingers ready to begin.

The piano is made up of 88 keys out of which pour 12 distinct notes. These notes are known as letters of the alphabet, from A to G. After you hit a G-note on the piano the next note will be another A; this will be repeated until you reach the end of the piano. As for the blank keys on the piano; these will play a flat or a sharp note.

As you start to learn to play piano by ear you will realize the importance of the C-note, often referred to as the ‘Home Key’. This key is found easily by looking for the white key on the piano that is directly before two black keys. The middle-C can generally be found at the very center of your instrument.

In order to play a basic C chord first locate this middle-C and place your thumb on it. Start counting the keys to the right of where your thumb is located, including all white and all black keys, until you have counted to five.
At this point place your middle finger on the key as this will be the second note in what will be your C chord. To find the last note of the chord continue your count until you reach eight (don’t start again, continue from where you got to before, the number five) and place your pinkie on the key that you reach. Press down on each key together and you have just played your first C chord.

You’ll need to familiarize yourself with that chord sequence in order to learn how to play piano by ear. You can create a chord starting with any note using that one, five, eight counting pattern so long as you always remember to count the black keys as well. If you want to make a sharp chord to vary your music simply place your thumb on a sharp key to start with and you’ll see that your other fingers will end up in the right place to create a beautiful tone.

Spend time to practice a range of different chords and through counting and listening attentively to the sounds produced you’ll be starting to learn piano by ear. You’ll learn that if you drop chord number five it will produce chord number four; a minor chord. As an example having played a C chord dropping your fingers one key to the left will create the haunting C minor chord instead.

Through listening closely you’ll soon recognize the differences in the different sounds, the slight differences in tune will become noticeable to you as you start to master piano by ear.

Practice makes perfect and without it you won’t be able to distinguish those many different notes. Don’t limit yourself to practicing with chords at the center of your piano, experiment up and down the piano. Also try not to focus too much on using just your right hand and just a few fingers; experiment, get your left hand into the play and before you know it you’ll be well on your way to playing the piano by ear.

Copyright Lauren Paltrow

Learning to play the piano does not have to be a difficult process. No matter what genres of music you enjoy, from rock to pop, alternative to jazz, you will be able to play them on the piano. However to start to play music in these different genres it is first essential to learn how to play blues piano.
The blues piano is a style of music that will help you to eliminate problems in mastering other styles of music once you have learned to play blues piano successfully. Keep reading to fully understand blues music and how to go about playing it on the piano.

The 12-bar blues is a common progression important in helping you to learn blues piano. The majority of pianists will use seventh chords in the playing of this blues form. Songs will be split into three sets with four bars in each, giving the twelve bars where the form takes its name from. To allow for easy transition in key we refer to the notes to be played in different terms, we will start with playing a C note, so the character ‘I’ will represent the C key, while ‘IV’ will represent an F, and ‘V’ will represent the note G.

The three sets in this basic song are played as follows:

Set one: I-I-I-I
Set two: IV-IV-I-I
Set three: V-IV-I-I

Play these three sets using your right hand and before you know it you’ll be creating a sound akin to the blues piano through the mastering of these seventh chords.

Let’s consider your left hand. As your right hand plays the chords your left hand will be playing a pattern consisting of eight notes. The pattern itself is this:
I-III-V-VI-VIIb-VI-V-III

As you are playing the C chord with your right hand the actual notes you’ll be playing with your left hand will be C-E-G-A-Bb-A-G-E, as you play the F chord you’ll play the notes F-A-C-D-Eb-D-C-A and finally as you play the G chord the notes will be G-B-D-E-F-E-D-B.

It can be very easy to learn blues piano if you are already familiar with playing notes and chords on the piano. However even if you are not experienced with the above, simple blues piano lesson you’ll be mastering the 12-bar blues in C, allowing you to move on to try it in many different keys.

Before you can work your way up to playing your preferred style of music you need to learn blues piano. This strong foundation will help to make learning new lessons far easier. The different styles available on the piano can be incredibly difficult to master so develop your strong foundation to enable you to wow your audience with the elegance and praise you will develop in your playing.

A good piano teacher will be able to help you learn to play blues piano but if you can’t find or afford one never fear. There are plenty of other resources available such as online lessons and DVDs, or even books. With these beginner blues piano resources you’ll be able to set your own pace and learn how you want to. With a bit of determination and the right tools to help you you’ll be playing blues piano before you know it.

It can take years of hard learning and a lot of practice to truly master the art of the piano so building a strong foundation through blues piano lessons will put you in a good place to master your art and become a great pianist.

Copyright Lauren Paltrow

For some parents the task of finding or selecting a good violin teacher can be scary . This many not be the easiest of tasks but with a little help from these guidelines, you will sure to be able to find the perfect violin teacher for your child.

A parent will have to decide whether to have private violin lessons for his child or to put him in a group so that he is encouraged to play the instrument in the beginning. To enroll your child in a group can be beneficial but to have private violin lessons at home by a violin teacher is the best.

Let us know why it is the best for your child. Firstly, there are no distractions at home when the child learns. The teacher is careful in teaching according to the child’s learning pace that is very comfortable for the student whereas learning in a group can be difficult for some learners. Having a personal violin teacher is advantageous as the teacher is able to form a schedule for themselves in such a way that is best suited to your requirements but when teaching a group this is not possible for the teacher. When a student is learning at home he or she is able to have an individual feedback which helps them immensely to learn faster. The teacher is able to give all his undivided attention to the student during violin lessons. Occasions where a child is shy to ask questions will be more frequent in a classroom situation rather than at home, with a private violin teacher, where he will feel more relaxed and less likely to be scared of rejection. Slow learners also tend to slow down the group, not beneficial for somebody who wants a faster pace in the lesson development.

Once the number of violin teacher candidates is shorlisted, a one on one interview should be scheduled for each, at the earliest possible time and the following questions put forth, so that you can make an intelligent selection of the best violin teacher.

How long has the teacher been teaching and what other accomplishments and awards, if any, he has acquried. The teacher must have a comprehensive lesson plan and goals thatn he shows reguarly also to the parents. Without proper goals the desired results may not be achieved and so it is important that the violin teacher has a preplanned schedule for himself and the student. The terms of payment should be clarified as early as possible and put in writing to avoid misunderstanding. The parent is eager to know how many students the teacher has taught so far and what has been the performance of the students individually so as to know the level of playing the students were able to achieve during the learning stage.

Patience is a desirable virtue in a teacher plus a relevant teaching experience. Being a great performer should not really be a requirement but will help if experience is lacking. Will they be able to accurately and objectively provide feedbacks to both parents and students. Will they be able to calm any misgivings the parents and students have?

The cello is one of the most popular musical instruments and renowned for its haunting music. The instrument is said to be almost three centuries old and is distinguished from the violin by its much bigger and longer body.

One can learn playing the cello from a tender age as the musical instrument comes in many different sizes, from the full size beginning from ¾, ½,¼ to the smallest size.

The cello teachers  in singapore have adopted the “Suzuki method” of teaching which originated in Japan and requires a lot of parental involvement and can be taught to children as young as 3 to 4 years old.

Although it is really not necessary for a learner to start young, it is definitely an advantage to let your playing develop in stages as you grow older. The cello, as a musical instrument, is relatively easy to learn.

The lessons are much like the violin lessons, only since the fingerboard of the cello has no markings to guide the fingers, it can be more difficult to memorize where your fingers should go. You have to rely more on your ears to make the right position so teachers and parents will have to be more patient at this point.

For a start, you have to be clear about your reasons for wanting to learn to play the violin. If you have a passion and a strong desire to learn the cello singapore only then it is advisable to go ahead with it or else it will be a complete waste of time.

Once you have decided to be a really good cellist, then you should set a realistic goal for yourself with the corresponding time fram. That lends motivation to a student to practice more frequently and more consistently. The next step would be to search for a good and efficient teacher.

You can seek your parents help if required. Try and visit two or more teachers and see how they teach and then make up your mind as to whom to learn from seeing your own schedule and way of learning the instrument.

Once you have decided, you can now concentrate on learning the basic skills and techniques necessary to playing the cello. It is important to learn slowly and not rush because one might learn the wrong techniques in the beginning and that can be disastrous later as it becomes a habit. And habits are difficult to change and takes years to correct.

Some of these habits can be physically injurious as well so it is advisable for a beginner to learn the right techniques slowly.

Initially, practice for a short duration and then gradually increase the time according to your comfort level. Try and perform at school or the community center in order to gain performing experience.

Finally, a learner should concentrate to practice the scales and arpeggios properly as it will make him play the cello in singapore in the best manner.

Have you ever thought about learning to play piano? Well, before you get started there are some myths out there about playing the piano that you should know about.

Teach Yourself to Play Piano
The first myth is that you need to be born with natural talent.

If you believe this then you will never learn to play. The truth is that anybody can learn to play the piano if they really want to. It takes some practice and patience, but you can learn to play. The piano was designed so that anyone can play it if they take the time to learn and are dedicated enough. The piano, like the guitar, actually helps you with the different colored keys.

The second myth is that the piano is easy to learn.

Well, the piano is easier then some instruments to learn, you won’t be able to sit down and start playing immediately. Learning the piano actually take dedication, practice and patience. Even though you might find information indicating that you can play a complicated piece of music after only a couple lessons, this is actually false. There are many scales and notes that you must first learn. Even after you learn these things you will still need to learn the variations for each. The various notes and scales are what actually make playing the piano so interesting.

The third myth is playing piano by ear is easier than notation.

This is completely untrue. In fact they are both fairly even. The truth is that these two methods are so different that you can’t really compare the two. Comparing the two methods would be like someone saying that apples and oranges are the same as far as taste. It is actually a preference. If you like playing piano by ear then you should play that way and if you like sheet music than definitely use it. Either one requires the same amount of practice.

The fourth myth is that everyone should learn classical music before moving onto other types.

The fact is that it really doesn’t matter what type of music you start out playing because they all require you to learn the same basic elements. All genres of music need the same scales and chords in order to play. This is true for learning the piano, and only when you get more advanced will you see any variation. So it really doesn’t matter what kind of music you actually want to play you can learn on any type of genre.

The last myth that we will cover is that children learn faster than adults.

It really doesn’t matter what age you are. What it comes down to is the amount of time you spend practicing. Whether your young or old you can learn how to play the piano, if you really want to.

Copyright Lauren Paltrow (Stage Pianist)

When learning how to play the guitar, the chords tend to be the most difficult thing to master. Learning them can be a massive challenge. To begin with, you are using multiple fingers to play multiple strings all at once! The combinations and finger placements can appear very confusing.

There are a couple of misconceptions when it comes to finger placement. For instance, don’t think that the size of your fingers has anything to do with lack of success. This is absolutely not true. However, most of the problem when playing guitar chords is hand PLACEMENT. You especially need to learn how to properly place your left hand and fingers.

Are you struggling with your lessons? Check to see if your left thumb is positioned high up on the back of the guitar neck. If it is, then the placement is wrong. Your left thumb should sit on the LOWER portion of the back. It needs to be behind the second finger. Sure, it will probably feel uncomfortable at first, but it is the correct posture for many styles.

You need to remember this posture. Sure, it’s simple to play a couple of songs or notes and then return to your old habit, but that will only encourage the bad habit. Remember: practicing good habits is crucial when learning guitar chords.
Common Mistakes
Successfully learning is heavily prevented by lack of support and knowledge. When you are struggling to play a five string chord, you are probably making two big mistakes:
1.    For starters, attempting to master a five string chord is a mistake when you’re just learning. Instead, you should focus on a two or three string chord, as they are much easier to learn. Later on down the road you can move on to more complex chords.
2.    Secondly, proper placement of the fingers is essential. For instance, it wasn’t until after a few months of playing when I realized that I was practicing incorrectly. The tutorial videos at the Learn & Master Guitar website showed me that I was incorrect with my finger placement.

If you want to learn chords, it is important to learn the correct way, which can be tough without an expert, or at least some type of formal training. However, guitar lessons usually aren’t cheap.

You need to check out a resource such as Learn and Master Guitar. That way, you will have access to many techniques, lessons, and tips that you would learn from a private teacher. The best thing is, these online lessons are way more affordable!

Lessons + Practice = Tons of success!

Make sure you take some lessons, no matter what form they come in. You aren’t going to learn guitar chords and songs without good lessons. Whether you have the money and time for private lessons or simply come across a good lesson online isn’t relevant. Just find yourself a good lesson, learn from it, and practice!

Practice is crucial. It’s recommended that you set aside a half hour to an hour every single day for guitar practice. This may not seem like a lot of time, but it’s actually best to not play more than a half hour or so each day. This is because you may become more or pick up bad habits. Instead, just set aside 30 minutes or so every day and make sure there are no distractions.

Spend a good fifteen minutes focused exclusively on the chords. Begin with basic and simple chords. Within a couple of weeks, you will not only play them like a pro, but you will also switch back and forth between them with ease!

Successful guitar chords learning requires practice and dedication just as much as it requires skill. Make up your mind that you are going to learn no matter what! You really can do this. Remember that chords are pretty much the foundation for every song, therefore you should be able to play a TON of great songs once you learn the chords!

Are you ready to dive in and get some awesome video lessons so that you can learn from the pros?

Copyright Liam Gibson (Stage Guitarist)

Guitar Tab, it’s the first music that most beginner guitar players learn to use. Of course when you see it for the first time it may not make a lot of sense to you. If you’ve used a learn to play guitar dvd or other guitar lesson program they tend to introduce tab early on in their lessons since it’s the easiest form of musical notation to understand. If this is your first intro to guitar tab don’t worry I’ll go easy on you, and if you’re using a guitar lesson course at home rest assured you will have some lessons on reading tab.

In this article you’ll learn how to create tabs, how to read them and how to play guitar tabs. After you read this guitar tab lesson you should be able to read most basic tabs and understand how to play them. Starting out take your time learning tabs, it’s a good idea to master a song or piece from a tab slow first then add speed, accuracy is what makes a great guitar player.

Let’s get started

How Guitar Tab is Constructed

A guitar tab is like looking at your guitar neck if the guitar was in the case. A guitar tab has 6 lines, one for each string on your guitar. The top line of guitar tab corresponds to the first string on your guitar or the high E. The bottom string on a guitar tab corresponds to the sixth string or your low E string.

Here’s a quick example

1st ——–
2nd ——–
3rd ——–
4th ——–
5th ——–
6th ——–

Understanding the Notes of Guitar Tab

The second part of reading guitar tabs is knowing which note or fret to play on each string. The nice thing about tab is you don’t need to know note names, it’s all about playing particular frets on particular strings.

Here’s another example

1st -2——
2nd ——–
3rd ——–
4th —–6–
5th ——–
6th ——-3

The numbers on each line in the above tab are telling you which fret to press down on which string. In the above example you’re to play the second fret on the first string, then the sixth fret on the fourth string followed by the third fret on the sixth string.

A full song tabbed will look just like the above example with lines and numbers. Some songs will be all single notes on one or two strings while others will have full tabbed chords to play. There’s an example chord tabbed below, it’s a C major chord.

1st ———
2nd –1—–
3rd —2—-
4th ——–
5th —3—-
6th —x—-

Above it the right fingering for a C major chord. You might have noticed the ‘x’ on the sixth string, this is something we haven’t looked at before the X means you do not play this string. This usually appears for tabbed chords so if you see an X skip that string when strumming.

Using this lesson you’ll be able to learn the majority of popular songs on the guitar using tabs. Of course there are more advanced parts of guitar tablature that you’ll need to learn such as slides and hammer ons or offs, but this will get you started.

Quality guitar lesson dvd will help you with more advanced parts of learning guitar tabs. I’d urge you to continue to learn beyond just what this guitar tab lesson will teach you. Understanding how to read music and more advanced guitar skills will allow you to grow as a musician.