Blog
By Justin R. Hansen
In the 90’s and the turn of the century, it seemed that any person you met knew whether they were left- or right-brained. They either felt that they strongly exhibited the traits of one half or they had taken a “test” to help them figure it out; just for fun, here’s a good one: http://testyourself.psychtests.com/bin/transfer
By Esther Joh
While in modern times standardization has affected the craft of piano building, in the 18th century instruments were still personal works of art. Therefore, pianos differed from town to town and from builder to builder. Although within geographical area craftsmen did influence one another, the distance between two cities as far apart as London and Vienna resulted in the establishing of two distinct schools of piano building: the Viennese and the English. Viennese made by Stein from the early 1770, developed by Anton Walter, who built Mozart's own piano in the early 1780s. English were developed through Backers, a Dutch-born harpsichord maker resident in London, and John Broadwood.
By Connor Ritchie
The guitar is a unique template for delivering music and has a resounding role in the canon of popular and classical music. This is common knowledge. However, how do we know that the guitar will stay relevant and stand the test of time? Even though it is one of the few polyphonic (multiple musical voices occurring simultaneously) solo instruments, it simply does not have the same level of command of many different voices that the piano does. So why is the guitar revered at all, if this is the case? There are many arguments to counter this question, but there is one that often does not get considered – the classical guitar is a master at manipulating tone color. The location and delivery of the stroke of a finger has such a large effect on the overall sound of the guitar that a player can immediately evoke a completely fresh and new atmosphere from just one shift of the hand.
By Kate MacKenzie
You never know what doors will open for you as a musician. I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel worldwide with my bassoon as early as middle school. It is amazing how music can cross all language and cultural divides; it allows us to share a fundamental human experience with all sorts of people. This has been such a special perk of being a musician that I did not expect as a child when I first began music lessons.
By William Muñoz
Whether a student is interested in becoming a professional musician, private lessons are a great way for students to improve and develop their musical skills.
Because my main area of teaching is Brass (trumpet, trombone, horn, tuba) I will focus this blog on the newcomer band student. As a trumpet player I understand the challenges that one can encounter with brass instruments. It is my goal to help, guide, and mentor students in this wonderful journey of music.
y Alexis Rastovich
Since the day they start walking, it is always a struggle to keep children away from out-in-the-open pianos or making unnecessary noises from their little voice boxes. My question is, why do we restrain them from these instruments? In fact, why do we keep ourselves away from unknown instruments? Yes, it sometimes is inconvenient to listen to the sounds of imperfect harmony, but the active learning that occurs when exploring is vital to our ability to grow as a musician, and perhaps more importantly, to grow as a person.
By Jason Jackowich
With drum lessons ranging from only 30 to 60 minutes a week, it’s very important to be looking at ways to maximize that time. What do we actually retain? What were those breakout chops we learned?
I remember sitting down to my kit the day after a breakthrough lesson, picking up my sticks, and then ended up just staring at them for a bit. There was no way I could duplicate what I had learned. Sure the particular beat or chop was written down for me, but when I began practicing it, I wasn't able to conjure the same energy that I had in lesson. Why is this the case?
By Esther Joh
There is a population explosion of older people, many of whom are eager to study the piano. Therefore greater attention than ever before is currently focused on instructional techniques and materials for the person who begins piano study later. Claims are made that within the past few years more adults have begun piano instruction than children. A relatively large number of books have appeared since 1960 whose titles indicate that they are written for the adult beginner. Articles in professional magazines offer advice on what must be borne in mind when merits of offering instruction for the adult beginner. Since the title “adult beginner” is elusive, the authors of “The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher” classified six categories of adult students:
