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Often when I am performing a piece of music and it's going really well - all that practice really paid off! - I start thinking, "wow, things are going really well. This sounds really good!" But as that thought floats through my head my playing falls apart and I make mistakes. Then my mind starts arguing with itself to ...
I am interested in the history of Southern Gospels and Spirituals. How did these styles begin? What are the history's behind them? Can you suggest an article concerning the history? Are there differences between these styles? If so. What are they? Can anyone recommend some songs or artist for examples? I am interested...
Johann Sebastian Bach is undoubtedly among the most celebrated of Baroque composers, and to many the great composer in all history. The era of the late 17th and early 18th centuries in which he lived, however, means that his life was not as well documented as (say) Beethoven's was. In particular, I am interested in the...
Is it a bad habit to use an electronic tuner while practicing an instrument in which the notes are not fixed after tuning (e.g. violin, trombone)? I'm asking because I've heard a lot of people say that it's a bad idea because you are using visual feedback when instead you should be hearing whether you are in or out of...
I'm volunteering at my high school, teaching violin/viola to beginners so that they can join the school orchestra, and I've run into a bit of a stump: they all started out as complete beginners, but their skill levels are starting to vary for various reasons. Some of them already have experience on other instruments, w...
I read the book The Talent Code from Daniel Coyle a couple of years ago. It defines talent as the combination of three main concepts: Deep Practice, Ignition and Master Coaching. The first concept, "deep practice", refers to those moments where you are not only practicing but also you are doing it right. This is the op...
I don't have access to a piano every day of the week, but want to keep my flexibility. Searching on the Internet, I found many kinds of contraptions and devices that claim that they help keep and improve dexterity and strength. Including: Finger weights, where small weighted rings are worn on each finger Buttons that ...
Music is quite universal in the sense that you can hand a musician almost anywhere in the world a piece of sheet music and they will be able to understand it. I've been wondering this for a while now; when was the first recorded use of the musical score we use today?
I'd like to learn how to sight-read on my own, but practicing the same song over and over again just causes me to memorize it, and filling out worksheets is boring. Is there any good software for learning how to sight-read? I'm envisioning something that just drills you with note after note, then later chord after cho...
What are the parameters of music to consider so that the resulting composition is suitable as a background music when reading, studying or doing some mental work? I'm interested in parameters like tempo, rhythm, instruments, elements of music supporting concentration and make the book more colorful (compare it to spee...
Arpeggiators are fairly common in dance music, particularly trance. In this example you can see he is pressing just one key and letting the keyboard do the rest for him, and it changes up and down. How does this tie in with the theoretical side of music or chords to pick complimentary chords?
A typical modern score for Haydn has a boatload of editorial suggestions for dynamics, staccato, tenuto, etc. I'm sure these editors know more than I do (that's not hard), but I'd like to know more about the basis of this. After "An Essay on the True Art of Playing Keyboard Instruments", what other reading is out there...
In music notation, I've always been looking for a simple explanation of those numbers that appear on the far left of musical piece, such as 3 over 4 or 4 over 4. I have a hunch they affect the tempo, but I'm not sure if they affect the way the piece would sound. Would the piece sound differently if I change the num...
As part of my practice and for my mini-concerts I compose arrangements to songs, most of which so far are Simon & Garfunkel songs. I also have started giving away some sheet music to some friends of mine who like a change of style or just like my arrangements. (all for personal use / a hobby, not a vocation). Is there ...
What criteria are used for classifying composers?
I'm planning on trading my 88-key digital piano for a 61-key portable music workstation as I'm more inclined into rock keyboards as of late than classical music. However, I do enjoy playing classical parts, and I wonder if buying a keyboard with a restricted range will restrict my repertoire much. A 61-key keyboard es...
Lately I've been reading about how trombonists (or any other brass instrumentalists) tend to develop tension in their neck or torso when playing in the higher register. In working to decrease mouthpiece pressure, I've noticed that I've started to tense in my throat to control the immense air pressure needed to get the...
I have played keyboard quite a while and now I'm starting to practice some classical music like Fur Elise. When I see a live performance of any musical instrument, there seem to be no errors at all. Perhaps I just can't notice them due to my lack of experience and knowledge. So, whatever it is, what do I need to do ...
What are some good breathing practices for playing the harmonica? I have been learning the harmonica for a while now, I can play small time rhymes and some songs. But when I try to get into high intensity mode or try to play continuous blows or draws. Or even when I try to play continuously for a long time, I run out o...
It's absolutely possible for one to know how to play more than one instrument and even be good at or master some. I currently know how to play guitar, keyboard and drum. Planning to start learning violin, saxophone etc. next. I am master of none yet, but decided to be very good at piano at the moment. So, I keep pract...
I played the piano for years classically when I was younger, but eventually left it alone in my late teens and twenties. I probably wouldn't have if I'd been allowed to do more Jazz as I always wanted to. I'm just wondering where I can get hold of the scores of good Jazz scales to practice? I'm sure there are many dif...
I am a self-taught pianist (or keyboardist, whatever you prefer). Some time ago I came across The Virtuoso Pianist but, because I never played under the eye of a professional, I was turned away by the following comment on Wikipedia: One pitfall is that practicing the Hanon exercises with imperfect technique will reinf...
When you look at very old sheetmusic (for harpsichord or organ), you see that the upper staff has a C-clef, first line. The lower one is the familiar bass F-clef, fourth line. Why and when did the habits change? Can you still find sheetmusic printed like this? Are there still people using the C-clef, first line positio...
When I'm learning a new piece of music (for piano), I tend to read the notes each time until I know the movement for my hands by memory. At that point I don't know what note I'm playing anymore only the location on the keyboard for my fingers. So when I need to know which note is at what point I need to walk the piece ...
When listening to most contemporary music, in my experience, time signatures tend to be in "common time", or 4/4. But sometimes it feels like the phrase or measure extends beyond the four quarter notes that comprise the time signature. Is it considered bad form, in terms of music theory (as opposed to "artistic style")...
Malcolm Gladwell's book, "Outliers", stated a hypothesis: becoming good at something takes about 10,000 hours of practice. I've recently been wondering how long a typical piano student has practiced by the time they complete grade 8. Obviously there would be huge variation but an experienced piano teacher presumably wo...
When I practice, I often spend half the time on technique (scales, exercises), and half of the time on preparing a piece of music for performance. The amount of benefit that I get out of any given practice session varies greatly, but it is not clear to me what it is that I can do to practice most effectively. What can ...
I'm trying to find the title for music containing all percussion instruments (pianos/xylophones not included) such as drum corps and marching band drum breakdowns. I'd basically like to listen to music completely consisting of drum beats. What would one call this genre? If I wanted to listen to this on Pandora, for ins...
I'm practicing Flamenco guitar and I'm concentrating a LOT on the technique. Flamenco is so demanding on the right hand, techniques like tremolo, rasgueados, alzapua ... It is hard to play flamenco without having decent techniques, this could lead to frustrating. Should I concentrate on other things? how to overcome ...
I have played a few pairs of pieces from this collection, however it was some time ago. I have the ambitious goal to work my way through the entire collection. It will obviously take me some time to work my way through the entire collection (both volumes), and I'd like to start with the easiest ones and work my way up...
What exercises are effective at improving proprioception while playing piano? My immediate goal is to be able to play piano pieces without taking my eyes of the sheet music. (ie. avoid looking at my hands) Recently, I have been doing this exercise regularly: close my eyes, think of a random note, and try play it - usin...
Let me start by saying that trombone is my main instrument next to piano and I've been playing it for several years. I had a fleeting thought about attempting to learn tenor sax. I'm already comfortable with different keys/music theory stuff, so my question is, are there any tips, suggestions, or warnings that you migh...
These days I pretty much play everything by ear, but was originally trained in strathspey and reel violin so realise I should know the answer to this, but I can't remember what, if any, the practical differences were. Is there any difference between a score marked 4/4 and one marked 8/8? Or is that sort of thing only u...
What are the main differences between a jazz Pianist and a classical Pianist, If there are any. If I play mainly songs of pop artists (e.g: The Beatles, David Bowie, Elton John, etc.) does this count as a jazz pianist? What is easier to learn when you start learning piano at an "old" age (20+)
Was there any reason Bach didn't follow the trends of the times? He was surely very much in touch with contemporary composers, and knew of Handel's and Scarlatti's works specifically. Amazingly, he composed not a single opera in his life. Did his influences lead him to focus on perfecting the existing High Baroque styl...
High-end violin bows have been made for centuries out of permanbouc (a now rare and endangered brasilian wood) or equivalent woods and now synthetic material. Permambouc wood is praised for is stiffness and therefore the high speed of sound/vibrations along it. Why is it so important? What does it bring to the sound an...
This is a very minor question, but I'm trying to learn a piece (a Bach Concerto in D minor) that has the following sequence of notes played in order: A B C# D E F G A My piano teacher said it was a scale, but could not/did not determine what it is called. So to satisfy my curiosity, what would you call it?
I've been playing the piano long enough now that I thought it might be helpful to learn a few exercises for improving dexterity and/or "warming up" when one first sits down at the piano. My level is what might be classified as "upper beginner". (I have completed the first three grades set out in the classic John Thomps...
The initial part of a violin, viola, or cello bow in modern models is always octogonal, but the rest of the stick can be either of round section or octogonal-faceted. Is it simply a different external design, a different school of bow-making, or something more? Are there reasons to select one or the other in term of so...
I'm extremely satisfied with my Flamenco teacher, a real virtuoso. When do you know that it is time to change to a new teacher?
If someone were going to compose a piece of military music to especially rousing, what components would they be looking to emphasize? Like is there a certain key or time that military music is often played in that makes it especially rousing? What components of the brass section would the composer emphasize? I feel l...
I was greatly impressed by the hang when I saw this street player last year. I would like to know if there are other examples in this type of music (sounds like Gypsie music but Im not good with musical genres). What is this type of musical genre called so I can search for it.
Occasionally, when I listen to an orchestra playing a Strauss waltz or something similar, I hear something interesting in the background rhythm of 'boom chik chik' in that the first 'chik' happens somewhere before beat 2. Take, for example, this recording of The Blue Danube Waltz and compare to any score on IMSLP. (The...
To me (and most other people I know) the biggest factor in looking at a college or grad school is the teacher. The person you'll be studying your instrument with individually over the course of the next 2-4 years. However when discussing schools with my current teacher, he brought up a factor I had never considered ...
Especially for the guitar, but also for other relevant string instruments, I've had my string break while practicing. I feel like such things could happen at any moment, this made me wonder... How to prevent a string from breaking during a performance?
When I play the guitar (electric with steel strings), I can hear the noise of the pick clashing against the steel strings. When I play a chord, after my pick triggers one string it then falls against the next string causing a clashing noise which kind of irritates me. Can I use the pick without that noise or should I p...
I've once got a very cheap acoustic guitar when I was very young. I later replaced it with an electric guitar, because I disliked its quality, and I didn't know what I was doing when I was young. Can acoustic music or classical music be played with an electric guitar with similar sound? Are there guitarists that are ac...
Instruments are commonly compared to the piano. What is the reason for this? Does a piano allow a broader set of music to be played than is possible with other instruments? Are there types of music that are easier to play on the piano than other instruments and vice versa? Why is the piano often considered a good first...
I have been playing the alto saxophone for a while now. I have also improvised from time to time and have some theoretical and practical background on the instrument, harmony, scales, etc. I have played several pieces from the Real Book in many ways with different bands and ensembles. But after all, I feel that I'm fai...
I know that the piano contains 7 octaves plus a 4th. I also know that it accommodates the full circle of fifths (from C and back to C). But since a fifth contains 7 semitones, it only "needs" 7X12 = 84 keys for the circle. So why the "extra" 4 keys?
After I practice for a few hours on the piano, I feel a strain in my hands (I don't know if strain is the right word, It doesn't hurt or anything. It actually feels good because I feel like I have exercised my hands properly). In any case, I usually stop practice at that point, because I don't want to injure myself (RS...
I noticed that in many performances, chords that are expected by the author to have a long duration, are shortened by the performer. An example is the fourth Ballade of Chopin, where, near the end, there is a break to play five chords slowly, piano, the fifth one having a duration of four bars (twelve quarter notes). D...
This is the last chord of Francis Poulenc's Mélancolie for piano. It occurs while a piano D♭ major chord is still resonating in the bass. How would you have the B♭♭ be perceptible, surprising, and yet still pianissimo? Any technique? I tend to think that any single performer would judge himself negatively if this note...
Singing almost always make me yawn. I've heard this is due to not breathing correctly, but I'm not sure what that means. What's the correct way to breathe while singing so I don't yawn?
I typically play guitar with an informal group and we mostly play traditional and old-timey songs. When I am not soloing I usually just play the chord progression of the song. Recently however I have been playing a 4-string banjo tuned to 5ths (GDAE). I really like the sound on this banjo but I have had a hard time...
I've been practicing violin casually for about 20 years and sight reading for about 10 -- but I'm still quite slow, especially when there are a lot of 16th notes and syncopation. The problem for me is that I can't read more than one or two beats ahead, and so I stumble when things get intense. I seem to have a very sma...
Head voice and Chest voice were discussed in this question about natural voice, but despite singing in choirs for nearly 9 years I have never heard of them. Can someone provide a good description of them and what each one is used for?
Looking for the roles of the conductor during a musical performance, I mainly came across answers as the following, taken from Wikipedia: "The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble." So...
I have a predilection for music from the first half of the 20th century. I can't pinpoint the exact reason why, I suspect it is from absorbing so much music from movies, tv series and computer games which mainly draws on late romantic and early modern idioms. There was also an incredible variety of different styles in ...
When composing for the piano, I often find myself writing a lot of sudden soft notes. I need an accent mark that suddenly softens notes. From my knowledge (and searching the web), I can not find any accent markings to soften a note. I have found many accent notes that emphasises a note and makes them louder (marcato) -...
I was once told that playing a guitar with greasy fingers was actually good for the strings. However, this seems a bit counter-intuitive. Is there any truth behind this claim?
First of all I want to point out that I practice scales a lot and even enjoy it. I just don't know why they are so important, as this site says for example: "Proper fingering of the scales on the piano is very important to development of your skills and advancement as a pianist." When you are playing a piece you are ...
I'm orchestrating a piece and distributing a chord among 4 bassoons. If I were writing the French Horn part, I'd know one of the common practices would be to have two staves: one for Horns 1 and 3, and the other for Horns 2 and 4. Does the same splitting scheme typically apply to Bassoons or other instruments?
Out of curiosity, I've recently taken a look at the websites of ASCAP and BMI, two big PROs. As a musician, if I wanted to hypothetically register with such an organization: Should I register as a writer or as a publisher (or both)? What are the differences between those two PROs?
I am learning to play the harmonica. As with so many people around the world, the approach I use is to take a song and its notes somewhere from the internet and practice it until I can play it well. But somehow I feel I'm missing something very important here. As I proceed further and deep into it I feel this thing can...
Wikipedia article only mentions Hummel from Mozart's childhood but gives no further information. I will appreciate if someone could shed more light here, in particular which composers have had an influence on Mozart's work?
When I look online for sheet music for the piano or flute, I find that a lot of the websites that promise great collections of sheet music are nothing but ad filled sites that talk about sheet music (but don't actually have any.) The sites that DO have sheet music seem to only have a tiny selection. There are a number ...
I would like to learn a wind instrument and I am interested by the transverse flute. I have seen and heard the alto flute in concert, which is bigger and has a deeper sound. It seems that most flute players begin by the C-flute then switch or add the alto flute or the piccolo. So I wonder if I could begin to learn this...
My flute is tarnished and needs to be cleaned... I was afraid if I polished it, I would break something on it. I read online that it's a bad idea to remove tarnish on a flute yourself as you can ruin the pads. I have some questions regarding cleaning a tarnished flute: My flute is one of those cheap, mass-produced $200...
I've been told by a high school choral director that drinking sweet drinks, such as soda, before singing is not not healthy/good for the voice. Is this true? If so, why is it bad for you?
Inspired by the question Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier Order, I thought I'd ask what order people would recommend learning to play Bach's Inventions and Sinfonie.
Would someone be able to identify this chord for me? A E C F# - bass I'm sure it's obvious but I can't seem to figure it out. It's a song in the key of C major. A C major chord precedes it and an F major chord follows it
Bach used the Deceptive Cadence as early as his Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582, which dates to the early 18th century. Are there earlier uses? A definitive answer may be impossible, but I am interested in how far back its usage can be traced.
Will regular use of a whammy bar cause your guitar strings to come out of tune significantly faster than normal?
Does ambient temperature (i.e. winter vs summer) or food/drink temperature (i.e. cold vs hot) have an effect on voice: Texture Pitch/range Strength
Hey, I saw this question and I immediately remembered one or two teachers that kept saying that drinking cold/hot drinks before and/or during playing any woodwind or brass instrument was a bad thing, and I always followed that advice, but never really questioned it. So, I couldn't help to wonder, besides the unfortunat...
When I practice my drums in the house, it tends to be a little too loud for people in other rooms. While I know I could trade-in my drums for an electronic kit as an alternative, I'd really rather keep my acoustic kit. I'm considering creating a new room in the basement (currently unfinished) for drum practice. How do ...
It is fairly easy - although it requires a bit of strength - to bend notes downwards on a trumpet. For example playing a F#, a F, or even lower notes with all valves open. It does not sound nice, but it is possible. It is however very hard to do the same upwards. Why is that? I can nearly take a major third downwards f...
Most italian musical indications and concepts are easy to translate in one or two words (largo, presto, crescendo, ...) but it is difficult to find even an approximation to rubato. Any suggestions?
How many seconds of nonstop voice (or silence) without taking another breath is satisfactory for a professional singer ? Is there a rule thumb ? does it depend on the register ?
It seems that some increase in loudness is inevitable when going to higher notes. Is there any widely known recommendation or rule of thumb from the voice experts as to how many decibels can a singer go above his ordinary conversation voice without risking damage to vocal cords ?
Many bands cover songs by other bands, unofficially at concerts, or usually on live recordings (for example, Kurt doing Man Who Sold the World by David Bowie, at an MTV unplugged concert. I always thought it was a form of "bigging up" the other band. The other band being covered is probably complimented by the "free p...
I want to play Also Sprach Zarathustra (IMSLP PDF), but there is something I don't understand there. In the first few bars there are 4 half notes beamed in pairs as thirty-second notes. Because the time signature is common time I deduce each of those "hybrid" notes is equal to a quarter note. Am I correct? If so does ...
I'm in a slightly strange situation. I have been playing the piano ever since I was a kid, and have in recent years taken an interest in drumming. Not having consistent access to a real drum kit, I got into the habit of performing rhythmic passages using alternative means (my desk, my body, the car's steering wheel, et...
In 1936 American Standards Association (and the International Organization for Standardization in 1955) accepted that A would be tuned at 440 Hz (or cycles per second). Yet despite the fact that a standard has been accepted, orchestras frequently deviate from this standard. The San Francisco Symphony (reportedly) tun...
I started out as a classically trained guitarist and spent my high school years playing bass in a (school) jazz ensemble, so I have some (limited) formal musical training. Playing rhythm in Jazz required me to be able to hold tempo/count/etc. do everything in order to not let down the ensemble, the years of berating by...
I am playing Eb tuba with 4 valves (4th at my right hand pinky). Usually I have my fingers more or less straight out over the valves, resulting in the tips for all other than the pinky is sticking out a bit on the other side. Sometimes when I am playing some technical demanding stuff, I try to curl my fingers a bit so ...
I play Eb tuba, and sometimes I come across bending down in my notes - either as an effect at the end of a note, or sometimes as a slide between two notes. I find this difficult to achieve with a good result, even using some kind of half-valve technique. Do you have some good descriptions on how to do this succesfully?...
I want to teach a friend of mine how to read music, but I don't know if to use mnemonics or not. The benefit of using them is that you can remember them more easily. The downside is that you might start "counting" the lines and reciting the mnemonics in order to recognize each note. to use mnemonics or there is another...
I would like a list of three to ten books to learn all there is to know about conducting. Please be concise, try to cover all the stages from a beginner conductor (but already an experienced adult instrumentalist or composer) to what an advanced conductor would need. My dream is that the reader of this series could g...
What type of vocal exercises should I be looking for? Are there any temporary influences to the vocal range, like having had a drink?
Wikipedia lists the world records and extremes of the vocal range, can extrema be reached by a lot of practice or were they born with that?
I might be planning to buy a keyboard in the near feature, now I see they come in different amount of keys. It makes me wonder for how many keys I should go, more allows more complex music... But how do I get an idea of the complexity of music that a certain amount of keys allow? Edit: Are there lists of repertoire ava...
If you highlighted the 4 strings of the Ukulele (default tuning) to notes on the piano, where would they come in relation to middle C?
I play clarinet and am interested in learning to circular breathe. How is circular breathing done? Once I learn to do it, is it something that I would want to use throughout my playing or only for certain passages?
In many classic wind band pieces, there are parts written for Db piccolo and Eb horn. I imagine these were more common in the genesis of the military band, but now Db piccolo is all but unheard of, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a horn in Eb. (There is a cousin of the baritone horn called the alto horn which is pitc...
I have a Roland EM-1B and some keys are failing... I disassembled it, and the sensors are working correctly, even with velocity. If I press them directly with my fingers they work, also in locations known to work, ANY key that I put there work... But some keys as soon I assemble them back, they stop working again... Do...
Occasionally, I will see people arguing about whether an instrument should be called a "soprano trombone" or a "slide trumpet" yet I have never seen any instrument designated as one as being any different from an instrument designated as the other. Is there any reason these terms are not interchangeable, or that one or...
There are a bunch of songs that I'd like to sing that sit just under my vocal range (the low E of the guitar range, or the D under it). I can reach these notes with some effort, but it feels forced and the volume drops dramatically. What can I do to improve matters? Some possibilities I'm aware of: Warm up and practis...
I've been learning to play the piano for over a year and a half now, and have never used a metronome to date. My rythm and tempo are usually decent, at least after playing the piece properly a few times. The pieces are however getting somewhat trickier, especially in terms of rythmn. Would anyone recommend that I start...

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