We at the Grosse Pointe Music Academy would like to give you a glimpse into the background of our wonderful Music Together teachers. Our teachers all complete an in-depth Music Together training and come to us with a rich background of music experiences, including college music degrees. Come and meet these wonderful teachers in person […]
Detroit
Inspiration and Information
If you sign up for music lessons hoping to get some good information then you will definitely get that from the teachers at Grosse Pointe Music Academy. Our teachers have University training which will give you the certainty that the information you are getting will be the most accurate and up-to-date information available in the […]
Meet our Music Together Director!
It seems kind of funny to write a blog about myself, but I hope to share my passion and commitment to the Music Together program through what I write. I can remember making music as early as 3 years old, practicing my Suzuki violin lessons while my mom accompanied me on piano. Making music was […]
What’s the buzz?
A guitar can buzz or rattle for many reasons. A large number of repairs that come into my shop are due to complaints of buzzing or rattling when the instrument is played. When these kinds of complaints arise, I like to have the musician play for me and show me what they are hearing themselves […]
Ukulele Christmas
Guitar Players, Piano Players, Violin players, and all instrumentalists have enjoyed picking up the Ukulele and learning to strum simple chord accompaniments. Relatively speaking, Ukulele is an easy instrument with only 4 strings. Everybody thinks that the ukulele came from Hawaii. Well, while it’s true that the word ukulele is a Hawaiian word (it means, […]
The Victory Song of the Detroit Lions
Lyrics to Gridiron Heroes (verse) Hail the colors Blue and Silver let them wave. Sing their song and cheer the Gridiron Heroes brave, Fighting for fame, winning the game, Dashing to victory as they go. (chorus) Forward down the field, A charging team that will not yield. And when the Blue and Silver wave, Stand […]
Music Together Demo Classes in Canton
Grosse Pointe Music Academy in Canton Township will have ‘Music Together’ demo classes on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 at 9:30 a.m. and on Thursday, January 12th at 10:30 a.m. These Free Demo Music classes are for children ages birth-5 years old and their parents or caretakers. Don’t miss out on your chance to try this […]
Gift Certificates for Music Lessons
Giving the gift of music lessons for the holidays can be a very rewarding gift for anyone with even just a little bit of musical interest. I hear from people all the time say things like “I’ve always wanted to play guitar” or “I’d love to play the piano, but I don’t have the time”. […]
The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook
Playing guitar with just the lyrics and the chords on a sheet of paper is a common practice of many guitar players. The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook is a collection of almost every Beatles song ever played and recorded by the Beatles. Using chord grids at the top of the page and chord symbols over […]
How to write creative music
Creative writing in music can happen in many different ways and begin from many different angles. If you’re a singer or just someone who thinks up songs and melodies, you might want to learn to play guitar or piano to provide accompaniment for your singing. In this method, the creative process will first begin with […]
The Theory of Jazz Music
In Mark Levine’s well known “Jazz Theory Book” he says that a great jazz solo consists of 1% magic and 99% stuff that is Explainable, Analyzable, Categorizable, and Doable. His book is all about the 99% part of it. In the introduction Levine goes on to say to say: ” There is no one single, […]
Spelling your scales
A scale is a series of notes that can be used to create chords and play melodies. When a musician first begins to understand scales and their purpose there are a number of ways to go about it. The process of learning the scales includes learning to write and identify notes on staff, playing the […]
Do I need to bother learning modes?
Modes are inversions of a particular series of notes. In music, notes are grouped into patterns called scales that are used commonly in songwriting. Major scales have 7 unique notes in them and thus have 7 modes. The key of C Major contains the following 7 notes: C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. […]
What is Tonic, Supertonic, Mediant, etc.?
If you start reading a book on music theory you will most likely come across words like Tonic, Supertonic, Mediant, Sub-Dominant, Dominant, Sub-Mediant, and Leading Tone. In the scale of C Major there are 7 notes. They are C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. In this scale, C would be the Tonic, D-Supertonic, […]
Is it ok to start on bass guitar?
There are a good number of people that don’t know the difference between a 6 string guitar and the 4, 5, or 6 string bass guitar. Those that are familiar know the vast differences in the function of each instrument. Bass guitar provides the link between rhythm and harmony that the guitar will follow with […]
What’s your favorite guitar solo?
Knowing lot’s of chords and lot’s of scales is a good thing. Knowing how chords and scales interact functionally with one another is very empowering for the creative musician. The notes in a chord are a subset of a particular parent scale. The most common scale is the Major scale which contains 7 notes and […]
Tertian Chord Harmony
Tertian chords sound like they might be chords that reside on an alien planet somewhere in the universe. While the word is not typically used, tertian chords are the fundamental chords that are used by all popular american music and most music from around the world. Tertian harmony is so common that most musicians assume […]
Do I have to learn scales on the guitar?
Many people don’t like the idea of having to practice their scales on any instrument. There seems to be this idea that because the guitar is a pop music instrument that you don’t have to learn any real fundamentals like scales to be a good player. It’s no surprise because beginning music players, regardless of […]
How many guitar chords are there?
Chords are groups of notes that when played together form some type of consonant or dissonant harmony. It’s typical for beginning guitar students to ask how many guitar chords exist. The answer is not infinity, but it’s still too many to bother counting. It’s much more productive to learn a few fundamental chords in depth […]
Can I start my lessons on a keyboard rather than a piano?
Modern technology has made it very inexpensive to get a full 88 key piano keyboard. These keyboards often have hammer-action keys which give it the feel of a real piano. Anyone who has compared keyboards without weighted keys to a real acoustic piano knows there is quite a difference. The feel from piano to the […]