You would think that the ideal way to tune your piano would be to make each of the consonant intervals sound exactly in tune, so that no beating could be heard. Indeed, many musicians have long regarded this as sort of ideal, but it doesn’t work out very well on a keyboard with only twelve […]
Livonia
Songwriting Workshop
Throughout the course of a musician’s journey usually comes a time when they are intrigued with songwriting. Modern day technology has made it possible for people to write songs using an app on their smart phones. We live at a time where the average person has production tools right at their fingertips. Famous composers like […]
Don’t cut music and art from our schools.
It seems like I hear every couple days that a school somewhere in Michigan just cut all of their funding for the music program and the art program. I understand that decisions have to be made and people often assume that music and art are not subjects that are necessary. I am someone who has […]
Guitar Theft – Protect yourself.
We all love and cherish our instruments. Musicians often feel a unique connection with the instruments that they play. That is why it is such a tragedy to us when we have an instrument stolen. Having anything stolen is a terrible thing, but having something as personal as one’s guitar taken from them so callously is […]
Eight Year Old Plays Stratosphere On Guitar
It’s always impressive to see young children to play with virtuosity on their electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano or any other instrument. The 8 year old in the video has some very remarkable talent on the electric guitar. There are many young musicians who play masterfully, but I was still astonished when I saw it. […]
10 Commandments of Guitar Playing
In 1976, Moris Tepper joined Captain Beefheart‘s Magic Band as guitarist; a position he held until Vliet’s retirement in 1982. It was during this period that Tepper was handed the “Ten Commandments of Guitar Playing,” as written by Beefheart himself. The list read as follows. (Source: Rolling Stone’s Alt-Rock-A-Rama; Image: Guardian.) 1. Listen to the birds. That’s […]
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 […]
Rock drummers ‘are top athletes’
Playing the drums for a rock band requires the stamina of a Premiership footballer, research suggests. Tests on Clem Burke, the veteran Blondie drummer, revealed that 90 minutes of drumming could raise his heart rate to 190 beats a minute. Despite rock’s reputation for unhealthy living, Dr Marcus Smith, from Chichester University, said drummers needed […]
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 […]
Musical Intervals and their names
Musical intervals can be likened to measurements that we learn early in life like the inch, the foot, the yard and so on. Music notes are are also given names for the space that exists between two points. In the most basic way, intervals can be defined as the distance between two musical notes. Musicians […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Don’t you cry I’ll be back again someday
After waving goodbye to the children, Frosty the Snowman reassures them that he will be back again someday. Did Frosty ever return as he promised? Some people who are not satisfied with the ambiguity of “I’ll be back again someday” decided to change the lyrics to “I’ll be back again on Christmas Day”. Is it […]
Violin-t Behavior
History books will tell you that the violin is actually an Eastern European descendant of the Japanese Kyoto. They’ll say something about Marco Polo bringing the idea of the violin back to Eastern Europe after his highly publicized jaunt to the Far West in the 1200’s where he enjoyed a Kyoto concert with Kubla Khan. […]