US Folk Music Classes for Kids

Looking for general music instruction for home-schooled kids? How about a music class that is designed around familiarity with American folk music! I was in elementary school in the 1980s. We had a music class three times a week. Unsurprisingly, it takes a while for music trends to get into the textbooks — so the… Continue reading US Folk Music Classes for Kids

What is the Circle of Fifths?

What a very good question! I ran across a video the other day that explains this musical concept very well, on YouTube: Many thanks to “YouTuber” BradHarrisonMusic for creating this video. (If the YouTube link is not working, the video can also be accessed locally, here.)

Tips for transcribing music

Transcribing music – some tips —(1) write the notes on a staff as circles, in order, with more or less equal spacing. Write the words/syllables under the notes.(2) Go to your text, set a slower, steady beat (tap, beat with hand in air, or use metronome) sing or speak in rhythm.(3) Mark in the text… Continue reading Tips for transcribing music

Practicing: frequency, scheduling, and duration

Yes, it does need to be discussed — how long should a student practice, how frequently, and how does it become a good habit? I’ll answer all of these questions. Unfortunately, I cannot simply give a pat answer here — there is no “silver bullet” music practice regimen. However, from my own study of music… Continue reading Practicing: frequency, scheduling, and duration

Beginning students: piano or musical keyboard?

Ah, the age old question. I will elaborate. Learning to play piano on a musical keyboard has significant drawbacks. 1) The full name for the piano is “pianoforte.”  In Italian, this means, literally, “soft loud.”  The precursor instrument to the piano was the harpsichord.  On a harpsichord, no matter how hard or lightly the player… Continue reading Beginning students: piano or musical keyboard?

Alisa Phoenix | Phoenix Tech Gurus | The Frugal Organic Path | Garden Down the Street | The Automatic Earth | Igor the Jazz Cowboy | Sunnyslope Historical Society | itsjustapuzzle.com