Sight Reading Music - Four benefits

If there is one skill that almost all musicians would like to improve, it would be sight reading.
The benefits of being a good sight reader include:

1. Learning new music quickly.
2. Not having to memorize music.
3. Being able to play in groups of musicians where sight reading is a necessity.
4. Writing and arranging music for other musicians.

These are just a few of the advantages of being a good sight reader and along with the ability to improvise, is a skill that really separates the amateur musician from the professional player.

How To Clean Your Flute

If you are learning to play the flute, you will also need to know how to clean it. Every time you play it, a certain amount of moisture travels into the tube which seeps onto the flute pads each time the keys are pressed, so it is important to regularly clean the instrument otherwise it can result it the keys not returning properly and remaining stuck down because the pads have got too sticky.

How To Clean Your Flute Head, Body and Foot Joints
When you have finished practising, take the flute apart so it is in three sections. Get the cleaning rod and wrap a soft cloth or hankie around it making sure to cover the top part of the rod so it does not scratch the inside of your flute. Start with the head joint and insert the covered cleaning rod into it twisting gently round using an up and down movement.

When you have finished cleaning the head joint put it back into it's case before moving to the flute body. Use the covered cleaning rod in each end of the body with the same gentle twisting action and up and down movement. Keep this piece out of the flute box until you have cleaned the foot joint in the same fashion.

How To Clean Your Flute Pads
Now you can learn how to clean your flute pads on the flute body and foot joint. You can buy special flute papers from a music shop but the Rizla smokers papers are quite suitable doing the same job and they cost a lot less! Pull out a Rizla paper and fold it into three folds making sure that the gummed area is tucked in. Now get the flute body and slide the paper within a key, gently depress the flute key onto the paper.

Keep using slow tapping movements of each key onto the paper as you gently move the paper along. Never slide the paper while having a key key pressed down, this could result in you dislodging your flute pad which will effect the sound and will be expensive to repad! Make sure you tap the excess moisture from each key onto the paper.

If you have only been playing for around thirty minutes, there might not be much moisture though you will hear a squelchy sound. The sound tells you there is still moisture in the pad. Keep pressing each pad onto the paper without sliding the paper to remove the squelchy sound. Remember, depress key onto paper, release key, move paper along and keep repeating for each individual key.

If you have been playing for a long continuous duration you will see the moisture leak out of the flute when it is held upright and the pads will be quite wet so you will need to use more papers. The papers are so fine they will rip easily, that is why it is also better to use a flute stand because if the flute contains a lot of moisture and you place your flute down horizontally, it will seep even more moisture into the pads.

Choosing a Musical Instrument to Learn

Choosing which instrument to learn may be a forgone conclusion if you already have one in mind.
It would be unfortunate to have to play a piano if you wanted to learn to play the guitar!
However, there are considerations to be made, if you haven't fully decided, other than the most obvious - the cost.

The amount of noise a musical instrument makes and the location of your nearest neighbors could have a very great effect on which instrument you choose to play - the trumpet, the drums, the bagpipes and the electric guitar (turned up) could cause a problem if you have neighbors the other side of a thin wall!

Another consideration is the level of difficulty and the amount of time you have for practice.
The piano or violin would demand a big daily commitment whereas the ukulele or blues harmonica, played to a modest degree, could be a relatively minor commitment when it comes to time investment.

If your ambition is to be part of a group or band, the bass guitar is a good option to start from scratch. Played without being plugged into the amp. it is very quite, does not require years to learn and you can be joining a band relatively soon.

Buying a Musical Instrument - Secondhand Value

One of the difficulties at the very beginning when learning to play a musical instrument is the cost.

To buy a decent instrument, whatever it may be, is often very expensive and private lessons on top will make it beyond the means of many.

However, it is true that you get what you pay for, and a cheap instrument may not only sound poor it can often be more difficult to play - the last thing you need at the beginning of your learning experience!

Furthermore, a very cheap new instrument won't keep its value, so if you decide to sell it you will lose a lot more than if you buy a secondhand quality instrument.

Of course, many people, especially children would not want something that has been used but the best value is in an instrument that is easy to sell at the same price that you paid for it!

If you buy a secondhand instrument it is important to make sure that it is in good working order.

An acoustic guitar for example could have neck problems or a flute could need the pads replaced. So if you know someone who already plays, you could get their advice - just to be sure.

Piano Playing for Vocal Accompaniment

The style of piano playing used by some of the great singer/songwriters who accompany their vocals with the piano.

The singer-piano player has been with us for some time in popular music. Since the 50's we've had performers like Little Richard who even played the piano with his feet! Also, Nat King Cole who's distinctive voice and piano style reminds many people of Christmas. Neil Sedaka wrote many great songs for himself and other singers and other singer/songwriters such as Carole King who did the same.

Elton John, Paul McCartney and John Lennon have composed and performed some of the greatest songs of the last century such as: Your Song, Let It Be and Imagine while playing the piano to accompany their singing.

So what is their piano style and how would someone learn to play the piano in a similar manner to accompany their own vocals.

The first thing to note is that when singing with the piano, the piano does not play the melody - it plays a harmonic accompaniment for the vocals to sing over. If you ever try singing a song with a piano that's also playing the tune it feels like a battle!

Secondly, the harmony or chords are not static, they are rhythmic. That is to say they also play a rhythmic role of driving the pulse forward - even on the slow songs like Let It Be.

Thirdly, while the right hand plays chords on the beat, the left hand plays bass notes as a foundation to support the higher notes, often in octaves.

Fourthly, the right hand adds fills, often between vocal phrases, to add variety to the piano part. This is mostly done in the right hand part, but sometime the left hand is used in conjunction with the right to play arpeggio style phrases, usually on the last beat of a bar.

Lastly, It is almost a "given" that many chords will include the 2nd degree of the scale on which the chord is based on. This adds colour to the sound and gives the player an extra note to add to the fills and riffs that punctuate and add variety to the overall performance.

The Beatles song, Let It Be, as played by Paul McCartney, is a great example of a straightforward piano accompaniment that compliments his vocals perfectly and is a good example of the way in which the piano is used to support a vocal part.

This style of piano playing is also very helpful for those that wish to learn to sing.