The Fastest Way to Learn a Musical Instrument Guaranteed

Are you passionate about the music you’re playing?  If not, it’s probably pretty difficult to get excited about practicing and doing all the hard work needed to perform well. There are plenty of situations in life that do not contain passion.  Just think of commuting to work or school, running errands, doing housework, and all [...]

It’s interesting to rehearse without playing the beginnings of any of the pieces your ensemble is working on.  This is counter-intuitive for most people, but it opens up the group to thinking about their music in a new way.  Just because the default mode of musicians is to start at the beginning doesn’t mean that [...]

Do you ever feel that you’re practicing only one or two items and feel guilty for neglecting others?  Most of us have experienced these feelings.  We know we should be more balanced in our practicing–even as we play through the fun music on our practice list. The Musician’s Practice Planner can help you avoid these [...]

A performer walks on stage to start a concert.  They seem uncomfortable, maybe even a bit scared.  They look down at the floor as they enter. How will the audience react to this musician?  Will they be enthusiastic and eager to listen to the performance? In this situation, audiences usually feel embarrassed and worried that [...]

In your Musician’s Practice Planner, in addition to the weekly practice plan, it’s important for music students to write down their reward and their risk for meeting the practice goals for the week.  This is an excellent way to create motivation and forward momentum in achieving goals for music lessons and performances. Here’s how it [...]

Today is the summer solstice, the first official day of summer.   It’s a good time to put your summer music goals in place. Here’s an easy way to set up your summer music goals: First, make a big list of all the music you’d like to learn this summer and all the new techniques [...]

Making sure students know the exact expectations of their music teachers is one of the top priorities at music lessons.  If a student leaves the lesson unclear on what to do at home, disaster can strike.  At best, their practicing will be unfocused and maybe even nonexistent.  The worst case scenario is they actually practice something [...]

Two more apps aimed at musicians are now available for the iPhone and iPod touch. Planet Waves, a maker of accessories and software applications primarily for guitar, has released the ProTune tuner application and the ProTempo metronome application. ProTune is aimed at string musicians, with tuning modes specifically dedicated to guitar, violin/mandolin, viola/mandola, cello/mandocello, bass/mandobass, [...]

In last week’s post on pricing when you buy musical instruments, I mentioned that you need to negotiate when you purchase instruments and accessories.  It’s important to think of the retail price in a music store the same way you’d think of the sticker price of a new car: an imaginary number that has nothing [...]

Today’s post is specifically aimed at people new to the world of buying musical instruments and accessories.  If you’re purchasing your first instrument, or you’re a parent of a child about to start music lessons, there’s something you need to know about the purchase process: The price is highly negotiable. Many people walk into a [...]