Learn to read music, and get it for less! A new video course based on the best-selling book, Basic Music Theory: How to Read, Write, and Understand Written Music, is 50% off. Check out the preview below, or see more details and other free lessons from the course HERE.
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Want the free color eBook edition of Practice Like This? Sign up for 6 Bullet Saturday. 6-Bullet Saturday is a newsletter that gives you six things I thought worth sharing every week. Mostly it’s about practice, and I always include specific tips or exercises or drills that I use to help me and my students get…
Neuroscience reveals how rhythm helps us walk, talk — and even love
Rhythm is of course a fundamental part of music. But neuroscience is revealing that it’s also a fundamental part of our innermost selves: how we learn to walk, talk, read and even bond with others. From heartbeats heard in the womb, to the underlying rhythmic patterns of thought, rhythm — as one researcher puts it…
Do These 5 Things During Practice
Another excellent vid from YouTub superstar Paul Davids. It doesn’t matter if you don’t play guitar. Try these on your instrument.
5-Step Guitar Fixes You Can/Should Do, from Paul Davids
Paul Davids has a great YouTube channel. Here’s how you can dial in a guitar so you’re not fighting it and/or sounding like crap.
Beethoven’s Hearing: Deafness & Tinnitus While Writing His 9th Symphony
Another good one from Rick Beato. I especially appreciate how he simulated both Beethoven’s deafness and tinnitus. It’ll give you an even deeper appreciation of Beethoven, and maybe even Beato. And I had no idea about the half-step “drift” that happens to perfect pitch as one ages. Fascinating.
The Parallel Tracks method to accelerate metronome practice: Nathan Cole
Comes with a worksheet on Mr. Cole’s superb blog. Subscribe to his YouTube channel.
The ONE CHORD that fixes your boring chord progressions! Secondary Dominants.
Secondary dominants were baffling to me as a college freshman in advanced music theory. It’s simple when explained well, like Paul Davids does. He covers deceptive cadences, too! Need to bone up on theory? Basic Music Theory: How to Read, Write, and Understand Written Music has you covered.
William Short: Do More Slow Practice. Why is it SO Good?
There are few things more challenging to remember to do (both for myself and for every single one of my students) than SLOW practice. Here is some genius advice from Bassoonist William Short. Source: Getting the Most out of Practicing — William Short
Siberian Sleigh Ride: Don Byron
Siberian Sleigh Ride, by Don Byron came on my headphones reminding me how much I love Byron’s Bug Music album (wiki). “Old” tunes, quirkily arranged, sometimes complicated, joyful, and thoroughly enjoyable. Sounds like a description of a person I like. Here’s Siberian Sleigh Ride