Center Stage

When preparing for a performance, it’s always good to get your music prepped way in advance for your accompanist. An accompanist is the person who will be performing along side you, supporting your solo. This person is usually a pianist. Here are a few thoughts on how to work with your accompanist for a successful…

As recital dates approach, we have compiled one last list of helpful tips for a successful performance. 1. Know your piece: As simple or obvious as this may sound, some students may be unprepared. Practicing a piece and getting it to sound good takes time, don’t convince yourself that you can learn it in a…

As students prepare for their school concerts and private recitals, it is important to be reminded of appropriate concert behavior. Follow these basic points to add an element of sophistication to your or the artist you are listening to’s performance. 1. Bow before and after your performance: Many people neglect to bow before a performance….

When it comes to performing, memorizing your music is usually the final touch before going on stage. Memorizing your music can provide you with a deeper understanding of the music (if done correctly) and adds a level of sophistication to your performance. Here are a few ideas to help you learn your music more efficiently….

After you’ve studied a piece enough to play the correct notes and rhythms, you’ll want to start doing appropriate phrasing. Very much like the inflections we use in speech, phrasing is correctly executing how a group of notes should be “spoken”. Here are a few ideas to help you add some polish to your music….

mp3 has made music more accessible to people, it has also degraded the quality of music. Here are few ways other music files that aren’t mp3 may add to your listening enjoyment. 1. Mp3’s compresses sound: Mp3 is a lossy format, which means it sacrifices audio information for a smaller file size. This loss in…

Buying a guitar or bass amp can be a daunting task, especially if you’ve never done it before. Here are a few tips to help you with you purchase! 1. Quality of sound: Tubes and transistors (solid state) amps have different tonal qualities. Tubes have a history reaching as far back as the beginning of…

Guitar pedals can add a lot of interesting sounds to your rig. Here is a description of some of the most common pedals you’ll come across, and how they function. 1. Chromatic Tuner: The first pedal in many effect chains is the chromatic tuner. When activated the pedal will mute the outgoing signal and will…

The human voice is quite the delicate instrument. It is important for not only singers, but for anyone who uses their voice a lot, to maintain and take care of their vocal mechanism. Failure to do so can result in laryngitis, sore throats, or perhaps the worst, vocal nodules. 1. Drink Water: Very simple, water…

Musical composition is a rewarding and developmental process that not enough music students get to participate in. Not only is composition an obvious gateway to creativity; it is a musical teaching tool in which students may learn theory and history faster than just by practicing their instrument alone! 1. Melody: Every great piece of music…