Music

After this past weeks’ NYSSMA it’s a good idea to recap on things we did well, and the things we could do better for next time. In addition, many students are participating in our upcoming recital, so this information is invaluable for the next performance! 1. Decipher your paper: While this is more of a…

These days almost everyone accesses their music via the internet. Whether it’s from Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, iTunes or other music radio/streaming sites, music has become more easily available than ever. Here we explore how this effects the music industry, the artist and the consumer. To understand the effects of music streaming, it would be wise…

NYSSMA is right around the corner! Here are a few last minute tips and suggestions to help you get the best possible score. 1. Scales: By this time you should have all your scales memorized up to speed with appropriate octaves. If not, get on it – losing points on a scale is the worst…

This week we celebrate two giants of the Romantic era, who actually share the same birthday. Johannes Brahms (b. 1833) and Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky (b. 1840) were born on May 7. They have proved to be some of the most influential and memorable composers of their era. Brahms was born Hamburg, Germany to a…

This April celebrates two great composers, one classical and one jazz. Sergei Rachmaninoff (April 1, 1873 – 1943) and Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington (April 29, 1899 – 1974). Both were regarded as geniuses of their craft, and left a lasting impression on the music world long after they passed. Sergei Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer…

The technological craze that has taken over the music industry for longer than a decade known as “auto-tune” has been a point of contention for many artists. Nowadays, some artists will even go out of their way to state that their album wasn’t created with auto-tune, while some artists will even use it in live…

The music scene today is saturated with many different pop stars, electronic music djs, and indie/folk bands. There is a lot of great music to be heard from them (and a lot of not-so-good music as well). I believe that we as listeners have to dig deeper for bands or artists that excel dramatically at…

The guitar has an ancient beginning in instruments such as the harp. Not too many primary resources on ancient harps exist so we will begin with a distant cousin of the guitar, the medieval lute. Both a beautiful and complex instrument, the lute was the most popular chordophone of its time. The lute probably has…

With the approach of NYSSMA it is important to hone in on your sight reading abilities. Many times sight reading is the one aspect that will cost a person a perfect score, so follow these tips to improve! 1. Just do it: The only way you can get better at sight reading is to sight…

I usually do a NYSSMA prep blog around this time each year, but this one in particular comes with a somewhat larger sense of urgency. Upon doing a master class last week with some students preparing for NYSSMA, it dawned on me that there were certain aspects of preparation that were being neglected. Here are…