By Allison Spurgeon

Some people are more musically inclined than others, but that doesn’t mean you cannot learn how to play the piano. Many tricks of the trade exist that can have you playing the piano within a couple of months of practice, and some online courses even claim to help you learn much faster. No matter what is claimed or what is available, the most important aspect of learning how to play any new instrument, hobby, or art form is dedication and practice.

Listening to Beethoven, Mozart, or any other genius composers might make you want to sign up with the best instructor you can find. Your aim might be to enthrall others with the beauty of classical, modern, or even jazz piano playing. Many adults who learn how to play the piano choose to do so through rigorous methodologies of learning the fundamentals of music first. This requires dedication and lots of practice, not to mention the cost of an instructor.

For other learners who want to give the piano a try, quicker methods won’t mean you will enjoy playing the piano any less. It simply means you will not have the fundamental base that someone else has learned over a longer period. One of these quicker methods, both on and offline, involve the learning of chords. In an evening, someone who knows nothing about the piano might have the ability to play a melody just on chords alone. Playing by chords is usually encouraged more than playing by tablature. And, there are no problems with those who first learn chords then learn to read music later on.

Any piano melody is made up of its smallest parts - its notes. Those who learn chords do not actually learn these ’smallest’ pieces, but instead learn how to break the music into chunks. By dealing with songs one chunk at a time and matching what is heard, many piano players enjoy greater freedom of creativity as they progress.

By C Padgett

Reverb is the most commonly used spatial effect and is defined as acoustic reflections that happen AFTER 50 ms, normally lasting from a few ms to several seconds. The first type of delay ever used was before magnetic recording, used in broadcast radio. Basically it was sending a signal hundreds of miles away and then bouncing it back, which created a sort of delay from the source.

Back in the day, and well on into the 70’s, delay was created using a ramped up version of tape delay, called Echoplexing. Instead of tying two tape recorders together and having a problem every time the second tape deck ended, it used a continuous loop of tape to create a continuous delay without fear of running ot of tape. After that came Digital Delay, and Analog delay. Analog delay become widely popular because it was cheaper than your average digital delay. A lot of musicians still are partial to analog, claiming it gives a mix a fatter, warmer sound, and blithely ignoring the extra noise they are vulnerable to from other sources.

Back then, echo and reverb were created in what is known as live rooms, by recording engineers. This allowed the engineers to sort of control the kind of reverb and delay they were getting, by just moving around the mics. These reverb effects were created by recording sound in a “live room” with tons of hard, active surfaces, and then catching the echoes. Then these effects could be stored, and used later to warm up a sound that was recorded dry. Generally now a days, engineers will record everything dry from the get go, in order to get a premium signal quality. Then and only then, reverb, delay, and other effects are added into the mix one by one, to create that live sound ambiance or even psychedelic effect the engineer was looking for.

By Lee Boniface

If someone asked “how can I become a famous singer?” What would you say? You might say they you needed to learn a variety of important tricks of the trade. Being an excellent singer is about learning tricks to improve singing methods but as you probably guessed it takes more than just that.

Some singers are naturals or so we are told, however it still takes talent, discipline, confidence and a thick skin to succeed. When you are first starting out, you need to be able to sing in an environment, where you do not fear rejection or ridicule a place of safety, where you can experiment free from potential criticism from others.

Performing live is a great way to and gain experience, however it cannot count as practice. It is important to get some training. If you want to learn metal voice training track down a professional music coach, who is an expert in this area. The same goes for any type of music training that interests you.

Rehearsing

Be kind with yourself and your efforts. Realize that it takes time at first but as you learn something new, and gain confidence and technique, what once seemed difficult, will in time flow effortlessly. Yes you will need time to get good, and then a little persistence and with help you will get even better. Rest assured that you will improve.

Understand rehearsing when you are rushed or out of balance is counter productive. Because you cannot develop, your voice to the greatest of your ability, if you are in a rushed state. You will be doing your self no favors. Instead adopt the ‘a baby steps one two three” approach. Bear in mind that each little step moves your ability as a singer up a notch, and is this is more easily achieved if you are relaxed. When you stop and think about it, how can you expect your abilities as a singer to move forward if you rush them?

When you rehearse, give your self the goal of going a little beyond the normal level you have established. For example sing a note or two above what you generally sing. This will reduce dramatically the chances of your voice from going flat, when you find yourself in front of a crowd of people.

When you sing the high notes, drop your jaw. Dropping your jaw allows you to sustain the note as much as possible.

How can I become a famous singer? Keep reading for more …

Vocal Strain

Have you ever listened to a musician and thought there voice sounds strained? One of the causes of this is too much tension in their body and mind, remember the mind body connection, you are one system. So as a singer what you have to do is reduce any adverse strain on the vocal chords. To do this you need to take part in relaxation exercises, do these before a practice and before every performance, to begin developing a performer’s mentality of focus and relaxation.

In turn remember the importance of vocal warm up exercises to protect your voice and your entire vocal system, including your larynx.

Other Factors To Remember

Improving your singing voice is primary to your success. There are other points though to consider, that you may not be aware of, when it comes to becoming a fabulous singer. These are things you may not believe play a role in your capabilities as a singer but they do.

By Peter Ruppert

From time to time, music seems to take a decided style change, with listeners demanding music that allows them to get back to the basics. This certainly seems to be the case now as three priests have recently signed a recording deal with music legend Sony BMG.

The deal is expected to be worth one million pounds. The group has indicated all proceeds from the album will go to charity. The group; aptly named The Priests , hail from Northern Island.

With musical tastes that are said to be quite Catholic, the group’s debut album, due out in November, is much awaited by music fans who have been desirous of more spiritually based music and found the offerings to date lacking.

The Priests’ album, which the group has already begun to record, is expected to include traditional hymns such as Ave Maria as well as various opera classics and portions of the Latin Mass. Fathers Martin O’Hagan, his brother Eugene, and David Delargy comprise the group. Father Eugene O’Hagan presides over the Parish of Ballyclare and Ballygowan while his brother Martin presides over the Parish of Cushendun.

Father David Delargy presides over the Parish of Hannahstown. All three are old friends and first began to hone their musical abilities during attendance at St. MacNissi’s College in County Antrim.

During their time there, the three earned the nickname ‘Holy Holy Holy’ due to their shared dream of becoming priests. Upon their departure from St. MacNissi’s, the group continued vocational training at The Seminary in Belfast. Here, Father Eugene took the opportunity to specialise in Scholastic Philosophy and English. Father Martin as well as Father David specialized in Scholastic Philosophy and Ancient History. All three priests studied under Mr. Frank Capper at this time. Their vocational training was concluded at Irish College in Rome, where they were awarded with tuition for their singing. It was during this time that the rare talent of their combined voices was first recognized. The Pope’s private secretary invited the group to sing for the Pope.

As a result of the record contract, the group will be able to bring their love of singing to a much broader audience. Their singing style will not change as their group has always performed sacred music.

By Patricia Wilkinson

Do you enjoy Disney movies as much as I do? I know they may not be the most in depth movies available, but I enjoy the good clean nature so they are fun for the whole family. One of my favorite parts of Disney movies is the music. They usually have catchy tunes that make you want to sing along.

Personally, I don’t sing much, but I do play multiple instruments. One day I decided to find sheet music for my favorite Disney tunes and looked at several online dealers of digital sheet music. I found one site called Musicnotes that seems much better than the others, since they have free Disney sheet music samples.

You have instant access to thousands of songs, and there is a free sample for every song. This usually means you can preview the first page of a song, and then decide if you want to pay for the whole song’s sheets. I like to use the free samples to decide which versions of songs sound best and which ones I would like to play. After finding the site, I quickly looked up “A Whole New World” and “Beauty and the Beast” since those happen to be two of my favorites.

Although you can order sheet music books, the focus of the site is digital sheet music. In order to use this type, you need to have special software. Fortunately, all the different music players are available for FREE right on the site. The sheet music players are really easy to use and make learning songs a lot easier.

You can go to Musicnotes for free Disney sheet music samples and then decide which songs you want to buy.