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1500 questions
13
votes
4 answers
How to Practice the Hanon Exercises
I've played piano for many years but I'd like to do some work on my technique and am going to attack the Hanon exercises. I have a very simple question on the instructions though. You are instructed to play each exercise initially slow (eg at…
Phillax
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13
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9 answers
Is it harder to play in a key with more flats or sharps?
This is a very naive question, but I tend to perceive a song with a key signature that has more flats or sharps to be more difficult than the same song written in a key with fewer flats or sharps.
Is this the typical case and if so why do the…
Vivek Subramanian
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13
votes
4 answers
Pros and cons of different types of vibrato on trumpet
Thus far, I've learned three ways of performing vibrato on trumpet:
Diaphramatically (ha ha ha)
By moving the jaw
By moving the fingers over the valves
What are the pros and cons of each? A trumpet teacher I talked to was a big fan of the jaw…
Michael
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13
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5 answers
Guitar scales further up the fret board
I'm hoping someone can help me. Ι've been playing guitar for a while and mostly kept myself confined to chords/rηythm, but now I want to explore some lead styles to add to my skills.
So I began with some scales - I don't really read music or study…
Kipper
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13
votes
9 answers
Are fingertips supposed to hurt and get calluses from playing the violin ?
Whenever I play the violin a lot my fingertips start to hurt to a point at which it is painful to keep playing and this is just from around 3 to 4 hour a day practice which I don't consider to be excessive. Then come the calluses.
From what I hear…
Lilitu88
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13
votes
3 answers
How to make C lydian not sound like G ionian?
What are some concrete melodic and harmonic tools to establish the correct tonic center in a lydian melody?
The reason for asking about lydian specifically is that there is no minor seventh for the dominant, which would seem like a sure-fire way to…
oyvind
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13
votes
8 answers
How can I improve my playing of faster finger runs?
I am just preparing for my grade 8 piano exam. I'm struggling with quick runs in the 3rd movement of Beethoven's Sonate Pathetique. It really doesn't sound right. When I play I can't do it smothly and it sounds (and feels) like my hands are tired.…
Anya
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13
votes
4 answers
Exact pitch of blues scale notes
Wikipedia gives multiple candidate definitions for the blues scale.
A musician showed me how to play blues e.g. in C by smudging say Eb and E.
The actual note lies somewhere between. But where? Is there any rationale for placing this note? Is…
P i
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13
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4 answers
How do you write successive, non-functional chord progressions?
Elements of non-functional harmony is ubiquitous among contemporary music creations. In most cases, it materializes in the way of non-functional chord progressions, which are characterized by its "successive" feel and lack of diatonic association,…
user19533
13
votes
12 answers
Is it acceptable to change tempo in the middle of a song or is this a bad idea?
I wrote a song that could be classified as Pop or Country that starts out at a medium slow tempo in the first two verses and bridge.
Then there is a section after the bridge that can best be described as an extended third verse followed by an outro…
Rockin Cowboy
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13
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2 answers
What are the characteristic intervals or scales of 13-limit harmony and beyond?
I've been studying and really getting into the Extended Just Intonation music of composers like Ben Johnston and Kyle Gann. I've started trying to explore the sort of intervals and scales that are available to a composer as they move to different…
Pat Muchmore
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13
votes
9 answers
Confusion about major and minor second intervals
Why is a major second interval different from a minor second interval considering that in the natural scales formulae they are both one whole step?
Loc Vu
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13
votes
4 answers
What is transcribing music supposed to teach?
Having never transcribed a piece of music, what benefits can be had from doing this? Are there any reasons I should shy away from transcribing music or will it make me a better musician? How will it affect my playing?
piofusco
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13
votes
12 answers
Tablature vs. standard music notation? (guitar)
Under what circumstances should I write down "TAB" (tablature) or just regular music notation or both? I know how to read and write both of them, but I'm not sure which I should use for my songs when writing them down.
manejar
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13
votes
2 answers
How to play these overly extended intervals on piano?
There are two images I have attached.
In the first one it says, I guess, play the top note on the treble clef with your left hand (cross hands). But how on earth am I supposed then to play the chord in the bass clef? My fingers are not long enough…
John Smith
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