Q. How can I sight read better? I'm doing fine, but I want to make sure I'm better. I have a competition in 2 days and I have to play 5 songs, sight read a piece, and ear training. How can I become a better sight reader, and how can I differentiate between a minor chord and a diminished chord?
Also, how can I strengthen my fingers? I'm at a disadvantage since I use an electric piano at home and they have a grand piano at the recital.
A. practice 10 minutes a day, reading a piece of music of your choice, keep doing so don't give up, do it standing up, post office, etc. going overboard with the time might me musician it gets harder and so people are more likely to quit, so i don't suggest it.
first know the original chord.
triad
diminished chords- the two notes above root is flat. half step lower.
minor chords- third note is flatted .
ear training, http://www.good-ear.com/ or http://www.trainear.com/
or the classical way of listening acutely to your music, and noting how far apart it is and apply music theory.
there is grip trainers, for example
http://www.amazon.com/Gripmaster-Exerciser-Medium-Tension-7-Pounds/dp/B0006GC5D8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1309163827&sr=8-2
relax at your competition, your wrist and shoulder, but i'm sure you know.
competition or not, i hope playing the piano is enjoyable for you, this just ensures your continuation.
How do i learn all the instrument parts of a song, by listening ?
Q. Say you have a ballad with drums, bass, guitar, strings, and a bunch of other instruments. I've tried to but many times it's hard to listen to the bass part if it's too low , and it's hard to get the exact chords of piano or guitars. Basically i listened to a song in tv, i recorded it and i want to learn all the parts so then i can record it myself with MIDI sequencer. Are there any tips on how to listen to a song, so that it's easier to figure out the chords and bass , and all the parts? Note i'm not a musician just a hobbiest. and i don't want to get the score of the song . i just want to do it by listening. any tips?
A. Trying to transcribe music by ear is hard, but not impossible. the best way to start is definitely the bass. Sure they're LOW, but it's actually simple. All you have to do is crank up the bass settings on your speakers. If you have subwoofers, crank it up as well. By doing so, you supress the rest of the instruments and leave only the bass and drums on.
For guitars, it's a little trickier. First reduce or cut the bass settings and then turn up the treble settings and midrange (if you have one). If you listen to rock or metal, it will be difficult to hear the chords due to distortions and other effects used. But if they play clean or acoustic, it's easier to figure out the chords.
Another neat solution is to buy the Tascam CD-GT series Portable guitar trainers. It comes in 3 versions: one for guitar, one for bass, and even one for vocals. You can choose to isolate the part and even slow it down to about 50% tempo and slowly increase the tempo until you can play the part at normal tempo.
For the other instruments, you may need a mixer to sort out the instuments. It's very costly, but really this is one way to go to learn every instrumental part by ear.
I need help piano in keys other than C, F, and G. I play scales repeatedly but cant connect it to the music!!
Q. I play my scales every day like I should but when it comes time to play music in other keys I have to literally mark each note on the page (circle it, underline, etc) or else ill play the natural note and make a mistake. Is there some type of mental pattern I need to learn? What exercises can I practice? Should I know the note is flat/sharp due to the sound (ear training?)? Is there somewhere on the web that has music sorted by key so I can practice one key at a time over several songs? Im good at transposing but I want to play songs as they are written..
A. Know what key you are in before you start the piece. It shouldn't be a matter of having to look back at the beginning of the line and see what flats/sharps there are. Do you have the circle of fifths memorized? Here is a picture of the circle of fifths: http://numbera.com/musictheory/theory/images/fifths2.gif
Memorize what keys have how many sharps/flats. I would try practicing some pieces in C major, then F (1 flat), then B-flat (2 flats), etc.
Here is a site that might help you with memorizing key signatures (if you don't have them memorized already). Just knowing them and being able to look at it and immediately know what key you're in will help you alot, I think.
http://www.musictheory.net/
This site has Trainers - Note, Key, Interval, and Triad, where it shows you a staff with a note, key signature, interval, or chord and will ask you what it is, and then there are the ear trainer where it plays a scale, interval, or type of chord and ask you what it is. You can set it to be pretty tricky - for example, on the Scale Ear Trainer, you can set it so it will play not only Major, minor, and harmonis minor, but also all of the modes, such as Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, etc. As for the key signature trainer (which will be the one which will help you with your "problem" the most), once you've mastered treble clef, you can move onto bass clef, and then there's tenor and alto clef, which I find very difficult to read.
Anyway, good luck with your piano playing! <3allie
Powered by Yahoo! Answers