Q. I am a horrible multitasker... Well, when it comes to music and rhythm. I have tried the piano and i could play it fine... But only one hand at a time. With the guitar, i could not make the note sound clear.
Would the violin be a good instrument?
Thanks :)
A. If I am weak at something, I will not give up. I know I need to spend more time to conquer myself, to overcome my weakness.
I've played violin for 3 decades, yes it is very complicated and difficult, especially at the beginner stage, but it's fun.
If you think you are a bad mutitasker, I think you need to separate your tasks to many pieces or individually and practice each one step by step; then assemble them together.
Hah! It is very Object Oriented! For example, in piano playing, it has too many targets, ur fingering of left hand, ur fingering of right hand, ur left hand rhythm, ur right hand rhythm, the phasing of soprano, alto, tenor and bass parts, the expression of tempo, and the expression of dynamic, more advanced u may need to care about the chord progression changes and the touching of each key.
Using the Object Oriented approach, u may pay attention on one or few tasks at once, for example, I simply practice the rhythm and fingering of my left hand first, I can ignore the right hand, and even the loudness of my left. I can practice my left hand with a super slow tempo (50 beats per min) until I can manage my left hand and the tempo improved to 90 beats per minute, I don't need to watch my left hand, he can work alone; then I will slow down again to train my right hand.
To optimize the final outcome production rate, multitasking is a very good strategy, but object oriented cannot be ignored. >:-^ )
Simple musical instrument at the beginner stage: harmonica, recorderï¹ mouth organ, etc...
Is it possible to teach yourself how to sing?
Q. Without spending money? I'm 19 years old, female. Ever since I was little, I drew, painted, and played the guitar and piano. I've always been very artistic. However, I can't sing. And that's one thing I WISH I could do soo bad! How can I teach myself, and is it possible? My voice needs some work, I can't hit high notes.
A. Yes it is possible to teach yourself. but as a cost efficient addition to self teaching I'd recommend joining a choir. Church, school, whatever, because there should be an instructor their who knows about music and sing and can actually spot problems you're having (video instructors just don't cut it).
My best advice to you is, join choir, watch and learn from videos. Learn to breath from you're diaphragm.You'll know good diaphragmatic breathing when you can say the whole alphabet in one breath, this will help with holding notes and singing in general. you're shoulders and chest should move much, your breath shouldn't come from your chest but rather the spot right above your stomach and below the lungs. Put your hand on your stomach and if you feel it expand and retract then you're doing it right.
listen to a song you like. Get a tape recorder or webcam with good enough sound quality and record the first line of the song. Then sing that line and see what you need to improve on. e.i. hit a higher note or lower note, breath in a certain spot or continue to next word with breathing. Also sing the actual note. NOT what you think it is. That's a big part of bad singing. If you can hit you're notes right then the rest becomes easier. Easiest why to learn notes is to find a piano or keyboard, or even just and online keyboard is fine you don't need to know anything fancy just basic notes and honestly you can just print a cheat sheet for that. Find online sheet music (there are a few free site) and play the basic notes (treble note, or the top set of lines) one by one. Hit the corresponding key and hold it while you sing the note. You're voice should blend in with the key not be on top of (higher) or below (lower) rather you should here a sort of resonance or vibration when you hit the exact same note. Continue through then whole song like this. This will teach you how to sing accurately. Actually you may want to record and play that back as well to really see if you're hitting it.
After that it's just tone and breathing control and technique. this you can learn from and instructor or pick up on you're own with the help of video but what I gave you here should be enough to give you a good start on singing. Singing accurately is key.
Um as for high notes. You should find out your vocal part. As in Soprano or Alto. Then both section are divided into firsts and seconds depending on who sings higher. After learning to sing accurately so you don't embarrass yourself (no offense meant) find someone learned in music and see if they can help you figure out what you are. maybe even go to a music store and ask. This will tell you how high your vocal range naturally should be able to go (not that it isn't possible to overlap ranges, this will just tell you your initial range.) once you find that you can work on high notes with in your range. Because what may be high for an alto might be medium note for a soprano and what may be high for a soprano may be impossible for an alto to hit. To hit a high note you HAVE to breath from you're diaphragm you should not feel your chest move AT ALL, only your upper stomach. then you imagine that the voice is coming from you head, like your forehead, this is called you're head voice and that technique helps you brain tell you're vocal chords to switch into head voice which is solely for high note. From there you just practice singing, maybe try "Meee" since its a classic high sound. Remember to round the sound or the high note won't sound to good, you can do this by making an "O"ish shape with your mouth e.i. you're mouth should end up more open vertically then horizontally but it does not have to be an exact O though. Record it and play it until you have the sound you're looking for and work with a keyboard. If you can't initially hit it, work you way up, please do warm ups, they really do help. run scales, look them up on youtube and sing along until you can hit the higher notes, frequent practice will help you improve. if at any point your throat hurts or feels sore. STOP. you are damaging you throat and voice. most likely this means you're singing on your throat and note from you're diaphragm. Aim for a natural voice when learning to sing. you can always learn to jazz it up later.
Hope I helped.. sorry i typed so much, just had to share what i've picked up over the years.
Feel free to e-mail me with any problems you run into or question or anything: RockerchicM@gmail.com
And remember. ANYONE, and I do mean anyone is capable of singing if they learn the right things and practice.
How to train myself to play piano by ear?
Q. I know the basics (i stopped at grade 1). I dont want to depend on music sheets cause I'm too lazy to read and stuff. Is it possible to train myself to play by ear? And how do I train myself to be able to reach an octave higher? I'm trying to play A thousand Miles but I cant seem to do right for the intro cause my fingers are not strong and fast enough to push the keys. Help..?
A. the answer is easy, the outcome wont be. anyone can play any instrument. only those who are blessed with the gift can make them truely sing. to play by ear is the most beneficial way to express yourself musically. it comes from within. not from someone elses hand written sheets. 30 years ago when i was at the beginning end, i too, was doing the sheet music thing. ok for percussion instruments, but daggonnit, you ever see an all 6 string major chord in quick time for a guitar? piano is worse!!!! i was thinking who could even readt it and play it that fast!!! why take the time to read it?? just play! so i did! how did i do it? PRACTICE!!! every day. all the time. treat it like you do breathing. the best technique is to play along with the music you like best. just relax, and let it all out.
or, to learn the different genres (blues, jazz, classical, pop, etc) then practice along with tose types of music. start small. pick the second seat parts and play the rythyms. learn to let the music flow without thinking of what note comes next. as for your fingers, well practice is the only way. much like an athelete about to run, they would have to develope their leg muscles to react exactly as they want them. you must do that with your fingers. youll make mistakes. thats good, sometimes a mistake will lead to a sound youll like.
now with some computers, the music players can slow down the music. this is a great help as when you come to parts where the effects are overpowering the notes, or the notes are to fast to pick out readily. play it slowly. things seems to come out clearly when you use this technique. back in the day we had battery powered cassette recorders. all we had to do then was put in semi dead batteries and voila! slower music. it made copying van halens guitar riffs so much easier to learn. now, i can do it in my sleep, one handed. PRACTICE!
in order to train your ear your gonna have to use it. and in conjunction with your hands. this means alot of listening, playing, and repeating over and over. same as with sheet music, your just using your ears instead of eyes, and a music player instead of sheets. no matter how you do it, sheet or by ear, PRACTICE is always they key. always will be!
music by isnt learned over night, even for those with the gift. so dont get dicouraged. its repetitive. sometimes practice can be boring. though if anything is ever said, one thing ive learned is true.....
you get out of it what you put into it. the more you practice ear/hand, the better you will be.
good luck!
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