 Playing The Clarinet
The clarinet is as versatile as it is fun. It is a great woodwind instrument to learn to play but the process can be confusing to those who are new to this instrument. If you're out of breath while playing or unsure on how to properly clean your instrument, our list of advice is designed to assist beginners. For more personalized, speak with your music instructor. What Equipment Is Needed? There are a few essential pieces of equipment for every clarinetist: Reeds [https://goo.gl/Haibfr] Ligatures [https://goo.gl/TVAqx2] Mouthpieces [https://goo.gl/Bmaq17] Did the clarinet come with a stock mouthpiece? If so, it is time to upgrade a better mouthpiece that provides the desired sound. All stock ligatures should be eliminated as well. Cloth ligatures offer more control than metal ones, so most educators recommend that their students transition into the usage of metal ligatures to open up their sound. The reed's strength should be determined by the mouthpiece. A “3” is usually the most common but it is not right for everyone. Be sure to speak with your music educator to find out about the strength that is right for you. How Is Embouchure Improved? This process doesn’t happen overnight. It’s an often overlooked performance aspect that involves the proper coordination between your upper lip, lower lip, chin and teeth. To begin, drop the jaw so that it is relaxed and not forced open. From there, move the jaw from side to side slightly, so that it can loosen up. Once full relaxation is achieved, roll your bottom lip ever so slightly over your lower teeth and firm up the mouths's corners. They should be brought forward and in, much like a smile. Place the index finger against the space between your top teeth and use the upper lip to press downward onto your finger. (The chin should automatically point downward once this step is taken.) Remove the finger, do not move a muscle, insert 1/4th of your mouthpiece and keep the upper teeth resting on top. Perfect embouchure has been achieved! What About Reeds? Finding the right clarinet reeds [https://goo.gl/Z3PmC8] and maintaining them in the proper manner is crucial to your success. Choose the correct reeds for your mouthpiece and the level of pressure used. Do not moisten reeds with saliva, as these acids are highly detrimental to cane. When a new box of reeds is opened, do not test them all at the same time. The lip desensitizes and reed impressions are inaccurate. The break in process should be steady and slow. It does not take place in one day, they are played for a few minutes each day. When it comes to cleaning and maintenance, rinse your reeds in water after playing and use a soft cloth to dry them before they are stored on glass. Reed adjustment requires trial and error, so be sure to speak with your clarinet instructor for further advice. Any Practicing Advice? Most new clarinet players are misguided as far as practicing is concerned. The amount of time spent practicing is not as important as how that time is spent. An hour of efficient practicing is more effective than three hours of distracted practice. Practice time should consist of warm-ups, enjoyable sheet music and technique practice. Keeping up the technical side of things can be tough. Always practice technique, no matter what. Each practice should begin with a warm up, you can switch between sheet music and technique as necessary. For more practice tips, check out How to Make Your Practice Time Count. [https://goo.gl/gqD6ko] What If I Have a Bad Day? Bad clarinet days are a very real thing. Practice can be frustrating at times. The trick is to remain calm. Don't force yourself to complete technique exercises or run through scales. At times like these, it is important to simply play through some of your favorite tunes. Spending time playing what you want to play lets you get into the flow of playing more rapidly. Becoming frustrated? There's nothing wrong with skipping your practice session for that day. Remember: this process is a challenge. There are going to be good days and there will be bad ones. Don't be discouraged. In the long run it pays to be determined.
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Saxophone is easier to learn in the beginning and it is more accepted in pop music if you’d like to ever actually take it to another level past the school band and play in any kind of pop band or garage band. On the other hand, clarinet is smaller, easier to carry and gets more interesting parts to play in the school concert band.
But the most important thing you can do is to check on Youtube and listen to the saxophone and the clarinet and see which one YOU like better. THAT’S the one that is better for you, because you’re going to have more fun playing it and it’s more about what is going to inspire you to practice it after the initial thrill of playing an instrument is gone. That’s what’s most important.
 What recommendations do you have for a professional jazz sax player and plastic reeds?
There are a number of plastic reeds on the market these days. I can remember my first experience with Bari synthetic reeds 25 years ago when the reed actually made my lips bleed. The sound was super bright and without much color so it was basically unusable (although a few pros did get through the bleeding and learned how to play them). Then there was the Fibercell reeds that were a little better and I used them for practicing but never on a gig. And about 5 years ago heard about the Legere Reeds. I tried them and they played pretty good but still had that plastic, bright and not much warmth kind of sound. I never tried them again until about 3 years ago at the NAMM show and I was completely blown away about how much they improved and from that time on I’ve been hooked and even endorse the reeds now. Legere reeds are not only incredibly consistent from reed to reed but they play as good as my BEST cane reeds. The reeds are really responsive in all registers of the horn and have a warm, rich sound and uniform clarity from the bottom to top of the horn. Best of all, I know it’s going to feel and sound the same every time I play it, I don’t have to break it in and don’t have to worry about my reed drying out and warping while I’m playing one of my other saxophones or clarinet especially when I’m playing an outdoor event. In short, this is an amazing reed by any standard and I recommend them to every reed player I know.” Premium Synthetic Woodwind Reeds | Légère Reeds Jazz Saxophone Improvisation Lesson System
11/19/2018
 Jazz Saxophone Improvisation Lesson System
How to Improvise to the Chord Changes of Watermelon Man by Herbie Hancock PREP: Start by practicing your Concert F pentatonic as well as the blues scale and play it with the track with the correct articulation. Then you need to have already learned the approach note jazz improvisation system and have practiced all the approach note pairs over the form of Watermelon Man and then you are ready to start improvising. You will need to be aware that there are obvious differences from a slow 12 Bar blues in a triplet feel. The 1st thing is that Watermelon Man is not a 12 bar blues. It is a 16 bar blues. We’ll discuss that when we get to the bridge of the song. The main differences to distinguish are:
Now let’s start the procedure step by step:
If you haven’t done Rick Rossi’s System of How to Improvise using Approach Notes, you will want to get that learned first before trying to apply it to this new song form. Jazz Improvisation on the Saxophone or any instrument is much simpler if you eliminate the intellectual side of the brain as much as possible. You can learn more about how jazz improvisers are executing the very complex tasks required to improvise jazz without thinking of what they are doing. When there is too much thought, there is a lot of interruption in the flow of the ideas. Great jazz improviser are able to let their ideas flow very naturally without great effort. THAT state is what all improvisers are trying to reach. It’s the idea of NOT TRYING that is hard to teach. And that is the basis of the success of my method. Read this article at the bottom of this page for further clarification of the system: http://www.rickrossi.com/Lessons___Contact.html  9 Questions to know before taking Drum Lessons at Los Angeles Music Teachers
Do I have to own a drum set to take drum lessons? No. Many students start learning on a rubber practice pad and a pair of sticks. We recommend starting children at the age of five or six on keyboard/piano for a year or two and adults can start at any age. Then they have a huge head-start when they transition to Drum at the age of seven and it usually goes very smoothly for them. Do I have to bring sticks to my first lesson? No. Your teacher will have a pair you can borrow for the first lesson. Your teacher will suggest a pair of sticks that are the correct size for you based on music style, experience, etc. Then you can pick up a pair at a music store and bring them to future lessons. Should I learn on an acoustic or electric drum kit? If you are a beginner it doesn't really matter. There are some advantages to each. The cost is similar between electric and acoustic drums. You can wear headphones with electric drums and you can put rubber pads (silencers) on acoustic drums to bring the volume down. Please speak with your drum teacher about which drum set is right for you, your lifestyle and budget. You can always call our school office and someone will be happy to help you as with the brands and models as well. What age is best to start learning to play drums? Adults can start anytime! Students as young as five can learn to play but it is usually best if they wait until the age of seven to take drum lessons. Many people call us and say "my child plays pots and pans all the time and he is four years old. We want to get him into drum lessons." There is a big difference in having fun pounding away on pots, pans or even your desk if you are an adult and having your teacher give you certain patterns and songs to work on over and over until they are correct. Children under six and under generally don't have the attention span to take drum lessons. Instead, start them on keyboard until the age of seven and then switch them to drums if you really want to give them the best chance at success. Of course there are exceptions so please call us if you think your child is ready for drum lessons! Do I have to bring my drum set to each lesson? No. We have drum kits at our school for you to use at your lessons. However, you should bring your sticks (after the first lesson) and any books or other materials your teacher has you working on from week to week. Do you teach snare drum and other percussion instruments? Yes. Please call us for details as there are many different percussion instruments out there and various teachers at our many schools teach specific percussion instruments. Do I have to know how to read music to play drums? No. Your teacher will introduce you to drum music as you learn to play. Drum music notation is different than music notation for other instruments and is much easier to learn! Are their performance opportunities for drummers at Los Angeles Music Teachers? No. We are currently in an expansion in the school so we are just taking on private lessons, so we do not have any school concerts/performances, but any parent that would like to hear the students progress and want their child to have a performance to practice and prepare for, we can definitely set that up for you for we would like our students to grow and have something to work towards. We can set the drummers to perform a solo. What kind of drums do you recommend for a beginner? I would recommend contacting your teacher, there are many brands and models for basic and electric drum sets. Our teacher will give you the best advice on instruments you can purchase that will be excellent for you to start with. Check out the Los Angeles Music Teachers page to learn more about drum lessons! Contact us or call us at 818-902-1233 or email: rick@losangelesmusicteachers.com Guidelines for not making rookie mistakes when you start cello instruction near Burbank in Los Angeles First of all let me congratulate you on deciding to learn the cello! It’s a beautifully versatile instrument and you will not regret choosing it. Similar to the vocal range, it has been a favorite for centuries. In order to be successful, you need to know the pitfalls to avoid. If you follow these guidelines, you will be motivated to keep pushing through. It’s easy to be disappointed when you're taking beginner cello classes near Burbank. This is why it’s crucial for you to use this blog as a model. This way, you won’t waste precious time and energy into the wrong resources. Following is a list of things you should definitely do in order to be the best novice cello student close to Burbank: *Choose an instrument that is the right size. Cellos come in various sizes, and it is imperative that they are proportionate to the pupil. It’s much more crucial for the cello to be the right size than to get an expensive one. For optimal guidance, ask your instructor or your local instrument shop. *Learn how to properly tune the cello. Don’t underestimate how important it is to learn this right away! You will probably need to tune it every day because of changes in temperature and humidity, and beginner instruments need more frequent tuning anyway. There are a number of free tuning apps you can install on your phone that make pitch checking a quick and easy start to your practice. If you don’t tune the cello every day when you are starting out, you won’t get used to the correct pitches and your intonation will greatly suffer. Remember, it is much harder to break bad habits than it is to form good ones. Make sure your tuner is set to 440 frequency and always go from the A to the C strings. *Learn the correct way to rosin your bow. If it is not applied evenly, you will have gaps in your sound. The right amount is also very important because the bow will slide off the string if there is too little rosin and will have way too much grip if you put too much on. You will soon learn the right amount that helps your bowing be effortless. *Have your cello set up by a professional luthier for optimal sound. *Be patient during practice. You definitely don’t want to get an injury or learn bad habits. Have your teacher help you develop practice methods that focus both your physical and mental energies. This way, you will progress in a consistent way and will stay motivated. I hope you enjoyed and learned a lot from this blog! Next up I will tell you about the “don’ts”. For more information, please visit us at http://www.losangelesmusicteachers.com   Music lessons for children aged 7 and up. We are offering lessons for piano, saxophone, violin, and many other instruments. Our music teachers teach rock, blues, metal, country and classical music lessons. Beginner students can get to work on chords, simple songs, melodies, music theory, and tabs reading. We try to make each lesson joyful to learn. All the theory and technical concepts are divided into small parts and end in something fun. No matter if you want to learn your favorite guitar riff or learn to play your favorite song, you are welcome to bring your CDs or iPod to the class to learn it from the teachers.
If you are wondering who we are and what we do, in this blog we will cover all the aspects of our website and give you an overview of what we do. You will also learn a lot about our mission like why we founded this company and how you can benefit as a musician by choosing us as your music teachers. Who We Are We, Rick and Manoela are two professional and accomplished teachers and performers in the LA area who combined their expertise to form Los Angeles Music Teachers. In our long careers, we have taught for so many music schools but we were unable to produce the results we wanted due to the restrictions. It was the need of the hour to form a business that could overcome all the weaknesses of the competitors and offer something that could really provide benefits to the young students. Our Mission We believe that it is not necessary for a music school to have a complicated website that could confuse the student right in the very beginning. This is the reason why we made a website that is easy to navigate and provides all the information in the best way possible. Secondly, being music teachers, we want to offer lessons that are tailored to your needs and goals. Being musicians, we know that no two musicians are same and they cannot be taught in the same way. It is one of our mantras to offer special discounts to our students. You can pay all your fees in advance either for a month or a year, whatever you are comfortable with. However, customer satisfaction is our main priority and if you are not satisfied with your first lesson, you can claim your full fee back. We won’t ask you any questions. As we mentioned earlier that we like to offer discounts to our students, our referral scheme is something we take pride in. Just refer a friend to us and get a full month of free classes as a reward. We never impose our teaching plan on our students. We teach you what you are interested in learning; which is the beauty of our classes. No matter if it is a specific song or a riff, our experienced teachers will teach it to you. This is why we brag that it is a fun learning with us. Hopefully, this post is enough to answer all your queries and introducing ourselves to you. If you still have any further questions, please call us now at (818)902-1233, or leave your question in the contact form. We will answer you as quickly as possible. Hope you have a good time reading, we look forward to hearing from you. In the musical family, the strings are the most versatile group. Listen to your favorite movie score and you will probably notice the most beautiful parts, other than individual instrument solos, are string passages. The power of an orchestra string section is unsurpassed.
So no wonder your child wants to start lessons on a string instrument in Los Angeles! Violin is the most popular of the strings, but is it the best choice? As a violinist myself, I do not recommend it as a first instrument. It is one of the hardest, if not the most, to play in general, which means starting on it is also an extreme challenge. It takes a year or two just to develop a decent sound, let alone any more advanced techniques and being comfortable enough to play music by ear or a handful of pieces that led you to want to play it in the first place. The viola is simply a bigger version of the violin, and as such presents many of the same challenges, even if on a somewhat smaller scale. Due to its sheer size, the bass is not recommended for small children, and even though there are small sizes to start out with, it is still an awkward instrument to get around because of the amount of arm movement and shifting needed to get to different notes and strings. The cello is the winner in the category simply because it combines the best of both worlds; it is able to provide a bass line for any ensemble it’s part of while also being able to hold its own as a solo melodic voice. Any beautiful violin melody can be easily transposed to cello, and it is a much more comfortable position than the violin. You are sitting down and the way you place your hand on the instrument feels a lot more natural. Moreover, because of the thickness of the strings, it does not sound nearly as scratchy as its soprano counterpart. I hope I was able to shed a little bit of light on the different members of the string family and helped you make your decision. As always, we are here to help! If you have any questions, do not hesitate to give us a call! For more information, please visit our website at http://www.losangelesmusicteachers.com or give us a call at (818) 902-1233. Are you thinking of learning how to play the guitar? When learning something new, you must start from the beginning. The guitar is a wonderful instrument to play as it can help you improve your memory and concentration.
When it comes to learning how to play guitar, you might need an expert help. Many beginners give up learning to play guitar after some time because it is frustrating. Learning a new skill is never easy, you will have to work hard to master it. However, with our help, you can learn how to play the guitar without any hassle. In this article, we have listed the things that every guitar player must learn. Have a look! Know Everything About the Guitar The first thing you must learn is the guitar anatomy. It is crucial for you to know what the components are and what they do. There is no need to hurry, you should take your time to get familiar with everything, from head to bridge. There are different types of guitar; you must understand how every part works. This is to make learning how to play guitar easy. If you don’t know which string is the A string, it will be challenging to learn how to play guitar. So, to successfully learn how to play guitar, you must get to know every part of the guitar. Holding the Guitar Correctly In order to play the guitar easily, you must hold it properly. Though many people think there is no rocket science, it can be difficult for someone who has never held a guitar before. To be able to produce the best quality sound, you must hold it correctly. Your left hand must be on the neck of the guitar while the other hand must be over the sound hole. In case you are left-handed, there are two solutions. You can flip the guitar without restringing or you can reverse the strings. This means you will have to position your right hand on the neck. You can try playing guitar in both ways and choose the one that you are comfortable with. Tuning the Guitar Tuning the guitar is a crucial step in ensuring the best sound quality. If you don’t know how to tune the guitar, you will have a challenging time learning how to play it. Your guitar can fall out of tune because of regular playing, environment, and temperature. Playing a tuned-out guitar will produce an off-key sound. Since the strings do not fall out of tune at the same rate, you must know which string to tune. So, it is crucial to know how to tune your guitar. It is suggested to get a tuner; you can even use online guitar tuners. If you don’t have a tuner or a phone, you can use the 5th fret technique. Restring the Guitar The strings of your guitar will lose their shine when you play it regularly. It means that you need to change the strings. Knowing how to replace the strings is a great skill for a guitarist. So, how do you when to restring your guitar. You will know when the strings will be discolored, or the sound will be off or flat. By restringing your guitar, you can make sure the sound produced is of excellent quality. Not all the strings are made equal, you can ask the professional at the local shop to help you choose the right string for you. Holding a Pick If you are wondering what a pick is, then you are the right place. A pick is a small plastic that is used for strumming the strings. Though you will not be using it every time you play the guitar, learning how to hold a pick is a vital skill. You must hold the pick in between the tip of your thumb and first finger. Once you get to know how to play, you can figure out your own style. There are several types of picks available on the market, from thick to thin. In the beginning, it is advised to start with a thinner pick. Since it is made of plastic and is small, it is recommended to get many picks. It will not cost you a lot as they are inexpensive. Reading Chords and Tabs Many people think reading tabs and chords is difficult. This is a misconception; it is very simple. When learning how to play the guitar, it is recommended to start with simple songs. To make it easy to play chords, you can start with songs such as Bad Moon Rising. Moreover, it is better to start learning with a cover. This will help you get familiar with reading the chords and help in practicing transitioning between chords. Playing Open Chords In open chords, not all the strings are pressed down. One of the first skills the guitarist will learn is playing open chords. You must start with a basic open chord such as G and strum the string to ensure you hear a clear chord. After you have successfully learned a single open chord, you can move on to the second open chord. This will help you practice transitioning between the chords. It is suggested to keep on creating the library of chords until you can transition between key chords without any trouble. Playing in Rhythm After learning a chord, many beginners, call over their friends to impress them with their newly learned guitar skills. It is then, they understand they don’t know how to play in rhythm. This is something every guitarist goes through. It is crucial to practice strumming the chords in rhythm. For this, you must use a metronome to strum in rhythm. Once you master strumming one chord in rhythm, you can try with two chords. Playing Power Chords Power chords are used in rock music; it is two note chords. Power chords are dyads consisting of fifth notes and root. They are not minor or major because they don’t have the third. When playing power chords, you will only need two or three fingers on the frets. They are easy and fun to play. Since many songs are composed on power chords, there are many songs for you to cover. Playing Guitar Songs You can choose a song that is your favorite and learn to play it on guitar. This is an exciting and thrilling for new guitarists as it will be the first song they learn. Therefore, you need to be patient when learning new skills. You can’t learn to play guitar overnight, you have to practice regularly to master the guitar skill. Los Angeles Music Teachers - Call us at 818-902-1233 or email: rick@losangelesmusicteachers.com |
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