Music Lessons in Burbank CA | Los Angeles Music Teachers

“Is cello hard to learn?”

The process of learning the cello is not difficult, but it’s important to keep in mind that the cello is not an instrument of instant gratification. It does require focused, daily practice time and a good teacher to guide you along the way.
How far you progress with cello is a direct result of the amount of quality time you put into practicing the instrument. Even someone who puts in just 30 minutes a day will notice a significant improvement after a few weeks, regardless of their age.
A student who continues to take cello lessons and practice beyond their first year has the potential to develop into a talented amateur, and a young student with the right dedication could continue their studies all the way through to a rewarding professional career.​

Is Cello Hard to Learn?
When learning how to play the cello, very little is spoon-fed to you by the instrument. Keyboard and fretted instruments (such as the  guitar) are a little easier to learn the basics. Simply putting your finger on the right key or fret will allow you to produce the note you want to hear.  

With the cello, you need to have a teacher guiding you through the early stages to ensure you’re learning in a healthy way. This will lead to a lifetime of enjoying the instrument. If you have the right teacher, anyone can learn the fundamentals of playing cello.
As with most instruments, the cello will come more easily to someone with experience reading notes and rhythms. Most of cello music is written down, rather than transferred aurally from teacher to student. But with a little patience, students of all ages can learn the musical language without prior knowledge or exposure.

Does Age Matter When Taking Online Lessons?
Young students make great beginner cellists. Often with youth comes unbridled enthusiasm for learning a cool new instrument and a mental elasticity that helps them absorb new information like a sponge.

These advantages can carry a student a long way. The excitement encourages them to practice more on their own and their ability to retain information helps them progress quickly in their studies.

One difficulty that young students face though, is the challenge of critically analyzing their playing. As a result, they need an outside observer to help them identify things that cause them trouble, whether it is posture, intonation, tone quality, etc. Young beginners are also generally less coordinated than their adult counterparts and will remain that way until well after puberty.
Adult beginners have their own set of advantages. Firstly, they’re better in control of their bodies which helps them make changes to technique and posture more quickly. They also have a strong ability to critically analyze their own actions, and better sense of how they want to sound.

As a result of their ability to critically analyze their own playing, adult learners can sometimes go straight to the criticizing part. This can lead to discouragement when they don’t immediately sound the way they want. However, the student is probably playing at a level appropriate to how long they have been studying.

Practice Makes Perfect
Practicing in between lessons is another necessity that makes learning the cello much easier. Without daily practice times, you will find your teacher going over the same concepts week after week during your lessons. Make a commitment to find a small chunk of time each day to practice playing the cello and you’ll set yourself up for success.

If you only have five minutes, play some open strings for tone quality. Have a little more time? Add in some scale practice. If you have even more time, pick apart the challenging sections of your newest solo piece. There is always something you can practice, but focus on the most important concepts with the time that you have.

Start Learning Cello With Online Lessons
You no longer have to wonder if the cello is hard to learn. With a teacher guiding your technique, regular practice times, and a willingness to learn, you too can become an excellent cellist.

You won’t have to worry about twisting your left arm into an uncomfortable position like violinists, or pushing air through several yards of tubing using only your lungs like a brass player. Instead, you’ll get to enjoy the comfort of the relaxed seated position for the cello.
Overall, the cello is an incredible instrument with a wonderful depth of sound and breadth of repertoire. To get started now, register for your first cello lesson Online right here at Los Angeles Music Teachers with one of our many talented instructors. You will see our buttons below. 

If you're interested in taking Cello lessons on Zoom or In Person in Burbank, Glendale or North Hollywood, we have some of the  best Cello lessons in Los Angeles. Our Cello instructors are picked by interviewing hundreds of Cello instructors and we have really high standards on both their teaching ability as well as their personality. If you'd like to talk to one of our instructors or set up a first lesson we have a guarantee that if you don't absolutely love your first lesson you don't have to pay for it. Please contact us at (818)902-1233 or on our website at https://www.losangelesmusicteachers.com/online-cello-lessons-in-burbank-ca.html​

Can’t play a convincing shuffle? You might as well cross a whole range of potential gigs off your bucket list. Shuffles play a crucial role in every professional drummer’s vocabulary, and those still struggling to get the hang of this particular feel might be surprised to learn there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. 


Shuffles can lightly bounce behind a track or drive like a freight train, and everything in between. You may be content knowing a handful of basic patterns, but there are dozens of types of shuffle grooves that can help you develop greater control and coordination while expanding your fluency. So let’s take your shuffle to the next level.

WHAT IS A SHUFFLE?
As you dig deep into shuffle pedagogy, you’ll find that they’re sometimes written as triplets in 4/4 and other times as 12/8. So, to help you adjust to this idea, we’ve presented the following examples both ways—in either case, they’re more or less equivalent. I’ll refer to both patterns as being counted as 1 & ah 2 & ah 3 & ah 4 & ah because it’s easier to count them that way, even though my music theory teacher would slap my wrists for that.

Shuffles generally sound like a child skipping, with a cymbal pattern playing the pattern 1 – ah 2 – ah 3 – ah 4 – ah. However, as you’ll soon see, there are countless variations on this idea. Sometimes the feet play the shuffle, or it’s divided among several limbs, or occasionally it’s just implied.

GETTING STARTED

For those new to shuffles, we’ll start with a few blues beats that aren’t technically shuffles, but will help you get used to the feel of triplet-based beats. These grooves are written in 6/8, and since they’re shorter, they’re easier to master. Practice each slowly until it becomes comfortable, and then try speeding up the tempo. 

Keep your snare and bass drum medium strong, and play your hi-hat softer using the tip to create a musically balanced sound. Once you’re comfortable with these, you can link pairs together to create longer and more interesting patterns. The second line has some simple shuffles. 

When playing these on the ride cymbal, you may close your hi-hat with the snare note. The third line is trickier. To master these, play the unaccented snare notes very softly. More advanced drummers can expand these by buzzing or playing soft drags instead of ghost notes for different textures. Feel free to add variations on the cymbal, foot, or snare patterns to spice up any shuffle once you’re comfortable playing it.

There are lots of fun to enjoy in music and learning to play the guitar is no exception. Unarguably, practicing this stringed instrument can be quite interesting but it can also be tough. To some degree, there are some guitar issues to be encountered of which pain is one of them. Nevertheless, it is good to know that there is a way out of this. Here is how to prevent your fingers from hurting while playing the guitar.

Practice with a decent guitar
When practicing to play the guitar, it is important for learners to know how to properly set up the instrument with low action. If you don’t know how to do this, go along with the instrument to a real music store to ask for assistance. A decent guitar is one that is properly set up to produce the right sounds with little efforts.

Strung up your guitar with the right strings
Using the right set of strings is obviously one of the easiest ways to get started. While the electric guitar requires .08 set of strings, acoustic guitars work best with .010 strings. As a learner, you may not know which set of strings is appropriate for use on your instrument. However, you can get the right settings done by visiting a real music store to get the professional assistance you need to string up your guitar. To achieve the best, learners should ensure to make it easy on themselves. However, there is no need to shy away from pain – besides, no pain… no gain.

Engage in music lessons with a professional guide
Having someone (preferably an expert) guide you through music lessons can be highly profitable when it comes to learning the guitar. Learning to play well will require you to adopt certain techniques recommended by experts to ensure an effective play session. Interestingly, you can get all the fundamentals covered at this time. You can effectively learn how to prevent your fingers from hurting while playing the guitar when you adopt an organized and focused practice session with a professional guitarist. Simply put, you need someone who can guide you and guide you well.
Practice softly

For the safety of your fingertips, soft practices are recommended. To do this, you don’t need to squeeze down when fingering a chord. All you need to do is to lay your fingers on the strings then do some back and forth movements but don’t press down. This can basically help to improve your solo, riff, and scale practices.

Play for shorter periods
You can improve your fingering skills by avoiding long-term practices and playing less long stretches within your time allotment.
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Learn with fun
To avoid hurting your fingers while playing, there is no need to practice as if you are in a competition. Take some time to relax and ensure to have some fun while you practice. ​

If you're interested in taking Guitar lessons on Zoom or In Person in Burbank, Glendale or North Hollywood, we have some of the  best Guitar lessons in Los Angeles. Our guitar instructors are picked by interviewing hundreds of guitar instructors and we have really high standards on both their teaching ability as well as their personality. If you'd like to talk to one of our instructors or set up a first lesson we have a guarantee that if you don't absolutely love your first lesson you don't have to pay for it. Please contact us at (818)902-1233 or on our website at https://www.losangelesmusicteachers.com/online-guitar-lessons-in-burbank-ca.html​

At the end of the day, singing is a physical process. It requires precision movements from your entire body. Because of this, singers need to take just as much care of their voices before they sing as when they’re singing.

Have you ever been to the gym and had a great workout but felt really sore the following day? Or perhaps you’ve been on a run with a friend and gone to bed that night with a clicking knee? Stretching can prevent the athlete from unnecessary damage and pain. Stretching your voice is just as critical. 
​
Here are some of the best reasons why you should take the time to condition your voice with regular warmups. 

Warmups bring you right up to your best voice.
You may have noticed that some days you can sing all night without a problem. Other days, you might wear out by the second or third song. You may even have noticed that some days you can hit that high note, but other days it’s a stretch to come near it. You may find that you’re able to sing lower notes in your range at the end of the day than you can in the morning.

All of this can be worked through ahead of time by warming up your voice prior to a recording session or performance. And if you record at home, it’s much easier to notice how your vocal strength improves day by day by listening back to the recordings you make.

By gradually putting your voice through its paces, you’re able to loosen it up and get your blood circulating through all the different parts that make up your voice box. This gives you access to all the different abilities you have as a vocalist. By warming up, you don’t have to wait around for a “good voice day” to happen.

Warmups grow your skills as a singer.
Think of warming up as exercising for your voice. What happens to your voice when you warm up is actually similar to what happens to athletes’ muscles when they stretch and exercise.

Here’s a simplified explanation. Warmups prepare you for the intense vibrations that come along with singing. Controlled, steady vocal exercises will increase acid in the muscles surrounding your vocal folds, which helps those muscles do their jobs more effectively.

One of these jobs includes interacting with a tendon in your throat. When that tendon is properly engaged, it’ll stretch, giving you more flexibility and control over your voice.

When you properly and regularly exercise your voice, you build upon your abilities and become a much more effective singer.

Warmups help you sing healthily without damaging your voice.
Remember all that stuff above about the muscle and tendon? If there’s a high or loud note you can’t sing right away, forcing yourself to do it can strain your voice. You could literally pull a muscle or give yourself tendonitis. Ouch! Not worth it.

Have you ever tried to push through a long set on a “bad voice day” and felt tired and sore at the end of the night? Perhaps your speaking voice was mostly gone?

Vocal warmups before a show prepare your voice for the strenuous activity that is singing. It may seem counterintuitive. “How does singing before I sing make me less tired from singing?!” This is because warmups are a controlled, steady way of singing that doesn’t stress your voice out.

Warmups prepare your voice for the vocal event that is singing. When you sing something challenging in a performance without adequately warming up, you run the risk of damaging your voice and really hurting yourself.

When should you warm up?
Ideally, you should warm up every day. And if you’re not already, you should start slow. Do some simple exercises for 20 minutes every morning. Don’t try to belt out that high C just yet — you’ll need to work yourself up to that.

Remember, warmups help grow and unlock the skills that you already have. If you don’t have a regular warmup routine, it’s wise to consult a voice teacher and build one together so that you approach the exercises correctly.

These exercises should also be done the day of any strenuous vocal activity. If you have a show in the evening, warm up in the morning, then again an hour or so before the show. If you’re a public speaker, you’ll want to warm up ahead of your presentation as well.

Choose your favorite warmups and then make sure you’re practicing correctly.
If you’re familiar with vocal warmups, this will serve as a great reminder of what you already know. If you’ve never warmed up a day in your life, I highly recommend getting in touch with a teacher to properly lead you through your exercises.

Relax.
Relaaaax. Inhale, exhale. Good, healthful singing starts from a relaxed body. Do what you need to do to loosen yourself up — within reason, of course!

Some singers like to start their day with a hot shower and a lukewarm mug of licorice root tea. Feel all your tension melting away and your muscles becoming looser.

Practice proper breathing.
Proper breathing for singing is the way we breathe when we lay down. You want to imagine your chest is filling with air from the bottom of your lungs, up. Imagine a glass filling with water; the water fills the bottom first, then rises to the top.

To exhale, reverse it — empty your lungs from the top down. It will feel a bit unnatural at first, but you’ll become accustomed to breathing this way. This is how you breathe deeply.

Release tension in your neck.
The quickest way to damage your voice is to sing with tension. When you’re singing any note, you want to make sure your neck looks soft and relaxed. Sing in front of a mirror and watch your neck. Does it tense up? Can you see veins and ligaments protruding out at certain notes? Be mindful of where you’re feeling tension.

Your neck should look the same when you’re singing as it does when you’re not singing. This is true for softly sung songs as well as big belters. Although, if you’re screaming to heavy metal every night, I’m not sure there’s much you can do about those veins.

Stand up straight.
There’s a correct way to stand when singing. Straight! Don’t allow your shoulders to hunch. Plant your feet firmly on the ground, shoulder-width apart.

Now, imagine there’s a string that winds all along your spine and comes out the top of your head. Imagine yourself pulling that string and straightening out your spine, your neck, and lastly, your head. Your chin should not dip or rise, but be level with the floor. You’re ready to sing!

Pace yourself, and enjoy your newly warmed-up voice.​
Vocal warmups should be challenging the same way that going to the gym is challenging. You should leave feeling better than when you came. One crucial difference, though, is that vocal warmups should not leave you feeling sore. A good exercise will have you feeling ready to sing anything!

Drum Rudiments are one of the most important aspects of drumming. They are the building blocks to every drum beat, pattern, fill, and solo. Whatever your skill level is on the drums, practicing your rudiments is a must. Even if you are an advanced drummer, it’s always good to go over some of the more technical rudiments. There are 40 drum rudiments; some more complicated then the other. Out of those 40, there are about 5 essential rudiments that are a must for practicing.

Many of you may be unfamiliar with the term Rudiments; however, do not worry. Drum rudiments aren’t a concept you aren’t aware of, maybe just a term you haven’t heard before. A drum rudiment is basically a sticking pattern. Every sticking pattern you play on the drum set is derived from different drum rudiments. Most are very common patterns that you are well aware of like the single stroke roll, double stroke roll, and flam stroke. Some are more complex and difficult to play. The next time you play the drums, you should look and see what rudiments you are actually playing. Drum rudiments are the essentials of drumming; they should be practiced by drummers to increase their stick control, speed and independence.


You may have heard of the 40 Essential Drum Rudiments before; this is the list of rudiments that are played. They say if you master the 40 essential rudiments you are on your way to becoming a professional drummer. This is very true; if you can identify and play each one of these rudiments you will have built up enough knowledge and stick control to be a very skilled drummer. However, this takes a lot of work. Here is the list of rudiments

• Single Stroke Roll 
• Single Stroke Four 
• Single Stroke Seven 
• Double Stroke Roll 
• Five Stroke Roll 
• Six Stroke Roll 
• Seven Stroke Roll 
• Nine Stroke Roll 
• Ten Stroke Roll
• Eleven Stroke Roll 
• Thirteen Stroke Roll
• Fifteen Stroke Roll 
• Seventeen Stroke Roll 
• Single Paradiddle 
• Double Paradiddle 
• Triple Paradiddle 
• Paradiddle-Diddle 
• Flam Stroke
• Flam Accent 
• Flam Tap
• Flamacue
• Flam Paradiddle
• Single Flammed Mill 
• Flam Paradiddle-Diddle 
• Pataflafla 
• Swiss Army Triplet 
• Inverted Flam Tap 
• Flam Drag
• Drag Ruff 
• Single Drag Tap
• Double Drag Tap 
• Single Dragadiddle
• Drag Paradiddle #1 
• Drag Paradiddle #2
• Lesson 25 
• Single Ratamacue 
• Double Ratamacue
• Triple Ratamacue
• Multiple Bounce Roll 
• Triple Stroke Roll

Drum Rudiment Practice

Practicing these drum rudiments are very important. The best way to practice these is to take a pair of drum sticks, a metronome, and a practice pad and start playing. Make sure you are playing with a metronome to keep yourself on time. If you do not know where to start, here is a list of the top 5 rudiments you should start with: the single stroke roll, the double stroke roll, the flam stroke, the paradiddle, and the double paradiddle. These are the top 5 rudiments you should start with, as each one will teach you speed, control, independence and endurance on your sticks. 

Most of the drum rudiments are variations of each other, meaning it is not too hard to learn all 40 rudiments. For example, if you can play a flam stroke, and a paradiddle pattern, you should have no trouble playing the flam paradiddle. In any case take the time to go over each one if you can. 

Drum rudiments are more than just sticking patterns you practice on a practice pad. They are designed to be played in common drumming applications. What this means is they are designed to be played in drum beats, fills, and solos. 

​If you're interested in taking Drum lessons on Zoom or In Person in Burbank, Glendale or North Hollywood, we have some of the  best drum lessons in Los Angeles. Our drum instructors are picked by interviewing hundreds of drum instructors and we have really high standards on both their teaching ability as well as their personality. If you'd like to talk to one of our instructors or set up a first lesson we have a guarantee that if you don't absolutely love your first lesson you don't have to pay for it. Please contact us at (818)902-1233 or on our website at https://www.losangelesmusicteachers.com/online-drum-lessons-in-burbank-ca.html​

Why Singers Should Take Piano Or Guitar Lessons In Person And Online

Singers, you are musicians. Often times we are lost in the solo world of performance and emotive expression through sound, which is awesome. But we are complete musicians and expected to be, and definitely respected much more so, when we act as such.

Solo performers are at somewhat a disadvantage when they show up at rehearsals with other kinds of musicians, a band, an orchestra, back up singers, or a pianist. We need to keep time so that people can play with us. We need to be able to follow a conductor during a staged performance. We need to be able to count.

And that is where piano or guitar lessons will do you some good. Learning to really read music, for real; rests, quarter notes, time signatures, key signatures, key changes, dynamics, tempo markings, minor, major, harmony, theory and songwriting etc...

And number one, being able to learn your part spot on, by yourself correctly, even when it is hard.

May we suggest you sign up for some piano or guitar lessons? We have been teaching and working in the profession for over 20 years. 

We love to teach the piano and guitar at Los Angeles Music Teachers with a passion because it works a different part of your brain than a voice lesson. It always feels like completing a complicated math test after a good lesson and that is great for us. I am sure our piano/guitar students feel that way as well.

Also, what is fantastic about piano and guitar is that you can really track your improvement by completing levels of music so you know you are getting better.

Singing is more complicated. You have to be born with a certain amount of talent beyond your control. Lessons are important and help so much in singing, but it is different than piano playing. (You do need a certain amount of natural talent to be a concert pianist/guitarist of course- I am not referring to that).

So consider putting learning the piano/guitar on your list of things to do to further your singing level. We can not tell you as a singer how many times it came in handy for me to be able to pluck out my parts, or play the harmonies with my part so we could practice singing against them. Piano/guitar especially helped me out of college because we are able to teach voice lessons.