The Grand Staff and Clefs
2/28/2023
The Grand Staff This is what is known as the grand staff. It includes the treble clef and bass clef. Pianists read from the grand staff. Note that the two notes shown above are the exact same pitch. Each is called "middle C." Clefs in Relation to Middle C Middle C is the note exactly between the bass and treble clefs, as noted in the image above. It is known by many other names, but for these tutorials I will be calling it "middle C". Middle C is located in a different spot for each clef, but it remains the exact same pitch. To show how each clef is related, here are images of each clef with middle C. Yes, this means that the clefs overlap each other. Treble Clef The treble clef is also known as the "G clef." The easiest way to remember this is seeing that the clef circles the note G (second line from the bottom). The image below shows where middle C is located on this clef. Bass Clef This clef is also known as the "F clef." One way to remember this is that the line between the two dots is F (second line from the top). Middle C is located on the first ledger line above the staff of the bass clef. Tenor Clef For the tenor clef, middle C is located on the second line from the top of the staff. Alto Clef On the alto clef, middle C is located on the middle line of the staff. The tenor and alto clefs are referred to as the "C clefs." Notice that middle C is located at the middle line of each of those clefs. Why all of the clefs? Each instrument has a range of notes that it can play. If every instrument read from the treble clef, for example, there would be a lot of ledger lines for lower instruments, which would make the music very difficult to read. Different clefs are assigned to different instruments based on the notes each instrument is able to play. If you're interested in taking lessons on Zoom or In Person in Burbank, Glendale or North Hollywood, please contact us at (818)902-1233 or on our website at https://www.losangelesmusicteachers.com/online-music-lessons-burbank-ca.html
In the world of the electric guitarist, there are great players and then there are legends. What sets them apart from being mere mortals? Read on for ten of the best and why. Who knows, maybe you have a budding electric guitar prodigy in your family that will be inspired to become the next big deal. With guitar lessons for kids readily available, there’s only one way to find out! See how the big names below have made an impact on the world of music through their guitars. 1. Les Paul Les Paul gave his name to one of the most iconic guitars in the world; he was also a nifty guitar player in his own right. 2. Eddie Van Halen With a unique sound and an amazing two-handed playing technique, Eddie Van Halen changed the sound of rock for generations and inspired more people to take up playing than any other electric guitar player. Being a ‘tone chaser’, he would experiment with guitar parts to make the perfect instrument. 3. Jimmy Page One of the first heavy metal bands, Led Zeppelin owes its distinct sound to Jimmy Page. Very few people fail to recognize the opening notes to Stairway to Heaven or the iconic riff to Whole Lotta Love! Jimmy Page was one of the most iconic guitar players in the world. 4. Jimi Hendrix No list would be complete without James Marshall Hendrix. Hailed as the world’s greatest guitarist, an outplayed Clapton walked off stage when Jimi joined Cream for a jam, saying to Jimi’s manager “You never told me he was that good!” 5. Eric Clapton When you have fans that spray graffiti on walls proclaiming ‘Clapton is God’, then you must be an amazing guitarist. A blues player, Clapton combines amazing solos and instantly recognizable riffs to be one of the most accomplished artists. 6. Joe Satriani Inspired by Hendrix, Joe Satriani is mainly an instrumentalist who occasionally sings. He has an amazing technical ability, and has taught many other famous guitar players. Among his students is Steve Vai, who couldn’t even string a guitar when he met Joe. 7. Slash Guns & Roses would not be where it is today without Slash. Slash’s style epitomizes the iconic rock guitarist and spawned many trying to follow in his steps across the world. Songs such as Paradise City and Welcome to the Jungle will have you reaching for your air guitar in no time. 8. Steve Vai A master of the space age sound, Steve Vai pushes the boundaries of what you can do with an electric guitar. With a unique style and technical ability, there aren’t many who come close to him. Steve played with Whitesnake and sold out crowds in the early 90’s. 9. Peter Green The founder of Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green is one of the most accomplished musicians around. A beautifully soulful blues player, he wrote many memorable tracks including Albatross and Black Magic Woman. When blues greats such as B.B. King say, “He has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats” you know he must be good. 10. B.B. KingA legendary blues player, and influence of many, B.B. King was the master of the clean, soulful blues. If you have never heard of King, then you’ve never heard the blues. Although many deserve to be on this list, these are the crème of the crop. Music has been forever changed by the influence of these legends. If you're interested in taking lessons on Zoom or In Person in Burbank, Glendale or North Hollywood, please contact us at (818)902-1233 or on our website at https://www.losangelesmusicteachers.com/online-guitar-lessons-in-burbank-ca.html
Music Lesson on What is an Octave?
2/6/2023
An Octave is one of the most fundamental principles that relates to how music is written, composed, and perceived. All music you hear on the radio or on TV uses octave relationships in the melodies and harmonies that it is composed of, and the concept of dividing the octave into 5ths, 4ths, 3rds and finally whole and half steps has been around for centuries. It's the basic of what we call the tonal system of western music. In this lesson, we will cover the basics of what you should know about how the Octave is used in music. However, to best talk about octaves, we should cover what pitches and intervals are first. What is Pitch? When we play a note on an instrument or sing a note, that produces a sound. We can define that sound by a few different criteria, like how loud it is, how long it is, and what the pitch is. Pitch is just another word for the frequency of a note, or how “low” or “high” the note is. All frequencies, have "overtones". The very first overtone above the fundamental (which is the basic note) is an Octave. The piano keyboard is also laid out in Octaves, i.e. if you look at the basic piano you will see a pattern of two black keys and 3 black keys. That pattern continues up and down the keyboard. That pattern is what is easily visual on the piano and divides up the various 8 octaves of the piano. If we hear a note that sounds like a baby’s cry, that would be a high-pitched note. On the other hand, a rumbling sound like thunder or train wheels would have a low pitch. A note sounds higher or lower than another if it has a higher pitch, or frequency, than the other note. What is an Interval? Now that we know what pitch is, we can discuss intervals. An interval occurs when two notes – notes with different pitches – are played at the same time, and the interval is the distance in pitch between the two notes. If two notes produce a really big interval when played together, then their pitches are really far apart, and if the interval between the notes is small, then they’re close together. There are many different names for all of the intervals. The smallest interval (shown on the right side of the picture above) is called a “semitone”, or “half step”. If you put two semitones together, you get a “tone”, or “whole step”. Other intervals are given numbers as names, such as a “third”, “sixth”, “eleventh”, and so on. This brings us to the octave. What is an Octave? An Octave is a very unique interval. It is the interval between two notes, in which one of the notes has a pitch that is exactly double the pitch of the other note. Pitch, as we said before, is another word for frequency, and we can define a note by giving its frequency as a number. So, say for example that we have a note with a frequency of 220 Hz. We can call it A (in fact, the note with that frequency is an A). If we want to produce another note that will create an octave interval with the A, we have to either double that number – 440 Hz – or cut that number in half – 110 Hz. Therefore, if we have two notes, one with a pitch of 220 Hz and the other with a pitch of 440 Hz, then those two notes create an octave: You can also have notes that are two or three octaves away from each other. For example, the note with a 110 Hz pitch and the note with a 440 Hz pitch are two octaves away, because you have to double 110 twice to get 440. We can then determine the octaves above 440 by doubling (880, 1720, etc.), and the octave below 110 by cutting it in half (55). Octaves are sometimes heard as basically the “same” note – like if a man and a woman are told to sing a “C”, they will most likely sing C’s an octave apart. However, it still sounds like they’re singing the same note, because they sound so similar. Summing Up To sum up, the octave is one of the most common and easily-identified intervals in music. Each instance of the same note (but different pitch) on a piano or guitar occurs as an octave, and each octave doubles the frequency of the one before it. If you're interested in taking lessons on Zoom or In Person in Burbank, Glendale or North Hollywood, please contact us at (818)902-1233 or on our website at https://www.losangelesmusicteachers.com/online-piano-lessons-in-burbank-ca.html
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