 When Is The Best Time To Start Violin Lessons For Your Kids
As parents, we work and strive to provide our children with many opportunities possible to make them succeed in life. Some of these opportunities can come from music. Over the last couple of years, scientific evidence has pointed to the numerous ways in music lessons can help boost brain development in kids. In fact, research has shown that music is among the most effective ways to help children in building motor skills, cognitive growth and enhanced learning comprehension. However, with this in mind, many parents still wonder when the right time is for their children to begin lessons. With all the information available, parents can be equipped to know the best time to start violin lessons because this is a critical period. Being too early or too late can spell disaster. Early Immersion Starting from around birth to about the age of two, parents can introduce basic music concepts kids will love. Singing along to some baby songs while clapping, and making gentle movements like swaying can help create cognitive connections to the sound being played. As the child grows older, you can increase your child’s exposure to more formal aspects of music. As your child progresses with age, and becomes more aware you should still continue training at home, and get them to enroll for early age music lessons at school and at the local community center where they can meet other kids. The whole idea is to get them focused on recognizing different tunes, rhythms, melodies and different musical instruments. Recordings and flashcards will just fine. When it comes to the best time to start violin lessons for your kids, one of the common mistakes parents make is starting instrument training very early. If you introduce your child to violin training before they are ready, it could pressure them into rebellion and resentment. In fact, although pleasurable activities can bolster cognitive growth, research has shown forcing young kids to learn instruments can affect them negatively and hinder brain development. Best Time to Start Violin for Kids The best time to see whether your child is interested in violin training is around the age of five, preschool age. Violins come in different colors and sizes, so finding the right size and color shouldn’t be an issue. Just make sure you find one that suits their height and arm length. It’s also a good idea to have your child choose the violin they want, this will certainly help keep them involved in something they love and of their own choosing. While private classes are good, there are several online programs that are specifically designed to teach violin for beginners. These can be a more productive option as they are intuitive, interactive and come with games to make the whole learning process fun. Determining the Perfect Age to Start Violin Lessons online Note that when it comes to violin training, there’s no one size for all. It’s a personal decision, and one that involves patience. Understanding your child’s interests will certainly help.  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 How Do You Tune A Violin?
11/28/2020
 How Do You Tune A Violin?
Tuning your violin with precision is not necessarily an easy task, especially for beginners. This is however essential to play, alone, in rehearsal, or within an orchestra to be in harmony with the other instruments, or simply to take advantage of the unique sound aesthetic offered by these instruments. Although it seems difficult to tune a violin, it is a task that is acquired over the course of learning with practice. Here are some tips and suggestions for tuning your violin or viola. Chromatic tuners The chromatic tuner is usually equipped with a clip that allows it to be firmly attached to the violin neck so that they can correctly pick up the vibrations of the instrument. It works thanks to a battery which allows feeding the screen where appears the frequency of the rope to be regulated. It is, therefore, possible with this type of tool, to tune its instrument very precisely in relation to the frequency of the desired note (we will detail the frequencies of each note a little further). The tuning fork The tuning fork is a small metal tool with two U-shaped branches. By striking it, it emits a vibration that can be amplified if it is placed on a sound box (on the violin table for example). It gives a virtually pure note, usually a La whose frequency is 440 Hz, used as a reference to tune its instrument. Unlike the chromatic tuner that does not require much effort, the tuning fork requires a minimum of training and a good ear. This is the method most used by violinists. Smartphone applications Many smartphones applications to tune guitar, violin or viola are available for download, some paid and some free. They work on the same principle as a conventional electronic tuner thanks to the microphone of the phone. They are very practical because we usually always have a smartphone in the pocket or in our bag. However, an electronic tuner like those mentioned above will still be more accurate and efficient than an application for smartphones. The tuning notes of a violin The Names of, the Violin Strings On the violin, there are four strings. Starting with the thickest string, they are called G, D, A, and E. An easy way to remember this is to use the mnemonic device below: • G = Good; D = Dogs; A = Always; E = Eat. Good dogs always eat! Finally, a tip that will be especially useful for you not to break your strings: turn the ankles gently and never stretch the strings more than a tone above the desired note. Otherwise, your set of strings may not hold you for a long time and you may also damage your instrument by putting too much strain on it. In this regard, it is best to change the strings one after the other to avoid too large differences on the handle.  A New Approach to Jazz Improvisation LessonsOne of the fastest ways to master jazz improvisation, no matter what instrument you play, is to start with one scale in one key and really learn to hear all the melodies and patterns in the scale. You don’t need worry about all the other keys in the beginning. Yes, of course eventually you will need to learn them to really be fluent as an improviser. In the beginning though, you need to eliminate as much theory and thinking as possible. As you will see below, your brain and body can do amazing things if you don’t over think what you’re trying to train it to do. Many people, myself included in the beginning, think that they can’t improvise because they don’t know enough scales and harmonic knowledge. That kind of thinking will just hold you back. Jazz improvisation is most quickly learned “by ear”. Listening to other saxophone players that you like and learning to HEAR the lines they are playing is how almost all of the great jazz musicians from the beginning of jazz up until the 1960’s learned how to improvise. In the 50’s and 60’s many great jazz teachers took up residency in the various colleges and began writing books on it. But the best improvisers learned by ear. Too much theory slows down the process. If you want to see proof of how you can learn much faster by ear, just check out any of these videos. In each one, these students have never played the saxophone before starting the method, they learned how to get a decent sound and learned only minimal reading. The method teaches you how to master one scale in one key so that your brain doesn’t get overloaded. The next step is to memorize 6 simple approach note pairs that resolve to target notes in each chord on a simple blues progression. There are many teachers who teach the blues scale and have their students learn a few licks or just let them wander around, but this method absolute teaches you to hear the chord changes and know exactly where you are at all times. Just take a listen to these students and notice how they are hitting all the chord changes. They are not reading anything except the chord symbols. Their are no tricks in the method. Just a straight forward system of teaching that eliminates reading and theory and just trains your ear properly. And it’s not a dead end. It’s only the beginning of training your ear so that you can continue to build on the foundation that it lays. So if you're interested in trying out your improvisation skills, we offer online lessons with limited in person lessons. You can contact us with any of the links below.  It goes without saying, but a lot of us are finding themselves stuck at home. That’s the bad news. The good news, however, there are a bunch of ways to get going teaching your lessons online without breaking the bank. Maybe you’ve never taught a lesson online in your life. That’s ok–this guide can help.
TWO KEY FACTORS TO KEEP IN MIND For all online one-on-one teaching, there are two major things that will determine the quality of the session:
For music lessons, however, having a good microphone and headphones will make the difference between your online lessons being a breeze versus a torture session. START WITH THE GEAR YOU’VE GOT As with everything in life, the better the gear you’re using, the higher-quality result you’ll get. But don’t worry—even if you’ve just got a phone, tablet, or laptop, you can get a quick & dirty setup to keep those lesson. WAYS TO CONNECT ONLINE WITH STUDENTS FOR LESSONS There are a lot of tools out there for connecting with someone over video, and they continue to grow and evolve over time. But we Definitely Recommend zoom. ZOOM My current favorite method is Zoom. It’s free to use for one-on-one video chats, is available for Mac, PC, and mobile devices, and it seems to be the most stable platform. Both you and your students need to download the Zoom app and create an account. This is easy and quick. You’ll also need to know the email that the student is using for their account. You can schedule a Zoom meeting (aka online lesson) to start at a given time, and you invite your student to that meeting via email. This email link will automatically open up the Zoom app (or prompt them to download it if they haven’t done so). Zoom will then ask both you and your student which video source and audio source to use. If you’re a total newbie and only have your phone, tablet, or laptop, no worries. You’ll be able to see and hear your student just fine. Another great thing about Zoom is that the teacher can record the online lessons on their computer. This doesn’t work on the mobile version of Zoom, but if you’re using your desktop or laptop, you can just click the record button and it will save the lesson to your hard drive. You could then upload the lesson to YouTube as an unlisted video for your student to reference or use it in another fashion. What a cool and useful feature!  Piano lessons for just any child. In many cases you’ve heard people say how they wished they had taken some piano lessons, or how they wish they had not quit their lessons. Unfortunately for most of these people the realization comes too late, long after the opportunity has gone past. If you are considering signing up you kids for piano lesson, it certainly is something worth going for. Piano lessons pose many cognitive benefits for the little ones, even if the opportunity is short-lived.
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