Posted by: clariniano on: May 2, 2012
Some people say that it’s easier to master musical skills when you start as a child. But there are examples, especially in learning more advanced concepts, that can be more easily mastered by teens and adults. In my case, I greatly improved and mastered many of my musical skills as an adult, or at least [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: May 22, 2011
A few days before writing this, there had been a news broadcast in a school where the entire elementary school was beating drums of various types to a fairly simple rhythm that repeated over and over. To me, this looks like a really bad music program. Students need to learn about melody and harmony in [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: January 26, 2011
Listening to the pieces studied with notation, and using them to help with ear development such as recognizing chords and intervals. –downward perfect 4th, Grade 8 F major study. Knowledge of even basic harmony helps in singing vocal lines, especially those other than the melody line, if you know what a minor second (half step [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: August 18, 2009
Some people say that the right notes aren’t important, as long as you get the idea across. On a single-note instrument, there is no excuse for wrong notes at the beginning and intermediate levels. Only in very advanced music might it be possible to get away with a wrong note, and usually even that shouldn’t [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: June 18, 2009
There are some people who think that the secrets to sounding good on audio and video has to do with recording software. My view is that it mostly depends on the player, because even on a limited budget, there is something about the spark of professional-quality playing that you get that you don’t get from [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: April 16, 2009
Some music teachers say using flashcards is bad for developing music reading skills. I personally think they are helpful, especially when you encourage the student to find the note they are playing on the instrument. (notice I did not say piano–I use flashcards with a few of my clarinet students, especially an autistic boy I [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: April 16, 2009
Although I have been full of ideas in terms of what to write about, I just haven’t been feeling like writng much, especially now that I have had a busy week of practicing and performing. And there’s more to come. It didn’t seem to mater where I was supposed t do the writing, either.
Posted by: clariniano on: April 11, 2009
April 09, 2009 A more expensive teacher may actually save you money, for example one teacher who charges on the cheap might take students on average 5 years to get students to an intermediate level of playing, while a more effective teacher, who seems to charge more, achieves the same thing with most students in less than half [...]
Posted by: clariniano on: April 5, 2009
Let’s say a music teacher decides they need to earn $3000/month to make a good living from music lessons. Here are some calculations at various monthly lesson fees to make that amount. 10 students at $300/month 15 students at $200/month 20 students at $150/month 30 students at $100/month 40 students at $75/month 60 students at [...]
