When I first started playing guitar as a child then as a teenager, there was really only one way to tune up: with pitch pipes. I had some really cheap ones that looked like this: Of course, things are much easier now that digital tuners are cheap and easily accessible. I tend to use one on my mobile phone, but… Read more »
Below are recordings of Mozart’s Ave Verum, with each part emphasised for practise purposes: Sop 1: Your browser does not support the audio element. Sop 2: Your browser does not support the audio element. Alto: Your browser does not support the audio element.
For choir reference only: Angels’ Carol, by John Rutter, with me emphasising the alto line on keyboard: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Last week I received in the post my copy of the ABRSM syllabus for (classical) guitar – a little booklet outlining everything candidates and teachers need to know about guitar exams for this board from 2019 onward. In truth, very little has changed on the guitar specification from previous years: all the exercises (scales, arpeggios etc.), sight reading and aural… Read more »
Learning and enjoying music doesn’t always have to be about structured lessons, or even be ‘taught’ as such. This weekend I set my son’s little guitar up with an open E major tuning (E B E G# B E) and gave it to him to play with. I offered absolutely no instruction, but simply handed him the instrument and a… Read more »
Over the years that I’ve been teaching singing in schools and theatre schools (and singing in choirs and other vocal groups myself), I have witnessed, led or taken part in hundreds of vocal warm-ups. Often these can be formulaic: the same pattern of exercises run through week in and week out, rehearsal after rehearsal, often taught as a matter of… Read more »