Welcome to the All-Purpose Music Tips and Topics blog category page. For this category I’ve scoured social media to find the questions that people have been asking the most. It functions as a catch-all covering a wide range of music topics.
It might be a student practice tip one post, while it could be a music instructor teaching tip the next post. Or perhaps it will be a music theory or other general music topic.
Sometimes it’ll apply to typical leaners. Other times, it’ll be geared toward special needs students. However, the posts will usually be helpful for all students. In any case, these are the topics that you, the people, have been asking about.
Everything that doesn’t have a home in another blog category will land here. Thus, the “All-Purpose” part of the title. The “Tips and Topics” part hints at the practice tips, teaching tips, and other topics we’ll cover in this blog category. For example:
Practice and Playing Tips
Do you have a hard time playing with both hands? The All-Purpose Music Tips and Topics category has a post that deals with that.
Are you terrified of playing in front of an audience? I’ve got you covered.
Or does your student have small hands and needs to play pieces of music that have fast octaves and other wide stretches. It’ll be in The All-Purpose Music Tips and Topics category.
Do you have a student who plays by ear, but wants to learn how to read music? We’ll definitely deal with that.
Have you ever wondered why minor scales sound sad? I’ll discuss the theory and science behind why this happens.
Want to know what’s left to study after you’ve learned to sight read music? The All-Purpose Music Tips and Topics category will cover that too.
As you can see, we’ve got a lot of fun posts. I hope you’ll join me for the ride.
The Cornerstone Post:
The Posts:
The previous topic lists will be updated periodically. See the post grid below for the full list and full descriptions with featured images.
– Geoffrey Keith
© 2022 Geoffrey Keith
Back to the Successful Music Student blogs page
Do you want to understand how music works? Studying music theory is a worthwhile experience that’ll deepen your understanding of music and enhance your creativity. Where should you begin? In this post, you’ll learn what the basics of music theory are and be given the resources to learn them. Keep reading “How Can I Learn the Basics of Music Theory” to start your musical journey today. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
What’s a chord progression? It’s when you have a sequence of successive harmonies. In this post, we’ll look at common chord progressions, including rock n roll, the 12 bar blues, and jazz chord progressions. These can work as either piano chord progressions or guitar chord progressions. Read “Chord Progression (Including the 12 Bar Blues)” to learn the harmonic structure for these three styles of music. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Do you want to know how to read sheet music? It doesn’t matter whether you’re talking vocal sight reading, reading classical music, or understanding guitar tab, basic music reading will remain mostly the same. In some way, shape, or form all music notations track notes and rhythms, but how they do so will sometimes be different. Read more of “Reading Music (A Quick Guide to How to Read Music)” to get an overview of how to read sheet music. Estimated reading time 5 minutes.
Do you want to understand piano scale fingering concepts better? At their core, all piano scales are based upon a central concept that helps simplify the fingering. Keep reading for piano major scales – basic fingering concepts. Estimated reading time 2 minutes.
“What is your definition of a good musician?” Being a good musician means much more than just playing and singing. It’s also about how they affect those around them. Read more to find out what makes a good musician. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Are you looking for easy songs to play on piano? This post has videos of 12 easy piano songs for young beginners, including “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” This will be a good first introduction to playing keyboard instruments, so you can find out if your child likes playing music. Keep reading to learn these 12 basic piano songs. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Do you want to understand the notes, chords, and patterns in the C scale better? Figuring out how scales and chords work together will unlock your ability to improvise, compose, and play music. Keep reading to learn how the C major scale (including the C major chord scale) works. Estimated reading time 2 minutes.
Are you a music teacher? Do you have a student who struggles with obsessive perfectionism? While having a high standard is a good thing, obsessive perfectionism can be debilitating. Keep reading to learn how to shatter the perfectionism chains in music lessons. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Do you want to know what notes and chords are in the G major scale? Do you find the theory behind the G major chord scale confusing? To truly understand music, you must know how to construct scales and how to build chords from the scale tones. Read “The G Major Scale (Including the G Major Chord Scale)” to learn how they work. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Are you a music teacher? Are you organizing your first music recital? Whether you’re doing a classical recital, Christmas piano recital, a mini recital, or a chamber music recital, these musical recitals will all be organized basically the same way with just a few variations. Read more to answer the question, “How do I organize a recital concert?” Estimated reading time 4 minutes.