Tips for How to Stay Calm and Cool Before a Concert
Do you want tips for how to stay calm and cool before a concert? Today’s post contains two tips to help keep your nerves at bay. Click to learn how it works. Estimated reading time 2 minutes.
Guitar
The archive contains posts about teaching and alternate tuning the guitar.
Where did it come from?
A Brief History of the Guitar
Guitar is a fretted, six stringed lute-like instrument of Spanish origin. It can be made louder either acoustically or electrically, and its roots go back thousands of years.
The Lute
Lute-like instruments go back to about 2000 BC in Mesopotamia. While Europe’s lute appeared around the 10th century AD.
The lute had gut strings tied across the neck as frets. This means that lute players had to tune the frets and the strings.
An ancestor of the guitar, the lute came from the Middle Eastern oud. At first called the al oud, the lute’s name gradually morphed into its current form.
The term Luthier survives as the name for modern guitar makers, even though luthiers rarely make lutes anymore.
The Vihuela
Many antique instruments existed, such as the cittern, that had names similar to the guitar, but did not directly influence it.
However, the vihuela is widely thought to be an important predecessor. The vihuela had six strings, a similar body build, and very similar tuning.
The Guitar
From Spain, the instrument has traveled all over the world. Often, when instruments cross into a different cultural region, the tuning and musical style do not travel with it.
Thus, the styles most linked with the instrument (rock, blues, and folk) do not sound like the original Spanish style. Rather, Spanish styles sound somewhat similar to classical guitar music.
I once met a guitarist from Spain. And it surprised me when she commented that people in the US often said her playing did not sound like real guitar music. This shows that, while it remains a Spanish instrument, the Spanish style does not strongly influence the instrument’s current styles.
As it traveled, it has picked up many alternate ways of tuning. Blues, Rock, folk, and African world music styles all use alternate tunings. Particularly known for its alternate tunings, Hawaiian slack-key guitar has hundreds of open and alternate tunings.
Many of the posts in The Successful Music Student blog focus on better ways to tune alternate tunings.
© 2021 Geoffrey Keith
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What Common Mistakes Do People Make When Tuning Their Guitars?
What common mistakes do people make when tuning their guitars? We’ll discuss the three most important tuning tips plus three bonus tips. Click to learn how to fix the three most common mistakes that people make when tuning their guitars. Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
After They Can Sight-Read What’s Left for Musicians to Learn?
After they can sight-read what’s left for musicians to learn? Lots of thing spring to mind, such as: repertoire, memorized repertoire, interpretation, performance practice, improvisation, composition, music theory, and music history. Click to find out about what’s left for musicians to learn after they can sight-read. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
What Are the Small “>” Signs Above or Below the Notes?
Have you ever asked, “What are the small “>” signs above or below the notes?” We call them and other signs like them articulations of force. Read on to learn what they tell us to do when we see them in sheet music. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Why Do Minor Keys Sound Sad to Me?
Have you ever wondered, “Why do minor keys sound sad and major keys sound happy?” Has this phenomenon been hardwired into us, or does culture impact how we perceive scales? In fact, it’s a little bit of both. Read more to learn how this works. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
How Do Guitar Harmonics Work?
So, you play an open string, and it gives you one note. You play the harmonic over the 12th fret, and you get another note. You do the same thing over the 5th and 7th frets, and you get still more notes. However, they don’t relate to the frets at all. You scratch your head, wondering, “How do guitar harmonics work?” Don’t worry, you just need to understand how strings vibrate. Read more to answer the question, how do guitar harmonics work? Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Why It’s So Hard for Someone with a Good Ear to Learn Sheet Music
Do you want to learn how to read music, but just can’t? Are you a teacher that has students with good ears who struggle with reading? Having a good ear can be a two-edged sword. The student can pick up music quickly by ear. However, the same strength can create challenges for score reading. Read more to learn why it’s so hard for someone with a good ear to learn to read sheet music. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
How to Overcome the Fear of Performing in Front of an Audience
Do you feel terrified about playing for people? Do you want to know how to overcome the fear of performing in front of an audience? We know from psychology that our fears can be blown out of proportion through self-talk. However, a simple mental exercise can short circuit self-talk. Read more to find out how to defeat self-defeatism. Estimated reading time 2 minutes.
Is Just Intonation Impractical?
Are you thinking about composing in just intonation? Do you worry that just intonation is impractical? As with any tuning system, just intonation has its strengths and weaknesses. We’ll look at the pros and cons, and when you’ve gone through the post, you can make up your own mind. Read more to help you answer the question, “Is just intonation impractical?” Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Choosing The Right Sound To Play With Just Intonation
Have you ever tuned your synth to just intonation (JI), then selected a piano sound, and thought it sounded odd as you played scales? The reason many people think JI sounds strange with a piano patch is tied to how people hear melody. Read more to learn about choosing the right sound to play with just intonation. Estimated reading time 2 minutes.