Most Popular

1500 questions
15
votes
9 answers

Intended shift of meter in certain songs?

In pop music, there are some songs that pretend to have the beat accent at a certain time in the intro but with percussion coming in, the beat (apparently) shifts the meter such that you have the feeling to stumble on some extra beat until your…
unndreay
  • 253
  • 2
  • 5
15
votes
6 answers

What greater possibilities allows playing late from the conductor

There's a lot of differences in the way conductors direct the tempi in orchestral representation, but one of them is the timing between when we're expected to play and the actual down movement of the maestro. While I honestly prefer to feel the beat…
Félix Gagnon-Grenier
  • 1,184
  • 10
  • 23
15
votes
3 answers

Slightly tone-deaf?

I'm incredibly depressed. I have always wanted to be a musician and for the last 5 years I have learned various scales, chords in each key in various positions up and down the neck of the guitar and spent a lot of money on lessons and wondered why I…
Jon
  • 151
  • 1
  • 4
15
votes
12 answers

Are there some classical pieces that lend themselves well to guitar?

I would like to practice reading music on something other than notation written for guitar. Are there other pieces written for violin, for instance-or other instruments, that can be transposed easily to the electric guitar?
JustnBeaver
15
votes
1 answer

Understanding a Chinese guitar tab

A Chinese friend of mine requested I learn her favourite guitar tune: http://www.yuesir.com/ipu/271.html However, I have big trouble undestanding the convention used is this tab. Could someone explain, or provide a reference, on what the different…
malina
  • 251
  • 2
  • 3
15
votes
5 answers

Where can I go to play an acoustic piano regularly?

I love my digital piano. She's got weighted keys and can be quiet when she needs to, but for practice there are few things which compare to a real nice acoustic piano. I live in London so there must be some places to go every week or 2 for the…
Alexander Troup
  • 7,369
  • 6
  • 32
  • 64
15
votes
4 answers

What time signatures are used in flamenco and related styles?

Recently I've been trying to get some flamenco spirit into my playing. I've already experimented with some 'gypsy' scales and it feels good, but I've also realized that part of the secret is in using less common time-signatures. What time-signatures…
Michal Mau
  • 367
  • 1
  • 2
  • 9
15
votes
1 answer

What kind of guitar exercise is "the caterpillar"?

What does it consist in and how do you practice it?
reg
  • 627
  • 3
  • 9
15
votes
10 answers

I am bored with a metronome, should I get a drum machine?

I'm a big fun of using a metronome while practicing, but after a while it just gets boring to hear all this solid ticking. When you play scales and stuff like that, it's ok, but when you are playing a song, it's much better to have something more…
Silver Light
  • 8,082
  • 5
  • 39
  • 57
15
votes
1 answer

What does "silonveut" mean?

I am typesetting a Cambini Quartet. In the score for the cello part I see the following phrase: What does it mean? It appears to say "silonveut". This is the context (I don't think the piece is contemporary enough to consider the salamander-looking…
Richard
  • 1,838
  • 1
  • 13
  • 25
15
votes
6 answers

MIDI: How do I refer to (and search for) software that will play audio from a MIDI piano?

I have a MIDI digital piano that connects to a computer via USB (it also has a normal MIDI out port too) and I'd like to browse for software that lets me play music through my computer's speakers. I want to look through the options (including…
Corey Knight
  • 153
  • 1
  • 4
15
votes
2 answers

What are the shared fundamental components of Baroque and Minimalist music that make them sound similar?

Baroque and minimalist music are two of my favorite genres. In particular, I like the repetitive note sequences with variations. J.-S. Bach's Goldberg Variations and Phillip Glass's Naqoyqatsi are good examples of this. What similarities do these…
David LeBauer
  • 1,289
  • 2
  • 10
  • 20
15
votes
3 answers

Can music theory help hobbyist instrumentalist get better at playing?

For hobbyists who don't plan to write songs, is it worth to invest their time to study music theory rather than get better at playing? I sometimes wonder how given piece is it structured, especially when chords are complex, dissonant but somehow…
Rumca
  • 879
  • 5
  • 10
15
votes
12 answers

How much can transposing a song by a half step or a whole step help a vocalist?

It is not uncommon for a singer to ask for a piece to be transposed up or down a half step or a whole step. This minute change might be a big change for instrumentalist, like horn players, who have to play the song in a completely different key that…
Dom
  • 47,641
  • 23
  • 155
  • 287
15
votes
1 answer

Maximizing Practice Time

I play both guitar and sing(I'm a much better guitarist than singer) and have been devoting around 4 hours a day to both instruments. I'm noticing that I'm having trouble covering all the things I want to cover from practicing guitar scales, doing…
thank_you
  • 1,589
  • 4
  • 18
  • 24