Today in music history, 1958: American singer Michael Jackson was born. The eighth of ten children, Jackson was born into a musical family and eventually became the most successful entertainer of all time. His singing and dancing has influenced generations of artists and musicians.
On the anniversary of his birth, we remember Michael Jackson’s talent, and hard work.
Happy birthday to English musician Florence Welch, b. 1986, best known as lead singer of Florence + the Machine.
Enjoy the sixth single from the band’s debut album, Lungs:
There is some debate between supporters of sight reading and supporters of learning by ear. I support sight reading because, just like learning to read English, it allows for students to analyze and understand what they are playing.
Reading music is not easy. It requires focus, repetition, and support from parents. This hard work does not cater to immediate results the way memorization would. Many children may want to start learning by ear or reject reading the music, but this does not do them any favors in the long run.
What is sight reading? It is playing the music at first sight. There are many levels of sight reading, from beginner to advanced. When the student plays “one hand first, then the other hand, and finally both hands together,” that is not sight reading, although many teachers may allow their students to learn pieces that way. Sight reading is playing the music as it is written, even if it is at a very slow pace.
If a student learns to play by ear, he will find it easy to continue doing so. If he leaves the learning to read music until after he is well acquainted with playing by ear, he will not want to learn, for it is tedious. If he is taught to read musical notation when he is young, he will not remember NOT knowing to read.
Playing by ear and improvising is gained with experience. Students train their ears and develop musical principles through their years of reading music. As a young student, I was taught to sight read and learned music theory in my middle school years. When I was required to improvise or compose, the scales and chord progressions that were taught to me came in handy. Today, I introduce improvisation very carefully, depending on what the student already knows.
Happy birthday to British-born musician Tony Kanal, b. 1970, best known as the bass guitarist for the ska band No Doubt. He has worked with other artists such as Pink and Weezer.
Celebrate his birthday with a video from No Doubt’s third studio album Tragic Kingdom:
Happy birthday to English musician Jet Black, b. 1938, best known as the drummer for the punk rock/new wave band The Stranglers. Black patented the Jet Black Power Bass Drum Pedal, an invention that allows for comfort in playing the bass drum.
Celebrate his birthday with this single from The Stranglers 1977 album No More Heroes.
Today in Music History, 1946: English musician Keith Moon is born in Wembley. He was best known as the drummer for the rock band The Who and was voted second greatest drummer in history by Rolling Stone readers.
We remember Keith Moon and his talent:
If you are having a birthday today, you share it with some incredibly talented and influential musicians! Happy Birthday to:
We’d like to honor these musicians on the anniversary of their births with Claude Debussy’s most beloved movement from his most famous piano suite,
“Suite Bergamasque”:
Today in music history, 1935: American clarinetist and band leader Benny Goodman begins the Swing Era at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles, CA. The nationwide radio broadcast brought swing music to every American of the generation, sustained what is known as the “Jitterbug craze,” and earned Goodman the title of the King of Swing.
Commemorate an important milestone in American music and culture with this performance by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra:
Q: I’ve searched YouTube tutorials to learn piano songs, but I can’t find the ones that I want. Most of the time, they are too hard or don’t exist at all. When I do find a rare one that is good, I feel awkward playing with the tablet computer on the piano, following along. It feels like I’m not learning anything, just copying. What are some benefits of learning from YouTube tutorials?
A: One benefit of video piano tutorials is that you learn to play one song quickly. Your immediate satisfaction is almost guaranteed.
If it feels like you’re not learning anything and only coyping, then it is because you are doing just that: mimicking without understanding chord progressions and patterns in music. You may want to sing along to the song but realize that it’s too high or too low for your vocal range. How do you transfer the music to suit you?
Just like learning a song in a foreign language, you will only know that one song. When you spend your time studying the structure of the language (or of music), you will find it easier to have a conversation (or play many songs).
Learning technique, the rules of chord building and chord progressions, and the patterns in popular music will help you learn songs quickly. This will require some time and effort on your part. You will have to sit down sometimes, without the intent of playing a song, to learn proper fingering, scales, chords, inversions, and all that fancy stuff that isn’t fancy at all but very necessary for enjoying music.
Today in Music History, 1882: Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky debuted “The Year 1812” (also known as “1812 Overture“), which depicts Napoleon’s retreat from Russia in 1812. The composition blares strains of the French national anthem “La Marseillaise” and the old Russian national anthem “God Save the Czar.”
The most famous, heavy bell ringing, brass fanfare, and real cannons, this piece of music is used frequently in American ceremonies today, particularly during Independence Day fireworks celebrations.
The most recognizable and popular section begins, in this video, at time 11:40:
