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Archive for the ‘Sheet Music’ Category

Why is it easy to compose piano music?

Because you have to start from where you are. This should be fairly easy; Otherwise you have not started from where you are.

A suggestion is to start writing piano pieces for beginners in a progressive order. The idea is that as the pieces get more complicated for the player they will also become more complicated for you to notate and compose and you will subsequently learn as you write.

How is composing beneficial for your piano playing?

1. Your compositional endeavours will make you more and more aware of intrinsic musical subtleties in the music of other composers. When you start to think and feel like a composer you will also become a better performer as well. Performing is also a creative process similar to composing.

2. When you compose you will become a better sight reader.

I remember an assignment I had many years ago when I wrote the music to a musical. It made me aware of many notational problems I had not taken the time to solve for myself before.

When I started to play my piano music again I was astonished when realizing it was much easier for me to sight read complicated piano sheet music. The reason for this I concluded was my concentrated effort to notate my own piano music.

The process to play something with my fingers and and then try to notate the music on manuscript paper was so to speak a reversed sight reading exercise.

What about manuscript paper?

You can use a notation program or you can write on paper or use both approaches. I suggest that you start writing on paper the way that composers have done for centuries.

Composing piano sheet music by hand on manuscript paper is a cheap and effective exercise to learn the various sheet music symbols.

Very often I jot down musical ideas on ordinary white paper after drawing five lines by hand. It works fine if you can’t find your manuscript paper. You can buy manuscript paper for sheet music or print out your favorite format for free on the site http://www.blanksheetmusic.net

In conclusion, composing piano sheet music can become a natural part of your daily practice routine.

Spend half an hour a day composing your own piano sheet music and you will increase your musical knowledge and become an even better musician!

And remember; Composing piano sheet music is fun!

Most modern musicians take sheet music for granted. Sheet music abounds in printed form and can even be downloaded from the Internet. It’s a far cry from the days of oral tradition. Centuries ago, there were few ways to pass on music other than to “hum a few bars” until the listener caught on.

The available manuscripts had to be painstakingly marked out by a transcriptionist and were limited in number. In fact, while many songs were known on a wide scale, they were likely spread about by travelling minstrels and troubadours. They were certainly not available in printed form at the local music shop.

Prior to the invention of the printing press in the mid 15th century, very few private citizens owned or had access to sheet music. The ones in existence were owned by a few wealthy noblemen. Because the only way to publish written music was to copy it by hand, it’s little wonder that sheet music was scarce.

The process took long hours and careful copying skills, plus access to the right materials. Before the printing press, the only songs available in written score were sacred songs. Most of these were chants used in liturgical services. Virtually no secular music scores existed prior to the 15th century.

The invention of the printing press in 1439 changed the history of sheet music. This is in spite of the fact that the earliest methods of reproducing musical scores were almost as painstaking as copying music by hand. Italian printer Ottaviano Petrucci may be considered the “father of sheet music.”

He developed the first method for reproducing sheet music. He was also granted an exclusive patent for his work, giving him an early monopoly on the business for several years. His method involved three stages. The paper was pressed three times. First, the staff was printed. On the second impression, the words were added. The final impression laid down the notes.

The downside to the process was that it was time-consuming and expensive. This made it relatively impractical for the average citizen to own sheet music. However, technology evolved over the years. Eventually, better and more efficient methods of printing were developed.

Most of the earliest music that was published was sacred music. In fact, the printing, distribution and publication of music were largely controlled by the church for several centuries. Eventually this changed, and soon music companies found themselves in the thriving business of music publishing. The retail distribution of sheet music took off in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This was in spite of the fact that there was no means for promoting particular songs or artists, like radio or television.

The popularity of sheet music prompted many governments around the world to examine the issue of copyright and pass their own laws in that regard. With copyright becoming a worldwide issue, the Berne Convention of 1886 established a universal principle regarding copyright. Today, approximately 76 countries around the world adhere to this standard.

Of course, technology continues to evolve. Radio, television and the Internet have posed new challenges to the ability of governments to enforce copyright laws. Sheet music can now be downloaded straight from the Internet, often illegally. Notwithstanding this, the annual sale of sheet music ranges in the tens of thousands today. Music-publishing software has brought the printing of music full circle from the days when stolid monks sat writing music with a quill by candlelight.

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Learning how to play the guitar does not only require liking, but also a great deal of patience and passion.

It is observed that many young people who showed interest in playing the guitar did not actually pursue the endeavor because they got exasperated. People should realize early on that they need to develop a great sense of commitment in terms of learning. Watching great guitar players is something that is inspiring, but it takes more than inspiration to learn. The best way to learn, of course is to learn ho to read a guitar sheet music.

Once this is learned, then you will not go bugging other people asking for information on what to press on the guitar. You will be able to find it out yourself and better yet, identify if there are better chords to use for the songs you are playing.

After all, no matter how much information there could be in the Internet regarding guitar sheet music, you should not be surprised that there will be times that the songs you want are not available in terms of guitar chords. The same principle applies to musicians of different instruments like the piano, banjo, bass guitar, flute, and others.

The first step in learning how to play the guitar is to identify the parts of the instrument. Without this knowledge, one will not be able to understand the instruction laid out in many guitar tabs and guitar chord charts. Here are the parts of the guitar:

Nut: this is where the headstock meets the frets. This is the area where there are indents where you place the strings. This is the part that keeps the strings in place. Just imagine if you do not have this, the strings will never be in the right pale and you will not be able to tighten and loosen them.

Headstock: this is where the tuning pegs are found. This keeps the keys in place and this is where you usually put a string to hang your guitar on the wall.

Keys: these are also called tuning pegs. You loosen or tighten them to tune the guitar

Neck: this is the long bar of wood where you find the frets

Body: this is the biggest part where there is a hole in the middle to serve as a resounding board.

Bridge: this is the counterpart of the nut found at the body of the guitar. This is where the end of the strings also rest.

Once you have identified the pars of the guitar. It will be easier for you to read guitar sheet music tabs or chords. Keep in mind that we are discussing a regular six-string guitar here.

The skinniest of these six strings is the E note, called the 1st string and is found at the bottom part in the order of the strings. The second string is the B note, the third the G, the fourth the D, the fifth the A, and the thickest of all is the sixth string called also the E note.