Music Education
No matter what voice type you are, it’s fair to admit that plenty of your most applause-worthy moments come with high notes. Fast high notes, loud high notes, entire-lungful-of-air high notes – they’re what we’re all waiting to hear. There, I said it. When
Music Education
Good practice techniques are essential for all sections of the examination and involve mindful concentration and clear objectives. A practice plan that aims for maximum success needs to address the following: * WHAT to practise What skills need to be practised, and in what proportion? * WHY we practise Formulating practice objectives.
Music Education
Helen Keller was born in Tuscumbria, Alabama, in the summer of 1880. Nineteen months later, she fell ill (likely with scarlet fever or meningitis) and became deaf and blind. As Helen grew up, she communicated in a rudimentary way with her family, but it became increasingly clear that she’d
Music Education
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert: did the four Viennese school composers know each other? By Manohar Parnerkar The Classical period in Western art music represents the age of Haydn, Mozart, partly of Beethoven, and peripherally of Schubert. Falling between the post-Baroque and the pre-Romantic periods, it roughly dates
Music Education
What would opera singers be without their stretchy, malleable tempos? More specifically, where would they be without the unwritten rules – “performance practice”, they’re often called – about when you simply must take some extra time? Opera is no place for heartless clockwork; but when it comes to mastering operatic skills,
Music Education
The celebrated Russian guitarist and composer Nikita Arnoldovich Koshkin (born 1956) needs no introduction to any serious modern classical guitarist. In a prolific performing and compositional career that shows no signs of abating, Koshkin has threaded a unique sonic voice into the history of the instrument, and his works continue
Music Education
DEVELOP A PLAN FOR DRILLING THE TRICKY BITS IN YOUR MUSIC One of the skills you should take with you as you leave post-secondary education is a solid method of learning your own music. While you still have support from regular coaches and teachers, get specific about the steps
Music Education
Music was always part of Henri Matisse’s (1869-1954) life. He played the violin on a daily basis, reflecting the rigorous structure and precise technique which corresponded to his artistic methods. It also provided him with an escape and source of inspiration. Some of the early paintings of his
Music Education
Cafés with a beautiful ambiance are an important part of my existence as a student. Not because it serves good coffee (partly) but because it has a visual appeal to it. A perfectly proportionate coffee cup in my hand gives me immense satisfaction. And I know there are many like
Music Education
Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Contemporary young composers of classical music are frequently taken to task for placing marketability and profit orientation above artistic integrity and compositional skill. In reality, however, placing the emphasis on the profitability of a given composition is not really a 21st century phenomenon
Music Education
Composer John Pitts explains the creative process behind the Indian raag compositions for piano solo in his new book “How to Play Indian Sitar Raags on a Piano” So, please indulge me with this imaginary scenario: 1) A sitar player in India who also happens to love European classical music.
Music Education
This philharmonic orchestra comprises 31 DJs playing records and zero musical instruments. In honour of Japan’s annual “Record Day”, which celebrates the moment LPs were first released in 1948, audio brand Technics assembled a rather eccentric orchestra, made up entirely of DJs with turntables. The orchestra, which calls itself