In medicine there is a term ‘prescription compliance’. I think in music education it is pretty much the same – we as teachers give the students great exercises but these won’t work unless they actually master those before moving on. That is why we keep writing new method books but what we should really do is… Continue reading
A Free Online Course For Learning To Play Simple Melodies On The Guitar
A guitar is an instrument that enables you to play either melodies, chords, or rhythm, and everything at once. The simplest way to start, though, is by playing melodies. During this mini-course you will acquire the main skills and knowledge you need to play melodies on a guitar both by ear as well as from sheet music… Continue reading
Our Team Got Some Funding For The MatchMySound Project
After finishing the guitar chord game we have been working on a bigger project called MatchMySound. It is a web app for music teachers that allows them to give their students measurable homework. Basically an automated music teacher that has a very good ear for students’ mistakes. It distinguishes between the timing and sound mistakes… Continue reading
Rhythm, Meter, Tempo – What Are They?
One important part of a melody is the pitch but besides that we must deal with another highly important characteristic of notes – duration or length. You might have heard terms rhythm, meter, tempo. What are they? To produce rhythm, we need at least two notes, and they should not be played very far from… Continue reading
Chord Of The Week: D7
D7 is often the first seventh chord that one learns when starting to play guitar chords. In my children’s guitar method book I introduce the D7 even earlier than D major triad. I do it because very often the D7 is preceded by C major and then it is possible to leave the first finger… Continue reading
Play Your Chords So That The Picture And Sound Match
I have just finished a long guitar course for middle school music teachers. We started in Aug 2013 and had 32 x 45 min group lessons during the year. The main goal was to teach them to teach chords. Btw, Estonia is probably the only country in the world where guitar is now in the… Continue reading
Kristo Käo & Leonora Palu at TMW 2014 Gallery
Yesterday we presented a mini concert at the Nokia Concert Hall. This year the Tallinn Music Week’s classical artists’ showcase was organized by Pille Lill Musicians’ Fund. Our program included three pieces by Estonian composers: Matbeth by Rene Eespere, Water Dance by Jüri Reinvere and For BBB And His Friend by Lepo Sumera. The first… Continue reading
Chord Of The Week: F
Last week I was talking about grand barré and the difficulties that it causes in F-major. Let’s go on with exploring the possibilities of the barré – this time it is a medium barré (also called ‘half barré’). If full barré needs a fully extended straight finger to cover all the strings, then half barré means… Continue reading
Tallinn Music Week 2014
Kristo Käo (guitar) & Leonora Palu (flute) at Nokia Concert hall on 27th of March, around 21:30. This is the annual Tallinn Music Week – the biggest showcase festival in Nordic and Baltic region: http://tallinnmusicweek.ee/artist_2014.php?nid=484 Here is what we will play: R.Eespere / Matbeth J.Reinvere / Water Dance L.Sumera / For BBB and his Friend
How We Will Change The Online Music Education
We have been working on something that will change the online music education forever. There is one very important thing missing from all available musical instrument method books and online courses: the instant feedback. Yes, the kind of feedback that you get when you play to an actual human teacher. Minus the stress. Well, until next week:… Continue reading