Me and my colleague from the university (Margus Niitsoo, PhD) have been working on sound recognition lately. I recorded hundreds of samples on different guitars this summer to form the basis for machine learning. Now our virtual professor can distinguish between different pitches and chords pretty accurately. Rhythm, timing and tempo recognition is under development…. Continue reading
Playing lute with orchestra and choirs
This Christmas I had a wonderful chance to be a member of a symphony orchestra. Nothing special? Well, I played the renaissance lute against orchestra, organ, piano, percussion and 3 choirs (130 singers). It was Mart Siimer’s Christmas story ‘The 4th King’. Lute was included in 8 songs (of 13), being important in 4-5 pieces…. Continue reading
Smart Guitar Chord Game strumProfessor
This week we launched our first interactive guitar game. It is called the strumProfessor. You can try it out at: www.strumprofessor.com All you need is a guitar and a microphone. Let us know what do you think?
What Is The Best Age For Taking Up The Guitar
Karlsson on the roof: “..I am clever, reasonably fat man in my best years” Little Brother: “Which are the best years?” Karlsson: “All of them!” (quoted from Astrid Lindgren’s renown children’s book “Karlsson On The Roof”, 1955) You don’t need to be smart or fat to learne the guitar although it may help. The truth… Continue reading
How Long Should One Practice a Musical Instrument?
A study looked at professional violinists and found out that before the age of 21, they had all practised an instrument for 10 000 hours. Given that the violin playing started at the age of 6 mostly, it makes an average of 666 hours a year. In round figures we can say that these people… Continue reading
Estonian chamber music for flute and guitar at Liepaja festival
Festival Via Baltica, celebrating the remembrance of the Baltic Way, took place from August 22 to 31 in cities of Latvia – Liepāja and Kuldīga. Festival program consisted of master classes, exhibition, discussions and chamber concerts by Lavian, Lithuanian, Estonian, French, Spanish and Russian artists. On August 23, duo Leonaora Palu (flute) and Kristo Käo… Continue reading
A Serious Tempo School For A Guitarist
For two days I was asked to help my friend Maria, who runs a flamenco school in Tallinn. We have been performing together for a few years but this time she asked me to participate in her special Farruca-class to accompany her students. Usually they practise with music from CDs so it was a special… Continue reading
The Dance Album program at the Corelli Music’s annual Tallinn Towers Festival
My program “The Dance Album” is not dead yet: we performed it live in the end of August 2013. The concert took place in a very special place: Köismäe tower is one of the numerous towers that surround the medieval city of Tallinn. Corelli Music says about their festival: “Festival “Towers of Tallinn” brings together… Continue reading
The Biggest Road Block of Self-Learners
Guitar is by far the most popular musical instrument in the Western world. Millions of people want to play it. And they do. There is no mystery – anyone can play it. However, the only way to get there is by learning. I have been talking about learning the guitar almost in every post. Recently… Continue reading
Premiere of Piret Pajusaar’s new chamber trio
The soprano-clarinet-guitar trio is not very common. But it has it all: woodwind, strings and vocal. “Päike pärast tormi” (Sun after the storm) is specially composed for our ensemble by Estonian composer Piret Pajusaar. The premiere took place in early spring under tough conditions (10 by Celsius in church!) and since then we have played it… Continue reading