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When putting a song together you need some basic elements. An Artist will have their own unique way of expressing the song and the way they want to structure the song. For a singer, start with the melody and lyrics to start creating a song. For a pianist, you will can start with the melody and chord progressions. But these are the basic important elements needed to create a song: 1. The melody, it is the single most important part…

Every singer wants to increase their vocal range, and hit those high notes. No one is born with the ability to sing the highest notes perfectly, expanding your range takes work. Vocal cords need exercise, just like other muscles, to get stronger. Start by learning how to relax your facial muscles. Relaxing the face (lips, jaw and tongue), massage both sides of your cheek and jaw area. Then get your voice warmed up and practice specific exercises daily to help…

Singing and playing piano at the same time takes practice. It’s hard because you are multitasking, doing both at the same time. The key is to play chords on the piano, one or two notes in the left hand and three or more in the right hand. A chord is three or more notes played or sung at the same time (blocked chord) or three notes played separately (broken chord). Chords add texture and depth to a melody and they…

New research from Harvard University study showed that the way music is uniquely put together with codes and patterns makes it universally understood. It doesn’t matter what language a person speaks or whether it’s an adult or an infant, we all understand music and respond to it. The feeling and emotions from it, happy or sad, we understand it. Whether it’s singing a song, or playing the instrumentals in a song on the piano, music impacts our lives and impacts…

To sing or play piano with true emotion means to have the ability to create an emotional connection to a song you are singing or playing. That’s why true artists are sensitive and emotional people. To put emotion into your singing or playing piano, you must feel the emotion yourself. Whether it’s joy, sadness, longing, pain, love, etc., you must feel it in order to release it to others. For a singer or pianist, it could be the music or…

Artists like Lady Gaga and Elton John make play piano and singing at the same time seem so effortless, but doing this takes time and practice to truly master! It’s very easy to lose concentration on one, while focusing on the other. It’s a delicate dance trying to focus on your voice and playing the right notes on the piano simultaneously. Mastering this skill right will take plenty of practice. The first thing to do is begin with correct posture.…

Vibrato is a musical effect from an instrument or a voice. It is a technique used to add expression to a piece of music. Vibrato is the rhythmic pulsation, vibration and/or bending a pitch (note). Vibrato can happen very naturally with a singer. If it doesn’t happen naturally, it can be a learned technique. It is alternating quickly between two pitches that are close together. There are two ways to hold a note, with vibrato or holding the note solid…

It’s clear that the 5 lines and 4 spaces for each staff only represent some of the keys on the piano. This is why we use ledger lines (also spelled leger lines) to extend either staff (treble or bass staff) upward or downward. Ledger lines above the treble staff and below the bass staff take a little bit of time to learn, but because they follow the same pattern they are not difficult. Ledger lines can appear in between the…

Every singer wants to increase their vocal range, and hit those high notes. No one is born with the ability to sing the highest notes perfectly, expanding your range takes time and work. Vocal cords need exercise, just like other muscles, to get stronger. Start by warming up and practice specific exercises daily to help you increase your range; the bubble (lip trills) and r roll (tongue trills) are the perfect exercises. Here are some tips to help you hit…

Belting out the high notes is essentially singing the high notes and producing a strong and powerful sound. We discussed falsetto in yesterday’s blog (10/27 Singing High Notes in Falsetto). Today is the opposite of falsetto; the sound is loud and commanding. There are three important components. The first component is breath support. It is important to breathe from the diaphragm and use the diaphragm support to accomplish this sound. The power in your voice comes from the diaphragm, not…