Ways to use one's instrument or voice precisely to produce a desired musical effect.
5
votes
2answers
359 views
Techniques to improve general ability to play fast runs on a tuba?
I play Tuba, so I dont have very much fast runs in orchestra arrangements, but there are occationally small passages that can be challenging. I want to improve my general ability to handle such ...
2
votes
5answers
1k views
Electric Guitar | Right hand position
I find it difficult to decide on where to position/rest my right hand (picking hand) when playing electric guitar. I started with acoustic and i have a habit of resting my pinky finger on the guitar ...
4
votes
1answer
210 views
Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (Piano Solo) - Measure 306
In the picture below, there is a significant stretch where the melody in the upper staff is at a lower pitch than the accompaniment in the lower staff.
Does Liszt intend for me to cross my ...
8
votes
5answers
336 views
Keeping rhythm when performing live without a drummer
I'm a member of a small band, and a common problem that arises when playing faster-paced music is keeping everyone in sync, rhythm wise. It goes without saying that one person falling out of time can ...
3
votes
2answers
376 views
How do I double tongue on a recorder?
I have been trying to play relatively fast pieces (e.g. staccato sixteenth notes at ≈200 bpm) on a soprano recorder lately. Single tonguing on them is impossible, I have found. I have done some double ...
4
votes
7answers
3k views
Is it important for a guitarist to know how to use a pick?
I've been playing guitar for almost a year and a half now and I still don't know how to use a pick. I strum very hard and I'm afraid that my guitar strings would break from the pick. Would this be ...
0
votes
1answer
190 views
Picking hand technique and precision
I started realizing that the picking hand was actually very important (probably as much as the fretting hand): it is always moving and it has to be extremely precise. I wanted to ask a question about ...
8
votes
2answers
440 views
What makes african blues so distinctive?
When you listen to the music by Ali Farka Toure, Rokia Traore, Afel Bocoum and other african blues artists you can recognize it in a second.
What is it what makes the african blues so distinctive?
Is ...
20
votes
4answers
801 views
How can I be sure that I am singing effortlessly in my natural voice ?
By now , I have years of vocalization practice but I still start straining while singing—especially if I am not vigilant. It happens imperceptibly and is a hard habit to break.
Is there a reliable ...
1
vote
1answer
78 views
What is the name of perfomance technique used in the chorus of Celldweller — Last Firstborn?
I am currently obsessed with the track by Celldweller called "Last Firstborn". Is there any name for the keyboard technique used in the chorus? In this YouTube video you can hear it from 1:28 right ...
1
vote
1answer
285 views
How should I put my fingers on a piano / electronic keyboard?
Should the fingers be curved/bent or straight?
Should I press the key actively or let my finger fall by "using gravity"?
2
votes
3answers
202 views
What is the most classically correct way to play this fast run?
I am trying to figure out the best way to play the first run in Francesco Tarrega's Caprice Arabe. This run is meant to be played really really really fast.
First way:
p i p i ...
3
votes
3answers
268 views
When I do a pulloff on strings 2-5, how do I prevent my finger from muting other strings?
I've taken great care to hold frets with my fingertips in a position that they don't come into contact with other strings. Every time I try and do a pulloff though, it stops the string below, kind of ...
1
vote
1answer
85 views
Best way to notationally indicate that a solo phrase in an instrumental section should end
After writing "solo" over a part intended for one instrumentalist in a section, what's the best way to indicate that the the entire section should again begin playing?
5
votes
1answer
736 views
Organ technique for pianists
I've been playing the piano for 15-odd years, so I like to delude myself into thinking that I'm somewhat skilled. However, my question revolves around the organ. I've played the organ for 5-odd ...
7
votes
1answer
310 views
What is the technical term for Bass 'growl' or 'roar'?
I've been looking everywhere for the past 2 days for the terms of these two awesome electric bass 'techniques' and couldn't find 'em.
I want to know their technical or common names..
When you ...
7
votes
6answers
691 views
How to hold a bass guitar while playing
During some research I've found out that some guitarists use different position of bass-guitar during play:
Play while sitting:
Play while standing, high position:
Play while standing, medium ...
9
votes
4answers
2k views
Where to rest your thumb when playing bass: Pickup vs. Strings vs. Thumbrests
I'm a beginning bass player with a couple months' lessons under my belt. I haven't gotten far along enough yet to solidify a playing style, so I'm still able to change my habits if I want to. I was ...
2
votes
3answers
582 views
Pain in left wrist after playing Chopin's Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1
I've been playing piano for a year now (I used to play in a conservatory when I was a child, maybe 2 years total). I've already learned Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement), Chopin's Nocturne ...
1
vote
6answers
833 views
Should I lift my finger before I hit a key when playing a piano?
I've noticed, that many people are hitting keys, instead of just pressing them. It kinda looks like that before they press the note, they lift the finger a little bit, same as if you tried to hit a ...
5
votes
3answers
185 views
Have a note outstand in a pianissimo chord (piano)
This is the last chord of Francis Poulenc's Mélancolie for piano. It occurs while a piano D♭ major chord is still resonating in the bass.
How would you have the B♭♭ be perceptible, surprising, and ...
7
votes
3answers
378 views
What sweeping (for bass guitar) techniques are out there?
I've recently started looking at the sweep technique on guitar.
How would one go about replicating that on bass?
Please keep in mind that I do not use a plectrum, and wouldn't want to sacrifice ...
14
votes
6answers
2k views
What is the difference between upstrokes and downstrokes while strumming a guitar?
One of the most basic guitar skills are strumming up and down freely. And I have noticed in songs that there usually appears to be a difference in sounds between the two strokes. But when I'm ...
4
votes
1answer
3k views
What's the origin of using the cup-stacking-girl shouting “OH MY GOSH!” in dubstep mixes?
In a lot of dubstep remixes I hear there is a clip of a girl screaming "OH MY GOSH!" I'm wondering why this is such a popular splice, what its origin is or why it is so prevalent in dubstep mixes.
...
1
vote
2answers
130 views
How should I dampen timpani?
I've been working on my timpani playing, and the music has it written in that I should dampen certain notes at various parts of the song. But having I'm having trouble figure out the best technique ...
3
votes
1answer
558 views
How can I learn Soukous guitar?
I really like the sound of Soukous guitar playing, and would like to learn a bit of that. What would be good ways of doing this? I'm not great at picking at all, I'm a happy amateur chord strummer, so ...
4
votes
3answers
216 views
Do left-handed guitarists view the same patterns as right-handed?
Do left-handed players see the same scale formations, chords, patterns as right-handed, or is it just as simple as seeing the mirror-opposite? What about the ones that play left-handed and string the ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Mark Knopfler picking finger patterns — Sultans of Swing intro
I know Mark Knopfler plays fingerstyle, but What combination of finger/thumb picking patterns does he use when playing lead?
Here is an example from the Sultans of Swing intro (from here):
...
9
votes
1answer
1k views
Why can't I whistle and hum different notes at the same time?
I can whistle and hum at the same time, by making the breath from my humming go out through lips formed into a whistling pucker. I've found that no matter how hard I try to do otherwise, whatever note ...
8
votes
3answers
273 views
How to overcome the frustration while you are developing demanding techniques?
I'm practicing Flamenco guitar and I'm concentrating a LOT on the technique.
Flamenco is so demanding on the right hand, techniques like tremolo, rasgueados, alzapua ...
It is hard to play flamenco ...
4
votes
2answers
567 views
My fingers are huge; how do I adjust on a piano?
I'm a big guy and my fingers are proportionately big. I've been a student of piano for a few months now. I'm told regularly that I should play "into the keyboard" so that my fingers are closer to the ...
10
votes
5answers
405 views
Skills needed for classical guitar
I've been playing steel-string acoustic for 25+ years, and I'm becoming more interested in classical guitar playing. While I'm fairly good at fingerstyle, I'm aware that making the leap to ...
6
votes
5answers
134 views
Bending a Harmonic
At about 2:11 of this video, Kotaro Oshio plays three harmonics - the fifth, fourth, and third fret. On the third-fret harmonic, he does, uh... something to make the pitch bend.
How is this ...
10
votes
2answers
891 views
How to begin learning the CAGED Method
What is the best way of approaching the CAGED Method. What are some good resources for beginning to learn this method.
6
votes
5answers
1k views
Logical way to learn movable scales on guitar?
After learning the CAGED 'open string' scales, what scales to do next? In what order or what way? When I learn a new scale, it seems to have the effect of displacing my ability to play other scales ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
What is the foundational book of Czerny finger exercises for piano?
I've recently started teaching myself piano (via Bartok's Mikrokosmos) and feel it would be helpful to supplement the pieces with some standard exercises. Everyone I speak with suggests Czerny, but ...
5
votes
2answers
293 views
How would you train for Chopin's Étude no. 2 op. 10?
This Étude is really painful for the right hand. Difficulty comes from medius, ring and little playing chromatic scales while thumb and index punctuating.
The thumb cannot be used as a pivot while ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
Should I mute “unwanted” strings or not when playing power chords?
I've been playing guitar for a while but haven't yet actually learned to play any songs featuring hard power chords. Now I'm trying to learn some songs by Metallica and AC/DC, and I don't have to tell ...
3
votes
1answer
266 views
How should staccatissimo be played?
How should staccatissimo be played on Handel, Beethoven, and Liszt pieces? I have read that it is like staccato only shorter, but it seems like it is used when notes should be staccato and accented. ...
4
votes
4answers
120 views
Does shifting vary on a fretted instrument?
As a beginning cellist, it struck me that non-fretted instruments seem to have a much greater focus on shifting mechanics than fretted. With fretted instruments, it seems to my novice eye that ...
2
votes
2answers
243 views
What is a harmonic note and how do you play it?
While I was browsing here I came across an interesting question so I decided to see what the answer was and well, I had some difficulties understanding it. I'll quote a short part of the answer.
...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
Transition from tenor to bass trombone
I need advices to play between B♭1 and B♭2 on bass trombone with two valves.
I come from tenor trombone (only one valve) and already have position chart. What I would like is how to efficiently move ...
7
votes
7answers
2k views
How can I improve my playing of faster finger runs?
I am just preparing for my grade 8 piano exam. I'm struggling with quick runs in the 3rd movement of Beethoven's Sonate Pathetique. It really doesn't sound right. When I play I can't do it smothly and ...
6
votes
5answers
556 views
Is learning an instrument online a bad idea?
I took ballet and with ballet you gain something called muscle memory and if you learn incorrectly, it's almost impossible to ever be a great dancer (because of muscle memory.) Because of this, you ...
14
votes
7answers
1k views
Pick weight - functional difference, or just personal preference?
I'm at the very beginning of learning to play guitar, and I recently needed to buy some more picks. This was more complex than I was expecting, since there are apparently many different weights of ...
16
votes
7answers
1k views
How to reliably execute a snare drum rimshot?
A standard snare drum rim shot, as I understand it, requires the stick to contact the drum head and rim simultaneously. I'm having trouble finding the appropriate angle (the majority of the time I ...
0
votes
1answer
182 views
How to replicate Joe Satriani technique in “Searching”
What is Joe Satriani doing at 0:55 onwards in "Searching" from "Is There Love In Space" in order to achieve the sounds he is making?
My first instinct is that it sounds like a synth with a glissando ...
2
votes
2answers
210 views
What are good examples of advanced technical exercise books for pick-style guitar?
For technique studies, saxophonists have Klose, pianists have Hannon, finger-style guitarists have Shearer, and guitar beginners have Mel Bay.
What are some Klose/Hannon equivalents for pick-style ...
6
votes
4answers
671 views
Playing clean arpeggios on a lapsteel guitar
Please check out this live performance of "Your Latest Trick", by Dire Straits, as it is a perfect example of the question theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKiVttFnqkY&t=4m12s
Notice the ...
3
votes
2answers
220 views
Recommended book for learning Jazz Music in the piano
I have been playing classic music in the piano since I am a teenager and now I want to switch to Jazz music and learn it by myself. Which book would you recommend me? I know there are is this one Jazz ...
