Wheat Williams

8,773 reputation

734

bio	website	wheatwilliams.com
	location	Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
	age	49
visits	member for	1 year, 9 months
	seen	6 hours ago
stats	profile views	72

Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT) and Apple Sales Professional (ASP).

Microsoft Windows SBS 2008 (Small Business Server) Network Administrator, supporting Windows 7 clients.

Volunteer business administrator for the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra.

I have also been a technical writer, computer magazine tech journalist, music critic and music journalist, copywriter and publicist, and professional musician.

Languages: English, with some German (Deutsch), Spanish (español), and French (français)

	8,773 reputation	bio	website	wheatwilliams.com	visits	member for	1 year, 9 months
734 badges		location	Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America		seen	6 hours ago

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Mar 5	comment	Getting my Daughter Started in Music I'm not a parent. But I've never heard of anybody being successful at studying a conventional musical instrument before the age of 5 or 6.
Mar 5	comment	Tuning new strings on an acoustic guitar Is your problem simply that you don't understand how to tune the strings on your guitar by yourself?
Mar 4	comment	Strange key signature? He was writing music in a scale or mode that he invented himself, and that does not fit into any standard key signature. So he invented his own key signature.
Mar 3	comment	Baroque Performance Tips So you are drawing a comparison between notes inegales and jazz swing rhythm? I hadn't thought of that. I see your point! I think it was more of a coincidence rather than a logical evolution, though.
Mar 3	comment	What music notation software can handle this complex beaming? Notice the tremolos in the second system. Most notation programs can't do that, but Sibelius can. This is an example of a method of notation rather peculiar to the 19th century; it's the sort of feature that free or shareware programs don't attempt to support.
Mar 1	comment	Transcribing Piano Chords for Guitar You are using the word "transpose" when the correct word is "transcribe."
Mar 1	comment	Recruitment and Retention of Choir Students at Native American Reservation High School Welcome to Musical Practice and Performance! This is a broad question and a big subject but I think it's worthwhile. I wish you the best with this undertaking.
Feb 26	comment	Guitar chords high on the neck No, in music theory a diatonic chord is at least three notes: a root, a third, and a fifth. That gives you the major, minor, diminished and augmented chords, by choosing a major or minor third, and a diminished, perfect, or augmented fifth. Beyond that you have the seventh chords and then the "jazz" chords. As for how many notes to use in a chord on a guitar, Joe Pass said, "Guitarists use too many notes in their chords. Never play a three-note chord when a two-note chord will do."
Feb 26	comment	Guitar chords high on the neck Welcome to Musical Practice and Performance.
Feb 25	comment	What types of guitars are used for spanish music? The point of including the picture is that it was the most convenient picture I could find because I had no time to search for a better one. It is of two classical guitars, one with a spruce top and the other with a cedar top. And why criticize me because I chose not to spend time discussing the difference between classical and flamenco guitar designs? The original question was how guitars used for Spanish music are different than other guitars, so I wrote about what classical and flamenco guitars have in common that makes them different from other guitars.
Feb 19	comment	How to decide whether my guitar is really bad Hear, hear! Having an inexpensive instrument that plays in-tune and is easy to play is more important than having an expensive instrument with an expensive tone, especially for a beginner or amateur. If there is nothing blatantly wrong with your guitar, then spend money on having a professional guitar technician set things up properly on the guitar you already have. It will be money well-spent.
Feb 18	comment	Free Sheet Music? Please? Oh, I wasn't talking about public domain sheet music! I use IMSLP.org, CPDL.org and the like to get Baroque and Classical sheet music all the time. I think Susan Petbow is asking where to get sheet music of recent compositions that are under copyright, without paying for it. She didn't indicate otherwise.
Feb 12	comment	How can I prevent loss of tuning when changing strings set from 0.11 to 0.12? Obviously you'll have to do some experimenting with gauges. As for the nut, nut slots can be filed to make them deeper or wider, but there is no way to make them smaller. In that case you'd need to purchase a new nut, one with slots already cut in it, or a blank nut, and have the technician file new slots. Nuts are not very expensive. Here is a link to a catalog. goo.gl/mq4AK
Feb 11	comment	English Horn Etymology That is an interesting insight.
Feb 10	comment	Is there any alternative to using capo? These instruments, at least the Variax and the Fender-Roland, are set up to provide all sorts of alternate tunings, but you can also used them to raise or lower the pitch of all six strings by the same amount at once, acting as a capo.
Feb 9	comment	What instrument can an old guy learn if the main goal is to write music Learn basic piano, because everyone agrees that this is the clearest way to understand how chords are put together, and the relationship between chord progressions and melody. Understanding chord progressions is the key to composing tunes.
Feb 9	comment	How do I know what size guitar strings I need? Welcome to Musical Practice and Performance.
Feb 8	comment	Why piano keys are not integer factors of octave notes? Since posting my original answer, I have met a person in my home town who owns and performs with just such a harpsichord as you describe.
Feb 8	comment	Which electric guitar strings have the least (pitch) bend Some guitars marketed as 3/4 scale have a 24-inch scale length, which is 94% of the standard Fender scale length and 97% of the Gibson scale length. The most important factor for @supercat is the pitches of the strings in the alternate tuning, together with the actual measured scale length of his particular instrument.
Feb 8	comment	Which electric guitar strings have the least (pitch) bend No, Dave, you assumption is wrong. The scale length of a 3/4 guitar is NOT 75% that of a standard guitar. It is a figure of speech. You need to measure the scale length of the instrument. So-called 3/4 guitars can have a scale length anywhere from 21 inches upwards, which is 82% or greater.