Elements Which Make a Great Acoustic Song

A lot of times there is more than just one element which makes a great acoustic song. The best acoustic songs have multiple things working for them which makes them great. Below are just a few of those elements that can turn a middle of the road acoustic song into one of those songs that potentially can live on forever.

Probably the most important element in any acoustic guitar song is how well the guitar is played. Now I do not mean how difficult and intricate the guitar is played, but is it played well. It does not matter how technically difficult a song is to play, if it is played poorly, the song as a whole is going to suffer. Some of the best acoustic songs are nothing more than strummed chord transitions. But the chords are played well enough and crisp enough that the simplicity is over shadowed by the skill.

Next, at least for me, is the lyrical content of a song. No matter how great the music is, if the lyrics are cliche or just plain bad, the song loses any ground it gained, even if the music is out of this world. Being a song writer is probably one of the most demanding forms of art. A song writer has to portray an emotion or a thought for an extended period of time and the words have to flow together perfectly. It is a daunting to task. But this is what separates decent acoustic songs from the best acoustic songs. Lyrics are an essential piece of the puzzle.

Melody ranks right up there with lyrics in my book. It is what draws the listener in and usually what they hum after hearing the song. The melody, and I am referring to the vocal melody here, has to flow effortlessly with what the acoustic guitar is doing. If one is good, but the other lacks, the song is doomed from the start. This combination is one of the most difficult parts of song writing and requires a good ear to be able to hear what works, and what doesn't. A great melody can make a song stand out against all the rest.

Well what I just gave is the basic break up of a song, all the elements, and how they work together. When these three elements combine, they summon a great acoustic song. But remember, when writing your own music, it is important to be overly critical. Never settle for second best. Because if you do, that is all you will ever be.

Benjamin J. Cloyd is a guitar instructor and has a website called best acoustic songs where you can find and print great songs for beginners to intermediate to advanced. He also has a humorous clothing line for musicians at Music Tshirts ETC.

View the original article here

Learn to Play Piano - 5 Elements of Music to Learn Before Taking Lessons

Learning to play piano or any musical instrument needs knowledge of the code that allows music to be read and to make sense.

1. Music is played at a speed depending on the type of music it is. To achieve this two things are written on the music. The first is to split the ledger lines (also known as the staff or stave) into sections with vertical lines. These are called bars or measures. Local to the clef on the left of the ledger lines, a time signature is placed there to show the timing of the music. This could be 4/4 or 3/4 or other such numbers. In the case of 4/4 this would mean that each section between the bars would have 4 beats or counts in each section. The other 4 would indicate the type of note that each of the beats would be. In this example the beats are quarter notes so are short notes meaning that the music would be of an average speed. If the time signature had been 4/2 there would still be 4 beats in each section but the number 2 represents a 1/2 note which is slower than a 1/4 note resulting in a slower speed.

2. The pitch between notes can have half pitch notes. These are called sharp notes or flat notes. They are represented on the music by the sign # for sharp and b for flat. Sharps and flats can be confusing as the same half note can be called sharp or flat. For example the half note above G is G# the whole note above G is A. The half note below A is exactly the same note as G#. This time we call it Ab.

3. Understanding where the half pitch notes on piano are is very easy. All you do at this stage is either go to the next black key to left or right of a white key this is counting up in half notes, Progressing from left to right the black notes will be called sharp and if progressing from right to left the black notes will be called flat.

4. Music can be played in a number of ways. Bright, sad, soft, loud, aggressively, to name just a few. In addition to the notes and timing the music has comments written on it. These can be whole words but are generally shortened to a single letter. An example would be (f) meaning fortissimo or loudly, or (p) meaning pianissimo or softly. There are many more that will need to be learned as your learning increases.

5. Not all music is suitable to be played by all instruments. The piano cannot bend strings as a guitar can or other such things. A guitar cannot play 5 bass notes and 5 upper pitch notes at the same time such as a piano can. A violin cannot play three or four notes at the same time to form a chord which flat string instruments can. The choice of music needs care to ensure it is suitable for your instrument.

Should you be interested in learning more try this link http://www.free.jackieclarkmusic.com/

Jackie Clark has been teaching piano, keyboard and guitar for over 30 years in several countries. She has a 100% success rate with pupils taking exams in traditional teaching methods and also has on line courses of instruction

http://www.jackieclarkmusic.com/

View the original article here

Learn to Play Piano - 5 Elements of Music to Learn First

In order to learn to play any musical instrument it is necessary to learn a small amount about music. Difficulties in understanding the instrument are compounded when you do not understand music or the instrument. Music is quite simply a map that provides a musician with the information needed to play the right notes. To read the map it is necessary to understand a simple code. A note will have a pitch, a period of time it is played for and loudness. The code provides that information. Knowing the simple code allows you to read music.

Here are 5 basic elements of the code to learn before you start to learn to play piano.

1. Music is written on paper in the form of symbols to represent the length of time a note is to be played for. The symbols can be called after their original names of crotchet, minim, breve, semi breve, or by their more modern names of quarter note, half note, double whole note, whole note respectively.

2. The symbols above are written on horizontal lines arranged in two blocks of five lines. The lines and spaces between them represent the pitch of a note. The lines and spaces at the top of the five lines are a higher pitch than those on the bottom lines or spaces. The blocks of lines are called the staff, stave or ledger lines. Which one you use is unimportant.

3. The two blocks of horizontal lines represent the higher pitch notes on the top block and the lower bass notes on the lower block. These are differentiated by the use of a sign placed at the left of each block of lines. The top block has a symbol called the treble clef. (sometimes also called the G clef)This is similar to a British pound sign. The lower block of lines has a symbol called a bass clef which is similar to an upside down letter C with two dots after it. Using two blocks easily shows the range of the notes that are to be played. Not written in music is a line between the two blocks of five. This apparent line is called C representing the note of C; this is the middle C note on piano.

4. Musical notes are called by letters. The notes start at A and finish at G. The lines of the stave are called after the same notes. The middle line (The one not written on the paper) as you know is the note called C, the space above the line is D, the line above is E, the space above that line is F, the line above is G and the space above that is A and so on up the lines.

5. Musical notes on the piano follow exactly the same system. The C in the middle of the piano is C the next white key to the right is D the next right key is E and so on up the piano. A note symbol on the line called G calls for the key of the piano called G to be pressed.

Music is basically simple as can be seen above. Symbols represent the note to be played. Knowing the code enables the music to be understood.

Should you be interested in learning more try this link http://www.free.jackieclarkmusic.com/

Jackie Clark has been teaching piano, keyboard and guitar for over 30 years in several countries. She has a 100% success rate with pupils taking exams in traditional teaching methods and also has on line courses of instruction

http://www.jackieclarkmusic.com/

View the original article here