Hold Violin Bow And Other Techniques

Do you want to learn how to hold violin bow? Do you want to amaze your family and friends with a soothing, romantic solo, play condenzas, sonatas and solos, play violin in a symphony, string quartet or piano trio, play violin at your friends wedding, start your own violin teaching business or get jobs as a violinist, or learn how to play the music of the great masters? If you want to learn how to play the violin like a pro, you can with the Violin Master Pro system.



During this time Eric Lewis had the chance to study with Rachmael Weinstock who was known as the first violinist of the version of Manhattan String Quartet during 1930's. Eric Lewis practiced a great commitment especially to young people's concerts and he has actually given over 1,000 series of concerts for children. The truth behind this superb development is that players may acquire the famous way of playing violin with the great Eric Lewis method.

> Learn the techniques used by the greatest classical, band and electronic musicians, leaving your audience blown away by your violin playing.

> Become a Master of Music Theory with the Violin Master Pro performance upgrade.

> Start amazing your family & friends immediately with incredible skills on violin.

You will discover that violin music is very fun to read actually. Most violin beginners do not know how to position themselves in playing the violin (since most players did not formally study the basic of the instrument itself). Honestly speaking not all people are born with the capability to play tunes within their minds like the great Ray Charles have had.

The Violin Master Pro system package is all downloadable within their members section. You will be entrusted with required tools that could help you develop amazing and incredible skills playing the violin. As easy as that there is no hassle and no worry with the Violin Master Pro system. The complete Violin Master Pro learning system package includes tips and techniques on how to play the violin from the beginners point level to the professional level of playing at the comfort of your very own home through the use of your computer.

You will absolutely blow the most difficult passages with violin scales and riffs gaining enough tricks and techniques, hold violin bow or methods that most well known professional players have. You will become a master of the violin music theory once you have purchase the Violin Master Pro performance upgrade. A lot of people already testified that Violin Master Pro is a great product and they even recommended this system for others.

Strumming Patterns For Guitar

As there are many different picking techniques, and any number of chord inversions, there are different strumming patterns for guitar. A list of strumming patterns is nearly impossible to define, as there are variations from jazz patterns all the way to country strumming patterns (and every style in between) that go well beyond the usual guitar strumming patterns. As many players as there are, you can be assured new strumming guitar techniques, as well as guitar strumming tricks will be invented to challenge the old patterns. Learning guitar chords strumming or just the basics of strumming the guitar could take a few months, but years to master.

Basic strumming patterns is where this all starts. Down strokes or up strokes, it is imperative you keep the rhythm steady (unless of course you want a slower or different strum on your opposing direction). Sometimes within the same stroke you might slow down or speed up, but these are beyond the basic strumming patterns. In fact there are those basic strumming patterns where you don?t even attempt opposing down-strokes and upstrokes, just a nice steady flow with a flick of your wrist in one direction.

No matter what stroke you are trying, what level of skill you have, the motion with guitar and strumming should come from the rotation of your wrist. Overall it is best not to stiffen your wrist stiff when strumming (even picking).

There are some differences in strumming a guitar, based on the type of guitar you play. Strumming patterns for acoustic guitar can often become very percussive; there is a lot of bouncing off the strings. In some ways the acoustic makes guitar strumming tricks easier and the flourishes you manage might seem very showy because of the big sound you can get by moving your wrist fast across the acoustic sound hole.



But at the same time, placement of your hand is very important when trying various strumming patterns for this type of guitar; no matter how you are strumming the guitar you get the best results by playing directly over that sound hole.

Guitar strumming techniques for electric can be different, but basically it is still up to how well you move your wrist?and where you strum. The pick-ups in an electric guitar (or an acoustic with pick-ups) allow you to play at various places over the body of the instrument. Strumming the guitar close to or away from pickups, even choosing to play over one pick-up instead of another alter the sound of even the most basic strumming patterns.

As a magician might claim, it really is ?all in the wrist?. By regulating your speed during guitar strumming, adding some guitar strumming tricks like hammers and pull-off?s, and even actually lifting your hand from the guitar, you can introduce whole new strumming patterns into your playing. The trick really is to keep the motion consistent and your wrist placed correctly (and your pick held tightly (if you are using a pick). The dexterity and speed you will gain in practicing a good steady strum will help you even as much or more so, then the scales you can run off. There are a bunch of good lead players out there, in fact almost everyone who picks up an electric guitar wants to play lead, but how many players do you know even know the most basic country strumming patterns, or how many of us can keep up a consistent, odd timed rhythm through an entire song?

Guitar strumming is a basic of playing the instrument.

Brad Finley is senior editor of MyGuitarWorkshop - Guitar Lessons and Music Theory. Website provides guitar lessons and instructions for all level guitar players.

How to Improve Piano Sight Reading

To play a piece of music you have never seen before takes a great deal of skill. So how is it, some musicians can do this easily such as session musicians and others such as non professional players of all standards find sight reading so difficult.

Don't confuse learning to play a piece with sight-reading a piece

Many players confuse learning and playing a piece of music with sight-reading. You also have to learn how to sight read and this is completely different from learning to play a piece of music. To sight read successfully does not necessarily mean playing the piece note for note but to get through the piece from start to finish, in time, that means no slow downs or speed ups, perfect time.

Stopping and starting

As a professional musician you do not have the luxury of stopping and starting as many non professional players do, and there are a great deal of very good amateur players that keep stopping and starting because they don't have the discipline of a good sight reader.

Learn to sight-read

The best way to learn how to sight read is to find a piece of music you have never seen before, start playing at the beginning and don't stop, until to reach the end. Yes, there will be mistakes and that is part of the learning process. You are learning to sight-read. It is a discipline that professionals are forced to use and unfortunately, amateurs just don't get. They have to play everything perfectly, which means lots of practice on just one piece of music.

The more music you sight read the better you will understand music phrases you have never seen before, the more music phrases you play the better you will get, the better you get the easier the sight reading becomes. It's a vicious circle, it's a great discipline and it will force you to use all of your music knowledge.

Cabaran kepada Pemain Gitar Kidal

The majority of musical instruments can be played equally well by those who are either right handed or left handed, and switching from a right handed musician to a left handed one with the same instrument is not usually a problem. However, in the case of the guitar this isn't always true, and although some models of guitar can be handed over from a right handed person to a left handed one without any trouble or difficulty, there are many cases when a guitar is very clearly designed for someone who is specifically right handed that would prevent a left handed person from being able to play it at all, or at least, not effectively.


Guitars can often be constructed specifically for a left handed or a right handed person, and there is a marked difference between the role of the dominant hand and the secondary one. So in the case of a right handed person, the dominant hand would be their right one, with their left hand being considered the secondary hand. It is the role of the dominant hand to pluck or strum the strings of the guitar, with the secondary hand being used to hold the strings against the fret board or neck of the guitar to construct the chords to be played. The reason for the hands being used in this way round might seem odd at first, since, for a right handed person, it would appear that the left hand is doing more work through constructing a complex sequence of chords.

Often, for a beginner, one of the greatest challenges lies simply in being able to train the secondary hand to physically bend, twist and stretch to the chords, because our secondary hands are not as dextrous or flexible as our dominant ones, and even though in normal everyday life this is never really noticeable (unless you try to write with your secondary hand), when playing a guitar it becomes very noticeable. However, the reason for playing a guitar this way round is because, once the chords are learnt and achievable, most of the expression of the music is generated through the strumming of the strings by the dominant hand, and the dynamics, tone and colour of the music comes almost entirely from this hand.

Our dominant hands are better able to create the very subtle distinctions in playing style which produce the expression of music, and overall quality, whereas our secondary hands are far more clumsy, and whilst we have the ability to instruct them the basic chords, teaching them the subtly of tone and dynamics would be an nearly impossible task. The same method of playing is true for those who play the violin, with the left hand, or secondary hand, being used to hold the neck of the instrument, and play the chords, with the dominant hand holding the bow which is responsible for giving the instrument the voice, tone and colour of the music.

There are some people who do not believe that the option of playing with either left or right hand should be available, and that everybody should play the instruments in the same way, with left handed people holding a guitar or a violin in the same way as a right handed person, but these people are generally a minority. No information is available as to whether these people are right or left handed however! It is unlikely that a standardisation of guitars and violins is prone to occur, since there's already a wealth of styles, designs and many custom options available to players, and many people develop their own style of music and performance through the natural way in which they hold the instrument.

Certainly with famous left handed guitarists including the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney and Kurt Cobain, it is unlikely that left handed guitarists will be overlooked.

5 Common Problems with Music Lessons (and how to avoid them!)

Over the past 9 years we have talked with hundreds of students and families about their experiences with music programs and what they felt about these experiences. We found common complaints recurring over and over and have made it our mission to create a school offering whatever has been missing from these programs. This is a list of these common problems and what steps as a school we take to help students and families to avoid them.

Common problem #1:
Students are instructed in a very strict manner with a heavy emphasis on note reading and theory. Students do exercises and theory homework but are not allowed to play songs. Students are only allowed to play a song when everything seems perfect and wait months or years to be allowed to play and enjoy their instrument. These students and parents usually feel defeated and begin to look at music as a chore with little payoff and lacking any real joy.

Solution: At our school we allow students to play their instruments and correct their technique as they go. Using the Suzuki method allows students to memorize songs by ear and focus their attention on proper posture and technique. Students get into the habit of playing correctly and sounding good on their instrument every day while they also get to experience the joy of playing songs. When strong habits of play are formed we then begin to take a look at note reading and theory.

Common problem #2:

Students are allowed to play many songs daily with a focus on fun but without focusing on technique. Although in the beginning students will enjoy this approach it will not take long before students realize that they are not really progressing. In fact many students taught in this way learn bad habits that make it difficult or impossible to play more difficult pieces. When these students come to our program we have to work very hard at correcting these bad habits which may have been going on for years. Unfortunately these parents and students have wasted a lot of time and money which could have been prevented.

Solution: In addition to hiring highly skilled University trained teachers we offer instruction targeted towards building technique every day from the ground up. In lessons students receive practice charts daily that begin with the most basic exercises. As they go through their charts the songs and scales become progressively more challenging in a subtle way. Every level of the practice chart works to support the next level and creates positive momentum over the course of the practice. This system works because when students reach their most challenging piece they can play it comfortably because their technique has been supported throughout the practice.

Common problem #3:
"My child won't practice and we fight over it!" Unfortunately many students do not want to practice and it causes tension between parents and students. Many of these parents know that music education is important but keep wondering, "is it worth all the trouble?"

Solution: As a music program we offer resources to help parents and teachers motivate students to practice. When students enroll we offer a free booklet "9 ways create successful practices at home". Younger students receive stickers every time they complete a part of their practice chart which makes the practices more fun. We also provide two free recitals twice per year to give students a goal to work towards. Finally, teachers discuss strategies in lessons to make students and parents create the habit of practicing at home.

Common problem #4:
Students can play their instrument well, but they cannot read music. This is commonly seen in students who are kept in the Suzuki method for too long. Students who cannot read music will not be able to perform music in groups or an orchestra and will be shut off to a whole world of music. Learning new music beyond the intermediate stages will also be extremely difficult and will take a long time. When music becomes more complicated you simply cannot play it all by ear and you need help from the written page.

Solution: Teach students how to read music at the right time and in the right way. In our program our first goal is to have students in the strong habit of playing correctly and sounding good on their instrument every day. When this is achieved our teachers then gradually begin to teach note reading, music theory and implement some easy sight reading into student's practice charts. As students become confident and skilled in their reading a whole world of music is opened up to them. Not only do these students become excellent sight readers but we allow students to explore new music as part of their practice such as Celtic, Jazz, Fiddle, Ragtime, Movie Soundtracks and more. Now that these students are in the habit of sounding good, they can easily maintain that habit even when they are sight reading.

Common problem #5:
Many students and parents have told us stories about teachers they have had that have turned them off to music. The instruction has been very rigid, strict and negative. These students were pushed to excel at music through fear motivation. Unfortunately many of these students quit, never to return to music, or they continue onward struggling with a loss of self confidence.

Solution: Lessons in our program are focused deeply on sharing a love for music. We believe students achieve their highest potential when they are positively reinforced and we work on building a student's confidence. We realize that some students will seek professional careers in music and others will not. We strive for our students to achieve excellence in their music and we encourage them to enjoy playing for a lifetime!

About the Author

Brian Eliason is a professional violinist and educator with over 28 years experience. He is also the founder of the Eliason School of Music in Portland, Oregon. For more information please contact the school at Piano Lessons in Portland