Learn Music Theory your way with a TakeLessons expert

As a vocal coach, I often need to accompany my students on the piano as they practice their music. Without adequate time to practice or the necessary skills as an accompanist, this usually means that I have to fake my way through new music to the best of my ability. Fortunately, I can fairly successfully “fake it” on the piano with many pieces. This is because I know how to quickly read lead-sheet symbols, which are commonly provided with popular sheet music. Lead-sheet symbols, or ch

One of the most common weaknesses for amateur musicians is a lack of music theory knowledge. Many people assume that learning theory is difficult (it isn’t) that it has no practical purpose (it does), or even that it will actively make them worse at making music (quite the opposite). I’m here to convince you that learning a little about how music works is one of the most important skills you can develop and should absolutely be part of your daily practice routine. Here are five reasons w

Struggling to understand music theory? Try heading over to the piano -- seeing a visual representation can help a ton! Here, Lowell, IN teacher Blake C. shares how to get started...   Many musicians avoid learning music theory altogether because it can feel much like learning a foreign language; as a result, many musicians enlist in the anti-music theory organization. I will admit it – I was a member of the anti-music theory organization in my early years, declaring that music theory

Have you ever seen a 12 string acoustic guitar in a music shop and felt intimidated? Well, great news! If you can play a 6-string guitar, you can play a 12-string. I don’t mean eventually, I mean right now. Let’s take a closer look at what all those extra strings are, why they’re there, and what they can (and can’t) do. First of All, How is a 12-String Acoustic Guitar Tuned? The answer is, exactly like a 6-string but with each string doubled. So, going from bottom to top (pitch wise),

Have you ever wanted to learn how to play the piano, but felt intimidated by all of those black and white keys? You're not alone! The piano keyboard layout can be tricky for beginners to understand. Fortunately, this helpful guide will make learning the basics a breeze. By understanding the layout of the keyboard, you'll be able to start playing simple songs in no time. So what are you waiting for? Let's get started! Did you know that understanding the full piano keyboard layout is not

Have you ever been singing and suddenly realized your tongue hurt? Felt a tinge or soreness? Sometimes, that means your jaw is tight, often, it means that your tongue is tense. It’s a muscle, it’s natural for that to happen. However, it’s not something you can ignore. When you’re doing an exercise, you want to make sure you have correct form in order to get the most out of it. Same concept with singing. However, in singing, you don’t want to keep working the muscles to the point of pai

  Piano music doesn't have to be all classical, all the time! Here's what you need to know about getting started with jazz piano chord progressions, courtesy of St. Augustine, FL teacher Heather L... If you're interested in learning how to play jazz piano after starting off as a classical pianist, one of the first things you need to master are chord progressions. In this blog post, we'll take a look at some of the most common jazz piano chord progressions and how you can use them in y

Are you wondering, "what are the most common chord progressions in pop music?" If so, you're in the right place.  Today, many pop songs are written by writing the chords first, and melody later. In fact, it would be fair to say that the backbone of the modern pop song is the chord progression. In this way, chord progressions are very important to make the song as memorable, catchy and enjoyable as possible. Pop music has existed at least since the 1950s, amassing a great catalog of music

The late Yehudi Menuhin once said, “The genuine Scottish fiddler has an infallible sense of rhythm, never plays out of tune, and is master of his distinctive and inimitable style”. Well, as a Scot myself, I certainly subscribe to that idea, although I can’t give absolute assurance that my own intonation is that infallible.  Where Does Good Intonation Begin? Well, before we start slapping fingers down on the fingerboard we need to know that the violin itself must be in tune. Traditional

If you want a short answer, a comfortable standard female vocal range is from about A4 to G5. That’s maybe with a little training from a voice teacher, and different people might feel more comfortable towards the top of that range and others towards the bottom. But pretty much every female voice is physically capable of these notes with some help, and with focused study, it’s very possible to sing well above and below that range! The most important thing to remember is that every voice i