Read the story form the San Diego Union Tribune on how young web start-ups are doing to survive and flourish during the recession. TakeLessons was a featured company. "The company started working out of Cox's house. It now has offices, but not the $700 Aeron chairs that typified the excesses of the first dot-com wave. “Our plan is to preserve cash,” Cox said. “We work at tables that cost $20 at Staples.” Cox said his business is growing, but he suspects growth would be faster in

By Erol O While still a student in college, I attended a concert with some friends. Two of them were fellow musicians, and one was not. After the show was over, we were walking out of the venue and talking about how great the show was. That’s when I noticed the non-musician being silent, so I asked him what he thought of the show. He said: “I don’t know”.   The three of us looked at each other in bewilderment. What do you mean, you don’t know?” I asked. Then he said something that

TakeLessons is powering the NAMM's Wanna Play Music Lesson Locator. This free "Find Music Lessons Near You" search tool at www.wannaplaymusic.com, features one of the most comprehensive databases of music teachers on the Web from NAMM's network of Member stores, the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and TakeLessons. This easy-to-use tool helps people who are interested in learning to play music to easily find a qualified music teacher in their neighborhood by simply entering their

Just to keep up with all that's happening in the web/music space, here is a video from Beet.tv on a new partnership between YouTube and Universal Music called Vevo. It will be interesting to see if it will be like the old MTV where they really did focus on music. Also, what about the other labels? Will they be included, or will YouTube have to generate yet another site to house competing firms? That seems at odds with the openness of the internet, so we'll have to wait and see...From Bee

As someone who has taught in public schools, private schools, and has been teaching private individual sessions, I have learned that the vast majority of the public is musically challenged.  There are many reasons we could consider as to why, but that’s for another time and another article. What I would like to do, is perhaps provide some insight and a few tips for those who feel they are under qualified when searching for an instructor for themselves or for their child.  Some of the sear

So you wanna learn how to play guitar? Alright, we've established that you're ambitious enough to pick up an instrument and that's really exciting you actually want to learn how to play it. But before you choose an instructor ask yourself, what exactly inspired you to pick up the instrument and what are your goals with your axe? Now that you've decided to become a rock star let me help you out. There are some key ingredients that will help you get started. Learn to tune. There are

Today is a very special day here at the office. As a part of Teacher Appreciation Week, we'd like to take a few moments to recognize our incredibly AWESOME TakeLessons music teachers. Each month, we get thousands of people looking for music jobs that apply for a teaching position with us, and after rigorous interviewing, background reviews, and reference checking, we hire just the top 3-5% of candidates. To all our music instructors and singing teachers, we're very proud of you and all you

Warning: file_get_contents(file:///Volumes/corp/design/00%20-%20Library/iStock%20Photos/girl-singer.png): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/csmith/svn/cfl/batch/util/get-blog-images.php on line 59 Seems like an obvious question – to learn to sing; to become a famous star on stage; to be rich and successful!  I read about an established professor at an Ivy League university who wanted to quit smoking, so he took voice lessons, which launched him into a significant c

I have been a professional actor-singer all my life, it seems.  When I was studying theatre at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County-- many moons ago--we had no voice training as actors.  We were often told "I can't hear you" or "Project!" or "I can't understand what you're saying".  But that was the extent of our training. Unfortunately, we had to figure out what to do with those criticisms.  I did, however, take singing lessons by a very fine instructor during my university days.

A number of famous musicians have bragged that they can¹t read a note of music - from film composers Danny Elfman, to Broadway composer Irving Berlin, to Rock star John Lennon - not to mention a whole slew of pop, jazz, country, and rock musicians. So, is reading music necessary for music lessons? Yes, I think it is. Furthermore, I don¹t think it is that difficult to learn. In fact, I question the claims of musicians who say they don't read music - because it is my belief that most musician