We educators consistently read research that points to the fact that technology can be a great pedagogical tool for the classroom. Given its ubiquity in the mobile age as well as the increase in the popularity of electronically-generated-or-enhanced music, this statement has probably never been more true for the music classroom.
Over here at Lessonface we did some curating for you to find some of the best apps, tools, and gadgets that you can implement into your music classroom. Know and love a tool that we didn't mention? Share the wealth in the comments section below.
The miracle of digital tuners and their evolution toward clip-on and app-based tuners has made life better for many a guitarist, but it’s still great to be able to tune your guitar by ear using a tuning fork or some other reference note, like from your friend’s guitar, or a harmonica or piano or some other instrument--anything that doesn’t need a battery! Tuning forks are cool because they are very small and cheap, easily fit in your guitar case or gig bag, and never run out of power. Mine is made in Germany by Wittner and cost less than six bucks. I use it all the time.
Things are busy here at Lessonface over these sweet summer months. Teachers are writing great pieces on a variety of topics for your reading pleasure. We had a booth at NAMM. We want to mail you some guitar reference materials, on us. If you're into it, read on.
Lessonface Notes Program Launches
Frequent visitors to these pages may have noticed a surge of great articles over the past month, written, for the most part, by teachers, and filed under "Notes."
Many people are eager to start learning how to play the piano, but become overwhelmed when first starting out. Here I have broken down how to first start reading piano music into three simple steps. I hope this will encourage you to begin learning how to play the piano or pick up again where you left off!
One question I tend to get a lot is about alternative tunings on the guitar, which is nothing more than messing with your standard way of tuning the guitar ( E B G D A E) in order to have different open strings which will create the ability of playing certain chord voicing that normally would be hard or impossible to reach.
Changing strings on you guitar can be frustrating, even a little frightening (“what if the string breaks and pops me in the eye?”). But whether you like to change them often to maintain that crisp, new-string sound, or if you like to leave them on for months or years until they’re caked with rust, or even if you only ever change a string when it breaks, if you play the guitar, you’ll have to change strings sometime.
