The Practice BlogThe Practice Blog is an ongoing music practice resource for students, teachers, parents and anybody involved in music who needs to practice. RSS (for more information about RSS and how to use it click on the blue ? above the orange RSS button) is used to update you when I have updated the blog – kind of like an automatic bookmark that only appears when there is something new to see. Of course, you will probably want to bookmark the Essential Music Practice Homepage as well so it is available for reference at all times!. You can also click on one of the buttons at the bottom to bookmark.
The Music Practice Blog will
May 10, 2012 Music Practice App almost ready!
We are in the final stages of releasing our Music Practice App to the iTunes App Store. Music Practice helps you plan and execute your practice according to specific targets each week, helping you make faster, more effective progress.
Bookmark this page now and add yourself to our mailing list to be informed as soon as Apple have accepted the App into the App Store. This is a whole new exciting project and one to help you get even more from your practice time. More news as it happens... Permalink -- click for full blog post "Music Practice App almost ready!" May 10, 2012 Music Practice AppThis is the page for support with the iOS Music Practice App. Use the Music Practice App to plan your practice each week and use your iPhone or iPod touch to make your music practice more effective. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Music Practice App" Apr 18, 2012 Quotes About Music, Quotes By Musicians, Quotes About PracticeA little extra inspiration often goes a long way and I hope some of these quotes about music inspire you. There are also links to other pages with quotes by musicians and quotes about music practice Apr 18, 2012 Quotes By MusiciansA list of quotes by musicians from a variety of backgrounds. I always found it interesting to read other musician quotes and see what they though about music, life and sometimes, other musicians! Permalink -- click for full blog post "Quotes By Musicians" Jan 29, 2012 Slow Down MusicBeing able to slow down music without altering the pitch to hear certain features is very useful when practicing. This page gives information and advice on the free tools to use. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Slow Down Music" Jan 29, 2012 Music Practice SoftwareThere is plenty of software to support your music practice, even though it isn't advertised as music practice software as such. Here are some reviews of the best software for music practice Permalink -- click for full blog post "Music Practice Software" Jan 23, 2012 Zoom H2 ReviewThe Zoom H2 is a great portable digital audio recorder. 4 microphones giving 360° one-touch recording, compact size, 26 bit 96KHz recording. Read more about the Zoom H2 here. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Zoom H2 Review" Jan 23, 2012 Transcribe MusicBeing able to transcribe music is an important skill, especially for composers and jazz musicians. Here is a guide on how to transcribe music and reviews of music transcription software. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Transcribe Music" Jan 14, 2012 Simon HorseySimon Horsey built the Essential Music Practice site to help music students develop the music practice skills needed to make faster, more effective progress. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Simon Horsey" Dec 10, 2011 Practice Makes PerfectPractice Makes Perfect is the book that teaches you how to practice. This book is all you need to stop working hard and start working smart. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Practice Makes Perfect" Nov 26, 2011 Essential music practice techniques for all instruments.Only effective music practice makes perfect. This site shows you how to practice more efficiently and effectively and make more progress in less time. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Essential music practice techniques for all instruments." Nov 26, 2011 How To Practice MusicThe page from which to download the free ebook How to practice: 5 habits to help you make more progress. Permalink -- click for full blog post "How To Practice Music" Nov 17, 2011 How To Build A Business Online And Why You Need ToI could never have made the Essential Music Practice site a success without SBI. The tools and information they provide about how to build a business online are second to none. Here's how I did it... Permalink -- click for full blog post "How To Build A Business Online And Why You Need To" Oct 23, 2011 Zoom H4n ReviewThe Zoom H4n is an advanced handy recorder with a huge array of features. It is also a great music practice tool. Read a review of the Zoom H4n here. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Zoom H4n Review" Oct 23, 2011 Zoom Digital Recorder ReviewsZoom digital recorder reviews. A digital audio recorder can be a huge asset to your practice. This page gives an overview of the zoom digital recorder range including the zoom h2, zoom h4 and zoom h4n Permalink -- click for full blog post "Zoom Digital Recorder Reviews" Oct 23, 2011 Digital Audio RecorderRecording practice is very beneficial, and while a high quality digital audio recorder isn't necessary it is certainly very useful. This page contains information and reviews of a variety of models. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Digital Audio Recorder" Oct 23, 2011 Learn An InstrumentMany parents wonder whether it is a good idea for their child to learn an instrument. This page looks at the pros and cons (yes, there are a few) for those asking "should I learn an instrument?" Permalink -- click for full blog post "Learn An Instrument" Oct 6, 2011 RIP Steve Jobs
I can't believe Steve Jobs has died. He changed the way we listen to and buy music with iTunes and iPod, but more than that, he changed the way we experience and interact with music. GarageBand made the task of composition easy and fun, albeit with loops. The kids in my classes loved GarageBand; the loops allowing them to focus on the listening aspect of composing, rather than trying to create melody the entire time at the start. Gradually they reduced the number of loops they used and added their own material. Then there are the lessons in GarageBand, which just like the computers and the OS they run on are simple, elegant and easy to use. This ease of use has been key in having a music room full of children at lunchtimes, learning to play the keyboard from these lessons. Of course he revolutionized the entire tech industry far outside of music, but it is the music aspect that touched my life so much, not only in the classroom, but also with my own composition. I remember the instruction booklet for the Emagic Audiowerk PCI card... pages and pages of how to install under Windows, and a single page for the Mac: Turn off computer, install card, turn on computer. That's it. This ease of use allowed us musicians to get on with what we wanted to do, make music rather than endlessly tweaking, reinstalling and restarting our systems. So thank you Steve, from me as a musician and teacher and on behalf of all my students. You were a true visionary who allowed us to get on with what we wanted to do without the computer getting in the way. Rest IP. Oct 2, 2011 Keypad for Sibelius and Finale InputNot strictly 'music practice' but I had to share this. As a Sibelius user on a Macbook it is always a bit of a pain inputting notes on the keyboard. I had a USB keypad that went missing at some point and it suddenly occured to me today that maybe there is an ipod touch app that covers this... and there is! Num Pad gives you a wireless keypad on your iPod touch, and the best thing is they have preset screens for Sibelius and Finale that actually show you the notes you are inputting! Fantastic - I've had it for 5 minutes and already have no idea how I lived without this! Oct 1, 2011 Piano SoftwareIf you learn piano software is available to help you. Check this page to see what music software is available to help you learn piano and keyboard including positions of notes and reading music. Permalink -- click for full blog post "Piano Software" New! CommentsHave your say about what you've just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. |
