When you need to choose a chord to play with a certain melody note, it doesn’t have to be guesswork! There is a very clear and simple structure to music that we can refer to when choosing chords.
...
4027 Hits
Timothy's Blog
Timothy's blog on dulcimers, music, nature and life!
NOV
03
Everything on this list for beginning players is essential to be able to play the ukulele! These aren’t just tips, but they make it possible to play, and to play well.
- Playing a fretted fingerboard instrument takes muscular effort and focus!
- Curve your left hand into a circle so that your thumb can clamp against the back of the neck to help the other fingers press down on the strings.
- Your thumb must be at or near the center of the back of the neck so it can help the other fingers.
- Press your right forearm against the front of the uke, pushing it against your body to create a lever that helps your left hand press down on the strings.
- Swivel your left hand to find the best position to play the chord you need; this is especially important for the chord G: swivel your hand toward the head of the uke to get a natural triangular shape for your fingers.
- When pressing down a string, put your finger just behind the fret on the fingerboard (closer to the head), so it has good leverage to hold the string down onto the fret.
- Always keep the front (soundboard) of the uke completely vertical (perpendicular to the floor). If you need to look at the frets and strings, lean your head forward to do that. (If it’s not vertical, you can’t reach the notes well enough with your left hand.)
- There are three different numbering systems operating at once:
1) Fingers: 1st (index), 2nd (middle), 3rd (ring), 4th (pinky)
2201 Hits
Lots of sheet music has chords written over the top of the staff. For example, if the key signature of the notation has one sharp, you might see chords that start and end with ‘G’, in which case the tune is most likely in the key of G Major. It may start and end with ‘Em’, meaning probably that the key is E Minor, which has the same notes and chords as G Major, except that the scale starts on a different note.
...
2644 Hits
Please don’t be dismayed by the possibility that this blog post is going to get too technical! The concepts are simple, and I think they are incredibly useful!
...
2280 Hits
You’ve read that right: apparently everything sounds better in the winter, especially in more humid climates (like Virginia, USA, where we live), and here’s why:
When it gets colder, the heating unit in a building turns on or is turned on, like a furnace or a wood stove. Because of that, the humidity in the indoors drops to a pretty low level, like fifteen to twenty-five percent relative humidity.
...
6197 Hits
When in 1995 I composed ‘Sky Through the Pines’ (originally ‘Such a Gift’) I envisioned it as a sung song with guitar or as an instrumental ensemble piece with guitar, hammered dulcimer, flute, and other instruments; both versions were recorded, in 1996 and then 2002, and the latter was released on the album Sycamore Rapids. But I never imagined playing it as a solo --- and was frustrated that I couldn’t play it again except on a CD player!
In 2000 I began developing my new stylized method of separated-hand solo hammered dulcimer playing, and at first limited it to quite simple tunes to keep it manageable. Then the occasion came, for a couple of weddings, to arrange Beatles pop ballads in such a manner. Many of us agree, I think, that some of the finest of the pop ballads are by those guys, and they have a sort of pure simplicity that ought to go well with my separated-hand technique!
...
6142 Hits
It seems as if everyone who knows the old Appalachian folk hymn ‘There Is a Fountain’ loves it, with its Civil War manner of simplicity and sentimentality. The refrain that repeats the last line of each verse for a lingering contemplative moment is a dear American musical statement.
I certainly join with the throngs who are endeared to this piece. And all my life I’ve heard it performed, at times as a beautifully quaint folksy instrumental, or as a formal congregational hymn, or a sweeping operatic showpiece, or a Bluegrass gospel number, or a jazz improv, or an Indie acoustic pop song, or a fundamentalist inspirational solo…
...
37433 Hits
Information about Cookies
A cookie is a small piece of data (usually a text file) that a website asks your browser to store on your computer or mobile device. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another. Most browsers support cookies, but users can set their browsers to decline them and can delete them whenever they like. Cookies can be used to collect and store user data while connected to provide you with requested services. More information about cookies can be found at http://www.aboutcookies.org.
In addition to cookies that remember your preferences mentioned above, cookies are used for the purpose of purchasing items off this website, and for login and user profile details should you provide them by creating an account or signing up for the blog posts or newsletter.
Third party cookies are also used on this site. Specifically, Google Analytics is used on this site -- a popular web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users use this site. It counts the number of visitors and tells us things about their behavior overall – such as the typical length of stay on the site or the average number of pages a user views.
The information generated by the cookie about your use of our website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of our website, compiling reports on website activity and providing other services relating to website activity and internet usage.
Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google undertakes not to associate your IP address with any other data held by Google.
If you have Adobe Flash installed on your computer (most computers do) and utilize audio or video players, Google Analytics will try to store some additional data on your computer. This data is known as a Local Shared Object or Flash cookie. This helps us to analyze the popularity of our media files.
Finally, this website makes use of Google Maps. Google Maps is used to provide locations for Timothy Seaman's performances. In clicking on a performance location, you can allow or deny Google Maps knowledge of your location for purposes of getting directions from your location to the event site.
You can control and/or delete cookies as you wish – for details, see aboutcookies.org. You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed. If you do this, however, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site and some services and functionalities may not work.
Your failure to control and/or delete cookies for this site constitutes your acceptance of cookies as outlined above.