A couple of years ago I compiled a chart of the basic history of Western Classical music, complete with composer names, important works, and characteristics of each period, in a nutshell. (It’s quite a few pages of small print, even with a very limited representation of the composers and works --- this is a huge field to learn about, and it’s 27 centuries long!)
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During the Renaissance and Elizabethan Periods in Europe, certain musical instruments were popular and widely used. Here is a sampling of a variety of them! These are grouped by their instrument family types.
I’ve found a Youtube video of each, so here you can click on the instrument’s name and watch and listen to it being played:
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As I play Christmas carols, I find that some of the most beloved ones are constructed out of large segments of the diatonic scale, and perhaps that contributes to people’s love for them!
At any rate, if you play a musical instrument and want to practice your scales while making festive holiday melody, here are the ones I’ve noticed are like that:
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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.
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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.
1) Fingers: 1st (index), 2nd (middle), 3rd (ring), 4th (pinky)
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.
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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!
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