Motivation To Practice An Instrument: Violin

Need some motivation to practice?

You might look at your musical idols and see that they make it look effortless, and that is discouraging. How can you expect to live up to them if they don’t seem to have so much more raw talent than you?

The problem is that you aren’t seeing what is really happening behind the scenes. The hundreds and thousands of hours that went into their practice routines so that they can produce only a few moments of perfect music. The self doubt and failures they had to overcome to be what they have become.

If you want to live up to them, you might have to go through that as well. Only question is – it is worth it? If your answer is yes, then you better leave this site and get back to practice.

Motivation To Study Music Theory

Need more reasons to learn to study music theory before you dive in?

While many musicians get by without it, even popular musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, theory is important when trying to duplicate a musical style or communicate your music to other artists.

If you enjoy music for it’s own sake and you are comfortable developing your own style, then in-depth theory may not be needed right away. However, if you want to take your musical ability to the next level, theory can be very important.

Here are some reasons to learn (or to skip) music theory:

Here is some inspiration to help you decide to start studying music theory. John Mayer playing the incredible “Neon” live. This song is full of complex music that requires theory to build and understand. The solo is especially amazing, especially if you understand what is going on musically.

That is another reason to learn theory: to understand and appreciate more fully the complex music of other musicians.

How Playing Music Benefits Your Brain

Does music really benefit your brain to make you smarter? Watch this video to learn all the ways music benefits the human brain:

You’ll learn how music affects your brain waves, and how a music education is like weightlifting for your mind!

Because playing music requires so many parts of your brain, it is the brain’s equivalent of a full body workout. When you take regular disciplined practice, it triggers your brain to form new pathways that were never there before, and provides stimulus to keep it healthy and alert.

Because music forms new pathways in your brain, it also helps you when you’re trying to figure out how to break a bad habit. The best way to break any bad habit it to replace it with a good one, so replacing your bad habits with listening to music or learning new music is a great way to start using your time more productively. If you have bad habits, you can download the free End Bad Habits book to learn how to break any bad habit and replace it with a good one. This is a great way to get into the habit of learning to play the guitar or piano, and stop watching so much TV!

Just one more reason to stop procrastinating on your musical education (learn to to that by watching this video) and start to learn an instrument today. It can be a guitar, piano, a violin, a cello or even just your singing voice. But when you go down that road, your body benefits in more ways than one.



How To Stop Procrastinating On Your Music Career

In my career as a music teacher, I did a lot of research on procrastination as it seemed to be one of the reasons people failed to get ahead. A common source of procrastination is the idea that we have to wait until we have a big block of time before starting on a task – any task. There are people use small amounts of time to get things done efficiently throughout a day. They tend not to procrastinate, but they are not waiting for large blocks of time.

Modern life is full of demands and interruptions. If you are waiting for a large block of time before you start something, you likely will never start it because the large block of time may never come.

Learning to use make good use of small blocks of time is a key to getting things done that will take you one step further in your career. Another is the idea that you have to wait until the “right” time. However, for many of us, the “real” time seems just to get further and further away.

Here are eight tips stop procrastinating on your music career:

  1. Baby Steps – Break your task down into small steps, do each small step individually.
  2. Kitchen Timer – During writer’s block I write in 15-minute increments, then get up and move around. I find that if I limit the time I do not feel so overwhelmed with the amount of time given. I always have a Kitchen Cooking Timer when I am writing to make sure I stay on task.
  3. Force or Pressure- Just do it. This usually means that I have waited until the last minute and have to get something done. I find that if I wait until the last minute to get something done, I can work. There is something about the pressure that moves me forward.
  4. Relax – Yes relax. Spend a little time meditating and stop stressing about the deadline.
  5. Music – Music can work wonders for concentration. If you do not have a band or group that allows you to concentrate, try anything by Mozart.
  6. Bargain with yourself – I am fond of snacks, licorice or goldfish crackers when I am working. I often bargain with myself – I can have one piece of licorice or 10 goldfish crackers for each page I finish. This mainly works when I am hungry.
  7. Completion NOT perfection – Just get it complete. Do not worry about it being perfect. Perfection is the enemy of completion. You can always edit later.
  8. Eliminate all distractions – turn off the TV or radio. Remove yourself from rooms that may cause you to be tempted to do something, e.g. video games, clean, etc.

Procrastination is nothing but a polite term for avoidance, and that is not an excellent thing to do. Watch this video for more tips on how to stop procrastinating:

This is our list of simple ways of avoiding procrastination while you advance in your music career:

  1. Pinpoint the reason why you are avoiding the activity. It could be many things – fear of failure, or the pressure of having to work with someone you find unpleasant, or is it that you have bad news and don’t know how to go about delivering it?
  2. Make a schedule for your day’s jobs and stick to it. One good way is to finish the jobs you hate bright and early, so you are free to enjoy the rest of your day.
  3. There goes a lot of preparation behind every successful project. You have to prepare too. That might mean a lot of adaptation and modification and adjustment. But face it, you have to do it. The sooner you accept this, the better.
  4. Stop thinking. Just work at it and get it over and done with.
  5. You can allow yourself small rewards when you have finally done what you had been avoiding. You could take a coffee break, or a forbidden snack, just to indulge yourself.

You need a certain amount of inner strength and real motivation to get things done, irrespective of their nature. Most people, however, tend to be swayed easily and lose focus of their goals. There is no need to despair.

How To Create a Home Recording Studio In Newmarket

A recording studio is a facility that is used for sound recording and mixing. Do you know you can create a recording studio at the comfort of your home? This is known as a home recording studio.

You may think creating a home recording studio in Newmarket is a difficult task. However, this is not the case. You just need to follow a few rules of thumb, and head over to The Arts on Eagle St. to buy some new gear, and to the Home Depot to get some soundproofing. To start with, you need to identify a room in your house to use it as your studio. After doing this, you need to equip the studio with the following equipment:

  • A computer
  • DAW(Digital Audio Workstation) software
  • Audio Interface
  • Microphones
  • Headphones or Studio Monitors
  • Microphone Stands

Here’s why you need each of these pieces of equipment.

1. A computer

This is the first equipment you should strive to acquire. You should aim at the best model in the market. You can either purchase a desktop computer or a laptop.

This will depend on how much you plan to spend. But since the computer is to be used for your home recording studio, you can use either a laptop or a desktop computer. You can upgrade as time goes by.

2. The DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) Software

This is the software that enables you to record, edit and mix music in your computer. The rule here is that the digital workstation should be compatible with your computer.

3. Audio Interface

Audio interface is used to turn analog into a digital signal. It is the hardware connects your computer with the rest of your gear.

4. Microphones

Microphones have been there even before home recording studio come into existence. They are readily available and cheap in the market. Each microphone is designed to achieve a different sound depending on different instruments and situation.

What you need to do is to get a microphone that suits your home recording studio. The microphone enables you to hear what you are recording. You can purchase two microphones for your home recording studio.

You can head over to the Upper Canada Mall to check out the Bose showcase store, or of course the Best Buy.

5. Headphones or Studio Monitor

This is simple equipment. What you need is to ensure you purchase one for your home recording studio and you will be good to go. You can also purchase a monitor for you to view program operations

6. Microphone Stand.

As the name suggests, this is used to support your microphones and it is important to acquire the stands for microphones.

If you are planning to set up a home recording studio, you are enlightened on how to create a recording studio at home. The only way it could be easier is if you find a local realtor selling homes in Newmarket and buy a home already equipped with a studio! Otherwise, you basically need to budget wisely. You can later upgrade your home record studio overtime once you get started.

Learning Guitar For Beginners

Guitar is undoubtedly the most popular instrument in the whole world. Pioneered by legends like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Andrea Segovia, etc. this instrument caught the imagination of generations and its popularity is still growing with each passing day. It is seen today, as a symbol of the youth.

The demand to learn the Spanish Guitar is hence, huge. Spanish guitar tutorials can be categorized into three stages, depending on the expertise of the learner, namely, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced stages.

The beginners are primarily taught the basics of guitar-learning. Holding the guitar properly, proper use of the plectrum and/or the fingers for strumming and picking, co-ordination of the left and the right hands and proper positioning of fingers for fretting the notes effectively are some of the very basics that are extremely important for a student to know.

The concept of rhythm and time signatures are also incorporated at this level.

Basic diatonic scales, simple open position chords, simple arpeggios, some simple songs like Bob Dylan’s Knocking On Heaven’s Doors, John Denver’s Living On a Jet Plane, etc. can be taught at this stage to develop the interest of the learner.


At this stage, the learners are usually taught the basics of improvisation to learn to how to play guitar. The use of odd-time rhythms in a piece is introduced. The seven modes of the diatonic scale, namely, Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian are usually tutored along with modal harmonies and arpeggios.

The concept of the basic 12-bar Blues progression which has been the backbone of numerous songs can be introduced too. Flamenco guitar is also a very interesting aspect in the curriculum. Buleria, Solea, Fandango, Tango, etc. are some of the different styles of Spanish Flamenco Guitar. Harmonies in the form of progressions of chords can be explored in this level.

A student who has reached this level of expertise can usually pick up songs by themselves and perform to an audience successfully.


At this stage, students can be encouraged to explore Jazz harmonies and study the works of great Jazz artists like Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ted Greene, etc. Re-harmonization of Jazz standards like Stella By Starlight, Dona Lee, Autumn Leaves, etc. can be a task that will improve the compositional sensibilities of a musician.

Playing over changes smoothly is one of the most important aspects of an advanced guitarist. The Flamenco works of Paco Di Lucia, the gypsy-jazz pieces of Django Reinhardt, Joscho Stephan, etc. can also shed light on different styles of improvisational brilliance.
This stage usually deals with enhancement of creativity and compositional ability.

We have thus seen the basic structure of Spanish guitar tutorial. The most important feature of playing guitar is having fun. That is exactly why you picked up the guitar in the first place. Though the guitar needs a lot of practice to master, it should never be boring. The information given above is just a guideline. Using creativity in practicing regularly in a focused manner is the key. So keep practicing, and see you on stage!

Easy Guitar Songs For Beginners To Learn

When you start to take in the guitar means beginning with the right decision of tunes. The following are a portion of the best apprentices melodies that are best for kicking you off. The tunes use easy guitar strings and use basic time designs. With some practice, these tunes will be great and you may utilize them to showcase your recently discovered abilities.

Keeping in mind the end goal is to know how to play the amateur tunes, you will first need to hear them out a few times through. When you have listened to them, you ought to be at least familiar with how they sound. On top of each melody, the harmonies you are to utilize are recorded so you can rehearse their examples as you get lessons for guitar online. You ought to utilize the essential strumming example, and be centred around having the fingers shape the strings. Go through the essential strings design severally till you get them smooth.

Don’t stress over the guitar strumming. Strumming is an alternate expertise which you will ace as you consistently polish your skills. Your objective is to get the fingers in the right positions and alternating in the middle of the various strings. Be steady and understanding. You will not master the art in a day, however you will bit by bit move forward, especially if you visit EnkiVillage.

In the event that it is your first time taking care of a guitar, you may discover it hard to move your fingers rapidly. Don’t complain about it, proceed with drilling and you will in the end be an expert at online guitar lessons in a brief time.

Don’t stress yourself. You won’t be a master at acoustic guitar lessons for beginners, you will basically be awful but continue drilling and stick to it and you will be an expert in no time.

A list of electric guitar songs for beginners are:

Are You Still Having Fun by Eagle Eye Cherry

Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd

Rockin’ In The Free World by Neil Young

Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana

For What it is Worth by Buffalo Springfield

Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynard

Save Tonight by the Eagle Eye Cherry

Hot by Avril Lavigne

Losing My Religion by REM

Horse With No Name by America

Hi by Oasis

Every Rose Has Thorns by Poison

House of the Rising Sun by The Animals

Knocking on Heaven’s Door  by Bob Dylan.

2×4 by Metallica

American Idiot by Green Day

Back In Black by ACDC

Draining Me by Metallica

Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Common War by Guns n Roses

Come As You Are by Nirvana

Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne

Enter Sandman by Metallica

Fade To Black by Metallica

Highway to Hell by ACDC

Money by the Pink Floyd

One by Metallica

Smoke On The Water by Deep Purple

Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns n’ Roses

Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin

Wonderwall by Oasis

Singing Lessons and Online Practice Routine For Beginners

As a beginner singer, it is important that you establish a practice routine right away so that you develop good technique and habits. After that, you can also learn how to sing. The best, most consistent guitar players and singers get that way from constant practice that not only helps to improve your technique, but builds the muscle memory and ability to lay faster, harder and more complicated chords. If you are new to the instrument, there are a lot of things that you can do and need to consider right away that will help you get off on the right foot. Use these tips and advice from experienced musicians to begin your playing career as a singer and guitarist, and also get voice lessons at this YT video as soon as possible if you want to sing along with your playing:

Setting Up a Routine From the Beginning

In the very beginning, there is going to only be so much for you to practice. Still, it is important that you make time everyday to play your guitar and go over everything that you have learned so that you can improve upon it. It is better to practice in short intervals instead of long periods of time less often. When you set up a routine right from the beginning and stick to it every day, you are more likely to recognize little things that need improving and work to change them so that they are not an issue after you have been playing for some time.

Create A Practice Space

One of the things that a lot of musicians say helps them get in the practice time that they need is to have a practice space that is set aside just for them for vocal training. By setting up a place where you can sit down to play without having to move, clean up or clear out, you are more likely to just get to the practicing. Find a corner of your room or home where you can leave a comfortable chair, set up a music stand and leave your singing lessons there so that you can practice during times that you establish, but also whenever the inclination hits. Make sure that the area you choose is a place where you will not be bothered or distracted while playing.

Build On What You Know

It is important that a guitar practice routine for beginners builds on what you know and then moves on to what you are trying to learn. Practicing this way is essential for technique and skill building, and also serves as a way to build the muscles and stamina that are needed to endure playing sessions. Once you have made your way through older lessons and practice chords, tackle the new tunes and chords. Repetition is essential to guitar playing and it is how you can then grow into the type of player that is able to play by ear or create music of your own using what you already know.

With a guitar and voice practice routine for beginners a student and teacher can really work together to access where a student is in their musicality, and progress to harder, more complicated compositions faster. Great musicians are not born overnight, but with time and practice, learn your scales here and learn to sing better.

How To Get Online Piano Lessons Free

learn piano music

With all the technology years effectively beneath way, a great number of young and old are usually looking at the World Wide Web to fulfill desires of their existence. No one has the time nowadays to visit a piano learning school and take lessons at regular fixed hours It seems an all-natural progression until this phenomenon could have any far-reaching impact possibly to the planet connected with piano classes.

The thought of spending any teacher intended for exclusive classes has been online eternally. Though there isn’t any doubt until this method is constantly on the possess its strengths, consumers are beginning to switch more regularly to online piano classes for the following reasons:,

Exclusive classes are usually very costly and you can learn how to sing here at this piano for beginners. However premiums can vary greatly, a highly skilled exclusive teacher along with reliable skills and references will usually cost $50 an hour or so or more. Provided that the majority of classes are usually executed on the once a week foundation, $200 every 4 weeks is often a large expenditure for many and often one they can’t have the funds for.

On the net piano classes are typically far more cost-effective. Quite a few classes price tag a flat charge or maybe tiny month to month charge for any confined time (usually only 4-6 months). Several online piano classes are available cost-free with sites for instance YouTube, although mostly their quality could be thought to be questionable at very best.

Exclusive classes are generally placed on the teacher’s facilities which usually can occasionally be an extra hours or maybe a couple of commute round-trip (this is specially accurate if the teacher is actually thought to be very wanted; learners through a long way away will always make the particular journey simply just to take classes through that particular teacher! )

On the net piano classes are usually obtained from the particular ease and comfort on the person’s house.

Another thing to notice is that piano lessons for kids are great and every person has the chance to have their particular tempo and independent timeline. Most people’s daily activities are usually active, and the chance to fit any tutorial in anytime connected with virtually any evening is definitely an attractive one! Experienced any active few days without having time and energy to exercise? Which is all right: you should not enroll in a private tutorial that you just usually are not prepared intended for! Of which online tutorial can hold out before you will be ready take it.

In the exclusive tutorial, a lot of the data gotten is actually ignored. It is estimated that after getting aural teaching, commonly merely 20-30% on the facts is actually retained from the human brain, but you can easily see how to learn piano by yourself here

With online piano classes, you are able to pause, re-wind and re-play elements of the particular tutorial as much times because you need to have. In addition to if you do ignore whatever, you are able to generally go back and re-play old classes. Simply no facts are actually ever before misplaced!

Interestingly, piano lessons on the net is accessible along with available seven days a week, round the clock. You’ll be able to gain access to this lessons every time along with anyplace. There is absolutely no explanation you will be later for your subsequent category.