http://musicbeginnings.com Anyone can learn to play and enjoy music Fri, 17 Aug 2007 22:47:30 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The 1950’s saw a great change in popular music. As music evolved from Big Band Music of the 40’s, and then the Delta Blues, the guitar became a much more prominent part of the instrumentation of popular music. When Elvis Presley entered the music kingdom, it was the birth of ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/08/17/the-history-of-the-guitar-part-i/ Ever wonder why so many people play the guitar? The answer to that question has been tossed around, debated, discussed, analyzed, and hypothesized for many years. Although the guitar or guitar-like instruments have been in use for thousands of years, it is the modern guitar that has taken hold of ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/07/19/why-is-the-guitar-so-popular/ In an effort to promote this blog I came in contact with another blogger who runs Jim's Guitar Blog. I read through several of the posts and found it to be quite interesting - especially for those that share his passion for guitars. It is quite clear that Jim is ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/07/12/a-great-blog-about-the-guitar/ Another category of instruments that I mentioned briefly in an earlier post about instruments is the plectrum group of instruments. This group includes the familiar guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, and banjo. A plectrum is more commonly known as a pick. This is a small, usually triangle ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/07/02/learn-to-play-the-guitar/ Today I came accross a great blog that I wanted to share with you. It is called Pianologist - and the great thing about it is that they will give you a free piano lesson. One thing that the blog is doing at the moment is they are giving away ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/06/23/learn-to-play-piano/ A few days ago I posted some information on joining a school music program... I wanted to add to that by saying that joining the band or orchestra provides a student a great opportunity to develop self-esteem. As the student progresses, he or she gains the admiration and positive approval ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/06/19/learn-music-greater-self-esteem/ Have you ever considered school music programs for your child? This can have several benefits for your or your child. The first and foremost benefit is that you will have the chance to learn an instrument with constant coaching from the music director, usually called the band director or the ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/06/14/school-music-programs/ Getting back to our discussion of choosing the instrument that is right for you or your child... As I mentioned before, learning the piano is very valuable, but let’s face it, not everyone will be able to take piano lessons. To begin with, you need a piano, and pianos ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/06/12/what-instrument-to-play-part-2/ Many times people will ask or wonder: at what age should I introduce my kids to music? When is it too soon? When is it too late? Many times we wonder if our kids need to be mature enough to "grasp" the concept of reading music and playing a series ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/06/05/teaching-music-to-kids/ I'd like to recommend that everyone have some musical training. This will be explained even more later when I talk about something called the Mozart Effect. One of the best ways to develop an understanding of music is to study the piano. Take piano, or keyboard lessons. You will never ... http://musicbeginnings.com/2007/06/01/start-learning-with-piano/