Comments for Musicademy

Comment on Transferring from Guitar to Bass by Philip Head

Philip Head — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:57:32 +0000

I am an experienced keyboard player, rhythm guitar and bass guitar player.

Do you have any tips on lead guitar please? I have just purchased a **WOW** Godin guitar and want to get moving with lead.

Thanks,
Philip

Comment on FAQ - changes to the voice as we age by Mitzi Barker

Mitzi Barker — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 20:48:19 +0000

So - does the same thing hold true with women’s voices as we travel through various stages of life? We hear all about how young men’s voices change, but very little about women. In my journey, I’ve gone from second soprano to second alto to alto. I seem to have lost some of my lower range with age, but now find I can to do some nice falsetto high fills.

Comment on Intermediate Acoustic Worship Guitar DVDs Launched by Acts7

Acts7 — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:19:35 +0000

Just re-read and noticed there’s no way to edit my post. I wanted to reiterate that I am deeply loving what I do have. Im just looking for more knowledge.

Comment on Intermediate Acoustic Worship Guitar DVDs Launched by Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 07:16:34 +0000

Man as a keyboardist, I feel pretty left out of the loop lately. There have been some great articles last months. But one thing I’d really love to see is more keyboard song learner downloads. I have several plus the intermediate worship dvd series.
All have been invaluable. But I want more.
Something I would love to see a video on is ORGANS. HELP. seriously - its not like you can go to a “organ instructor” like a piano teacher. They don’t exist.
Main question: what to do with a full measure besides just “holding the whole note” on a chord with Organ.
Also helpful would be - thoughts on when to use the rotary and when to have it clean.

Comment on FAQ - changes to the voice as we age by Nicki Rogers

Nicki Rogers — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:40:19 +0000

Your voice can often change as you mature in years, and some of the changes as you say come as a bit of a shock! You just get used to being Baritone and then you realise that you’re more comfortable as a tenor! I don’t know a whole lot about why those changes occur, so it may be worth doing a bit of research! I do know though, that it is NEVER a waste of time to work on the things that you love, and if you love singing then you must not give up!

The most important thing in my eyes is to develop good vocal technique because this is not dependent on your range at all! Good vocal technique will help you travel through any changes that your voice goes though without damaging your voice! So technique technique technique. People who start to develop good technique are blown away by how quickly they improve.

Secondly, it might be worth considering doing the things that make singing easier for you. Maybe old repertoirs or singing solo is not the place to start. You’re good at blending! Do you know how much people struggle with that? Enjoy being good at it and stick with the programme! Hearing yourself on the mic can be a shock at first so getting used to it is a major thing. As I said to the young lady who has suffered with nerves..(http://www.musicademy.com/2008/11/25/how-to-become-a-confident-singer/#comment-234) you will get used to hearing yourself and then you can work on improving and changing small things as you go! Then you can purposefully listen out to what has improved.

Don’t give up! Find a great teacher, get back in the choir and be nice to yourself!

Comment on How to Become a Confident Singer by Nicki Rogers

Nicki Rogers — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 12:04:47 +0000

It’s such a shame that nerves and confidence stand in the way of so many people! And it’s very often the people who have lovely voices who have the worst nerves! I think that you are absolutely right. What you tell yourself is really important! We believe all the negatives we hear and tell ourselves, so much more than the positives we hear! Replacing those nasty thoughts with good ones is really helpful and eventually it does start to work! It just takes consistency.

Sometimes I ask myself ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’ and I truly imagine it! Then I usually realise that even if I fell on the floor and shook like a leaf….I’d get over it! There is possibly no easy journey where confidence is concerned but I do know that when you overcome one obstacle you usually feel like you can take on the next challenge!
It’s a great idea to sing in front of the one or two people you feel confident with and then build up to slightly more challenging performances!

As far as listening to yourself goes, I don’t know one singer who enjoys it! You often hear people who sing and act saying that they just can’t watch and hear themselves! However, personally I think that it’s really really important to get used to it! Because it’s more painful when you first hear yourself, you’ll find that it actually gets easier! Record yourself, then decide one small thing that you could work on and then spend time listening out for how you’ve improved!

Truth is, you are unique, and no one else is going to have the voice that you have! It’s important that you don’t hide it from people, because you never know what it could mean to someone! Little by little! Don’t frighten yourself! You can do it!

Comment on Chord of the Month - EmM7 by Steve Weeks

Steve Weeks — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:33:02 +0000

BONUS! ..I’ll send an Our Dad CD to the first person who shares with us a worship song where this chord fits!

Comment on Chord of the Month - EmM7 by Steve Weeks

Steve Weeks — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:30:49 +0000

Well of course - there is SOME value to the James Bond chord. If you play it just once at sound-check, when you test that your amp still works, then everyone will smile and be a little happier. That must be worth something?

Comment on How to Become a Confident Singer by Mistie

Mistie — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 00:40:31 +0000

I have been singing for 19 years and now i am 26 years old and I have a big phobia of walking in front of people. It effects my singing and I also find my self not confident enough even though I have several people rooting for me. I think that it is all mind over matter and that if I tell my self that I am great than my confidence will show through. But its listening to my self that I have trouble with. Im still tring.

Comment on Ask an FAQ - Which guitar DVDs are right for me? by andy

andy — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 10:02:52 +0000

About 10-15% is crossed over at most. They are quite different products where you will learn quite different techniques. The Acoustic focusses on lots of new ideas you can quickly integrate into your playing whereas the Intermediate would give you the tools to understand how to work out anything yourself.

For example;
acoustic intermediate- here are 60 new chord shapes you can work into your playing

Intermediate - lets look at the CAGED system where you can work out how to find ANY chord, anywhere on the neck.

Of the two, the acoustic is slightly easier to get going with so its up to you whether you get one or both but you really won’t find much duplication in the lessons. hope that helps