Music Gizmo

Every good guitarist will want to take care of their guitar in order to keep it in the best condition. A large part of caring for your guitar is by cleaning it on a regular basis. And as a guitarist, it is your solemn duty to ensure that your guitar it maintained to the best of conditions, in order for it to deliver a quality sound. No matter whether you are a professional guitarist or a beginner, it is essential to undertake the care and maintenance of your guitar.

Your guitar will become dirty with sweat and dust just by playing it. Using a soft cloth is the best way to clean it. Special cloths can be purchased in music stores, or you can simply use an old t-shirt, providing that it is 100% cotton. It is imperative however, that if the t-shirt contains a logo, you firstly remove it, as this can cause damage by scratching the surface of your guitar.

If the surface of your guitar is French polished or lacquered, then cleaning items such as paper towels must be avoided at all times, as these will also cause scratches. If you feel that it is necessary to clean your guitar with paper towels, then it is advised to purchase non-woven shop towels which are available on a roll. These do cost a little more, but they will not scratch your guitar.

You will find that dust accumulates under the strings. Therefore particular attention should be paid to this area of your guitar. Do not be hesitant in inserting a cloth behind the strings and giving it a good rub, at the same time as you are wiping the entire body of your guitar. If you pay close attention to cleaning the strings of your guitar, then their life will be extended. In addition to a normal cleaning routine, it is advised that after every jam session with your guitar, you give the strings a good wipe by holding them firmly through a cloth and rubbing the cloth up and down their length. This will remove any dust, grease from your fingers, perspiration build-up, and skin cells etc.

If you find that you are having difficulty in removing finger prints on your guitar, then you can blow a gentle breath, just as you would with spectacles, to create a little moisture. You will then find that by rubbing your guitar vigorously that the finger prints will be removed. It is also possible to use a slightly moistened soft cloth and a small amount of mild detergent. However, do not overdo it. It is essential that you avoid at all times, getting moisture into the small spaces on the guitar surface. However you choose to remove finger prints from your guitar, it is advised to rub it well afterwards with a soft dry cloth. It is also recommended to change to a clean cloth on a regular basis, to avoid rubbing the dirt from an old cloth back on to the guitar.

There are also various types of commercial guitar cleaners available to purchase, most of which are good products. When purchasing such products, it is essential that you primarily read all instructions on the bottle carefully, and use a water-based product for water-soluble dirt. There are creamy polishes available on the market, but they do have a tendency to be slightly abrasive. Therefore, if your guitar has a matte finish, then it is recommended not to use a cream product.

If your guitar should have a sticky residue from tape or stickers on it, then this will need to be removed by using mineral spirits. It is also possible to use lighter fluid, which is otherwise known as naphtha. Neither of these products will cause any harm to the finish of your guitar. However, you will need to remove the solvent with a damp cloth to buff your guitar clean after removing tape or stickers. Ensure that you are careful when cleaning sticky residue off your guitar, as you do not want to spread it around the rest of the guitar.

The fingerboard of a guitar, along with the strings and the fret wire are subject to acidity in the player’s hands. Therefore it is advised to completely remove the strings and rub up and down the fingerboard with a piece of extra fine grade steel wool. When rubbing the frets, it is essential that you take care not to catch the ends of them with the steel wool. The steel wool does not need to be wet before undertaking this process. It is after a few motions that the frets should be shiny. Obviously this depends on how dirty the fingerboard initially is. If the surface of the fingerboard is not cracked or damaged, then you can apply a little lemon oil to prevent the wood from cracking, which is caused by temperature and humidity.

About the author: Kevin Sinclair is the publisher and editor of MusicianHome.com, a site that provides information and articles for musicians at all stages of their development.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

Can your practice to become a better performer? What then can be practiced? Let us see what you can do to feel at ease when someone asks you to play the piano!

How to practice performing

In order to learn to play the piano in front of an audience it is a good thing to practice the different aspects of making a successful piano performance. A piano performance consists of playing a piece of music in a musical way without mistakes, and if mistakes occur to minimize the effects of these mistakes. It also concists of meeting an audience and enjoying the experience of seeing real people looking at you and hearing you play.

1. A musical performance. In order to perform a piece of piano music in a musical way it is a good thing to practice this way in the initial steps of the learning process. Probably you will need to practice a difficult piano piece step by step. Let all these musical passages be played and repeated the same musical way you want them to be performed once you have mastered the piano piece.

2. Avoiding mistakes. Of course you want to play the music you practice without mistakes when you will end up playing in front of an audience. I strongly urge you to play the passages of the musical piece you practice with much concentration, focusing on small segments of the piece at a time and very slowly at first avoiding to make mistakes. The more mistakes you make as you practice a piece of music, the more mistakes you tend to make as you perform.

3. Minimize the effects of a mistake. In order to feel confident once you are on stage you need to know that you can handle a mistake. This makes for another way of practicing that is aimed at making you prepared to perform. This way of practicing consists of playing a piece of music from beginning to end as you would perform it in front of an audience. This could be a good way to end a practice session as you play throught the passages you have mastered.

4. Practice performing. In order to minimize stage fright and feeling inadequate when it comes to the actual performance in front of an audience you can do much to simulate the various aspects of a piano performance. If you know how to handle the steps of a performance beforehand you can better concentrate on making a musical performance.

If you do not want to involve too many people you can anyway practice the art of performing in the comfort of your own home. You might as well enter the room where you are going to play your piano the way you would enter a stage in front of an audience thinking about your facial expressions and your relaxation. Practice the way you will react seeing the people, hearing the applauses and cheerings. Learn to relax, smile, bow in front of the public and sit down at the piano and then concentrate completely on giving the audience a great musical experience.

As you start to play the piece of music, try to focus entirely on creating great music. If you make a mistake, try to keep up the tempo and play on with no facial expression revealing the mistake and enforcing the effects of it. You could play for an audience consisting of one person, a teddy bear or some sort of recording equipment to create an inspiring and a challenging environment. As you have completed your performance you can practice meeting the audience, smiling, bowing, showing gratitude for their reactions and finally leave the room in a appropriate manner.

The important thing with these exercises is that you can simulate the actual situation of playing in front of real people and have a feeling that you know how to react to the challenge of meeting real people.

About the author: Peter Edvinsson is pianist, music teacher and composer. He invites you to download your free piano sheet music at http://www.capotastomusic.com
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com

If you have a pretty good sense of rhythm, drums are a fairly easy musical instrument that you can learn to play quickly. Percussion instruments and wind instruments make for easy learning and quick fun.

There has been the misconception that the piano is a difficult-to-learn instrument, therefore, only a few extremely gifted individuals will ever be able to play it acceptably.

Get good tuition. Music teachers, because they don’t worry so much about “state standards” or tests, can focus on what’s really important: learning about music. There is potential for developing musical literacy and creativity, it was realized that teachers needed new materials with appropriate skills in order to get music into the everyday lives of people.

Musical language is approached by ear game, sight reading, games aimed towards interiorisation (hearing the notes one reads), musical interpretation, and improvisation using instruments. It is not a must to develop adequate reading skills from the outset in order to be musically “self-reliant” at each level, and to enjoy the endless variety of music that is available. Many people use a combination of these methods throughout their musical life to begin learning and then grow their talents.

Because of attention span in youngest children, it is recommended getting started with group lessons. For example classroom guitar lessons give you the chance to learn the basics of how to play guitar, including how to hold the instrument, tune it and play chords. Some people want human feedback and don’t want to learn to play guitar alone but can’t afford lessons.

About the author: Musical Instrument - http://www.musicinstrument.biz/
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com