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	<title> &#187; musical instruments</title>
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		<title>The First Steps To Teach Yourself To Play Piano</title>
		<link>http://thomasthetrainfansite.com/blog/the-first-steps-to-teach-yourself-to-play-piano/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:33:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Eggers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[christian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hobbies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Learn Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[learn to play piano]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[musical instruments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Piano Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Play Piano Now]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[self improvement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sheet music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teach yourself to play piano]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thomasthetrainfansite.com/blog/?p=3307</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Is it even possible to <a href="http://www.playpianonow.org">teach yourself to play piano</a>? For those with the ability to read music from other musical experiences, the process will be easier. However, this certainly doesn't mean that those without musical training on other instruments can't self teach as well. It just takes some time and patience.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b></b><i></i><u></u>Is it even possible to <a href="http://www.playpianonow.org">teach yourself to play piano</a>? For those with the ability to read music from other musical experiences, the process will be easier. However, this certainly doesn&#8217;t mean that those without musical training on other instruments can&#8217;t self teach as well. It just takes some time and patience.</p>
<p>The 88 keys that make up the piano&#8217;s keyboard consist of 52 white and 36 black keys. Initially you want to focus on learning how to play the white keys. It&#8217;s best if you have a firm understanding of the placement of the white keys before you <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?link_code=ur2&amp;camp=1789&amp;tag=httpwwwmusi0a-20&amp;creative=9325&amp;path=external-search%3Fsearch-type=ss%26keyword=A.D.D.%26index=blended"  class="alinks_links" onclick="return alinks_click(this);"  style="padding-right: 13px; background: url(http://thomasthetrainfansite.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/alinks/images/external.png) center right no-repeat;" title="Learn more about ADD" rel="external">add</a><img class="amazon_image" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=httpwwwmusi0a-20&amp;l=ur2&amp;o=1" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> in the black keys (sharps and flats) to your efforts.</p>
<p>Initially, you will want to understand how to find middle C. From there, everything builds on itself. Middle C is located almost dead center in the piano. Middle C is the 40th white key when counted from the left hand side of the piano, facing the keyboard. Of course, there are other ways to identify it, which will be essential for learning where the other C&#8217;s on the piano keyboard are as well as this note&#8217;s relationship to other notes.</p>
<p>To recognize it after you&#8217;re found middle C the first time, you have to study the formation of the black keys. These are found in sets. The black keys are arranged with two keys, then two white keys, the then three black keys. The white key that sits to the left of the set of two black keys is a C note.</p>
<p>Once you know where C is, then you can easily start to learn the repetitive scales that are part of understanding the piano. The notes go in order from C. Listed, the notes would be written out as C, D, E, F, G, A, B.</p>
<p>As you start to learn the pattern of the piano, learning to play it is like learning to read a book for the very first time. Start with simple letters, which are represented by the names of the keys. Once you learn the letters then move onto the words (notes) and then you continue to learn the sentences (chords) until you can put the whole story together. It takes time, practice, and a really informative line of information in order to teach yourself to play piano.</p>
<p>Mike Eggers is an amateur musician and piano player who writes about how to <a href="http://www.playpianonow.org">Learn To Play Piano</a>. Make sure to check out his other articles, especially if you want to learn to play on piano or want <a href="http://www.gospelpianolessons.info">To Learn Gospel Piano Music</a>.</p>
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		<title>Reading Sheet Music</title>
		<link>http://thomasthetrainfansite.com/blog/reading-sheet-music/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:49:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Mike Eggers</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Learn Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Learn Piano]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[learning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[musical instruments]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Perfect Pitch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[piano]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Piano Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Play Piano Now]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pure Pitch Review]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thomasthetrainfansite.com/blog/?p=3229</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here we'll provide a short tutorial of how to read sheet music. The ability to read music is critical for anybody aspiring to be a musician. For the corresponding images to this article, <a href="http://www.playpianonow.org/sheet-music-images">see the music figures</a>. These images will be critical to your understanding of the rest of this article, please don't continue without them.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b></b><i></i><u></u>Here we&#8217;ll provide a short tutorial of how to read sheet music. The ability to read music is critical for anybody aspiring to be a musician. For the corresponding images to this article, <a href="http://www.playpianonow.org/sheet-music-images">see the music figures</a>. These images will be critical to your understanding of the rest of this article, please don&#8217;t continue without them.</p>
<p>The first thing you should see at the beginning of the first line is the time signature; this tells you about the rhythm of the piece. It looks like two numbers on top of one another. The bottom number tells you what kind of note gets a beat, and the top one tells you how many beats per measure. If you see a big C, that means common time, or 4/4. A slashed C means cut time, or 2/2.</p>
<p>The second thing you&#8217;ll see at the beginning of the piece is the key signature. It will look like a group of sharps or flats. If you don&#8217;t see any, then there are no sharps or flats, and you&#8217;re playing either in C major or A minor. If you see a sharp sign, it means that every time you see a note on that line, you&#8217;ll play the sharped version of that note.</p>
<p>Now on to the music itself, each figure you see communicates two pieces of information: pitch and duration. You can tell the pitch from the line or the space on which the note sits. In the bass clef, from bottom up, spaces are ACEG and lines are GBDFA. In the treble clef the spaces are FACE and the lines are EGBDF. Notice that they go in alphabetical order if you write in every letter.</p>
<p>Those names that we just discussed are the names of the white keys on a piano. If you see the sharp or flat sign, then you&#8217;ll need to play the next higher black note (for a sharp) or the next lower black note (for a flat). If there is no adjacent black note, play the next white one. For example, B-flat is also C. Remember that if sharps and flats appear in the key signature, then every occurrence is raised or lowered.</p>
<p>The other piece of information you get is the duration of each note, you can tell this from the shape. Remember that you know which note is a single beat from the key signature. In 4/4 time it&#8217;s the quarter note. The half note gets two beats, and the whole note gets four. Similarly, Eighth and Sixteenth notes get half and quarter beats respectively. <a href="http://www.playpianonow.org/rhythm-basics">Rhythm demonstration video</a>.</p>
<p>So there is your basic intro to reading music. There really isn&#8217;t much more to teach than that, it&#8217;s just one of those things that&#8217;s easy to learn, but difficult to master.</p>
<p>Mike Eggers is the Author of many articles for students who want to <a href="http://www.playpianonow.org">Learn How to Play on Piano</a>. He has also written several reviews of products like <a href="http://www.purepitchreview.com">Pure Pitch Scam</a>.</p>
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		<title>Cheap Electric Guitars: When Buying One Is Okay</title>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:02:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matilda Canterbury</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cheap electric guitars]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thomasthetrainfansite.com/blog/?p=3030</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[So your teenager has decided that they are ready to turn themselves into rock stars. "Well that's fantastic" you may think sarcastically, because chances are they are just going to give up in a few weeks or months anyway, sort of like so many of the other things they get into. But what if you bought them a cheap electric guitar? That would make it so it wouldn't be a huge financial burden on you, and when or if they get tired of it you would not have put a dent in your wallet too much. But if you do not know much about guitars, then you might be a little worried about accidentally buying one that is of very low quality. Because if it were too low of quality, they would likely give up on it immediately one way or the other.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b></b><i></i><u></u>Your teenage child has decided that they want to play the guitar. &#8220;Just great!&#8221; You think to yourself, because chances are they are just going to give up in a few weeks or months anyway, sort of like so many of the other things they get into. But what if you bought them a cheap electric guitar? That would make it so it wouldn&#8217;t be a huge financial burden on you, and when or if they get tired of it you would not have put a dent in your wallet too much. But if you do not know much about guitars, then you might be a little worried about accidentally buying one that is of very low quality. Because if it were too low of quality, they would likely give up on it immediately one way or the other.</p>
<p>So you are sitting there wondering what to do about this guitar problem. Not sure what to do, and not where to turn. A quick search leads me to companies such as Fender and Gibson that have put a great deal of effort in order to reduce the prices on their products. They have successfully managed to reduce prices of guitars that normally would have cost over $200 a half a century ago will now cost as low as $50.</p>
<p>With these prices you begin to wonder if the cheap electric guitars are of any form of quality. Will it break in 2 weeks time? Well today you can find reputable retailers that are selling high quality guitars for as low as or lower than $100. They are generally the same as the expensive brands, meaning that they conform to the factory stipulation. The only difference is that these products are produced in other countries, so they are outsourced products.</p>
<p>Nowadays you have a range of cheap electric guitars to choose from at varying price points. Take this example: a guitar could cost you a little less than $100 and all you would get is the guitar. Compare this now to a packaged deal for around $200 or less you could get the guitar, amp and accessories. You can even find models that are meant for your little ones. Not toy guitars, though, but real, smaller-sized guitars that work just as well as any other, considering their size.</p>
<p>Also do not forget that the internet can lead you to some great deals on an cheap electric guitar if you do some heavy research. You can find quality equipment at reasonable prices almost anywhere online. Shopping online will let you find great discounts and deals, have the item shipped to your doorstep, all while never setting foot into a department store. An added bonus is that if you look hard enough you may find online tutorials for that self proclaimed rock star.</p>
<p>So go ahead and allow your teenager to express themselves, since you will not have spent to much money to get them started on their way to (not so) stardom.</p>
<p>Is your teenager going through their rocker phase and you don&#8217;t want to disappoint them? <a href="http://cheapelectricguitarsinfo.com/">Cheap electric guitars</a> can help you with that, and you won&#8217;t have to break the bank either.</p>
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		<title>Kids Bass Guitar &#8211; Great Deals</title>
		<link>http://thomasthetrainfansite.com/blog/kids-bass-guitar-great-deals/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:33:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>James Morley</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Parenting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bass]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[family]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guitar]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://thomasthetrainfansite.com/blog/?p=2675</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you want to get a musical instrument that your child can master, and become part of a band, then you may want to consider a bass guitar. Whether it is rock or jazz, even a young person can become proficient. So have your child get ready to pluck away while they jam. They show off their talent on a kids bass guitar and get the joy and discipline of learning a musical instrument.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><b></b><i></i><u></u>If you want to get a musical instrument that your child can master, and become part of a band, then you may want to consider a bass guitar. Whether it is rock or jazz, even a young person can become proficient. So have your child get ready to pluck away while they jam. They show off their talent on a <a href="http://www.thomasthetrainfansite.com"  class="alinks_links" onclick="return alinks_click(this);" title="Free Thomas The Train Printable Coloring Pages"  style="padding-right: 13px; background: url(http://thomasthetrainfansite.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/alinks/images/external.png) center right no-repeat;" rel="external">kids</a> bass guitar and get the joy and discipline of learning a musical instrument.</p>
<p>Once they learn the instrument they will be in demand for every jazz trio or garage band in town. A win-win situation if ever there was one.</p>
<p>You might struggle in the start, But a youngster will need a smaller instrument. If they are not comfortable, it will be more difficult for them to reach their potential.</p>
<p>These musicians weren&#8217;t just spectators. These great musicians have put the signature beat on some of the great rock anthems. Paul McCartney is also a bass player, I heard he&#8217;s done pretty well for himself. Or maybe your kid wants to hand out with the Marsalis brothers or David Sanbourne. Nothing wrong with that. If you get a kids bass guitar, you can do your part to make sure this tradition continues.</p>
<p>You can always buy something more advanced later,If you want to get a musical instrument that your child can master, and become part of a band, then you may want to consider a bass guitar. Whether it is rock or jazz, even a young person can become proficient. So have your child get ready to pluck away while they jam. They show off their talent on a kids bass guitar and get the joy and discipline of learning a musical instrument.</p>
<p>Another thing you must think about is, can the bass be the right instrument for your child? Well, think about where it fits into the history of rock and roll. No rhythm section is complete without a great bass guitarist. Bill Wyman, John Entwhistle, Gary Tallent, all have two things in common. They were the quiet members of their great bands, and they were backbone of the bands. They chilled while 60,000 fans yelled for more.</p>
<p>Bass guitar is one of the simpler musical instruments to learn.Is the bass the right instrument for your child? Well, think about where it fits into the history of rock and roll. No rhythm section is complete without a great bass guitarist. Bill Wyman, John Entwhistle, Gary Tallent, all have two things in common. They were the quiet members of their great bands, and they were backbone of the bands. They chilled while 60,000 fans yelled for more.</p>
<p>Even though they are usually at the back,These musicians weren&#8217;t just spectators. These great musicians have put the signature beat on some of the great rock anthems. Paul McCartney is also a bass player, I heard he&#8217;s done pretty well for himself. Or maybe your kid wants to hand out with the Marsalis brothers or David Sanbourne. Nothing wrong with that. If you get a kids bass guitar, you can do your part to make sure this tradition continues.</p>
<p>Learn more about <a href='http://www.kidsbassguitar.info'>Kids Bass Guitar</a>.  Stop by James Morley&#8217;s site where you can find out all about <a href='http://www.kidsbassguitar.info'>Kids Bass Guitar</a>  and what it can do for you.</p>
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