Showing posts with label instruments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label instruments. Show all posts

Friday, July 9, 2010

What Piano Players Should Know About Percussion Instruments


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Percussion instruments include the snare drum (and all drums in general), cymbals, tympanis (sometimes called kettle drums as they are shaped as such), and exotic instruments such as the guiro, claves, and maracas. These instruments, and the way they are played, go a long way in determining the feel and style of the music. Where a rock band might have a set of drums (snare drum, bass drum, cymbals), Latin musicians used a number of different instruments to create music.

Though most don't think of it in this way, the piano is a percussion instrument. The tones are made by hammers striking strings, causing them to vibrate. Seeing the inner workings of a piano, and how forcefully the hammers hit the strings, shows why it is considered a percussion instrument.

Music written for a percussionist is quite different than for the pianist. Percussion notation is divided into two types: pitched and non-pitched, the difference being the instruments used. For example, drums (which can be tuned) and cymbals (which cannot).

The notation for pitched percussion is similar to piano music in that notes are placed on the various places on a staff. And similar symbols are used to show volume and attack.

The notation for non-pitched percussion instruments is less formal. A clef with two vertical lines is often used and it appears on a five-line staff similar to piano music. But some percussionist use their own way of noting which instrument is played and when.

Drum tablature (drum tab), used for a drum set (bass drum, snare, hi hat, cymbals, toms) uses the following symbols: CC: Crash Cymbal, HH: Hi-Hat, Rd: Ride-Cymbal, SN: Snare-drum, LT: Low-Tom, HT: High-Tom, FT: Floor-Tom, B: Bass-Drum, Hf: Hi-Hat-w/foot. This tablature can become quite complex as four or more instruments are often played at the same time.

Outside of orchestral and band music, most percussionists do not use any kind of tablature or notation. What they play is entirely up to them and at their discretion (and drawing entirely on their own techniques). However, most strive to create a style and sound that works well with the music, and the musicians they are playing with. And there are definite rules as to when certain percussion instruments are used. A rock drummer may play with a lot of force and intensity, where a jazz drummer plays with more touch and finesse. The best percussionists (drummers) can play a wide variety of music and styles.

For the pianist to play effectively with a percussionist, they have to be able to break down each measure into quarter note (beats), eighth notes, sixteenth notes, even thirty-second beats to be able to communicate with the percussionist. The pianist also needs to understand how and when different percussion instruments are used and for what style of music.

The biggest challenge, of course, is for the pianist to play accurately and precisely. Some pianists may have never worked with a percussionist and may not be capable of playing with the precision required. That being said, working with a percussionist can be a great training tool.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Chinese musical instruments


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As every country has its own traditional music and musical instruments, China also has traditional musical instruments that have developed over the centuries. Traditional Chinese musical instruments were made of the materials have classified information. These materials are namely, stone, silk, gourd, metal, bamboo, clay, leather and wood. Among these were exceeded in stone and wooden tools. Chinese musical instruments can be classified into stringWind or percussion instruments. Can be classified into plucked string instruments and string instruments. The tools consist of older people in long harp, panpipes, flutes, the Sheng, or harmonica and percussion instruments, such as clappers, gongs and drums. Various lutes and fiddles were introduced later to China from Central Asia.

Erhu is a kind of stringed instrument. It's a two-stringed violin, and is one of the most popular in ChinaHu-Qin family. Gao-hu is another stringed instrument. Gao-Hu is particularly acute Erhu melodies you can not play and often used for performing vivid and lively rhythms. Gao-Hu has louder volume yet brighter tones, and serves both as a solo instrument and leads to the realization of Cantonese operas and folk melodies.

Pipe is a kind of plucked instruments and belongs to the family of the lute. This is a four string with 30 keys and pear-shaped body. The pipe istaken up by the musician and played with five small plectrum attached to each finger right hand. This instrument has a remarkable power of expression and an extremely dynamic. Yueqin, a plucked string instrument, is a moon-shaped lute with a short neck and four strings. Gugino is another important tool to pinch, which is like a seven-stringed zither.

Wind musical instruments are very popular in China. A Dizi, which is traditionally made of bamboo, thewind instrument easier. This tool is particularly important because it is a cheap and relatively easy to learn.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Musical instruments for children


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The simple gift of children is surprisingly affordable drum sets can easily be something that will change the life of a child forever. If in doubt, the music how important your life. What would you do without the bouncy pop tunes, a solemn and touching sonnets classical piano or head-banging rock? You'd probably get bored, listless, and frustrated by the lack of outlets for expressing your passions! Music touches us all and is an expression universally understoodLearning for older children, such as one to applaud. The simplest form of music is instinctive and rhythmic percussion, makes it an ideal place to give your child's musical ideas.

Anyone who has studied music knows that affects many areas of the brain that help to grow. Someone with exposure to music learns to listen, imitate, to improve their hand-eye coordination and understand the rhythm and mathematical models. It also opens the world of art andCreativity, so that children can find ways to make their inner emotions and impulses in a productive manner that make the world a better place.

For percussion instruments for children more precise, are truly a gift that keeps that. A variety of drum kits are made so that children have access to a sufficiently large and simplified (simplified or not) at all stages of development have drums. Toy versions are relatively cheap, with pricesin fifty dollars for more. As a child grows, but its battery is up to him, and the closer we come to his drums the real thing, the more you should pay more for quality, size and functionality. The most realistic drum kits that go for several years or more since the last eighteen dollars and range up to two hundred or more. While this is, of course, is quite an investment, what your child is your hard-earned money would hardly have been worseas a professional drummer, drums, and lead him or her the music and the creation of value to new highs for a long time.

When you go out looking for a drummer for your child, make sure the actual music store professional production tool. Drum set for children conceived after all different, barely saved by an adult-sized drums in relation to the basic design. You want a company that knows what to buyago and is proud of the music in people of all ages, from young to old. Not only in superficial details to search such as shape and color, either. While these things matter, the really important parts of a drum kit are as durable as it provides solid, how safe it is and how it will adjust to the smallest drummer boy a panel of children. With all these things to the forefront of your mind, you can choose a set that will bring you and drumYour childlike joy for the coming years.