vocalman2004 odds & ends

Ever wondered what the best key for your song might be? From a practical point of view, the vocal range of your singer will obviously need bearing in mind. But what’s the best key for your guitarist or bass player? What other considerations are there? In this tutorial we help choose the perfect key. “Music […]

St. Peter ad Vincula Church, Coggeshall, Saturday 14th December 2013. David Wood has reviewed our Christmas Concert. He writes: In recent years, Witham Choral Society have performed many gems of the choral repertoire, with first rate renditions of Messiah, Elijah and the St. John Passion. Their seasonal offering was another gem: J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. […]

Music affects many different areas of the brain, as you can see in the image below. We’re only scratching the surface with this post, but let’s jump in. Of course, music affects many different areas of the brain, as you can see in the image below. We’re only scratching the surface with this post, but […]

A musician plays a viola. Researchers found that breakthrough moments often happened when players were humming to themselves, not when playing their instrument. Photograph: Alexandru Nika / Alamy/Alamy For a musician, it’s an elusive question: where to find your muse? How to unlock your creative voice? Well, putting down the instrument and just tapping the […]

New research has shown that individuals who play an instrument are more capable at identifying errors and correcting mistakes, and that these benefits apply to amateur musicians as well as professionals. The study, led by Dr Ines Jentzsch for the University of St Andrews, tested the cognitive abilities of musicians and non-musicians, with the research […]

  In this trip down memory lane, brought to you by cdza, Mark Sidney Johnson charges through the history of the guitar solo using 28 songs from over the past five decades. Watch to see how differently the instrument has been incorporated into rock music through years, and cover up the left side of the […]

A short animation, with appropriately rousing musical accompaniment, which manages to condense Wagner’s magnificent 15-hour epic, Ring Cycle – complete with gods, heroes, dragons, a castle in the sky, love triangles, magic swords and Valkyries – into a succinct, coffee-break friendly two and a half minutes. Get it? Got it? Good! Original Story – Guardian

Moving in time to a steady beat is closely linked to better language skills, a study suggests. People who performed better on rhythmic tests also showed enhanced neural responses to speech sounds. The researchers suggest that practising music could improve other skills, particularly speech. In the Journal of Neuroscience, the authors argue that rhythm is […]

So here’s Beethoven’s 9th played on 167 theremins built inside Russian dolls. Oh, and wait for the boogie. (Really.) Original Story – NPR Music on Tumblr

What’s the point of being insanely musically gifted if you don’t have a little fun with your talents? Music producers Andrew Huang and Dave Brown collaborated to create a song encompassing 26 genres in alphabetical order. The song spans from ambient to zouk, stopping along the way to feature grunge, K-pop, and reggae. Despite the […]