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Always Wanted to Learn How to Read Musical Rhythms? Some Fun Hints
We recently explored how to learn to read the notes of a piece of music. But that’s only half the battle! We can’t read music until we learn the rhythms too. Counting involves mathematics…not always everyone’s favorite subject. As a
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Le Mozart Noir
Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1748-1799)
Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1748-1799) was the darling of French Society, and he was one of the most accomplished men of his age. Born in St. Dominique—now Haiti—to a wealthy plantation owner and his black Senegalese slave Nanon, “said
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Expert Examples: Cello Kids
If you’re a cellist, and particularly if you’re early in your cello education, the thing you need most is an example. Actually seeing how a cellist plays the instrument, how she moves her bow, and what her fingers do is
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Contemporary Music for Film: Three Great Soundtracks
I am not always convinced about soundtracks. On the one hand, I regret music being composed, recorded and produced for the sole purpose of being an accompanying sound to a busy image. On the other hand, when developed rightly there
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Always Wanted to Learn How to Read Music but No Time to Try? Some Fun Hints
I started the piano when I was five. My parents, both musicians, sensed I had talent because after my mother taught a piano lesson I would pick out the tunes with my pudgy little hands. But my first lessons were
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Playing with Dolls: The Theremin Reborn
They sit in rows, earphones on, doll in hand, and hand poised. A sound emerges, as much like singing as you can imagine. It’s a matryomin ensemble. Invented in 2003 by Japanese theremin player Masami Takeuchi, the matryomin combines two
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My Beethoven by Doug
Discovering Beethoven: A Visual Introduction Beethoven is well-known by all. However, to some this knowledge is often peripheral — just as one would not recognise an obscure Van Gogh when facing it, some average listener could struggle in identifying some
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Clare College Choir: Arvo Pärt and ClareCast
Hot off the heels of the release of their latest album Stabat, I chat to Graham Ross, Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge about their newest release, featuring the music of Arvo Pärt alongside works by Pēteris Vasks and
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