Damian OxboroughComments Off on Sing Out South Craven – A New Choir!
This evening will be the opening night of a brand new, mixed voice choir in Glusburn If you enjoy singing then come along this evening to Glusburn Institute Community and Arts Centre for the very first meeting of the ‘Sing Out South Craven’ choir! Absolutely everyone is welcome, whether you’ve been involved in musical performance your whole life or if… Read more »
The Problem(s) It’s great, isn’t it, that you can download the chords and TABs for pretty much any popular song you can think of? There are loads of wonderful TABs websites, such as Ultimate Guitar, where users contribute their transcriptions of song accompaniments. There are really two problems, though: Often the chords and TABs given are pretty inaccurate. This is… Read more »
Damian OxboroughComments Off on Songs with Good Piano Accompaniments
I think it’s fair to say that piano is a versatile instrument and as such it’s possible to translate the accompaniment parts of lots of (the majority of?) songs into a recognisable arrangement for it. But, some types of songs work better than others. For example, piano is particularly good as the backing to ballads if performing as a soloist… Read more »
Practise scales the right way Over the years I’ve found the students expect to start each lesson with a series of exercises – more often than not, scales. This is especially true of people who have previously been taught by someone else. My view is this: that not every lesson / practise has to start in the same way, and… Read more »
Damian OxboroughComments Off on Update: Music Theory / Composition
The vast majority of my students first and foremost learn some musical performance skill: how to play piano / guitar / ukulele / bass or to sing. Along the way, most inevitably encounter issues of music theory. Theory is, after all, a lot to do with the written language of music – how we communicate our musical ideas to one… Read more »
Sometimes when I’m teaching students a particular piece or song, it really captures my imagination and I almost feel envious that it’s not me spending loads of time learning it! The truth is that with a busy freelance teaching business and a young family, I simply don’t have time anymore for regular practise. But, I do enjoy bashing through some… Read more »
Damian OxboroughComments Off on Musical Theatre Singing Workshop
I’m excited to announce that, in partnership with Yorkshire Dales Music, Sarah Churcher and I will be running a singing workshop for those interested in learning songs from the shows! Details: Thursday 5th March 09:30 – 16:30 Woodlands Retreat, Giggleswick £50 per participant Lunch included Everyone welcome, with or without prior experience It promises to be a really fun day,… Read more »
Damian OxboroughComments Off on How to accurately measure the tempo of music
A week or so ago I came across a really nifty tool online for measuring the exact tempo of a piece of music. My student was asking me about how to decide on the metronome setting he should choose while practising a particular song. My initial reaction was that you must listen to it, estimate the pace in bpm (ballads… Read more »
When I first started playing guitar as a child then as a teenager, there was really only one way to tune up: with pitch pipes. I had some really cheap ones that looked like this: Of course, things are much easier now that digital tuners are cheap and easily accessible. I tend to use one on my mobile phone, but… Read more »
