My Content: Hubs, Answers, and Forums
2How to Play Piano Duets with Fun Chord Progressions
Once you are comfortable playing the piano duets "Heart and Soul" and "Blue Moon" with the 50s chord progression, you ought to try out some other great oldie-goldies. "Earth Angel" fits well with the same chords, and "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" is a super addition to the beginner's repertoire, with a little modification of the accompaniment.
2How to Play "Blue Moon" with Basic Chord Progressions
Once a pianist learns the chord progression for Heart and Soul, they will be able to accompany numerous other popular songs. One strong favorite is the Rodgers and Hart standard "Blue Moon." Even absolute beginners should be able to understand this detailed explanation.
6Video How to Convert Your PowerPoint Presentation into a Video, Using Windows Movie Maker
For a long time PowerPoint has been the most user-friendly audio-visual software conceivable. Now there are some types of software that can convert a PPT presentation into a video; but you can also do it yourself, using the also-very-user-friendly Windows Movie Maker.
7Upgrade Your Skills in Sudoku: Medium and Hard Sudoku Solving Tips, with sample videos
If you are confident in solving easy Sudoku puzzles, you are probably ready to learn techniques that will prepare you for other levels of Sudoku: medium, hard, and even expert. Check out these tips, which include step-by-step videos demonstrating how to solve a hard sudoku and an expert sudoku puzzle.
1Use a Halloween Sudoku Puzzle in Your Classroom
Use this fun Halloween sudoku puzzle as a classroom activity, for early birds, or as a separate homework assignment in logical thinking. Parents can enjoy working this puzzle with their elementary-age children too.
16What Is the Correct Story of the First Thanksgiving?
Do you think you know all there is to know about the First Thanksgiving in America? Congratulations to you, if you do! Many Americans are surprised to learn that the First Thanksgiving was nothing like what we were taught in school. The true stories of the First Thanksgivings may even challenge some of your cherished beliefs.
5Choose the Right Word: Peek, Peak, or Pique
Writing and editing require knowledge of correct spelling and word use, in order to be truly effective. If you don't know the difference between peek, peak, and pique, you may lead your readers down a wrong path.
4More Musical Mnemonics: Visual Mnemonics for Standard Notation
Anyone can use a visual mnemonic as one of many memorizing techniques – for learning how to read the music notes, how to tune your guitar, the notes piano players use to make melodies and harmonies, and much, much more. There are all kinds of visual cues for creating beautiful and powerful sounds: standard notation, tablature, lead or chord sheets, etc. This collection of visual mnemonics is intended as a group of helps for musicians who are learning to read notation.
3More Musical Mnemonics: Visual Mnemonics for Sharps and Flats
This collection of visual mnemonics will help a budding musician remember the order of sharps and flats or even how to read the music notes. It may even assist you in learning how to tune your guitar.
9Great Quotations by Dick Francis
Collectors of great quotations can find all kinds of interesting sources for them. One of my favorite sources of great quotes is the late best-selling author and former jockey Dick Francis.
11Algorithms and Logarithms: a User's Guide
If you, a non-mathematician, sometimes confuse the terms "algorithm" and "logarithm," you can find clarity here, from another non-mathematician.
0Great Word Puzzles for Tiger Moms and Their Cubs: Verbal Extraction Puzzle and Solution #3 & #4
In Verbal Extractions puzzles, the solver must select one letter from each square to create a word that reads across each row and a word that reads down each column. The remaining letters spell out a quotation.
0Free Word Puzzle: Cyber Cypher
One favorite kind of word puzzle that Tiger Moms like to teach their smart little Tiger Cubs is commonly known as a substitution code. Technically it is a cipher or cypher and is also sometimes called a cryptogram or cryptograph.
23Ten Signs That You Did NOT Obsess about That Royal Wedding
Well, William and Kate have celebrated their first anniversary, and so here is an update of the top ten signs that you were not obsessed with their Royal Wedding in 2011. There will always be plenty of other events that can grab your attention in its place, and a few of them actually matter.
0Great Word Puzzles for Tiger Moms and Their Cubs: a Tricky Word Matrix Puzzle and Solution #1
A word matrix (aka Word Bingo) is a word puzzle in which you must place twenty-five listed words in the 5-space x 5-space grid in such a way that the words in each column, in each row, and along each diagonal have one letter in common with one another.
0Help Children Read Rhythmic Notation in Music
Reading rhythm in music can present a special challenge for some children, and teachers have to decide how strict or how lenient to be with their students. Check out this great list of tips to help your younger students learn to associate squiggles on the music staff with the feel or the pulse of the sounds. Some of the suggestions can also be adapted to use with older students who struggle to read the beat.
10Choose the Right Word: Tenet, Misled, Lesser
What is the difference between tenet and tenant? between misled and mislead? or between lesser and lessor? What may appear merely to be a spelling error could actually change the meaning of your sentence! Check out this quick and informative explanation of the differences between and the origins of these words.
16The Nanny Scam
In the slow US economy of late 2010, I was looking for any legal stream of additional revenue I could find. And the ad sounded absolutely perfect.
2Easy and Elegant Crème Wafers
You can hardly find an easier cookie to mix than these Easy and Elegant Crème Wafer Sandwich Cookies. With only three or four ingredients for the cookie and only three or four ingredients for the filling, they may be the simplest cookies you will ever mix.
4Learn to Identify Musical Intervals from Seasonal Music: Religious Christmas Songs
Do you want to improve your music sight-singing or sight-reading skills? Then develop a stronger awareness of the sound of various musical intervals. Since Christmas music has lasting value, the sounds of the season offer terrific examples to help fill any gaps in your interval vocabulary.
2Reading Rhythm in Music V: Eighth and Sixteenth Notes
Musical rhythm is far more interesting, complex, and enriching than just the four basic notes (whole, dotted half, half, and quarter) can easily represent.
1How to Select the Best Font or Typeface for Chord Sheets and Lead Sheets: Know Your Typography
In order to select the best font for chord sheets and lead sheets prepared on a word processor, consider who will be using the chord sheet, in what physical location, and under what circumstances. Your goal should always be to make it as easy as possible for the musicians to perceive and execute quickly and musically whatever the chord sheet says.
4How to Transpose Chord Sheets in Word Processing with Professional Results
It really is quite simple (and even fun) to make quick and clean musical transpositions of chord sheets in your word-processing program, if you know a couple of tricks. The process described here takes literally only a few minutes - far less time than it will take you to read it, and hugely less time than it took me to make the pictures to demonstrate the process.
10I Want to Write Music - How Do I Start?
So you want to write music, but have no idea where to begin? Here is a quick guide for assessing various approaches and choosing the one that should work best for you.
13Teaching the "Heart and Soul" Duet in Traditional Piano Lessons
“Heart and Soul” by Hoagy Carmichael is one of those songs that can sound heartful and soulful - or it can make a music teacher cringe. Some of the traits that make it so cringe-worthy can also make it a wonderful tool for teaching important musical principles. Besides, it provides a vehicle for piano students to participate in ensemble playing in a social setting - a feature that their lessons sometimes lack.
5A Bit of Musical Geekiness
The Circle of Fifths can be used as an aid or a tool in transposing music, but the methods require a certain affinity for patterns and numbers. The first thing you need to do is to convert the interval (the distance you wish to transpose) to half-steps.
6Writing Out a Musical Transposition - How to Transpose Music to a New Key
Transposition often takes place during the act of making music or performing, but it can also be written out either as transposed chords or as a fully notated piece of music.
14My Favorite True Ghost Story
It seems that everyone has a ghost story. Some are so fantastic that they just don’t seem believable in the least, and some are just intended to give you the creeps or keep you awake at night. And then, every now and then, along comes a story - a true event - that, even to someone who is basically very skeptical of ghosts, at the very least can make a person think twice.
0The Weisberg System: Bassoon History Up Close and Personal
The development of the bassoon has not kept up with that of other reed instruments. A fairly recent innovation - the Weisberg System - developed by one of the giants of the bassoon world, can make the practice of flicking unnecessary. My family has had the privilege of seeing the Weisberg System in action. Read our story here.
6Hydrangea Macrophylla - a Science Project in Bloom: How Soil Affects Color
Are you curious about why a hydrangea can have flowers of different colors and shades on the same plant? It's all about chemistry and biology. Someone can make a fascinating science project from the lovely flowers in their backyard. Or just enjoy looking at them and knowing how and why they came to be that way.
1How to Insert Special Music Diagrams Into Manuscripts
In addition to standard music notation, there are several types of musical diagrams that can be created in your word-processing program. These include tablature, chord frames for fretted instruments, fingering charts for woodwinds, and more. If you need help knowing how to create clean, easy-to-read music diagrams, you have come to the right place!
2How to Create Music Within Manuscripts (Part II of series)
Occasionally a music teacher may wish to create their own music staff on a printed page - either the staff lines only, or a staff complete with clefs, bar lines, notes and rests. One process for doing that is explained here.
10New Uses for the Circle of Fifths
The Circle of Fifths is one of the most appealing tools to use in teaching and learning music theory. It shows the order of sharps and flats; the primary and secondary chords within each key; relative major and minor keys; and the number of sharps or flats in the key signature of any major or minor key. On top of all that, it can be used as a transposing tool.
2More Tips for Retaining, Maintaining, and Regaining Concentration and Memory
In addition to the physical factors that affect memory and concentration (sleep, exercise, nutrition, and specific supplements), there are numerous external factors that can affect our minds. Consider the effects of an MRI, the foehn wind, dill pickles, feng shui, and chronotypes. You don't see how these are connected? Check out this article for details.
8The Fascinating Predictions of Louis D. Rubin Sr., the Weather Wizard
Is predicting the weather a science or an art? Throughout the ages, humans have observed various signals in nature to plan for whatever weather might arrive. In the mid-20th century, Louis D. Rubin Sr. developed a unique method for predicting weather patterns as much as six months in advance. His story is amazing and inspirational.
11A Short Course in Retaining, Maintaining, and Regaining Concentration and Memory
Everyone is asking "How to Get Back My Concentration and Memory?" Many different approaches can help. Start with this collection of simple tips.
0How To Create Your Own Musical Symbols from Clip Art, for Use in Music Texts
A very simple step-by-step procedure for creating your own music symbols for use in word-processing texts. Helpful for private and classroom music teachers, musicians of all degrees of proficiency, and self-publishers in many disciplines.
15How to Insert Music Symbols into Text (Such as a Word Document)
Musicians and music teachers occasionally need to include music symbols in written material that is prepared in a computer's word processing program. Watch out for frustration when the symbols are hard to find! But don't worry: there are some simple ways to deal with this.
10Just Relax!!!
Awareness of relaxation can be relearned, just as it was lost during those years when you became more and more stressed, more and more tense. Some people just seem to have better body awareness than others; but if you don't even know you are tensing up, then check out the tips in this article. They can help you in the relearning process, just as they have helped thousands of others.
8Reading Rhythm in Music IV: Half / Quarter Note / Rest
In reading musical rhythm, single beats can be counted by several different methods (described in Part III). Now let's take a look at how each method counts longer notes.
0Reading Rhythm in Music III: A Summary of Counting Methods, Including the Kodaly Method
There are several different methods for counting the beat in music, and no one method is superior to another. The method that is best is the one that will help the student learn...
0Reading Rhythm in Music, Part II
To begin, let's recap one important idea: within music, there is an underlying, consistent beat (“True Beat”) that continues in a steady pattern, as well as a melodic beat...
0Reading Rhythm in Music, Part I: What Is Rhythm?
Rhythm is one aspect of music that practically everyone can relate to. Almost everyone can feel the beat and tap a foot or clap with it. But reading the representation of rhythm in musical notes requires training. This first article of a series explains the concept of rhythm and introduces various types.
8How to Calculate Tips in Your Head with Mental Math
Calculating tips in restaurants or anywhere else need not be a chore that requires paper and pencil. Even without a calculator you can find the right amount to tip your server.
4Whose Responsibility Is My Child's Music Lesson Practice?
When a parent asks "Whose responsibility is my child's music lesson practice?" there's a fair chance they are looking for reasons to discontinue lessons. Find some ammunition to fight that defeatism here!
2How to Transpose Music, Part II: More Tips on Sight Transposition (Playing in a Key Different from the Printed Music)
In certain types of music lessons, the skill of transposing to various keys may be neglected. But transposition is a note-worthy aspect of musicianship, whether the transposition is written out or performed "on the fly." For anyone who wants to learn on their own how to transpose, these helpful suggestions offer some guiding principles.
0How to Transpose Music I: Definition & Types of Transposition; Transposing Chords
The skill of transposing music is valuable for accompanists; for musicians who play in groups; for band, chorus, and ensemble directors; and for anyone who wants to improve their overall musicianship. Transposition can make the difference between working well with other musicians and being something of a musical loner or a drag. Best of all, the ability to transpose is a lot of fun!
1One Method of Finding the Right Key
A choir director/song leader needs to be aware of numerous factors that affect the quality of worship. When the vocal range of a song is poorly suited to the group, singing and worship will suffer. Read about a "scientific" process of finding the right key for congregational singing.
6The "Key" to the Best Congregational Singing Range
Do you, as a music leader, ever ask yourself: What is the best key for congregational singing? What key should hymns be sung in? or, How can I know the best key for unison singing at church? -- Finding the best musical key for group singing can be a challenge, but the challenge can be pleasant and rewarding.
10Marvelous Music Mnemonics
Most people who take music lessons of some kind learn some quick and easy tips for reading the music, especially for naming the letter or pitch names that correspond to each line and each space of the music staff.
