MUSIC LESSONS for BEGINNERS and the LESS ADVANCED. Redcar(472207) and Middlesbrough areas- guitar lessons - Keyboard lessons - piano lessons within easy reach of Middlesbrough Ormesby Middlesbrough Acklam Middlesbrough Marton Middlesbrough Eston.

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.............SOUND............. There are "3" main types of sound. 1. noise = (unpleasant sound) 2. music = (pleasant sound) 3. noisy music = (noisy music) Our perception of sound begins in the womb.

When a mother lulls her baby to sleep she is using 100% natural talent. She does not shout us to sleep. She does not screech us to sleep. She sings us to sleep. Alongside of everything we hold dear she gives us the love of the sound of the human voice.(in all of its modes) She gives us the love of music.

Mothers are the ultimate "carers". Mothers invented the lullaby. Mothers are the reason why the human race is....... Mothers are the hand that rocks the cradle of mankind. Mothers created Folk Music. (link) Mothers are.......

All kids love to sing until some clever mutant tells them that they sound like next doors' cat. Then they clam up like a Scallop. "taking the mickey" is just another form of bullying. "taking the mickey" out of kids is just mutant humour. Mutant humour is just one of the reasons why 90% of the population think that they can not sing.

PITCH is the word we use to describe how high or how low a sound is. SEAGULLS make a HIGH PITCH sound.

THUNDER makes a LOW PITCH sound.

PORTAMENTO is a modern word which describes the old way of singing. The very first mothers would sing their babies to sleep by humming a lullaby which needed to drone on and on (like a bee) whilst gliding gently from one note to the next. There would be no definite musical steps because this would keep the baby awake. There would be no words because these would interupt the continuous droning sound required to get baby to sleep. .,......................The gentle humming/droning of the mothers voice....... ...........the very gradual gliding/sliding from one note to the next....... ..................................the limiting of the range of notes to just 2 or 3 sweet notes....... Mothers created a musical technique which we now call PORTAMENTO "link"

Only a MOTHER can know the pain of losing her child.(link)

The very first Choir Leaders would have been mothers who simply organised the communal creche whilst all other able bodied persons were out hunting and gathering. The very first choirs would have consisted of mothers and children and would have been led by a choir madam. ZOE is a GREEK word meaning "gift of life"

START NOTE. The choir leader would use the portamento technique to slide up and down the full range of her voice in order to settle on a mid range note. This would be the START NOTE for the choir.

In some later era it would be a simple step to make a pitchpipe to suit the choir. This would give a standard/consistent start note. At this time the choir could be singing in:- .... unison ................. octaves ................................ descant

For the purpose of this exercise we can assume that this particular pitchpipe was made by a choir madam in order to train/coach members of the choir as and when they were available? open ended tube ............................panpipe ........................................ fipple ..................................................flue pipe

PITCH PIPES.

A full set of pitch pipes would be required for training/coaching/rehearsing different members of the choir as and when those members were available. The pitch of these pipes would be based on the mid range notes supplied by the following. ...man with low pitch voice .......man with medium pitch voice .............woman with low pitch voice ..................woman with medium pitch voice

OCTAVE is a modern word which describes an old way of singing.

The seagulls could be singing the same notes as the thunder but at a higher pitch. If a man with a low pitch voice and a woman with a low pitch voice both sang their mid range notes together they would be singing an OCTAVE apart. If a man with a medium range voice and a woman with a medium range voice both sang their mid range notes together they would be singing an octave apart. When 30 primary school children are singing their hearts out in a classroom they are all singing slightly out of tune with each other but totally in tune with their own universe. This phenomena produces the happiest musical experience known to mankind.

THE HUMAN VOICE is the most versatile musical instrument on the planet.

The HUMAN VOICE is the most popular sound in the solar system. The average HUMAN VOICE can sing two octaves(portamento style) no problem. The average HUMAN VOICE can sing two octaves with as many steps as you like (in between)no problem.

The VIOLIN FAMILY.

The VIOLIN is one of the more difficult musical instruments to play. The average violin player can play two octaves (portamento style) no problem.(up and down one string) The average violin player can play two octaves (and more)with as many steps as you like(in betweeen) no problem. However the VIOLIN is not the best instrument to use when training/coaching singers. The VIOLIN did not emerge until the 16th. century.(link)

The HORN FAMILY.

The Bugle - the Hunting Horn - Natural Trumpet - the Coach Horn - the Post Horn - the Trombone - the French Horn - the modern Trumpet - etc. All the above instruments are descended from the original animal horns. Horns are not the best instruments to use when training/coaching singers.

The PIPE ORGAN/KEYBOARD FAMILY.

The pipe organ developed along with existing technology. Many Choir Leaders would prefer the pipe organ for training individual members of the choir. The pipe organ could have been the preferred instrument for training the various sections of the choir. The pipe organ was the best instrument for training the whole choir. Once the choir was fully trained then the pipe organ could supply the accompaniment to the choir and the congregation. The very first pipe organs could have been a set of pitch pipes which were foot operated by levers known as foot pedals. This meant that the choir leader could have both hands free to conduct the choir. Later versions of the pipe organ were hand operated by levers known as keys. When one of these "keys" was operated/turned it "opened up" a passage way between the wind box and one of the organ pipes. Two or three keys could be operated at the same time to give harmonies and chords.

The SEMITONE is the basic unit of musical pitch. I.E. The musical "difference" between any note and the one next to it is a semitone.

If you remove the front panels from an upright piano you will see the piano keys extending towards the strings. If you look at the far end of the keys you will see that a number has been stamped onto each key. My piano has 85 keys therefore these keys are numbered from "1" to "85"....Some pianos will have up to "88" keys and more. On the left you will see a diagram showing the "back end" of each key on my piano. Each key is stamped with a number. The main purpose of these numbers is to simplify the assembly of the piano.(at the factory) .......A secondary purpose of these numbers is to show the semitones........I.E. The musical "difference" between each number and the one next to it is a SEMITONE. My piano has "85" keys therefore there are "84" semitones between the first note and the last. EIGHT CONSECUTIVE WHITE KEYS EQUALS ONE OCTAVE:- but there are "12" different notes to one octave. You will notice that the "back end" of each key is exactly the same width as the rest of the keys........It makes no difference what the colour of the key is.(black or white).......The "back end" of each key is the same width as the "action" for each string. I.E. The "action" consists of:- the KEY .......the LINKAGE .......................the HAMMERS .........................................the DAMPERS and the STRINGS. Every thing has to fit within the iron frame and has to "line up" with the strings. I.E. The "back-ends" of the keys are designed to fit within the iron frame/action and the front ends" of the keys are designed to fit the human hands/fingers.

HOW do we LABEL each KEY?

We can use a name or a number or a sign or a symbol etc. You can invent your own system if you want to. A BINARY system is one which uses only TWO functions. In order to play a simple tune on the keyboard you only need to know TWO things. 1. which note to play. ..............2. how long to play the note. ..................................(this is a binary format) A simple way to label the keys would be to use the existing numbers(which are stamped on the back end of the keys) It would be a simple matter for the composer to write down the "key" number and then draw a square around it. (this tells you which note to play) The composer could then write the number of beats and draw a circle around this number. (The circle would be joined onto the right hand side of the square) You now have all of the information you need (in binary format) in order to play a simple tune on the piano. However, remembering where 85 keys are situated is impractical.(from the piano players point of view) What ever it is it goes in "CYCLES". This is just the modern way of describing ancient knowledge. I.E. "To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven." EIGHT CONSECUTIVE WHITE KEYS EQUALS ONE OCTAVE but there are 12 "different" notes to one octave.