Showing titles in Instruction & Technique

On Christmas Eve, 1818, in a small Austrian village, a local Catholic priest and a church organist composed a Christmas carol that changed the course of holiday music forever. Exactly two hundred years later, it’s not the holiday season until you’ve heard “Silent Night” in the car, at the store and on TV – all in the same day.

In Jingle Bell Pop, John Seabrook, acclaimed author of The Song Machine, takes us deep inside the holiday music business. We go behind the scenes to meet some of the producers, songwriters and recording artists responsible for the timeless tunes we hear on repeat between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year.

This Piano by Ear box set contains over fifteen hours of high quality music instruction teaching you not only some of the newest modern classical style songs for the piano but also Rock and Pop standards arranged for solo piano. There is also four volumes of late beginner to early intermediate Piano Boogies! These solos are mostly at an intermediate level, so most adult students who have been working with the piano for around two years can start working on these great solos right away.

Glenn Schwartz shows off some very impressive, yet quite tasteful, blues playing in this PGE standard. The lesson includes a full demonstration of the song as well as backing tracks to play along with. Both the rhythm and lead guitar parts are taught to this song without music, tab, or video. This lesson is rated at a level two difficulty.

An effective and inspiring guide to songwriting by prolific, iconic singer-songwriter Dar Williams.How to Write a Song That Matters is an invaluable guide to writing music by a woman who knows how to do it and do it well: iconic singer-songwriter, Dar Williams. For years now, Williams has led...

Music, Lyrics, and Life is the songwriting class you always wish you'd taken, taught by the professor you always wish you'd had. It's a deep dive into the heart of questions asked by songwriters of all levels, from how to begin journaling to when you know that a song is finished. With humor and empathy, acclaimed singer-songwriter Mike Errico unravels both the mystery of songwriting and the logistics of life as a songwriter.

In this valuable resource guide for both beginners and professionals, veteran songwriter, producer, arranger, vocalist, music director, and educator Larry D. Batiste shares practical advice and tips from his decades of experience in ways that are bound to help all listeners improve their songwriting skills. Through this book, listeners will learn the craft of professional songwriting, including the ins-and-outs of song structure, lyric and melody writing, and the essential elements of a hit song.

White Limozeen (1989) was a commercial recovery after Dolly Parton's first major failure two years previously with the release of Rainbow. This book is a case study in how an album is sold and a persona constructed. The album had a complex relationship to the country music genre at a time when the genre was in the middle of major sonic and cultural shifts, and it represents how country music saw itself. This question of identity was especially relevant since White Limozeen was produced by Ricky Skaggs, the bluegrass prodigy who was in the middle of his own genre-widening experiments.

What do all those lines and squiggles and dots mean? Basic Music Theory takes you through the sometimes confusing world of written music with a clear, concise style that is at times funny and always friendly. The book is written by an experienced music teacher using methods refined over more than 30 years in schools and in his private teaching studio. Lessons are fun, well-paced, and enjoyable.

Warm up your voice, increase your range, improve your vocal agility, and sharpen your ear... in minutes! The three warm-up exercises presented on this audio will do all that and more! You will learn the ins and outs of solfege while developing your ability to handle even the most demanding vocal situations that may come your way. This program includes a free link to the pdf handout sheets you'll need for the program.

Where does learning begin and how is it sustained and stored in the brain? For musicians, these questions are at the very core of their creative lives. Cognitive and neuroscience have flung wide the doors of our understanding, but bridging the gap between research data and music-making requires a unique immersion in both worlds. Lynn Helding presents a symphony of discoveries that illuminate how musicians can optimize their mental well-being and cognitive abilities.

Have you ever wondered how off-key you are while singing in the shower? Or if your Bob Dylan albums really sound better on vinyl? Or why certain songs make you cry? Now, scientist and musician John Powell invites you on an entertaining journey through the world of music. Discover what distinguishes music from plain old noise, how scales help you memorize songs, what the humble recorder teaches you about timbre (assuming your suffering listeners don’t break it first), and more.

Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel combine the virtuosity and poetry of a world-class pianist with entertaining commentary to create a magical concert experience. His lively, engaging insights and captivating performances make listening an enthralling experience for all music lovers...

This hit from the movie Frozen makes a great late beginner level piano solo and you can learn this one totally “by ear”! This lesson starts with a full demonstration of the song which is then followed by a detailed lesson demonstrating and explaining every phrase and note of the song without the use of music, print, or video. What a fast and easy way to learn this great Disney hit.

Learn the guitar part to this Duane Eddy Rock-a-Billy hit without using any music, tab, or video! The lesson starts with a full demonstration of the song followed by a detailed “by ear” lesson teaching every lick played by Eddy on the guitar. Backing tracks included for live performance.

This love ballad by Journey translates into a fantastic finger-style guitar solo. In this lesson, you will start with a full demonstration of the song followed by a detailed “by ear” lesson that teaches each phrase in extreme detail. When you learn this way, you learn the song quicker and you memorize it as you go.

This audio course focuses on developing pitch and note recognition skills through ear training exercises. It covers a wide range of topics, from the basics of musical pitch and the musical alphabet to more advanced topics such as scales, chords, and their application in different musical genres. The course is designed to be informative, engaging, and helpful for both beginner and experienced musicians. It provides a comprehensive and practical learning experience that can be revisited as needed to reinforce key concepts.

Keyboard Conversations with Jeffrey Siegel combine the virtuosity and poetry of a world-class pianist with entertaining commentary to create a magical concert experience. His lively, engaging insights and captivating performances make listening an enthralling experience for all music lovers...

In this Piano by Ear lesson, you will learn a late beginner piano solo of “Carol of the Bells” completely “by ear". The song is fully demonstrated and then taught in small sections without the use of print or music. Remember to check out some of the other Piano by Ear Christmas carols at this same level.

In this lesson, you will learn not only the guitar part to this famous Beatles hit but the sitar part as well! Plus, you will learn all of this completely “by ear”, using no tab, music, or video! The lesson starts with a complete demonstration with backing tracks followed by a detailed lesson teaching the song in small, easy to memorize phrases. At the end of the lesson you get the backing tracks again in various configurations to use for your own performance. This song uses a capo so make sure you have one before you start.

In this piano by ear lesson, you will learn an early intermediate-level piano solo arrangement of this contemporary worship song completely “by ear”. The lesson begins with a full demonstration of the arrangement followed by a detailed note-by-note description of the song in two to four measure sections.