MTMS Blog
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April Lab and Music Composition
This month’s lab theme is the history of guitar. Today’s modern flat-top acoustic guitars have had a similar design for a couple centuries, but similar instruments – the European lute and the Arabic oud- can be traced back to ancient times. The word guitar comes from the Greek word kithara, which mythology attributes to the…
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Let’s Talk About It
Teaching is easy. I bet you’re laughing right now. But really. Think about it. You know your subject. You are passionate about your content. You know what’s difficult? Talking to parents. Think about it for a moment. Even if all you’re doing is giving the parent an update on how their child is doing, it…
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Charlie Puth and Commentary
In this video, Charlie Puth is breaking down how he wrote his hit song, “Attention”. I have always been a HUGE fan of Charlie Puth and his music. I came across this video the other day and was really intrigued by his song writing process. Being classically trained, I am constantly looking at the sheet…
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New and Old Violins
Have you heard that older violins are better? Or modern ones? There is no perfect instrument out there, despite all the known ideas out there. According to MTMS instructor Nitin Sharma, age is one consideration of a stringed instrument’s sound. Vibrations of the wood cause the grain to loosen and expand over time. “Matured” instruments…
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Learning About the Vocal Register
What do you know about vocal registers? Many of us have been taught about chest registers and head registers – the chest register being the deeper of the two and the head register being higher and more airy. Maybe you also were taught about a break between these two, where the notes aren’t as strong…