Monthly Archives: January 2009

5 Reasons to learn to play a musical instrument

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Whether you play rock guitar, jazz piano, drums or the banjo. Learning to play a musical instrument offers a lot of benefits. I feel that if there’s one thing you should learn in your lifetime, it’s how to play an instrument. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. Learning an instrument Learning to play music increases your brain power.

Studies show that there are many effects of music on the brain. People who play a musical instrument will learn and retain information better than those who don’t play music. Research now shows that children will benefit greatly from learning to play an instrument by increasing the IQ level and the development of certain parts of the brain. It makes getting through school a lot easier because children exposed to a musical instrument have much sharper reading and interpreting skills. Adults can benefit from playing an instrument because it will help sharpen your memory.

2. It Teaches Discipline

Learning to play an instrument is like learning a foreign language. One of the qualities musicians possess is discipline. If you’re not a very disciplined person then developing a daily practice habit will help you become more disciplined and have the added benefit of mastering and playing your instrument. There is no substitute for setting time to practice each day.

3. Playing A Musical Instrument Relieve Stress

Playing an instrument can will help you feel more relaxed? You ever talk to professional musicians? They seem really mellow and go along with life’s ups and downs. Remember playing Music is one of life’s simple joys; it helps calm the mind.

4. Sense of Achievement

Mastering a new piece of music can be frustrating, but the satisfaction you’ll feel is priceless. Whether you play rock guitar, classical piano or bluegrass banjo it doesn’t matter, and believe me you’ll never forget the first piece you’ve mastered. You will be one step closer to achieving your goal and that is certainly something to be proud of.

5. Playing A Musical Instrument is Fun

Sure it can be a lot of hard work but the more you learn about your instrument the more fun it is. Once you get better at it, you can share your musical skill with your family and friends. You can get to together with other friends an neighbors and form a group, then it becomes even more fun and the drive to get better at your instrument increases as you gain more skills. Playing a musical instrument opens up a lot of good possibilities that will surely enrich your life.

If you’re a music lover of ANY age, and you’d like to learn to play your favorite instrument – or brush up on your existing skills – I invite you to discover our complete range of DVD music lessons! We feature lessons for most instruments, and all of our DVDs come with a 100% moneyback guarantee



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5 Reasons to learn to play a musical instrument

Harmonic Manipulation – Taking liberties with Jazz improvisation

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Harmonic Manipulation

There is no law that says a musician must improvise through a set of chord changes to the letter. An improviser has the freedom to manipulate the harmonic pieces of a tune. A chord chart is simply a harmonic guide. It’s important to note that while you can take harmonic liberties with a piece of music, the structure or the number of measures in a tune does not change. When improvising with those freedoms one is improvising harmonically and linearly.

Most piano players are naturals for harmonic manipulation because they can use both hands. The left hand lays down the chords (harmony) and the right guitar players, the technique is as practical because guitarists only has the use of one hand on the fretboard. A guitarist however, can play a particular chord and then play an idea that outlines this harmony.

Regarding improvisation, harmonic manipulation is the next step beyond playing over written chord changes. Great musicians have taken liberties with the harmonic structure of a tune however, one must know the jazz language and also be quite familiar with jazz tunes to feel comfortable moving into this territory.