Musical Instruments

How to Do Hammer-On Techniques for the Banjo

By eHow Arts & Entertainment Editor

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The hammer-on is a banjo technique in which you bring your finger down onto a string after you pluck it, which gives an echo effect to the hammer-on note. You can perform a hammer-on on open strings or fretted notes, depending upon the effect you ... more »

How to Do Hand Over Hand Crossings

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There is nothing more exciting to young music students than the thought of playing their first "grown-up" pieces. The first "two hands" song and the first "crossover" piece catapult child pianists from "baby music" to mature, adult compositions... more »

How to Do Phaser Effects for the Electric Guitar

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Many rock and pop bands use phasers not only on their guitars but also for the keyboard, like Billy Joel in the song, "Just the Way You Are." Brian May of the band Queen and Eddie Van Halen used it on their guitars. It creates a mellow tone to ... more »

How to Do Piano Fingering and the Musical Alphabet

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Learning the piano starts with learning the notes and proper fingering. If you start learning this early, you will avoid bad habits later... more »

How to Do Picking for Jazz Guitar

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The picking position on a guitar is the location on the string where it is plucked. The choice of picking position has a significant effect on the guitar's sound and is an especially important decision in jazz guitar. The following steps will ... more »

How to Do Pre-Delay Effects on the Electric Guitar

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Electric guitar players use effects pedals to produce an endless array of sounds and special effects, which is a big part of the fun and creativity of playing electric instruments. Delay effects produce a repetition of the sound; a pre-delay ... more »

How to Do Scale Exercises on the Piano

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You can use simple scale exercises to create melodic tones on the piano and learn advanced piano playing. Understanding the process of scales allows you to create some of your own special compositions. The exercises are simple if you know the ... more »

How to Do Shredding Techniques in Metal Guitar

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You won't see the shredding technique in tabs or written onto sheet music. Shredding is something that came out of the rock guitar movement over the last 50 years. It's a nickname for lots of fast and flashy playing styles pioneered by artists ... more »

How to Do String Skipping Arpeggios in Metal Guitar

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String skipping is a great tool for metal guitar. It basically "stretches out" a note progression to cover more range, to make a more original sound. String skipping can be applied to arpeggios. An arpeggio is just a scale that uses chromatic ... more »

How to Do the Flutter Tonguing Technique for Saxophone

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Flutter tonguing isn't really used to articulate notes the way that single- or double-tonguing does. Rather, it's an effect that breaks up and blurs the note being played and works well when the saxophonist is playing blues or rock music... more »

How to Do the Tonguing Technique on a Saxophone

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If you are just learning to play the saxophone, then you know that to make a sound you must use your mouth to cause the reed to vibrate, the air rushes through the instrument and your sound is created. But when it comes to playing notes staccato ... more »

How to Do Vibrato on a Saxophone

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When you play tenor saxophone, motion of the lower jaw creates vibrato. By moving your lower jaw down while playing a note, you lower the pitch as well. In beginner tenor saxophone, it's important to master this movement as small, controlled ... more »

How to Double-Kick Fast on Drums

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If you are into rock drumming, then learning the double kick is a must. You may have heard of Mark Portnoy of Dream Thater or Neal Pert of Rush. Or maybe you just love the thunderous sound of blasting bass drums. Whatever the reason, learning to ... more »

How to Ease Finger Soreness When Learning to Play Guitar

By eHow Health Editor

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Learning to play the guitar takes time and endurance. One of the difficulties that most beginners face is the soreness caused by pressing on the strings. It's true that time will certainly cure soreness, and if a player can press on through the ... more »

How to Edit a Guitar/Bass Within ProTools

By Stewart Cararas

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We often attribute the "tightness" heard on a commercial pop/rock album to the precision of the performers. What is often overlooked is the editing required to make this a true reality. I spend quite a bit of time meticulously editing every ... more »

How to Emulate the Baby Scratch Technique

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Scratching is a technique that's used in dance clubs across the country. You can do some scratching of your own, starting with the baby scratch technique... more »

How to Evaluate a Clarinet Reed

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The reed for your clarinet is one of the most delicate and important parts of the instrument. Without it, your clarinet could not make any musical sound. You should know what to look for before and after you buy this vital part... more »

How to Extend the Life of Guitar Strings

By Stewart Cararas

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It's no secret that guitar and bass strings never seem to last very long before succumbing to the elements. Whether it's finger grease, sweat or your little sister who chose to play your guitar after eating a plate of brownies, the strings are ... more »

How to extend the life of your piano guitar, violin, cello, bass, and all wood instruments

By nypianos

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Protect your investment. The piano just like your guitar, violin, cello, grand piano, organ, bass and also same for your antique furniture and rare fine arts. These care tips will be very useful for the long life of your valued instruments and art... more »

How to Find a Cheap Guitar

By eHow Arts & Entertainment Editor

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Guitars made by Fender, Gibson and Martin are by no means cheap instruments. There are, however, ways to hunt down and purchase inexpensive quality guitars that are perfectly adequate for practice... more »

How to Find a Flute Teacher

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Whether you're already in a band or a musical group of some kind or you just want to study flute for the fun of it, getting lessons from a professional is the best way to learn. The flute is a beautiful instrument that produces very ... more »

How to Find a Piano Tuner

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Piano tuning is an important part of ownership. If a piano is allowed to go without being tuned, the overall pitch can be affected and actually get lower over time. All pianos need to be tuned, even the expensive ones. In fact, higher quality ... more »

How to Find a Suzuki Piano Teacher

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Dr. Shinichi Suzuki proposed that anyone can learn music in a fashion similar to learning language, making it a very popular approach with young children. Suzuki originally developed the Suzuki Method for the violin, but it has become a popular ... more »

How to Find a Suzuki Violin Teacher

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The Suzuki music education method, also referred to as the "mother tongue method" and "talent education," was originally developed for the violin. Dr. Shinichi Suzuki believed that anyone can teach and learn music in the same way verbal language ... more »

How to Find Fiddle Circles

By eHow Arts & Entertainment Editor

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Many fiddle virtuosos like to hone their skills by playing with others. As a complementary band instrument, the fiddle benefits by being surrounded by the music of other instruments. Also, fiddlers learn from each other by playing in "circles" ... more »

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