Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
37
votes
7 answers

Is it recommended to learn a piece you really like, but is way above your level?

For example, I really love chopin etude op 10 no 11, but it's way above my level. So is it recommended to play a piece you really like, but is way above your level? (I have been playing for three years)
user46792
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3 answers

Do composers take advantage of the position of players in an orchestra for effect?

While listening to Brahms Symphony no. 1, I noticed that there is an interesting stereo effect, alternating left and right, (to my untrained ear) between the violins and the cellos/double basses, at 31:00 of the following recording, especially…
Eli Iser
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37
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14 answers

Can anyone learn to sing higher?

So, I sing to myself a lot, and one thing that really frustrates me is that I cannot even reliably hit a middle C. (I'm male.) This is basically unacceptable to me even for ordinary shower-singing. Now after I'm a little warmed up, the highest note…
JohnJamesSmith
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11 answers

How many hours of practice total are typical for different piano grades?

Malcolm Gladwell's book, "Outliers", stated a hypothesis: becoming good at something takes about 10,000 hours of practice. I've recently been wondering how long a typical piano student has practiced by the time they complete grade 8. Obviously there…
James Tauber
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37
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12 answers

How can I learn to compose?

I am aware that Stack Exchange questions should be on-point, and not too broad, but I really would appreciate a response from people who know what they are talking about: I recently saw Boublil and Schonberg's Les Miserables and Miss Saigon and was…
cmp
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37
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3 answers

Why do guitarists put tape on their amplifiers?

I've never truly understood why so many guitarists put tape on their amplifiers. I have seen many YouTube videos where, before recording and placing a microphone towards their amp, they will put tape in certain places across the fabric of their…
John
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37
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10 answers

It is ok to correct wrong notes when playing piano?

I am learning to play the piano on my own. When I play and I hear a mistake, I go back and play the correct note. Hearing the right note helps me find the next one. But I heard that you should ignore mistakes like playing the wrong key and not…
zaz
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37
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3 answers

How do harmonics work?

The guitar has harmonic notes at some places. I can play it, but I don't understand the logical reason why/how this is can played. Can you tell me how exactly this works? What other musical instruments have harmonic notes besides the guitar?
Quazi Irfan
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37
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10 answers

Why isn't D the "most central" note?

When laying out the notes in the two-dimensional Wicki-Hayden layout, which is the most symmetrical layout I know of, it is visually clear that D is the "most central" note. Why, then, doesn't D play a central role in music theory? Or does it? And…
MarnixKlooster ReinstateMonica
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37
votes
10 answers

Bored when playing instrument

Well, sometimes when I play my guitar, I got bored, it just like I'm too tired of playing the guitar (or any instrument, for this question). Is there any motivation or suggestion or something that could bring my mood back?
seseorang
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37
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10 answers

When tuning a guitar, should you always end with tightening the string rather than loosening it?

I used to have a guitar teacher that said you should always finish tuning each string by tightening/sharpening the string. So for example if the top E is a little sharp, you should turn the peg to make it flat and then tune it up to the right…
Alexander Troup
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37
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12 answers

Can I play pipe organ as a pianist?

I've never played pipe organ. I'm a pianist and a friend of mine ask me to play on the church on his wedding on a pipe organ. Are there enough difficulties playing a piano song on the pipe organ to make any problem? What considerations do I have to…
SysDragon
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37
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4 answers

How necessary is a USB Audio Interface?

I'm currently recording songs on my computer and the quality of my microphone is awful and the microphone is very quiet. That doesn't surprise me, because it's a 20$ karaoke microphone... I got into a shop and wanted to look for a new microphone.…
muffin
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37
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9 answers

Why is a grand piano better than an upright piano?

A Grand piano is considered better than an upright piano. Aesthetically I could understand why, but why does the orientation of the strings matter so much sound-wise?
iddober
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36
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4 answers

Using keyboard/MIDI controller to learn piano

I'm an adult just starting to learn music from scratch. The piano I have been using is sometimes not available for me to use, so I would like to buy a keyboard/MIDI controller so I can practice whenever I want and use headphones so I don't disturb…
ccb
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