by Alyssa Cowell, Catoctin School of Music Summer is a great time to make strides in your musical studies – give yourself a chance to grow as a musician by scheduling practice time along with all those other fun summer break activities! Here are some tips for making the most of your summer free time. Make Music the first activity of the morning Music practice is a great...
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by Robert Fisher, Catoctin School of Music As more concert venues and performance opportunities emerge, some musicians may find themselves somewhat “out of practice” when it comes to performing live, on stage, in front of others. Here are a few common yet important tips and reminders for performers and audience members alike in preparation for the next performance you attend! This by no means is a...
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by Jamey Mann, Catoctin School of Music A highly debated topic amongst guitar players and teachers is guitar tablature (TAB). Tablature is a system of reading for guitar where numbers are placed on a series of lines. The lines represent the 6 strings of the guitar (bottom line low E, top line high E) while the numbers indicate the fret to be played. This is a...
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To continue our series on folk instruments, let’s take a look at the Autoharp! What is an autoharp? Autoharps are part of the zither family. The instrument consists of a trapezoid-shaped soundbox with a round sound hole. The soundbox is mounted with loop-ended strings (CSM’s has 36!) that stretch across a low metal bridge and wind around tuning pegs. A set of chord bars is mounted perpendicular...
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by Jamey Mann, Catoctin School of Music Every musician comes to the point where they become very busy. A robust teaching schedule, consistent gigging, performance jobs, or continuing education can make finding time to practice difficult even for accomplished musicians (yes, we must still practice). This is true for adult students as well. In fact, it is more important for students still learning the instrument to...
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