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Categories of Piano Music - learn all to be a Master of Piano

2010-02-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

Categories of Piano Music

If you are studying the piano, you'll find that there are many different categories of piano music out there today. Generally it is a great idea to learn as many categories as you can if you want to master the piano music, and teach yourself all of them is a great idea. When you are knowledgeably about various categories of music for the piano, you are able to play in a variety of categories yourself and it also helps you learn to improvise. Let's take a look at some of the most popular categories out there that you'll want to study and learn to play.

Many modern piano categories are based on the blues. The blues involve an emphasis on the major and minor pentatonic scales, with an additional note included. The flatted fifth is added to the minor pentatonic to create the blues scale. Many blues songs are based on a simple chord progression, known as 12-bar blues. This uses the I, IV and V chords of a scale to create a foundation for melodies and solos.

Here some categories of piano music you should to learn :

Classical Piano

The oldest category of piano is the classical category and it is very varied as well. This category of piano has been around for hundreds of years and for many, it is the proper category of music to learn when playing the music. Various other categories of piano music actually come from the classical category as well. Classical music usually requires intense training to master, though there many pieces designed with the novice player in mind.

Jazz Piano

Another great category of piano music that is well worth studying and learning is jazz piano. It includes a variety of different categories within it and it difficult to describe. Many piano categories incorporate ideas borrowed from jazz, such as improvisation. An emphasis on extended chord forms also stems from jazz piano.

Gospel Piano

Gospel piano is often similar to the blues, jazz and R&B. It emphasizes certain extended chords, such as the 11th, and usually has the swinging feel associated with jazz and R&B. There are some extended chords which gospel piano tends to emphasize, but it has that lilting or swinging feel that you often see in both R&B as well as in jazz. While gospel songs may appear to be quite simple, the musicality of them is usually quite complex. You'll notice that syncopation is often used and provides a very spiritual category overtone to the gospel piano music.

Rock Piano

Another category of piano music is rock piano. This category of piano actually came right out of blues piano music, although later it would begin to get a new category of it's own. Some great pianists, such as Billy Joel, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Elton John would go on to make rock piano the popular and beautiful category that it is today.

Cocktail piano is a category generally connected with Liberace, Eddy Duchin, Roger Williams, and others who play popular tunes with lots of great technique — lots of notes, runs, flourishes, and so on. But I hate to catagorize and of these great pianists, as many of them play in other categories as well.

Boogie-woogie is a piano category based on the blues. It started as a solo piano category, but has expanded into other genres, such as county-western and gospel. It differs from the blues in that it is considered dance music, while blues music traditionally expresses sadness and frustration

Rhythm and blues piano is based on blues, jazz, and gospel categories. As the name suggests, the emphasis is on the rhythm of the song. Most R&B has a particular swing to it, with a strong feel of syncopation in the rhythm. Syncopation involves placing the stress on a normally unstressed beat. This often results in an almost off-time feel to the untrained ear.

Ragtime piano also incorporates syncopation. Ragtime uses syncopation in its melodies by placing melodic notes between the stressed beats of the rhythm. Ragtime is often considered the first completely American genre, even predating jazz.

Country and western piano has similar roots as blues piano. Both categories stem from earlier folk categories, often developed by the less fortunate people of the era. Many early country songs stem from Appalachian folk songs. Country and western piano is highlighted by very bright playing, with simple chord progressions underneath the melody.

Traditional sacred piano categories involve the playing of liturgical songs and hymns. These can range from the harmonically and rhythmically complex to simple two and three chord songs. Many hymns stem from folk songs of centuries past. The variety of sacred piano categories is as numerous as the liturgical songs themselves. These piano categories often involve a strict reading of notation, with less of an emphasis on personal interpretation than other categories.

New age piano often involves less chord changes than other categories, instead relying on simple two-chord progressions and polychords. A polychord occurs when two different chords are played at once. This technique is taken from earlier classical works by composers such as Stravinsky.

Today, there are more of different categories of piano music that are out there today. You'll find that there are many other categories to listen to, learn, and play. Some of them include new age piano, ragtime piano, rhythm and blues piano, boogie woogie piano, and even cocktail piano.

Introduction Easy Piano Music – Piano Music books online

2010-02-02T06:03:00.000-08:00

I always like to stress to all of my students that playing piano music is not nearly as difficult as it seems. It does not take a genius to be a good piano musician. You can learn piano music with easy, there’re some physical piano music books in book store. But, why not, if you can do amazing things with your hands using simple guide easy piano music books online. It just takes the desire/motivation to do so….and don’t forget practice! “Practice makes perfect.” Think about it, to excel at any profession/activity/hobby/sport/etc. it takes a lot of practice. For example, NFL Football stars practice like CRAZY every day of the week for hours to maintain their ability…

Good News!

This course does not require an insane amount of practice. This piano music books online is very simple. By the end of this lesson you will have a good idea about how to:

1. Play notes on the Piano/Keyboard

2. Play a simple song or two

3. Play your ‘major’ scale in the Key of C

4. Determine which notes are which on a Piano/Keyboard!

Let’s Get Started!

This is a Piano/Keyboard with the NOTES written on each key. Let me break it down for you. There are ONLY 12 notes in existence and they repeat themselves over and over again in what we call ‘Octaves’. Pronounced (Octaves). An Octave obviously refers to the number 8 (Oct.)

Musical Notes are identified by letters of the alphabet. The letters in music are A, B, C, D, E, F, G. There is NO ‘H’. After ‘G’ it simply starts over at ‘A’ again (see above). How can you have more than one ‘A’? The TONE of the note sounds the same, but the ‘pitch’ is higher or lower. There are many ‘A’s’ on the piano and many of the other letters as well. The lowest ‘A’ will sound extremely low like a Bass and will not be very distinguishable. The highest ‘A’ will sound very high pitched like a flute or piccolo. The best example of an Octave I can think of is in the song ‘Happy Birthday.’

The part in the middle where you sing “Happy BIRTH-day to so and so…” The word ‘Happy’ let’s say is a ‘C’ note, the next word ‘BIRTH’ would also be a ‘C’ note but one octave above the ‘C’ that you sang for the word ‘Happy’. It’s a big stretch, a whole 8 notes! So it’s 8 notes from ‘A’ to ‘A’ and ‘C’ to ‘C’ and so on. Thus, it’s called an ‘Octave’.

OK, back to my original point. Did you realize what I said? There are ONLY 12 notes in existence! This makes music a lot easier than you though eh? EVERY SONG YOU’VE EVER HEARD WAS MADE UP OF A COMBINATION OF THESE 12 NOTES. No matter how complicated of a Mozart song it is, there are only 12 notes to choose from:

A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G# and then back to ‘A’.

The Black Keys are in sets of 2 and 3. I call them ‘twins’ and ‘triplets’.

At the beginning (the left) of the ‘Twins’ is the note ‘C’. At the beginning of the ‘triplets’ is the note ‘F’. The twins and triplets repeat themselves over and over again and the note at the beginning of them will always be the same. In front of every pair of twins will be ‘C’ ALWAYS. This will help you memorize which notes are which, without writing the notes on each key!

What do the ‘#’ signs mean?! The # sign stands for “Sharp”.

So if you see ‘A#’ that means “ ‘A’ Sharp.” C# = C sharp and so on.

The Sharps (#’s) are the black keys. The very next key to the RIGHT of any given key is the ‘Sharp’ of that note.

On the piano, the distance between any note to the very next note (whether the next note is a black key OR white) is called a ‘half-step’. So from ‘A’ to ‘A#’ is a half step. From ‘A#’ to ‘B’ is also a half step. NOW NOTICE ‘B’ and ‘C’. There are no sharps in between them but they are still considered a ‘Half-Step’. This is very important to understand because a lot of people think that if you go a ‘half-step’ from one letter the next note will be that letter ‘Sharp’. This is true for MOST notes except for ‘B to C’ and ‘E to F’. If you look at the piano above you’ll see that E goes right to F and they are both white keys and the same for B to C. These are STILL HALF-STEPS. There is no ‘B#’ because ‘B#’ would just be called ‘C’. An ‘E#’ would just be called ‘F’. These are the TWO exceptions.

If you skip a half-step and go directly from let’s say, ‘A’ to ‘B’, it is called a Whole Step. Remember those exceptions now! The difference from ‘B’ to ‘C’ is NOT a whole step. Remember, from ‘B’ to ‘C’ is a HALF-STEP because they are right next to each other. So from ‘B’ to ‘C#’ would be a WHOLE-STEP. Same goes for ‘E’ to ‘F’ (half step). From ‘E’ to ‘F#’ would be the WHOLE STEP. The reason why people make this mistake is because from every other white key to the next white key is a WHOLE STEP. (Because there is a black key in between which is the half step).

tag : easy piano music, piano music books, piano wedding music

LET’S LEARN THE ‘C’ MAJOR SCALE!

This is a very important fundamental of music. This ‘Scale’ makes up the sounds ‘Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do.’ It’s called the ‘Major Scale’ and it is one of the MAIN modes of music. There are ‘major’ and ‘minor’. The ‘major’ scale sounds more happy while the ‘minor’ scales sound sad.
Every song you’ve ever heard was either in a ‘major’ or ‘minor’ key.

OK so your RIGHT hand is numbered as follows…Your thumb is finger number 1, index finger is number 2 , middle finger is number 3, ring finger number 4, and pinky finger number 5.
Your LEFT hand is the same. Thumb is finger number one, and so on.
They go opposite ways but the thumb is still number 1 and so on.

We are going to learn the scale with our RIGHT hand first. The right hand is the lead hand in the piano and plays the important lead melodies of a song.
The left hand is an accompainiment and plays chords and bass lines.

So the ‘C Major Scale’ is as Follows:

C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C

Moving from LEFT to RIGHT. Finger number One will play the first ‘C’.
Then finger number 2 plays ‘D’ followed by Finger #3 which plays ‘E’.
NOW PAY ATTENTION: On the FOURTH Note which is ‘F’, you will cross your thumb underneath your middle finger (finger #3) and play the ‘F’ with your THUMB! This allows you to finish the rest of the scale with the rest of your hand. Fingers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. So, in case this was confusing, the fingering for C. D. E, F, G, A, B, C would be fingers: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
After the third note; ‘E’ you CROSS your thumb UNDERNEATH your middle finger (which is still on ‘E’) and play the next note to the right of ‘E’ which is ‘F’ with your Thumb.

Now, when you come back down the scale…(to the left) you play every note that you played on the way up the scale AND with the SAME fingers.
So, the scale would be C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, B, A, G, F, E, D, C.
Fingers are: 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 3, 2, 1.
The Bold letters and numbers are going ‘up’ the scale which is left to right. Then on the way back ‘down’ the scale, (not bold) it is right tgo left.
‘Up’ refers to UP IN PITCH. and ‘Down’ refers to DOWN IN PITCH.
When you play notes from left to right you will always be going UP in pitch from a LOW sound all the way on the left, it gets higher and higher as you move to the right and all the way on the right is the HIGHEST pitched note. So thus, when you play to the right you are going ‘up’.
The video that I included in this report will show you what the ‘C Major Scale’ looks and sounds like! I play it slow at first, then medium, then fast.

That’s just the ‘C’ Major scale. There is a Major scale for EVERY key.
There is an ‘A Major Scale’ a ‘B Major Scale, even for the #’s. ‘A# Major Scale, starts on a black key ‘A#’).
They ALL sound like ‘Do-Re-Mi…’ but they just start on a different pitch.
But don’t worry, I HAVE A SECRET WEAPON!
Everyone loves the ‘C Major Scale’ because it is ALL white keys.
Every other scale has a black key in it, whether it’s one, two, three or more!
Instead of memorizing EACH of the 12 Major Scales which would take a lot of time, you can use my secret formula that will allow you to play any major scale based on a pattern. Anything you can do in one spot on the piano, you can do
Remember I talked about Whole Steps and Half Steps?
Well, if you look at the ‘C’ major scale you can see that the pattern is as such:
After the starting ‘C’, the next note is ‘D’. The distance between these notes is a Whole Step.(because you skip over C# and go to D) Lets call a Whole Step ‘W’ and a Half Step ‘H’. The pattern of the C Major scale is
W, W, H, W, W, W, H. Pretty easy to remember if you see the pattern: two whole steps and then a half step followed by threee whole steps and a half step. This holds true EVERY MAJOR SCALE!!! Whoa. That makes it A LOT EASIER.
Let’s test this out…The next Major Scale, the ‘D Major Scale’ would be
D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D.
This obeys the rule! After the first note ‘D’ it follows the pattern:
W, W, H, W, W, W, H.

D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D
1st W, W, H, W, W, W, H.

The first note can not be a whole step or a half step because you need to be referring to the distcance between TWO notes to have a whole step or a half step.

Check out the video to see how the ‘C Major Scale’ looks and sounds!

This scale is so important because EVERY song that is in a ‘Major’ key will be made up of ONLY THE NOTES OF THE MAJOR SCALE. So, if the song is in ‘C Major’ such as THOUSANDS of songs are…the song would consist of ONLY THE NOTES OF THE C MAJOR SCALE!

Example:

The song ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’ is in the key of ‘C Major’. This means that every note in this song will be a note in the ‘C Major Scale’.

Here are the notes for ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’

3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5
E, D, C, D, E, E, E, D, D, D, E, G, G

3, 2, 1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2, 3, 2, 1
E, D, C, D, E, E, E, D, D, E, D, C.

The numbers are the fingers you should use.
The letters are the notes on the piano. The numbers
are right above the corresponding letter.

Congratulations!
You have learned the basics of the piano/keyboard, the Major Scale and your first song! This is the end of Lesson 1. In the next lesson, you will learn how to play the ‘Minor’ Scale, the ‘Blues Scale’ and How to Play Chords! Also, some more songs that are a little more sophisticated.

Rhythm Style Piano and Learn Piano Chords

2010-01-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

Rhythm Style Piano and Learn Piano Chords

Getting to know the keyboard

Understanding the keyboard is a lot easier than you might imagine. A complete, clear, concise overview of learning piano and chords from scratch. No frills, no fuss - only what you NEED to know to learn FAST. Memory tricks, BLUFFS, formulas, lots of innovative ways to get you playing NOW

The key to playing piano by ear - Chords and Rhythmic Patterns

Piano Chords are very easy to play, easy to remember, they sound great and they enable you to sound like a real pianist right from the start. Pianoforall explains them in ways that make SENSE - you won't have to memorize complicated theory - it's so much easier if you see them in terms of SHAPES and PATTERNS

Music Notation Made INCREDIBLY Easy

Traditional teaching methods have always made sight reading seem like a complicated foreign language. Pianoforall changes all that! It all comes down to how well it is explained. It's NOT about MEMORY - it's NOT about THEORY - it's about SEEING music notation in a brand new way - ANYONE can do it!

You'll need just FOUR pages of basic music notation (explained the Pianoforall way!) and then you'll be ready to start playing.

A special Note Finder to print out that will help you find any note on the piano.

10 Classic Party Rhythms

These 10 Rhythms are the underlying basic rhythms for nearly every popular tune ever written. Learn them well and they will serve you well!

Rhythm 1 - Left Note / Right Chord

This simple 'funky' rhythm makes your chords sound far more interesting and is great for left and right hand coordination. You can accompany lots of songs using this exact rhythm and chord sequence - Blue Moon / Red Red Wine / Always Look On The Bright Side Of Your Life / All I Have To Do Is Dream

Piano Chords in the key of C

The best chords to start with are the C Family piano chords (all white keys) There are special cartoons to help you remember ALL the chords in about 5 MINUTES - and I guarantee you'll NEVER forget them!

Rhythm 2 - Straight Beat Gospel Piano Style

A nice slow easy rhythm for Gospel piano style songs like Let It Be.

Rhythm 3 - Oom Pah

A fun, bouncy, 'Paul McCartney style' rhythm that can be applied to SO many songs.

Oom Pah Practice Progressions using C family chords in the style of songs like: When I'm 64 / Song Song Blue / I Wanna be like You / The Bear Necessities / Top Of The World / Life Is A Cabaret / Love And Marriage / Maxwell's Silver Hammer / Always Look On The Bright Side Of Your Life, etc:

The Amazing 'Broken Chord' Ballad

This impressive ballad is incredibly easy yet sounds very impressive and takes you up and down the entire keyboard using just the basic 'C Family' piano chords shapes. You won't believe you're actually playing this after just a few days!

More Piano Chords More Songs

An easy way to make four new piano chords - and some terrific progressions in the style of classic songs to help you comit them to memory.

Hit The Road Jack / Bye Bye Love / Show Me The Way To Go Home / Your Mother Should Know / Doe A Deer / In The Summertime / Yellow Submarine / The Blue Ridge Mountains Of Virginia / Feeling Groovy

Seventh Heaven

'Seventh' chords will instantly add colour to your playing. Pianoforall teaches you two MAGIC formulas that will enable you to play ANY seventh chord in ANY shape ANYWHERE on the piano in a flash! (One student told me that this trick alone was worth the price of the book)

Rhythm 4 - Split Chord

This is a rhythm you hear very often in slow ballads - it has a lovely 'ringing' quality and sounds fantastic when combined with Sevenths. The Beatles used this rhythm a lot. Imagine and Something are classic examples.

Split Chord and Sevenths Practice Progressions in the style of classic songs like:
Amazing Grace / We Wish You A Merry Christmas / Something / Streets Of London / Imagine / All I Have To Do Is Dream

Rhythm 5 - Half Beat bounce

This rhythm is used in many slow songs that have a slight 'bounce' in their step. Think of songs like Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head / Auld Lang Sang, Desperado / Sweet Home Alabama / Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue / Knockin' On Heaven's Door / Rocket Man / Everybody Hurts (REM) / Jealous Guy, etc

Rhythm 6 - Twist

This classic 'Doo-Wap' rhythm is called 'Twist' after the song Let's Twist Again but it is used in a lot of songs including Under The Boardwalk / Can't Buy Me Love / Stand By Me / Barbara Anne / Only The Lonely / Let's Stick Together / Save The Last Dance For Me / The Ballad Of John And Yoko / What A Wonderful World This Could Be, etc

'Slash Chords' / Bass Runs

It may sound scary but Slash Chords and Bass Runs are a very simple way to add a lot of colour to your playing with the minimum of effort. Used in songs like Freebird / Whiter Shade Of Pale / Sunny Afternoon (Kinks) / Don't Look Back In Anger (Oasis) / Mind Games (John Lennon) / Hello (Lionel Ritchie) / Mandy etc

Rhythm 7 - Three Beat Bounce

This is a great little rhythm used in songs composed in 3/4 time like Pianoman (Billy Joel) / Mr Bojangles / The Wild Rover / Try To Remember / Morning Has Broken / etc

Rhythm 8 - 12/8 Country Shuffle

This is a very easy and very recognisable rhythm and if you learn it with just three chords you can play a million country songs - yee ha!

Rhythm 9 - Bossa Nova Bounce

This rhythm has a Bossa Nova 'feel' to it but is used in lots of modern popular tunes as well. It's a classic Elton John style rhythm. Used for songs like Your Song / Daniel / Isn't She Lovely / Up On The Roof / Always Something There to Remind Me / It's Still Rock And Roll To Me / The River / Everybody's Talkin' At Me / I'll Never fall In Love Again / Lying Eyes, etc

Rhythm 10 - Twist 2

This rhythm is slightly more difficult than Twist (1) and has a more open and 'laid back' feel to it. Used in songs like Let's Stick Together / Only the Lonely / Save The Last Dance For Me, etc
Find All in "PARTY TIME" book 1 and you will get 16 video and 101 audio , or you want easy play piano completely visit site here : PIANO FOR ALL

Playing by ear – by Ash ley Southam, The Piano Guy

2010-01-23T09:51:00.000-08:00

Playing by ear – by Ash ley Southam, The Piano Guy

I often have people ask me about playing a piano “by ear”. What they are referring to of course is learning and being able to play songs just by listening to them.

When I was quite young and still learning to play the piano I remember watching someone listen to a song on the radio and then quickly walk over to the piano and play what was on the radio. It was very impressive. I remember thinking how amazing that was. The thing that I’ve learned since then is that if you spend time with music, listening to it, playing it, paying attention to it, that things start to stick out. By this I mean certain chords start to become familiar, certain melodies that then go along with those chords. Probably the most important aspect of this is that chord progressions that start to stick out. These are the fundamental parts to playing by ear.

One thing that happens quite often with piano is that when someone starts their piano education they are usually taught how to read music first, then to play off sheet music. So when it comes time to play something that isn’t written down they have great trouble. I know, this was how it was for me in the beginning.

To really learn to play music by ear you need to have at least some knowledge about chords and chord progressions. Once you know a little more about chords (major and minor and what they sound like) you can start learning to play by ear. The first thing to do is find a song you really like and would like to play. The second thing is to do is make sure it’s an easy song. (You will probably find out pretty quickly how difficult it is to play!) If there are a lot of chord changes then it might be a good idea to pick another song. The thing about learning by ear, when you first start out, is that it will take a while and you will need to be patient. When I first started it took me quite some time and I had to work through quite a lot of frustrating moments but it’s much more rewarding.

Some people will be able to pick up music by ear much easier than others. This is just a fact of life. Some people’s ears are just more tuned to music than others. Quite often though, these people are the ones who listen to the most music.

The key is to experiment with playing along with music and give yourself time to learn to play by ear. You will find that the more you that, the better at it you will become, and after a while it will come naturally and you will be able to play with whatever is on the radio.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ashley Southam (The Piano Guy) is a pianist with years of experience behind him. Piano is his passion, and he is also the drive and inspiration behind Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit, and Rocket Piano Gospel Edition. If you want to take your piano playing skills to a new level, you need the Rocket Piano Kit. You get step by step instructions complete with audio and video lessons, and you can instant access by clicking the link now http://www.rocketpiano.com.

Piano Care – by Ash ley Southam, The Piano Guy

2010-01-23T09:37:00.000-08:00

Piano Care – by Ash ley Southam, The Piano Guy

The first thing to do to look after you piano is make sure its stored in a suitable place. This means finding somewhere that isn’t too damp. Keep your piano away from heaters, air conditioners and fire places. Also try and keep your piano (if it’s an upright) away from an outside wall of the house. Keep the piano out of long periods of direct sunlight too, as this can damage the finish and also affect the tuning. This all sounds very particular but anything to do with heat and moisture will put your piano at risk of going out of tune and have other long term negative side effects. Ideally you want the piano somewhere that the humidity and heat levels are at a nice constant level. The contracting and expanding of the wooden parts will affect the quality of the piano.

You should have your piano tuned twice a year. Also, it helps to get it “re-conditioned” or “regulated”. This is when a trained professional piano technician will fix and adjust any wear and breakage. It’s a very good idea to keep a piano properly maintained and your piano will love you for it.

Try not to put drinks or vases on your piano either. It’s very easy to have an accident and very difficult to clean up the mess it will make inside your piano. Sometimes the damage can be irreversible. Also be careful of objects that may scratch or damage the finish on your piano.

When cleaning the piano use a feather duster first. The dust that accumulates can cause tiny scratches when you polish it. Then use a soft damp cloth. Don’t use polish, despite what the labels might say, because this can also sometimes damage the wood. Just get the excess moisture off with a dry cloth. This process can be used on the actual keys as well. However use separate cloths for the black and white keys.

If you really want to get more thorough with cleaning your piano there are some products that are designed specifically for pianos. Go down to your local piano shop and talk to the people. They will undoubtedly have the right products and advice for you.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tips Buying a keyboard – by Ash ley Southam, The Piano Guy

2010-01-23T09:27:00.000-08:00

Buying a keyboard – by Ash ley Southam, The Piano Guy

There are many different questions when it comes to buying a keyboard. How much should I pay, how many keys it needs and so on. A lot of it really depends on the buyer and your own personal preference. The best way to tell if the keyboard is right for you is if it “feels” right. But, in saying that, there are a few simple guidelines that can help you out come purchase time.

One of the great things about having so many different keyboards to choose from is that you can find one at a suitable price. The first thing is you want to make sure the keyboard actually works. The problem with keyboards is that as they get older they tend to decay a bit. So be careful buying a keyboard before you’ve actually played it and checked the keys, all the buttons and so on.

The next step is looking at how many keys it has. I’m often asked “how many keys should I get?” The answer is really down to personal preference and what exactly you’re using your keyboard for. My advice is to get a keyboard with the full 88 keys. But 76 and even 61 will usually be enough. If you have the choice I think either 88 or 76 keys is best. If you were just using a small range of the keyboard and it’s more for recording interesting samples and so on, then fewer keys is fine. Most professionals will use 88 keys.

The next thing to look at is weighted keys or “synth” action. This means what the feel of the actual keys is like. This again really depends on personal taste. Weighted keys: this means that the keys on the keyboard have the same feel and weight as keys on a standard piano. A lot of trained pianists will go this route, myself included. I don’t like to use synth style keys but that’s entirely my personal taste. One of the benefits of playing on a keyboard with weighted keys is that if you never played an acoustic piano before you should easily be able to adjust quickly because your hands will be used to it. Synth style keys also have their advantages. Because they’re not weighted it’s a lot easier to play them faster.

Another important aspect is the velocity and after touch of the keyboard. Velocity refers to whether how hard you hit the keys affects how loud the sound that comes out, so that if you lightly touch the keyboard you will get a nice quite sound. Similarly if you hit down hard you will get a nice loud reaction. After touch refers to the sensitivity to the sound and touch after you hit the note and hold it down. If you play a note and you want it to ring the way an acoustic piano does, after touch is very important. Personally I believe that velocity and after touch is VERY important and any keyboard you have should really have these things catered for.

So there are a lot of things to consider when looking at keyboards. Ultimately I believe a lot of it comes down to personal taste and what your instincts tell you about the keyboard itself. Remember, you want it to be something that you can spend a lot of time on so make sure that you are completely happy with what you end up with.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ashley Southam (The Piano Guy) is a pianist with years of experience behind him. iano is his passion, and he is also the drive and inspiration behind Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit, and Rocket Piano Gospel Edition. If you want to take your piano playing skills to a new level, you need the Rocket Piano Kit. You get step by step instructions complete with audio and video lessons, and you can instant access by clicking the link now rocketpiano.com.

Great Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit

2010-01-23T09:16:00.000-08:00

Review: Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit

If you are learning the piano, either as a beginner or as a slightly more advanced player, you can appreciate how frustrating it is learning the skills and techniques without seeing any noticeable results. The time and effort that many put into exercises don’t seem to be reflected in their standard of playing. There also seems to be a frustration in the lack of quality information on the market.

The Piano Guy and the team at Rocket Piano have bucked the trend with the latest developments to the Rocket Piano brand. They have had considerable success with their 3 book series, Learn to Play the Piano with Rocket Piano – the Ultimate Piano Learning Kit. Given the positive feedback from the success of this package, the team decided to develop the product further, and have come up with a package that is unrivalled in terms of quality and its comprehensive nature. This package truly does enable piano students to accelerate their learning, and includes an impressive array of features.

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Vestibular disorder with Tinnitus

2010-01-23T08:48:00.000-08:00

Vestibular disorder with Tinnitus

Even though tinnitus with vestibular disorder sounds difficult for most people, but in reality these are simple clinical terms – tinnitus standing for various strange and bizarre sounds heard by people who are affected with it, while vestibular disorder relates to balancing problems resulting in vertigo, dizziness, etc. And surprisingly enough both originate from the same source – the inner ear. As a matter of fact, the human ear is provided with an acoustic or hearing nerve and a vestibular or balancing nerve to maintain equilibrium and when something goes wrong with one, the other gets affected too. Generally speaking, the following course of events takes place in both the cases.

When the acoustic or the hearing nerve is injured, hearing problems arise. These may include loss of hearing and tinnitus.
When the vestibular or balancing nerve is affected, it creates balancing problems, vertigo, giddiness, etc.

In trying to analyze the underlying causes relating to tinnitus that creates the phantom sounds in the ear and vestibular disorder that gives rise to vertigo, dizziness and loss of balance – we must take into account the body’s inherent immune system as well as its inflammatory response structure, both of which play their respective parts in dealing with both the issues. The immune system, under normal conditions, keeps the body healthy and fit, free of infection and disease and in general, looks after the wellbeing of all bodily organs. But when its beneficial effects are somehow weakened, it tells upon the organs too. In the case of the ear, especially the middle ear which is the most important part, it becomes exposed to infection and decay. This, as you may appreciate, affects the nerves that are associated with the acoustics as well as the vestibular or balancing devices, causing them to flounder or play havoc. This is one of the most critical causes behind vestibular disorder with tinnitus or tinnitus and vestibular disorder as both are crucially co-related.

Coming down to the body’s own inflammatory response system, we are faced with a totally different picture. In the case of vestibular disorder with tinnitus, it makes a blatant mistake which instead of preventing the issue, causes it to develop and grow. Under normal circumstances, if anyone accidentally injures an ankle while roller skating or biking, the inflammatory response system immediately pumps extra fluid to counteract the damage caused to the ankle which gets swollen up. It also happens when an eye is fortuitously exposed to dust or any irritating agent – some amount of extra fluid is secreted to wash the irritant out. However, in the case of inner ear problem, it works as a boomerang. To know how and why it happens, please read on.

Vestibular disorder with tinnitus – how it happens

The inner ear, other than having sundry hearing device comprising fine bones, cartilages, nerve endings, etc also have a small space that is normally kept healthy and pliant with a limited quota of fluid in it. However, when it suffers injury or becomes infected, the inflammatory response system tries to flood it with additional fluid in an effort to ‘wash out’ the infection. But that extra fluid finds no room to expand within that confine, as a result of which pressure builds up within the inner ear. The pressure thus created then starts to harass the surrounding bones, cartilages, etc and when failing to do so, starts affecting the nerve endings when all hell breaks lose. As soon as the acoustics nerves are affected, they start sending erratic impulses to the brain and the brain in turn keeps on transmitting ghoulish sound waves to the ear, thus giving birth to tinnitus. The effect of the fluid pressure on the vestibular nerves makes them go haywire too. The abnormal pressure on the nerves totally upsets the balancing mechanism, giving rise to giddiness, vertigo and related problems.

If there is any lesson that can be learnt from this, it consists of the fact that there is practically neither any preventive measure nor any cure for vestibular disorder with tinnitus, except tuning up the body’s immune system. As for the body’s inflammatory response system, none has the ability to re-train it. The one and only answer to the problem lies in taking a holistic approach towards controlling the disease for which a brief guideline is given below.

Holistic guidelines to keep away from Vestibular Disorder with Tinnitus

Cut down the consumption of meat or meat-based food items like ham, sausage, bacon, liver, etc.

Give up alcohol or alcohol-based beverages.

Consume fruits and vegetables in sufficient quantity. Also good are organic food, food that are rich in vitamins.

Start yoga and Vedic exercises including deep breathing

Give up smoking altogether. This includes cigarette smoking or pipe smoking, no matter how much nicotine they are supposed to filter out.

Do not indulge in using medicated nasal sprays or ear drops.

Do not go for antibiotics or ototoxic medications unless an infection turns septic and that too only according the guidance of known medical practitioner.

Lead simple, uncomplicated life and arrange to have adequate sleep.

Discontinue all medications save and except those that are essential for any special type of disease condition that requires all-time consumption.

Change lifestyle, if necessary; remain healthy for the rest of your life.

Note: Contrary to conventional modes of treatment that treats the symptom instead of the disease, holistic treatments treat the body considering it as a whole entity. Its aim is to identify the root cause of the disease and then specify the remedy which may consist of a change in diet, change of habits, change of profession and change in lifestyle. Pursued rigorously, it sure would provide freedom from vestibular disorder with tinnitus for good.

This article is based on the book, "Tinnitus Miracle" by Thomas Coleman. Thomas is an author, researcher, nutritionist and health consultant who dedicated his life to creating the ultimate Tinnitus solution guaranteed to permanently reverse the root of ear ringing and naturally and dramatically improve the overall quality of your life, without the use prescription medication and without any surgical procedures. Learn more by visiting his website:
TinnitusMiracle.com

Tinnitus Home Remedies

2010-01-23T08:21:00.001-08:00

Tinnitus Home Remedies

Sad to say, but the fact remains that there is no sure fire cure for that undeviating ringing in the ears –the agonizing ailment that affects a great majority of Americans and is commonly known as tinnitus. However, the TV and the added media wouldn’t hear of it. They believe in beating the drums of sundry pharmaceutical agents, provoking the sufferer to go for OTC medications which alas have more harmful side-effects than any real relief. Frustrated sufferers who have heard of herbal remedies often seek respite from gingko bilboa or black cohosh, both said to improve blood circulation in the upper torso and thus provide relief. But these too can never cure the disorder, merely providing marginal relief. Since homeopathy has currently reappeared as one of the most effective alternate mode of treatment for many, tinnitus patients often rush for it in the hope of gaining genuine relief and when that fails too, the only way that is left is the good old home remedy to bank upon.

The trouble with over-the-counter medications, as earlier said, concerns its side effects that often prove disastrous in most cases. These include head reeling, nausea, acute constipation, exhaustion, vertigo, loss of control and may also lead to that unenviable corporeal vulnerability called the Irregular Bowel Syndrome. So far as other alternative treatment courses are concerned that include hypnosis and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, acupuncture or magnet therapy, the last word is frequently denoted by a zilch.

Nevertheless, the home remedy for tinnitus could prove effective only if the causes could match its parameters. And for doing this one has to figure out what mostly causes tinnitus. The causative factors, nevertheless, could be a single issue or multiple trigger factors that give rise to tinnitus. For better understanding of the subject, a list of some of the significant factors is given below.

Consistent exposure to earsplitting noise occurring at missile test firing grounds, steel stamping or forging units, high power rifle shooting ranges or metal fabrication workshops frequently end up with tinnitus in single or both ears. Listening to high volume rock music for days on end has also caused tinnitus to many.
Inadequate blood supply in the upper torso on account of narrowing of blood vessels in that region due to cholesterol can also trigger tinnitus in people suffering from high blood. One of the most distinctive examples of this type of listening problem Even certain types of food and drink like the grain-based alcohols, red wine, chocolates and cheeses can trigger tinnitus in many people who would never have suspected that unholy link between those innocuous consumables and tinnitus.
Some types of jawbone joint problems, especially Temporomandibular Jaw Joint problem, it has lately been found, can cause tinnitus in many patients.
Prolonged use of NSAIDs, cancer resisting therapies and some of the loop diuretics are known causes of tinnitus.
Tumors, non-cancerous growths or allergies near to the ears or occurring in principal blood vessels carrying blood to the head or neck region can trigger tinnitus in people who are susceptible to such conditions.
Tinnitus related hearing loss.
Microscopic ending damages that may happen to the nerves that is responsible for hearing.
When the bones in the middle portion of the ear hardens.
Middle ear infection that causes filling up of the space with fluid or discharge and even too much of ear wax buildup causes tinnitus in many cases.

Even though some Tinnitus Home Remedies are supposed to provide enduring relief to this distressing disorder, most sadly enough are nothing but voodoos. Yet for the sake of identification, some of these are listed below. These include:-

Much hyped gingko bilboa that is known to have that special trait to help rush blood and thus encourage better circulation in the head and neck region, lack of which triggers tinnitus is believed to provide relief to the disease condition in a more positive way.
Bayberry bark, burdock root, hawthorn leaf, goldenseal and myrrh gum are some of the best known relief providers for tinnitus patients.
Freshly cut pineapple rings that are believed to have inflammation reducing properties are thought to perk up the blood circulation in the head and neck region, thus relieving tinnitus symptoms.
Coenzyme Q 10, taken at the rate of 300 mg per day can also improve the upper torso blood circulation by raising the immune system significantly which in turn would provide relief to tinnitus.
A teaspoon of common salt mixed with the same quantity of glycerin and sprayed into the nose and throat is supposed to give respite to tinnitus suffers who are probably considered blessed or lucky.
Raw garlic taken daily can also offer respite from tinnitus.

Tinnitus Home remedies, can work effectively only when they function as a component of Holistic Remedies meant for curing tinnitus for good

No matter how much freshly cut pineapple rings one may consume or take concoctions of gingko or black cohosh on a daily or monthly basis, there will never arise any appreciable relief to tinnitus for the simple reason that none of these address the disease condition in any form whatsoever. What these actually do is to deaden the symptoms for a short while and as soon as the provisional therapy is withdrawn, quick marches the symptoms. Holistic remedies, on the other hand, treat the body as a whole, seldom bothering with the symptoms. Symptoms are mere manifestation of the disease condition and when this is permanently alienated from the body, symptoms die a natural death. Holistic remedies, as a matter of fact, go much below the surface in order to identify the root causes that have created the disorder and then specify the appropriate range of medications that may include change of food habits and if necessary, change of lifestyle, acupuncture, acupressure and aerobics. But one may do well to bear in mind that home remedies, whether herbal or otherwise will only work when they form a part of holistic remedies – seldom on their own.

TinnitusMiracle.com

Unilateral Pulsatile Tinnitus

2010-01-23T08:09:00.000-08:00

Unilateral Pulsatile Tinnitus

From Tinnitus Miracle

To understand it better, let us take the headline apart and see the result at once. Unilateral stands for hearing the buzzing in one ear (bilateral involves both the ears); pulsatile stands for pulse-like sound effect while tinnitus represents all those tinkling, hissing. whooshing, roaring, tingling sounds that are heard by the affected person day in day out, turning him/her crazy like hell. Rejoining the title head we find the picture in its entirety where the person suffering from pulsatile tinnitus hears the resonance of his/her own heartbeat from which the name of the disease has been taken. However, the reason behind this strange phenomenon is erratic or constricted blood flow in the arteries that run through the head and neck region of the patient which sometimes correspond to the beating of the heart.

Unilateral pulsatile tinnitus falls under the category of subjective tinnitus in which the sound is heard only by the affected person and no one else. Detailed studies have revealed that it is usually associated with otologic disorders having two basic types of hearing problems – Conductive and Sensorineural. While the first one relates to inhibition of sound transmission to the inner ear, the later results from infection, disease condition or abnormality found in the inner ear. The uncommunicativeness can be triggered through a number of factors that comprise inflammation of the external acoustic canal from the otis externa, perforation of the tympanic membrane, cerumen impaction, collection of excessive fluid or discharge in the middle ear, etc. It may also happen due to otosclerosis, signifying abnormalities in the ossicular bone chain. Of course, problems arising out of the cochlear part of the 8^th cranial nerve should not be ruled out in this matter. NIHL or Noise-induced Hearing Loss and presbycusis (progressive loss of hearing with advancing age) are some of the common etiological factors responsible for this kind of hearing loss.

Unilateral Pulsatile Tinnitus – some of the causes

Though there is hardly any fatality factor associated with unilateral pulsatile tinnitus, it can, nonetheless be caused by heightened pressure in the head (hydrocephalus) as well as hardening of the arteries, both considered to be lethal in terms of medical science. However, one of the causative factors resulting in unilateral pulsatile tinnitus can be linked to the carotid artery and the jugular vein, both of which are located fairly close to the inner ear and so are likely to conduct noise to it. Sometimes a vericosal vein structure can also transmit beating sound to the middle ear, resembling heartbeat. A rather rare but plausible cause that may give rise to the beating sound is ‘dehiscence’ that is the missing bone of the jugular vein and an unusually formed carotid artery. This part of the information has seemingly been gleaned from a post mortem examination conducted on person suffering from unilateral pulsatile tinnitus. Apart from such complex issues, unilateral pulsatile tinnitus is also caused due to hyperthyroidism, below normal blood viscosity and poor and erratic blood flow in the head and neck region.

How does unilateral pulsatile tinnitus affect the victim

Very unenviably indeed! The patient suffers from two different kinds of ailment. While one type makes him/her suffer from giddiness, loss of balance and unilateral feeling of heaviness in the ear, the other subjects the person to hear his/her own heartbeat day in and day out 24 x 7.

On top of all that there is no hope of recovery unless one opts for Holistic way of treatment which is rather rigid, having no room for tomfoolery. However, here are some of the basics, cited for the benefit of the readers. It involves some of the following and many more :

Elimination of meat and/or meat-based food items, viz. ham, bacon, sausages, salami, beef, pork and other kinds of exotic meat dishes.
Elimination of tinned or processed food
Elimination of fried and spicy food
Elimination of fast food
Discarding alcohol or alcohol-based beverages
Consuming fruits and vegetables on regular basis
Eating fibrous food like whole grain bread, organic food and dry fruit
Practicing Yoga and deep breathing
Following less stressful lifestyle.

If someone follows what has been mentioned above, the person can get a cure from the factors that go on to cause unilateral pulsating tinnitus, which is…

Sinusitis in acute form
Tension and stress
Damage to the cochlear nerve

This sure will lead to a healthful physical state that would take care of the three factors (acute sinusitis; stress and tension and cochlear nerve damage) that are responsible for unilateral pulsating tinnitus. However, one should bear in mind that in Holistic method of treatment the body is treated as a whole in order to identify and locate the root causes of the disease condition and then specify the appropriate remedy. Conventional medicine, on the other hand, put emphasis on the symptoms, ignoring the root cause of the disease and that is precisely why the holistic remedy is ideal fro treating unilateral pulsatile tinnitus.

TINNITUS MIRACLE.COM

Information about Tinnitus

2010-01-23T07:14:00.000-08:00

What Is Tinnitus?

fine out about Tinnitus here

But you can first read the information about Tinnitus here and for completely please visit Tinnitus site.

For those who have visited Madison Square Garden in the New York City to hear Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 in C minor on a New Year’s Eve, the music must have remained with them for a few brief minutes even after it had stopped playing in the vast arena. Well, this is quite normal. Beethoven’s composition lingers long in the ears after the music has actually stopped. But if that continues till the next morning and persists thereafter that calls for a medical check up which will invariably diagnose it as a case of Tinnitus. And there is nothing outstanding or exceptional about it since millions of Americans suffer from Tinnitus and they keep suffering since no cure for tinnitus has yet been found.

Even though the word has been derived from the Latin expression tinnitus, which means ‘ringing’, the sound heard by the affected person vary a lot. It may range from hissing, whooshing, ticking, clicking to humming, droning, whining and buzzing. In short, it is enough to drive a person crazy, looking for relief from pillar to post.

What is Tinnitus and what are its various types?

Clinically speaking, tinnitus represents any ringing or buzzing in the ear not resulting from an external stimulus. However, there are several forms of tinnitus, each one of them capable of thoroughly disrupting the life of the patient. There is subjective tinnitus where the ringing or the wheezing is heard by the patient alone and objective tinnitus in which the doctor can also hear the noise by using acoustic instruments. Some of these are unilateral (can be heard in one ear) or bilateral where it is heard in both the ears. Persons suffering from Pulsatile Tinnitus can hear their own heartbeats while Somatic Tinnitus resonances lie outside the ear, probably beyond the cochlear nerves and is believed to arise from central crosstalk within the grey matters. Chronic Sinusitis Tinnitus could be a nasty customer, being caused by thickened mucus trapped within the middle ear space from which it is difficult to drain the mucus out.

Here are some of the underlying causes of tinnitus…

Atherosclerotic Carotid Artery Disease in which the arteries become narrowed due to heavy cholesterol buildup that result in uneven blood flow to the head and neck area. This gives rise to agonizing heartbeat sounds that can be heard in the ears of the tinnitus patient. Mostly associated with elderly patients having history of diabetes, hypertension, angina pectoris as well as persistent high blood pressure.
Benign Intracranial hypertension may also cause Tinnitus (Pulsatile?). This is exemplified by heightened pressure in the cerebrospinal fluid that covers the brain. Usual victims are young obese females.
Damaged nerve, particularly the nerve that runs between the brain and the ear.
Glomus tumor that consists of bunches of tissues and entangled blood vessels in the ear or the immediate surrounding area can become a cause of tinnitus. Young people often opt for surgical help while surgery is not recommended for the elderly as these tumors are extremely slow in growth.
Intracranial vascular lesion often causes tinnitus of aneurism and arteri-venous malformation or deformity that is usually typified by abnormal or irregular connection between the artery and the vein. This often results in arterial blood entering straight into the vein without going through the capillaries. The situation, as may be appreciated is rather grave, not only resulting in Tinnitus but also turning towards hemorrhage in the brain causing fatal consequences.
Middle ear effusion generally causes Pulsatile Tinnitus in middle aged patients. Accumulation of excess fluid in the middle ear due to inflammation in the Eustachian tubes causing blockage of the escape route and infection in the middle ear and further collection f fluid there gives rise unusual noise in the ear resembling pulse beats.
Meniere’s Disease is one of the commonest causes of tinnitus. It is related to a host of inner ear disorders, believed to be triggered by nonconforming inner ear fluid pressure.
In many cases, when so specific cause for tinnitus can be found after hearing tests are carried out, the blame can be put on depression and stress.
Acoustic Neuroma that consists of a benign tumor is often found responsible for causing this disorder. It usually occurs on the cranial nerve that runs from the brain to the inner ear and interferes with controlling of balance, giving rise to vertigo and related complications. Also known as Vestibular Schwannoma, it affects only one ear in most cases.
Incessant exposure to earsplitting noise is considered as the commonest cause for tinnitus

Now that tinnitus have become a fully open book for anyone to take lesson from, it is time to see how best to cure it. Unfortunately that database is lying absolutely blank as no known conventional method of addressing the underlying causes of the disease condition has yet been found out. What actually happens is that, conventional treatments just treat the symptoms, without really finding out the root causes and thus, the symptoms often come back, as soon as the effect of the treatment wanes. The only way tinnitus can be tamed permanently is through a holistic regime that may involve total change of lifestyle and many others. Ask any sufferer, he/she will instantly agree to do so in exchange for a lifetime relief.

This article is based on the book, "Tinnitus Miracle" by Thomas Coleman. Thomas is an author, researcher, nutritionist and health consultant who dedicated his life to creating the ultimate Tinnitus solution guaranteed to permanently reverse the root of ear ringing and naturally and dramatically improve the overall quality of your life, without the use prescription medication and without any surgical procedures. Learn more by visiting his website:

TinnitusMiracle.com