Archive for April, 2008

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Rock Band - Is the game educationally useful?

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

Have you seen the latest craze going around?
Its these computer games which simulate playing musical instruments, and you have to play the music as it scrolls down the screen. You get awarded points if you hit the correct drum at the right time - and like any game it is of course highly addictive and [...]

Websites for music education

Monday, April 28th, 2008

What makes a good website for music education?
I created my first website in 1998 - when the internet was really new!
Back then all you needed was a few links and maybe one or two articles and you got listed in search engines pretty quickly.
My question today is - what really makes a website cool for [...]

Learning Rock Drumming - All over again!

Friday, April 25th, 2008

Last Friday I got a bunch of DVD courses from Jared Falk - the guy behind the Rock Drumming System which is one of the most popular DVD courses on the Internet.

I actually bought them all - because I really wanted to know what they were like….are they really up to the promises that are [...]

Conga and Bongo - Whats the difference?

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

This is part of the Percussion Fundamental Series of Posts - Its intended as basic information for general music teachers - Its not trying to put a point of view or an indepth look!
“Bongo Drums” are the term that are often given to any drum that is played by the hands, however in the strictest [...]

Buying Drums Cheap - What to look out for

Friday, April 18th, 2008

There are so many variations when it comes to buying drums!
What DO you look out for?
How do you know if the salesperson in the shop really knows what they are talking about?
Is Brand X better than Brand Y because Brand Y used to be good, but now they are made in china?
The fact is that [...]

Glockenspiel Instructions

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

A Glockenspiel or “Orchestral Bells” can be one of the most beautiful instruments - but it can also be one of the most demanding and taxing on the ears for the classroom or percussion teacher.

Here are some tips and tricks on keeping the glockenspiel under control in any band!
1) Always go for one pair of quality, [...]

How to Tune Drums

Monday, April 14th, 2008

How to Tune Your Drums
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
Knowing how to properly tune your drums is vital to having a great sounding drum kit. Even if you are a novice drummer, having a well tuned drum kit will make you stand out above the rest. This is a guide [...]

Drum Ensemble Sheet Music

Friday, April 11th, 2008

I’ve just launched another package offer from KT Percussion
In this one I’ve put together the five pieces which I believe are most useful in getting a drum ensemble going in your school.
I did this over and over again at several schools. I found that if I started with something that got the kids in and [...]

Classroom Tuned Percussion

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

Do you know where to go to find good classroom tuned percussion?
I’ve scoured the internet to find the best places to get classroom tuned percussion instruments
1) Online Retailers
There are a few online retailers in the US who stock and sell Classroom Percussion Instruments.
One is Woodwind and Brasswind, where you can get a complete range of [...]

A New Mallet Percussion Resource Guide

Monday, April 7th, 2008

 
I’ve just discovered a brand new website - this is everything that a website should be..  its clean, uncluttered and full of useful and relevant information!
You can learn about the history of the Vibraphone, the Marimba and Glockenspiel, and listen to mp3 excerpts of them being played.
Theres also a list of the influential players on [...]

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