Music Facts & Interesting Insights all about music culture

With so much of our time being spent at work, and so much of our work being done at computers, music has become inseparable from our day-to-day tasks — a way to “optimize the boring” while looking at screens.

• Classical music: No lyrics are always a popular choice.
• Electronic music: It’s repetitive but in a good way.
• Video-game music: Game composers know the ideal music enhances the experience while not distracting the player.
• Anything soft enough to not divert attention and focus is a great addition to your playlist .
• White noise or nature sounds.

• Listening to music with lyrics is distracting for most people. It’s best to avoid it when working on tasks that require focus or the learning of new information.
• Listening to music with lyrics may help people working on repetitive or mundane tasks. 
• Classical or rock music allows people to identify numbers more quickly and accurately.
• Ambient noise, or ambient music, at about 70 decibels can be the best kind of music for work productivity. But increasing it over 85 decibels hurts creativity.
• Searching for the right artist can detract from workplace productivity but, once you know what works for you, music can become a tool for near-instant concentration.

Music has a real impact on human emotions and perception. Music activates different areas of the brain in different people, but there are general brain and mood patterns revealed by music research.

For the most part, research suggests that listening to music can improve your efficiency, creativity and happiness in terms of work-related tasks. 

Our brains respond differently to happy or sad music.

One study revealed that participants interpreted a neutral expression as happy or sad to match the tone of the music they heard. 

Another study tested drivers while listening to their own choice of music, silence or “safe” music provided by the researchers. The results showed that drivers made more mistakes and drove more aggressively when listening to their own choice of music. Unfamiliar music resulted in safer driving.

One study indicated that children who had three years or more of musical instrument training performed better in:

• auditory discrimination abilities
• fine motor skills
• vocabulary
• nonverbal reasoning skills

Music is processed in different ways:

• one part of our brain decodes pitch and tempo
• other parts tap into memory and emotion
• if you are playing an instrument, the body is also involved.

Some studies show that music can help improve movement in patients who have Parkinson’s disease, or people who have lost mobility or battle with language due to a stroke.

In one study, in particular, Alzheimer’s patients seem to maintain the ability to recognize music.

Listening to music engages a huge network throughout the brain because music has so many components to it. It keeps your brain fit and healthy.

Music is also very therapeutic. It can lift your mood and help you to relax.

One of the most remarkable effects of music on the brain is that it stimulates the release of dopamine, which is a brain mediator that lifts your spirit. We produce 9% more dopamine from the music we particularly like.

What does that have to do with creativity? There's evidence that dopamine helps the creative effort.

Studies found that metal music calms people with anger issues and makes them feel better.

Music helps with making memories from long ago feel relevant again. When you hear a song that had specific meaning to you in the past, the memory of that moment will come back with unbelievable details.

Alzheimer’s patients can sing the songs that they learned as young adults. This is a promising step in treating patients suffering from dementia and those with brain injuries.

Fast melodies make time seem to accelerate. Slow songs make time seem to slow down.

Grocery store checkout lines and waiting rooms both use music because it alters a person’s judgment of time.

Music is powerful enough to control all levels of pain when an injury occurs. Music helps bridge the gap between events when the brain experiences it. 

Creating music can have a positive effect on physical comfort, energy, fatigue, and anxiety.

Several studies confirmed that particular character traits correspond to musical preferences. For example:

• Opera fans are generally found to be gentle, creative, with a high level of self-esteem.
• Country music fans are found to be outgoing and very hardworking.
• Reggae fans are found to be far more laid back and much more at ease.

Listening to your favorite music will help stimulate adrenaline secretion, and other hormones, which will boost your mental focus and physical energy levels. This is also true during exercise sessions and other household chores.

Certain types of music increase a person’s visual attention levels.

Stroke patients who participated in a small study. showed improved eye movement and task completion during the times when they listened to pleasant music.

• Hormones like cortisol get released by the body when we listen to music that we don’t enjoy. When the cortisol levels increase, higher levels of anxiety begin to appear.
• When we listen to music which we are fond of, then dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins are released. This makes us feel glad, confident, and relaxed.

The rhythms of a song, together with physical actions, can help the brain to transfer memories of that moment to your long-term storage centers. Dancing to music has the same effect.

Music provides the foundation for social activities that help to connect people.

This is especially true if they share similar tastes in music.

A common side effect associated with heart disease includes stress and anxiety. 

Studies have shown that by listening to music, stress and tension levels dropped in patients treated for coronary heart disease.

Listening regularly to music that brings you joy can help you to identify facial expressions and body language associated with happy emotions.

Music therapy shows the largest improvements in emotional IQ with children on the autism spectrum.

The term "classical music" is a catchall for everything from solo piano works to Gregorian chant to contemporary instrumental sextets.

To help orientate yourself, start with some of the traditional smaller ensembles where three or four musicians play together.

• Canonical works include Beethoven's set of 16 and Shostakovich's of 15, or listen to living composers such as Elena Ruehr and Jefferson Friedman.
• Trios include Mozart's Divertimento in E-flat, or piano trios (written for a piano and two stringed instruments), such as Schubert's.

• For conventional music, listen to the piano works of Cecile Chaminade or Lili Boulanger's Nocturne for Violin and Piano.
• You can find different musical timbres and textures in Lou Harrison's Suite for Violin and American Gamelan.
• Bach's unaccompanied suites for solo cello can be returned to throughout your life.

You’ll feel sad, you’ll feel angry, depressed and all other bad emotions. Even positive people have negative thoughts, they just don't let them control them. 

Life is made of happy and sad moments but as this quote says, the sad moments also help us to live and to move on.

Don’t let negative moments control you. You are not your insecurities. Be strong and learn how to take the good from these moments, as you venture on life’s journey.

A 2010 study led by sport psychologist C.I. Karageorghis found that music can improve the way we exercise. This happens in two ways: it can help you feel less fatigued, or increase the time dedicated to the workout. This study stated that music can lead to “higher-than-expected levels of endurance, power, productivity, or strength.”

Researchers from Pavia University, Italy, found that music with quicker tempos helped people breathe better, making sure their heartbeat was up.

If you're a plant person, you should probably play some good music while watering them because it can help with their growth. Researchers at the National Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology in South Korea found that music can make plants grow faster as well as healthier.

According to University of Michigan Health System, music ushers activity in the area of the brain that releases the 'pleasure chemical' dopamine during sex and eating.

Like going to the club? Well, the music might be facilitating a good time given that Université de Bretagne-Sud in France noticed that loud music can make a person drink faster in less time.

According to University of Montreal, babies tend to be twice as calm when listening to music than they do when you're talking.

A research, published in the journal Neuropsychological Rehabilitation, observes that music can facilitate memory recalling in people with severe brain injury.

"Singing has psychological benefits because of its normally positive effect in reducing stress levels through the action of the endocrine system which is linked to our sense of emotional well-being. Psychological benefits are also evident when people sing together as well as alone because of the increased sense of community, belonging and shared endeavor”, observes Professor Graham Welch, who has served as the Chair of Music Education at the Institute of Education at University of London.

A study conducted in Spain at the Instituto Marqués proved that even unborn babies can not only listen to music, but also react to it! "The foetuses responded to the music by moving their mouths and their tongues as if they wanted to speak or sing," said the Instituto Marqués.

A researcher from the Texas A&M College of Nursing found that babies who were born prematurely, experienced health benefits from listening to lullabies as their food intake increased and they felt more comfortable.

A research published on American Psychological Association showed that listening to music can help a person combat anxiety by reducing it.

The researchers, from Sussex University and the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, found that music could be used to help a patient's recovery, especially if they've been admitted to the hospital.

According to research at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm ,drummers tend to have a strong sense of problem-solving.

A study published in the journal Learning and Individual Differences found that students performed academically better after a one-hour lecture, with classical music in the background than students who studied the same syllabus without any music.

The 20th century has seen musical creativity, diversity and experimentation, taking a cue from the past music styles, while utilizing the newly available resources and technology.

Innovative changes have been seen in the kinds of instruments and noisemakers being used, combining chords, chord structures, and tempo modulation that created music not heard in the decades before.

The composers made use of dissonant chords, polychords, tone clusters and other creative music-making techniques to create their own unique sound.

The middle ages had a monopolistic musical texture, which later morphed into vocal music with church choirs, based on the sacred Gregorian chants.

Music has probably played an essential role in humans. Evidence shows that early man developed primitive flutes from animal bones and used stones and wood as percussion.

Surviving Greek notation has given scientists a clue to how the music of the early Greeks and later the Romans might have sounded. Instruments featured during these times include the trumpet as an instrument of announcement and the lyre as an integral player in the songs of poets.

• In the early part of the first century, the monasteries and abbeys across Europe became places where music was part of the lives of those devoted to God.
• Early Christian music had its roots in the practices of the Hebrew people, and it became the basis for sacred music for centuries.
• Pope Gregory (540-604 AD) is credited with developing the Gregorian Chant, characterised by the open, perfect fifth sound.

During this time, music was practised by kings and paupers alike. The sound of this music becomes increasingly familiar due to the development of musical notation.

The written music that survived makes it possible to assemble an image of a vibrant culture. Throughout this period, music adopted more elaborate structures and devices that produced works of immense beauty. Important musical forms of this era include the motet, the sacred Mass, and the madrigal.

Josquin des Pres is thought to be one of the early Renaissance composers and a great master of the polyphonic style, combining many voices to create complex musical textures. Palestrina, Thomas Tallis and William Byrd built on his ideas, composing stunning motets, masses, chanson and instrumental works.

Instruments like the bassoon and trombone gave rise to larger instrumental groupings, allowing composers more scope to explore their creative ideas.

This period has many famous composers and pieces of Western Classical music known for their musical and instrumental developments. Italy, Germany, England and France dominated the musical landscape, influencing one another.

The most celebrated composers of the time are G F Handel, Bach, Vivaldi and Purcell. Instrumental music was composed along with vocal works. The preferred harmony is tonal, and the system of keys (major and minor) is used over modality. This allowed for more complex pieces.

Haydn and Mozart dominate the musical landscape of this period. Composers moved away from the polyphonic towards the homophonic, writing music that was simple and measured.

A key development is that of the Piano that replaced the Baroque harpsichord. Chamber music and orchestral music was a central quality of this era. The orchestra was firmly established and included the clarinets, trombones, and timpani. Opera became a fully-developed musical form of entertainment.

Beethoven made a notable change into the Romantic Era. His genius shaped the Romantic period by redefining many of the established musical conventions.

The era saw developments in the quality and range of instruments as composers allowed their deepest emotions and dreams to shape their music. Debussy and Ravel are key composers of this movement and composed extensively for the piano.

Cantata comes from the Italian word cantare, which means "to sing." It originated in the early 17th-century, but, as with any musical form, it has evolved through the years.

At the very beginning, cantatas referred to a music piece that is meant to be sung. Loosely defined today, a cantata is a vocal work with multiple movements and instrumental accompaniment; it can be based on either a secular or sacred subject.

Originally, chamber music referred to a type of classical music that was performed in a small space such as a house or a palace room. The number of instruments used was few and without a conductor to guide the musicians.

Today, chamber music is performed very similarly in terms of the size of the venue and the number of instruments used.

Choral music refers to music which is sung by a choir. Each musical part is sung by two or more voices. 

The size of a choir varies; it can be as few as a dozen singers or as large as to be able to sing Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 in E Flat Major, also known as Symphony of a Thousand.

The suite is a type of instrumental dance music that emerged during the Renaissance and was further developed during the Baroque Period.

It consists of several movements or short pieces in the same key and functions as dance music or dinner music during social gatherings.

Music theory will give you a better understanding of music. It is not a set of rules but a tool to help you understand, create, and communicate music.

The best is to learn music fundamentals first. The building blocks of musical compositions include:

• Harmony - When multiple notes play at the same time to produce a harmonious new sound.
• Melody - Notes in succession that are arranged into a musical phrase.
• Rhythm - A recurring movement of notes and rests and a pattern of strong and weak notes.

The fugue is a type of polyphonic composition or compositional technique based on a principal theme (subject) and melodic lines (counterpoint) that imitate the principal theme. 

The fugue is believed to have developed from the canon which appeared during the 13th century.

Also known as church music, it is music performed during worship or a religious rite. It evolved from the music performed in Jewish synagogues.

 In its early form, singers were accompanied by an organ, then by the 12th-century liturgical music adapted a polyphonic style.

Motet emerged in Paris around the year 1200. It is a type of polyphonic vocal music which uses rhythm patterns. 

Early motets were both sacred and secular; touching on subjects like love, politics and religion. It flourished until the 1700s and today is still being used by the Catholic Church.

An opera is generally referred to as a stage presentation or work that combines music, costumes, and scenery to tell a story. Most operas are sung, with few or no spoken lines. 

The word "opera" is actually a shortened word for the term "opera in musica".

It is a form of medieval church music that involves chanting; it emerged around 100 C.E. 

Plainchant does not use any instrumental accompaniment. Instead, it uses words that are sung. It was the only type of music allowed in Christian churches early on.

Polyphony is a characteristic of Western music.

It began when singers started improvising with parallel melodies, with emphasis on fourth (ex. C to F) and fifth (ex. C to G) intervals. This marked the start of polyphony wherein several musical lines were combined.

As singers continued experimenting with melodies, polyphony became more elaborate and complex.

A round is a vocal piece wherein different voices sing the same melody, at the same pitch, but the lines are successively sung.

An early example of a round is Sumer is icumen in, a piece that is also an example of a six-voice polyphony. The children's song Row, Row, Row Your Boat is another example of a round.

A symphony often has 3 to 4 movements. The beginning is moderately fast, the next section is slow followed by a minuet, and then a very fast conclusion.

Symphonies had its roots from Baroque sinfonias, but composers like Haydn (known as "The Father of the Symphony") and Beethoven (whose popular work includes the "Ninth Symphony") further developed and influenced this music form.

Harmony combines chords and chord progressions. Not all harmonies sound pleasing to the ear.

• Dissonant harmony doesn't sound pleasant when played together. It adds tension and makes the chord sound unstable.
• Consonant harmony sounds balanced and pleasant.

Musicians combine consonant and dissonant harmonies to make music more interesting.

The melody of the song is often the most recognisable part. Most compositions have multiple melodies that repeat.

Two primary elements of a melody:

1. Pitch is how high or low a note will sound.
2. Rhythm is the duration of each pitch.

There are two types of melodic motion that musicians combine to give melodies more variation:

1. Conjunct motion is when notes move by whole or half steps with shorter leaps between the notes.
2. Disjunct motion has larger leaps between the notes.

Rhythm is the backbone for other musical elements. Understanding rhythm can help you make great music.

• Beat: A repeating pulse.
• Meter: A specific pattern of strong and weak pulses.
• Time Signature: The number of beats per measure.
• Tempo: How fast or slow the music plays.
• Strong and Weak Beats: The downbeats are the strong beats, and the offbeats are the weak beats.
• Syncopation: Rhythms that accent or emphasize the offbeats.
• Accents: Where the emphases are placed on the notes.

• The musical alphabet consists of seven letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and repeat. They are the white keys, and each note has a specific pitch.
• There are 12 notes on the piano keyboard: A, A#/B♭, B, C, C#/D♭, D, D#/E♭, E, F, F#/G♭, G, G#/A♭. The sharps (#) and flats (♭) are often the black keys on a piano.
• Octaves are the next highest or lowest pitch of the same note.
• Key signatures indicate what notes in a scale are sharp (♯) or flat (♭).

There are five types of intervals in music: major (M), minor (m), perfect (P), augmented (A), and diminished (d). They are measured by the number of half steps and whole steps, and their position in the scale.

Intervals are the foundation of harmony (paying two or more notes together) and melody (playing single notes in sequence).

A music scale is a set of notes within an octave and arranged by their pitch. The notes from a scale form melodies and harmonies.

The two main types of scales are major and minor scales and can start from any note.

• Major scales are happy sounding and follow the same interval pattern of whole-whole-half-whole-whole-whole-half.
• Minor scales sound dark and sad and follow the same interval pattern of whole-half-whole-whole-half-whole-whole.

There are twelve minor scales with three variations: natural, harmonic, and melodic.

Musical modes are scales and are made from a parent scale. They use the same notes and interval patterns, but the scale is started on a different note.

The seven musical modes are:

• I – Ionian: major scale
• ii – Dorian: major scale starting on the 2nd degree
• iii – Phrygian: major scale starting on the 3rd degree
• IV – Lydian: major scale starting on the 4th degree
• V – Mixolydian: major scale starting on the 5th degree
• vi – Aeolian: natural minor scale or major scale starting on the 6th degree
• vii – Locrian: major scale starting on the 7th degree

Chords are the harmonious building blocks of music. Knowing how to build chords and how they interact is essential when learning music theory.

There are four basic types of chords in music:

1. Major – It has a major third and a perfect fifth above the root
2. Minor – It has a minor third and a perfect fifth above the root
3. Diminished – It has a minor third and a diminished fifth above the root
4. Augmented – It has a major third and an augmented fifth above the root.

• The most basic chords are triads - a chord made of three notes.
• The seventh chords add a note above the basic triad. For example, C major seventh has the notes C-E-G-B.
• Major chords have a root note, a major third, and a perfect fifth, for example, a C major triad has the notes C-E-G.
• Minor chords have a root note, a minor third and a perfect fifth, for example, a C minor triad consists of the notes C-E♭-G.
• Diminished chords sound tense. They have a root note, minor third, and diminished fifth. For example, a C diminished triad has the notes: C-E♭-G♭.

• Chord extensions add notes to the basic triad beyond the seventh. They extend into the next octave and are richer than basic triads.
• Chord inversions are variations of the same chord. Transferring the bottom note in a chord to the next octave makes an inversion.
• Chord progressions is an ordered series of chords and support the melody and the rhythm.

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, And What The Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are evaluated every Billboard chart-topping tune released between 1960 and 2000, using data from Spotify, along with the ages of those songs' biggest fans.

He found out that the average woman's musical tastes are formed between the ages of 11 and 14, while an average man's music tastes are virtually cemented between the ages of 13 and 16.

Therefore, by our early 20s, our music tastes get locked into place pretty firmly.

Launch a sound recording app on your computer or smartphone. Then, adjust the audio input settings so that it records a pure, unaltered version of your voice. Practice singing to various songs and recording the outcome.

Print out the lyrics of a song that you enjoy. Spend some time getting to know the nuances of the lyrics. Then, work on the details of how you can change your voice inflections to transform the song itself.

Singing is not just about noise coming from your throat and releasing out of your mouth. Concentrate on singing the same song, but adding vocal inflections by manipulating your tongue, mouth, diaphragm, throat, and even nose. Recording these vocalizations and playing them back can help you to understand your body and the sounds it can produce

Before you practice each song, ask yourself what emotions you'd like to convey to the listener. Then, try to interweave those emotions within each song. Work on thinking of a particular event or moment in your life that evokes emotions similar to the ones that you want to express.

Sing along with a piano and try to match your pitch to the instrument. The lowest and highest pitch points that you can hit without your voice cracking or breaking marks your range. Make sure that you are singing with your chest, not your nose or throat, or you'll identify the wrong range.

A strong mental wellbeing is closely aligned with optimistic and positive feelings.

The bright musical tones and lyrics will change or elevate your mood and empower you for the day ahead.

Up-tempo, fast-paced music gets your brain and body moving, making you amped up and motivated to enjoy what’s ahead.

In fact, researchers have claimed classical and ambient music have the best mood-boosting benefits, while metal and hard electronic music were considered to have the opposite effect.

Whether playing in the background or you’re giving it your full attention, certain genres of music have the innate ability to reduce stress.

Soft, ambient music provides calming stimulation for the mind. In this case, best avoid loud rock or metal to moderate your stress.

If you’re looking to wash away some stress, search for playlists that contain a lot of ambient and quiet music.

Trying to stay focussed and concentrate on an activity—whether that be studying, working or cleaning—can be difficult for some.

Certain types of music are known to boost focus, so it’s important to know which music is right for improving focus.

We recommend listening to instrumental, classical or ambient music.

Understanding how music affects your emotions goes a long way to help ease anxious and depressive thoughts.

Music Therapy has become a popular form of treating anxiety and depression.

It’s an exercise in listening and composing therapeutic music to promote physical and mental rehabilitation.

In fact, a recent study by Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson of Mindlab International has shown instrumental, classical or ambient music can help reduce anxiety by up to 65%.

According to a Canadian study, about 98.5% of people can be taught how to sing. The 1,5% that can't sing suffer from congenital amusia, where they have difficulty differentiating between different pitches, tones, or rhythms.

If at first, a person sings a note incorrectly, most can quickly notice it and correct themselves. Researchers found it is not how much you practice, but how quickly you can identify and correct your error.

For many different people across the world, Music is one of the most integral parts of their day, myself included.

Even as I am creating this, I have music playing in the background. 

Using observation, are we able to find convincing evidence that Music helps us focus and study more effectively?

In general, listening to Music has a plethora of different, positive effects on the human body. Some of these positive effects include:

1. Reduction in stress
2. Alleviation of depression symptoms
3. Increases workout endurance
4. Elevation of Mood
5. Stimulation of Memories

Since there are many programs and resources available, you can easily try making and sharing music using a computer and some simple gear. Start by getting instruments and recording equipment so you can play and record your music right at home. Begin brainstorming ideas for rhythms and melodies to use so you can write your songs. Once you have an idea for a song written, record and mix it on your computer so you can share it with other people!

1. Choose a digital audio workstation so you can record and mix your music.
2. Buy a condenser microphone and stand to record vocals or live instruments.
3. Get an audio interface to connect instruments and mics to a computer.
4. Use headphones so you can listen to your song clearly.
5. Select studio monitors for when you’re mixing songs.
6. Pick an instrument that you want to play.

1. Decide on the genre that you want to write.
2. Choose a chord progression for the song to follow.
3. Try improvising on your instrument to find a melody you like.
4. Make a beat for your song with drums or software instruments.
5. Structure your song with verses and choruses to make it more memorable.
6. Write lyrics if you want to sing over your instrumental.

1. Hook up your microphone and audio interface to your computer.
2. Record live instruments or vocals with your microphone.
3. Use software instruments to add drum beats, synthesizers, or samples.
4. Edit your song to remove background noise and make instruments on beat.
5. Adjust the mix of your song to raise or lower the instruments’ volumes.
6. Export your song as a WAV or MP3 file.
7. Upload your song online so you can share it with other people.

Music often feels like it is part of our subconscious. It is constantly playing in the background, at the coffee shop, in the elevator, and working from home.

In 2017, Nielsen estimated that Americans spend over 32 hours a week on average listening to music. It's then not a surprise that we remember music and can easily recall lyrics and melodies. 

If you’ve ever moved to a beat, joined in a chorus or felt your heart quicken to the lyrics of a song, you’ve felt the power of music. That power runs deep in the human experience, and the urge to dive fully into the sounds, to make those sounds and share them, is strong.

Most of us had musical experiences as children, whether it was singing during religious services, taking lessons that our parents supervised, or attending music clubs in school.

But playing music as an adult is different. We have pressing obligations, no supervising parents and fewer opportunities thrust upon us.

Music brings us joy. But what else can it do? It can relax us, offer us solace, and give us a creative outlet. It can deepen our emotional experience, sharpen our hearing, and produce changes in our nervous systems that create a natural high. We’re able to enjoy tapping our feet to a beat because music fires up our neural systems through entrainment – the synchronisation of one’s own rhythms to an external musical rhythm.

Whether you approach music as a child would a playground, as a mathematician would a proof, as a painter would a canvas, or as an athlete would spring training, you can find satisfaction in your pursuit.

This Guide will help you take the first steps as you choose an instrument, learn how to practise, find ways to play with others, and develop techniques to keep moving forward.

Who knows where music might take you? Like all of us, you have music in your genes and in your head. Now you just need to take the next step toward music and follow the path where it leads you.

Finding an instrument that feels right is your first step. Whether or not you’ve played one in the past, this is a good time to consider what suits you now.

One approach is to follow your feelings. What instruments move you? Which ones draw you in when you’re listening to music?  Open your eyes and ears to the instruments you encounter and see if one moves you more than the others.

A singer's body is their instrument, intimate and unique. Your voice will change with time, and how it changes is partly up to you. With the help of a voice teacher, choir director or experienced friend, you can find your voice and develop it. Then you can explore how best to share it.

Many people begin with singing, and then learn an instrument to accompany their voices. Others play an instrument and realise they can learn to sing along with it.

Online teachers are now readily accessible for those who face obstacles to working with someone in person. And year-long subscriptions to mass video lessons, audio files and other materials offer a wealth of targeted information and individual feedback from working musicians.

If you have self-discipline and can stay motivated without structure or deadlines, YouTube videos can take you far. You could spend a lifetime exploring online resources for singing, writing songs, playing instruments, and synthesising music. 

There are many learning resources focused on how to practise. Here are a few basics to get you going:

• include warm-ups to prepare you mentally and physically;
• learn scales, which lay the foundation for understanding how to play a melody line or improvise;
• play slowly while learning a piece to help you play it cleanly;
• focus on sections that give you trouble rather than playing an entire piece repeatedly;
• practise in shorter and more frequent sessions for best results; and
• incorporate mental practice into your routine (here’s why and how).

When we’re new to an instrument and fumbling to make satisfying sounds, it’s more comfortable to make them in private. But some teachers argue that playing with others early is the key to learning and to sticking with it. Why? Because you’ll learn what you need to work on, experience moments of connection that keep you going, meet people who can help you, as well as get inspired and avoid the rut that can come from exclusively playing by yourself.

Almost every modern piano has 52 white keys and 36 black keys for a total of 88 keys (seven octaves plus a minor third, from A0 to C8).

Many older pianos only have 85 keys (seven octaves from A0 to A7). Some piano manufacturers extend the range further in one or both directions.

Have you ever woken up and noticed that your voice sounds completely different from how it usually does? Well, don't worry, you're not alone! In this article, we're going to explore the reasons behind why our voices change when we wake up