Music For Dummies

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Music Composition: Building Melodies Using Motifs

Musical themes in composition are characterized by three main categories: motif, melodic phrase, and period. You use these three kinds of melodic elements to build your compositions. Motif: A motif is the smallest form of melodic idea. It can be as short as two notes, like “cu coo,” or the first two notes of the theme from Star Wars. Melodic phrase: A melodic phrase can be up to four or more measures in length....

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Common Music Time Signatures

In music, a time signature tells you the meter of the piece youR...

Open Position Guitar Chords Chart

Open position guitar chords sound twangy because they include unfretted strings that are permitted to ring open. This char...

How to Create a Walking Bass Line

If you know how to create a walking bass line, you can be more...

Basic Flute Fingering Chart

This chart provides you with the basic fingerings for all the notes on the flute. Print out the illustrations if you want a hand...

Bass Guitar For Dummies Cheat Sheet

The real fun and challenge of playing a bass guitar is that...

Harmonica For Dummies, 2nd Edition

Harmonica For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Learning to play the harmonica starts with playing a single me...

Guitar All-In-One For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Learning to play the guitar is a lot fun. Use this cheat sheet to help you get started with your guitar finger pla...

The Different Types of Ukulele Tunings

Ukulele tunings have changed over time, and plenty of var...

How to Play the Piano or Keyboard in C and G Position

Position is a common term you hear regardi...

Mnemonics for Piano Notes

Reading piano music is a learned skill, and to help you remember the names of the lines and spaces for each staff and the notes th...

How to String A Steel-String Acoustic Guitar

Knowi...

How to Identify the Keys on a Piano

Modern piano keyboards make use of 52 white keys and 36 blac...

Guitar Theory For Dummies Cheat Sheet

Guitar theory is an area of study that explains how you can play, improvise, and compose popular music on the guitar f...

breathing techniques for singing

Breathing Checklist to Improve Singing

Breathing is breathing, right? Not so with singing. For s...

Playing Some Essential Mandolin Chords

Strumming chords is a great way to begin playing on the mandolin. Chords are groups of notes that are played together...

How to Play Country on the Piano or Keyboard

Before there was rock and roll, there was country....

How to Adjust the Truss Rod on a Bass Guitar

As the weather changes from season to season, the w...

Locating the Notes on the Musical Staff

Voice types are easier to figure out if you know where t...

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