Ready Set Gig!

By Professor Sound

Great performers understand that music is SEEN AND HEARD. But you don’t need a million-dollar light show to have great stage presence. Here are four tips for developing great stage persona to go with your music.

Confidence Is Key

Our music lessons focus on teaching kids how to play music, but that’s not enough to develop complete musicianship. For this reason, we also spend time working on stage presence. The most important thing you can do when working on stage presence is, project confidence! Here are tips to think about in the weeks leading up to performances to help our musicians be their best selves onstage.

#1: Practice Until You Know It Cold

Regardless of instrument, the best way to develop stage presence is to get to the point where playing the song flows naturally and doesn’t require your complete focus. The best way we know of to get to that point is practice, practice, practice! If you’re a singer, that means memorizing your lyrics, the melodies, the length of the guitar solo, where to breathe, etc. For instrument players, it means knowing your part until you are completely comfortable playing the song at your own ability level.

#2: Dress the Part and Move Around

It’s true – musicians dress differently, especially when onstage! It’s OK to dress outrageous – crazy hats, shoes, jackets and pants definitely add to the show. If you’re playing in a show with a theme, you can dress the part! Whatever you wear, be sure it’s something that lets you move around and play your instrument comfortably. This means well-fitting clothes are a must. Most live performance venues make wireless microphones available so the singer can move around. For guitar and bass players, a great practical tip is you should loop the cable up and through your guitar strap before plugging it into your guitar or bass – this way, if you accidentally step on the cable while walking around, you probably won’t accidentally unplug your instrument. You can also invest in a wireless transmitter and eliminate the cord connected to your instrument entirely! Keyboard players and drummers have a fixed place onstage, but that doesn’t mean you have to stand still - work on dancing in place while playing the keys, and twirling your drum sticks in between beats.

#3: Try Not to Look at Your Instrument

If you spend some time watching videos of bands playing music live onstage, you should notice that they don’t just stand there staring at their instrument! Playing music is tactile - the instrument is still going to be there, even when you’re not looking at it. In our music lessons, we have mirrors available, so our students can spend time performing in front of it. We want our students to understand what they look like. When practicing at home, spend time singing or playing your instrument in front of a mirror. Study what you’re doing, and look beyond the basics like posture or instrument handling. It’s ok to be a bit of a diva as you yourself some questions. If I was someone in the audience, would I want to watch what this person is doing? Do I look like I’m having a great time? Here, the goal is to be objective about stage presence without becoming too critical, as well as learning how to make eye contact with your reflection as you perform, without making mistakes.

#4: Show Emotions That Make Sense

By Professor Sound

The world’s gone topsy-turvy over coronavirus, and we’ve responded by setting up RSG Connect, a great new way to take music lessons online - with a LIVE, LOCAL instructor – all without ever leaving home!

How It Works

The premise is simple. We take what works in a face-to-face private music instruction, from basic drills and scales to playing along with recorded tracks. We combine it with cutting-edge cloud meeting app technology from Google. The result is highly customized online learning, delivered in the comfort of your own home.

It was always our intention to build up to some kind of online learning method, and but when Governor Sisolak announced the shutdown of Nevada schools on March 15th, we knew we had to act fast. So we mobilized to setup online lessons for our kids, and went live with online music lessons the very next day.  Training is available for clients by calling our main number, 702-688-5553, which is going directly through to our Technology Support Team. With RSG Connect, we now have a way to share our love of music while also promoting important social distancing principals to slow down the spread of coronavirus, protecting our clients, our staff, and the greater community. 

What You Need

All our clients need in order to take online lessons with us are as follows:

An instrument to practice and play on at home

A computer with webcam and microphone (smartphones and tablets also work)

Internet access

A Google ID

For now, we will focus on offering private lessons as the main service available via RSG Connect. For our Opening Act, Headliner, and MAD Rock programs, we are also having weekly virtual check-ins with the group to keep the kids connected with each other and encourage everyone to practice, but no music will be performed during the virtual check-ins. One limitation we’ve discovered with using web-based meeting technology for music is the unavoidable network latency makes it difficult for several musicians to play together in-time simultaneously as a band. We will continue to research technologies in the marketplace that can support group music play in a future version of RSG Connect.

Playing Music Together at a Distance

By Professor Sound

STEM education has become the talk of the town among Henderson parents. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math but at Ready Set Gig, the M stands for Music. Our DJ lessons are a great alternative to coding school for STEM education. We mash up two pillars of music theory - key and tempo – with equipment and software, then put kids onstage to perform live, for a one-of-a-kind experience!

STEM Education at a Music School? Really??

We’re dead serious! Our DJ program starts with one-on-one tutorials on how to use leading software programs like VirtualDJ and Serato. Our lessons also cover how to use the digital DJ (or DDJ) controller, which is a sophisticated piece of specialist technology. Online research is also a cornerstone of our DJ program. Mixing, or the process of building set lists, involves online research as well as a strong foundation in music theory, which we also provide. 

The two music theory cornerstones we spend the most time working with beginner DJs on in our program are: tempo for beat matching, and key matching and progression for harmonic mixing. Our DJ lessons teach how to use the software and controller to match tempo in order to keep the set list sounding fresh and tight. Regarding key progression, the most common system for harmonic mixing of set lists is called Camelot. This system is used by top DJs like Steve Aoki and Marshmello, and we teach it in our DJ lessons as well. Camelot is a practical application of the well-known music theory concept known as Circle of Fifths. Our instructors focus extensively on the Circle of Fifths to ensure students understand both how it works, and the science behind it. 

We Also Give Kids Actual DJ Experience!

Some parents ask why they should pay for lessons when anyone can just search online for info about Camelot System and other topics. The reason is because our DJ program gives students lots of opportunities to perform live. At RSG, we believe that life performance is a critical aspect for building musical skills. For one thing, it gives a focus toward practicing at home. It also gives direction in the lessons themselves, by focusing student attention on achieving a goal. Plus, live performance is fun! All our students perform at shows every 8-12 weeks. And, for our more advanced students who have demonstrated a commitment to an additional weekly rehearsal, we offer our invitation-only CORE Band program, which includes opportunities for monthly performance during our Third Friday Open House events. 

By Professor Sound

This article talks about some of the things Ready Set Gig! does to support education and community in Henderson and Las Vegas, and how to get in touch with us to talk about how we can help you achieve your fundraising goals. 

Partner Spotlight: ACS Bark for Life

In 2018, when Doug and Jason started Ready Set Gig! to offer theory-based performance music education for kids and adults in Henderson, they committed to make our brand of MUSIC EDUCATION AMPLIFIED a force for good in the Green Valley / McDonald Ranch community, and for Henderson as a whole. Doug is on the Board of Directors for the American Cancer Society Bark For Life event in Southern Nevada, and they’ve both seen how community pride exploded in Southern Nevada during the #VEGASSTRONG movement. They wanted our music school to take part in that.

Partner Spotlight: Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation

Shortly after we opened, the team at the Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation led by Emily Smith approached Jason about delivering music education onsite at their school. Some of our team members already had experience working with NBCF’s Beep Baseball program, so it was a perfect fit! This past January, we kicked off our 3rd semester of partnership to manage NBCF’s music program, and we are so proud of our NBCF kids and everything they’ve accomplished, from learning to play musical instruments through ear training to performing live onstage at NBCF-sponsored events.

Partner Spotlight: March of Dimes Nevada

In the spirit of building community, Doug and Jason also decided early on to offer free Open House events throughout the year, featuring live music by our students, free music mini-lessons to visitors, and light refreshments. Through the Open Houses, we became acquainted with Cheryl Chitupatham and her amazing parent volunteer team for March of Dimes Nevada. Jason’s own family has experienced firsthand the challenge NICU babies and their families face, and were grateful for March of Dimes giving our students the chance to perform live at a recent March of Dimes event. Last December, we also partnered with March of Dimes Nevada to offer a community drop-off location to gather donation items for NICU babies, which many of our students’ families contributed to as well.

Support for Parent-Teacher Involvement

Our community involvement extends into support for education of the kids in our area as well. We periodically hold Parent’s Night Out events to support the parent-teacher associations and organizations for schools in the community. Through this work, along with matching gifts from an anonymous donor, we’ve raised hundreds of dollars each year to support the initiatives of parents in support of their children’s educations at several area schools, including Bartlett Elementary, Lamping Elementary, and Explore Knowledge Academy.

We Can Help You, Too!

By Professor Sound

Music is the greatest feeling in the world and has a language all its own. In this article, we talk about the benefit of learning music theory the fun way, alongside with ear training as you master singing and playing musical instruments.

Performance and Music Theory Go Together

We’ve said before many times that Ready Set Gig is not a conservatory – it’s a fun place to learn how to play your favorite music on vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keys/piano, drums, and DJ. We also believe music theory and performance go together like all those great partnerships throughout human history – from salt and pepper to peanut butter and jelly, from Shawn Mendes & Camila Cabello to Ash Ketchum & Pikachu. And we believe our official theory guide, called Music Theory for Musicians and Normal People by Dr. Toby Rush (found online at https://tobyrush.com), is the best way for kids to get exposed to music theory. If you’re still asking why you should learn some music theory while learning to play an instrument, here are some reasons to consider.

Our Theory Guide is Fun!

Dr. Rush’s guide is written in graphic novel format, and covers all the basic elements of music theory you need to know. From pitch to tone, notation to meter, and everything in between, it’s all here. Plus, Sparky the Music Theory Dog is adorable (WOOF!).

You Need a Little Theory to Write Songs

Yup, it’s true – if you ever want other people to play your music, you need to know how to write it down. And the way to do it is with those little dots with the sticks on top called notes, lined up in rows of lines called staffs, which form “songs.” Modern songs have different parts, called intro, verses, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, and outro. Not every song has all the parts, but it helps if you know what all the parts actually are, because it will improve your play and get you to the point where you express your own feelings through the songs you write yourself!

We Benchmark Everything We Teach

Our benchmarks also work hand-in-glove with Dr. Rush’s guide during our private lessons. We have a list of standard benchmarks for every instrument we teach. Think of the benchmarks as a roadmap for student progress. This way, you always understand where your children are heading in our program, along with what it takes to get there.

You Need Music Theory to Escape Middle School

By Professor Sound

Your child has told you they dream of singing like Billie Eilish, Adam Levine, or Taylor Swift - now what? Here’s some advice on questions you can ask when looking for vocal lessons, as well as an honest look at the pros and cons of joining a music performance program like ours vs. other options, like hiring a freelance vocal instructor who comes to your home, or joining a choir. 

Questions To Ask When Looking For Vocal Lessons

Henderson, NV offers singers and their families many different options regarding specialty music schools for singing lessons. As you consider visiting area music schools, questions you can ask about include: 

What is the travel time for this school to my house?

What style of music is taught most here? Just rock, or other genres, too?

Does the program focus only on ear training, or is theory also involved? 

Will my child be provided materials like sheet music to learn their parts?

Are singing lessons available on days and times that are convenient? 

Does the school offer a free trial lesson?

What is the policy regarding rescheduling a lesson?

If the instructor doesn’t connect with my child, can I change easily?

How well-maintained is the musical equipment at the music school?

Is the music school itself clean, open and welcoming, or dirty and dark? 

Are the instructors employees of the school, or independent contractors? 

Our Music School, Our Approach

At Ready Set Gig, we offer singers a chance to learn songs across many contemporary music genres (including Billie Eilish!), including rock, pop, hip-hop, and country. We offer a theory-based performance program that includes ear training as well as written sheet music. Our weekly private lessons last 45 minutes, and we offer a free 30-minute trial lesson for prospective students. We perform concerts at club venues about every 8-12 weeks as well. Since the focus of our program is on performing contemporary music, our student singers and vocalists get a chance to sing in 4- or 5-piece bands on chosen songs, under direction from a trained, professional musician. Our singers are encouraged to develop their individual vocal and singing talents, even as they perform with other kids around the same skill level. The 1-on-1 lessons focus on theory topics like pitch, range expansion, improving tone, and learning the songs. Rehearsals focus on learning to sing in time with student musicians on other instruments. All our staff are regular employees of our school who are background-checked. We do not use contractors. We use a list of vocal and singing benchmarks so parents can track progress, and we partner with noted professor Dr. Toby Rush at the University of Dayton to sponsor his high-quality, readable theory guide as a supplement to our other instruction for our students.

Comparing Other Options for Singing Lessons

Some parents consider private freelance instructors to teach their child how to sing. There’s certainly lots of singers out there! Private instructors may come to your home to give the lessons, or you may go to their home. Cost is per lesson, usually paid in cash, and you can cancel anytime. There are pros and cons to the convenience and low cost of a private in-home instructor. If you have to furnish the lesson space, you need to have a comfortable space in your home to do so. You also assume the risks related to inviting the instructor as a guest into your home. Also, private instructors usually don’t hold recitals, which is a missed opportunity for young singers, since performance is a great motivator to practice! Finally, keep in mind that, like any instrument, singing requires commitment and practice – one or even a handful of vocal lessons won’t be transformative. You have to stick with it!

Considering Choir for Young Singers

By Professor Sound

Are you looking for some quick tricks to switch up your play in your next guitar lesson? This article talks about different ways you can tune your guitar, which can breathe new life into your play.

Guitar Tuning: A Background

Guitar tuning is the method used to assign pitch to the strings of a guitar, when played open, or without your fingers pressing down on the fretboard. For highly trained musicians, tuning can be achieved simply by listening to the pitch made by playing the guitar string-by-string, but for novice guitarists, it’s better to use a device to assist with tuning. Some guitars and amps include tuners. Clip-on tuners are also common, as are apps you can download to your phone or tablet. You can even use a pitch pipe!

Standard Tuning

In American and British music since the 1940s, the most common tuning standard used is E-A-D-G-B-E. There’s a rich history behind how this particular tuning became standard.  Most sheet music and tabs you will find online for your favorite songs are written with standard tuning in mind, and it supports the most common chord positions you’ll learn in beginner guitar lessons, including the CAGED system. In addition to being how most people know how to tune, the main benefit of standard tuning is versatility. You can play lots of different kinds of songs with this tuning, from rock to classical, from jazz to country.

Drop Tuning

A common variation of standard tuning is called drop tuning. The way it works is, you tune one or two of your lowest strings down a half-step, a full step, or sometimes even more. For example, D-A-d-G-B-E tunes all strings except for low “E” down one full step to D. This is a popular tuning for hard rock and heavy metal, making it easy to play power chords on the two thickest strings of the guitar down lower than you can normally accomplish in standard tuning. The rest of the strings remain in their standard tuning. A great example of a song played in drop D tuning is “I Miss the Misery” by Halestorm.

Lowered Tuning

The lowered tuning method picks up where drop tuning leaves off, by tuning down all the strings by the same number of steps. For example, D# tuning has all strings tuned down a half-step from standard:  D#-G#-C#-F#-A#-D#, and was popular throughout the classic rock and folk movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Another popular lowered tuning is D tuning, which has everything tuned down a full step – D-G-C-F-A-D. This form is popular with harder rock and metal. The main benefit of lowered tuning is that it supports use of all familiar chord shapes you’ll learn in your early guitar lessons, including those from the CAGED system, though with the understanding that the shape now plays a chord stepped down from its normal use (i.e., the shape you use to play a “G” chord would now play an “F” when your guitar tuning is lowered a full step down from standard tuning, to D.

Open Tuning

Ready Set Gig! The Year In Review

By Professor Sound

Recently, we selected the inaugural members of RSG Elite, our new audition-only band program. Read on to learn about why auditions are important, how RSG Elite’s audition went, and what’s in store for the selected musicians.

The RSG Elite Audition Process

RSG Elite consists of up to three singers and two guitarists, a bassist, a keyboard player, a drummer, and an optional percussionist. Five players were selected from nearly a dozen extremely talented music students who auditioned. The audition itself consisted of learning two advanced songs from the ever-popular 1980s library – “Barracuda” by Heart and “Two Tickets to Paradise” by Eddie Money – as well as a solo piece selected by the musician to demonstrate their best work to date.

But what the candidates didn’t know was that we also planned to test how quickly each student can learn a new piece.

Why Auditions Are So Important

“I wanted to keep everyone on their toes,” said Doug Bond, RSG’s Director of Operations, in reference to the surprise piece he sprung on the students. When the musicians arrived for the audition, Bond said they had 10 minutes to learn the chorus of “Centerfold” by J. Geils Band. Students quickly jumped into action, scrambling to move into lesson rooms and pull up tabs, videos, and other online material to learn the song quickly. Then, they jumped straight into rehearsal. 

Bond explains the importance of auditions further, saying “every music school provides instruction and music lessons, but only the great ones cater to students yearning for a chance to prove themselves and demonstrate confidence. It’s that self-confidence coming through careful practice that will serve as the most important life skill we can teach at Ready Set Gig.”

What’s In Store for RSG Elite

With the audition process over and the band members selected, RSG Elite Band players will spend the next 20 weeks focusing on advanced play techniques as they learn very challenging cover songs. They will also learn the basics of studio production and recording, with opportunities for original songwriting exercises for the kids to work together. Another component of RSG Elite is learning more about online promotion by reviewing how bands use social media and online venues to promote their work, through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Patreon, and other sites. Musicians will also learn more about audition-only opportunities as they prepare for highly selective programs in Las Vegas and elsewhere, such as the House of Blues Music Forward Foundation’s Bringing Down the House program, Global Battle of the Bands, and Las Vegas Academy. Finally, RSG Elite players will serve as ambassadors for the school, through live performance and as community volunteers.

By Professor Sound

We believe the biggest benefits of music education come from playing recitals, and give our kids many opportunities to perform onstage. Here are our thoughts on how performing recitals build confidence and encourage kids to practice, as well as what we do when our students experience stage fright.  

Anticipating Reward Drives Practice Habits

Playing an instrument offers many educational benefits, as well as improved hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Students gain important life skills from developing strong practice habits by playing a musical instrument as well. The motivation for why kids want to learn to play an instrument sometimes goes unstated, so we’re spelling it out here. No, we’re not talking about money or incentives parents might create to inspire a child to practice their instrument at home. Instead, we believe that being the center of attention during a performance is itself a huge motivator to practice. That feeling of anticipation in the weeks and days prior to the show is what inspires us to practice and get better. And after we hit the stage for our show, that sense of accomplishment is the biggest reason why we go back up there over and over again!

How to Overcome Stage Fright

Sometimes, students become more anxious about the recital than we expect. All performers have experienced stage fright to some degree at one time or another. At Ready Set Gig, we believe the root of stage fright is the mistaken belief performers sometimes develop that the show must be perfect, or bad things will happen. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our approach for dealing with stage fright and anxiety is as follows:

Work on sounding good, not perfect. Anxiously striving for perfection, then feeling sad when we fall short, is at the heart of stage fright. Every great performance has flashes of brilliance as well as mistakes, but one thing is certain - everyone in the audience at our shows will love that you put yourself out there. We’ve put on a lot of shows at Ready Set Gig, and we haven’t seen a single one yet where the audience didn’t cheer and clap wildly for the kids onstage. Your family is rooting for you and will love your show no matter what! 

Demystify the process of stage performance. We rehearse the music as we will play it onstage. If a student sees over and over again how we will play the music, the routine will build familiarity. Later, we remind our students that the live show will be just like the rehearsals, so if they start to get anxious, just think back to how we did it during rehearsal.

Focus on purpose, not people. We encourage our students to think about what their songs actually mean. Whether it’s about social change or having fun with your friends, the song always offers something special that inspired the person who wrote it. We ask our students to put themselves inside the songs they play. If playing the song onstage becomes difficult, the student can refocus on the song’s message, and lose themselves in the performance. This approach often helps students forget the audience is even there! 

By Professor Sound

If thumping bass-driven hits by groups like Imagine Dragons and Gorillaz have captured your child’s imagination, read on! Here are some tips for success in early bass lessons, with attainable goals from our benchmarks like posture, basic technique, discount programs we have for purchasing your first bass, plus a special tip for lefties.

What Kind of Bass Should I Get?

The bass guitar is similar to an electric guitar, with the main differences being that a bass normally has 4 strings instead of 6, and bass strings are fatter and play lower notes than a guitar. Also, electric bass strings are most often played using your fingers, whereas electric guitar strings are usually played with a pick. At Ready Set Gig, you do not need to purchase an instrument when your child begins bass lessons, as we have plenty of standard and short-scale basses on hand to use – the latter of which is often helpful especially for younger players, since the neck on a standard bass is about 10 inches longer than that of a guitar. To decide if a young player needs a standard or short-scale bass, we have the child sit, place a standard bass in their lap, and have them reach with their left hand up and touch the head stock. If they can do so comfortably, we recommend a full-size bass – if not, we go with the short-scale. Instruments are available for our students to use for practice anytime we are open. When you are ready to practice at home, we can get a quote from our GCPro that will help you save some money on your first bass.

Your First Bass Lesson

The bass is a fantastic instrument especially for young players who want to play in a band setting quickly. The first bass lesson focuses on fundamentals. If you play while seated, sit up straight, plant your feet on the floor, and rest your instrument on your right hip. If you play while standing, adjust the strap so the body of the bass rests over your stomach. Then, reach over with your right hand, rest your thumb on the pickup, and rest your index and middle fingers on the strings as shown below. Your left hand is used for pressing the strings on the fret board. In modern bands, the bassist and the drummer form the rhythm section, so in those first bass lessons, we focus on teaching young players how to ride a simple bass line by playing a short 1- to 3-note progression repeatedly with their fingers, in time to the beat of the song. Several songs by AC/DC are great for early bass lessons - “T.N.T.” and “Who Made Who” are examples – they have straightforward, punchy bass lines young players pick up quickly. We also focus attention in the first bass lesson on muting, or using your hands and fingers that aren’t busy playing notes to silence the other strings so they don’t ring out. After building confidence playing songs with riding bass lines in group rehearsals, we work with our students on more complex arrangements.

A Lefty’s Take on Playing Right-Handed

By Professor Sound

Your child wants to learn to play keys-driven hits by bands like Gorillaz, Skrillex, and Daft Punk - now what? In this article, we share tips to make those early keys lessons a success! Our benchmarks give beginners attainable goals like posture, finding middle C, natural notes (white keys), flats and sharps (black keys). We also explain some differences between various types of pianos and keyboards. 

Your First Piano Lesson 

The first time you take a piano lesson, you’ll focus on the basics like posture, how to hold your hand on the keyboard, and identifying the notes on the keys. When you first sit down to play, sit up straight, place your hands palms-down on your lap, extend them out to your knee, then place your hands gently on the keyboard. The keyboard itself is laid out in a repeating pattern of keys from left to right called an octave, as shown below. The left-most key in the pattern is a “C” note. The white keys play “natural” notes, and the black keys play sharps and flats, which are half-step notes appearing in between all natural notes except for B/C and E/F. It’s helpful to memorize the series of natural notes as well as flats and sharps as you learn to play. A popular way to memorize which notes don’t have sharps or flats between them is Big Cats Eat Fast.

The left-most key in the pattern places a “C” note. The white keys play “natural” notes, and the black keys play sharps and flats, which are half-step notes appearing in between all natural notes except for B/C and E/F. It’s helpful to memorize the series of natural notes as well as flats and sharps as you learn to play. A popular way to memorize which notes don’t have sharps or flats between them is Big Cats Eat Fast. 

How to Find Middle “C” on Different Keyboards

The most common keyboard you’ve likely encountered is the piano. Pianos have 88 keys - some black, some white. Inside the piano are strings played by soft hammers that move when struck by playing the keys of the piano. How hard the hammer strikes the string depends on how hard you press the key. The first “C” key on a piano is the 3rd white key starting from the far left side of the actual keyboard. From there, you will notice the pattern shown above starting from the left, and progressing from left to right across the entire keyboard, with one extra white key on the far right side. Another type of piano is the digital piano, which is a fully-electronic instrument similar laid out the same way as a piano. Digital pianos have become popular because they are lightweight and portable, and offer different piano-like voices or sounds the instrument makes when keys are struck. Digital pianos can sound like a concert grand, upright piano, church organ, etc. - all from the same instrument. They also have 88 keys, and you’ll find the first “C” in the exact same place on a digital piano as you would on a regular piano. To find middle “C” on either a regular or digital piano, just look for that first “C” note in the above pattern found toward the middle of the piano.  

Other types of keyboards exist, which contain fewer keys than a regular or digital piano. Probably the most common configuration is the 61-key electronic keyboard, though others exist containing between 25 and 76 keys. Instruments of this type are sometimes referred to as keyboard workstations, and are lighter and even more portable than digital pianos. Keyboards are a lot of fun to play because of the different sounds they can make when keys are pressed. In addition to piano-like voicing, 61-key keyboards can often play sounds of other string, wind, or brass instruments, as well as synthesized sounds that aren’t even instruments at all - whooshes, taps, echoes, gongs, etc. On a 61-key keyboard, the octave pattern shown above usually starts right at the left-hand side of the keyboard and repeats from left to right, with one “extra” white key on the right side. To find middle “C”, you can again look for the first “C” key in the above pattern found toward the middle of the keyboard.

Summing it All Up

By Professor Sound

Kids are jumping into drumming in droves, driven by iconic drum-driven music by groups like Imagine Dragons, Twenty One Pilots, and The White Stripes. Here are some tips to make your child successful as they begin drum lessons: parts of a drum set, choosing drumsticks, and choosing quality ear protection. 

Understand the Parts of the Drum Set

Your child will learn their way around the drum set during the first lesson. The largest drum is the bass drum - that’s the round one on the floor that makes the deepest sound. You play it by stepping your foot on the pedal attached to a rubber hammer called a beater. Attached to the bass drum are the toms. Most kits also include a freestanding floor tom. Toms make the next deepest sounds. Next is the snare drum. When struck, the snare makes a crisp sound. Next to the snare drum is the hi-hat, which can be played both by hitting the metal cymbals, as well as by stepping on the petal. The final parts of the drum kit are the metal platters called cymbals. 

Choosing Drumsticks

Most drumsticks are between 15 and 17 inches long. The weight and diameter of drumsticks is usually expressed with a number between 1 and 9. Lighter and thinner “7” sticks are used for jazz drumming. Thicker and heavier “2” sticks are used in hard rock or heavy metal. Most drummers opt for “5” sticks because they’re considered versatile for many different styles of drumming. Drumsticks are made of different types of wood as well, with hickory, maple and oak being popular. Maple is the softest, oak is the hardest, and hickory is somewhere in the middle. Many young drummers like maple sticks because they are light; however, players who like to hit hard in drum lessons and practice often complain maple sticks break easily. Additional features available on drumsticks include the material used in the tip (nylon or wood), finish (bare wood or painted), and grip (again, bare wood or rubberized). Here, selection is a matter of personal preference.

Ear Protection is a Must

By Professor Sound

Here’s our rundown of how to make early guitar lessons a success! We help beginners reach attainable goals like holding the pick, strumming, and picking. We also help parents score discounts at Guitar Center Town Square. This article even has a great tip for lefty guitarists just starting out. With time and practice, our guitar players build confidence quickly! 

What Kind Of Guitar Is Best For Beginners?

You don’t need an expensive guitar when you are starting out. We recommend kit guitars like the Squier Strat Pack. Everything you need to get started is right inside that box. It includes a fine guitar, a 10- to 15-watt amp with decent clean and distorted sound, and a strap. At Ready Set Gig, we work with our esteemed GCPro Bob Diehm over at Guitar Center Town Square, right here in Las Vegas. Bob helps our students save money on their first guitar, or whatever instrument they want to buy, by leveraging Ready Set Gig’s corporate discount. Some guitar players might wonder why we recommend electric instead of of acoustic for that first guitar. Look, we love acoustic guitars, but with all due respect to Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift, there’s a couple reasons we recommend starting out on an electric instead. First, the action (or the space between the strings and the fret board) is higher on acoustics than electric guitars, so you have to press the strings down further when playing acoustics. Also, bronze strings on acoustics are harder than the steel strings on electrics. Those two things mean pain for tender young fingers in those first few weeks, and nothing makes beginners want to quit guitar faster than playing in pain. 

Learning the Basics

An early topic in our guitar lessons is how to hold the pick. There’s no “wrong” way to do it, but some ways work better than others. The way I prefer is the thumbs up method because it keeps the rest of my hand flat, which helps me mute the strings. Hold out your right fist and give a thumbs up. Then lay the pick down on middle phalange of your index finger (that’s the bone in the middle of the finger, between the tip and the base) and lay your thumb down on top of the pick. Then rest your wrist on the bridge of the guitar - again, this helps mute strings you want quiet, while playing strings you want to play. 

A Lefty’s Take on Playing Right-Handed

Mention playing guitar to any new lefty guitar player, and the conversation quickly turns to flipping the guitar over like Jimi Hendrix. Those first few weeks are going to feel awkward no matter how you play, but as a fellow lefty, I can tell you that playing right-handed guitars as a left-handed player has some BIG advantages. The left hand does all the work on the fret board, and having extra strength and coordination up in your left hand helps you master chord shapes, transition quickly, and press the strings down with the tips of your fingers. If you’re a lefty, I encourage you to make that decision to play right-handed. If you do, you will never have to worry about finding left-handed guitars, or left-handed tabs for the songs you like, or mentally try to reverse everything a right-handed player shows you.  

Strumming and Picking

We spend a lot of time in guitar lessons with new players working on strumming and alternate picking. The way we demonstrate strumming to kids starts with something familiar - shaking hands. That’s because the up-and-down movement is just like how you strum a guitar. Kids relate well to that idea! 

Single-note alternate picking is just fancy guitar-speak for up-and-down picking. In our guitar lessons, we make it a point to master alternate picking early. We also focus on power chords, even before we teach other chord shapes. The reason is because our program focuses on learning to play music together in groups. Beginner players can usually master the two-note power chord shape quickly. Plus, it’s fun to crank up the distortion! We then shift attention toward strumming and playing in time with the rest of the group.

The Bottom Line