Mar 26
This is the last installment of Music Theory Basics. Why? Well, beyond this you are getting into more intermediate and advanced concepts of music theory. Even this entry is pushing the limits on what is “basic,” which is why I strongly recommend taking sometime to review the previous three entries before reading this one. In …
Jan 07
In the first two parts of Music Theory Basics, we covered a lot of topics. Today we will only be focusing on one topic: key signatures. There are, however, several layers to this concept. I will try an lay it out in a way that makes it a tasty parfait and not an onion. Let’s …
Nov 19
In Music Theory Basics (Part 1), we discussed the musical staff, clefs, and note names. Today, we will cover the basics of rhythm and note duration. There are lots of charts in this one! The term rhythm has come to mean several different things in today’s culture, but for our purposes, we will use the …
Nov 05
Music is a language and like any other language it has a written form. The parts that make up the written form of music and the rules for writing is are know as music theory. No matter your age or experience level, reading music and understanding music theory is a valuable skill. Not yet music …
Oct 08
We live in an interesting age, musically speaking. Through the avenue of the internet, so much is available to us in the way of recordings, videos, articles, pictures, etc, etc. From this sea of information, any aspiring musician with a computer can find tools and resources for online music lessons and often times for free. Learning …
Aug 16
Around this time every year, as the musical season gears up again, we see a lot of new string players preparing to start a new adventure. There are inevitably A LOT of questions, and we are happy to address them. In the past, on the blog, we have covered many topics about Beginner Basics. One that …
Jul 30
At Kennedy Violins, we have always been proud of the fact that all of our employees, no matter their role, are active musicians and teachers and all of us have been where you are. Whether you are just starting out learning the basics or finding your own voice or personality musically. Today, I’d like to …
May 20
In high school at the beginning of each concert, like all orchestras, we would take some time to tune. Once the squeaking and squawking settled into a common A natural, our conductor would say, “Thank you very much. Our first song was ‘The Fine Art of Tuning.’” The audience, slightly confused, would laugh and we …
Feb 20
You’re in your car, stopped at an intersection, and glance over to see a young, beautiful teenage couple in a red convertible, laughing, smiling, and presumably taunting you with their youthful future of endless possibilities. In your minivan, now with 299,000 miles on it, you brush the stale crumbs off the passenger seat, glance in …
Oct 03
[NOTE: this was originally posted in the Oregon Music News September 29, 2011] Lajos Balogh, founder of the Metropolitan Youth Symphony, will step down as Music Director and this June, 38 years after founding the orchestra. Balogh is a long-time fixture in the Portland music scene, having spent many years as Principal Second Violin of …
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