Websites article index
This section reviews and links to various web sites that may of interest to musicians, pianists, and synth players, including ones on playing technique, composition, music theory, hardware and software.
Keyboard Finder: Find the perfect digital piano or synth
April 27, 2010
Piano and Synth Magazine is proud to introduce the first version of the Keyboard Finder.
If you’re looking for a new digital piano, synthesiser or home music keyboard, the Keyboard Finder is the tool for you.
Pick from a few simple options, such as the number and style of keys, whether it has a decent piano sound, number of sounds and accompaniments, educational features, and that all important price, and the Keyboard Finder will list the instruments that match your search.
Instead of being overwhelmed by a wealth of detailed specifications, we’ve narrowed it down to the most important ones.
Rather than visiting every manufacturer web site or online store, with varying layouts and ways of describing things, we’ve standardised everything in one place.
The database will be continually updated as new models come onto the market.
Check it out now. Keyboard Finder
Groovy Music City: music creation software for kids, from Avid
May 5, 2009
Getting kids interested in music from an early age is a very worthwhile thing to do, for its own sake and also because music has been shown to improve overall learning and skills development in children.
Those who seem to have an aptitude for composition, but for whom a full-blown music creation package would be far too complex, might like to give Groovy Music City a try.
Avid’s software allows kids to create songs by arranging a series of shapes and machines against the backdrop of an animated and futuristic city, simply by dragging and dropping.
They can select from 128 virtual instruments or even connect a keyboard via MIDI.
There’s also a strong social networking element. Completed songs can be uploaded, shared, and commented upon at GroovyMusic.com.
The software is available for both Windows PC and Mac, priced $39.99 from Avid’s web site.
Sponsored Review: Virtual Sheet – Sheet Music Downloads Membership web site
October 17, 2008
This is a review of an online sheet music web site which also serves up MIDI and MP3 audio tracks of the available music.
Finding affordable and high-quality transcripts of classical music for a variety of instruments can be difficult, and buying individual pieces can get expensive.
The Virtual Sheet site aims to offer a wide variety of music for a low subscription. For $37.75 per year (around three dollars a month), the site offers virtually unlimited access to over 6,000 single sheets and collections. Non-subscribers can also download music on a pay-per-use basis.
Although I didn’t sign up for the complete service, the site helpfully allows some single page previews of the music to be viewed. Taking a look at some of Chopin’s work, for example, the print quality is of a high standard. Of course, it will depend on how good your printer and paper is as to how good the finished output is, but for home use, even a cheap inkjet printer should yield good results.
The range of music is fairly impressive, with plenty of music from well-known classical composers (Albinoni, Bach, Beeethoven, Chopin, Debussy, Elgar, Grieg, Handel, Mendelssohn, Strauss, Verdi, to name but a few) and for a variety of instruments.
Of course, I was most concerned with the availability of music for piano. A search shows that there are currently 237 piano solo items, 736 piano solo with other instrument items (many of these can still be played alone), and eight “piano for four hands” pieces. There are even 28 pieces for organ solo.
If you’re after high-quality, legally available printable manuscripts for classical music, with the inclusion of audio files so you can hear how it sounds, this may be a good site to try out.
iVideosongs launches high-def video site for teaching aspiring musicians
January 30, 2008
iVideosongs is an on-demand, high-definition video service designed to teach aspiring musicians of all skill levels how to play their favourite songs on an instrument.
iVideosongs instruction is provided by the original artists who wrote and performed the songs and also by expert instructors.
“Aspiring musicians want to play complete songs accurately, and that’s exactly what we give them,” said Tim Huffman, CEO of iVideosongs. “We’ve recruited established artists, legendary sidemen and some of the best instructors on the planet to teach rock, pop, blues and country songs. With iVideosongs, aspiring musicians learn the songs at their pace, when and where they want.”
Chris Foley’s “31 Days to Better Practicing” for pianists
October 16, 2007
Chris Foley at The Collaborative Piano Blog is about halfway through his “31 Days to Better Practicing” series, aimed at pianists who wish to improve their practicing and piano playing.
So far, topics covered include building a regular practice schedule (with tips for children, students, and adults), warming up exercises and ideas, goal setting, starting out on a new repertoire, slow practicing, memorising music, endings, and fingerings.
And there’s still just under half a month to go. Phew!
I’ve not had an opportunity to read all of Chris’s posts yet, but it looks like a great series, whatever stage of piano playing you’re at, or what you want to achieve.
NowPlayIt.com: interesting but limited piano tutorials from star musicians
September 17, 2007
VNUNet.com’s Anthony Dhanendran (from Computeractive) has reviewed the online music tutorials web site NowPlayIt.com, which offers musicians the chance to learn how to play the authentic instrument lines from popular songs directly from the band’s musician.
The service offers three levels of video: for £4 (around $8) you get a full ten- to fifteen-minute video featuring the artist explaining the track, working through the track on the instrument, and then showing the music video and note guides in split screen mode.
For £3 ($6) a non-celebrity tutor hosts the video, while the lite version (£2/$4) offers just the chords and video tutorial, with no other commentary.
Unsurprisingly, of the 300 video tutorials currently available, there’s not a huge number to choose from for pianists. That’s probably because the piano is not as prominent as guitar or bass, and a synth line would probably be too complicated to create a short tutorial for.
In general, it looks like a good site, and as they add more songs and artists, hopefully pianists will be a little better served.
Good potential.
