Pojo asked:


Today I visited the music store cause my brother needed to buy a metronome…and I started to read a guitar chord book. Then I looked at their selection of guitars, which were at a pretty fair price..so now I’m interested in playing the guitar.

My Musical Background:
1. Been playing the piano for 7+ years (I’m going to turn 14 in a month)
2. I’m really good at sight reading
3. Never had any other instrument experience besides piano + a bit of percussion

I’m too lazy to take private/group lessons, so is it possible to teach myself how to strum the guitar correctly using the Internet (YouTube!) and a beginning guitar book? Because I don’t want to continue down the wrong path…

Sight Reading Secrets Revealed

Gary asked:


I desperately want to play in my College’s concert band. They require you to audition and such, I -think- I could do all they require but I’m not totally sure. To exacerbate the situation my clarinet is broken and needs repairing, meaning I haven’t practiced for a while (about a week or so) and auditioning takes place next week.
I would have my clarinet fixed but that’d cost at the least, 200 bucks. Now its not 100% sure I’d get in so I’m somewhat hesitant on spending 200$ on my clarinet(which I got for 300$ on ebay, it’s a yamaha ycl-34).

I can play level 4 songs (medium-medium advanced{with a bit practice}). I could play all my scales… the ones they require (up to 3 scaled flats and sharps) I could do 16th notes @ 80 bpm.
My sight reading is ok I think. Usually takes me less than 20 minutes to play high school concert music without any noticeable mistakes. The piece I want to play is the first portion of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto.

http://music.ucdavis.edu/concertband/Auditions

So my question is, should I audition or not?

Sight Reading Secrets Revealed

Dr. Murphy asked:


Ok, let me start with a little background info:
I am a freshman in hich school and I’m looking to pursue a degree in music after I graduate. I play Guitar, Bass, Clarinet and some Piano. I really want to get a degree in Music Performance for Guitar, and I’d like it to be from Berklee cause it looks like the best suite for me (I researched several music programs around the U.S.). I play a lot of Blues and Metal on my guitar and I’m also profecient in Jazz. My soloing is my strong suite but I also know a great deal about rhythms and chords. I can read music decently (pretty bad at sight reading), but my strength is playing by ear which according to my band teacher I am extremely good at. I know quite a bit about music theory in general, and I am a very fast learner. Finally, my GPA is a 4.0, which I know isn’t overly important in applying for a music college, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.

Now my question:
What should I work on to improve my chances of getting into Berklee? I’d like to know what I should do to 1. Get accepted to Berklee? 2. Get a scholarship? 3. Get a presidential scholarship? (Only 7 musicians in the applying class get this so I am not putting a lot of hopes into getting one)

For specifics:
What Skills should I have?
What Scales should I know?
What Songs should I work on?

I thank you for your time and your help!

How to Sight Read Music

Joshua Walsh Tierney asked:


I want to learn how to be able to sing the right pitch reading music, so that I can sing any song as long as I have the sheet music. How can I train myself to do this? What I want to do is to be able to sing the individual parts of Mozart and Beethoven’s string quartets. I also just think that being able to sing scores accurately (if not very well) will help me to eventually be able to play an instrument, possibly violin. Thanks

How to Sight Read Music Video Lesson

Emily asked:


I have an audition and interview tomorrow at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and I’m soooo nervous!
This is my top, favorite school, but my very first interview and audition. I don’t want to mess up or make a fool of myself! I’ve prepared my piece, but am still very nervous about the sight reading, ear training, ‘blues progression’ and stuff.

Any words of wisdom, advice, tips, and suggestions would be appreciated!!

SpeedyMusicReading.com