Review: Magic Rosin® X

Recently, between being swamped by end of the year school stuff (juries, exams, etc.), I needed to take a small break from the site in order to make sure that I was not overwhelmed with work. However, over the next couple of days I am going to upload a series of reviews that I have taken way too long to perform. Some are because of testing reasons, and others are from simply having too much work and not being able to write them. I am planning on bringing this website into its own thing in the semi-near future but first comes school and my jobs/internships. Now that I have a small staff of writers, editors and a web manager I hope to start making content more consistent but I will need everyone's help. If you have not subscribed to my newsletter then we are starting our own next month. Feedburner has completely dropped the ball on us, so we have decided to start anew. Email "Newsletter" to Sulliadm2@gmail.com and we will add you to our new custom made newsletter. It will be once the month and will be easier to read than spamming every post to you after being posted. I will be updating the site soon so anyone who wants to pass by and join can. Anyways, on to the review!

Today is the first day of my review mayhem. As stated above, I've had a lot on my plate the past few months and over the next couple of days, I will be releasing reviews of products that should have been reviewed before now. On this review, we have Magic Rosin® X! Those whom have been following me for a few years now know that Sarah West (creator of Magic Rosin®) and I have gotten to become great friends as I have continuously reviewed her rosins. Just before she released her newest rosin, she asked if I would review it for her. How could I refuse? Free sample of the next step in her company and being one of the first to test it… I was ecstatic and I still am. However, there is a reason to why this review took as long as it did. I felt obligated to test, and retest and retest this rosin over the past 3 months so I could make sure I was saying something that could be considered an accurate review. I think I finally found a way to express my opinion effectively and clearly.

Just as a heads up, I know this review will sound very negative but it should not be taken that way. A large part of this review went into testing the major difference between this rosin and Magic Rosin®'s 3G and 3G Ultra formulas. If you have never used any other Magic Rosin® rosin, then click to check out my 3G review or the 3G Ultra review but the basic premise is the brand is made for all instruments. This rosin has kept the same quality and distinctive feel that many have learned to grow attached to but with some changes. They all are very smooth and crisp rosins and work fairly well on all instruments. 3G formula has more than enough bite for the higher strings while not making it sound crunchy but tends to be a weaker rosin for cello let alone bass. 3G Ultra has a better amount of bite for cello while not overdoing it for violins and violas. The problem that some have seen is it is not strong enough, and that is what the majority of this review will be centered around.

The first thing that was noticeable about this rosin was the claims on the site and from Miss West herself. As stated on the website, “At long last,after much research and development, we are very pleased to introduce MagicRosin® X, the grippiest Magic Rosin® formula.” When they say it is the grippiest, they really mean it! This is probably the strongest rosin I have ever used on my bow. This leads me to the first, and only serious complaint I have against the rosin: It might be too strong for anything outside bass. Personally, I use either Magic Rosin® 3G Ultra or Jade, depending on what I have near me. Jade is something that I see as being a too weak, while Magic Rosin® 3G Ultra is exactly what I like. The new X formula is roughly twice as sticky as the Ultra. There’s nothing wrong with that if you want more bite but personally I want a rosin that is a mix between sticking to the strings and fluidity. A strong opinion to hold but this is the reason I had to tested it so much.

In my initial test, I used my student Brazilwood bow. On this bow, it was simply too thick. I could not move the bow without crunching everything and anything I attempted. There was a flaw in this test: I was using a balding bow. It was roughly ¼” of hair, and some were black hairs. Following the basic principle of physics, the more surface area an object has to contact another then the pressure and energy from that one area would be dispersed more and thus grabs the string. However the less hair, then the same amount of energy would have to be disperse over a smaller area, causing less stability and more energy to be released over a smaller area. This means that I could not effectively test the rosin on that bow without rehairing or purchase a new bow. This lead me onto my next test: Testing on new bows. I had been planning on upgrading bows for some time so ordering them was not out of my way. Using fresh bows from World of Bow (review of the company will be available by clicking here when online), I rosined them with the Magic Rosin® X and tested them. I cleaned the strings with some bow tonic, rosined the bow and played for a bit. It felt really thick to me, sticking to the strings about the same as before. The only error I can come up with in this test was the rosin being to “fresh” on the bow and not really in the bow hairs, but I believe the coating of rosin on the strings would theoretically counter this but I will note it for later research. The biggest evidence came to me whenever I did my final test.

I decided after the first test that I should see how the target market would react to the rosin. This lead back to the high school I used in my previous tests on. I borrowed 4 bass players and 6 cellist in order to test if my theory was correct to an interesting surprise. The cellist loved the new rosin as much or more than the 3G ultra, which is what the teacher uses in his classroom. They applauded the stronger grip on the string but for them wasn’t sacrificing in terms of quality sound. From my point of view (that being the listener of this test) it came off as a stronger bite but not really any clearer quality sound. To me it sounded like it was a grittier but not enough to be noticed by the students. Plus in their minds, at least from what I’ve gathered from coaching most of them for 2-3 years now, louder equals better as long as it does not cause a distorted effect. This is not always the case but if you are into that sound then this is the rosin for you. There is one more thing I need to touch on however.

Something that I also tested was how this new rosin would compare to other bass rosins. Something that was explained to me from various teachers in South Carolina String Educators Association was they felt like the 3G Ultra was great for Violin, Viola and Cello but was simply too weak for bass. The initial testing I did of the rosin (which you can see by clicking here) shows that the students I used then felt the same way. They feel like the quality is there, but the grip was not enough to cause the strings to vibrate effectively. After noticing there was a lot more grip to this rosin, I compared it to two other bass rosins that are standards in their field: Pops and Carlson. They are on two opposite sides of the world in terms of rosin. Pops is a strong rosin that can become gritty at times but is more stable and can really pull the lower end out of the bass when needed. Carlson, on the other hand, is an equally strong rosin but can achieve a similar strength sound without the gritty sound. The cost is the lack of stability from the rosin’s formula. It can be very temperamental in higher humidity and that causes the rosin to not stick very well or in some rare cases stick too much.

The reason I bring all this out is the results from this test. The Magic Rosin® X came out literally in the middle for all the bass players. They all called it the happy medium between the two rosins. It was sticky enough to cause the clear and concise sound that Magic Rosin® is known for but without the cost of being temperamental or being too strong. Whenever I fiddled around with the rosin samples on one of the basses, I noticed the same thing. It was clear and worked well but fit as a natural middle ground between the two other rosins. As far as I’ve noticed, the rosin seems to be very stable and if it is like the other Magic Rosin® types then it should be very stable.

With everything else said, there is one more thing I need to get out of the way before I give my final verdict. This sample of the rosin is very flaky. I do not know if it is from the sample or the recipe but it chips a lot easier than the others have. Not enough to cause it to shatter from bumping it with the frog but if you have used the other rosins then it will be noticeable.

Other than that complaint and the bulk of this review, it is a great rosin. Magic Rosin® has kept their quality up high when creating this product. It has all the signature qualities: the clear rosin with the beautiful images inside, the lack of dust that makes it very friendly to those with asthma or allergies and the longevity of the rosin for the amount. The only thing that should be considered before trying it yourself is if you like strong rosin. For those who have used the 3G Ultra and would like something stronger then this would be worth trying. If you are a bass player looking for a good middle rosin between the previously mentioned then this would be a great place to start. I give Magic Rosin® X a 3 chunks of rosin out of 5 for cello and a 4 chunks of rosin out of 5 for bass. 

Music Theory 101 #3: The Basic Skills of Music; Pitch Pt. 2

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Music Theory series on here. Before I begin, I would like to say thank you for all the reception and the help that was given towards helping me out with the site! It is not very apparent unless you run a project or a website to realize how much help there is when everyone submits feedback on it. From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely mean thank you. There was some things discussed that will cause a huge shift in this website within the near future, so stay tuned for that!

Key Terms:
Staff
Middle C
Treble Clef (G clef)
Bass Clef (F clef)
Grand Staff

As we were discussing last time, pitch is one of the six basic principles of a language. We have also discussed the basics of pitch as well from it's purpose to how it is heard and even broken it down into the 12 pitches on a keyboard. However, just so we can wrap this discussion up we need to go ahead and head from the basics that every musician knows and talk about the basic skill that every musician should know but do not. This is the staff and reading the clefs.

Blank staff lines from this site

First, we must look at what the staff is. The Music Staff is the space that musicians start when looking at music. It is a set of lines and spaces that musicians use to create notes. There are five (5) lines and four (4) spaces. As you go towards the top of the page, you go higher in pitch or heading towards the bottom of the page the lower you go. The notes themselves vary depending on which clef you are using.

In order to make sure that the following is extremely clear, we must find one point that defines each clef equally. For this, we are going to use "middle C" or the C that is in the middle of the piano. It is usually marked by the logo in the middle of the piano's cover but there are digital keyboards that note where it is. Something else I should bring up now is the statement of octave indicators (or Scientific Pitch Notation). This is how we figure out if a note is higher or lower without saying "this note is higher than" and so on. In the case of the previously stated "Middle C", it is identified as C4. The way I remember that middle C is C4 is thinking "Music starts at C and music is explosive!" (corny, but it works if you need something to use to learn). The way the indicators are meant to work as from C to B. So for example B3 is the B below middle C. For another example, let us look at D5. It is the D an octave above middle C. So instead of being the D directly above middle C, it is a note and an octave up.

This is a treble clef on a staff
Source: It's A Visual Medium

The clef is the first symbol on the staff. It defines where what note is on a staff, much like a a musical GPS coordinator. There are several dozen standardized clefs that are out there, and hundreds of non-standardized but  for this article, we will will talk about two specifically. The first clef we will look at is the Treble Clef, also known as the G clef. The reason for the name is the part that curls around the second to bottom line is noted as G. The space below that is an F, the line below that is E and so on. The space below the G is A, the line above that is B and so on. This G is known as G4 which means it is the G above middle C.

This is a bass clef on a staff
Source: Mr. Scheiber's Music Room

The other clef is the Bass Clef also known as the F clef. As with the previous, the reason for the second name is because the dots are placed around the note F. Also as before if you go down, you have E and D or up leads to G and A. Now, the thing to realize is this F is an F3, or the F below middle C.

This is a grand staff and note equivalents
Source: Click here

The final portion of this post will be about the grand staff and it's uses. The Grand Staff is the combination of the bass and treble clefs. It is used for piano, piano styled instruments and harp reading primarily but is used to condense scores down into an easier to read format. The reasoning is to create a larger range of pitches than any one can accomplish by themselves. It reads as if one large staff. The meet in the middle at middle C. Along with the additional space, there is an additional an bracket at the beginning to link them together. In the case of organ music, there would be three or possibly four staves but as I stated before this is primarily two. Next time we will start heading onto the next topic of discussion!

Episode 1: What is Music? (based off the original episode "Musical Alphabet and Note Values")

Hey everyone, Sulli here with the "main series" 2.0! The video above is the new version of the old video. It goes into a little bit better detail of what music is, and starts us off where the original episode is. In case you want to see where we started from, this is the original episode from the series:

http://sulliadm.blogspot.com/2012/03/episode-1-musical-alphabet-and-note.html

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Review: Magic Rosin 3G Ultra

Before I start this review, I want to thank Sarah West for her sample of Magic Rosin's 3G Ultra (click here). This was unexpected but I am so thankful you sent them to me try test out! Now I have another review for you guys out there and thanks to a few anonymous viewers, I have a few changes to my post I want to see if it helps you guys out. For those who aren't regulars and would like to see more from the blog I will have a new post out over the weekend with a contest! So don't forget to checking in!!

Now, let's break down how I conducted my test. Like I said before with Magic Rosin's 3G rosin, I started out with the rosin the testers used regularly by playing a scale and something that they knew off the top of their heads and after running my absorbent microfiber cloth over their strings and bow I applied a generous amount of the Magic Rosin to their bow and they played the same thing. This time however, when it came to the bass players, we had a little debate over which was the best so we had to have a blind audition and I'll explain how that works later.

Since I was unable to get in touch with one of my violinist I used to test the 3G ultra I decided to not to test them for the time being but I feel that it might be too strong a rosin for them. Whenever I get a hold of them I will update the post with the results.

I got a hold of one of the violist I used to test the 3G and after we went through it I feel that it might have been border line between strong rosin and too much bite for them, but it all depends on the player's style and taste. The player and I both liked it a lot like that but I do know how one of the others is with their rosin and that probably wouldn't suit those style of players well. I would recommend this for an electric violist or someone who likes to play electric viola. I give it a 4/5 for viola.

Now, going into my personal range of specialty I spent almost a week testing the rosin with my cello and I think this IS the best rosin for cellos I've tried, which ranges from student quality to $35-40 professional rosin. I found this to give me the clarity I need while also projecting well and sticking to the strings. I ran this by a couple of other cellos and I was hearing the same results from them as I was from myself. This rosin is made for cellos except for students or cellist who use very sensitive strings. I give it a 5/5 for cello.

Finally, we have our tests from the bass players! I found this series of test (yes, it took multiple trials to get through all of the tests and make a well rounded decision!). We started out with the usual method of testing rosin and discovered the huge differences between other commercial rosins and Magic Rosin. The first is the clarity of rosin, which most are either gritty, muddy or don't give the projection that is desired. Magic Rosin went and not only made it clear but it also gave us a lot of projection that the other rosin's gave us. After a few tests like this we got to the point that we thought we were hearing things so we had a blind study between Magic Rosin 3G Ultra, Magic Rosin 3G, and two competitors rosin and acquired four identical bows. We went and rosined all of them up with some rosin and had a random person write down the bows rosin to when they handed it to us and hands down we felt the Rosin 3G Ultra had everything else beat. I give it a 5/5 for bass.

It is hard to believe that there is rosin that can be used for all four instruments but it really exists! And for the price of a few cakes of Magic Rosin, you are making a wise investment into not only yourself but your students if you teach privately or in public schools. For more about the rosin click on the link above. If you would like to follow the blog, follow me on Twitter (click here), Facebook (click here) or email me directly! I want everyone to message me by any (or all) of those methods above and tell me one thing you want to see changed or one thing you like about the blog and share this with a friend!

Review: Magic Rosin 3G

Hello everyone, here is the long awaited review on "Magic Rosin 3G" by Magic Rosin. I have spent a few weeks working on giving you guys the best review I can by testing everything on all 4 instruments. I was very skeptical at first, but just a heads up I was happily mistaken in that prejudgment.

Here is my method of how I tested the rosin. First I started by taking my Microfiber cloth and cleaned off the strings of the instruments, rubbed it over the bows to knock off any rosin that would lead to a cross contamination. Then the person testing applied the rosin they use normally and played me a scale and a run threw of whatever they wanted to play for me. Afterwards, I ran the rag over the bow and strings and then gave them the Magic Rosin and they played the same thing as before.

First let's start with the violins. I started testing with 5 violins, 2 who have been playing for 3 years and 3 who have been taking private lessons. We started with a simple scale of their pick with the rosin they normally used (mostly Super Sensitive's basic rosin, but one was using a special rosin that we referred to as "star dust" rosin). They played their music and then we cleaned the instruments off and used the Magic Rosin and the first big thing that I noticed was the clarity of the instruments. It sounded so much clearer than the first time! They said they had to use a little more arm to get a louder sound, but just off of my random sampling of the students, if all of the violins used this rosin the clarity would come out. The higher registers weren't over played, and it held it's ground with the everything I could ask of them. The only drawback that they didn't have any for themselves. I rate it a 5/5 for violin.

Now, onward to violas which I will admit now wasn't my best test sample. The people that was ready for the instruments didn't show up, however I had some others to help test this rosin. I had two people test this out on their violas, both of which didn't have too much experience playing. They both used Super Sensitive's basic rosin and they both had the same result as the violins; the clarity and the overall tone came out for the viola. I will need to do an update to this post in the near future when I can get my "expert" to test this stuff for me and give you a better and more detailed review, but I give it a 4.5/5 for viola.

I have personally spent a good couple of weeks tearing into this rosin on my cello and I can tell you, I have never used anything like it! It is in fact some of the best rosin I have used for my cello; it sticks to the strings well but it doesn't make the sound grainy. The only problems I have with it is I had a few moments where it might have been not sticking enough but I tend to play more along the lines of Apocalyptica so I like bite to my playing but that was during my initial testing. Since then I haven't had any problems with it and the same went when I was testing at the school. The students who used it on cello loved it and had the same argument; it wasn't sticking well at first but the issue cleared up after a little bit of use. Overall I think this is a great rosin for cellos, but I will need to test the 3G Ultra to see if it has the problem cleared up for cellos. I give it a 4.5/5 for cello. *UPDATE* I have completed a Magic Rosin 3G Ultra review (click here)

When I first read the rosin online and saw it was for all four instruments I was very skeptical; like most people online reading the same description, so I sat down with some of the more advanced bass players at the school and said, "let's run this rosin down on the basses and see if it really works well on the instruments". So with the bass players we got the rosin they used (Pops and Carlsson) and we spent a good half hour running blind test after blind test and seeing which we liked better. Here is our overall impression with each rosin: Pops gave us the greatest bite between all of them but it tended to sound very grainy at times. Carlsson had some bite but no where as much as Pops but the tone was great. Magic Rosin was the best middle ground for bass in our opinion; more bite than the Carlsson with just as much clarity but not as much bite as the Pops. Something else one of the bass players brought up to me during testing was they had a better coverage of rosin than they did with either brand. The way the Pops worked for me was it gave a lot of slick spots and places on the string that it wouldn't cover very well and would have to fight to get the bow to work. The same thing with the Carlssons; it gave us a lot more coverage but we still kept hitting slick spots on the strings. The Magic Rosin fixed that problem very well and didn't have that problem when testing. I felt like it was good for bass but if you like a lot of bass sounds from your group or yourself try the 3G Ultra. I give it a 4/5 for bass. *UPDATE* I have completed a Magic Rosin 3G Ultra review (click here)

Overall, for the money you get a great grip from the rosin and that does kind of trip me out that it makes the bass sound great without over gripping the violins and viola bows! It really did astonish me while testing, I never thought about this being a possibility and especially for the price! I think this rosin should be in EVERY starting up orchestra classroom if not every classroom. There isn't anything else out there like it on the market that I can find. I give the rosin a 4.5/5. To view my Magic Rosin 3G Ultra review click here.

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Update: From the Eyes of College

Hello, and for all of those who have been checking on the page daily thank you so much! I have had a few of you email me about when the next episode will be up and my answer is... I don't know! I am working hard in college and I haven't been having much free time in school or outside of it, but I have a few ideas for you guys and I want all of you to give me your opinions! Here is what I was thinking... What if I created a big "fan supported music demonstration" sort of set that anyone can submit to. Say you wrote out a full song, or just a simple little melody it doesn't matter. Just submit it to me and I will put a link to it in the blog and have it shared. I had one person already submit me something and I will have it on here soon. It is a song for a starting out strings class and has a very driven feel to it that I like a lot. So, if you have any kind of song that you wrote and want advertised on here, then send it to my email and all of your responses to my question. If we get 200 responses, I will post something I've been writting on the side on here for you guys to review for me! So start sending those replies in, and use the header as "From The Eyes Of College" so I can tell why I am being flooded! Thanks, and keep checking in!

Episode Recap 1: Episodes 1-5 Part 1

Hello and welcome back! Now before I begin the recap let's go over a few things. 1st off, you may have noticed the button above me. Finances are really low, especially if you want more reviews so please donate anything you feel comfortable donating to me. I am wanting to do more reviews and if you want to see more, then any money is good money! With that said, I promise I WILL NOT go crazy with the button! The only time I will post it is on general recaps (like such), and reviews. I want to provide everyone with a few service to learn music theory, tricks from professionals, and reviews so you aren't wasting your money on pointless or terrible stuff for your instruments (and yes, I have used some terrible stuff, and amazing stuff so I know what's good and what's not).

With that out of the way, I bet you're wondering "What's an 'Episode Recap'?". I feel after so many episodes on all my topics, I will post one giant summery for you on what is in that section. For today, this episode recap is on episodes 1-5, which are:

-Episode 1: Musical Alphabet and Note Values

-Episode 2: Sharps and Flats

-Episode 3: Treble and Bass Clef

-Episode 4: Defining the Signatures

-Episode 5: Dynamic Contrast

Now how this is going to work is like a review over the selections, and explain some harder to explain things.

Episode 1:

This was a presentation-Only entry so most people didn't read this entry, so I will count this as the actual lesson. There are two main elements when reading music: a Note and a Tone. A note is the visual representation of a sound (♪). The actual sound that goes with it is the tone. We could say that the note is an A, or a C but we don't see that when we are watching a group play: We hear the tones of the chord(s) the person or people playing make but we don't see the (♪) in front of us unless you brought sheet music with you.

When you link them together in any pattern going up or down until you repeat the first note, you get a Scale. There is no simple number of notes in a scale, because there are so many different types of scales. However, there is a "Western" standard of scales, which has 8 tones in a repeating pattern. I will discuss this more later on in the episode review. 

Now we have to discuss the Musical Alphabet. This is the way musicians learn their notes, and it is always repeating: A, B, C, D, E, F, G. 

A standard Octave or simply the "Western" style of 8 note scales, is the repetition of one note. For example take a C scale. If we wrote it out we would have C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C. The bold C is an octave higher than the one we started on. This works out on the entire musical alphabet.

Now, we talk about basic note values. They work the same was as fractions, which is they break down and are seen as fractions, like for example ♪ is an eighth note while ♫ is two eighth notes or a quarter note. The way the notes flow is demonstrated in the following picture:

The top note is a whole note, and it breaks down into two half notes. each half note breaks down into two quarter notes and so on all the way down the line. This is the proper way to subdivide notes. Now we must figure out how this fits into a staff. A Staff is a bar with 5 lines and 4 spaces that fit together and are split to make Measures. This will be further explained in a later chapter.

Episode 2:

Going back to notes on a staff, you can have either Sharps, Flats, or Naturals. Naturals are notes that haven't been altered and these are the white keys on a piano. Then if you take that note and go up a half step (going from a white key UP to a black key) your going from a natural to a sharp. When you go down a half step (going from a white key DOWN to a black key) your going from a natural to a flat. *Editor's Note* I just realized there was a glitch in the episode, and I fixed it so it's legible.

Episode 3:

There are 2 major clefts to playing most instruments. You have Treble, or the G cleft, which is the higher side and you have the Bass, or the F cleft, uses the lower side. Back to the discussion on scales. The "western" or non-asian countries use a standard for scales which goes with the "standard" of 8 notes that repeat at the base note but at a distance of an octave. For example: C Major is C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C.

Review: D'Addario Helicore Cello Strings

Now, for those of you who are new to my blog I am a intermediate cellist. I have been playing for almost 7 years, which to most people is just a drop in the bucket but the benefit from my perspective is I am going to college in a few short months (as of now 2 and a few days) so I know where the deals are and know what to get so you get bang for your buck.

Now, for years I've been taught from my teachers that just because you have a cheap cello doesn't mean you have to think it will always sound bad. For people who are just beginning and have a student instrument, there are several changes to your instrument that will improve the tone and overall characteristics of it. The first, and usually the most effective, way to get the sounds you want is to get new strings. For people starting out the best strings you can get for cheap are D'Addario's Helicore. They are made strong, and they are made to last for a long time. Before I changed cellos, they were the only ones I would use on my cello and I never had to worry about strings popping. I kept a set on there for a few years, which is not a good thing to do but when your on a budget it works out well.

This leads me into a lesson on strings, for my stringed musicians on here. The rule of thumb for us is you should change your strings once a year, however there are strings that will last longer. Just keep in mind the longer they stay on your instrument the more they will go "flat" and the more likely they will snap.

Now, what do I mean by a string going flat? Every string is constructed where they have a core, and the metal is wrapped around it. After a while the core will start to get worn out and it causes the string to vibrate less vividly and it gives a "flat" sound to the instrument. Another key feature to know about strings is that there is a break-in period that varies between the strings. The way it works for the Helicore strings is 5-7 days. That is a good time, but you need to remember that if you have a competition, audition, or a performance you need to be able to avoid getting stuck with spotty tuning.

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Episode 5: Dynamic Contrast

Welcome back to the blog, now with a new title and new series that you should take a look at in your free time. However, today's lesson is on dynamics and their importance. Dynamics is the volume of a note or series of a notes. Traditionally, volume is ranged from a Forte (f) to Piano (p). Forte means to play loudly, while piano means to play quietly. The range is controlled by either instantly changing music from being loud to soft and vice versa, or with a Crescendo (<) or a Decrescendo (>), which means going from one dynamic to the other Gradually. You can also write music as a crescendo from a piano to a forte or as a decrescendo from a forte to a piano. Just keep in mind that you need to keep the change within the style that you are playing, like a forte can't blast everyone's eardrums if you are playing a song that just needs to be under another part, but you need to play loud enough to be heard well.

Now, later on in music we move onto and see mf (Mezzo Forte) and mp (Mezzo Piano). Mezzo means to play moderately, or slightly less than (or more than) the dynamic. So for example, a mf would be read as a slightly less than forte, so you play under forte. For mp you should think it is moderately piano, so slightly louder than a piano. Finally, we get to extreme dynamics which are Fortissimo (and above) and Pianissimo (and below). Fortissimo, or ff, is the loudest you can get without making the tone sound bad.

How to Better My Site?

I was wanting people to let me know how can I make my blog better. If you think you have an idea, comment it below, or follow the links I've posted around the page to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or more classically shoot me an email! However for every comment you make, I would like for you to forward my homepage URL to at least 15 people. Make it into a chain message, or a chain text message... It doesn't matter but just get the word about my page to as many people as you can! I want to continue doing this blog, and expand into a music critique sight as well but I need more views in order for me to take away from my busy schedule (heading off to college in a few months!) and make these post every week or so. So don't be afraid to make a comment on my page, just spread the word! Please!

Episode 3: Treble and Bass Clef

Hello everyone,

Today's lesson is on the different clefs, which are Treble Clef and Bass Clef. Treble clef or G clef as it is more commonly called, is the clef that is commonly used today within music. Many instruments use it, such as violin, flute, oboe, clarinet, xylophone, and guitar. There are times where lower instruments, such as cello, bass and trombone, must read this cleft as well but this isn't always true. Those instruments, and many others, use the Bass clef, or F clef as it is more commonly called, to read music naturally. There are more than simply these two clef, but in order to keep everything simple for the lesson we will stick to learning just these two today.

The reason for why treble clef is called G clef is because the loop on the clef is the note G and is the G above middle C. The lowest note on the picture above is middle C, and in this case, the picture is a C major scale. As discussed in the last episode, there are intervals between notes and a Scale is a series of these intervals. C major is C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C, or interval wise, where W is a whole step and H is half step, is W-W-H-W-W-W-H. This interval pattern will work on all major scales, for example G major is G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G, or F major would be F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F. You can keep experimenting with any notes on the keyboard to find the scales.

Now, this is the Bass clef, also called an F clef. The reason it is called the F clef, like the G clef, is it circles around the note F. However, the same is not true about middle C, the top of the scale is considered middle C. This is also a C major scale, only an octave lower than the one shown before. An Octave is a set of notes that are played with two different places on the staff than the same one. For example, there is an octave jump from the low C to the high C in the picture above. Similarly, there is an octave jump from the lower C on the treble clef than the higher one. Also note the pattern for the scale is the same as with the treble clef, this being a C major scale.

I will expand of each staff specifically in a few days. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to subscribe and follow me on Twitter or Facebook for more information and suggestions for future ideas, like mini video series and contest!

Episode 2: Sharps and Flats

Hello, and welcome back to my blog! The first thing we need to discuss is intervals. An Interval is the distance between two notes. In most cases on a piano, the space between any two white keys or between any two black keys is considered a whole step. Let's take this piano for instance...

Look to the left and you see there is a black key between each white key EXCEPT between B-C and E-F. Those spaces between white keys with a black key in between them are called Whole Steps. The spaces in which there isn't a key in between them, for example B-C or E-F are called Half Steps.

Now, you may be wondering what are the black keys are called. They are called Accidentals. They are listed as a Sharp (#) or Flat (b). If you need to, you can also make the note a Natural but we will discuss that later. All white keys are considered naturals, for example the C's are read as "C Natural", but when you hit the key between C and D, you have a C sharp (C#) and enharmonically a D flat (Db). Enharmonics are notes that are read in different ways. A good way to practice that is going up the octave (from left to right) make everything sharp (C, C#, D, D#, E, etc.) until you get to the next C. Then go back down and say everything with flats (C, B, Bb, A, Ab, G, etc.)

Episode 1: Musical Alphabet and Note Values

*Updated 4/8/2013*

http://www.scribd.com/doc/87389601/Music-Theory-Blog-Episode-1

https://twitter.com/sulliadm

Hello everyone! Here is the first offical episode of the series! This episode is basics of counting, and the musical alphabet. There will more practice available at some point, or if you need help please contact me through Twitter!

Scribd power points

I realize people want to see what I'm telling them, or what I will tell them, so I will post my power points to my episodes on Scribd for you to see.

http://www.scribd.com/adam_sullivan_13

Episode 0: Preface and Work Cited

I know, this sounds weird to many of you guys but the fact of the matter is people is the United States like to sue for copyright infringements. So, whenever I put up a post on here or put up a video on Youtube this will serve as my Work Cited page, and I will keep links to this post and/or will update it regularly. But without further to do, I introduce my first video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUkrHltLaZI&

*NEW* the power point of this lesson:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/87039762

WORK CITED:

Books:

Fleser, Jim. The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, 2000. Print. 

Tagliarino, Barrett. Music Theory: A Pocket Reference Guide for All Musicians. Victoria,    Australia: Hal Leonard, 2008. Print.

Teacher, Matthew. The Musicians Notebook: Manuscript Paper for Inspiration & Compsition.  Philadelphia: Running, 1998. Print.

Websites:

Adams, Ricci. "Lessons." Ricci Adams' Music Theory.net. N.p., 2011. Web. 25 March 2012.  

          .

"Free Music Manuscript Staff Paper." Free Printable Staff Paper @ Blank Sheet Music .net. Web. 25 Mar. 2012. />.

Twitter and Youtube

Follow me on twitter and youtube! I will post updates to this page, and some extras!

https://twitter.com/#!/sulliadm
http://www.youtube.com/user/Sulli00700

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I will be demonstrating general musical theory concepts to people who either want to learn an instrument, get better at the instrument they play, or just want to know some secrets in music.