Caption Contest and some announcements! There's a great prize this time! :D

Hello everyone! Sulli here, and I have a few announcements:

First off, I caught a cold which led to my voice being completely gone so no Podcast today however I am going to post the interview in the next Podcast along with the next series. If you have a suggestion for the next series, then let us know by contacting us through Facebook, Twitter, or through email. I have something planned for it as of now but after that is open to what the viewers would like to see. For those who want to know the schedule, tomorrow will be a "How to Practice" episode by me, Thursday will have the next episode of "Organ: a Dissertation in Umpteen Parts".  Friday will be the next World Music Experiment episode, and finally after the lack of entries to the "Song of the Week" series, I've decided to put it on hold and will move the Composer's Vlog to Saturday. Keep submitting songs, because it will come back later on just don't expect anything immediately.

Secondly, I wanted to let everyone know how much I love and appreciate the support that you've been giving us. We finally hit the 8,000 viewer mark on May 30th and I have been talking about it on my personal Facebook but not on here, so thank you. If you haven't already subscribed to us then please do! We're working very hard to keep content on here up to date and entertaining.

The last thing is we are hosting a Caption Contest for an ASMTB "ParaChord" Bracelet (picture below). Shout out to Wayne for making it! Using the picture provided and either a meme generator or Photoshop, create a caption to go along with this picture and post it to us on either the Facebook page or the Twitter page. Best entry wins the bracelet and a shout out on both pages. If you can't think of anything, but you still want a bracelet you still have a chance! Just go onto either page (links are at the top on the Nav. bar), like/follow the page(s) and share the contest picture. If you can do that, you will be entered into winning one! So, let's start seeing some entries!! Good luck!

Here's the picture for the contest:

And here's a picture of the prize:

One ASMTB Para"Chord" Bracelet

YouTube Ad Campaign: Intro and Revisiting the blog series

Hey everyone! Sulli here with a quick announcement! I've created an intro/ad for the blog! We're getting to the point of needing this so let us know what you think of the ad! Also, I'm revisiting the old episodes of the blog and working out a new video series for them. First episode will be posted on here and I'll try to post the announcements on here as I get them uploaded. I felt really bad about the stats nearly at 5K and then stopping the reason you all subscribed so I'm doing that before I start continuing with the series. So, there isn't going to be anything new for a little while but when there is, it will be better than before!

So here's the Intro:




As always, don't forget to let us know what you think in the comments below, share us (please?!?) and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. And don't forget to stay tuned for more thrilling adventures of... The Adam Sullivan Music Theory Blog! (*applause!*)

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sulliadm
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sulliadm
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/ASMusicTheoryBlog

A Series of Announcements! If you are subscribed, please read!

Hey guys, I'm here with an few announcements for you guys.

First off let's start by saying thank you guys! We've finally hit the 4,000 viewer mark! It's been a few days, and now we're closing in on the 5,000 viewer mark. Also, this is the first time the blog has had 1,000 views in a month! I am going to upload a video that the people on the Facebook page requested. For those who have been following me on Facebook or Twitter you also know of an upcoming contest. This is the official announcement of the 5,000 page viewer contest along with a few other things so keep reading!

The second announcement is I am adding a new author to the blog. Introducing Lester (also known as Distonal), a music education major at Long Island Univ. and a man who I've known for a long time. He will be the main author to the World Music Experiment, and will contribute a lot more to world music than I ever think of. He will also be sitting in on other topics that I will be talking about. I am also working on some cross overs in the near future as well from some other YouTube musicians, so stay tuned! I'm also taking in offers for the "song of the week" series. If you want to have something you've made posted on here, then submit it via the Facebook page, Twitter, or leave me a comment below with your name and the URL. I will consider anything you show me as long as it is music!

The next thing on my agenda of announcements is the fact that I've messed up rather badly. I read over some of the practice episodes and the theory lessons (before the suddenly vanished) and I know of the lack of quality versus the way they started out as. I would rather put a series on hold than give you wrong or very hard to understand topics so I am giving both of those series a temporary halt. Once I get through my end of the year stuff, I will start the series back up and clarify anything that you have to know. If you want me to answer a question before then, then send me a message to either Facebook(http://www.facebook.com/sulliadm) or Twitter(http://www.twitter.com/sulliadm).

As usual, don't forget to subscribe to Facebook or Twitter if you prefer! Between the admins (Yuki, Kyte and soon to be Lester) and myself, we try to keep fresh material on there daily. Also, if you have ever had something you want to ask Lester, to the other admins or to me directly, then I will be taking questions for an admin interview once the Facebook Page hits 100 likes! We are almost at 60, so if you want this to speed up then click the link above! And another note on communication; don't be afraid to comment on the articles themselves. I don't know a lot about your past when it comes to bloggers but I love interacting with the community I'm working hard to establish. If you want to say something, as long as it isn't offensive or spam I don't mind it. I love feedback, because it helps me get an idea on where my audience is and if something isn't to your liking, I want to improve on it. That's why it took so long to catch the problems with the episodes, I didn't know about it until one of my professors start pointing stuff out to me.

And finally, the moment you've been waiting for... the contest! I am offering a package consisting of a poster out of any 1 of the 3 pictures I've created in Photoshop and a black/red para cord bracelet to one lucky viewer. The bracelet was graciously donated by a fan, and is considering making them to sell as a way to show support for the blog. That leads me to a discussion for you guys later on, but for now it's just a thought for everyone to think about. The poster will be around a medium sized poster; I'm thinking about a 16in X 12in... but I'm not 100% sure on the dimensions yet. If you want the poster autographed, I will happily do so but if not then I understand. I will cover shipping in the US and possibly international shipping. I may need a little help shipping them internationally, but I will let you know what I've worked out once I completely announce it and get the bugs worked out. I will let you know what the contest rules are once we hit the 5,000 viewer mark so keep sharing if you want it to happen sooner. The reason I'm telling you guys now is so you get ready for this instead of just dropping it out of nowhere! Here is what is for the give-a-way:

Picture 1:

Picture 2:

Picture 3:

Bracelet:

Finale 2012 Tutorial Episode 2 Pt. 1 & Announcements!

For those who haven't checked out the YouTube page, here's the tutorial series I'm working on now. It's on Finale 2012, and this is the first of the next episode (more up throughout the rest of the month). Don't forget to subscribe and please give me some feedback! I tried to mix up the editing this time, and if you click the annotation, you'll see what it was like on the last tutorial. If you have any questions or ideas for future episodes, then don't be afraid to let me know. I will do my best to help if you need help or talk out an idea for more videos.

Also, I am here to announce the blog has finally hit 4000 views today! I am so happy to see that there are regulars that are continuously reading these articles, and give me more chances than I deserve when I screw up! I am announcing that when we hit 5000 views mark I am hosting a give a way of something really cool (and isn't from 80's pop culture!). I will post more about what I will be giving away once we hit around 4500. Along with that, I am having another thing for the Facebook Fan Page and the Twitter Page. Once we hit 100 likes on Facebook, I will start taking questions for all the admin on the page over Facebook and Twitter. In case you don't know the admin here's what we have:

Sulli (myself): Manager of the blog, blog related posting and general posting of anything.

Yuki: Posts about Asian Pop music. She keeps us up to date on music trends in the Asian music community.

Kyte: Posts general music memes.

(*Undisclosed*): The newest member to be added in the next few days. He will be posting series on the blog and will cover European music trends.

Facebook Fan Page: www.facebook.com/sulliadm
Twitter Fan Page: www.twitter.com/sulliadm
YouTube Page: www.youtube.com/sulli00700


If you stay savvy on Latin music trends, want to take the place for North American music trends or have something unique that you want to put on the table then let us know! I'm looking for more admins for the page! I know I have a large Russian audience (about half my international views come from Russia), so if any of you guys would love to talk then I know everyone else would love to hear! Nothing will be denied an offer. The same also goes for my fan series. If you have something you have written or covered then send it in and I'll take a listen to see if I will post it. Have a good day guys, and again thank you for all the support!

YouTube Channel Update!

Hello viewers! I wanted to let you guys know that I am starting to run the YouTube Channel off with a series on Finale 2012. Afterwards I am going to start integrating CD reviews integrating OST's and music in general but I need YOUR input! I would like for you to share this announcement and go to the Facebook Fan Page and tell me what you would like for me to do unboxings and reviews of? I have current plans to do one of the Halo 4 Soundtrack and later on "Music From Another Dimension" by Aerosmith. I really do like everyone's input on the blog and if you have an idea for the blog, then I would love to hear it!

Link to Facebook Fan Page: Click Here

Link to Twitter page: Click Here

Link to YouTube Page: Click Here

So, I hope to hear from you guys and if nothing else, see you in the next episode!

Video Posted On Youtube! I would like some reviews on it!

Someone suggested I start a video series on the blog, so I posted what will hopefully be the first in a series. If you want to view it, click here. If you like it or have some ideas for the series then let me know. I would love some ideas for it at the moment! And don't forget to follow me on the Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, or add the RSS feed to however you follow RSS feeds There will also be an actual post later today in case someone was wondering if this was the only one today. *hint, hint*

New idea for the blog *NEED EVERYONE'S INPUT*

Ok guys, as you may or may not know there is a large number of international viewers and in celebration of being seen in every developed country in the world last night, I want to hold a new contest that will benefit everyone! Someone at Winthrop gave me the idea that I should host a mini cultural event with everyone on here. Basically I would give you a sample of my life here in SC along with a song that I feel is a cultural song from the US and you would send to me (via Twitter, the Facebook Fanpage, over email or as a comment on the page) a little bit about yourself and a song from your country. I'm going to start with mine on here and we'll see how far we can go. If I like yours then I will post it on here in a new series for the rest of the world to see. So, let me know via Facebook, Twitter, email, or comment below and don't forget to share this page with your friends!

Video of the Month - Contest Results Preface!

This is the new series I will start up by picking a viewer submitted video of them playing an instrument and post it to here! Contest will be updated every 1st Friday of the month (after today) and the winner will get to have his or her video shared on my Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and on here! This month I picked the video from other cellist, and as those you are on my twitter know I am a big fan of Star Wars! So this month's video is ThePianoGuys "Cello Wars (Star Wars Parody) Lightsaber Duel". Hope everyone enjoys, and don't forget to find me on Twitter and Facebook!

Episode 4: Defining the Signatures

Hello, and welcome back to this week's episode on Sulliadm's Music Theory Blog! This week's lesson is explaining the two signatures: Time and Key signatures.


First, we will start with the key signature. The Key Signature of music is what we use to tell  what sharps or flats should be used in the piece. For example, we can have 2 sharps in the key of D, or the key of F has 1 flat. The way to know what key we are in is by learning The Order of Sharps and The Order of Flats. The Order of Sharps are F#, C#, G#, D#, A#, E#, B#, and the easiest way to remember the keys is to go up a half step from the sharp. Using my example above, the key of D uses 2 sharps: F# and C#. Another common key to use is G, and it has one sharp: F#. In order to find the Order of flats, it is simply reversing that order. They are Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, and Fb. The way to remember the keys here is to go back one letter in the line. So, using the example above, the key of F has only one flat, Bb. The key of Eb major has 3 flats: Bb, Eb and Ab.

Now, we will discuss time signatures. The Time Signature is the division of music that divides the number of beats by what note value gets the beat. As previously stated, every note can be subdivided. A quarter note can be split into 2 eighth notes, and similarly two quarter notes can be combined into a half note. Now the time signature tells you how many of what note can go within a measure. Commonly used time signatures are 4/4, 3/4. and 6/8. To simplify that, 4/4 time means there are four notes in a measure and the quarter note gets the beat. 6/8 means there are 6 notes in each measure while the eighth note gets the beat. There are unusual time signatures as well, such as 5/8, 7/4, and 2.5/4. Those are very rare to come by however it is just as simple to understand how to count.

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!

Now on Facebook!

Hello again! Just a quick reminder that I am in fact on Twitter (@sulliadm) and on Youtube (www.youtube.com/sulli00700), but along with that, I am on Google+ and now on Facebook! Along with that, if you have any questions, comments, statements or any feedback at all and none of those seem to works, hit me with an email! I want to answer all of your questions you have to offer about theory or anything about music in general!

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

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.