I’m excited about the new year for several reasons. Some of them are dorky — like the fact that 12 is one of my favorite numbers (you know, because there are 12 notes in the chromatic scale). And some of them are just downright cool — like the fact that we’ll be launching a number

Have you ever noticed that showers are like time machines? It’s strange … whenever you step into one, the world suddenly slows down. Is it magic, or just weird science? If you don’t believe me, then try this little experiment: Step 1 – Begin playing a catchy album on your stereo. It’s important that the music

Right now, it might still be difficult to get your hands playing together. But honestly, that’s okay. If you’ve already mastered the art of playing chords with a melody, then you’re a fast learner. And if you need some more practice (don’t we all?), then try playing this next song. It’s a classic and one

By using different notes and rests, we can create all sorts of cool patterns in music. But no conversation about duration would be complete without looking at a couple of extra symbols called “dots” and “ties.” These symbols are a little less common in music. But they can be useful when you want to tweak the

Now that we know how to illustrate time (or “duration”) in music, we can play anything we’d like. After all, music is really about two basic things: Pitch (that is, the 12 notes of the chromatic scale), and Duration (like whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, etc.) All we have to do is combine these

Once you see how note duration works, music becomes a cake walk. In fact, duration symbols can be rearranged into all sorts of patterns, so our options are wide open. We can mix quarter notes and half notes … or combine eighth notes with sixteenth notes … or play just whole notes … etc. The possibilities

As an art form, music is pretty unique. It’s unlike painting, sculpture, architecture, glasswork—and a bunch of other kinds of art—for one big reason. It takes time to unfold and make sense. Unlike other art forms, music must have time to work its way from beginning to end. To put it another way, it’s easy to experience

In music, any melody is simple to learn. And that’s because a “melody” is really just a pattern of notes that sound good together—as they’re played one after another. For example, the song “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” is simply a C major scale that’s been chopped up and rearranged into a nice, little tune. This melody