There are lots of different types of music degrees that specialise in all kinds of areas within music and sound. Lots of institutions will combine areas and specialisms, however there are a few ways of categorising the main areas of study. Undergraduate music degrees mainly fall within three classifications: BMus – Bachelor of Music BA – Bachelor of Arts [...]
Playing piano duets often comes as a welcome treat to players because so much piano music is self-sufficient and solitary. Piano duets are also known as ‘piano four hands’ to differentiate between a two-piano duet, which is traditionally referred to as a ‘piano duo’. The piano duet became popular in the mid-late 18th Century thanks to composers such as [...]
MusicXML software is the umbrella term for programs that can read and understand the language of music notation interchange known as MusicXML. MusicXML works in the same way as a .jpg or .txt document does: the information in that file can be opened, read and edited in any number of programs. If we think of MusicXML in this way, [...]
It can be a minefield when learning or teaching reading music for beginners – there are so many elements to music theory, and lots of rules to remember. It is akin to learning a new language. The good news is there are plenty of ways to approach reading notation, and these can compliment each other, whatever way you are [...]
Whether you’re practicing vocal duets of choral music, classical pieces, opera, musical theatre or pop styles, the elements of an effective vocal duet are surprisingly uniform. Effective practice and performance technique for singing in a duo crosses style and genre, and comes down to a few universal points that can help hone your performance to make it a memorable [...]
I was recently arranging Moonlight Sonata for two guitars with MuseScore. I had a PDF of the original score for piano but wasn’t able to open PDF in MuseScore. This is because a PDF or photo of sheet music is an image, and you can’t import PDF in MuseScore directly. I decided to use PlayScore 2, an ‘optical music [...]
Singing in a girl band has been a popular route for all-female ensembles since the 1920s surge of vaudeville performances and barbershop styles. Girl groups and close harmony singing groups have evolved with the times, moving through popular music genres through the decades into the present day. Modern girl bands now include a diverse range of music styles that [...]
There are many different techniques in choral music, each providing a unique way to support the lead melody vocal line. There are a variety of different effects that vocal ensembles, choral groups and choirs can create. Some vocal lines are there to provide harmony and texture to the piece, and come in to reinforce the chords or double up [...]
Guitar duets are an excellent medium for showing off the potential of the instrument in a variety of styles and genres. A guitar duo also works well for performing arrangements of popular pieces that were composed for other instruments. Most often a guitar duet will be split with one guitar playing the melody and one performing the accompaniment. This [...]
I recently worked on a job where I needed to transcribe the Adagio movement of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata into an arrangement for two guitars. While I love arranging, it can be a slow and time-consuming process notating pieces from scratch, and so I decided to try out the PlayScore 2 app to help me speed my work process up. Being [...]
