Video by Angelo Nottoli
Text by Samuel Barsi

When a student is learning music for the first time its very important for them to learn how the notes work in music. What does a scale sound like? What does it not sound like?  To develop musical intuition we should have a keen sense of this. 

Although simple, this keyboard exercise teaches the piano students the first five notes of the major scale, then it teaches them the notes that are contained in this scales major triad chord, and then it has the student play the chord. Basically this is an introduction to chords. Practice this and find it in every key. For instance, can you figure out how to do this exercise if you start on B instead of C? What about if you start on A? 

We know this is simple and there is much more to know about piano playing and chords. During our piano lessons and keyboard classes we will be sure to give you a balanced curriculum of helpful exercises, songs, and other customized projects to help you reach you musical goals. 

By Sam Barsi
Video by Angelo Nottoli
Whether you want to strum songs on an acoustic by the camp fire, play finger-style folk music with nylon strings, play some shredding solos over the Chicago blues, solo like the guitar gods of classic rock, or play jazz and improvise on the fly, this warm up is for you! 

Finger dexterity is one of the most important skills that will help you as a guitarist. This guitar warm up will help you work on your finger control on the fretboard with your left hand while coordinating your picking hand (right hand) at the same time. A good guitar instructor knows this warm up and a BUNCH of other ones that will help you reach your guitar goals faster. 

Warm ups like this should be done consistently. You would be surprised how much better you will get if you did this warm up 5 times a week over the course of 2 months. As you can probably imagine, your speed and control would be off the charts! 

During our guitar lessons and guitar classes we will give you a balanced lesson plan of warm ups, songs, chords, riffs and scales. If you want to focus on a specific area of your guitar playing, we can do that as well. We want to help you achieve your goals. Happy practicing! 

Warming up your voice for singing is a common activity during voice lessons. But how can you warm up at home? Wouldn't it be nice to have a singing teacher to help you warm up, expand your range, and discover your true tone?

This voice warm up is designed for kids voices specifically, but we also have made warm ups for adult voices as well. To find them go to our blog and just scroll until you find it.

Make sure to breathe deeply from your belly (diaphragm) as you breathe for singing. This will really help you sing properly and get the best tone possible. Happy singing!

Here is a vocal warm-up designed for singers with an estrogen driven vocal range. This quick singing lesson will help you warm up your voice, feel out your range, perfect your airflow and if you do it over time it will help you to become a better singer! 

​Try it and let us know what you think. 

This warm up was done by vocal coach and singing lessons instructor, Douglas Peters. To schedule a singing workshop with him, click here to book a lesson. 

A vocal warm up does so much more for the singing voice than just prepares the voice for singing songs. It can be a major help for singers to learn about their range, refine their tone, master breathing, practice pitch accuracy and more. 

This warm up lesson for testosterone based voices is with our instructor, Douglas Peters. He will demonstrate the singing exercises that are strategically selected and arranged to optimize your voice for a gig, practice session, or even singing in the shower. After his demo he will lead you through the exercises on the piano. 

The range of this Warm Up is designed for Baritone & Tenor voices. Because these are the most common testosterone fueled voice types, this should work for most lower voices. 

For voice or piano lessons with Doug, feel free to get in contact with us and we'd be happy to get one scheduled.

I have taught countless drum, brass, and general music lessons over the past 10 years and if there is one thing I've learned it is this: 

The most effective thing a student can do during a lesson or during their own musical instrument practice is play slower! 

By going slow you make it so that your brain develops muscle memory more efficiently. This means you have to practice whatever you are learning less times, make less mistakes on the way, and save time and frustration while you are working on your skills.

After you can consistently play a new diddy you are working on slow, try it faster. I bet you will have no problem going faster after you get comfortable going slow. As you increase speed and repeat more times, you will get more and more comfortable. Your speed will continue to increase. Pretty soon you sound so good that you can hardly believe that it is you playing like that!

During music lessons I always find that students don't want to go slow because they want to sound like a pro immediately. If this were possible I would love to make it so! But that is the challenge of music. Learning can be a bit difficult sometimes, but by staying methodical and going slow you can make the path much easier. 

To all of my musicians in training out there. Keep on the good path. Greatness is coming! ​

Here is another piano lesson on how to play the G Major scale. Usually, our teacher, Jacob will teach a lot more than just scales during the lesson, but we thought it would be helpful for students to have some pre recorded demonstrations some of the most common scales. Practicing these scales will help students develop coordination, awareness and speed so that it isn't so difficult to play songs on a higher level. 

Our teacher Jake, also teaches drums and voice lessons. If you would like to book a lesson with him click here:

Practicing your scales on the piano is like putting money in the bank. The more comfortable you are with your scales, the better you will be able to improvise, play in any key necessary, and build coordination in your fingers. Basically, mastering scales is one the keys to developing mad skills on the keys. 

Here is a video of our piano instructor, Jake Loomis demonstrating how to play the C Major pentatonic scale. To book a piano, voice, or drum lesson with Jacob, click here: