Primary Colors Music Instruction

Google Shared Piano Intro - Chrome Music Lab

Shared Piano is Chrome Music Lab's newest free web based app. The reason it is called shared is that by sharing a link, up to 10 participants can be in the same "room". Its kind of like a chat room for piano. The creators of this app released it early in a beta stage because they knew how potentially valuable it could be to music students and teachers during quarantine. A student could be using skype on their laptop, and then have their phone set up in the shared piano room. It can be played with touch screen, lap top, AND it is midi compatible. This is the quarantine piano teacher's dream. Check out this short video as I go through an explanation of how it works and what it can do.

This song started out as a random pressing of buttons of the tenori-on the first time I figured out how to use it to sequence the juno-106. I started to hear a song and tweaked it a little bit before starting to hear it in its current form. Since then I learned to write it on the musical staff and wrote it for the harp. What I like about the music box is that it kind of combines the two earlier "interfaces" for composing music, and it shows me that there is not much of a difference between sequencing/programming music using technology, and writing/composing music on paper. They both have strengths and weaknesses. For instance, when you automate music by programming it you can hear it and it does not require a skilled person to be able to interpret it, however that is also a weakness because there is no nuance and dynamic between notes - you get what you see. In both writing music and sequencing/automating/programming music, they both use the idea that going left to right is the passing of time/rhythm, and going up and down is what determines the frequency of musical notes. I've never been more aware of that then when using the OG hardware sequencer, the music box.

Did you know today is Uncommon Musical Instrument day? I have no idea how this came to be, but I am happy for any excuse to talk about a few of my favorite things. This video explores both the mbira and the music box. Enjoy!

Today would have been the the funeral for my student, friend and teacher Ben Faigin. I originally met him at my garage sale last summer when he bought an old guitar from me. Later he became my student, I got to know him as a student, but also as a friend when he started fixing all my computers and upgrading them after one lesson when I learned he knew about computers. He also turned out to be an amazing cellist and became my cello teacher. I originally wanted to learn the cello for recording projects, but after one lesson I realized I would call Ben if I ever wanted to include cello on a song. The more I got to know Ben the more interesting I realized he was. One day he told me he had started to teach himself to program sound synthesis on his computer. I always looked forward to seeing Ben, curious to know what I would learn next. Ben was a thoughtful person, original and stylish, smart and talented. He was in his early 20s which is way too young. I will miss him greatly, and I know his family and friends will too.

The riff on this song started out as a creative exercise of an idea we were working on during a guitar lesson. I was playing rhythm guitar, and Ben was playing electric. I had just set up a tape machine and pressed record. Ben started improvising around 2 minutes and I thought it was so cool. Even though he had only been playing guitar a year, it became apparent that his background in classical music created a solid foundation for his musical talent. After the lesson I was inspired to add additional tracks and make made a video montage to share with Ben. He was always a supporter of the videos I was making. After the last lesson we had I showed him a video I had just finished working on of random stock footage I had found, he asked me if it was Calder in the video. I had never even heard of him, Ben told me Calder was a famous sculpture artist who had grown up in the circus. Another thing I was surprised Ben knew.

A Music Opportunity Fund has been set up by his family and friends to provide young musicians, like Ben, with scholarship support for classical music training. Link in Bio
https://www.gtcf.org/product/ben-faigin-music-opportunity-fund/

I found out one of the makers of Chrome Music Lab made something called
which allows you to turn anything into a musical instrument. It is the veggie vibes on steroids! I took this opportunity to apply some of the ideas used discussed in previous tutorials to go beyond Chrome Music Lab.
Check out the hashtag to see what this thing is capable of. Wow!

Episode 5 is a creative demonstration and application of all the ideas talked about in previous episodes. The parameters used are:

1. What Chord? There are 7
2. what Inversion? There are 3
3. Pattern of arpeggio? There are limitless, though this video focuses on some basic patterns.

This video shows how these 3 parameters can be combined for limitless combinations. At the end of the video, there is a demonstration of how chords and inversions apply to the piano keyboard.

Arpeggio is the Italian word for "to play on the harp". In Episode 4 of the Chrome Music Lab Tutorial, while using a harp, I demonstrate how the concept of arpeggio can be applied specifically to Chrome Music Lab, as well as other instruments. Whether you are a beginner, or someone who has been playing for a while, I think this video will inspire you to look at music slightly different and inspire a new musical idea.

Visit the part of my website dedicated to Chrome Music Lab for more videos and educational resources:
https://www.pcmusicinstruction.com/chrome-music-lab.html

In this video, I use the guitar, cello, harp, flute and tenori-on to demonstrate the major scale to make a connection to how this scale is played in the Chrome Music Lab app "Song Maker". The goal of these videos is to learn how to understand and make music "Song Maker", an app anyone can open on their phone. This understanding can be utilized by complete beginners to make your their compositions, as well as connected back to the instrument that you play to give a more comprehensive understanding of how music works.

Learn to play the major scale!