Singaporesousa

The Diminished/Octatonic scale, also known as the diminished scale, it is a musical scale that consists of eight notes. It is characterized by alternating whole step (Tone) and half-steps (Semitone) pattern.    There are two types of Diminshed/Octatonic scale pattern: the half-whole (Semitone - Tone) and the whole-half (Tone - Semitone).       The diminished scale is based on diminished 7th chord made up of a root note, a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh.   In the example below, I have chosen to use the notes B, D, F Ab, these four notes form a diminished 7th chords derived from  G7b9 which is the dominant chord to C (applicable to both Major or Minor tonality).        You can use this scale pattern when you encounter a diminished 7th (dim 7th) chord.   By and large,  you would encounter dim 7th chord when it is used as a dominant chord.       This...

Introduction  Mnemonics are powerful tools that can help children learn and remember new information. When it comes to music education, mnemonics can be particularly helpful in teaching rhythm. Rhythm is a crucial component of music, and developing a solid sense of rhythm is essential for any budding musician. In this blog post, we will explore how mnemonics can be used to teach rhythm to children. What are Mnemonics? Mnemonics are memory aids that help us remember information by associating it with something else. They can be used to remember anything from a phone number to a complicated scientific formula. Mnemonics can take many forms, such as acronyms, rhymes, or songs. Teaching Rhythm with Mnemonics Mnemonics can be an effective way to teach rhythm to children because they can make the learning process more fun and engaging. Here are some examples of mnemonics that can be used to teach rhythm to children: Diagram 1:           Below are some more e...

This blog is in response to a comment from a the previous blog  "Adding note names to notes".    The viewer wants to know how to "A dd note names to note head", which means the letters appears within the note head instead of above or below the notes.   Here goes: Highlight a bar in the score.  In the menu bar select " Notations "  - a list of commands will appear and then choose " Add note names" which is on the right side of the.   A pop-up window will appear with three options.   Whole score, Selected passages and omit sharp and flat signs.   Click ok to populate the score and the note names will appear inside the note head.   But the letters inside the note heads are not clearly visible.   I would recommend that you change the size of the noted head to at least 180% to make the notes visible.      To increase the size of the note head,   goto " Appearance...

  I am truly sad to hear the passing of the Queen Elizabeth II, I have fond memories of the Royal family and had the privilege to perform for them at a garden party hosted by the Queen for the Commonwealth Representatives in London, I was a Student Bandmaster at the Royal Military School of Music, Kneller Hall at that time. I recalled vividly that my march composition “For the people, For the Nation” was selected to kick off the repertoire and and I had the unenviable task of starting the performance. I recalled vividly that I was told to “play” when the Royal family appears. I stood on the podium for 20 minutes and was told to get ready and then to stand down for at least 5 times. When it finally got started, I was so excited that I conducted the march at a fast tempo and it was all over in 2 minutes. It was a short but memorable experience. I would like to pay tribute to Her Majesty, the late Queen Elizabeth II, with my composition “Laid to Rest”. Her poise and elega...

In this blog post, I would like to share what I hope is a breakthrough with my ADHD music student today. My student is 10 years old diagnosed with Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) .   She is a really bright kid,  speaks well and talkative but very low in confidence.  Every other week, she will have some sort of injury, in fact today she said she twisted her wrist ice-skating and wanted me to sign on her cast.    In some previous lessons, she would be quite spacey and watch her tablet instead of focussing on the music score.  It is likely that she is not interested in the score that I had printed for her, especially, the songs that she is not familiar,  songs that have no lyrics,  songs that are more than one page.    This seems to be the trend for most of my special needs music student.   My observation is that they have no confidence to complete the task because its too long or complicated and not becau...

In this blog post, I will show you how to add note names to your music score.  I believe that this will help your beginner students to learn the notes of the staff faster and this is especially helpful to students with special needs. I have already made an easy piano arrangement of "Scarborough Fair".   The melody is simplified and the accompaniment is made easy with single note for each crotchet beat.   Using the left hand (LH)to play is always a challenge for beginners.   This LH arrangement is created to get the students to be rhythmically accurate and consistent.  Sibelius : Highlight the entire score using Command + A (Mac)  Control+A (PC) Go to text menu bar  Go to plug-ins   Scroll down to add note names.  A window will appear and you can make your selections.   Inside the window, select technique (There are other choices For eg. Lyrics and expressions) Click Ok .   Note names will be added to the e...