Music Maker Studios Blog

Find out what’s going on with students and ensembles at Music Maker Studios.  You can also read about where some of our teachers are performing.

Buying Your First Drum Set

Buying your first drum set can be a daunting project, especially if you have little to no experience with the instrument. In addition to reading product reviews, getting recommendations from drum teachers, and talking to drummers who have been playing for a while, it's a good idea to consider some of the following tips. You don't have to spend a lot of money. There's no reason to spend a fortune on new drums. Used drums usually work out fine. Broken drum heads are easily fixed (about $20 - $30 per head). Buy a complete four or maybe five piece set,

By |October 8th, 2019|

Advice on Saxophone Reeds

Saxophone teacher Bob Brenner talks about reeds  Reeds can be a tricky subject, especially for beginning saxophone players. What number should you get? What brands are better than others? How much should you spend?  It can be confusing and frustrating. Soft reeds are good for young students. The first thing you should be aware of is that the lower the number is, the softer the reed is going to be. Young players should always start with a soft reed.  I'd suggest a 1 1/2 or a 2.  As you progress you can move to a higher number, which will help

By |November 18th, 2015|

Tune A Guitar By Ear

Fine tune your guitar using your ear Just because the guitar tuner app on your smartphone says your guitar is in tune doesn't mean it's going to sound its absolute best.  There's a few variables that can cause a guitar to not sound in tune when you're playing chords or playing melodies, so if you really want it to sound good, you need to check a few other things after getting the individual strings in tune. Tuning using the relative tuning method If you've never tuned a guitar by ear, and you're a complete beginner at music, this may seem

By |October 22nd, 2015|

How To Tune A Guitar

Learn how to tune your guitar so it sounds as good as it can! Using A Guitar Tuner The first thing you need to know about tuning a guitar with a tuner is that you should use a chromatic tuner, not a guitar bass tuner.  The chromatic tuner will recognize all the notes the instrument is capable of producing (or any instrument for that matter), whereas a guitar tuner will only recognize the six notes the guitar is supposed to be tuned to.  That won't help if your guitar is really, REALLY out of tune.  I recommend using something like

By |October 8th, 2015|