Study Music at Home

Education, Music, Scores


Tips for studying music at home

For mothers and fathers I have already written Three notes to parents with a child or children who learn to play a musical instrument that I recommend reading before continuing.

For people who study music, these are my suggestions:

  1. Find who inspires you to learn. If we define self-taught as a person who learns without the need for someone to instruct oneself, study at home may not lead to any profit advance in a relatively short time. On the contrary, I think we can learn from all the people who inspire us, whether they are alive or not. Listening to a concert by Antonio Vivaldi can teach us about instrumentation and harmony; a video on YouTube by Friedemann Findeisen can teach us music theory or analysis. Vivaldi and Findeisen will not know it, but they are our teachers.
  2. Organize your study sessions. It is already well-known that the arts are disciplines and require constancy. You will notice progress in a short time if you have a study schedule. Music requires the body in motion, and it works in less time if you train your body to do those movements daily. A day without the body movements that an instrument requires is a wasted day. Some people have told me that even motor skills are lost if you stop studying for considerable periods of time. Remember that no matter how much time you spend studying, what is important is perseverance and enthusiasm.
  3. Set goals for each study session. Depending on the time you plan to spend on your instrument, set yourself at least one goal. Having a clear goal helps us choose a path to move forward. If at the end of your session you did not achieve your goal, ask yourself what you could do differently (what other way to take) the next session to achieve the goal.
  4. As much as possible, demand yourself. When we are studying without someone to help us with what we consider we must correct, we are likely to give ourselves permission because “it is not so bad”, but it is. We will not be able to make remarkable progress, we will despair and we will want to stop studying immediately; On the other hand, if we demand the best that we can do, we will advance more quickly and we will soon enjoy playing that piece that keeps us excited.
  5. Be humble with what you know and recognize what you don’t know yet. It seems doubtful that you will make progress and stay on the motivational path if you just repeat what you already know. You better get to know new instrumental techniques or new pieces and continue learning.
  6. Look at learning as a game. The moment you consider music as an obligation, your interest will begin to wane. To keep your spirits up, try to remember why you were specifically interested in learning music or your instrument: that’s your long-term goal. And remember that just as in a video game the objectives are measured in percentages (some games reward you with stars, and you have to earn them all), musical learning can also be considered a game in which you have to earn the entire percentage. Go through all the stars, and repeat the level until you achieve your goal.

Videos/YouTube Channels

I want to clarify that YouTube is not the only network on the internet to share and socialize videos. There are other options that for better or for worse, I do not know as deeply as perhaps I should.

There are lots of Channels and Videos about music. The best thing to do is to be as clear as possible what you want to search for and use the search box to put it into words. Below I will suggest some channels that I find interesting for learning music in general or violin.

Musical Disclosures

  • Holistic Songwriting. Friedemann Findeisen deeply analyzes and studies the music of the most popular artists of the moment and provides advice on musical writing.
  • TheNeedleDrop. Anthony Fantano uploads videos in which he reviews the albums of the moment with a broad musical knowledge.

Violin Lessons

  • Violin Lab Channel. Perfect for any level. His videos provide clarity and interesting perspectives on the violin technique.

Websites with music lessons

There are all kinds: those that focus on reading, auditory training, application of the theory to some instrument, and those that combine everything. Here is a selection.

  1. https://www.teoria.com/en/
  2. https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Category:Music

Movies about Music / Musicians

I extract this list from the entry on this same site: Three notes to parents with a child or children who learn to play a musical instrument. As I mention it there for mothers and fathers:

«I recommend reading a synopsis or watching a trailer of the movie you decide to watch, as they may contain dialogues or scenes that you don’t want to share (yet).»

  • Brassed Off (Dir: Mark Herman).
  • Så som i himmelen (As It Is in Heaven. Dir: Kay Pollak).
  • Les choristes (The Chorus. Dir: Christophe Barratier).
  • The red violin (Dir: François Girard).
  • Fantasia (Walt Disney Pictures).
  • La flauta de Bartolo (Bartolo’s Flute. Dir: Paul Leduc) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm4gwMSTTrU
  • Into the Woods (Movie Version Dir: Rob Marshall).
  • Mary Poppins (Movie Version, Dir: Robert Stevenson).
  • August Rush (Dir: Kirsten Sheridan).
  • Copying Beethoven (Dir: Agnieszka Holland).
  • Immortal Beloved (Dir: Bernard Rose).
  • Tous les matins du monde (All the Mornings of the World. Dir: Alain Corneau).
  • Impromptu (Dir: James Lapine).
  • Amadeus (Dir: Miloš Forman).
  • Mein name ist Bach (Dir: Dominique de Rivaz).
  • The Devil’s Violinist (Dir: Bernand Rose).

Websites with Sheet Music

Applications for Mobile Devices

Videogames

  • Magic Tiles, Piano Tiles, Tiles Hop: These are video games whose dynamics is to press an area of the screen at the right moment. This develops a sense of rhythm and response to sound stimuli. In addition, the repertoire is expanded.
  • Instrument Simulators (Guitar, Drums, Piano, Electric Bass, etc): They allow having a digital approach to the operation of some instruments.
  • Suggestion: Put in the application search box Musical Games.

Musical Language

Android
  • Solfeo: Learn the notes
  • Solfeggio
  • Rhythm and music theory
  • Perfect ear
  • Chords and Solfeggio
  • Vivace: Music Reading
iOS
  • Notes Teacher
  • LASIDO – Reading notes
  • Elements ME
  • Note Trainer
  • Solfeo: Learn the notes
  • EarMaster – Solfeo y oído
  • Solfeggio
  • Perfect Ear – Ear Trainer
  • Musical ear: Absolute tone
  • Pentagrom

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