Check out the Instrument Master website at www.instrumentmaster.com

Anyone who has spend time trawling through the internet and the many music related websites will probably have come across Instrument Master.  One of the negative aspects of Instrument Master is the hyped and over the top way that the course is featured on the webpage.  Many people are put off by websites with pop ups, endless reviews by random people and outrageous claims about how good the product is and ‘special prices’ for recommending your friends also buy the product.  What seems to attract people to this piano course is the promise of an all inclusive piano course, the price which is cheaper than many of the other courses available online and also the advertised bonus of access to other courses for instruments including guitar, bass and violin at no extra cost.

Unfortunately after parting with the purchase price to have access to all that Instrument Master (Piano) has to offer it was clear that many of the features that were advertised on the website were substandard or in some cases were exaggerated or nonexistent.  The advertisement for Instrument Master claims that you will have access to 1000s of lessons for all instruments via the Instrument Master library as well as access to 10 Styles and genres of instruction for each of the instruments covered by this site.  What you really get is somewhat different to the promises made before you part with your money.

After gaining access to the teaching materials for Instrument Master it was clear that what was promised and what was delivered were two totally different things.  The advertisement for Instrument Master promised thousands of lessons but the site only features 13 QuickTime movie files which were poor quality, didn’t really teach anything of importance and were only short with the longest clip only 3 minutes.  The clips that did show something where blurry,  had muffled audio and there was no structure to any of the lessons.

Instrument Master also provides the user with 13 MP3 files that contain just the audio of the above mentioned QuickTime movie files.  These audio files are completely useless as you already have the audio with the video clips and they aren’t that good anyhow.  The package also features scale illustrations, some PDF files that have some basic music theory and notation and some Jam Tracks which as with most of this package are rubbish and a waste of time downloading.

For people looking for a great online course for learning to play piano – keep looking.  Instrument Master is a poor quality waste of money – do not buy this course.

For more information check the website www.instrumentmaster.com

Although small, Lindo’s guitar lineup is fairly varied, with selections for acoustic, electric, electric-acoustic, and bass guitars. They also have a line of travel guitars, which are smaller, more compact, and designed for easy transport. Prices range from £50 (US$82) for a basic travel guitar to £150 (US$245) for their higher-end electric guitars. The company regularly adds to its collection and holds regular specials, so you may even be able to get one for less.

Lindo guitars come with various colors and finishes, so there’s one to catch every user’s fancy. For instance, the Lindo (i) Series, its bass guitar line, features a natural wood finish, an eye-catching red, and a polished black. All come with a basswood body and a maple neck, as well as chrome hardware and die-cast machine heads.

Two of its more popular electro-acoustic guitars are the Black Fire and Dreadnought, which are made with roomy, ergonomic bodies to ensure playing comfort. The fingerboards are rosewood and the body is natural spruce. The necks are made with maple, a popular “tonewood,” which means it carries sound well and makes for excellent acoustic play. As the name implies, it also plugs into an amp and can be used as an electric guitar.

One of its newer products is the Tribal electro-acoustic guitar, set apart mainly by its glossy tiger-stripe design. Featuring the same solid construction as the rest of the lineup, it boasts some of Lindo’s new features such as a scratch-plate design, matte tuning pegs for added style and finger comfort, and a smart headstock design.

Lindo also offers a wide range of guitar accessories, including picks, strings, and straps. Beginners may also be interested in the Complete Rock Guitarist six-lesson DVD for electric guitars or the Complete Fingerstyle Guitarist for acoustic guitars. Tuners, amplifiers, amp cables, and guitar stands are also available for those in the professional league. There’s even an accessory pack for electric-acoustic guitar owners that includes a gig bag, spare steel strings, shoulder straps, plectrums, and a pitch pipe.

Online lessons have become increasingly popular as people, even children, adopted busier lifestyles. This applies even outside music, from art to academics. But in music, it’s a little complicated because it’s always a two-way affair. you don’t just want to learn notes—you want to be able to play well. Often, that means playing for someone. Many guitar lessons get the instruction part right, but aren’t good at prompting practice and assessing performance. This is one of the first things you should look for when choosing lessons.

High-quality video and audio lessons are a good way of assuring this. Jamplay, for example, has about 570 hours of video instruction from over 40 real-life experts. And it’s not just some scripted lesson plan, either: you get professional-quality videos and performances from your instructors, and they keep adding new ones every week.

Another great thing about this program is that it covers various musical genres, something that’s rare in the industry. Most guitar lessons will focus on a particular style, such as rock or jazz, but Jamplay offers lessons across the board, allowing you to try out new styles and eventually settle into something you like.

You also have to consider your level of expertise. There are guitar lessons for pros and lessons for those who’ve never held a guitar before. If you’re the latter, a good place to start is Beginner Guitar System from Railroad Media. Nate Savage, a guitarist with over 16 years of experience, walks you through all the basics, from common chords and power chords to skills like rhythm and timing. Even intermediate players can find some of the concepts useful.

Such programs are ideal for beginners because they don’t cost much—for instance, the Learn and Master Guitar program from guitar manufacturer Gibson offers about two years’ worth of lessons for a fraction of the price. If you’re not sure you want to be a serious player, or if you’re just trying to see if your kid will like it, it doesn’t make sense to pay a fortune for a private instructor’s time.

Check out the Learn and Master Bass Guitar website www.learnandmaster.com

Learn and Master Bass Guitar is a brand new bass guitar course from the Legacy Learning company.  This course is part of the spotlight series of courses offered by this company and is a less expensive bass guitar course which still manages to give the student good quality video lessons and an excellent introduction to the 4 string bass guitar.  The video lessons feature Tony Marvelli who has a solid background in playing and teaching the bass guitar and his easy style comes across well as he teaches in the video lessons.

As with many of the online courses, Learn and Master Bass Guitar features 3 DVDs of video lessons, 1 audio CD and a work book which is used to supplement the lessons.  The video lessons are split into 6 sessions which cover topics such as an introduction to the bass guitar, music theory, tab and reading music, scales, chord progressions and how to get the most out of your practice time.  This course is great for beginners as it spends a fair amount of time focusing on the basics of playing the bass guitar such as picking, fretting techniques as well as slides and patterns.  Some of the topics that are featured during the video lessons are only covered very briefly so it is essential to have the work book to follow which fills in the required detail for many of these skills.

Learn and Master Bass Guitar also features a Jam Along CD which has 8 tracks which you can play along to.  The tracks are of a high quality and feature full band backing as well as excellent jazz and blues sections which are great to play along to.  The Jam Along CD is good but unlike other learn to play bass courses the tracks are only featured at the one tempo and the tracks are an extra and learning them is not covered in any of the video lessons.

The lesson book is available only as a PDF and can be downloaded from the resource website.  The book is an excellent complement to the video lessons and has been produced with easy to understand diagrams, chord charts and exercises.

Learn and Master Bass Guitar is quite a good course for people who are looking for a cheaper option for an online course.  The video lessons and work book have many positive features and this course is great for beginners who are looking for a course that covers the basics of playing bass in some detail.

Check out the Learn and Master Bass Guitar website www.learnandmaster.com

Stagg Music Company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. Its product line includes acoustic, electric, and bass guitars, other string instruments (mandolins, banjos, ukuleles), drums and cymbals, wind instruments, and professional audio equipment. Percussion has come to be its most popular offering, however—its cymbals have had a growing fan base since the launch of its hand-hammered Furia and Myra series.

The company’s guitar line, although not its flagship product, offers a good price-to-quality ratio. This is especially true for those who don’t want to pour too much into a first instrument or spend thousands of dollars on a hobby. Both electric and acoustic ranges are handmade and built for excellent sound quality. The round-back models and the James Neligan series are especially popular and get good reviews on sound and craftsmanship. Most guitar teachers consider it a good learning guitar, although guitarists usually move to more expensive brands once they start playing more seriously.

Stagg also makes a wide range of children’s guitars, built to half or quarter sizes. There are classical wood designs, but some models have whimsical, child-friendly motifs such as dinosaurs (the 1/4 size Dino Guitar is ideal for children aged 3 to 5). These guitars are made with nylon strings, which are gentler on young fingers, and are comfortably light. Larger guitars also carry well (especially with Stagg’s line of artsy straps), although older models tend to be heavy, according to some experienced players.

Most musicians agree that Stagg guitars are well-made—some have compared it to more established brands like Yamaha and Epiphone. The sleek and often creative designs are also a plus. In terms of sound quality, it gets a little subjective. Some find the pitch ideal for metal and the strain perfect for blues and jazz, so it can do a little of everything. If you don’t have a specific musical style and just want a good practice guitar, Stagg is definitely worth a look.

Digital stage pianos are the most affordable kind, and are a good choice for young learners or those who just want to see if they’re into it. A decent model will cost $300, although you can find discounted ones for a little over $200. The sound selection will be limited and quality won’t be at par with a grand piano, but for its purposes it does the job pretty well. At the very least it’s good for learning the basics without taking on the full piano cost.

An upright piano has a vertical frame and strings, making it more compact than a grand and a better fit for homes. Prices range from $2,000 to $4,000, so it’s best for intermediate to advanced users. Many piano learners use this at home and rent bigger ones at professional studios. Most shops arrange them according to height and classify anything taller than 42 to 45 inches (studio pianos) as uprights.

Prices start to vary a little more when it comes to grand and baby grand pianos. About $2,000 will get you a lower-end baby grand, but some models go for tens or hundreds of thousands. Brand names also come into play; Steinway and C. Bechstein are some of the most popular ones. The latter has a 9’2” concert grand valued at over $200,000, plus shipping and taxes.

Your best bet, as with any other big-ticket item, is to look in the secondhand market. A slightly used model can go for as much as 40% below retail price, although there’s no guarantee of quality. If you’re not an expert on the matter, it’s best to have a more knowledgeable friend check it out in person.

If you’re just starting out, renting is also an option. You can rent low-end pianos for about $30 a month and luxury ones for up to $400, but prices really run the gamut and it’s a matter of finding what you need. The main advantage is that you can rent it for as long as you need, and splurge on your own when you can comfortably afford it.

Callum began playing the piano at age five and became a self-taught expert in almost no time. He taught himself by ear, not being able to read music yet, and learned impressively fastHe couldn’t read music, so he taught himself by ear. He later began piano lessons with tutor Benjamin Powell, who said he was “one of the most remarkable young students” he had ever taught.

This year, Callum became one of only a handful of young musicians, many of them armed with years of professional training, to win a scholarship to Chetham’s. He will be studying the piano and the cello starting in September. For the moment, he is a student at Manor Green Primary School in east Manchester.

His natural talent came as a surprise to his parents, who said no one in the family had the slightest inclination to music. His mother Tracy admits they had no idea where Callum got the interest or the talent, but both parents fully support their son’s passion.

Callum says he is looking forward to beginning his music studies. He says he would like to learn more about music and composition, perform in concerts, and meet other musicians. All students at Chetham’s study at least two instruments and are required to attend choir practice. The school holds regular concerts at the neighbouring Manchester Cathedral, and its ensembles have repeatedly won awards.

Chetham’s School of Music, known colloquially as “Chets,” is located in the Manchester city centre and accepts students aged 8 to 18 years old. Founded in 1969, the school boasts a long list of notable alumni, including rock musician Mike Lindup, choral director David Hill, pianist and music professor Stephen Hough, pianist Peter Donohoe, and jazz musician Gwilym Simcock.

Admission to Chetham’s requires an audition in which aural awareness, sight-reading ability, and creativity are taken into account, alongside ability in playing a musical instrument. Despite admitting students solely on musical talent, the school receives high academic rankings compared to local and national schools. Most students go on to study at top music conservatories in the UK and abroad, or pursue higher education at leading universities.

Check out the Piano by Pattern website at www.pianobypattern.com

Piano by Pattern is not your typical 1 through 10 piano course with much of the course and the information included focusing around a secret technique that makes playing easier and also aids the player to easily make your own impromptu tunes.  People who are looking for a course to teach them how to play the piano should give this one a miss as the central theme of this piano course, the secret technique, does not teach you anything that will help you develop or make you into a better pianist.  This course was created by Scott Jordan and is available to view both online or once you have purchased, for download to your computer.

The Piano by Pattern includes 14 video lessons which make up the bulk of the material for the course.  One of the disappointing features of these lessons is that you are only show what keys are being played through a diagram and hand positions and techniques are not covered in these video lessons.  A positive feature of the videos is that Jordan is quite good to listen to and many of the techniques and teachings are explained quite well.

Also included in Piano by Pattern is a PDF Chord workbook which is a fairly standard chord chart showing much of the same information found in most beginner piano books.  There is also a notes workbook which contains basic music notation found in any beginner piano book.  The last extra included in the pack is a short document called Read Music Now which covers the basics of reading music and understanding notation and symbols used in music.

People looking for a beginner course to learn how to play the piano should avoid this piano course like the plague.  The secret technique that is taught by Jordan through this course does work to some extent but has very real limitations and after listening to many of the original tunes he has made up they all sound pretty much the same.  Some website reviews of Piano by Pattern have suggested that this package is a rip off or at best a scam as there are many excellent online piano courses available with better content and extras for much less money.  It is recommended that you don’t waste your time or your hard earned money on Piano by Pattern.

For more information check out the Piano by Pattern website www.pianobypattern.com

Check out the Piano Coach Pro website at www.pianocoachpro.com

If you have spent time surfing the internet for an online piano course then you may have come across Piano Coach Pro in your travels.  For those people who have bought or checked out Instrument Master you will see that Piano Coach Pro is very similar in relation to the content and also the hype and misinformation.  The course has been put together by Jamie Lewis who does most of the playing in the badly filmed video lessons.  As with Instrument Master, Piano Coach Pro offers much in their advertising but delivers little of what is advertised.

According to the website and advertisements for Piano Coach Pro you will receive the following once you have enrolled and paid your money.  The course is said to provide you with over 200 lessons, 18 video lessons, 20 audio lessons, play along tracks, 1000s of scales, arpeggios, chords and exercises as well as over 50 MP3 audio lessons on Piano Style.  This sounds relatively good for a learn to play piano course considering that the price is lower than other courses claiming to have content such as this.  Unfortunately the content of Piano Coach Pro is really only 10 video lessons, 4 scale charts, one 12 page music theory booklet and a membership to guitar hot shot and Violin Master Pro which is considerably less content than advertised.

Once you have paid your money and have access to the members area of the website you have a choice of downloading the lessons or you can stream them onto your computer.  The video lessons are very poor in quality and in many parts the audio is muffled which makes it difficult to follow or hear what is being taught.  Another negative with the video lessons is that they have no structure or logical sequence and jump around from one skill to another which makes it very hard to follow and learn.  The other material included in Piano Coach Pro is not really worth mentioning to much as information such as the scale charts and music theory featured in the book can be obtain free on other websites and in a much better format.

For people looking to buy an online guide to playing the piano make sure that you stay right away from Piano Coach Pro.  This over hyped rubbish with its poor quality video lessons and lack of content is sure to disappoint and there are so many other courses available so don’t waste your time or money on Piano Coach Pro.

In most cases, you do get what you pay for. There’s an obvious difference between a $3,000 guitar and a $200 one. But if you’re just learning your first notes, the former would be overkill. Your decision should be based not on what’s available, but on what you need.

Most experts agree that knowing your style is essential. Believe it or not, different guitars favor different musical styles. Sure, you can make a “jack of all trades” out of any guitar, but the best musicians always choose their style and build their equipment around it.

For example, the Ibanez GRG170DX, which was recently named Best Budget Electric Guitar by BestCovery, is really more suited for shredders—two octaves, easy tuning, great range—than anything else. So it serves its purpose well, but it won’t be your first choice if you’re going for, say, soft rock or acoustic ballads.

Many people shy away from buying “specialty” guitars, those that do just one or two things really well and do just a decent job on others. Often, they think it limits their creative options. But most experts disagree. If you haven’t nailed down a style yet, start with a beginner’s guitar and stick to it until you’ve honed your own sound. Other than that, you’d be wasting your money on a pricey electric guitar you’re not sure what to do with.

The Squier Affinity Series Telecaster Special Butterscotch Blonde came in second on the BestCovery survey. Like the Ibanez, it’s a specialty guitar, lending itself particularly well to old-school R&B and country music. While not on par with the Telecaster, it’s got excellent sound for its price.

The same rule applies to buying budget guitars as any other piece of equipment: try before you buy. Many people buy online in a rush, thinking they don’t have a lot to lose since “it’s just a budget guitar.” But no matter how safe online buying is, there’s something to be said about feeling an instrument in your hands and plucking the strings with your own fingers. If there’s a better deal online, go to a local store and try out the instrument before ordering.