Blog-azic

Every music teacher needs a properly tuned instrument. As such, electronic tuners have become a staple in most musicians' gear bag. Here is a short review of a free tuning app, called n-Track Tuner. Although another review suggests that this tuner is less than adequate, but I would disagree. Like most apps, there are features here which will not be useful to everyone. Likewise, there may be useful features which are not present. As a performing musician and teacher, I had no difficulty using it and would recommend it to other iPad-savvy educators who also appreciate budget-friendly apps. The tuner has two modes. In analyzer mode (above), the app will listen to audio through the iPad's mic. A graph of the frequency analysis is displayed against a grid that marks reference frequencies (in Hertz) and decibel levels. A triangle points to the frequency of the note that is tuning. The right side of the screen displays an overall signal level graph, which is probably not useful for t...

This is the first part of my new Blogger series about the iPad facilitating music education. In this article, I'll tell you about Symphony Pro , an App that allows score creation by importing notes to a stave with the touch screen or with an optional keyboard interface. A big draw to the App is its ability to export finished sheet music (in a variety of formats, including PDF or MP3) to the iPad Photo App, by email to yourself, or to a wireless printer. Overall, I have found the App to be easy to use and a good investment for my music lessons (the app is currently priced at $14.99). The touch screen interface is intuitive with only an occasional looks at the included help book to learn more complicated functions, such as repeats and staff attributes. I've included some screen shots below to give you a more complete pictures of the App. I spent some time Friday writing out an arrangement of Bach's Prelude in C for the Well Tempered Clavier. Above, you can see the ...

Posting today from my IPad. Fairly easy too navigate around Blogger. Lots of cool music apps out on the web right now. Downloading a music notation app, will allow me to write sheet music. Seeing it as an excellent tool for my music lessons. I'll post guitar scores soon, and mandolin etudes. Happy Veterans Day.

This is a song I wrote years ago. I was in Puerto Rico at the time, visiting with my Grandfather. He's a hard man to live with, and I dreamed of taking a road trip adventure all the way from Washington DC to San Francisco, CA. Back then, I didn't get much farther than the melody and the first line of lyrics ("Oh, I wish I was in Californ-i-a."). Just a few weeks ago, I thought of the song while driving home from a visit to my girl friend in North Carolina. That night, I worked out the lyrics, and yesterday I spent an hour or so recording the song with my ukulele. I hope you enjoy it! Also, visit my myspace for more songs.