Hi there!practice app

This month, I really want to tell you about an app we have been using A LOT at our house – My Note Games.   Our oldest son is taking piano lessons with Ms. Karren and we’ve been utilizing this app to help him practice the notes on the staff. It makes a game out of learning notes and holds his 5-year-old attention span for an impressively long time! It can be used with any instrument too.

If you like the low-tech style of doing things, good ol’ paper flash cards are also highly effective and fun games can be played with them. Either way, there are tons of creative ways to help you progress in music. Search some out this month!

Laura Lee Crandall

Owner, KC Rock Band & Guitar School of Music


Live Music in KC

Check out some of the excellent live music Kansas City offers! Here’s just a tiny sampling:
Feb 17 – New Jazz Order Big Band         April 15-16 – Pixar in Concert
Feb 29 – AC/DC                                          April 18 – Mumford & Sons
March 19 – tobyMac                                  May 15 – Carrie Underwood


Student of the MonthAlec guitar student of the month
Alec St. John

Alec has been taking guitar lessons with KCRB for 2 ½ years. Matt Crandall is his teacher.   Here’s a little about him.

  1. What are some of your favorite things you’ve learned so far on guitar with Matt?
    A. Improvising solos, learning scales, and learning barre chords.
  2. What are you looking forward to learning in the upcoming year?
    A. Playing faster solos
  3. What is your favorite food?
    A. BBQ pulled pork sandwich
  4. What’s another hobby you like besides guitar?
    A. Running
  5. What’s your favorite class in school?
    A. History

Congratulations, Alec!
We love seeing you continue to improve on guitar. Keep it up!


Practice Tip of the Month

Record yourself regularly

   We can learn so much by watching ourselves play our instrument.   It doesn’t have to be professional recording quality, and it certainly doesn’t have to shared it with anyone, but being able to watch what one is doing with an outside perspective can teach a musician so much. I’ve done this on many occasions and thought things like, “Wow, I didn’t realize I was so tense in my arms”, “I’m speeding up on that section”, or even, “that sounded really good!”   You can also see how much you are progressing if you do it on a semi-regular basis and compare your early videos with current ones.   It can be very encouraging to see how far you’ve come in the course of a few months.

So prop up our phone, turn on the computer camera, or find a simple way to record yourself this month!

 

 

 

 

February Newsletter