Monday 25 February 2019

4 Lessons to Take Away from Your Music Class

It is important that you take something valuable back from your music classes. You will be learning new skills often, and to achieve that, you must commit yourself towards the lessons taught in the class. How can you gain the most from your music classes? What are the things that you should take back home to hone your skills? Here are few which will help you get the most from your learning sessions.

1. Practice Routine
What is the most effective way to improve your skills? Ask your mentor how you can best achieve your goals. Although practicing them repeatedly is given, there are few conscious efforts you must put in, in order to get the best results. Take a note on how you should approach practice, how to warm up properly, how much time you should put into exercises and what areas you should concentrate on to build a technique. Have a regular practice routine with few tweaks between the weeks to keep the routine refreshing and fun.

2. Homework
Always get exercises and drills to be done before your next class. Try to keep it refreshing, thus you should be able to do given exercises in your class to get new material to practice for your next session. If you keep ticking the boxes, you will see a vast improvement in your playing in a short while. This will also give you a perspective on the progress you are making in your instrument. Challenge yourself every week and it will make you a better musician.



3. Feedback
Be open-minded and learn to receive feedback from your teachers as well as your peers. Use the feedback to polish your skills. Understand their point-of-view and apply it towards your development. Note down the pointers your teacher makes on your playing, gather information on what to improve and how to improve. If you can convince them next time, you are on the right path.

4. Collection of Songs
Listen to all genre of songs, don’t limit yourself. This will help you grow immensely as a musician. Listening and developing your knowledge of music is as important as playing the right pitch in the right rhythm. Share your music collection with your friends. There are lot of talented artists that are yet to be discovered, so take help of your classmates to discover as many artists you can. It will surprise you how some songs can inspire you to work harder and better. The bigger your library of music, the more knowledgeable you get in music – and this is vital in your learning.

We hope this blog post has been able to give you some insight on the important but neglected learnings you must take away from your music classes.



BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and  Recording Studio services. BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools. 


The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.

Tuesday 19 February 2019

5 Tips for a Great Stage Performance


Performance is an art. You have to experience it and continuously practice it to master it. However, there are few tricks that can help you deliver your best on the stage. Performance is all about connecting with the audience. If you can get your audience involved in the performance, you will definitely have a great gig! Here are some tips you can use to give a great stage performance.

1. Engagement

Always keep eye contact with your audience to let them know that you are involving them. The more you draw their attention, the more invested they will be. Communicate with them with anything that can be related to your performance. For eg; Teach them an easy part of the song or encourage them to sing with you if they have heard the song before. They enjoy participating with the band and such moments will boost your performance. Your energy on the stage is carried across the audience.

2. Preparation

Your preparation towards the show will be obvious in front of the crowd. Prepare some points to talk about so that you don’t go blank before you step up on the microphone. You should feel relaxed and comfortable about your parts and feel confident about your skills (this can only be achieved through regular and determined practice). Remember, you play only as well as you’ve been practicing. So, prepare your parts well, communicate with your bandmates and practice the show together, over and over again, until you feel confident about your parts in the song.

3. Utilise the Space

Don’t be too stiff on the stage. Use the space of the stage. Move around, it excites the audience as performance has a visual factor involved too. They are there to be entertained, so entertain them with simple movements. Interact with your bandmates during the show, play or sing on both sides of the stage, use gimmicks, anything that can make crowd cheer for you.




4. Avoid long Breaks between Songs

Try to keep continuity in your performance. You don't want to give your audience a long break as it makes them distracted and lose interest. Especially when you are beginning, make sure your desired sound levels are set (sound check) before you start, so that you can avoid keeping your crowd waiting when you come out to start! If they get anxious waiting, they might lose the energy and excitement crucial to performance.

5. Outfit

Wear a suitable outfit that is unique and comfortable (as you will need to move around). Make it look a part of the songs you are performing. It will enhance the visual aspects of your performance and both visual and aural aspects are important when it comes to a musical performance.

Remember that the performance must be memorable for the audience. Anything that helps your performance connect to the crowd, use it. It is important that you enjoy the stage and play your part in the performance. If you have rehearsed well, you will be confident and will definitely have an amazing performance.




BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and  Recording Studio services. BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools. 

The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.

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Tuesday 12 February 2019

3 Best Practices for Handling a Microphone on Stage


The Microphone is one of the most common tools used in a Musical Performance. It is very most important that musicians should understand how to use it, if they are to perform on the stage. The function of the microphone is pretty easy to understand but it is the knowledge of using them effectively that eludes many musicians. An incorrect use of microphones can hamper the sound and the quality of your performance immensely. Thus it is basic for all performing artists to understand them. In this blog post, we have discussed some of the best practises for handling a microphone on stage.

1. Posture for Microphone Use

Your posture when handling the microphone is very important. Standing straight with your head aligned to your back enables you to use the microphone most effectively. The vocal source needs space to create quality sound, thus keeping a few centimetre distance between the vocal source and the microphone will really help. Don’t crowd the microphone as they are usually designed to capture sound flowing across it. If you get too close, it will amplify your every breath, every hiss of the words you sing. You certainly want to avoid that. Keep your head up and assure that every word you say flows out smoothly across the microphone. Most of all, feel comfortable with the position between you and the microphone.

2. Handling a Microphone

Now if you have to handle a microphone, you have to understand where to hold it and how you hold the body of the mic. If you keep changing your hand placement and allow it to move freely with a loose grip, you will get a lot of handling noise and feedback. So Grab it by the microphone handle and adjust your hand where you are most comfortable, point the grill towards your mouth for easy flow of words in to the microphone. Try to keep a consistent distance between the mic and the vocal source as it will provide you the best quality throughout the performance.


3. Avoiding Common Mistakes

Let’s talk about few common mistakes people make when using a microphone which you should avoid it. The most common mistake is “Mic-Cupping”. Although it looks cool, you are doing the most fundamental mistake as you are changing the vocal pick-up pattern of the microphone. This allows the microphone to catch sound from every direction and ends up inducing noise along with your voice. You will often hear feedback noise immediately and you would be wondering what’s wrong with the microphone? Now you know.

Another common mistake happens when singers move a lot for theatrical effect. However, it is sometimes necessary to enhance your performance and you should have an idea of the best time to show off those skills. If you keep moving continuously, the quality of your voice/sound will fluctuate and will not keep the attention of your audience. So, try to keep your voice and volume as consistent as you can even when you are moving around the stage.

Finally, be aware if your microphone is switched on or off. You don’t want to be singing your heart out to finally realize the mic was off nor you want to make personal remarks accidentally on the mic that is not intended for the audience. And finally keep the mic at an angle by 20-30 degrees from a perpendicular standpoint so that you let words flow across it then into it which will maximize the quality of your voice.

In summation, avoid the common mistakes that amateurs often make and ensure the correct posture and position from the microphone. We hope you found these insights useful and will try to implement them in your next performance. Small changes often add up to great results.



BlueTimbre is a unique Music Company that provides Music Education and  Recording Studio services. BlueTimbre also works with schools to provide end-to-end Music Education solutions for schools. 

The BlueTimbre team comes with decades of cumulative experience in running Structured Businesses, Music Curriculum Development, Music Education and Performance.



References