All articles by Mike Shaw

  1. The Piano - Key, Hammer And String - Part 1 by Mike Shaw

    The piano, while similar in some of its features too many other kinds of musical instruments, differs materially in several important points from all other kinds. It resembles the Violin, Harp, Guitar, Zither, Dulcimer, in its being stringed. It resembles the Drum, Triangle, Cymbals, Tambourine, Dulcimer, in its being dependent on percussion for the production of its tone; and it resembles the Organ, Clarinet, Concertina, in its being keyed.

  2. Learn To Play The Piano With Expression - Part 2 by Mike Shaw

    In part 1 of this two part article, we discussed that the correct use of the hands when playing the piano keyboard can produce a beautiful sound.

  3. How To Play The Piano Expressively - Part 1 by Mike Shaw

    This series of articles will help everyone who is learning to play the piano to attain that all-important part of the whole process of learning the piano, the ability to produce a good tone.

  4. A Brief History Of Music – The United Kingdom by Mike Shaw

    Music in Britain prior to the seventeenth century, or at any rate the latter part of the sixteenth, presents itself under very much the same aspects as on the Continent. On the one hand Church music, on the other Minstrelsy and latterly, the rise of a secular art, secular in spirit but hampered with Church traditions.

  5. Music History – The Minstrel Part 2 by Mike Shaw

    If an unlucky noble was picked on and ridiculed by a Troubadour, he could be certain to be famous in every court and castle in Southern Europe, because unfortunately for him he would be a laughing stock. In some cases, he may have to fight to defend himself and his family against marauding neighbours, as had the Lord of Rossilho when Alfonso of Aragon laid waste his territories, as vengeance for the death of the Troubadour Guillem de Cabestanh.

  6. How To Play A One Octave MIDI Pedal Board by Mike Shaw

    Arranger keyboards such as the Yamaha Tyros 2 and the Korg PA800 are becoming extremely popular since the massive decline in electric organ sales. These arranger keyboards provide automatic bass lines, which is fine if you are playing basic triad and seventh chords. With a MIDI pedal board you can divert the bass note in the auto chord system to the bass pedal note you want and still keep the rhythmic effect or you can play your own bass line with no auto features added at all.