Omnichord: History and Key Facts
The Omnichord is an electronic musical instrument introduced in 1981 by the Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation.
Musical Instruments
Sourced musical instruments reference: history, people and documented cultural context.
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Guitar: Authors: An Open Learning Guide
This book has no authors other than the public: it is open for anyone and everybody to improve. Therefore, this is more properly a list of acknowledgements of contributors than a list of aut
Guitar: Rhythm: An Open Learning Guide
All bars (measures) consist of a number of beats. A very easy way to grasp the idea of bars is to learn a 12 bar blues. The time signature shows the number of beats in a bar and the note tha
Composer-Tron: History and Key Facts
The Composer-Tron was developed by Osmond Kendal for the Canadian Marconi Company in 1953.
Guitar: Harmonica and Guitar Combo: An Open Learning Guide
The harmonica is an instrument that has found favour with many guitarist. The idea evolved from the blues and country and western musicians of the early part of the 20th century. The role th
Piano: Pedals: An Open Learning Guide
The piano pedals are additions to the piano instrument that enhance a performance in various ways. There are three pedals, each with a separate and distinct function. These are attached to a
Piano: Scales: An Open Learning Guide
There are many different scales in music, from pentatonic scales ("oriental" sounding scales) to major scales which are more common in Western music. Learning the scales is like learning the
Guitar: Chord changes C-Am: An Open Learning Guide
The change between C major and A minor (Am for short) is even easier than the change between G and Em. In the key of G major, the chord C major is the subdominant. Am is the relative minor o
Guitar: The Basics: An Open Learning Guide
The guitar is, and has always been, a social instrument. In all its forms, it has always been a portable, multi-stringed instrument made for public hearing. Even today, there's nothing bette
Folk instrument: History and Key Facts
A folk instrument is a traditional musical instrument that has remained largely restricted to traditional folk music, and is not usually used in the classical music or other elite and formal musi
Guitar: Chord Progressions: An Open Learning Guide
A knowledge of chord progressions will help you communicate and play with other musicians. Knowing the most commonly used chord progressions allows for greater enjoyment and unity when playi
Guitar: Campfire Diploma: Song Examples: An Open Learning Guide
In this appendix you will find all the practice examples from the campfire diploma and other well-known songs from commercially available songbooks. So that this guitar course can continue t
Piano: Why Play Piano?: An Open Learning Guide
There are many and varied reasons to play the piano. It is a beautiful instrument with a beautiful look and a beautiful sound. It can be a soloist's instrument or a group instrument. It shar
Guitar: Arpeggios and Sweep Picking: An Open Learning Guide
The word arpeggio (ar-peh-jee-oh) is Italian for "like a harp". It is a common technique for playing chords on the harp. To play an arpeggiated chord on the guitar, pick each note of the cho
Guitar: Flamenco: An Open Learning Guide
Flamenco is one of the folk music genres of Spain. In Spain the word flamenco is not just associated with the guitar but also the people, songs and dances of Spain. The history of flamenco f
Keyboard instrument: History and Key Facts
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers that are pressed by the fingers.
Piano: Rhythm: An Open Learning Guide
There are two essential pieces to music: rhythm and pitch. Pitch refers to how high or low a note is in tone, whereas rhythm refers to the arrangement of those tones. Since pitch can get fai
Acoustic resonance: History and Key Facts
Acoustic resonance is a phenomenon in which an acoustic system responds strongly to sound waves whose frequency matches one of its own natural frequencies of vibration (its resonance frequencies)
Guitar: Folk Guitar: An Open Learning Guide
Folk music is considered to be music that originates from the people. It is not the preserve of professional composers because its themes and melodies are derived from the experiences and li
Guitar: Slide Guitar: An Open Learning Guide
A slide is a metal/glass/ceramic tube which fits over a finger (most commonly the ring finger or little finger, but any will work). If you wish to experiment with slide guitar, but do not ha
Mellotron: History and Key Facts
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963.
Guitar: Tuning Your Ear: An Open Learning Guide
Almost as important as learning how to tune your guitar is learning how to tune your ear. Most people do not have "perfect pitch", which is an umbrella term for anyone who is really accurate
Semantic system: History and Key Facts
The semantic system is based on a microtonal musical scale tuned in just intonation, developed by Alain Daniélou.
Technics SL-1200: History and Key Facts
The Technics SL-1200 is a series of direct-drive turntables introduced in October 1972 by Matsushita Electric (now Panasonic Corporation) under the brand name Technics.
Rompler: History and Key Facts
A rompler is an electronic musical instrument that plays pre-fabricated sounds based on audio samples.
Guitar: Open Chords: An Open Learning Guide
Open chords are chords that include unfretted strings of the guitar. Open chords contain one or more open strings. For example the Em chord diagram on this page shows 4 open strings but the
Electro-Theremin: History and Key Facts
The Electro-Theremin is an electronic musical instrument developed by trombonist Paul Tanner and amateur inventor Bob Whitsell in the late 1950s to produce a sound to mimic that of the theremin.I
Synthesizer: History and Key Facts
A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals.
Guitar: Blues: An Open Learning Guide
The blues is an American form of music whose origins can be traced back to the African-American communities of the southern states in the early 1900s. Its a music of African performance aest
Guitar: Alternate Tunings: An Open Learning Guide
Many guitar players use alternate tunings, which differ from standard tuning. The use of alternate tunings (non-standard tunings) are found throughout the history of the classical guitar and
Guitar: Anatomy of a Guitar: An Open Learning Guide
This chapter presents an overview of the different parts most commonly found on the three main types of guitar. The body of a guitar consists of a treble or upper bout (the half of the guita
Croix Sonore: History and Key Facts
The Croix Sonore is an early electronic musical instrument with continuous pitch, similar to the theremin.
Guitar: Chord Types: An Open Learning Guide
A chord is two or more different notes played simultaneously. Most chords have three notes though. Chords derive their names from the root note; so a C chord has C for its root note and a G7
Guitar: G Em C D: An Open Learning Guide
By the way, memorize that E minor (written "Em" for short) is the minor parallel of G major. In many songs you don't necessarily have to change to the minor parallel, you can simply continue
Guitar: Simple three-quarter beat: An Open Learning Guide
With 3/4 time you have a different rhythm. You always have to count to 3 and not to 4. Experience shows that beginners always have problems switching from 4/4 time to 3/4 time and vice versa
Electronic drum module: History and Key Facts
An electronic drum module is an electronic or digital music device in an electronic drum kit that serves as the central processing unit and sound module.
Guitar: G without pinky: An Open Learning Guide
This article is only intended for guitar players who have already learned a little guitar and have perhaps learned a chord (especially G major) with a different fingering. Unfortunately, peo
Guitar: Alternate Picking: An Open Learning Guide
Alternate picking is an important skill, because it allows you to play more than twice as fast than with just down picking. The basic idea is that if you are picking just on down strokes, ev
Triolin: History and Key Facts
The Triolin is an acoustic bowed metal instrument designed and built by Hal Rammel in 1991.
Tronichord: History and Key Facts
The Tronichord, also known as the Portachord, is a rare electronic musical instrument manufactured by Suzuki Musical Instrument Corporation of Japan in 1981-1985 A precursor to the larger and mor