Archive for category Music Lessons

Valentine’s Day Gift Specials!

Feb 12

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Music Lessons | No Comments

Hello boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, fiancees, husbands-to-be, and people who care about
someone special!

It’s time for my
Valentine’s Specials!

It’s time for my Valentine’s Day Music Lessons Discount Packages!

Many of us have someone we love who either just received a musical instrument or who has wanted to take some private lessons for a while, but just never got around to it. Right?

If this relates to you, NOW is the time to act! (And expect a very rewarding response

Browse through my teacher pages to see what I do, then get a gift package for someone you care about!

To see what I do:

Click here for bass, guitar and piano.

Click here for general musicianship if a singer or other instrumentalist.

Click here if you’ve had confusions about music in any fashion and would like to clear things up.

Here are my Holiday Specials for NEW Students: (Or returning students from years ago.)

Normal rate: $65 / lesson (an hour)
Holiday Special #1: $55 / lesson — Buy two lessons (minimum) at $110
Holiday Special #2: Same price with a four-lesson package at $220
Holiday Special #3 A five-lesson package for $275 and you get one free! (This is a good deal.) This applies to anyone paying before the end of the year and starting by the first week in January. (If you are out of town for the holidays we can work something out.)

All lessons need to be weekly, at least one a week. (More is always fine.) Until a student is stable with the learning process, it’s easy to get off track when a week is missed. Once someone is grooved in, occasional misses aren’t an issue.

Take advantage of this offer!
Offer good until Feb 28

(Click here to download and print the gift certificate.)

Marty B.
Studio (818) 242-7551
Mobile (818) 517-3164
Email

(And keep in mind that I deliver phone and Skype lessons to your out-of-town friends and family.)

“I received these lessons from my wife over two years ago as a gift. I’m still here, lovin’ every minute of it!” Illya-Guitar

Tags: bass lessons, Gifts, guitar lessons, keyboard lessons, last minute gifts, music instruction, music lessons, Private lessons, Valentine's Day

Buttwinick Musical Services: 2013 Survey #1

Jan 12

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Learning Music, Music Lessons | No Comments

Hello! Please answer this one question survey.

Thanks in advance!

Holiday Specials on Private Music Lessons

Oct 15

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Music Lessons | No Comments

Hello music lovers, musicians, want-to-be musicians and friends of musicians and want-to-be musicians!

It’s time for my
Holiday Specials!

It’s time for my Holiday Music Lessons Discount Packages! (Very good deals.)

Alright…, so it’s getting towards the end of the year. (Already?) For some people, life continues as usual only including all of the various holiday events.

For others, however…, it’s time to catch up on those goals you’ve put off, like some music lessons! Right? Maybe you’ve been wanting to get some musical enhancement all year but haven’t? We, now is the right time.

If this relates to you, get yourself, a friend, or a loved one some musical enhancement for the next few months. Only watch out: lessons with me can be addicting (I also provide a wide array of musical services that you can contact me about.)

Browse through my teacher pages to see what I do, then get some lessons for yourself or as a gift!

To see what I do:

Click here for bass, guitar and piano.

Click here for general musicianship if a singer or other instrumentalist.

Click here if you’ve had confusions about music in any fashion and would like to clear things up.

(And call if you want to learn the Monster Mash for Halloween!)

Now is your time!

Here are my Holiday Specials for NEW Students: (Or returning students from years ago.)

Normal rate: $65 / lesson (an hour)

Holiday Special #1: $55 / lesson — Buy two lessons (minimum) at $110

Holiday Special #2: Same price with a four-lesson package at $220

Holiday Special #3 A five-lesson package for $275 and you get one free! (This is a good deal.) This applies to anyone paying before the end of the year and starting by the first week in January. (If you are out of town for the holidays we can work something out.)

All lessons need to be weekly, at least one a week. (More is always fine.) Until a student is stable with the learning process, it’s easy to get off track when a week is missed. Once someone is grooved in, occasional misses aren’t an issue.

Take advantage of this offer!
Offer good until Dec 31st

Music lessons also make great gifts
Giving someone lessons as a gift, who you know might not do this on there own, would be a wonderful thing.
Contact me for more information, then download this Gift Certificate, fill it out and present the present!

(Click here to download and print the gift certificate.)

Marty B.
Studio (818) 242-7551
Mobile (818) 517-3164
Email

(And keep in mind that I deliver phone and Skype lessons to your out-of-town friends and family.)

Tags: bass lessons, guitar lessons, holiday specials, keyboard lessons, music instruction, piano lessons, play songs I like, Private lessons, tighten up rhythm

Two more days for Summer Music Lesson Discounts

Jun 8

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Music Lessons | No Comments

Click the flyer for all of the info!

Tags: bass lessons, ear training, guitar lessons, keyboard lessons, Learning Music, Music, piano lessons, Private lessons, Reading Music, summer discounts, summer specials

Summer Music Lesson Discounts – 2 More Days!

May 30

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Music Lessons | 2 Comments

Hello!

It’s time for my Summertime Music Lesson Gift Specials!

Alright…, so it’s summer. For some people life just continues as usual. (Which is cool.) For others, however…, it’s time to get caught up on those music lessons! Right? Some have time off, or school’s out, or you’re celebrating the new bar-b-Que, or whatever!

So get yourself or a loved one some musical enhancement for the next few months. Only watch out–lessons with me can be addicting (I also provide a wide array of musical services that you can contact me about.)

Browse through my teacher pages to see what I do, then get some lessons as a gift!

Here are the specials:

Normal rate: $65 / lesson (an hour)
Gift Rate #1: $55 / lesson — Buy two lessons (minimum) at $110
Gift Rate #2: Same price with a four-lesson package at $220 (Normally $260)
Gift Rate #3: A five-lesson package for $275 and you get one free! (This is a great deal.) This applies to anyone paying by May 13th and starting before the end of May. (Gift Packages apply to new or returning students only.

Here are some starting links to see how things work:

Introduction
Teaching Method
Student Comments
Clearing up Confusions About Music

Take advantage of this offer!
(Click here to download and print the gift certificate.)

Marty B.
(818) 242-7551
Email
(And remember that I deliver lessons by phone and Skype to your out-of-town mothers, mothers-in-law, and other people’s mothers if you really like them )

Tags: bass lessons, Burbank, de-stress, gift, Gift specials, Glendale, guitar lessons, keyboard lessons, La Canada, La Crescenta, Los Angeles, music instruction, music lessons, Pasadena, piano lessons, Private lessons, summer discounts, summer specials

How to Pick a Teacher

Mar 4

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Music Lessons | No Comments

A good teacher should guide you toward your musical goals. Ultimately, he or she should be a good musician, a good teacher and someone you like working with. Budget is often a consideration, but how spot-on the teacher is and how much you practice are often the deciding factors. The bottom line is, are you getting what you want and is it worth the money?

Your lessons should be productive and fun. Lessons are the most fun when your goals are being addressed directly, rather than getting caught up in any personal agenda the teacher might have, which could be good or bad for your progress.

Though brief, here is a workable approach to finding a teacher:

Decide on what you want to do. If you’re not sure, a good teacher could help you figure it out.
Research. Ask friends, check out music stores, go online. Find out what’s available in your part of town, or out of town if you want to try correspondence lessons (very workable, by the way). If you see live music, talk to one of the musicians you like and see if he or she teaches or has a recommendation. Find teachers with potential.
Communicate with prospective teachers and find someone who seems to click. Do they know what they are doing? Do you like their approach? Do you feel good after talking to them? (If you feel worse after talking to them, move on!) Are they interested in your personal goals? Do they communicate with you—or talk at you?
Pick someone and START! And if that teacher doesn’t work out—find another!

Since there are many approaches to teaching and learning, it could take a handful of lessons to see if things click—or it could take only just one. You’ll know when the time comes.

Welcome to the adventure!

Marty B.
Email
(818) 242-7551
http://buttwinickmusic.com

Tags: bass lessons, guitar lessons, keyboard lessons, personal goals, pick a teacher, teacher

Making Chords on a Guitar or Piano

Jan 14

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Learning Music, Music Lessons | 1 Comment

Pressing a piano key down plays a note, while lifting a finger off of a key releases it. On a guitar, however, lifting a finger off of a note can create a new note by leaving an open string! This is always an enlightenment for a beginning guitarist, and a reason why it is easier to understand chords on a piano then on a guitar.

A chord is a specific group of three or more notes. If you go up every other note, alphabetically, from a specific note you have a chord. For example: C D E F G is an alphabet grouping. Start on the C, go every other note and you get C E G, which is a “C Chord”. What makes a chord a chord, are the specific notes within it, and there are many types of chords. It doesn’t matter what order the notes are in: it’s the notes that matter. A “C Chord” is CEG whether it’s play EGC or GCE or GCEGCE. Those are all C Chords.

On a piano, you add a note by pressing down an additional key. On a guitar, you either add a note by pressing an finger down OR lifting up a finger to let the open string or barred note ring out. (The glossary at my website will define any term you don’t already know.)

So when learning chords on a guitar, look for the notes a finger is playing, as well as an open string or barred note ringing out as a result of lifting a finger!

Marty B.
Email
(818) 242-7551
http://personalizedmusiclessons.com

Secrets of Guitar Tuning

Apr 2

Posted by Marty Buttwinick in Music Lessons | 2 Comments

There is actually more involved in tuning a guitar, especially an electric, then one might think. Besides getting each string to register a “green light” on a tuner, there are some additional factors that influence tuning that I’d like to point out. (I could have called this write-up “Hidden Difficulties of Tuning your Guitar”.)

First off, each string needs to be in tune to the guitar itself. This is called “intonation”. (Intonation means the accuracy of a pitch.) You intonate a guitar by adjusting the bridge. On most electrics, this is accomplished by adjusting the little “saddles”. On an acoustic, the saddle (the little light-colored piece of material) needs to be filed in a certain way. This is usually done in a “set-up” by a good repair person. How and why this works is a topic of another article, but you should know that a guitar needs to be intonated in order to be in tune.

An often missed point about tuning, is that your right arm influences how difficult or easy it is to tune your instrument. If your right arm is putting any pressure on the instrument that pulls it in towards your body: (1) your body acts as a pivot point, (2) the pressure from your right arm “pulling back” combined with your left arm tuning the tuning keys and applying a little pressure at the head of the instrument causes the neck to slightly bend, resulting in (3) the pitch of the string changing. You can easily demonstrate this phenomena by strumming the open strings and letting them ring, placing your left hand on the head of the guitar, your right arm on the body of the guitar and gently pulling towards you with both limbs. You will hear the pitch’s go sharp. This is a cool effect to use when playing, but not when tuning. When you do this, you are trying to stabilize the pitch while it’s moving which is impossible! (And often a hidden source of frustration.)

This is an often hidden element that creates difficulty and frustration when tuning. You can let your right arm rest on TOP of the guitar body with a slight downward pressure, just don’t let that arm pull back. Acoustic guitars are not quite as sensitive, but this applies as well to a greater or lesser degree. (I’ve observed my guitar students tuning for about twenty-eight years and know of what I speak!)

In “unison tuning,” Another “hidden” action that creates difficulties is the left hand slightly bending the string when playing a note. When you bend a string, the pitch changes—even a tiny bit. When playing, this might not matter. When tuning, it makes things difficult because, again, you are constantly changing the pitch while trying to stabilize it! This doesn’t work. Make sure the direction of your fingers are going straight into the neck to play the note, not at an angle causing the string to slightly bend.

The last tuning element I’ll mention is about the size of the frets. Frets come in various thicknesses: small, medium and jumbo. (There are probably more “technical” names for this factor.) The fatter the fret, the further the string will be from the fingerboard. When playing an electric guitar with fat frets, pushing your fingers down too hard causes the string to slightly bend therefore changing the pitch. This might sound a little subtle, and it is. When tuning, make sure and only press hard enough to get a good sound from the note, if using fretted notes, without over-pressing causing the string to bend, changing its pitch.

Wow! Who would have guessed tuning a guitar can get so involved. But it is. It’s taken many of my beginning guitar students up to two months to get use to “correctly” tune their instruments. If you want to play in-tune, this is time well spent and a valuable skill to learn.

Intonation, right-arm pressure, left-hand string bending and too much finger pressure all make tuning more difficult then it need be.

If tuning is difficult for you, check out these points and see if it gets any easier!

Marty B.

http://buttwinickmusic.com

Tags: guitar lessons, guitar tuning, intonation

Buttwinick Musical Services

Music & Life

Archive for category Music Lessons

Valentine’s Day Gift Specials!

Hello boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, fiancees, husbands-to-be, and people who care about
someone special!

It’s time for my
Valentine’s Specials!

Buttwinick Musical Services: 2013 Survey #1

Hello! Please answer this one question survey.

Thanks in advance!

Holiday Specials on Private Music Lessons

Hello music lovers, musicians, want-to-be musicians and friends of musicians and want-to-be musicians!

It’s time for my
Holiday Specials!

Two more days for Summer Music Lesson Discounts

Click the flyer for all of the info!

Summer Music Lesson Discounts – 2 More Days!

Hello!

How to Pick a Teacher

Making Chords on a Guitar or Piano

Secrets of Guitar Tuning

Recent Posts

Other Buttwinick Websites

Social Networking

Personalized Music Lessons on Facebook

A Few Gig Shots Throughout the Years

Pages

Some of my students: past and present

Find Local Guitar Shops in Your City

Find Local Guitar Shops in Your City

Tags

Other Resources for Music Lessons & Instruments

Copyright Marty Buttwinick ~ All Rights Reserved

Music & Life

Archive for category Music Lessons

Hello boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, fiancees, husbands-to-be, and people who care about someone special!

It’s time for my Valentine’s Specials!

Hello! Please answer this one question survey. Thanks in advance!

Hello music lovers, musicians, want-to-be musicians and friends of musicians and want-to-be musicians!

It’s time for my Holiday Specials!

Click the flyer for all of the info!

Hello!

Recent Posts

Other Buttwinick Websites

Social Networking

Personalized Music Lessons on Facebook

A Few Gig Shots Throughout the Years

Pages

Some of my students: past and present

Find Local Guitar Shops in Your City

Find Local Guitar Shops in Your City

Tags

Other Resources for Music Lessons & Instruments

Copyright Marty Buttwinick ~ All Rights Reserved

Hello boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, fiancees, husbands-to-be, and people who care about
someone special!

It’s time for my
Valentine’s Specials!

Hello! Please answer this one question survey.

Thanks in advance!

It’s time for my
Holiday Specials!