Music Blog: guides to learn, teach and choose instrument
Clear guides about music for families, students of all ages and academies: from first class to entrance test.
Key guides
The items we recommend you start with.
- Learning music
At how old did you start studying music?
There's no single age to start with. We tell you what to expect at every stage from musical initiation to adulthood and how old each instrument suggests.
Read article - Learning music
How to learn music from scratch: where to start
You don't have to have previous talent or know how to read scores. You have to have an instrument that motivates you, rhythm and listening from day one and a short but constant routine.
Read article - Music for children
What instrument to choose for my child? Age and taste guide
To choose your child's first instrument is easier if you cross four factors: age, tastes, personality and logistics at home and if you have to try them before buying.
Read article - Adults and older
Learning music at an old age: it's never late
To start an instrument or to sing after the age of 60, we can and will be quite enjoyable. We tell you what to expect and how to adapt classes to your rhythm, your hands, your vision and your ear.
Read article - Study Music
How do I get you ready for the music admissions test?
The music tests combine theory, listening, reading and instrument, and each university weighs them differently. That guide gives you the complete map and a 6 to 12 months plan.
Read article - Learning music
How to choose music teacher: 10 questions before you start
A good teacher dominates his instrument, can teach and adapts his class to his face. These 10 questions help you to know if he has them.
Read article
Learning music
How to start from scratch, best practice and choose from virtual, home or hybrid classes.
At how old did you start studying music?
There's no single age to start with. We tell you what to expect at every stage from musical initiation to adulthood and how old each instrument suggests.
Read articleMusic Academy or Special Teacher? What's best?
The academies give structure and assemblies, the particular teacher, care and flexibility. We help you choose and we have a third choice.
Read articleLearning music with YouTube or with a teacher?
The tutorials serve to start and get out songs but they don't see you play. What can you learn only, what risks and how to combine videos with a teacher.
Read articleIndividual or group music classes? How to decide
The individual class advances at your best and the small group adds motivation and an ear as a whole. We help you choose, even if they are brothers in the same house.
Read articleHow do home music classes work?
The teacher arrives at your place but class doesn't get improvised. We tell you how to prepare you, what role the family plays and what to expect from the first month.
Read articleHow to protect your audition if you're a musician?
Your ears are your work tool and have no spare. How to rehearse at a lower volume, what protectors to use and what signs to take seriously.
Read article
Music for children
From the musical stimulation of babies to adolescents: ages, tools, practice and motivation.
What instrument to choose for my child? Age and taste guide
To choose your child's first instrument is easier if you cross four factors: age, tastes, personality and logistics at home and if you have to try them before buying.
Read articleBathing for children: age, noise and practice at home
Your son wants to play drums and you live in an apartment from how old you start, what to have at home, how to manage noise and how to care for his ears.
Read articleThe benefits of music in children: what you can expect
Learning music helps children listen, concentrate, persevere and express themselves. We tell you what benefits you can expect and what are exaggerated promises.
Read articleChildren's songs to learn how to play an instrument
Stars, The chicks say or Martinillo aren't just cradle songs: well-chosen, they teach pulse, reading and technique at first instrument.
Read articleSinging for children: how to care for his voice while learning
A child's voice isn't an adult voice in miniature. How to recognize when she's forcing her, what songs she's been with and how to come with a change of voice.
Read articleClasses of music for teens: how to sustain motivation
In adolescence music becomes an identity. We tell you how to turn that passion into real learning with its own repertoire, bands and goals that care about them.
Read article
Adults and older
It's never late: guides for adults, grandparents and families who want to learn music.
Learning an instrument helps to manage stress?
Many adults find in music a pause that no screen gives them. We tell you why it happens, how to practice to get you off and how to get professional help.
Read articleIs it late to learn music at 30, 40 or 50?
The short answer is no. What changes with age is the agenda, and not the ability to learn. That's how you can organize your time and set targets that will keep you playing.
Read articleWhat instrument to learn after 60?
No ideal instrument for all older than 60. That comparison helps you choose by your hands, back, ear and music that you love.
Read articleLearning how to sing as an adult: from karaoke to stage
That's how your voice's at this age, how you'll work at class and how to gain confidence from your living room to a stage.
Read articleLearning adult guitar: from zero to your songs
Guitar's the instrument that many adults have outstanding. That's how you go from zero to play your favorite songs, care for their fingers and practice little but often.
Read articleLearning music with families and partners: a useful guide
Playing with your partner, your children or your parents is one of the best reasons to learn. That's how classes are organized, tools are chosen to combine and a regular at home be built.
Read article
Instruments
Realist benefits and times for each instrument, including Colombian music.
Latin drummer or percussion? How to choose
One is touched with baquetes and four extremities, and the other with his hands most often. We compare genres, technique, space and noise to decide.
Read articleWhat about lyric or popular singing? Differences and what to choose
Both are complete techniques and share the same base. We share sound, repertoire and targets so that you choose the path that goes with your voice.
Read articleWhat are Colombia's typical tools? Regional guide
From an Andean tiple to a Pacific chonta tipple: a tour of the typical instruments of every region of Colombia, what role they play and how to start playing them.
Read articleHow long does it take to learn how to play well?
The breathing and tuning improve in weeks or months, and registration and style improved in years. The actual stages of singing and myth of "I have no voice."
Read articleHow long does it take to learn how to play under an electrical?
In a few weeks you play your first lines, have groove and play band with sure takes more. These are the actual stages of the electrical bass.
Read articleHow long does it take to learn how to play drums?
A basic rock rhythm can come out in weeks, and the real independence of hands and feet, in about one to three years. That's how a drummer really advances.
Read article
Care and purchase
Guidelines to select your first instrument and keep it clear, refined and climate protected.
Acoustic, electronic or drawer batteries to start with?
Before the drums, a practice pad and a good pair of drawers. We help you decide between acoustic drums, electronic or drawer as per your place.
Read articleHow to change the guitar's strings? step by step
Nylon and metal rods, acoustic, classical and electrical: When to change them, what calibre to use and how to put them to tuning and to get tuned.
Read articleHow to care for the voice? Practical guide for singers
Your voice has no case: care with daily habits. Drilling, resting, warming and knowing when to demand a professional appraisal.
Read articleHow to care for an electrical bass?
Fresh rods, a well-tipped mast and an electronic with no noise make the low sound and touch better. What can you do at home and what's the job of the luthier.
Read articleHow to care for a backpack? Transport, bridge and arch
The contraple gets damaged more with the moves than with his play. How to move it, adjust the bridge as the climate changes and care for ropes, arch and resin.
Read articleHow to care for an oboe and his rods?
The oboe is picky with two things: its rods and its wood. Thus they are moist and put their rods and rotate and so the oboe is cleaned without risking a crack.
Read article
Theory and technical
Filling, reading scores, chords, scales, breathing and advanced step by step exercises.
How to tuning the electrical bass? Me, La, Ree and Sol
Mi, La, Ree and Sol: the four serious guitar strings, an octave lower. Thus, the bass with an tuning, with an ear and with harmonics and an octavation are checked.
Read articleHow to tuning the tiple? step by step for your 12 strings
Twelve strings and four orders and some with an octave: so tiple with tuning and with an ear, with no intertwining with the clamps and no breaking of a string.
Read articleHow to tuning the violin? Clamps, microtuning and quines
The violin's ropes are Sun, Ree, La and Mi, tuned into quintas. Learn how to use clamps and microtuning without forcing anything and to check the bridge later.
Read articleHow to tune cello? Do, Sol, Ree and La
The cello's strings are Do, Sol, Ree and La, tuned in quintas. Thus, they are refined with tuning, with quintas and with harmonics, with the tricks of a big instrument.
Read articleHow to tuning guitar step by step with and without tuning?
The standard tuning is Mi, La, Ree, Sol, Si, Mi. We explain how to achieve it with a tuning machine, with an ear with a fifth frast and what to do if it doesn't hold up.
Read articleHow to expand vocal registration without forcing his voice?
The acute and serious new ones are not achieved by pushing: they come as their voices learn to do less. Exercises, practice and signs to stop.
Read article
Study Music
Music racing, admittent testing, dictated, solphis and auditions at Colombian universities.
Admission to Music at EAFIT: theoretical examination, listening and how to prepare
At EAFIT, Music doesn't have an interview: you come in with a group theoretical examination and an audition as you select. We tell you what's published, what's not and how to get ready.
Read articleAdmission to the Conservatory of Tolima: Music Tests and how to Prepare
At the Conservatory of Tolima, Master of Music and Master of Music have quite different tests: one tour about your audition and the other about your musical aptitude. We explain both.
Read articleMusic entrance exam at UdeA: how and how to prepare
At the UdeA you do not have the general examination for music: everything is decided in two elimination tests, one of your instrument and another of ear, reading and harmony. We explain each one.
Read articleMusic entrance exam at Universidad del Atlántico: how and how to get ready
At the University of the Atlantic first you are summoned to Know 11 and then you have to approve the specific test with 3 out of 5. We tell you what you evaluate in each program.
Read articleUnivalle Music Admittance Test: A specific test and how to get ready
At Univalle the specific test decides the whole score of admittent to music. We explain its three parts, how much each weighs and how to prepare them.
Read articleTest of admission to the UIS's Bachelor's degree in Music: how and how to prepare
At the UIS, your score for a Bachelor's degree in Music comes from a four-component test: hearing perception, prepared exercises, aptitude and instrument. That's how you get ready.
Read article
Retirement
How to be a teacher of music in Colombia, give particular classes and prepare classes that work.
How to be a teacher of music in Colombia? Roads and requirements
There's more than one way to teach music in Colombia. We tell you what they are, what they demand and how to gain experience if you're starting.
Read articleHow to give particular music classes: guide to teachers
From first message with family to tenth class: how to diagnose, plan, communicate and organize you so that your students can move forward.
Read articleHow to prepare a class of music: step by step structure
A class structure that serves any instrument with 45 and 60 minutes and examples of targets and tasks that are met.
Read article
For academies
Selection, evaluation and management of music teachers for academies, schools and institutions.
How to hire music teachers for your academy or school: step by step guide
From a 90-day retention office profile: a step-by-step process to hire music teachers that can play, teach and manage your students.
Read articleHow to write a vacancy of music teacher (with template)
What a music teacher's vacancy should say to attract those who do fit: title, functions, requirements, conditions and process with a template ready to adapt.
Read articleHow to organize a school's music area: profiles, degrees and assemblies
From diagnosis to plan by degrees: how to move from "we have music class" to an area with clear profiles, assemblies, well care tools and monitoring.
Read articleHow to Keep Your Music Academy Teachers
The teachers rarely leave for a single reason. These are the frictions that wear out a music team and what you can do from the direction to get your best teachers to stay.
Read articleThe class shows how to evaluate a music teacher with a rubric
A life sheet says where she studied a teacher. A well-designed class tells you how she teaches. Here's the format, a rudder and how to qualify without bias.
Read articleInterview Questions for Music Teacher: What To Ask and What To Hear
Questions ready to adapt, grouped by criterion, with what you have to listen to in every response and alert sign. To have an interview give you evidence and not just impressions.
Read article