Four Finger Frenzy offers free Ukulele lessons -- no Ukulele needed - at the local libraries, in the summer. He also teaches music -- real music. Real Music reading - this is one of his "life hacks" in learning to read music.
"Hacks Your Music Teacher Doesn't Want You To Know About"
Reading music is a lot easier If you look at it, just like reading a book is easier if you're looking at the words. You don't look at your hands when you're playing Call of Duty or Mario Kart, so why would you when you're playing an instrument? Hmm? You already know how many fingers you have and what they look like. In addition, they are attached to your body so there is no danger of them going missing if you take your eyes off of them. Instead, devote your focus and attention to the music in front of you and you'll be reading like a champ in no time.
Trying to find time in your day is often a fruitless endeavor, but If you MAKE time to practice, you'll see tangible progress every time you sit down to practice. That's a promise! Learning how to practice efficiently is a whole different topic all together, but a few things you can do is to review small sections at a time - not the whole song. Learn how to practice away from your instrument. During a commercial break of Peg Plus Cat, you can go over some paradiddles on a practice pad or practice the 2 octave scale fingering on your lap.
Mistakes are going to happen - it's a fact of life. Learn to accept it. You know how many typos I made when constructing this list of awesome music hacks that's sure to go viral? A LOT! I corrected them and went about my day. No biggie. The worst possible thing you can do when mistakes happen is to begin a self-deprecating dialog with yourself. Relax, take a breather as they say, THINK about what needs fixing, and just try again. Yes, despite popular opinion, even professional musicians and entertainers "mess up." Don't believe me? Open up a separate window on your browser right now, under the search box of whatever browser you're using, type in "Christina Aguilera National Anthem". Go ahead. This list will be here when you're done. Ok you're back? Good. Now where was I? Oh yeah.... making mistakes is not confirmation of your inability to "make it" as a musician, but your ability to learn from them is confirmation that your goals are well within your grasp. If you've read this entire list, remember NOT to share it with anyone you know, and don't even think about clicking that share button. These are all top-secret, inside trade secrets we music teachers don't want anyone to find out about. If this list ever gets in the wrong hands, we're gonna have talented musicians all over the world sprouting up like weeds. We SURELY don't want that! Nope. We want to hoard all of our musical knowledge to ourselves..... MUHAHAHA (rubbing hands together in clockwise motion). If you have some hacks you'd like to add, please feel to add them in the comment section, I will post them up in my studio in the near future.
Sign up for Wesley Stevenson's group classes or private lessons at his studio, here.