Keep Music Lessons Fun! At NHTunes we believe that music and voice lessons shouldn’t be a chore; weekly lessons should be something that

each student looks forward to, even when they don’t have a lot of practice time in between lessons. Enjoying your music lessons will not only keep you coming back, they will keep you learning! How do we keep music lessons fun?

• Keep expectations real
  • Let’s face it, each student learns at a different pace. Keeping expectations real means working with each student with assignments that are in line with their learning pace. Trying to learn too quickly will only cause frustration. To keep music lessons fun, our instructors will give you material to work on between lessons which are appropriate for your skill level, and speed of improvement.
• Work on material the student knows and likes
  • Keeping music lessons fun means learning what you want to learn! We pick songs to learn that the students know and like. There are plenty of ‘mainstream’ songs that are relatively easy to play, and appropriate for beginners. Learning songs that you have always wanted to play is very inspiring and motivating for students.
• Don’t focus too much on the technical aspects
  • It’s easy to get caught up in music theory, but when it comes down to it, many popular songs break the rules as defined by the theory, and you don’t need to understand theory to play music well, or even write your own songs. If you stick with lessons, over time you’ll learn theory to support your playing, but too much focus on technical aspects, especially for new students, can create confusion and dissatisfaction.
• Create achievable goals & recognize accomplishments
  • Goal setting is an important element with structured learning. Accomplishments of any type, no matter how small, should be recognized and celebrated. Goals should be short-term and achievable, and when achieved will create a sense of accomplishment and pride for both the student and instructor. There is something very satisfying in seeing your skills improve on your instrument of choice.
• “Assign” practice points
  • The overall goal of a music lesson is to assign material that the student can work on in between lessons. At the conclusion of each lesson, instructors should make sure the student is clear on what to work on, with the proper technique. Correct technique becomes extremely important as a student progresses. We understand that many students, especially adults, may not have as much time as they would like to practice in between lessons. Knowing this, our instructors will review the previously assigned material, and maybe give them some different material of the same level to keep them motivated, and of course keep music lessons fun!

If you believe in our lesson philosophy to keep music lessons fun, and would like to get started, we make it EASY! You can schedule one lesson using our scheduler below. Choose from singing, piano, guitar, ukulele, drums, or band instruments. Each lesson type is available both in-studio or online via zoom! Want more information first? Click HERE.

NHTunes is located in Manchester NH, 250 Commercial St, which is the Waumbec Mill. Take I-93 North to I-293 North, then take Exit 5 (Granite St.). When you cross over the Granite St. bridge towards Elm, your first left after the bridge is Commercial St. Take that left, and the Waumbec Mill is about a quarter mile on your left. Parking is free anywhere in the front mill parking lot (before 4pm use spaces that are designated ‘Customer Parking’). Use the largest entrance, which is the main entrance (the left side has two loading docks). Go up the stairs, take a left, and NHTunes is a few suites down on the right (2017). Call 660-2208 if you need additional directions.

NHTunes holds offsite music recitals every other month. These recitals are free for our students and the venues that we perform at. We think music performance skills are an important component of overall musicianship – students should

enjoy and look forward to performances and sharing their music with others! Preparing for a music recital also encourages students to practice more. We also consider our recitals as a great way to give back to the senior community – they love the music and really look forward to each show!

Music recitals are optional and are not for everyone, but if you are a student and would like to get involved, here’s how they work:

• You must be a student of the studio to participate.
• Most recitals are within a 20-minute drive of the studio, and last between 45 and 60 minutes.
• Recitals are announced about four weeks before the event. They are posted at the studio, and are in our monthly newsletter (which students automatically receive). Your instructor will mention it to you too.
• A sign-up sheet is in the studio lobby area.
• Reminders to participating students are sent a week, and a day, before the event.
• If the student is performing to an MP3 backing track (many vocalists do), it should be emailed to [email protected] a week before the event.

OK, I signed up, and it’s the day of the recital! What happens now?

• Students and parents/relatives/friends are asked to arrive 15 minutes before the start time.
• Students should check in with Bob so he knows they are there.
• Students are called up when it’s their turn to perform. After their performance, they are welcome to stay and watch the others!

The goal of a recital is for each student to feel good about their performance, and to get comfortable with performing live.

Over time we’ve noticed that many apprehensive first-timers will be the first to sign up for their second recital – mission accomplished! As they become more comfortable performing, they will be more apt to share their music with others, develop confidence, and in the case of shy individuals, ‘come out of their shell’ socially. Check out THIS great article (or THIS one) for more benefits of performing in music recitals.

So, while our recitals benefit the senior community, they can also have a great positive impact on a student’s musical and social development – a win-win!

NHTunes holds bi-monthly recitals at nursing homes, senior centers, and other similar venues. We feel music recitals are important – very important – to a student’s overall musicianship. In fact, we believe that having the opportunity to perform in music recitals on a regular basis should be a key consideration when selecting a studio for your music or voice lessons.

Here are some reasons why we feel that music recitals are important:

• Performance skills are a large part of overall musicianship. 
  • We believe that every musician should be comfortable performing music in front of an audience, whether at a show, or just in front of friends. After all, music is meant to be shared. Performing in recitals gives students of all ages the experience and skills needed to be comfortable with sharing their music with others.
• Participating in music recitals builds confidence.
  • We see it all the time… having a good experience at a music recital gives students the confidence they need to perform again. This confidence extends to other areas of a student’s life, and often brings kids ‘out of their shell’, making them more outgoing and personable.
• Performing in a recital gives students a sense of purpose with their musical studies. 
  • Performing at a recital, and seeing the impact they have on others when sharing their musical skills, will give a student more reason to continue their studies and improve their skills. Good live performances become the goal of many students who regularly participate in our recitals.
• Recitals are a great way to give back to the community.
  • Recitals mean so much to the residents of the nursing homes that we perform at – we consider it our way of giving back to our local community. We hear many heartfelt positive comments at every performance. Also, it’s a win-win; recitals are free for nursing homes and for our students!
• Upcoming performances encourage students to prepare and practice more. 
  • Music recitals are important as a performance date adds a sense of urgency which encourages a student to practice and prepare for the show. This is especially helpful for students that struggle with practicing on their own. Our instructors work with their students to assure that they are prepared for their performance.

So, you can see why we feel that music recitals are important in so many ways, and why we feel it’s something you should strongly consider when looking for a music studio. You can learn more about our lessons HERE. Have questions? Call us at 603-660-2208, or you can reach us HERE.

Being instructors, we are often asked what the best practice methods are. What practice methodology will yield the best results? How can I most efficiently improve my skills? Simply put, what is the best way to practice?

We’ve assembled our 5 top tips for maximizing your practice time, and most quickly becoming the best player that you can be. Hopefully you can use these in your practice regiment and become a better player.

What we tell our students here is, “don’t practice, just play”. In other words, play for fun. If you play for the joy of playing, you’ll play more often because you’ll be less frustrated trying to learn a specific song or technique. Sure, you’ll need to practice up on those things you want to learn, but just playing for the joy of playing itself will make you a better, more happy musician, and you’ll see that you will progress more rapidly because you are playing more often.. because it’s fun!

The key to learning is playing… often, but not necessarily a lot. How? Practice new techniques often but in smaller increments. For example, it is much more effective to practice something 5 minutes at a time six times a day, rather than 30 minutes in one setting. To encourage this, keep an instrument close at hand; for example, for guitarists or ukulele players, keeping your instrument in the living room will enable you to pick it up often and strum for a couple of minutes at a time several times throughout the day. We feel that playing often for short periods is without a doubt the best way to practice.

A key to learning your instrument well is to not look at your hands while playing. If you make a mistake, look and correct, but then look away again. After all, do you play with your eyes? Watch videos of live performances of some of the greats, and you’ll see that, for the most part, they focus on their audience and not their instrument. One exception is that when guitarists switch position (i.e. move from the 3rd to the 10th fret) they do a quick look as they move their fretting hand. Practicing by not looking at your instrument, which is the best way to practice, will make you a better player.

For those looking to develop speed on their instrument, start slow with proper technique, and as you increase speed focus on keeping the same technique. We often see players change their technique as their speed increases. This is an area where an instructor can really help. They’ll point out what’s going on, and help you to maintain proper technique as your speed increases, resulting in better results as your speed increases.

We see students once a week, and really notice the progress. The students themselves don’t notice progress as much, because it happens incrementally, often daily. When learning something new, record a video of where you’re at on day one, and assuming you’ve worked on it daily, watch the video a week or two later. You’ll be amazed at your progress!