Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with beginning

Help Me Play the Piano

wittgenstein — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:26:18 -0800

Can anyone help me navigate this web site? I am looking for piano pieces that a beginning to intermediate pianist can play. Unfortunately, you cannot search this site by difficulty level (or, if you can, I haven't figured out how to do it.) So, I figure the next best thing would be to let people already familiar with the music recommend stuff.

I am already familiar with these pieces and am trying to learn this piece a little at a time. This will give you an idea of what level I am playing at.

What is that printmaking symbol called?

damnthesehumanhands — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:45:44 -0800

What is that symbol one finds at the beginnings or endings of chapters of books called? It's like a little arabesque, but with a (reasonably) flat bottom or top.

Help me pick the best first instrument for a very small 6 year old.

headspace — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:28:12 -0800

Help me pick the best first instrument for a very small 6 year old. My daughter is six, and would like very much to play the guitar. The problem is that she's very small. She's too small to properly place her fingers on even a student guitar fret. There are other, cheaper, smaller guitars, but as you can imagine they aren't very good instruments.

I've been reading online that some people start young guitar players with ukeleles instead. They're smaller, and apparently the chords are less complicated (which makes sense, since the ukeleles they're suggesting only have four strings.)

Would that be a good way to start her out, and help her transition to the bigger guitar, once she grows into it? Should I just buy her a cheap tiny guitar and get her lessons? Or should I let her duke it out with an oversized guitar and hope she grows into it before she's too frustrated to want to play it?

I don't play an instrument, so I don't know and I was hoping for some advice or guidance. I just know she really loves music, and I'd like to help foster that love in the best way possible.

Casual flute self-study to Beatles and downtempo pop?

cowbellemoo — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 01:56:47 -0800

I want a casual beginner's flute regimen that won't bore me to tears. My goal is to be able to play a collection of simple pop melodies that I enjoy (Beatles, Zero 7, Air) and have enough skill in notation to write down simple melodies that get stuck in my head. You see, I'm an avid whistler and I am wonderfully happy repeating short phrases from whatever song I'm obsessing over at the time. I would like to parlay this into a meager aptitude for, and comfort with, my flute.

I had a small measure of success with one of the 50s era beginners books, enough to produce a handful of notes in the easiest register and get comfortable with the mouthpiece, but I gave up in short order since I have zero patience for those dated and unmoving songs. I'm willing to go through scales and other wrote exercises, but I'd like to be able to jump into "Hey, Jude" or whatever if my interest wanders. I'm also eager to get some private lessons, but I'd like to have a grip on music that's familiar and beautiful to me first. Where do I start? Better beginner's books? Blank sheet music journals and sound everything out? Look for piano sheet music to bands I like?

Some details on my background if it helps: 2 years of clarinet in HS; I can read and hum a simple piece of sheet music, but can't reliably recognize notes audibly. I own a new Gemeinhardt SP2 (closed hole, key of C) student flute.

How to get started with part-time freelance design

markcholden — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 11:38:11 -0800

I'm looking to do some part-time, on-the-side freelance design to provide some additional income. What are your suggestions for getting started? Where should I look for jobs?

The DIY website... looks tasty

peppermint22 — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 23:26:55 -0800

I need to create an online portfolio for my small business. What are my do-it-myself options? The backstory: I have a small business designing and making custom wedding cakes. I need a website to showcase my work. The website must be as professional as possible - the wedding cake market is competitve, and of course, this website will serve as a client's first impression...

Yes, I realize there are professionals out there who I can pay to do this for me. I'm thinking that because I have fairly solid computer skills (and not a lot of money), I can wing it. Am I wrong here? Also I'm fiercely independent and have a stubbon sense of pride which will no doubt be rewarded when I prove I can do this thing myself...

I am looking for a resource, either for OS X or online, which I can use to create a unique website. Specifically I will need to display photos of my cakes in some sort of portfolio setup. (I do not want a standard issue menu-bar down the left hand side, banner image above, etc. kind of thing.) Any cheap, easy drag-and-drop solutions? Should I just invest in Dreamweaver or something like that?

Also, I will need to buy a domain registration/web hosting package. Many vendors provide sitebuilding software with hosting packages. Are any of these any good?

Or am I in way over my head?