Skip to main content

About Preludio

 Preludio is the Italian word for prelude. The word originates from the latin praeludium. A 'preludio' is often the beginning of a longer musical piece in which the composer may introduce music themes and motifs that will appear throughout the full composition. Perhaps my favorite "preludio" is the ouverture to Howard Shore's composition for "The Lord of the Rings" movie. When you hear it, you can sense the ominous tone that establishes the tenor of the story that is about to unfold. As the music continues, Hobbits are introduced. The optimistic and thoughtful nature of the hobbits is evident in the lilting melody. There are many more themes and throughout the composition, themes are weaved together to enhance the story. Take time listen to the complete composition if you're curious. Close your eyes and imagine the various settings. Here's a link to a version on YouTube. A preludio doesn't have to be a long piece; sometimes it can be as short as four or eight bars in a contemporary piece of music. Take Olivia Rodrigo's "Traitor" as another example. The simple descending line in the intro sets the stage for the words and melody that follow. It's the preludio that draws us in initially and makes us want to hear and learn more.

Preludio Music Lessons was started with the vision of providing a starting place for anyone who is interested in learning to play music.

Preludio Music Lessons provides the following:

  • Learning songs and music that's important to you and that you want to play.
  • Learning to read music.. admittedly we start with the basics but being able to read music is an important and useful skill.
  • Learning to play in-time and on-time. Working with a metronome is really important. This sounds like a drag and most people initially dislike it. But working with the metronome allows you to setup a groove and find the rhythmic pocket of the music. 
  • Ear training is essential for new musicians. Ear training allows you to transcribe songs, sing melodies and harmony, and create your own parts.
  • Learn the basics of music theory. The fundamentals of music theory help with song writing and music transcription. Knowing the basics allows you to know all of the chords in a given key leaving nothing to guesswork. 


Popular posts from this blog

Preludio Music Lessons

Music has been a long time passion for me, and nothing brings more joy than seeing an aspiring musician achieve success. I provide beginning music lessons for people of all ages on acoustic guitar, electric bass, double bass and voice. My goal is to share music and music theory to help the student easily learn, play and memorize music. Let's connect for a free first lesson. Contact Info: Chris Dugmore Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justbassbeat Email: justbassbeat@gmail.com Text or VM: 703-996-9290 I began playing guitar at age 13. I could barely reach the E string to make a G chord. Starting young allowed me to develop muscle memory for chord changes and it seemed easy. But I know I spent hours working through chords like kids today on YouTube. Seeing my continued interest, my dad recommended I pick up the double bass because there were good music programs in college. I played my double bass in my high school band .. it was like a throw back to the early "Rockabilly&quo
Read more

The Metronome

 Most students initially react to the metronome the way Captain Hook reacts to tick-tock crocodile. First, they look around to see where the imminent attack is coming from, and then run in fear of the constant ticking. Working with the metronome is really a requirement if you want to take your playing to the next level. And, when you make it big, recording in a studio, you’ll have a click track to keep everyone playing together. So it’s better to start working with the metronome when you start playing an instrument. Just make it part of your routine. I ask my students to get a metronome (I use TE Tuner  -It really is much more than a tuner and metronome) to help them make chord changes in sync with time. I’d been saying, you don’t need to set the time fast, just set it to 40bpm and do four beats per chord. WHOOPS, this was a big mistake. At 40bpm, the space between the beats is, speaking figuratively, infinite and makes it really hard to learn and feel the rhythm. The 40 bpm setting ca
Read more