The Playground

Written by: Katie Knipp   So, you’ve just spent hundreds of “man hours” writing, recording, mixing, mastering, and stressing! Now what? Now, my friends, the real work begins. There is a certain order to releasing a song, and having released 5 CDs myself, there are…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Sep 7, 2023
• business, katie knipp, katie schmidt, music, piano, promotion, simply music, songs, songwriting, the playground

For a machine, a piano can sometimes be almost like a living thing. It can seem to have behaviours that change with the seasons and the years and the places it lives. Like a family member, it can behave differently depending on the way it…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Jul 22, 2019
• gordon harvey, music, music education, piano, piano care, simply music, the playground, Vincent Tarin

Previously we’ve talked about the choice between digital or acoustic pianos, and, if you go acoustic, what kind of piano you might choose. If you’ve come this far, you might be ready for the next question – new or second-hand? Those new beauties look shiny…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Apr 18, 2019
• Acoustic Piano, Buying a piano, gordon harvey, music, music education, piano, simply music, the playground, Vincent Tarin

In the first article in this series, we discussed the choice between digital and acoustic pianos. For those considering a digital piano, we included some advice, but as to the purchase of an acoustic piano, we decided that dark art needed its own post. Are…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Mar 6, 2019
• Acoustic Piano, Buying a piano, gordon harvey, music, music education, piano, simply music, the playground, Vincent Tarin

If you’re as old as I am, you might remember a now largely vanished delight: walking into a record store and being instantly struck by something fantastic being played over the speakers, or seeing a cool-looking album beckoning to you from the new release racks.…

• Written by Gordon Harvey on Oct 25, 2017
• daniel kielman, Discover Music, gordon harvey, music, music education, New Music, piano, simply music, streaming music, the playground

I previously wrote an article for the playground discussing how the way you listen to music compensates the artists that create it. But putting aside that issue, streaming music services are worth exploring if only for the huge selection of music they offer you, the…

• Written by Daniel Kielman on Aug 15, 2017
• gordon harvey, music, music education, Music Services, piano, simply music, streaming music, the playground

The 21st century is a great time to be a music lover. But it’s not such a great time for musicians. Not all of the new ways of finding and listening to music pay the artist well. If you care about the people actually creating…

• Written by Daniel Kielman on Mar 1, 2017
• Artists, Consumer Trends, daniel kielman, music, music education, musicians, piano, simply music, support, the playground

Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and all the rest – is a fact of life these days, and you might be surprised how many ways it can be of value to you, even if you barely dip your toes in it yourself. For example, if your…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Feb 25, 2015
• branding, build brand, build business, chuck goetschel, facebook, grow business, linkedin, media, music teacher, presence, rallio, social media, social media marketing, twitter

We’ve talked in this blog about sharing your music online; how to take the tentative steps to “put ourselves out there” in a digital world, whilst safely tucked up in the comfort of our homes with our bunny slippers on! While this offers amazing opportunities these days, we…

• Written by Guest Contributor on Nov 6, 2014
• busking, choir, community, live performance, music, nursing homes, open mic, opportunities, public speaking, sharing music

New Ways of Sharing Music A couple of blog entries ago, I talked about how sharing music has changed in the digital age, in some ways for the worse, but in many ways for the better. I’d like to highlight some of those ‘betters’ and give…

• Written by Gordon Harvey on Sep 25, 2014