It’s hard to believe that it’s been an entire year since I launched my new website. Thank you to each and every one of you for your support. Whether you’ve been with me for a number or years already or are just starting your musical journey it is my absolute pleasure to have you here.

You might have heard of Solfege before and to be honest you think it’s kind of silly. What’s the point of using these strange syllables when you could sight read this perfectly on the actual words and lyrics. These were my thoughts as I began my first musical skills (musicianship and ear training) class at Wilfrid Laurier University in my Undergraduate Degree back in 2008. Oh was I wrong. Solfege has many practical applications for all musicians and in my opinion especially singers. Not only does Solfege help train your ears to better recognize pitches but it improves your ability to read music.

For me, it’s hard to imagine the month of December without countless concerts, singing Christmas carols, and planning for church services on Christmas Eve. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, it can certainly be a busy time of year, especially for musicians. Maybe you sing in a choir and have been rehearsing Christmas carols since October. Maybe your child is preparing for their school’s winter concert or music recital. Or maybe you simply like to listen to Christmas music on the radio. It’s clear that music is an integral part of the holiday season.

The piano is a unique instrument. It is unique in the sense that it lays out all of the different notes you can play, literally, right in front of you. No special skills needed, no training to make it work, just the music notes laid out for your exploration. This characteristic makes it a great way to help someone learn to read music. Having skills in reading music will also give you the ability to learn songs faster. Now this isn’t to say that piano is any easier or harder than singing or playing any other instrument, it’s just different. Piano is a great place to start when it comes to learning music and complements other instruments really well.

Back in June of this year I started a new position with an online teaching platform called Singdaptive. The job has certainly challenged me to go outside of my comfort zone in a number of different ways however the team has been extremely supportive every step of the way. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing group of individuals. So far it’s been an incredible journey filled with discovery, collaboration and inspiration.

I’d like to share my experience with all of you.

First of all, why do we practice? The simple answer would be to get better at a particular action or skill. In this case let’s use singing. So we practice in order to get better at singing. We practice to improve our technique so we can sing higher, louder and with greater ease. Okay, but then why do we sing? Singing is a basic means of human expression. We sing to express ourselves through song, tell stories and connect with others in a meaningful way.

Intervals aren't the first reason to learn to play an instrument.But they are a major second…

Bad jokes aside, what is an interval? An interval in music is defined as the distance in pitch between any two notes.

As we move into summer I thought I would take the opportunity to give you all a personal update. June has been been an incredibly busy month but in the best possible way.

But first, what are vowels? You may remember learning about vowels at school being A E I O U and sometimes Y. You are right, these are all vowels in the english alphabet. But perhaps I should be more specific and say vowel sounds, or even speech sounds, instead of just vowels. As singers we spend a lot of time breaking down words into their different sounds in order to sing them properly and with greater ease.

What’s the difference between a major and a minor key? Major keys can be described as sounding happy, bright and joyful whereas minor keys tend to sound more melancholy, dark and even spooky.

Listen to these two different audio clips to hear the difference between major and minor keys

What’s the first thing you do when you wake up? If you’re like most people in today’s age it’s likely reaching for that delicious cup of coffee or another caffeinated beverage. I absolutely love coffee. I worked as a Starbucks Barista for over 5 years. Believe me when I say that coffee is a very important part of my morning routine.

But what if I told you that there was another way to get that morning boost without the jitters of caffeine and that it’s completely free.

Wait a minute, why do I recognize this? The words you just read come from Rogers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music. Maria sings this song to the Von Trapp children using solfege to teach them how to sing.

Solfege, also called sol-fa or solfeggio, is an educational method used to teach ear training, pitch recognition and sight reading. Solfege is a form of solmization, a system where each note of the musical scale is given a distinct syllable.

Have you ever been working on a song and wondered, hmm what key is this piece in? Knowing the key that a song is in also known as the key signature can be helpful, especially if you are looking for a recording or accompaniment for the song. Depending on the song there might be all sorts of different versions and transpositions out there.

With a few simple strategies I’m going to help you identify the key that your song is in as well as identify the various sharps and flats in each different key signature.

Let’s get started!

“Breathe in, breathe out.” You certainly don’t need me to remind you to do this as breathing is involuntary and an automatic process. That being said there is something very interesting that happens when we bring our awareness to our breath. If we are experiencing stress then our body goes into “fight or flight” mode and the sympathetic nervous system is activated. This causes our heart rate to elevate, a spike in adrenaline and our breathing to quicken.

What does this statement mean? Well, simply put it means that whatever we practice we are reinforcing. Our brain is composed of billions of tiny neurons. These are the basic cellular building blocks that communicate and connect with each other through axons to form a Neural pathway inside our brains.

As Covid-19 continues to spread and keep us physically apart, the need for human connection is greater than ever. Thanks to technology, we can remain connected with others even over those distances. Video calling is not a new technology and has been available for years, however the quality and the frequency of its use has increased drastically over the past year.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to my brand new website and the home of Adam Dyjach Music. Whether you're currently studying with me, you’ve worked with me in the past or perhaps you’d like to get to know me, I'm so excited that you are here.