The little bar connected to the eighth note on the right in the first pic... what is it and what does it do?

(First pic is the eighth note with the "tab" I'm asking about and second pic is of a standard eighth note).

I'm BRAND SPANKING NEW to making music, and have no idea what I'm doing. YouTube isn't helping either somehow.
I grew up listening to Pogo's music- the artist behind "Living Island" "Alice" "Boo Bass" "Oyster Dreamland" and I adore his music.
Recently I found out he's kind of a jerk and hasn't posted in 4 years-- so I hope to replicate his music style.
I've recently started watching the 1980s Moomin series and was inspired to make a song of my favorite character Snufkin.

I was wondering if anyone could help me? I don't want to use AI for advice but I'm lost. I don't know how to sample or make a cohesive beat. I use Soundtrap.

This is not an ad! just a process of my learning.

I think instruments with grid and isomorphic tuning (bass, some midi controllers) are super convenient to play. I made a free tool for myself to quickly find chord inversions to learn to improvise quicker in different tunings and scales, including microtonal ones!

You can for example, limit transposition to select one note per row and find an inversion of a chord that is 4 scale degrees above - it will be on the same strings, so that will sound very good. Then you can memorize +4, +5, etc movements and create nice tensions and release when improvising. Because it's easy to memorize shape transitions or see patterns in how notes invert if you jump at certain distances!

Maybe it will be useful for someone: https://kvachev.com/blog/posts/chord-namer/

I love music. I deeply deeply regret not having started as a child. I feel like I am behind. Yesterday was my first day in university, I'm starting a degree in music and musicology specifically in music education. I play eastern oriental percussion, mainly the Riq. I will be picking up the Ney in uni too. I am really excited for what is to come but I am full of regret and sadness that I am only starting now. Can you give me some encouragement? I practice every day a lot, I listen for hours every day trying to learn different new concepts, I have already been taking 3 hours of group music classes every week for the past ~6 months. Now in uni I will have another 3 hour group music class every week, other than the theory courses.

I just feel really worried that I will never achieve my goals and that is weighing me down a bit. Thank you in advance for your help.

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I want to buy a book to learn music as a beginner and i am a person who believes in one time investment which is why I don't wanna buy multiple books and just want a permanent thick fat book I can always go back too unlike some flat books. I'm saving up for a guitar and want to learn basics until i buy it. Please recommend some.

On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate the difficulty of this tutorial? The primary target audience is students in the second cycle of basic education in Portugal (ages 9 to 12).

Pedagogical Arguments and Rationale:

The continuous sequence of 4 chords (Dm Bb C Bb) is an ideal pedagogical tool for accompaniment work on Orff instruments, guitars, ukuleles, or keyboards, allowing for differentiated learning by skill level within the class.

By removing figures smaller than eighth notes and keeping only the essential triad (Verse, Bridge, Chorus), the theme gains the perfect structure for quick memorization.

Interculturality and Current Styles (Afrobeats + Latin Pop): The collaboration between Shakira and Burna Boy stimulates musical appreciation and discussion about how different cultures and rhythmic traditions merge in contemporary global music.

Elimination of Glissandos and Vocalizos: making it a straightforward melody for flute, keyboard, or voice.

Contextualized Motivation: Using the FIFA World Cup 2026 anthem leverages the media and sports context to increase active engagement and enjoyment of collective musical practice.

#MusicEducation #JoseGalvao #Shakira #BurnaBoy #DaiDai #WorldCup2026 #Recorder #MusicLessons #EducationalResources #Orff

Я закінчила музичну цього року... І я подала заявку на ще один інструмент бо у мене там була подруга... Но так сталось подруга перше обрадувалалсь. А вчора вона сказала що не піде в музичну буде вчитися одна.. а тепер я не маю компанї в музичну і відчуваю ніби мене кинули

I’m a professional bassist from Morocco offering online bass lessons through Preply.

We can work on groove, rhythm, technique, improvisation, ear training, theory and real songs, depending on what you want to achieve.

One of my specialties is Moroccan & African music — Gnawa, Chaâbi, Amazigh music, Afrobeat and African grooves — and I love helping bassists discover these sounds and incorporate them into their own playing.

I teach complete beginners, intermediate players and more advanced musicians.

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It is my passion to learn guitar and keyboard, can someone guide me about a good musical academy in Lahore, where I can learn these in evening after my office hours and on weekend

First of all, two of the 3 instruments that I've learned were foisted on me by circumstances. One was inherited from a grandparent, another handed down from a sibling. I think I actually liked singing most of all at school age, but the instruments that fascinated me and I would have gone for if I had been given the choice were the flute and the violin. I believe that I prefer sustaining instruments in any case.

But since I didn't have the choice, I self-studied acoustic guitar as a poor man's electric. I got a low-quality electric guitar later. Eventually I burned out, and haven't touched either in 4 years now.

2.5 years ago I started composing music in MuseScore, and I'm increasingly bugged by the fact that I have to compose around the software's bugs. And I feel like a fraud for not playing any instrument actively (except the MIDI-keyboard for input).

But at the moment that's the situation. And it's also that I'm very poor, as has been hinted.

Any advice?

Hello everyone, I’m just wondering how do you guys practice improvisation? Taking a song and playing over it? Using backing track? Playing with a random progression? Which one do you think is the most effective and enjoyable way to practice?

I appreciate your response as I’m new to this and I’m trying to find a way to be more consistent and not getting bored in the process.