Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Learn major scales to add advanced notes to your repertoire. Practice minor scales to learn more challenging progressions. Learn your favorite alto saxophone songs.

Answer: Each of the basic notes you just learned has an associated major scale to go along with it. Major scales are created while holding down that key and running through a series of other keys in a specific succession. Find the most common scales in a beginner's alto saxophone book online, and practice each one until you are able to play through them with clear, pure sound. Begin with the G Major scale, which is usually considered to be the easiest. Major scales are the most common beginner scales and will allow you to play notes in succession. Minor scales are created by playing a succession of keys, just like the major scales. However, the minor scales sound much lower, and they are trickier to play. Find the key charts for minor scale progressions online or in a beginner's book. Practice minor scales until you feel comfortable and familiar with the progressions and are able to play each note with a consistent pitch. Minor scales are very common in alto saxophone songs, including many jazz tunes. Knowing minor scales will help you improvise if you are interested in playing in a group later on. Find sheet music at a local music store or online and practice your favorite songs. If you don't know how to read sheet music, look for fingering charts that will guide you. Once you are familiar with your favorite songs, you can write your own or begin improvising with a group of other performers. You can begin playing beginner songs, and then progress into playing your favorite songs.

Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Maintain a water temperature of at least 70F (21C). Keep your lotus in direct sunlight. Prune dying blossoms and yellow or damaged leaves. Use pond tabs to fertilize your lotus. Watch for pests. Move your lotus to deeper water in the fall. Repot the tuber every year.

Answer: Active growth begins when the surface water reaches this temperature. Your lotus needs warm water to grow to its fullest potential. Ideally, the air temperature should be at least 70F (21C) as well. The lotus will start to send up leaves after a few days in water above 70F (21C). It blooms after 3 to 4 weeks in water above 80F (27C). Check your water temperature every other day. If you live in a cooler climate, you may need a heater for your pond to maintain the appropriate temperature. Lotus plants thrive in full sun, requiring at least 5 to 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. If your pond is partially shaded, you may want to prune or remove surrounding foliage that blocks out the sun. In North America, the lotus typically blooms from mid-June or mid-July through early autumn. The blossoms open early in the morning and start closing mid-afternoon. Individual blossoms last 3 to 5 days, then molt. The process repeats through the remaining months of active growth. If your lotus starts to take over your pond, you can also cut away new growth, but keep in mind it will grow again until the lotus is repotted in spring. Never cut flower or leaf stems below water level. Roots and tubers use stems for oxygen. Pond tablets are fertilizer made especially for aquatic plants. Wait until your tuber has developed at least 6 leaves before fertilizing it, and don't place the fertilizer directly against the tuber itself. Small lotus varieties only need 2 tablets, while larger varieties may need as many as 4. Add fertilizer once every 3 or 4 weeks, stopping in mid-July. If you continue to fertilize your lotus past this point, it won't be able to prepare for dormancy. If you grew your lotus from seed, don't fertilize it during its first year. While pests vary depending on your geographic location, aphids and caterpillars may be attracted to lotus leaves. Applying a small amount of powdered pesticide directly to the leaves will protect your lotus plant from these pests. Liquid pesticides, even organic ones, have oils and detergents that can damage your lotus. Lotus plants can spend the winter in ponds as far north as Michigan or Minnesota as long as the pond is deep enough to protect the tubers from ice. The tuber should at least be below the frost line, a depth that varies depending on where you live. If your pond is relatively shallow, you can remove the container and leave it in a garage or basement until spring. Mulch around any above-ground pots to keep the tubers warm. In early spring, when you spot the first sign of new growth, give your lotus fresh soil and return it to the original container (unless the container is damaged). Replace it in your pond at the same depth it was before. If your lotus took over your pond the previous year, inspect the container for cracks. You may want to get a larger container to better hold the lotus, if it grew over the rim.

Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Limit your color palete. Try mixed media. Download an existing poster design. Look at the sign from a distance to check readability. Add decorations.

Answer: Consider using two or three colors instead of incorporating every color you can imagine. Some of the most successful protest signs use a very limited color palete, so think about which two or three colors will work best for your message and keep it simple. Artist Lorraine Schneider designed a protest sign with only yellow, orange and black. The sign included an image of a fragile flower and read 'War is not healthy for children and other living things.' It became famous during the Vietnam War protests. If you are feeling ambitious or are more artistically inclined, you could try mixed media or even three dimensional designs. Foamcore tends to work better for attaching three dimensional objects to the surface of a protest sign. For instance, you could attach a three dimensional globe to a foamcore poster at a climate justice protest. If you are in a rush, you could always download an existing poster design. Some organizations involved in the protest you are attending may have some preexisting poster designs available on their websites. You could also alter an existing poster design with your own text. Lean your sign against a wall. Walk back ten or twenty feet and see if you can read it. If you can't read it from a distance, the text may be too small. If you can't discern the symbols on your sign, you may want to make them larger. You could also ask a friend to hold your sign up when testing for legibility. Depending on the message you are trying to convey, you may want to add some decorations. Glitter, sparkles and other eye catching decorations can help to make your protest sign more attractive.

Problem: Write an article based on this summary: Go above and beyond what's required. Make sacrifices. Conduct your own research. Expand your knowledge base. Stay up-to-date on news and events. Verify your sources. Maintain independence from your sources and subjects.

Answer:
Going above and beyond is about more than just doing what's necessary to get a story. You need to be more than just a good writer in today's journalism market. When you write a story, don't stop at the minimum to get the job done. Think about what you'd want out of the article if you were a reader, and try to give them that. Make yourself more marketable by expanding your technical skills. Knowing how to use more programs, do basic coding, and use creative software will help you get your voice out there and will make you more marketable. If possible, beat your deadlines. While you don't want to rush your work, you do want to provide your publisher with a speedy product so that your article will be timely. You may have to give up your free time or miss out on fun events with friends in order to meet your journalism goals. Writing is usually a solitary activity, so it may be a sacrifice for you to miss out on that social time. You may also need to sacrifice earning potential or social connections if you write about polarizing issues. When you're faced with sacrifices, ask yourself what's more important to you. Ask, "Where do I want to be in five years? How will this sacrifice impact my five-year goal?" Journalists get information from a variety of sources, so you'll need to know how to gather, assess, and organize information on your own. Research consists of more than just doing a Google search. You need to be able to find the information you need in print sources, by talking to knowledgeable individuals, and by sorting through relevant materials, such as letters, memos, or file documents. Being able to understand various topics, sniff out stories, and look at things from various perspectives are all necessary to be a good journalist. Consider getting a degree in something other than journalism to make you a more informed writer. If you want to cover world events, consider studying languages. Read or watch the news, and stay plugged in to politics, current events, and pop culture. Anything can be relevant from a journalistic standpoint, so keep yourself open and learn the current trends. You'll produce better stories and get your readers what they want if you know what's going on. Before reporting information that you find, make sure that it's from a reliable source. When possible, try to find a second source that confirms the information. If you receive facts from a source, independently verify that those facts line up. For example, if someone tells you that they knew the subject of your story when they were in college, make sure they were really in college together. While you will likely build relationships with some of your sources or the people you write about, make sure those relationships don't influence how you portray them in your work. For example, if your best friend works as a police officer, then getting your crime information from them will likely be biased toward your friend's opinion. For example, don't take payments from a source or a subject of an article. If you are writing an investigative article about a corporation, you'll lose your independence if you allow them to hire you for freelance work during your investigation. If you have someone who gives you inside information about the local crime beat, keep a professional relationship with that person. If you start to get too personal, then you may unknowingly have a bias toward them. If you get too close to a source, you can always ask them to help you find a new one so that your information stays independent.