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Are You A Victim and A Loser? |
Performance |
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 Often we can let our personal circumstances dictate our progress. For
example, someone may let their guitar practice slide because they were
really busy at work. This person may start making excuses such as "I
didn't have time." This is victim mentality.
I was thinking today about THE most dangerous enemy of musical progress...the victim mentality. What do I mean by this?
It is believing that your musical progress is only possible when external circumstances allow it.
What they are really saying to themselves is that their musical dreams
and goals are not as important as paying a few lousy bills. They are
letting their boss's goals get in the way of their own. >>> |
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Fiddle Tab Makes Learning Fiddle Fast and Easy |
Performance |
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 Learning fiddle tab is so intuitive and so easy that a student picks it up in five minutes.
This is true even for five-year-olds. Before starting this examination
of fiddle tab, let's recall what standard musical notation looks like.
The familiar dot-shaped notes on or between the five lines of the
musical staff represent exact pitches of musical notes. The dots show
the pitch. Sharp signs or flat signs influence that pitch. The clef
sign also has an effect. Rhythm symbols that show the relative duration
of the notes. Other musical terminology, often Italian, indicates the
speed of the rhythm. Allegro con brio, for example, means "lively, with
enthusiasm." >>> |
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Building A Good Relationship With Your Guitar |
Performance |
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 The guitar is considered the friendliest musical instrument there is.
It is because the guitar is the handiest musical instrument that could
stand on its own. A group can enjoy music with just a guitar even
without the accompaniment of winds and percussions. The term "acoustic"
is referred to, in the music context of today, the rendition of songs
in all the glory of guitars. No percussion and piano and other
instruments needed, just guitars. Sometimes, it can be the jamming of
more than just one guitar. Acoustic is a favorite type of music today
because of its relaxed and soulful rendition of songs. The guitar can
be carried everywhere and is one of the easiest instrument to be
learned in no time. All you need is a songbook or song hits and you're
ready to take the stage and perform to your heart's desire. It may
sound so easy and can be done in a snap, however, playing a guitar is
an art that needs to be perfected with constant practice. >>>
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A Brief History of Gongs |
Our Heritage |
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 The gong is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world.
Archaeologists have unearthed gongs built almost four thousand years
ago. No wonder when we hear a gong we feel like we are being touched in
our soul. The earliest written mention of the gong was in China in the
6th century. In these ancient documents the Chinese claim that another
culture from Central Asia introduced it to them. While we can't be
certain which culture created the gong, it's safe to say the sound
resonated with the Chinese and that they made the gong their own. >>> |
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A Brief History Of Gibson Guitars |
Our Heritage |
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Gibson guitars have been around forever.
It's funny, but although Gibson has produced some of the most amazing
guitars in history, perhaps the company's largest contribution to music
has been through their advancements in pickup technology. Gibson's
first electric guitar the ES-150 was produced in 1936, and is still
considered one of the best sounding electric jazz guitars in the world.
In 1946 Gibson introduced the P-90 single coil pickup, which was
eventually used on the first Les Paul model in 1952. The Les Paul was
Gibson's first solid body electric guitar. In 1957 Gibson introduced
the legendary Humbucker pickup on the Les Paul model, and an instant
classic was born. The P-90 and the Humbucker quickly became the pickups
of choice for Gibson's expanding line of solid body electric guitars. >>>
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Piano Playing and Performance Anxiety |
Performance |
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I'll never forget the first time I played the piano for an audience.
It was my first concert and it was fairly full up. I was to play my
first CD "La Jolla Suite" containing 12 pieces. There was to be one
intermission and the whole concert lasted about 80-90 minutes.
Let me tell you that I was very nervous. So nervous I didn't think I
was going to make it through. Suffice it to say that I really didn't
enjoy myself. After many hours of trying to figure out why I was so
nervous, the answer came to me - it was because I was self-conscious. >>> |
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Improvising On The Piano |
Performance |
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 Jazz Musicians Do It - Why Not Other Styles?
Why jazz piano improvisation?
Why not gospel piano improvisation?
Is it not possible to improvise classical music, or sacred music, or any other kind of music?
Bach improvised many of his fugues and inventions while playing organ
in church. Many others in all musical styles have improvised within the
context of their own persuasion. So why study improvised jazz? Why not
study improvised classical music, or improvised gospel music? >>> |
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"Fifth Beatle" dies at 59 |
News |
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Billy Preston was a gifted and versatile keyboardist
who started his musical career as a child prodigy. He died in Arizona
on June 6th after a long illness. He was only 59 years old.
What a loss for the music community. Billy was so talented that he
played organ for the likes of Ray Charles and Little Richard. Most
musicians would consider this the pinnacle of their career to have
played with these legends. That was only the beginning for Billy
Preston . He collaborated with some of the most celebrated names in the
music industry including, The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob
Dylan, The Jackson Five, Sly and the Family Stone, Barbara Streisand,
Sammy Davis Jr., Quincy Jones, and the dream of every musician, The
Beatles. >>> |
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Would Chopin Have Passed A Music Quiz? |
Music Pantry |
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Q: My children
are very interested in playing music. Is there such a thing as a
music quiz for kids?
A: Sure there's such a thing as a music quiz, and you can find one
right inside of your head. Just reach up there, pull it out, and put it down on
paper. I'm serious.
Who knows where your children's musical interests lie
better than you? Right - no one; so instead of finding some pre-made music
quiz, which may or may not challenge them at the levels that you want them to
be challenged, go ahead and write your own. >>>
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Crackle Box |
Tech Talk |
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Michael Waisvisz is
a rather unusual, and innovative man,
who has taken electronic music in a whole
new direction.
He felt electronic music was too constructed and had no musical
soul so he decided to try a new way of using short wave sounds to make music. With
the use of a circuit boards from transistor radios interconnected with wires,
he would touch the circuit board with his fingers resulting in a mild shock,
which in turn produced a new and different kind of musical sound. Through
touch, Waisvisz created new and unusual short wave sounds that would eventually
become known as sound music. Touched electronics, as he likes to call it, had a
rougher edge to it than other high-tech music of the 50's and 60's. Sometime
later, he started using the print board of a damaged electronic organ to
produce even more innovative electronic sounds. His fingers and hands literally
become the conductors through which the music flows. All this was achieved by
Waisvisz with no knowledge of circuitry whatsoever. Like a traditional
instrument, by intuitively touching the electronics, one could learn to play
this new type of instrument without any schematic knowledge of circuitry. >>> |
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To most people, owning the "genuine article" is the only thing that will suffice.
So you want to be more creative