Music Articles & News
Creating Within Limits
When I first started playing the piano I wanted to learn how to compose. The idea that I could create something tangible really appealed to me.
Music as Therapy?
Frustrated in a gridlocked? Job got you stressed out? The children have you going crazy? You pop in your favorite tune and you take a deep breath and as if by magic for a few minutes nothing matters anymore! No it's no magic! It's music and it's power! Truly amazing isn't it? Even plants responds to music as was proven by some researcher at a well known university in the USA. Why? Many reasons, I am sure some scientist would quote ...
Repetition is the Key to Learning Something Deeply
Repetition is the key to learning something deeply. It works most effectively when you are isolating a small amount of material, because the object of your focus will be more specific.
Music to Echo Your Mood
In what way do the kinds of music (rock, rap, classical, instrumental, etc.) change or alter our mood and in what way do our moods effect what music we listen to?
Music Downloads: Free & Low Cost Ways For Musicians To Get Their Music Known All Over The World
Music downloads are highly compressed audio files transferred onto a personal computer from an Internet website or P2P (peer to peer) program. From IPOD's to MP3 players galore, music downloading is seen as the fastest way for a musician to get his or her work out to the public. Many musicians have developed world-wide followings by adding downloadable music files to their web sites.
How to Construct Chords and Improvise
How To Construct Basic Chords on the Piano The easiest way to start learning how to build chords is to practice their constructions in the key of C Major. You're just playing all white keys. All you have to do is play every other white key to create a 3-note chord. A 3-note chord is called a triad. A 4-note chord is called a 7th chord. And a 5-note chord is called a 9th chord. Now you have the option of playing your chords in one hand or you may use both hands! ...
Automatic Control of Chords
CORRECT PRACTICE IS INDISPENSABLE! Your success or failure at the keyboard may well hinge on how quickly and accurately you can memorize a new chord. To be really efficient at this you must use your eyes, your ears, and the muscles of your hands. You must learn a chord so that you can recognize and play that chord the next day without hesitation. Let me explain how to practice to gain this three-way control. VISUAL CONTROL - After playing a chord, take your hands off the ...
So You Want to be President? Learn to Play a Musical Instrument!
President Harry S. Truman, the man in the White House when the United States intervened on behalf of the millions of innocent people who were being displaced and massacred by Hitler’s Nazi Germany, claimed to have practiced his piano lessons for two hours every morning during his childhood. Likewise, President Warren Harding was said to be able to play every instrument except the trombone and the clarinet. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) played the organ. Of course we all remember ...
Story of 50 Cent
G-Units 50 Cent , was born 6th of July 1976 is a New York State rapper that uprose to spectacular grandness inside the entertainment collective in 2003... Curtis Jackson incarcerated and much more. Quite easily, 50cent has become the greatest artist since Slim, as well 50 Cent's album also has Dr.Dre. 50 Cent and G-unit have a clothing company Gunit Clothing and 50 cents music producing, Curtis Jackson will be around for a long time. G-Units 50 Cent released his first major album Get ...
The Future for Independent Record Labels
Small independent record labels are facing a different fight today to obtain a share of the music industry. The best possible means in which small labels were able to get their CD’s sold vanished in 2003 when Southwest Wholesale Records and Tapes closed the doors. The ability to have their music placed in a position to be sold along the same shelves as the major record labels is becoming increasingly more difficult. The absence of competition on the shelves has generated an increase in ...
Independent Music Promotion on the Web: 3 Steps to Success
Let's face it, the wildfire spread of web-based portals designed to introduce independent music to the world has created a bewildering array of opportunities and costs. So where do they all balance out? When does the cost of signing up to yet another music promotion service yield results? What results are we looking for anyway?
Interview With An Up And Coming Musician From Toronto
Today, Norm Goldman, Editor of Sketchandtravel.com and Bookpleasures.com is delighted to have as our guest, Dan Goldman, Guitarist, Song Writer, Poet, Arranger and a musician of many other talents.
Arranging for New Age Piano
A while back, I wrote an article that compared flower arranging to music arranging. While this may seem a world apart, it really isn't.
Piano Playing is Easier than You Think When You Understand Musical Form
Form is the key that unlocks the musical map of a song or a musical compostition. Like a house has rooms, so a song has rooms or sections.
Music and Emotion
The Age-old Puzzle of Human Response If you've listened to more than a little music, you've most likely received an emotional reaction from some of it. You've probably noticed that whenever that happens, the effect is initially unexpected and varies in its intensity. Its also a safe bet that you cannot truly explain or define why it affected you. You might be listening to a Symphonic work, a Jazz combo, something Country or a Folk song. Whatever the style, it ...
Legal Music Downloads
On July 28, 2004, French Internet access providers and music copyright owners signed a joint national charter aimed at cracking down on illegal downloads and expanding the amount of legal music tracks available online (AFP). This is the latest in a series of moves taken across the world to combat music piracy as production labels see more and more of their profits being lost to illegal downloads of music files.
Silent Disco's!
The press have reported this week that silent disco’s are now the in thing, saying: ‘T in the park is to follow the Glastonbury Festival into introducing a ‘Silent Disco’ this year. So that revellers can party through the night, clubbers at particular stages will be given headphones so they can continue to listen to music at high volume without upsetting the festivals neighbours.’ NME Online Is this the end of the festival as we know it? For years now festivals have ...
What is Music?
That's a fair question! Basically, you can call music any noise that is set to either a rythm as in percussions or that follows a melodic line of some sort. Our early ancestors sitting outside the cave by the fire, after a hard day of gathering and hunting food, probably made music by tapping bones together or blowing in sea shells. While the rest of them would make conveniently placed grunts and howls. Obviously, this was not Beethoven or Vivaldi musicality:) ...
Music, the Spiritual Connection
All through the age’s music and spirituality as served hand in hand. As for instruments, the earliest is presumed to be, percussions from noisemakers to drums.
The Top 10 Reasons Why You Suck At Playing Guitar
You don’t ‘need’ to play guitar enough. If you desire to become a great guitarist, you have to want it badly enough to sacrifice other parts of your life to devote to practice. This doesn’t mean you have to give up your social life and never take the guitar out of your hands until your Jimi Hendrix… But it does mean you need to set aside time to practice and commit to actually it. If you really want to learn guitar then you shouldn’t feel the need to put it off ...
Is the Mainstream Ready Once Again for Dance Music?
Not since the heyday of Dance/Pop Artists like Taylor Dayne and Paula Abdul has Dance Music been a mainstream category. Today, "Dance Music" as defined by Billboard's Dance Club Chart represents only a very small segment of the music market. But thanks to the recent CD Release "Sleeping in the Nothing" from Kelly Osbourne and another upcoming CD release from Entertainment Media magnet Paris Hilton, that could very well change.
Modal Theory for Guitar Players Part 2
Playing the Modes When I used to use this pack with students, I provided them with a CD which contained a backing track for each of the modes. This enabled them to practive getting the sounds and shapes under their fingers. In this version you will be provided with the harmonised scale for each mode, and from this you can construct your own grooves and backing tracks to do the same thing. I am assuming that you know, or can easily work out the names of the notes on the neck ...
They Laughed When I Sat Down at the Piano... but When I Started to Play...
Remember the old ad that used to run endlessly in magazines and newspapers: "They laughed when I sat down at the piano...but when I started to play..." ? I remember very well the first time I played piano for a group. They DID laugh. It was a disaster. I overheard the leader say "Let's get somebody with some rhythm in there to play." Ouch! That hurt. But I told myself right then and there that I would learn to play the piano so well that no one would ever ...
Music For Self Improvement
Would you like to pop in a CD and have a better quality of life, and even self improvement? There are three ways you can use music to accomplish this.
Chords or Melody First... Which is Best?
There are basically two ways you can compose a piece of music. The first and most traditional way is to write out the melody and then harmonize it. Some call this working from the top (as opposed to the chords on the bottom.) The second approach is where you create some kind of rhythmic harmonic pattern and improvise (or compose) the melody on top. Now, which one is best for New Age music?
Learning to Play the Piano with Chords Part 2
Do you want to learn how to play chords on the piano? Can you already read sheet music or basic notes on the treble and or bass clef?
Composing George Winston Style
If you're a fan of New Age piano, no doubt you've listened to some of George Winston's music. What I find fascinating about his songs is how he creates them. Most improvisers/composers start with the melody, usually because it's the easiest way to begin.
Music & Citizenship: Can Playing a Musical Instrument Help Your Child Become a B
Disregard the popular image of rappers with their ghetto blasters, terrorizing neighborhoods with eardrum-splitting cacophony. Consider instead our delightful school bands and orchestras… and ponder on whether those students might be becoming our best future citizens.
Vintage Guitar Collectors Can Still Find Deals
If you're a recent vintage guitar collector, the stories you've heard are true. You once could step into pawn shops or flea markets and find vintage Gibson Les Pauls and Fender Stratocasters for $50 to $100. True. These guitars now sell for thousands of dollars on Ebay and Gbase.
Killer Piano Playing Secrets of a Chord Addict!
I wish you could have seen me play the piano when I was just learning. I was the nearest thing to “hopeless” that you could imagine. I was into baseball, not music – and my heroes were Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams. (And by the way, I still have a picture of those 3 guys on my wall.) My dream was to hit baseballs like them, not to play the piano.