Showing posts with label Drum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drum. Show all posts

Monday, June 30, 2008

Top 3 Mistakes

In order to play the guitar well, you need to learn all there is to learn about playing the guitar. Even though I believe this theory aspect is important, I cannot stress the importance of positive thinking. If you want to achieve success in whatever you do, you need to re-condition your mind to think positive thoughts.

This is a guitar lesson especially for beginning guitarists. It gives some pointers for having the right type of mindset in order for you to be able to start playing the guitar well enough.

1. Hasty

One of the key ingredients to failure is that of being impulsive. There will come a time when the beginning guitarist feels impulsive and wants things to progress faster. This is because you know that there are a lot of things for you to learn.

When you want results and you want results fast, you tend to squeeze everything and try to learn as much as you can in a very short time. However, this is a surefire way to failure. You need to be patient so that whatever you learn can be absorbed well. Even if you can squeeze everything that you need to learn in one day, this is not a very effective method for learning to play the guitar.

What you'll need to do is to break up these huge tasks into smaller bite-sized tasks and take your time to learn them. Slowly, you'll be able to play the guitar. Being patient is the key.

2. Low self esteem

Another pessimistic mindset is that of having low self respect. When you have low self respect, you will tend to think of yourself lowly. In such cases, you are afraid of making errors. However, the more afraid you are, the more errors you will make.

Improve your mindset so that you're more able to handle this type of problem. Change your mindset so that you can take it when you make mistakes. Tell yourself that making mistakes is not something to be ashamed of. In fact, making mistakes and improving on them constructively will make you a better guitar player.

You need to be able to play in front of a small audience and take their criticism to heart and improve on your weak points. Don't take negative comments so hard that you end up with low self-esteem. Remember, making mistakes is good but only if you take these comments and improve on them constructively.

3. Distracted

Sometimes beginning guitarists do not concentrate on the tasks at hand, that is, learning to play the guitar well. You have so many things that you want or you have to do and you have to do them all at the same time. For example, a huge part of your spare time is spent on entertainment.

What is your goal? If your goal is to play the guitar well, you have to concentrate on the tasks at hand. Cut down on your social activities first. Find a suitable place for your guitar practices. Then practice your guitar as and when you can. When improvements have been made, you can then slowly increase your social activities to the way they were before.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Buyers Guide To Electric Guitars

Live rock concerts were the rage in the 70's and they are still the rage. The essence of rock music does not just lie with the lyrics; it also lies with the electric guitar and the various sounds that it can produce. There are so many kids across the block who would give up anything to play.

Now if you are interested in learning how to play the guitar then the first thing you will need to buy is a guitar. Most people start with an acoustic and graduate to the electric guitar. It is quite difficult for anyone to choose the right electric guitar since there are hundreds of models and several brands out there in the market. If you are buying an electric guitar then you will need to also buy amplifiers, pick-ups, pick, tuner etc.

Electric guitars are available in a lot of variety, colors, and designs with the aerodynamic designs being one of the most popular. You need to look around a bit and check out the prices and models before you buy one. In fact, one of the best ways to choose a guitar is by the brand or by the style. Here our take on the four important styles:

Stratocaster
This certainly is a show stealer and has a typical style. The most famous is the red and white color combination, which was extensively used by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. The Stratocaster is from Fender and has a neck bolted to the guitar body.

Telecaster
The Telecaster is another creative instrument from Fenders. It is more than just a guitar it is a complete orchestra. It is a solid body electric guitar and comprises of dual pick-ups. The first Telecaster was manufactured by Leo Fender in the 1940's and has a single cutaway body. It doesn't have the tremolo or wammy bar but has two different single-coil pickups. Some of the popular Telecaster models include:

Les Paul
This is a classic guitar that has been designed by Gibson. The salient feature of a Les Paul's is its set neck construction, which means there are no joints or bolts. The body is a single cutaway and rounded. It is equipped with two humbucker pickups as well as a raised scratch-plate.

Gibson
Gibson is one of the greatest brands in music and all their guitar models are classic and can't be compared to any. Gibson was actually started in 1902 by Orville Gibson and has been responsible for giving the world some of the best acoustic and electric guitars. Some of the famous models include the arch-top Gibson L5 model, the ES-150 electric, Gibson Explorer, Flying V etc.

These are the best brands in electric guitar. The other aspects that will help you to pick up a guitar include fretboard, the pick-ups, and the body. Full-bodied guitars are normally preferred as they can produce some of the best sounds that you will ever get to hear.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Guitar Player


If you are a beginner guitarist, you will naturally to be apprehensive about what type should you buy and the cost of buying one. Beginner players are often offered package deals in most music stores. The benefits of a good slow down music product such as Riff Master Pro are crystal clear to both players and listeners as differences in style and accuracy of musical performance have been observed in most cases. New players need never have them in the first place if proper technique is used right from the start. The truth is that this can help you all, whether you are beginners or advanced players. Everybody loves to listen to solos like the ones achieved by world wide famous players but few can even dream of reproducing their songs at the early days of learning to play.

Just like the player could use heavier gauge strings, but they would feel and play like steel cables to his fingers. If the reality is that your guitar player has marshall stacks larger than refrigerators, and even you, can not hear your drums, then you really do need microphones on your kit. Knowing how to handle the guitar while playing your favorite songs will surely be a great benefit in your becoming guitarist. If you want to become a professional guitarist you will have to give up such programs at some point in time and choose something else. It is any one of a number of systems originally conceived to allow a guitar player to play synthesizers. However, many a times looking at a player reading his musical sheet you must have wondered, how to read musical notes like a pro.

Wisdom and experience are necessary for learning to play perfectly and to become a proper player. These are some of the volume pedals, which are being widely used all over the world by professional players. If you were learning for instance, the best way to improve your playing would be to imitate and play in time with professional players. Even now they are so popular that we first notice that any other musician in a music show. And a left handed player looks fabulous. To become a good player and to even go halfway, the blues have to be experienced because the blues has it all. The pick a player chooses will affect tone.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Tips For Better Guitar Playing

In this article I hope to demonstrate a few tips that will, with any luck, put you on the correct approach to developing into a proficient guitar player. If you can take into account that to play well involves a lot of practice and dedication then these tips will give you a head start. It takes arduous work and perseverance to the learn guitar and there is no fast and easy way, but some procedures are much more adept than others, resulting in quicker advancement. The main chief tip, though, is no matter what you do don't admit defeat

Set Aside Your Own Space
Distractions can play havoc with your concentration and focus, making any practise session worthless. Learning to play the guitar is hard enough so make it easier by finding a space where you can be alone without any outside noise or interruptions.

Equipment
Ensuring that your guitar is tuned correctly is paramount at the beginning of any practise session. Preparation is essential to good guitar playing and it is imperative to make certain that your instrument is in good condition

Understand Your Instrument
Surprising, as it might seem, not all guitars are the same, every one has a different tone and sound. Learn to know and understand your guitar, what every part is called and its different function. Appreciate your instrument and, although it’s an inanimate object, learn to respect and care for it. Even though you might not appreciate it now it will make you a better and more experienced guitar player.

Recognise Your Level Of Expertise
Frustration can soon set in when, after a few weeks of practising and learning, you cant play the same tunes as Eric Clapton or Jimmy Page or any of your other guitar heroes. Realism has to kick in somewhere and the sooner the better. Learning to play the guitar is not an overnight thing. It takes time. Start with sensible goals, leave the advanced playing until later and progression will come with a growth in confidence. Show persistence at this point and you will reap the benefits later and it will be even more rewarding.

Pick Your Style
Being able to play a piece of music made famous by one of your favorite guitarists is an unbeatable sensation. When, and only when, you have completed the fundamentals and you are set to move on to something harder it’s time pick a style of music you like and can identify with. Most songs are generally accessible as sheet music from a variety of sources and it’s another level in your education. This is an exhilarating stage in your progress.

Set Goals
One of the best ways to focus you concentration on you progress is to set mini targets. Pick a time period for when you are going to play your first song in front of family and friends and let them know about it. This helps give a reason for your practise sessions and certainly grabs your attention the closer to the date of your debut performance. Once you have performed and enjoyed being in the spotlight it will give you a boost in confidence. It’s no surprise, but your playing will improve after.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

How to play the guitar

Playing the guitar is one of the most popular hobbies in America. Millions of Americans play the guitar as a leisure activity; and why not? It is one of the easiest musical instruments to learn and the most popular music of the day is played on the guitar. Many people do not realize how easy it is to really learn to play the guitar. Some people, who first begin learning to play the guitar, try to learn a very hard song from the start. Then they start thinking they will never be able to learn to play, that they just do not have that natural musical talent that some people have, when really they just picked a hard song. Some people try to play the guitar for only about a week and expect to pick it up that quickly. If they cannot do it in a week, then again they think they just do not have that musical talent. All of that is nonsense Not even an experienced musician would be able to pick up the guitar and learn it in a week. He or she would know how the music works and understand how the guitar is supposed to played, but it still takes a little time to develop the correct motor skills with your hands and fingers. Anybody can pick up the guitar and learn to play some of their favorite songs if they just stick with it for a little while and practice for only a short period of time each day. To begin playing the guitar, all you have to do is learn a few chords.

Most rock, country, or other popular genres or songs can be played with only a few easy chords on the guitar. They say with only three or four chords you can play most rock songs ever written. Most people I have taught to play the acoustic guitar or electric guitar, if they would just listen to me and try it for one week, they could get down three chords in that week or two weeks and then be able to play a song with those chords. I also teach them a strumming pattern to play the chords with. That is all you need and you are set with your new hobby of playing guitars.

I myself studied music for seven years or more before I tried to learn the guitar, so I did have a good grasp of music theory, but it still took me several months to learn to play well, because I had to develop the motor skills of moving my fingers on the strings and coordinating my fingering and strumming patterns. It also takes a little while to learn to sing on top of keeping the beat and playing the guitar. But it can be learned quickly as well, if you just stick with and give it a real try. I did not have anyone to teach me when I first began playing the guitar. I just bought an acoustic guitar and taught myself to play. Every now and then people would give me pointers or teach me how to play something. I have taught other people to play also, and noticed that with a teacher it is surprising how fast people can pick things up.

I wish I would have had a teacher when I was learning. There are little tricks and licks on the guitar that only an experienced guitar player would know. So if you are looking for a new hobby, one that you can do whenever you want, with friends or by yourself, then learn to play the guitar. It is like riding a bike. Once you learn it, you never forget. It will be something you can take with you for the rest of your life, entertaining crowds and parties and serenading that special someone. And, if you do not have a special someone, it will definitely help your chances of finding them.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Intro of Indian Classical Music

The system of Indian classical music known as Raga Sangeet can be traced back nearly two thousand years to its origin in the Vedic hymns of the Hindu temples. Unlike Western classical music which has written scores, an Indian classical performance is based on improvisation, and anywhere from 10% to 90% of the performance could be extempore, depending on the creative imagination of the artist. The music is rendered orally to the disciple by his guru, popularly known as guru-shishya (teacher-student) parampara (tradition).

The very heart of Indian music is the raga, the melodic form upon which the artist improvises his performance. A raga is a scientific, precise, subtle and aesthetic melodic form with its own ascending and descending movement consisting of either a full seven-note octave or a series of six or five notes.

Every raga is characterized by its own particular mood. The acknowledged order of these nine sentiments, or emotions, is as follows: romantic and erotic, humorous, pathetic, anger, heroic, fearful, disgust, amazement and peaceful. Each raga, in addition to being associated with a particular mood, is also closely connected to a particular time of day or a season of the year. Thus through the rich melodies and rhythm of Indian music, every human emotion, every subtle feeling in man and nature, can be musically expressed and experienced.

In terms of aesthetics, a raga is the projection of the artist's inner spirit: a manifestation of his most profound feelings and sensibilities. The musician breathes life into each raga as he unfolds and expands it so that each note shimmers and pulsates with life and the raga is revealed vibrant and incandescent with beauty.

The tala, or rhythmic cycle of a raga, plays an equally important role in expressing the mood. There is a unique relationship between melody and rhythm. The intricacies depict the complexities and sophistication with which they are woven together. The division in a taal and the stress on the first beat, called sum, are the most important feature. The most exciting moment for a seasoned listener is when both the musicians, after their individual improvisations, come back together on the sum.

Today, Indian classical music is a permanent part of Western culture. Many composers and musicians have been influenced by our music. The openness, will to learn, and sincere enthusiasm of Western audiences are a continuing source of inspiration and delight. Indian music is one of the highest forms of music existing and nourished through its rich cultural heritage.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Consumption of Music

Music is being consumed in more ways than one and at a higher rate then every before. The MTV generation is use to not only hearing their music but seeing it as well. If they see a song that they like they can then buy that songs in multiple media forms from vinyl and CD to digital with DRM (digital rights management) and Mp3 without DRM. If they like the video and the song then they can go to Youtube and view it there until their hearts content. But the digitalization of music has done more. Not only is it easier to view videos but it easier to find and discover new music, acts and bands as well.

MySpace has built a multi-billion dollar network on the backs of up-and-coming acts and unsigned bands and their friends. Myspace and sites like this have exposed many people to new and unheard music and continue to do so at an astonishing rate each day. As a band or act it is now seen as a smart business move and cool to be associated with a brand or land a sync-license in a TV show or commercial. This twenty years before was a direct threat to your artistic vision and classified as “selling out”. But now these things are all used to innovatively expose music to the masses and making it easier to discover it.

Technology has created mega-channels of distribution. Peer-to-peer networks have opened the floodgates to obtaining free music. Furthermore, because digitized music takes of bytes instead of floor space you are now given a wider range of music to choose from at digital retailers. And of course copying CDs have never been easier and soon the CD will be wiped from that equation level just the transfer of bytes in order to obtain your music.

What this means is that music consumption is increasing. Production cost is lowering. Distribution is widening and more acts and bands are being heard. There is a need out there for making the discovery and sharing of music simpler and easier. Music is an identifier for many people and these people are getting larger and larger iPods that just simply need to be filled.

Thursday, February 21, 2008

buy the right guitar

The first thing you should decide on is what guitar you want to learn to play on is ultimately the kind of guitar you will want to buy.

There are two major types of guitars, they are the electric guitar and the acoustic guitar. There are pro's and cons to both types of guitars.

An acoustic guitar ( or box guitar) is harder to learn on, but the only extra thing you need to get in order to play is a pick.

An electric guitar (or rock-n-roll guitar) is much easier to learn on and you will see significant improvement in a very short amount of time. But there are a few extra things that you on order to play, and that will more than likely be more expensive than an acoustic guitar. The first thing you need is an amp (or amplifier), if you play an electric guitar without an amp, you won't be able to hear the guitar very well.

Then you will need a guitar cable. A guitar cable is a wire that runs from the guitar to your amp. Lastly, you will need a guitar pick.

How do I find the right guitar for me? First, I would ask around school or work and find someone who can play guitar well and be-friend him then ask him if he would go with you to music stores and pawn shops to find the best guitar for you.

while hanging out with your new friend, ask him if the two of you could hang out together and jam. Maybe give you some pointers and show you some tricks, too. If the two of you are hitting it off pretty well, you've already got one thing in common, I don't see any reason for him to say no. Chances are, he was looking for someone who shares the same interests and enthusiasm that he does, all along.