privacy policy

Privacy Policy for www.musicwaytuba7.blogspot.com/

If you require any more information or have any questions about our privacy policy, please feel free to contact us by email at ayi_a7@yahoo.com.

At www.musicwaytuba7.blogspot.com/, the privacy of our visitors is of extreme importance to us. This privacy policy document outlines the types of personal information is received and collected by www.musicwaytuba7.blogspot.com/ and how it is used.

Log Files
Like many other Web sites, www.musicwaytuba7.blogspot.com/ makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol ( IP ) addresses, type of browser, Internet Service Provider ( ISP ), date/time stamp, referring/exit pages, and number of clicks to analyze trends, administer the site, track user’s movement around the site, and gather demographic information. IP addresses, and other such information are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable.

Cookies and Web Beacons
www.musicwaytuba7.blogspot.com/ does use cookies to store information about visitors preferences, record user-specific information on which pages the user access or visit, customize Web page content based on visitors browser type or other information that the visitor sends via their browser.

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These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to the advertisements and links that appear on www.musicwaytuba7.blogspot.com/ send directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies ( such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons ) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

www.musicwaytuba7.blogspot.com/ has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

You should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. www.musicwaytuba7.blogspot.com/'s privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites. 

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Essential DJ Equipments To Create Great Beats And Tunes

Whether you aspire to be a disc jockey, just starting out as an amateur DJ or have the talent and desire to be a professional DJ ready to churn out a career in the world of music remixes, you need to have some knowledge of and experience in the basic DJ equipments. This is essential because these are the tools of the trade that will get you going in this world of mixing and matching beats and tunes.

There are a number of aspiring youngsters who want to start out as a DJ, but do not know enough about getting started and what to start with. For those who are serious about becoming a DJ, the first step is to invest in the basic but essential DJ equipments that you cannot do without, that being turntables, headphones, speakers and a DJ mixer. Of course, as you gain experience and popularity as a DJ, you can then upgrade to more sophisticated DJ equipments.

The most important DJ equipment for you to master is the turntable. For your first set of turntables it is always a good idea to start with a used version, or if you decide to purchase a new one, at least to purchase an inexpensive model. Getting to the level of spinning the turntable in front of a packed audience and wowing them with your great beat and music requires much work. In fact, to many beginners, that is a nerve-wracking prospect, as being great on the turntables requires a lot of practice and dedication. So start out amongst friends and friendly crowds before stepping up to bigger and less familiar audiences. Once you become quite good at it, you can start upgrading the turntable. The Technics 1200 or 1210 is a popular model to start with.

The next important item on the DJ equipment list is a good pair of headphones. According to the more experienced DJs, the Sony headphones make the best choice for beginners.

If you are on a tight budget, you can postpone your purchase of a DJ mixer as you can manage without one in the beginning. Once you have made a mark in this business and started making some money, then you can think about investing in a good DJ mixer.

In order to get started in any profession you have to make some investment and the DJ profession is no exception either. A beginner in this profession should expect to set a budget for basic DJ equipment purchase of approximately US$2,000, as a turntable sells for about $1500, and the mixer, headphone and speaker for about $100 each.

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DJ Equipments To Rock The Dance Floor

Do you know what is the key to becoming a successful DJ? Well it is the ability to produce great music mixes that bring the dance floor alive. And in order to create the right kind of music you have to invest in a range of advanced DJ equipments.

If you are just a beginner to the world of mixing and turntables, you are most likely awestruck by the well-established disc jockeys that have the ability to set the floor ablaze with their highly energetic music mixes. OK so you may not have the same range of talents as these DJs, but you can make up for your lack of experience or talent with the right kind of DJ equipments. Next time you visit a night club or disco, just make a trip backstage to check out the DJ equipments, and you will be amazed at the wide range of DJ equipments that are used to churn out those masterful mixes. Although, a novice in the field requires some time and practice on the turntable to somewhat master it, there are other DJ equipments that are not as difficult to learn. And as you advance as a DJ, these equipments will help you to create better music. As in any business you have to make some initial investment in this world of music mixing, as DJ equipments are the basic tools to give you a head start in this trade.

As a DJ, you can manipulate the equipments in a number of different ways. Not only can you rock the dance floor with beats and rhythms, you can also synchronize the music smoothly from one track to the next.

As a DJ, your goal is to make the crowd come to its feet and rock all through the night. At the same time you have to keep the energy level of the dance floor at a point that it can sustain over a longer stretch of time. You have to maintain a musical consistency throughout. As a DJ it is in your hand to keep the tempo alive without annoying a portion of the crowd.

To accomplish all these goals, DJs must be well versed in the advanced technological features of their DJ equipments. You need to be really familiar with your instruments like the back of your hands to use them to their fullest potential.

In the end, it is your skill as a DJ that will be appreciated by both the crowd uninitiated in the art of DJing, and also by those who do have some idea about the workings of a DJ. So make the best use of your DJ equipments and enjoy the wide appreciation from the audience for making them rock and roll throughout the night.

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10 Tips To Find A Legal Music Download Site

Below I will talk about my top 10 tips to help you find a legal music download site. Hopefully they will help you divert away from illegal download sites.

1. Pay for use

This is one of the most effective ways to identify whether a site is legal or not. Look for download sites that charge you per song, or per month or per year.

If you see a site offering free music downloads for a certain trial period, then this doesnt necessarily mean that the site is legal. Many legal sites use this as an enticement, so do not be put off by that.

2. Size Limits

A legal music download site generally distributes music from reputable labels and artists. This means that you will not find a wide range of mixes and custom files that will almost certainly slow down your connection, and therefore take forever to download.
Moreover, if these files are small it assures the music retail industry that the music site is actually selling real legal music, and not the massive files associated with computer games and movies etc

3. Volume limits

Legal music download sites usually distribute their material on a per song basis. One of the major advantages of buying your music online is that you dont have to spend $17 for an entire album if you only want 3 or 4 songs.
Legal music sites will actually setup download limits as well as transfer rate limits. As a result, this prevents dishonest customers from setting up their computers to copy hundreds of files in a few hours.

4. Larger databases, Larger costs

The larger the databases that the legal download sites have, the more it will actually cost you. This can actually lead to paying a bit more than a normal CD in the shop IF the store has literally hundreds and hundreds of thousands of songs because they could cost between $1 - $3.
Therefore, dont go for the exceptionally large databases. The reason why these sites are more expensive than the illegal music sites is because they are obliged to give a portion of their fees back to the recording industry.

5. Limited Choice

Most of the legal music download sites dont have the capacity or copyright authority to distribute hundreds of millions of songs. The songs are stored on servers with a finite amount of space unlike the tangled web of computer to computer file transfers from the illegal sites.

The other reason for the limited choice is that it is highly unlikely that they will get an agreement from every single record label to distribute their music online.

The quality of every online music catalog depends on the Music Studios that are providing the material. Established, and therefore popular artists usually switch labels at least once during their singing career. So you might have access to their newer materials, but not the older songs, or vice versa.

6. No Adware or Spyware

Legal music download sites like their offline retail counterparts are getting an actual fee for their service. They dont want to scam or upset their customers by placing dangerous and annoying spyware and adware programs on their computers.

7. Music Only

The fact is that a legal music download site will only have music on it to download. This means that you wont be able to download computer games, movies or anything else like this.

8. Copyright Notice

A clearly written copyright notice should be provided on the site stating:

a) The nature of the site owners authorization to distribute legal music files online

b) What you can do with the files once you have paid for them

c) Any limitations on either party as far as use and distribution of the files.

9. No file sharing allowed

You are only allowed to use the files for personal use. Unlike a CD (physical product) you cannot purchase songs, use them and then sell them to another party or distribute them free of charge to friends, family, web surfers etc.

10. Backed by a big label?

Most of the legal music download sites are backed by at least one major music label. People are looking for songs that are popular, on the radio, playing in the clubs or on MTV.
All of that commercial material comes out of the studio system. If the label does not provide the material, subject to fees, taxes and copyright notices, then the site cannot legally distribute them.

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Top Tips To Help You Download Music And Game Effectively

It is common knowledge that if you are connected to the Internet, you are able to download music and game.

However, finding sites that are actually legit and also deliver what they claim to offer is not an easy task. I have personally spent quite a lot of money on these sites and it took me about 6 or 7 attempts to find a site that delivers quality.

The most popular places to download music and game are the peer-to-peer networks. Some peer-to-peer networks are free, like limewire, and they are generally quite good especially as they are free, but they do lack overall quality. Furthermore, they are laden with viruses and Trojan horses that are designed to completely wreck your computer.

It is not a surprise that there are many negatives of such sites because they are not charging you anything for it.

If you are looking for added quality and a more extensive range I would personally recommend the paid peer-to-peer networks that are on offer. They usually charge a one-time fee, and from there you can download as much music and game as you like. No extras fees will be demanded from you in the future.

The quality is far higher than on the free sites, especially when it comes to downloading games. When trying to download games on the free sites, it is common to actually download something completely different to what the file name says. This is extremely frustrating when you have waited hours for the download to complete.
Furthermore, the download speeds of the paid sites are much quicker, and if you have a decent broadband connection you will be flying!

However, even though the paid sites are far better than the free ones to download music and game, you must still be very careful which ones you select.

As I stated earlier, I have done quite a lot of research into this field. I would like to offer you some tips on spotting those sites which are more likely to be dishonest ones:

1. Paid sites should only charge you a one time fee. If they are demanding regular payments from you then this is a very good sign to steer clear of them.

2. A web site called alexa.com checks traffic rankings of all sites on the Internet. When I am looking at a new site that I might wish to pay a service for, I always check its rankings.

If the site is in the top 100,000 most popular sites, then this is a good sign to me. This is because it shows me that the site is receiving regular traffic, and so people will be uploading and downloading files regularly.

If you find that the site is ranked at 750,000 for instance, I can tell you that they are only receiving a few visitors a day. Consequently, what are the chances that they own a popular download site that you can download a wide range of music and game from with such few visitors?

Not many people know about this trick, and I have found it extremely useful in the past to judge a sites value.

3. My final tip is to actually type the sites name into Google followed by the word review. Google will display a bunch of results, mostly from forums, giving peoples views and opinions on the site based on their experiences.

Clearly, if words like scam are being posted on these forums in relation to the site, then again this is a good reason to steer clear of them. On the other hand, the site might have received praise and this would encourage you to invest.

These are my main tips that I offer when looking to download music and game

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4 Drum Tips to Keeping Peace With Your Neighbors

If you're like me, when you first started playing the drums you may have been a little concerned that your neighbors would call the police on you. Or worse, your family would stone you to death!

Some people just can't handle the volume, but don't worry, if you're just starting out, your dreams of becoming a great drummer can still come true.

There are some quick fixes to help keep your family, friends, and neighbors at peace while still allowing you to drum. Just follow these four solid drum tips...

1. Communicate

Typically, your family and neighbors are the ones who are most affected by your choice to drum. So, the considerate, and smart thing to do is have a little talk with these people and work out a way for everyone to agree.

Find out if there are better and worse times for you to practice your drums. Just never assume anything! Sometimes people can get really agitated about something, but just never speak up about it. You don't want any "silent enemies." These kind tend to talk behind your back!

2. Invest in Drum and Cymbal Mutes

Personally, I have a full shag carpet in my practice room. I even have it going half way up the walls. It does a great job of keeping the sound right there in my room.

But, if you're not interested in a shag carpet for whatever reason, consider investing in practice pads for your drumset. These drum accessories significantly reduce the amount of sound your drums and cymbals send out.

I'll be the first to admit that playing with pads isn't near as much fun as playing without them, but they sure make you appreciate the sound of your drumset when it's not muted.

3. Soundproof Your Practice Room

You really don't have to spend a lot of money soundproofing your practice room. like professional drummers do.

You can easily create your own soundproof room with some carpet scraps. I have already mentioned that I have a shag carpet on my floor and walls and it does an excellent job. The only time my neighbors hear me drum is if I open my windows, which I do sometimes on a rare occasion if I'm feeling a little assertive.

Anyway, carpet scraps provide excellent soundproofing! Go to your local carpet store and ask for some free scraps. Then, apply them on the walls and ceiling of your drum practice room. If these carpet scraps are really thin, then layer them.

4. Play Electronic Drums

An electronic drumset is not for everybody. In fact, some drummers just hate them because they say they are not really drums. The theory is, drums are supposed to be an acoustic instrument, and by plugging something in to an electrical outlet, it is no longer acoustic.

Whatever your theory is, if you live in a small space and have really no other way to keep your volume low enough to please everyone, an electronic drumset may be the best solution.

With the option to adjust the volume in your headphones, you can actually drum as loud as you want. It's just that you are the only one who can hear it.

Conclusion

The only thing louder than you on your drums are the people who are screaming at you to knock it off.

People will try to steal your fun on the drumset because they just can't handle the volume, which is understandable. Don't let anyone steal your fun! Bang on your drums all day, but bang on them using some consideration, and you can then bang in peace.

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Discover How Lil Wayne Is All About Making Music

Lil Wayne aka Weezy Baby is a talented rapper who gives you an unique version of hip hop music and the youth culture. Can you imagine what it would be like to live in a world without a variety of sounds? No doubt there are some music that you could just as well do without. But there are other music that displays unforgettable rhythmic patterns that gets you moving. This describes the music of Lil Wayne.

Biography

Born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. in New Orleans, LA, on September 27, 1982, Lil Wayne's musical career began at the age of 11. Hailing from the streets of the 17th Ward of New Orleans, he was first recruited by Cash Money owners Bryan "Baby" Williams and Ronald "Slim" Williams.

Cash Money definitely influenced Lil Wayne's style, rearing him with other artists such as Pimp Daddy and UNLV. Right from the start, Lil Wayne shined as a true emerging rap talent, catapulting his solo career. His freestyling abilities was a breathe of fresh air compared to the rappers of the past.

In the beginning of his career, Wayne did not rap about his childhood experiences, unlike many rappers of his time. Instead, he focused on clean rythyms and rhymes on behalf of his mother.

In the spring of 1997, Wayne helped formed the Hot Boys along with Juvenile, B.G. and Turk. As a member of this popular group and a successful solo artist in his own right, Lil Wayne easily became a platinum-selling superstar. With his distinctive high-pitched voice and hot beats, he had no problem finding legions of loyal fans.

Lil Wayne soon launched his solo career and immediately had two hit records under his belt, "The Block Is Hot" and "Lights Out". His first successful album, "Tha Carter II", which featured the hit, "The Fireman" was listed on The Billboard Hot 100 and Wayne gained nationwide recognition for his work. Yet recently, the album, "Like Father Like Son" has outsold all previous sales records and has the clubs jamming from coast to coast. The joint partnership song between Wayne and his mentor Birdman titled "Stuntin Like My Daddy" has turned this album into hip hop gold.

Personal Interests

Wayne's tattoos have been a hot topic among his growing fan base. The main discussion has been the tattoos on his face and eyelids. There has been confusion on the meaning of the two teardrops below his eyes which can represent several things. It has been argued that the teardrops define a murder or the lost of a close friend to violence. Since he has them under both eyes, it probably relates to both situations.

In addition, it has been rumored that Lil Wayne and female rapper Trina were in a serious relationship. She has even stated that Wayne is "one of the sweetest guys that she has ever met!" However, at the present time, they both have conceded that they are good friends that understand each other goals.

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Gospel Music Artist Says Gospel Music Will Never Be the Same...


Am I the only one out there who thinks that a lot of gospel music, especially on contemporary christian radio-all sound the same? Is anyone out there concerned? Does anyone miss the heartfelt worship of Keith Green?

I'm sorry, but sometimes when I watch Christian TV, I can't even listen to some of the singers because I just feel in my spirit that they are up there to perform, but not to bring everyone into the presence of our Lord! Am I the only one out there who feels this way?

The other day I saw the group "Point of Grace" on the show "Life Today" with Betty and James Robison, and my heart was so uplifted! They simply sing to the Glory of God! Those groups are so limited these days!

Is anyone else out there very picky about the music they listen too, and are you ready for a fresh new artist with a new sound who will really uplift your spirit and encourage your walk with the Lord?

Does anyone out there love the Lord? Are you excited about 2007? I believe it is not by accident that you are reading this article.I believe that we need music that is going to touch the heartstrings of the body of Christ this year and simply bring many to know Him as Savior and Lord.

We need singers who are willing to go to all churches large or small, that name the name of Jesus as Lord, and that won't charge a fee to come, but will just come to usher in the Lord's presence and to be the special music or mini-concert before pastors preach to their congregations.

Where are the singers who have been fasting, have inate calls of God on their lives to sing, and have created songs while just playing their piano or guitar in their private times of worship? Where are the singers whose parents told them at any early age: "This is what God has called you to do."

Why is everything so commercialized now? Why is it that when you go to a Christian concerts jokes are being made about "praying to buddha" and then you hear about known Christian artists whom you have been respecting for years, that confess they were addicted to alcohol the whole time. Where are the true singers who have conviction?

I was so saddened recently when I attended a Christian Concert at Knott's Berry Farm where the band did nothing but look at the girls, dance, and talk about "Bono" from U2 like he was God, and then proceed to do all of this in the name of our Lord. Only one guy even talked about Jesus and that was Mr. Jeremy Camp. He even prayed before he sang. Wow, what a novel concept, do we need to seek the Lord, even though we are talented? Fantastic example Jeremy! You made the night for my wife and I. We were almost ready to walk out before you came up!

Lastly, it's time to stay close to our Lord in 2007. He loves you beyond what you can ever imagine or think. If you don't have a personal walk with Jesus, simply pray this prayer: "Dear Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sins, come into my heart, heal my past, I believe you came and died for my sins, I accept you today as my savior and Lord. In Jesus Name. Amen."

It's time for new music that sounds fresh and different in the body of Christ. Thank you for taking the time to listen to my thoughts about gospel music and how I'm praying for new talent and fresh songs that hit the heart of the body of Christ. The body of Christ is desperate for new musicians who will sing us back into our Lord's throne room. When we find those Christian Singers who touch our hearts, gospel music will never be the same.

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Will Dead Sara Wake Up LA Music?

I was so impressed by Dead Sara's last performance at the Whisky a Go Go, that I thought I would catch them again. (Could I be right? Is Dead Sara LA's next gem?)

So I went to the Knitting Factory, Saturday, February 3, 2007, but I didn't get there until 10:00pm. A number of people told me they liked the band that just played, The Vespertines, but I can't attest to much else myself. Catch them on MySpace if you are interested.

First band up after I arrived, THE AMNESTY ( You can hear them on MySpace under Connor Ragan if you are interested.) They seem to have a good number of fans in the audience. (They were sold out.) At first they didn't seem bad. Good music, but the lead singer does need a few vocal lessons, though he did have a good stage presence, and communicated to his audience well. But, after about 3 songs I started getting a little bored and antsy. Songs weren't distinct, vocals weren't good. These guys may have potential but they need a little more practice. Their MySpace music is much better than this live performance was, though even on MySpace it is evident the lead singer needs to get some vocal training.

Their performance: Decent, but a little boring after awhile; Musicianship: Decent; Vocals: a little off key, (sound better on MySpace); Creativity: OK, but after a while individual songs made no distinct impression on me. Audience rapport: good. They seemed to have a lot of fans, and the audience was paying attention as they played. Final analysis. Improving the vocals would really help this band. However, in all fairness, the lead singer was complaining to the soundman throughout his set that he couldn't hear himself. (But in complete fairness, Dead Sara complained about that too, but their vocals still rocked.)

Second up: DEAD SARA ( You can hear them on MySpace if you are interested.) What can I say. Dead Sara Rocked again! The crowded room even got more crowded when Dead Sara took the stage. (Another sold out performance, but it seemed like extra people were sneaking in the room, because it was really crowded.) And the already excited audience even got more excited as Dead Sara began. They did a set similar to the Whisky set they did. They opened up with their two song two member (reminiscent of the White Stripes) set, and finished with four more songs (Including "Innuendo" and "Momma Told Me" from MySpace) with a guest bassist and drummer (Their MySpace page still says bassist and drummer needed).

Performance: Great again! These girls (Emily and Siouxsie) rock, are alive, love music, and seem to have that extra quality that most of the other shows I see lack--these girls are going to be stars--It just shows. Musicianship: Great. Siouxsie rocked again on both guitar and drums. Vocals: Excellent! Again best vocals of the night. Great voice and Emily can both scream and sing! ( Not the same style but vocally reminiscent of Janis Joplin's ability to both scream and sing.) Creativity: Tops! Good mixture of songs and styles. Nothing boring. Audience rapport. Great! They were totally in sync with the crowd and afterwards you hear nothing but good comments coming out of everyone's mouths. Final Analysis: Like I said last time, keep your eyes on these girls. They are going places.

Third up: ENDLESS HALLWAY. ( They too can be found on MySpace). Good rocking music. But the vocals were a little weak (better on MySpace) and stage personality was even weaker. Didn't really communicate to the audience at all. But very good musicianship. Had a good size following there and like Dead Sara and The Amnesty they were sold out and had the audience with them throughout their set.

Performance: Overall, good. Musicianship: Very good. A good tight band. Rockin' music. Vocals: A little weak, (Better on MySpace than live.) Creativity: Good, not a lot of variation of style, but none the less good. Didn't get boring. Audience rapport. None. Didn't seem to think it important to communicate to the audience, so they didn't. None the less they seemed to have lots of fans there, and the fans liked them. Final Analysis. Worth seeing. Especially if you like good rockin' music.

As for me, I was mainly there to see Dead Sara. After seeing them at the Whisky I kind of consider them a rare find--a diamond in the rough. And apparently I am not the only one. As I type here at my keyboard this Sunday morning, I am already hearing rumors that Dead Sara was approached by record execs last night who were "wowed" and want to sign them.

Hey Guys --I found them first!

So I guess I am going to have to track these girls down and do an interview before they get too big and famous to remember me.

Sounds like a plan.

(c)2007 Ron Powers

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Piano Lesson: II-V-I Progressions In C Major

Let me give you some easy progressions that will help you in your improvisational piano playing!

What is a progression?

A progression is a set of chords played consecutively. Generally, successive chords in a chord progression share some notes, which provides harmonic and linear continuity to a passage.

What is a II-V-I progression?

Is is a chord progression with three chords built on the roots of the second, fifth and first note of a key.

The three roman numerals correspond to the digits 2, 5 and 1. In it's most basic form the numbers indicate the root of a triad. For example, the roman number I in C-major means a triad built from the note C. This triad consists of the notes C, E and G.

The Roman numeral II in the key of C-major tells you to play a triad built from the notes in the C-major scale beginning with the second note. The notes will be D, F and A.

The Roman numeral V indicates a triad built from the fifth step on the C-scale. The fifth note in the C-scale is G so the triad will include the notes G, B and D.

Piano tab notation

In order to demonstrate the chords I will use a notation suitable for articles sites. First we will look at the middle C. The note C on the middle of the piano keyboard, sometimes near the key hole of some pianos is called C4.

The number 4 indicates that it is the C on the fourth octave of the piano. Of course, there are piano keyboards with less keys and less octaves. In this case you have to think of C4 as middle C and nothing else.

Our first piano chord progression

We will start out by playing a progression with the triad chords built on the second, fifth and the first note of the C scale.

LH: D3 RH: D4 F4 A4 (Dm)

LH: G3 RH: G4 B4 D5 (G major)

LH: C3 RH: C4 E4 G4 (C major)

As you might guess LH means left hand and in the Dm chord D3 indicates that you play the note D3 on your piano or keyboard with your left hand at the same time as you play the right hand notes.

This II-V-I progression in C major is a little bit clumsy. You have to move your fingers a little to much in order to play the chords. We will adjust the G major chord a bit and play the progression in the following manner:

LH: D3 RH: D4 F4 A4 (Dm)

LH: G3 RH: B3 D4 G4 (G major)

LH: C3 RH: C4 E4 G4 (C major)

To make smooth transitions between the piano chords in the II-V-I progression you can change the chords even more. Let's change the Dm chord to Dm11 and G major to G7.

LH: D3 RH: C4 F4 G4 (Dm11)

LH: G3 RH: B3 F4 G4 (G7)

LH: C3 RH: C4 E4 G4 (C major)

We might as well change the C major chord to Cmaj7 in order to make the changes smoother.

LH: D3 RH: C4 F4 G4 (Dm11)

LH: G3 RH: B3 F4 G4 (G7)

LH: C3 RH: B3 E4 G4 (Cmaj7)

Finally we will introduce a substitute chord for G. Acually a so called tritone substitution.

This means that instead of a G chord we will use a chord with the root a tritone interval from G, that is three whole steps. Instead of G we will play Db+11.

LH: D3 RH: C4 F4 G4 (Dm11)

LH: Db3 RH: B3 F4 G4 (Db+11)

LH: C3 RH: B3 E4 G4 (Cmaj7)

This will make the chord changes even smoother, especially the bass notes, and maybe more interesting. You can use this formula, which in the key of C means to play Dm, G7 and C, to find many interesting variations on this theme.

It will be a great help for you in piano improvisation to have a working knowledge of the II-V-I progression with variations in different keys because this progression is used in a wide variety of music genres.

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Crossing the Musical Generation Gap

Twice now, in the past year, I have packed my Martin acoustic guitar, headed over to two different friends houses where, in each house, there was a 14 year old guitar player. In one case it was a 14 year old girl, the other a 14 year old boy. The girl was still wearing braces, the boy was about 6 feet, a thick head of long hair, curly at the ends and very sultry looking. One house housed, in addition to the teenager, a Fender Stratocaster, in the other house, in addition to the teenager, was an Ibanez electric guitar.

I discovered early on in the attempt to jam with a person more than 40 years my junior, that the Generation Gap was a very large gap. There I was playing nice open chords in the key of G or D and there were my jamming partners playing grungy power chords on out of tune guitars and playing them loudly! I would listen for a while and when they ran out of momentum (only for the moment!) I would suggest they play something a bit more melodic and then I would try to follow along and provide some type of rhythmic accompaniment. This would draw a type of blank stare, one that had an edge of teenage angst associated with it. But, because in each case there was a parent present, they would attempt to cooperate and eventually, within a few minutes, the momentum would once again die down and there was an awkward silence.

Eventually I would put my own guitar down realizing that this was not going to work out. And, little by little the respective teens would start playing stuff they had practiced really well and felt comfortable with and I would offer my compliments on fine guitar playing.

In each of the two cases a few minutes of commonality would pop out. In one case I asked the young lady with her Strat, to play a few simple chores, Am, F, D and G. I showed her the sequence, I started it out on my guitar, she picked up the rhythm, and when she seemed to fall into the groove I took off playing the lead to Apache, one of my favorite guitar instrumentals from the early 1960s. Funnily, after about 90 seconds of sounding really good together, she could not maintain her interest or concentration and lapsed into a power chord sequence from a Green Day tune.

With the young man and his Ibanez electric, the moment came when, after watching him wince in pain at this attempt to play together, I asked if I could show him some of my original songs on my Martin. He and his friend readily agreed and I took a few minutes to retune the guitar to dadgad tuning. He said he had heard of it but was not quite sure what it was. So, I proceeded to play the two instrumental tunes I had written and in the end, there was a few minutes of genuine musical appreciation. We had crossed the gap and appreciated each other for the music. And even later that evening, this fine young man made several references to dadgad tuning and I'm sure it's something he will fool around with on his own.

If the opportunity presents itself to make music, and to make music with someone across the chasm of musical tastes, I highly recommend working at bridging this gap. Musical appreciation can definitely bring the generations together.

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3 Keys to Maximizing Your Drum Skills

There are many ways to increase the quality of your drumming and they can all be summarized into these 3 vital keys...

1. Develop Confidence

Many wanna-be musicians will choose the drums because they are shy and want to remain in the background (that's where I was when I started drumming back in 1976).

The truth is your body may be in the background, but your musical presence will definitely be noticed!

If you are going to be the drummer in a band, then you will be the anchor of the band. The other musicians will be relying on you to provide strong beats that will keep everything together. Everything you do behind your drum set will not only be heard, but felt, simply because you will be the all-important time keeper.

This notion of wanting to be a drummer so you can hide behind a drum set is ridiculous. You're gonna hide from no one! That's why it is imperative to develop confidence in your drumming, and the first way to do that is to forget about the notion that you are hidden. Your mind set should be to establish your place in the band. Know who you are and why you're there. The rest will then fall into place.

Please don't mistake confidence for arrogance. Confidence is what makes a good drummer a great drummer. Arrogance is what makes a good drummer a lonely drummer! I don't know about you, but I certainly don't want to play music with some cocky jerk who thinks he or she is better than everyone else.

2. Love Your Instrument

If any musician really wants to master their instrument they must absolutely love it. What do I mean "love it?" The best way to understand this is to relate loving your drums to loving a person.

Many people think "love" is a feeling, but it's not a feeling. For example; I love my wife, but I don't always like her (I suppose she can probably say the same thing about me).

Love is an action word. It means to adore, care for, learn about, edify, be loyal to, be devoted to, be committed to, support, protect, and promote. When you do these things the feeling of love automatically comes.

So, how can you tell if you really love your drums? You can tell if you love your drums by the priority you put on them. They must have some priority in your life, otherwise your drums are just a little hobby that you will only be mediocre at.

3. Remain Humble

To become successful in anything, you must absolutely be confident in what you're doing, and knowledge can make you confident. But, be careful, knowledge can also make you think more highly of yourself than you should.

If you really want to increase your level of drumming it is critical to always see yourself as a student and remain open minded.

The mind is like a parachute, it only functions when it is open. That's why it is so important to remain humble. Arrogant drummers never grow beyond their current level of drumming because they don't think there is any more they can learn. How foolish! There is always more to learn... and any advanced drummer can learn from an intermediate, or even a beginner!

It's critical to want to learn if you are going to increase your level of drumming, and remaining humble is the only avenue through which you can do this.

If you continue to learn you will then be able to teach. When you begin teaching, you will be amazed at the additional things you will learn (if you are currently teaching you will understand).

Conclusion

When you develop confidence in your purpose as a drummer, learn to love your drums by giving them some priority in your life, altogether with remaining humble, your level of drumming will increase considerably.

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Guitar Lesson: Five Ways To Learn The Notes On The Guitar

To find your way around the fretboard of the guitar is very important. It will help you in guitar improvisation, sight reading, and in understanding chords and more. In this guitar lesson we will explore five ways to learn the notes on the guitar fretboard.

How much do you need to practice?

A couple of minutes a day with one of these exercises will help you improve your skills in finding the notes. In this guitar lesson we will focus on the fretboard and not the actual guitar sheet music.

Learning to read guitar sheet music will be much easier when you master the notes on the guitar keyboard. I have divided this article in five lessons that you can alternate between until you master the guitar fretboard.

Guitar lesson 1

Learn the basic notes, the notes of a C major scale (the white keys on the piano) on every string. Let's test this on the first string on your guitar. The first note is an E. You will find F on the first fret. G on fret three. A on fret five. B on fret seven. C on fret eight, D on fret ten and the next E on fret twelve.

The sixth string on the guitar is an E too. It's just two octaves lower but you will find the same note names on this string on the same frets two octaves lower.

On the second string you will find the notes on the following frets:

fret 0-B, 1-C, 3-D, 5-E, 6-F, 8-G, 10-A, 12-B

On the third guitar string you'll find the following notes:

0-G, 2-A, 4-B, 5-C, 7-D, 9-E,10-F, 12-G

I guess you can figure out the names of the notes on the next strings by yourself but here they are in case you will double check. The fourth string:

0-D, 2-E, 3-F, 5-G, 7-A, 9-B, 10-C, 12-D

The notes on the fifth string or the A-string:

0-A, 2-B, 3-C, 5-D, 7-E, 8-F, 10-G, 12-A

I would suggest that you concentrate on one string at a time and learn the names as you play the notes on your guitar maybe by saying the note names aloud as you play.

Guitar lesson 2

Learn a specific note on all strings. This is a great way to learn the notes and quite amusing too. Let's use the note G. You'll find it on the third fret on string six. Where can you find the note G on string five? Right, on fret 10.

The G notes on the strings from the sixth string to the first are on the following frets:

3 10 5 0 8 3

You can make an exercise of this by playing the G notes from string six down to the first string and back again. Try this with other notes too. For example E.

If you devote a couple of minutes a day on this exercise you will soon be able to play the sequence of strings fast, spotting the notes without effort.

Guitar lesson 3

Learn the names of the notes on a fret. We can start with the open strings starting from the sixth string to the first. The names will be:

E A D G B E

Now, play the notes on the third fret in the same order. At the same time try to say the names of the notes aloud. I will help you this time only by writing the note names down:

G C F Bb D G

Try this exercise on different frets and say the names of the notes aloud.

Guitar lesson 4

Learn the notes in a chord. Play any chord and name the notes aloud from string six to string one. This guitar exercise will also help you to understand how the chords are built.

Guitar lesson 5

In this guitar lesson you will use your ability to create random notes on the guitar. As you play notes on your guitar at random you also say the note names aloud.

Play in an even pace, just fast enough to make this exercise a challenge for your mind so your mind will concentrate on the task and not wander off.

All of these small guitar lessons can be used together with a companion. One playing the notes on the guitar and the other saying the note names.

As I mentioned before I think it's best not to overdo these exercises. Choose one of the guitar lessons and work a couple of minutes a day on mastering the exercise.

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Runs & Fills: How To Add Real Excitement To Your Piano Playing!

We've all heard pianists who make us drool with musical jealousy when they play, using a tool box full of lighting-fast runs and clever fills that have us clamoring for more.

I well recall hearing Errol Garner play "I'll Remember April" when I was about 14. I had no idea a piano could be played like that, and I was absolutely fascinated by all the interesting and exciting runs and fills he added to his improvisation of those standards.

If you're anything like me, you would love to learn how to "fill up the empty spaces" with scale fragments, chords, broken chords, and so on. Techniques such as 8th note runs , 16th note runs, 32nd note runs, triplet fills, and many combinations thereof -- some so fast you can't even see which notes are being played. Techniques such as "cascading waterfall runs", the fabulous "pro straddles", the exciting "tremolo-fired runs" and lots more. Learning how to "fill it up" with runs and fills would certainly take your piano playing to the next level.

After listening to countless pianists in all genres, I compiled a list of six types of runs and fills that they often use:

1. "Cocktail" runs --The lightning fast runs used by the great "show" pianists. One hand runs, two hand runs, open-octave runs, tremolo-blasted runs, cascading waterfall runs and more. Made famous by such names as Eddy Duchin, Carman Caballero, Liberace, etc., but also used tastefully by many others, such as Roger Williams and many "pop" piano players.

2. Embellishments -- Mordents, inverted mordents, trills, turns, tremolos, grace notes, glissandos, etc. These are the "finesse" techniques that give your piano playing class and grace. Virtually NO amateur piano players use these, so the pianist that learns these is putting herself or himself in a class usually reserved for professional pianists.

3. Piano tricks -- How to make your piano sound oriental, or make it sound like a drum or a music box? A bell? Latin? Country?

4. Evangelistic runs -- These are the octave runs and fillers used by the great gospel pianists of past and present such as Rudy Atwood and other evangelistic piano players.

5. Jazz & blues runs -- Using the "blues scale" up and down the keyboard, blue note-crunches, slides, etc. These runs are very useful not only in jazz and R & B, but also in "black gospel" (I hate to use that term because it sounds racist, but people use it to describe a certain type of gospel music, so I reluctantly use the term...but only in that sense of the word), fusion, and many rock-pop songs. 6. Fillers galore -- Filling up an empty measure with a counter-melody; creating an intro; creating an ending; developing "turnarounds", plus chromatic fillers, fillers based on the Dorian and Lydian scales and other "church mode" scales used by contemporary jazz and fusion artists.

It is exciting for any pianist to picture himself or herself playing those LIGHTNING FAST runs up the keyboard and back down in time for the next chord, or playing CASCADING RUNS down the keyboard for a WATERFALL of wonderful sounds, to say nothing of using mordents, inverted mordents, trills, turns, tremolos, grace notes, glissandos, fillers galore, cocktail-piano runs, plus gospel-style runs as well as "blues runs" based on the blues scale!

Is it worth the effort to learn some or all of these techniques? It certainly has been for me, but every pianist will have to make that judgment for himself or herself.

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Music Chords: How To Become a "Chord Detective" And See Through The Notes Right Into The Music!

Over the years I have been a piano teacher I have had many people call or write me and ask me something like this:

"I play by ear, or by chords, but lots of music doesn't have chord symbols written in -- how do I know what chord to play when?"

"Our hymn book doesn't tell which chords to use -- how can I know what to play?"

"I read music but don't have a clue what chords are being used. How can I know what they are?"

What do you do if you want to play a song using chords instead of the written sheet music notes, but the song doesn't have any chord symbols printed -- symbols such as Cm7, G13, B+, D dim7, etc.?

There's a logic behind every note written in music, & you can learn to understand that logic, and therefore understand music. If you can read music to some degree but don't "see through" the written music -- don't understand what you are seeing -- it is now very possible that you can put on your "chord glasses" that good "chord detectives" wear to see through all that mass of black printed notes on a white page of sheet music to quickly understand what chords are being used and the "family logic" behind it all.

The "family logic" is this: In every key there are certain chords which are organic to that key --"family members", so to speak. For example, in the key of F the 3 most used chords are F, Bb and C. In the key of G the most used chords are G, C, and D. In the key of Eb the most used chords are Eb, Ab, and Bb. Do you see a pattern here?

Chords are based on scales, and the chords which are used the most in any key are built on the 1st degree of the scale, the 4th degree of the scale, and the 5th degree of the scale. They are identified by using the Roman numerals I, IV, and V.

So the most used chords in any key are the I chord, the IV chord, and the V chord. They are the primary chords, and they are all major. They occur way more than other chords. The next most used chords are the ii chord, the iv chord, and the iii chord -- all minor chords.

Just knowing these simple facts gives a musician a giant advantage when learning or playing a song. If he or she knows the most likely chords that are going to occur in a song, based on the key of the song, then they can scrape together other evidence quickly to build an air-tight case that they know the chords of that song.

For example, let's take two musicians about to play from a piece of sheet music. Both read music, but only one knows chords and music theory. The first musician looks at the notes and sees a Bb in the bass clef as the first note, a Eb in the bass clef in the second measure, a Bb in the 3rd measure, an F in the fourth measure, and so on. He can play what he sees, but nothing else, because he doesn't grasp the fact that the first few measure have given away the fact that the primary chords have been outlined.

The second musician looks at the same music, but with "X-ray eyes". He sees through the same notes into the chord structure behind the scenes.

The first musician is tied to the written music and limited to the notes printed on the sheet music, while the second musician has the best of both worlds: he can read the music and play it as it is written, but he can also add chords and fills and come out with a much bigger, more interesting arrangement than the first musician.

The benefits of becoming a chord detective are many:

It allows a musician to immediately identify what key a song is in... It allows a musician to know POSITIVELY which chords are most likely to occur in each song... It allows a musician to look at the first measure and the last measure and immediately know the harmonic form of any song...

Plus:

It works in any key -- major or minor... It works with any kind of hymn or gospel song... It works by releasing a musician from being "tied to the written music"... It works by allowing a musician to add chords of his or her own...

The bottom line is this: knowing chords and music theory allows a "chord detective" to develop "see through eyes" that immediately perceive the structure of a song and then allow that musician to use both the written score and any fillers or improvisations he or she desires to add to a song.

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New Red Hot Chili Peppers CD Sizzles

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are a band that has transcended the scope of pop culture , adapting to new trends while still maintaining their original funk-based style. Playing music for nearly two decades, the Chili Peppers show an unrepentant strength on their new album.

Dubbed "Stadium Arcadium", the new Red Hot Chili Peppers release is a double-disc powerhouse that fully showcases the range of this classic band. Totaling 28 tracks, there is something for every Peppers fan, from those who rocked to One Hot Minute in the early 90s to the new fan-base they have gained through such recent releases as By The Way. You can get a sense of the hormone-fueled music that was a Chili Peppers trademark in their formative years in such tracks as Warlocks and Storm In A Teacup. The bass lines laid out by Flea help to form cohesion to the CD, with John Frusciante fully tuned in and never disappointing with the guitar work. Anthony Kiedis' vocals remain on-point and can evoke powerful emotions, even though the stereotypical Chili Peppers non-sensical lyrics are as prevalent as ever. More recent Chili Peppers fans will be happy to know that the CD has plenty of the mellow, laid back Californication-esque tracks. Dani California, Tell Me Baby, and Wet Sand are some of the songs on this album that we will be hearing for years to come.

Are there any problems with the CD? Sure. There isn't too much of a coherent flow amongst the discs, and you may find yourself skipping around between tracks to satisfy what mood you are in. While tracks like Snow are upbeat and energetic, the album drags you through melancholy in some of the slower songs such as Strip My Mind. You can tell that the band is dabbling outside of their comfort zone at several points in the CD, with songs such as Snow having an almost foreign feel, while still unmistakably being a Chili Peppers tune.

All in all, I would highly recommend purchasing the new album. It has something for everyone, and with 28 tracks you'll be hard pressed to not find at least 3 or 4 songs that will stay with you. Aside from some slight problems with the flow of the CD and the fact that a few tracks that could've been best saved for a B-side, Stadium Arcadium is a record that will not be soon forgotten.

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Unlimited Music Downloads - Be Well Informed

Unlimited music downloads have been made available at online major music stores. You can now download music legally at giants like iTunes and EMusic. Such online stores offer millions of music and song tracks. In most cases, it costs anything between 99 cents to a dollar or more to download each piece of music. Many other competing sites have surfaced offering even better deals, such as lifetime memberships which gives one the entitlement to unlimited music downloads. Let us go on a walk through on these online music stores and try to comprehend why these sites could become the future of online music.

Unlimited music downloads sites carry millions of sound tracks and music MP3s for download onto your PC or MP3 player. It is reported that more than 1 million users worldwide are downloading online music at these sites at any point of time. This speaks volume of how well received these services are. The following are some things you should be looking out for when downloading music.

1. Affordable Pricing

These sites operate on a lifetime membership model. This is more affordable than most music stores and even teens can afford them. Never pay more than 60 dollars for such a service as this is the industry standard.

2. Unlimited Music Downloads and Other Media Files

Since these sites run on P2P file sharing networks, make sure that you get the best out of the deal with a site that offers practically all the music and song files that are ever produced. The site must not only give you unlimited music downloads but preferably music videos, movies, audio books, etc. This would of course depend on how good the P2P search client is. Good P2P download sites provide the best software to perform deep searches into Bitorrent, Gnutella, Limewire, Shareza, Bearshare and other major networks.

3. Downloading Experience

This can be measured in terms of the downloading speed, user software features, safe download environment, instruction manuals and customer support. There are sites which are always overloaded and slow download speeds can be expected. Some software interfaces provided are clumsy and difficult to navigate. Others do not even put in effort to give customers easy to read manuals. Still there are some where customer support is practically non-existent. Avoid these at all costs. Fortunately, this is just a handful of black sheep as there are other sites that outperform in every aspect mentioned.

As you can see, though being able to download unlimited music is tempting, diving straight into any download site would not be wise. Take an afternoon off, spend some time doing some read up on these sites, or even contact them if you have any query.

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To Compose Music, First Learn To Improvise

One of the greatest motivators of learning to play an instrument for most people is the thought of being able to compose their own music, to take their talent to a new level, and use their music to express their inner feelings. The first step to take to learn how to compose your own music is to learn the art of improvising. The good news is that it isn't as hard as you think.

The sad thing about learning improvisation, is that many people put a lot of emphasis on the fact that they must first learn to master chords, notes, read music, and be able to play other peoples music well, before they can get onto the more important task of creating their own masterpieces. The result of these thoughts usually ends with the person becoming so caught up in getting everything right that they feel afraid to improvise, and compose simply because they fear getting it wrong, or creating something that sounds terrible.

Why Improvisation Is Important

Improvisation is vital to a musician, because it is a lesson taught in creativity, and it develops an ear for hearing music on a whole new level, and copying it. For those who want to learn to compose, creativity is the most important aspect of being a composer, it is even more important than knowing keys, notes, chords, or even reading music itself.

Improvisation at its greatest can be found in jazz music. If you want to learn about improvisation, be sure to listen to some of the classic jazz. Jazz is the type of music that was mostly improvised, and added to. It was rarely played to a set out strict music sheet, but evolved as it was being played, and only got better each time the musician played it.

How To Improvise

Improvisation is nothing more than experimentation, and creativity. We all have those two things. Don't be fooled into thinking that, in order to improvise, you must first know all of the chords, or notes used to play your instrument. Improvisation can be started off as early as when you have learned your first couple of notes, or chords.

The best way to use improvisation is to experiment with the chords or notes as you are learning them. If you are taking lessons, use some your practice time to try out different chord, or note combinations. Try anything you like, experiment. Improvisation is all about learning the art of non-conformity to the average style of music, and how to learn to use your creative talents to make an expression of yourself.

How To Deal With The Internal Critic

Everyone's a critic, but we are our own worst critic. Most people are afraid to try new and different things simply because they are afraid to fail. The first time that you improvise, you will probably sound terrible, and maybe even the second time, too. This isn't failing, this is learning. As you get better at playing your instrument, you will also get better at improvising. If you start off learning how to improvise early, you will only get better at it as you learn more chords, or notes. By starting to improvise early on, you will never be concerned about when the right time to start improvising is, simply because right now is the best time to start.

Don't be afraid of what other people will think, either. If you are afraid of someone criticizing your first attempts at improvising, just play your instrument when nobody is around, until you are more confident, and ready to share your music with others.

Taking Improvisation Into A Musical Composition

Once you have mastered improvisation, it is only a small step to take it to the next level, which is creating music of your own. Once again, composing music is a lot like improvisation, and to master it you need to be creative, and understand that it may not sound perfect at first. But with a little creativity and some tweaking, you have the potential to make the music in your head come to life through your instrument.

Conclusion

Composing is nothing more than letting yourself be creative, and letting that creativity to make your music unique. You don't have to be able to play as well as Mozart to start to improvise, and from there begin to compose music. Mozart started out just like you, improvising, learning, and then composing. So let your creative talents flow, and remember that you don't have to get it right every time. But you do have to want to succeed.

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How to Not Be Just a Drummer

How can you expand your opportunities to be the best drummer you can be? Most drummers will say by practicing... and by practicing a lot.

While it is true that practice is essential, the key to expanding your capabilities is by developing your versatility. It's all about using the skills that you already possess and channeling them towards related fields.

Since your most basic skill is playing the drums you will find that there are other instruments that you can easily adapt your skill to because you already possess musical ability. For example, instead of limiting yourself to just the drums, why not expand your talents to include the guitar, bass, or keyboard?

Why would you want to do this? Because you can increase your musical scope and be able to come to a greater understanding of music for one reason. Another reason is to develop greater communication among your band mates.

You may think you may not have the time to become an excellent guitarist, or anything else, but that's not true. It's not true because you don't have to become excellent at anything else. You just need to develop a little understanding, that's all.

In my earlier days of drumming I was very frustrated with my band mates. I was full of ideas concerning the structure of our music, but I just couldn't get them across. I didn't "know" their instrument, or the language they used for their particular instrument in order to get my ideas understood.

If I had taken the time back then to get a little understanding of the instruments they were playing I could have eliminated quite a bit of my frustrations. I may have been able to deliver my ideas and had them implemented without any problem, therefore, improving our songs.

In my opinion it is very important to get a little acquainted with other instruments in order to be the best drummer you can be. Others may disagree! But, that's okay, it's just my opinion.

There is an old joke that goes like this...

Question: "What do you call someone who travels around with musicians?"

Answer: "A drummer!"

Ha! Ha! Ha! Very funny! I hate that joke, but unfortunately, for the most part, it's true.

But, this doesn't have to be you. It's your choice, are you going to be "just a drummer" or a quality musician?

An argument could be made that a drummer should solely focus on just being that... a drummer. I agree completely! I believe part of focusing on being a great drummer is expanding his or her knowledge of music, not just their "playing" of the drums.

I could go on and on about how you, as a drummer, can become more versatile. You must simply start with your most basic skill, which is playing the drums, and then expand on it by getting a little acquainted with some other musical instruments. This is an excellent way of ensuring that you develop your musicianship to it's fullest potential.

The world is a very competitive place and we must continue to be competitive. We don't want to put all our eggs in one basket so take a little time to get to know some other instruments.

If we take our drumming skills and add some variety to it like learning a little guitar, bass, or keyboard we will be surprised at how much more rounded we will become and not be classified as "just a drummer."

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Music Contracts the Easy Way

Were you aware that you don't have to be a lawyer to write or create your own music business contracts? As a musician, it is understandable that you may not fully understand the business side of the music industry and that is all right. Even if you are starting your own record label, this is not at all uncommon. Luckily, there are solutions for those people who cannot afford hundreds, even thousands of dollars, just to have lawyers write all of their recording contracts. This is in addition to solutions for people who have no idea how to write music contracts.

Whether you own a record label or are working on getting signed to one, you have come to the right place. Legal fees are entirely too expensive, especially if you are just starting out. I mean, you can always write your lawyer an I.O.U. or have your lawyer recover their fees when you start generating profits. But who wants to do this? It is like giving away your money! And giving it away just to have some music contracts written for hundreds of dollars, when you could go about this using a much cheaper method. It doesn't make sense.

Using the services of a lawyer when handling music business contracts could amount to thousands of dollars. Do you have the money to deal with that? Most people starting out in the music business do not. You now have the option of purchasing hundreds of pre-written music contracts and recording contracts online. This is a fantastic route to take because it will save you a ton of money in the long run.

The types of music contracts that you may need are for your Record Company, Management Team, Recording Artist, Agents, Producers, Songwriters and Publishers, just to name a few. Purchasing iron-clad, industry standard pre-written music contracts and recording contracts is the best way to go if you want to save money but protect your company or your career at the same time.

You are in complete control of your career or business in the music industry. Stay that way! Don't throw away thousands of dollars on lawyer's fees for something that you can take care of yourself. By purchasing a wide variety of standard music business contracts, you will be on your way to saving money on legal fees and handling your business the way you want it handled. Don't pass up the opportunity to save hard-earned money and put it to better use.

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Hard Rockers Kiss Still Rocking On

The American band Kiss was formed in New York around 1973. Now over the past 34 years Kiss have sold over 19 million records in the U.S. alone and a whopping 80 million records worldwide. They have even been awarded with 22 gold records since their formation, even though the group has a history of different band members.

Kiss is well known for their live performances, having gimmicks like fire breathing, smoking guitars, blood spitting, pyrotechnics, and other extraordinary on stage antics. Because of their entertaining performances and unique sound, it`s no surprise Kiss has quickly developed a fan base worldwide.

The original members of Kiss were Gene Simmons, a schoolteacher and bass player, and Paul Stanley, a singer and guitarist who were both members of a band called Wicked Lester.

When Simmons and Stanley decided to leave Wicked Lester, they brought with them their bad boy image and formed the band Kiss with a horror style of presentation. This image later became the reason for being dubbed as one of the greatest rock and roll bands in the world of popular music.

Kiss became a complete band after recruiting Paul Ace Frehley (vocals and lead guitar) and Peter Criss (vocals and drums) through a newspaper advertisement that Stanley and Simmons set out.

The band Kiss produced a series of successful albums throughout the 1970s. With their donning, elaborate face make ups and black leather outfits, the Kiss band instantly became a hit and even adopted each of their own personas and stage names Stanley The Star Child, Simmons The Demon, Criss The Cat and Frehley The Space Man.

In 1974, Kiss` self titled debut album and Hotter Than Hell came out, which were both filled with crushing, raw music that would later become classic Kiss songs like Hotter than Hell, Strutter and Cold Gin. However, the band`s commercial stardom began with their 1975 album Dressed to Kill, which gave Kiss their signature tune Rock and Roll All Nite.

Around 1976 and with their release of Destroyer, Kiss was dubbed as the greatest rock n` roll band in America due to its Top 10 hits and its growing Kiss Army. The group, then, released Love Gun and Rock and Roll Over, which both became Platinum.

Unfortunately, because of creative differences and substance abuse, Frehley and Criss were both out of the band by 1982. As a result, the band`s commercial fortune and fan base also decreased during this time.

Without the make up, Kiss made a major comeback in 1983 and enjoyed a successful resurgence all through the early 1990s. Kiss` original lineup reunited in 1996, with their world renowned make ups on and performed in 210 cities for the Kiss Alive Worldwide Tour, which attended by over two million Kiss fanatics worldwide.

After the tour, Criss was replaced by Eric Singer and Frehley by Tommy Thayer, after both deciding to leave Kiss for good. The band still performs with Simmons and Stanley the only constant band members.

To this day with their evolving music, elaborate live acts, outlandish costumes and millions of fans and worldwide, Kiss remains as one of the greatest rock and roll bands in the world.

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Metallicas Heavy Metal Influence Continues On

Metallica was formed on October 1981 in Los Angeles by drummer Lars Ulrich and James Hetfield, vocals and guitarist, after placing classified ads on The Recycler.

From the ad they recruited Ron McGovney as bassist, but were unable to find a fulltime lead guitarist, which resulted in a number of guitarists like Brad Parker, Jeff Warner and Lloyd Grant.

The band name Metallica came from an idea by a promoter of the San Francisco metal scene named Ron Quintana. When Quintana asked Lars Ulrich to examine a list of names for his new magazine promoting British and U.S. metal bands, Ulrich picked Metal Mania for Quintana`s magazine and used Metallica for his band.

In 1983, Metallica recorded its first album entitled Kill Em All at Rochester, New York. Although the album did not produce them instant success, it did gave them exposure and a growing number of fans in the underground scene.

After a year, Metallica released a major hit song Ride the Lightning, which features a more introspective, slower and newer style. Although this song became an instant success, some fans were discouraged and accused Metallica of selling out.

After the release of Ride the Lightning, major labels wanted Metallica. However, the band chose Elektra and released Master of Puppets in 1986. Although Metallica failed to release any single for the 1986 album, it was still regarded as the album that gave way to their success breakthrough.

When Metallica was invited to open for Ozzy Osbourne, their album climbed up to Billboard Top Album Chart #29. Until today, many people still consider Master of Puppets as the greatest heavy metal album of all time.

When Cliff Burton was killed by a freak accident in 1986 at a European show, Metallica discontinued playing for a while until they decided that Burton would have wanted them to continue their music. A few weeks after Burton`s funeral, with plenty of auditions to replace Burton, Metallica finally decided on picking Jason Newsted.

...And Justice for All was the first album where Newsted played bass. With much controversy, it was released in 1988. The following year, Metallica 1988 album was nominated for its first Grammy. Unfortunately, Jethro Tull`s Crest of a Knave won the award.

Three years later, the band won a Grammy for Enter Sandman from Metallica`s 1991 self-titled album, also known as The Black Album. It instantly became a hit and became the band`s most popular song to date.

When Metallica entered the mainstream in 1991, they were able to sell over ten million albums in U.S. alone. It was in 1996 that Metallica switched to alternative rock for their Load album. Unfortunately, many fans were discouraged of the sudden change in music style.

In 1992`s Reload, Metallica produced a major comeback as a metal group and their worldwide fans hailed their return. Their success continued throughout the end of 1990s. However, in 2001, Jason Newsted left the band for personal reasons while James Hetfield stayed in rehab for a couple of months.

In 2002, Lars Ulrich, the now sober James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett and their long-time producer Bob Rock who replaced Newsted continued in creating Metallica`s 11th album entitled St. Anger, which produced a more mature, honest and heavy sound that fans worldwide continue to love.

To this day Metallica is considered one of the true pioneers in heavy metal.

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Piano Improvisation: Do You Know How To Improvise?

Can you talk to people without first memorizing what to say? Probably you can. Can you create melodies and nice licks to chords on the spot. Many pianists find this harder. Let's try out a few ways to improve your improvisations!

Put something in to get something out

Piano improvisation is a form of composing. In other words you are creating music.

In order to improvise in an intelligent manner and not only play random notes you have to listen to improvised music and practise on your piano in a manner that will help you create music when you improvise.

There are many ways to practise improvisation but let's start with playing a few licks over the II-V-I progression in the key of C.

In this exercise you will improvise melodic patterns with your right hand and play chords with you left.

The note C4 is the middle C on the piano and D4 is the D to the right of this C. B3 is the B note to the left of C4.

We will start with the Dm chord in the left hand. Dm is the II chord in C. We will play it in its basic form:

Dm: D3 F3 A3

With the right hand it's time to play patterns that fit this chord. For example:

F4 A4 C5 E5 D5 C5 A4 F4

We will now play the V chord which will come next in the II-V-I progression. In C-major this will be G. It can be played as follows:

G: B2 D3 G3

An continuation of the melodic flow in Dm could be:

E4 F4 A4 C5

We will now end on the I chord which will be C in the key of C-major. In it's basic form it looks like this:

C: C3 E3 G3

We will end the melody by playing the note B4. This makes the whole ending to a Cmaj7 chords. Sounds nice, doesn't it!

We will continue this piano improvisation lesson by trying out a few more possibilities with the same piano chord progression for your right hand improvisations:

Piano progression 1

Dm: E5 C5 A4 F4

G: D#5 B4 G#4 F4

C: D5

Piano progression 2

Dm: F4 A4 C5 E5

G: F4 G#4 B4 E5

C: D5

Piano progression unlimited

Of course there are unlimited possibilities so now it is time to jump into the unknown by experimenting and inventing melodies with your right hand as you play the progressions in the left hand.

What do you learn by practicing piano progressions?

You learn patterns that you can use in different contexts as you improvise. You learn different chords that can be implemented in your piano playing.

Most importantly, you learn to improvise. Improvisation is a bit of memorized fragments and a lot of just jumping into the unknown and do something about it.

The end result is hopefully a bit of music to the benefit of the people in the world.

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