A Place For Answers To Questions About Music

Playing bass is plain and simple, just play the music from the heart, feel the piece and let the listeners enjoy the melody. Here are a few basic tips that could help beginners.

Make a decision about the bass sound to be played. Will it be like a real smooth bass player or just a machine going wild over the sound? It will depend on the rhythm you want to use.

It’s not against the rule to do some personal experiments. Move the track forwards or backwards to see which sounds better. A 2 or 3 millisecond in increments can be used in audio. When the bass is ahead, the drums can sound far behind but if the bass is left behind, the drums may sound “burning”.

Shorter notes sound better than the long ones if a bass part of the audio is “pitched”. Edit some notes taken from other parts of the song to fit them into a totally different phrase. The melody is still familiar but with a different cut because it was inserted on a different line.

Leave some space in the bass part of the song. Notice that famous bass players put emphasis on holes when they try to emphasize a feeling of pressure into the sound. It leaves the listener’s ear hanging in anticipation and then satisfying them just a few beats later.

Avoid making bass melodies that can cause difficulties when playing and playing will not be as enjoyable. Some parts of the bass can be very attention grabbing especially if the rhythm is extremely fast. The trick is keeping the frets static until the melody changes. Like playing drums, bass can be recurring as well, so manage to break lines and chords for some variety. It is not bad to go back to the first simple bass chords just to avoid having a “wreck” with the sound at the end.

The inspiration for playing to suit the bass chords depends on the way the song is played. Sounds with more bass melodies are best heard when the notes are kept higher. Never hesitate to edit notes so that they are comfortable to play. The best advice is to listen to the edited bass chords and be decisive on the good and/or the bad timing. Remember that too much of a good thing can turn out badly, the same with playing bass, when exaggerated, it could ruin the whole piece. A little highlighting on the initial beat of a song’s phrase can do the trick. Enjoy playing!

As the old adage goes, music is the language of the soul – it speaks what words cannot reveal. No wonder most people would love to hear or learn to play musical instruments such as the guitar.

Playing the guitar, in particular, is one of the best ways to express the sentiments or feelings of a person. It is also one way of expressing the artistic skill of an individual who loves music. That is why many people are enticed to learn how to play this instrument.

When somebody is playing the guitar, it is assumed that the person has taken some guitar lessons from an instructor or that he has learned to play the instrument all by himself. Whatever method of learning is employed, it is important to use the correct techniques in order to learn how to play the instrument properly.

One of the best ways of learning to play the guitar is to use some simple guitar songs that make it easier comprehend the guitar tablatures. If a person knows how to “sight read” a particular guitar song, it is easier for him to learn how to play the guitar. This is more appropriate in a higher level of expertise. Some experts assert that some guitarists have started by singing along with their favorite songs and trying to play it on the guitar as they go.

The importance of using easy guitar songs to learn how to play the instruments is broken down into different aspects. Here is the list:

1. It helps the beginner learn the proper pace and rhythm of the song.

Easy guitar songs initiate proper pacing and rhythm enabling the beginner to learn to play the guitar easier. Just by listening to the song, the beginner can easily make some use of the strings and try to associate it with the tempo and the pattern of the notes.

2. Creates an ear for music

Using easy guitar songs provides the chance to create an ear for music. Once the guitarist learns how to listen attentively, he will be able to distinguish the right note coming from the right tab from those that are wrong.

Indeed, using these easy guitar songs can really make a big difference in every beginner’s learning session. As the experts insist, it would be easier for a beginner to learn the instrument if he will use tools that are not hard to use.

There is not one person around who knows jazz music that did not hear the name Dizzy Gillespie. Dizzy Gillespie was a composer, singer, jazz trumpet player and bandleader. He along with Charlie Parker was the creator of modern jazz music and bebop. Dizzy also started Afro-Cuban jazz. He had the gift of making new harmonies that were layered and complex. At the time, it was not done in jazz before. He was most remembered for the trumpet he played that was bent. It was accidentally ruined when he was on a job in 1953. Surprisingly, Dizzy liked it  because of the way it changed the tone of the instrument.

Dizzy was born John Birks on October 21, 1917 in South Carolina. He was the youngest in the family of nine children. His father was a horrible man who beat his children all the time, and died when dizzy was 10 years old. He taught himself how to play trumpet when he was twelve years old. He won a scholarship to Laurinburg Institute but, dropped out of school and went to Philadelphia to pursue music full-time. He played with Frankie Fairfax and recorded for the very first time in 1937. He then was a part of Cab Calloway’s band, but was criticized for his solos, calling them “Chinese music”. He was thrown out because Cab said that he sent a spitball at him, and Dizzy, angrily stabbed him in the leg with a knife.

Dizzy was a part of Duke Ellington’s, Woody Herman and many other bands. It was with Billy Eckstine’s band where his unique playing fit better than anywhere else. He met again with Charlie Parker. Together they played famous clubs such as Monroe’s Uptown House, and Minton’s Playhouse. This is where jazz music progressed again and bebop was created. In the beginning a lot of people didn’t like bebop. They were used to the old jazz music, and thought the new sound of bebop was a threat and were afraid of it. Dizzy’s style had an effect on trumpeters and the younger musicians that he was able to mentor. Examples of bebop music are “Groovin’ High”, “Salt Peanuts” and “A Night In Tunisia”. Musicians that he taught bebop to were Miles Davis and Max Roach.

Eventually, the band departed, as the audience grew wary of the new jazz music. Dizzy wanted to go big, and tried to create his own big band in 1945 but was not successful with it. He started other small groups and finally put a big band together that was a success. He soloed many times with Jazz at the Philharmonic.

Dizzy proved himself overseas in France when he began his third big band, and did several concerts and albums.
During the 1940′s Dizzy was composing Afro-Cuban music. Afro-Cuban music is a combination of Latin and African music, pop and salsa. The work that is the most well known are “Tin Tin Deo” and “Manteca”. Dizzy was responsible for finding musician Arturo Sandoval while he was on a tour in Cuba researching music.

Dizzy continued to reach people with his music even on television and film. He was on Sesame Street and The Cosby Show. He died in 1993 from Pancreatic Cancer, he was 75 years old. He had two funerals, one was for friends and family and the other funeral was for the public in Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Dizzy Gillespie was a special innovator in jazz and is continually remembered at the New York Bahai Center.

The beginning  career of jazz music legend Art Blakey was amazing. He took piano lessons at school. When he was in the seventh grade he played music full-time and was leading a popular band. Not too long after, he started playing drums in the style of such players as Ray Bauduc, Chick Webb and Sid Catlett. He taught himself how to play.
He played with Mary Lou Williams at Kelly’s Stable in 1942. Next, with Fletcher Henderson for the next two years, and he toured with. Art then went to Boston to lead a big band, then joined Billy Eckstine’s band in St. Louis. Art stayed with that band from 1944-1947.

Art was considered to be among jazz music’s finest musicians such as Fats Navarro, Miles Davis and Dexter Gordon. In 1947 when Eckstine’s band broke up, Art started the Seventeen Messengers. He would go on to have several other groups with this same name. He then went to Africa to learn all about Islamic people for over a year. By the 1950′s he performed with Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Horace Silver.

After they performed together many times, he started another group with Horace which included Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley with the name Jazz Messengers. Horace left a year later.  He was the known leader of the band. The Jazz Messengers played hard-bop jazz music. The roots of which were blues music. Hard bop is a mixture of bebop with gospel and soul music. An example of this is his album Moanin’ recorded on Blue Note Records in 1958. They fought hard to keep black people interested in jazz, when the ballroom  jazz music disappeared. Many young musicians during the years have been influenced by this style. Jazz musicians such as Keith Jarrett, JoAnne Brackcen, Woody Shaw , Donald Byrd, Delfeayo, Branford  and Wynton Marsalis.

In 1971 to 1972, Art world toured with the biggest names in jazz music such as Kai Winding, Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. He also performed a lot at the Newport Jazz Festival. The best performance was when he was in a battling performance with Buddy Rich, Max Roach and Elvin Jones in 1974. Art continued to tour nonstop with help from Donald Harrison and Terence Blanchard, along with younger musicians such as Benny Green.

Art never thought of his music as similar to African style, although he did use some of their techniques such as using his elbow on the tom-tom to alter pitch. His trademark, the forced closing of the hi-hat on each second and fourth beat was created in 1950-1951, which many jazz musicians copied.

A major jazz musician and innovative in his drum style, he was unique and performed with power. The way he played was loud and aggressive. The jazz critics basically ignored what he did in the 1960′s. American audiences  left him behind in the 1970′s when rock music took over the scene.

He always made time for young jazz musicians, listening to them, and helping them with their jazz music careers.

Mobile phones have become an essential gadget for all class of people in almost every region in today’s world. Now, mobile phones not only serve communication purpose, they also take care of entertainment features.

Download Fun makes it possible for mobile phone users and other mobile devices to download ring tones, screensavers, and wallpapers over the net.
People want their favourite music on cell phones. So the latest and fastest growing feature available today is downloadable ring tones.

There are other downloadable items available on the Internet like Java Games, wallpapers and screen savers but the most popular feature requested is downloadable ring tones. Downloadable ring tones were simply an Engineering student’s good idea.
Ring tone is the sound that a cell phone makes when it’s rings. There are many types of Ring tones available like Polyphonic ring tone, Monophonic ring tones, and the most popular MP3 format. However the new technologies like 3G also bring the music on your mobile cell phone.

Monophonic ring tones are basically one note ringer format which is not so popular these days. Initially cell phones were only capable of playing monophonic ring tones. Almost all cell phones have their own ring tones. A recent study shows that about Ninety-two percent of cell phone users have downloaded an exclusive ring tone that did not come with their phone. Every person desires to have the latest music on their cell phones. The ring tone industry is growing rapidly.
The stylish smart mobile phone sets and various ring tones have become status symbols. Ring tones choice shows that you’re up to date and happening. Choose a ring tone which best suits your personality.

You can truly display your lifestyle and certainly your musical taste on your sleeve. You’ll find many sites offering tones by today’s hottest musicians. You have a choice to pick monophonic, polyphonic or true tone MP3 formats.

The first thing you need to know before you select, buy and download a suitable ring tone is that your cell phone sports that format. The Mobile phone that you purchased just a year ago may not have features to play latest ring tone currently available. So make sure from your cell phone manual or call your service provider for guidance.
Most websites offer samples of each musical sound trace to know which type of music you’ll want to use on your cell phone. Polyphonic ring tones use midi technology. Polyphonic ring tone with its richer tonal quality sounds better than monophonic but when compared to MP3 quality it sounds pretty weak. The future of sound for ring tones seems to be hi-fi quality digital musical formats.

All over the world people have invented their own interpretation of Jazz by creating new music from their soul, yet branching out to expand the capabilities of the music of their culture. Jazz around the world must always begin with examples of various music. The main traits of the styles of music that stands out consistently should be reviewed.

One must think about the aesthetic nature of the songs, and the general sound of that style. The next action to make is to add a trait or two to the traditional music of your culture. In all music there are notes that sound horrible when played together or just plain uninteresting.

With research and experimentation one can find traits from many styles of music that could fit together perfectly. There you will have invented a new style of music by expanding your cultural music, or adding the ethnic trait to another style of music. One can always balance each trait evenly to make it difficult for anyone to point out anyone style to create a new style of mongrel music. Nevertheless, creating Jazz music is taking what is known and expanding it without abandoning the main core of the style.

It has already been determined that the creation of basic Jazz music must include syncopation, speech rhythms, chromatic juxtaposition of 7th to 9th to 13th  chordal harmony using accidentals, improvisation and a walking bass line.  The usual instruments used in the creation of Jazz music are percussion, brass and string bass. Nowadays, strings and woodwinds can be added to the creation of Jazz music to add to the tonal quality of the sound. The upper stringed instruments as well as the lowest double bass stringed instruments can expand the sound of jazz music in the vertical matter of height, and depth  while the brass sounds stronger as the center of Jazz music.

The addition of the breathy sound of the woodwinds tends to soften the sound.  Therefore, having instruments from all the musical families balances the music to a fuller colorful atmosphere of sound. To diversify creation of Jazz music one should determine the elements to add or expand on.

The elements to look for would be tone color, rhythm, and resonance. Furthermore, take time to research the instruments for woodwinds, percussion, brass, and strings from other countries to see what can fit in the creation of Jazz music.

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When we wonder what guitar tab we need to get to begin to make up our repertoire, we usually think only about songs we like. We know that our choice in music does not suck in the slightest but if we are going to be playing our guitar and singing for audiences we need to get used to the idea that our taste in music will not match what our listeners want to hear. We may even take a look at popular choices in songs and get the uncomfortable feeling that we might have to play songs that we do not like. One thing guitar players are famous for is standing on their principles and not compromising on what they are going to play. The other thing they are famous for is giving the audience what they want.

So a mixture of these two attitudes is probably going to form in your psyche as you peruse your list of guitar tabs on the internet. While we are on the subject of lists of guitar tabs remember to pay a visit to your local music store or online merchant for ready-made collections of easy guitar tabs. You can find titles like “Popular Songs for Acoustic Guitar” or “CMT’s 100 Greatest Songs of Country Music”.

One fact that has emerged from field tests conducted by buskers, night club performers and covers bands is that you should look for your repertoire in the songs of years gone by. Oldies are goodies. Another thing you should think about is whether or not you are an audience participation kind of performer. If you are still wondering about it one second after the thought enters your head, then you probably aren’t. So stay away from songs that require you to yell, “Everybody now!!” or “Just the girls this time!”. Likewise if you play solo acoustic guitar and have a voice like Johnny Cash you might want to stay away from Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. But do not walk away from songs you enjoy just because they might not seem immediately doable.Remember Jose Feliciano’s “Light My Fire” and Eric Clapton’s unplugged “Layla”.

Of course what songs you choose is not going to matter much if you do not pay attention to how you sing and play the guitar. People pay to see performers who are better at something than they are. Which is where playing material that you like comes in. If you are playing a song that you consider to be a crowd pleaser but you personally think is a load of stomach chunks you give attention to  the part the audience likes. You already know what that is. That is why you do not bellow, “Hello darkness my old friend” or shirk on the enthusiasm when you sing the line, “Welcome to the Hotel California”.

Okay so what we get out of all this is first, there are songs that crowds of people like and second, you can sing and play these songs in a way that highlights your particular talents. Now for a basic list of songs that have been known to please a crowd or two over a period of years:
Wild World by Cat Stevens
Imagine – by John Lennon
Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin
Catch the Wind by Donovan
Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley
Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks
Angie by the Rolling Stones
Everybody Hurts by REM
50 ways to leave your lover by Paul Simon
The 59th Street Bridge Song by Simon And Garfunkel
American Pie by Don Maclean
Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell
California Dreamin’ by The Mamas and Papas
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door by Bob Dylan
Mrs Robinson by Simon And Garfunkel
You’re so vain by Carly Simon
Blowin’ In The Wind by Bob Dylan
Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
I Walk The Line by Johnny Cash
Tears In Heaven by Eric Clapton
Gloria by Van Morrison (or Them)
Hotel California by The Eagles
Behind Blue Eyes by The Who
White Room by Cream
Sex And Candy by Marcy Playground
Californication by Red Hot Chili Peppers
What Its Like by Everlast
Alison by Elvis Costello
Life By The Drop by Stevie Ray Vaughn
Melissa by Allman Brothers
Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones
Seagull by Bad Company
Mediterranean Sundance by Al DiMeola and Paco De Lucia
Classical Gas by Mason Williams

This list could be much, much longer, but you probably already see songs here that you would never play in a million years so all I can say now is I hope this guide to essential guitar tab has been helpful.

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Billie Holiday was one of the most famous jazz music singers in America. Her real name was Eleanora Fagan. Like most lives of musicians, she had a very bad time growing up which damaged her career. Her life is written about in the autobiography Lady Sings The Blues, but there are many things in there that are not really valid. Her stage name is from an actress, Billie Dove and her father Clarence Holiday.

Billie grew up in the poorest area of Baltimore. Her parents married when she was three years old, but it did not last. They divorced and she was raised by her mother and various relatives. She had been raped when she was eleven years old, and skipped school a lot, so she was placed in The House of the Good Shepherd in 1925. The House of the Good Shepherd was a reform school for Catholics. A friend of the family helped her out of there a couple of years later. She then went to New York to live with her mother. A year later, her mother discovered a neighbor was raping Billie, the man spent three months in jail.

Things seemed to go from bad to worse. Billie had said a brothel claimed her where she worked as a prostitute , and then was in prison for awhile. She started singing for tips in the Harlem night clubs in the 1930′s. It was said when she had not a dime to her name and was about to be evicted, she sang “Trave’lin All Alone” at a club and had the audience crying. She kept singing for tips until she ended up at a popular jazz club called Pod’s and Jerry’s in Harlem. A lot of her performing cannot be discovered, but it is said she was working at Monette’s, another club in 1933 when John Hammond, a talent scout found her.

John got her to record with Benny Goodman that same year. She sang in a group with Teddy Wilson, a pianist. Their debut was the song “Miss Brown You”, and “What A Little Moonlight Can Do”, which made her a famous jazz singer. The year following that, she began recording under her own stage name. Some of the musicians who she performed with her the best, such as Lester young, a tenor sax player. Lester was a boarder in her mother’s house, so they were good friends. He was the one who gave her the nickname Lady Day. She gave him the nickname Prez. She also performed with Artie Shaw and Count Basie.

When Billie was on the Columbia label, someone gave her the song “Strange Fruit” about lynching. She sang the song at a club in 1939, afraid of some kind of retaliation. Later on, Billie said that it was similar to the death of her father, and that is part of the reason why she performed it. She was upset that a lot of people didn’t understand the song. She said,” They’ll ask me to sing that sexy song about the people swinging.” Columbia didn’t record it, but Commodore Records did. She sang that song for twenty years.

She began doing drugs in the 1940′s, married Jimmy Monroe, a trombonist in 1941. At the same time, she was with her drug dealer Joe Guy living with him common law. She divorced her husband in 1947, and departed from her drug dealer, but spent eight months in a correctional facility for women. Because her Cabaret Card was taken, she couldn’t perform in clubs in New York City for the last twelve years of her life, except once at the Ebony Club with permission.

She continued on with substance abuse, and getting into the worst relationships with men.
She died in 1959 from cirrhosis of the liver. She was just 44 years old. All she had was seventy cents in the bank, and a $750 tabloid fee. A movie Lady Sings The Blues was done about her life starring Diana Ross. It wasn’t the real story but it gave Diana a Best Actress nomination. Billie has been an inspiration for many people and is still one of the best jazz music vocalists today.

As a beginner acoustic guitarist you’re probably wondering whether learning your songs from guitar tablature is as good as getting them from “real” sheet music. Learning to play acoustic guitar is a great adventure which is sometimes spoilt a bit by the prospect of having to learn to read music. But for most acoustic guitar players, learning all the symbols and theory connected with musical notation is not really necessary.

Tablature for acoustic guitar has certain points giving it an edge over standard music notation. Actually historians tell us that tablature was used to record musical compositions long before conventional notation. They don’t seem to have much idea how musicians attributed note values to compositions they has never heard played. Maybe it wasn’t an issue in the sixteenth century.

So what do you learn from tabs? Tablature shows diagrammatically where finger positions are indicated using numbers representing the guitar’s frets along horizontal lines representing the strings. The note G played on the first (thinnest) string is shown by the number 3 written on the top line of the tablature. Sometimes the person writing the tablature will group the notes together to show that they are all the same value but this is not a hard and fast rule.

Hammer-ons, string bends, pull-offs and other techniques are shown by symbols. Each tablature writer has his own idea of the best way to show how to play the music, and he usually includes a legend showing his symbols on each tab. With the aid of guitar tabs, you can learn new music quickly without going to the additional trouble of learning conventional music notation.

Despite the fact that tempo and time signatures are not included, sometimes it’s easier for the guitarist to pick up music from tablature. The ease with which you can learn to read tablature means that your progress on the guitar is not slowed by the need to cope with such things as the use of alternate tunings.

Another bonus is in the ease in sharing acoustic guitar music on the internet. Guitar tab is easily written on a computer by way of ASCII code, which makes it easier to email or post on the web. Maybe when you get some guitar playing experience under your belt you could try writing some music down for yourself. A great chance to see the difficulties facing composers for the guitar. Unfortunately debate over copyright issues has made posting guitar tab a little bit contentious, but you can still share tab privately by email.

A lot of guitar teachers proclaim the virtues of learning to read sheet music. Some even think you are not a “real” musician unless you can read “real” music. If you have a burning desire to follow a career in music then the versatility given you by the ability to read music will be a definite advantage. But if you look at playing music as a way of each individual expressing themselves in their own unique way, then how you write your music down is not one of the biggest issues in your life!

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If you enjoy the idea of learning the guitar and you visualize yourself sitting down and playing your favorite songs for your own enjoyment, acoustic guitar tabs give you the possibility of realizing your dream. You can pick up an acoustic guitar any time of the day or night and play without disturbing your family or neighbors. Some people even play the acoustic guitar while the family is watching TV in the same room!

Tablature, or tab, is the ideal way for any beginner guitar player to learn or for a more seasoned guitarist to learn new material quickly. A basic definition of guitar tab is a diagram showing the guitar strings with the frets where the guitarist is to play the notes indicated by numbers. Quite often a guitarist approaching a new piece of music will struggle with conventional music notation whereas tab is a quick and easy way of getting the feel of a new piece. Also a pianist or other musician can look at a piece of guitar sheet music and play it right away but would have no hope of playing from guitar tab because it is only written for one instrument. Another limitation of guitar tab is that you won’t be able to learn the rhythm from it. You will need a strumming pattern diagram or, having heard the song before, have some idea of how to approach the playing of the rhythm. If you are prepared to live with these limitations tablature will be a great tool for you to learn your favorite songs quickly.

When you search the internet for acoustic guitar tab what kind of music can you expect to find? Well, the variety is astonishing. Basically acoustic guitar tab is written with the idea of the guitar supplying the basic accompaniment for the song. So if you are a singer wanting to interpret the lyrics, your interest in the guitar arrangement may be slight. The second thing acoustic guitar tab usually gives you is the notes for any distinctive melody or riff in the song – music that people recognize before they hear the words being sung.  A simple example of this is the few notes repeated throughout the record of “Something” by The Beatles. Of course you are quite free to leave out or change any music to make the arrangement your own.

Acoustic guitar tabs are often fingerstyle arrangements of songs. These arrangements will not be readily available in music stores or the usual sources of sheet music on the internet. Fingerstyle arrangements can give you some added depth to your guitar playing even if you don’t utilize all the techniques shown in the tab. Finally there is one advantage to using acoustic tab for electric guitar players. You can learn the muisc for the song without having to set up your guitar and amp. You can work on arranging your song for electric guitar once you know the chords and the basic structure.

I hope I have given you something to think about if you have not given tabs for acoustic guitar much of a look so far. If you look around you will be quite amazed at the range of popular – and obscure – music available.