Thursday 28 August 2008

Pop Songs... Whatever You Want.


One love song represents millions of word

When you're learning about something new, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of relevant information available, so you may have heard that there are plenty of song types and what benefit that we can get from them, apart from being entertainment media. This informative article should help you focus on the central points as well as to provide you more information about what types of love songs, which available out there in order to fulfill you willingness to success with love.

For someone who is in love, it is really hard to explain about their feeling to his or her partners, so there are some ways of telling your partner that you are really love him or her but just not by the old traditional ways, instead, you can use love songs. In the next article, you could find some of the tips about how to choose fantastic love songs to represent your million of words and success with love. Love songs often express our love when we can't find the words to express it ourselves. Love songs are songs about love. However, using love songs to tell what you want to tell your beloved person, is may be the best way, especially for people who lack of confident and unable to find the solution for this. However, it might not be working for some group now, especially for very young teenagers who may have more interesting ways of doing it due to there is more and more technological advance these days. However, using love songs, telling from my own experience still working fine and can be used any time and any where, this is because music has very strong impact, the person who you send message to not only appreciate the words that you want to communicate but he or she will really appreciate the meaning and the lyrics as well as melody of the song. See how much you can learn about how to choose perfect love songs to represent your words when you take a little time to read a well-researched article? Don't miss out on the rest of this great information.

Therefore, the rest of us, I presumed that we are still appreciating this traditional ways of telling love to people. Now the next step is you will have to choose the love song that suitable to represent your message. I have to say that it is really necessary for you to get to know about the type of songs that is your partner’s favorite. This is because he or she will appreciate the song that is their favorite rather than just choosing what your want. However, sometimes it is really difficult to get to know this so the only simple guideline I could give here is that you can see the age of your partner, if you are in teenage or young adult, you may use pop songs, if you are older people, then you can use Jazz or classic songs. There's no doubt that the topic of how to choose perfect love songs to represent your words can be fascinating.

Rock-&-Roll Surrogate


Years ago, upon my first-ever arrival in Paris, there was no doubt as to where I would begin my itinerary ...

I went immediately to the Père Lachaise cemetery.

That's the final resting place of such luminaries as Voltaire, Victor Hugo, Sarah Berhhardt and Chopin. If I had been there during daylight, I'm sure I would have taken my time to pay my respects to each of them and others. However, it was around 1.00am, and this was a pilgrimage to what's become more of a shrine than a grave.

This is where Jim Morrison of the Doors is buried.

James Dean lived fast and died young. Kurt Cobain had succumbed, by his own hand, to stress and recurrent abdominal pains. Marilyn Monroe took too many pills. Mama Cass choked on that fateful ham sandwich. Keith Moon simply exploded from self-indulgence.

Jim Morrison was different. He lived hard so we didn't have to.

I believe that there are those among us who live life on the edge for the sole purpose of conveying that experience to everyone else. I don't think they make a conscious decision to do so, but the circumstances of their existence drew them to it. They embody a collusion of talent, freedom, credibility and forum. From that mixture, fate then intercedes and legends are forged.

This role doesn't need to end in the ultimate cost of mortality. Look at Lou Reed. An underground poet laureate who was anointed as such by Andy Warhol, Reed could also arguably be called the godfather of punk --- a genre which ultimately influences popular music to this day --- who then became a Rock-&-Roll Animal before settling into married life and relative tranquility. He's a writer-cum-musician who returned the value of word economy to lyrics (the Ramones owe a huge debt to him), who lionized the shadowy annals of altered states and culminated it by allegedly shooting heroin on stage. Somehow, the nihilistic creator of Sweet Jane, the opiate chronicler of White Light/White Heat, the dark playwright of Berlin, managed to survive. I'm sure no one is more pleased with that result than him.

Morrison, on the other hand, never seemed to care.

His obsession was with a mystic dimension that seemingly co-existed with visceral reality and his determination was to channel it. This endeavor has been well-accounted both in Danny Sugarman's book, 'No One Here Gets Out Alive,' and Oliver Stone's cinematic version of it, logically entitled, 'The Doors.'

Morrison did Break on Through to the Other Side and became The Lizard King. His lifestyle and lyrics served as a catalyst for both new age and outrage. The Doors framed his visions in catchy tunes that were a cornerstone of their era. Their music worked for breezy listening, for intense audiophilia and for all levels in between. When Morrison would sing, "I woke up this morning and got myself a beer," there was no doubting his presence in the original Hard Rock Café and that breakfast was going to be his lightest meal of the day.

With a legacy like that, I guess it's no surprise that rumors circulated about the French authorities wanting to evict him from such an esteemed cemetary as Père Lachaise. However, during my visit, I was told by a watchful gendarme that the graves were purchased in perpetuity, so he and his colleagues would man many a midnight patrol to monitor the Morrison mourners. From what I saw and have come to know, that is a full-time nocturnal posting.

Even at the late hour, I was one of around a dozen who surrounded Morrison's headstone. Someone's ghettoblaster churned through a litany of Doors songs, candles and flashlights provided an eerily appropriate atmosphere, and even though a strong waft of 60s-ish aroma was ever present, the constables kept their distance as long as the tokers kept themselves discreet. The composition of the entourage was constantly changing; the comings and goings were hardly acknowledged. Instead, the conversations were perpetual and free-form. On occasion, someone would recall a personal memory involving a Doors song, but preferred topics were more along the lines of the consciousness Morrison seemed intent on raising. Lyrics were analyzed and musical passages were toasted. All of this was done in hushed tones, not necessarily out of respect, but because no one wanted to upstage the ghettoblaster's ongoing soundtrack.

I was there for two hours. No one exchanged names or details. There were different points of view expressed, but no arguments. Literary references and musical influences peppered the dialog with a subtle intensity that would have made him proud. The effect of everyone's comments seemed both thoughtful and theraputic, as they put Morrison's escapades and compositions into deep personal perspectives; there was no doubt he had indeed, in some manner, become an extension of each of their lives and they felt they were enriched because of it.

My lasting memory of that night was the notion that Jim Morrison probably would have preferred being the focal point for those introspective testaments rather than for the massive din of a Doors concert.

If so, maybe that meant he finally got what he wanted. In a way, then, so did we.

Friday 15 August 2008

Rap Beats And Hip Hop - How To Set Yourself Apart From The Rest Of The Aspiring Rappers And Singers

If you want to set yourself apart from the crowded field of rappers, hip hop artists and other aspiring performers you have to make good music. It has to have a solid structure. It has to seize the subconscious of its listeners and remain there after they are done listening. In order to accomplish this, you need killer rap beats.

In an industry where the beat rules, you can not afford to grab just any old hip hop instrumentals, rap beats or r & b instrumentals. You need pro beats. There are online services that can provide you with that major label sound. Make sure what they offer is a expert sound. You need professional beats.

Realize from the beginning you need to have a firm grasp of what beats are and which hip hop beats you need. It has to transport you and your audience. If it fails to do this, it will be of no benefit.

Initially, you will probably need to experiment. This means downloading a variety of hot new and old beats. Select from a variety of different types, musically and stylistically. Simple, sometimes is more effective, particularly in rap or hip hop. The question is what approach or style do you require.

Are you into west or east coast styles of Rap? Is your approach to be R & B-based or jazz in flavor? The genres do blend and there are multiple subgenres, but it is important you select according to your own recognizable personality. Be sure before you start messing with the beats, you know your personal musical style. Your beats need to reflect this aspect. In this way, you can keep it real.

Yet, there are other dynamics to consider. You have to marry the beat to several other factors. These include the nature of the lyrics or words you plan to use, the requirements of the audience and the marketability or not, of the overall composition. If you cant find the beat to fill these needs, you wont be able to lay down the music on tape or live. It is all about everyone identifying with and claiming the beat.

Once you have resolved the factors and arrived at a decision, begin the process of putting together a complete musical package. Do not download and use just any hot beat. Select them according to your own, newly established criteria. The result will help you blow your audiences away.

The final piece of the puzzle is practice. You need to perfect your music, hone your skills. Take the beat and work it. Rearrange it when necessary and transpose it from section to section to make it work. Structure and restructure it. Test it canned and test it live. Be prepared, even when it works, to go back over it again. Working that much harder will help give you an edge over the competition. By continuously working on improving your sound, your persona and your craft, you will stand apart from others with the same goals a place in the music world.

There is no better way to develop as a artist than by purchasing hot sounding rap beats and hip hop beats instrumentals - after all the major artist all buy beats for a reason as well and understand the importance of great hip hop beats and rap beats.

A Brief History of the Fender Guitar Company

Besides the Gibson Les Paul Guitar, there is probably no more renowned Electric Guitar than the Fender. The Fender Stratocaster and Fender Telecaster electrics are the company's two most famous models and played by "rock gods" the world over (the Telecaster is especially favored by modern Country and Blues musicians, too), although Fender also makes steel string and classical guitars as well as bass guitars.

The Fender company also produces top of the line amplifiers.

Guitar players and makers began experimenting with amplification in the 1920s because the acoustic guitar's sound in a jazz band was being totally swamped by the rest of the band. Eventually, in the 1940s, Leo Fender, an electronics expert and inventor from California, created the first instrument amplifiers to have built-in tone controls. However, Fender also understood that in order to fit in with modern music the guitar itself was going to need to be given a vastly greater range of tonal colors and sheer power. In 1951, Fender may have saved the guitar from oblivion in widely listened to music when he introduced his Fender Broadcaster, which was the forerunner to the Telecaster. In that same year Fender produced the electric Precision bass guitar.

In 1954, Fender emerged with what would become the most renowned rock 'n' roll guitar in history: the Stratocaster.

Unfortunately, in 1965 Leo Fender was in failing health and sold his company to the CBS corporation. Although CBS was able to put its giant marketing and advertising budget behind the Fender line of amps and guitars to make them the premier modern guitar music equipment, CBS also failed to actually comprehend music and musicians, and by 1973 the quality of the newly produced legendary Stratocasters was definitely sinking. Today's Fender "Strat" collectors and players covet pre-1973 Strats, and even more they prize "pre-CBS" models.

With the Strat known for its exquisite tone, range of colors, and great action, in 1977 CBS added the five-way pickup selector switch to the Strat, giving the possible combination of pickup-use and the resulting tonal coloration even more variety, in hopes of keeping the Strat commercially competitive.

By the early 1980s, CBS/Fender began producing the "Squire" Strat, which is a deliberately second-rate and much less expensive version of the Stratocaster. The Squire was made in response to pricing competition from Japanese guitar makers.

In 1981, CBS took steps to try to re-invent Fender. William Schultz was selected as the new President of Fender and he and his assistants had a five-year business designed to focus heavily on R&D and advertising to take Fender back to the heights of the guitar world. However, by 1985 CBS was getting out of all non-broadcast media industries and with the help of some investors Schultz bought Fender from the giant corporation.

Having nothing but the patent and old Fender guitars in stock, eventually Bill Schultz built two new Fender manufacturing plants in Corona, California and Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. The idea was to keep all manufacturing close to home to control quality and keep shipping costs down to make Fender more affordable. No more would Fenders be made by cheap labor in Japan.

Fender went on to acquire legendary Sunn amplification and its Lake Oswego, Oregon manufacturing plants in 1987, and in 1991 the company moved its headquarters from Corona to Scottsdale, Arizona. In 1995 Fender bought out the renowned Guild Guitar company and acquired its massive manufacturing plant in Westerly, Rhode Island.

Today Fender is back on top in the world of electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitars, and amplifiers. The company has facilities in California, Arizona, Tennessee, New York, Rhode Island, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico; London, England; Dusseldorf, Germany; Suresnes, France; Brussels, Japan, Korea, and China.

Tupac Shakur: A Shining Beacon in Hip Hop

Tupac Amaru Shakur was born Lesane Crooks on June 19th, 1971. The man so affectionately known as the godfather of West Coast gangster rap was raised by his mother, Afeni Shakur. Afeni was a dedicated black panther and gave birth to Tupac while behind bars. Tupac's life wouldn't get any easier.

He grew up poor and with a mother that had a crack addiction. Tupac, however, was a survivor. He enjoyed reading, poetry and literature. His love for the arts soon landed him a scholarship to the Baltimore School of Arts in which he stared in his first play as the lead for the play "Raisin in the Sun."

After going through school, Tupac landed a job as a back up dancer for the up and coming rap group Digital Underground. He got the honor of touring the country with the group and soon discovered his own skills on the microphone when Digital Underground allowed him to rap on one of their singles entitled "Same Song." This was Tupac's big break.

Tupac was later signed to Death Row Records, which was owned by the notorious thug Suge Knight. Tupac prospered on the label with his debut 1991 record "2pacalypse Now." The album was certified gold and went on to sell millions of copies.

Tupac's short career and life was ended on September 7, 1996. He was shot after attending a fight in Las Vegas. On the Vegas Strip, a car pulled up to his black Mercedes at a red light and opened fire. Tupac was killed and Suge Knight escaped with minor wounds. To this day, the killer has not been found and there are no suspects.

Throughout all the legal trouble, controversial lyrics and his gangster lifestyle, Tupac was a role model. He demonstrated love for his people and for all people by funding inner-city programs for youth and for adults. Tupac was known to be very kind to his fans of all ages and races. He proved to be a "Rose That Grew from Concrete" in making something of his rough life. He is inspiration to all.

This is a short synopsis of a man whose passion, drive, emotion, positive contributions and life can barely be described in a novel.
Follow your dreams.

The Benefits Of Learning Music Theory

That's music to my ear is a common phrase used to express a person's emotional response to how a particular tune can make them feel. Some people listen to music all the time. Some study the art of playing an instrument. It's therapeutic; it's enriching; it's a way of creating moods in any environmental setting. If you are interested in music for more than the pure enjoyment people get out of listening to it, then learning about music theory is an ideal mode for you.

Music theory can be an important attribute in a person's life, for many reasons. People often ask, "Is music theory necessary?" "Why do we need it?"

First of all, even though you don't have to understand how to read sheet music to perform as a musician, you will need an understanding of music theory. It opens so many other doors for you in the world of music. Music theory will not show you how to understand music, but with music theory you will be able to communicate musical ideas, explore music in whole new ways, and redefine the tremendous scope that entails the magical world of music.

Music theory allows you to voice your opinion with others in the field, expand your musical horizon. Give a little input to a fellow musician and you'll get something in return.

Notations And Communicating With Other Musicians

Music lovers all develop a keen sense of awareness, musically speaking. Sometimes, musicians explain that if they study music theory, then it'll stunt their creativity. Wrong! The world's greatest composers were all masters of music theory: Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, J.S. Bach. These experts composed a keen understanding of the theoretical concepts. Years were spent studying the concept, down to some of the smallest details.

Music can be played by ear, picking out tunes without the aid of written music. Your ears can be your guide. The reason this is brought to light is that some musicians with strong theoretical training often disregard the art of playing by ear.

Think of playing music by ear this way: We're all born as non-verbal creations. Communication begins with crying, making sounds, displaying body language. Parents quickly become experts on baby talk. It's an innate sense. Over time, language develops by mimicking sounds. Toddlers don't learn nouns and verbs; they learn to speak by example. Music can be the same way. Hence, the reason so many people pay top dollar for live performances. It's invigorating, magical.

Understanding Harmony And Chord Progression

Chord progression and harmony, two features of music theory, help broaden any musician, regardless of their genre of study. Chord progression is a series of chords that are used to harmonize music. All compositions use chord progression. Those that improvise - which, as already mentioned, adds charm and magic to the environment of music - invent brand new melodies that blend in with an existing chord. It's a musical transition, something that must be practiced, repeatedly. The great composers and musicians develop chord progressions and transitions until it becomes natural, a second-natured maneuver.

If a musician improvises in a more interconnected manner, these new melodies show the musician the progression as one whole unit, and not a series of bumpy transitions. The more practice that goes into this aspect of music learning theory, the more interesting substitutions they will develop along the way. Once the concept of chord progression and its structure is understood, it will be easier to remember. Jazz musicians, therefore, show a keen interest in the study and analysis of chord progression.

The study of music theory will show musicians and musical scholars that the objective, initially, is not to consider an entire composition in one sitting. Instead, musicians, students and teachers alike, view a chord progression in segments, or units. These units correspond to musical sections known as stanzas.

A stanza is the complete statement and development of a single musical idea. It's a fairly simple act of dividing pieces into small manageable sections, with the melody itself forming, or suggesting the boundaries for sound.

Tonality, another element of chord progression, means different things to different people. Some would consider it to be this: any piece of music with a well-defined key center. Others envision any music that uses the conventional chords as tonal.

Music without the use of chords in a functional manner to reinforce a tonal center is not tonal. It is referred to as non-tonal music. The names of these styles are not always agreed upon between musical connoisseurs. But expressing difference is one key element that makes music such a beautiful art form, with countless possibilities.

So, if you are considering studying music, be it to play an instrument, teach music, or simply hone in on personal curiosity, learning music theory is a must for you.

Monday 11 August 2008

Home Recording Guitar - Why You Need A Mic Pre-Amp

The signal that a microphone picks up is actually very low, and needs to be boosted for it to be used with your recording device. This is exactly what a mic-preamp does; it boosts the signal to a level that is useable for recording.

Initially, you'll probably want to use the pre-amps built into your mixer or interface, if you happen to have either, as it will save money. However, these kinds of preamps are often of a fairly low quality. Basically, with mic preamps, you pay for sound quality. Musicians after the absolute best quality sound could well spend $3000 on a preamp. If however you are just starting out and have perhaps a budget of $1000 you could use the preamps on your mixer or your audio interface.

It’s not only budget that affects the output quality on the preamp, you must also know how correctly set levels etc. Let’s talk a little about the features you’ll find on most mic preamps, and some tips to ensure you get the optimal sound.

Input -

Set the input to high as possible providing the meters are not crossing into the red. Having the levels reaching red is introducing distortion, which is going to go through the entire signal path. Meaning that when you listen back to your recording on the computer, you’re likely to hear a lot of crackling noises. So again, push the signal as high as possible but do not let it enter the red.

Pad -

This is a great feature if you are recording sounds other than guitar. For instance if you were to mic a loud sound source like snare drum even with the input turned all the way down the levels may still be hitting red. Select this feature and it will help to tame the sound further and make it useable.

Phantom Power -

This is a power source that is sent through a mic cable to a microphone that needs it, such as a condenser mic. It’s good to note that some fairly cheap preamps only offer +30v, and some condenser mics may not perform to their best at this level. It’s nice to have phantom power built in to your mic preamp otherwise you would have to get a separate phantom power source.

Number Of Preamps -

This can range from one single preamp right through to eight preamps in one box. What you are recording will generally determine how many you will need. Vocals are usually recorded in mono, whilst acoustic guitars could be recorded in stereo. Perhaps you are recording an entire band and require one for each amplifier and vocalist, along with several for the drums.

High Pass Filtering -

This generally means that all the highs will pass through while the lows are cut. Mics pick up an astounding amount of bass so this is a great feature to have. Of course, this can be corrected using software, though you may as well resolve the problem at the source so you don’t have to worry about it later.

Hopefully this has given you an insight to what a mic preamp does, and what features to look for when shopping around. Have a read through the bullet points again and compare your list of needs with the features of available on a variety of preamps. Hopefully you will be able to find a product that suits your needs.

Listening To Your Home Recordings Using Monitors

Monitors are basically speakers that you use when mixing down, also known as "studio monitors".

Studio monitors are designed to create an accurate audio image of your track, with no unnatural emphasis of particular frequencies, whereas hi-fi speakers are designed to make all audio material sound quite pleasing to the ear.

The point of using monitors is not for them to make your music sound good, but to give you a true representation of it, so you can make it sound good in software. Near-field monitors are made to reproduce music in your studio in such a way so that when you hear it sounding good, it will sound good on boom boxes, stereo systems and car radios etc.

Finding Good Monitors –

A good idea is to take some CD’s you are familiar with to a music store. Assuming that you're listening to monitors that have been well reviewed for mixing, I'd listen for clarity and shimmer and good bass tones, and I wouldn't want to hear distortion, buzzing, or excess thumping.

Play with the volume, you should be able to clearly here the sound without rattles and buzzes at both very high, and very low levels. When listening through you good monitors you may hear subtle things that you never noticed before, instruments will jump out at you.

There are two main types of monitors used for home recording, there is active and passive. Active monitors have an integrated power amplifier that has been optimised to work properly with the speakers. Passive monitors (a.k.a. “speakers”) need an external power amp. If you happen to have a good one lying around, it's generally cheaper to buy passive monitors.

Active Monitors are usually considered the safest option for sound quality, and are the most popular choice amongst first-time buyers.

Monitor Placement –

Now you know a little about monitors, and what’s available to you, it’s important you position them correctly in your recording environment. Not only does the placement within the room play a large role in the sound you hear, but also where you are sat in relation to them.

You should try to achieve a sound that will closely reproduce that of the stereo field. To do this you must place your monitors so they are sitting on two points of an imaginary triangle about six feet apart, with your head being the third point of the triangle.

The monitors should be positioned to face inwards slightly, and be mounted vertically so that the cone of the speaker is level with your ears.

Also pay attention to where you place the monitors within the actual room itself. Generally you should try to avoid placing them in corners as this can amplify the bass frequencies and may result in an overly boomy sound. It may also be worth investing in speaker stands as they will help prevent any resonance that may occur come from them being placed on a table or desk. Also, make sure they are securely fixed down to stop any vibrations.

To test the positioning of your monitors, grab a few CD’s and listen to how the sound comes out. Try to listen for any unbalances, such as the bass sounding to heavy or the hi-notes sound too tinny. Have a play around with the positioning until you are happy that you have found a balanced sound.

A good set of headphones is mandatory to help finesse the audio sound you are looking for. It is unlikely you will be recording in an acoustically designed room or on the best playback monitors. If you are unable to afford high quality monitors then a pair of top of the range headphones is a must.

A good set of headphones will set you back around $125-300. Make sure the headphones are “closed back” design meaning they have no holes on the outside of the headphones. Open back headphones are prone to a lot of leakage.

The Many Genres of Christian Music

We all probably know a couple religious hymns, but today's fast-paced society is changing, and so is the style of music we listen to. Christian music has developed tremendously over the last century to represent the changing style of music that we enjoy. Contemporary music offers up-to-date music styles with the same traditional Christian message within the lyrics. In fact, Contemporary Christian music is growing quickly in popularity, and so is the number of subgenres offered to those interested in listening. In this article we discuss a few of the newer genres in Christian music.

Contemporary

Contemporary music literally covers all genres of new age Christian music, but is most commonly associated with a new movement of Christian music that has alternative rock, pop, and country sounds. The contemporary movement began in the 1960s, with this type of music then referred to as Jesus music. Some Christians dispute whether or not the contemporary tones fit into their religion, but contemporary is a popular genre that gives Protestant listeners an alternative faith-based style of music. The growth of contemporary styles has been strong since the mid 1990s, and newer artists and subgenres help to continue the expansion of Christian music.

Hip Hop

Christian hip hop, or gospel rap, is a unique genre of Christian music. Due to the often sinful nature of mainstream rap lyrics, it has been a tough road for Christian rap artists to gain popularity. However, beginning in the 1990s Christian rap has become popular with the younger generation looking for an uplifting form of music that reflects their urban lifestyle. The most popular innovators among Christian hip hop artists would likely be DC Talk, who took the music scene by storm in the late 1980s before making a switch to a more pop sound in the mid 1990s. Christian hip hop is a fabulous way for Christians to spread their faith to kids from the street and other youth looking for a fresh music genre.

Gospel

If gospel music does not fill your sole with spirit, then I am not sure what can! Gospel music is uplifting, inspiring, and fun to listen to. When most think of gospel music, churches in the south come to mind. In fact, gospel music has been thought to have started during times of slavery in the late 1800s. The genre of gospel became more defined and gained popularity in the first quarter of the twentieth century, and is now listened to worldwide. Gospel music is known for its strong vocals surrounded by electric guitars, bass, and drums. Gospel music thrives today and is certainly considered a staple of Christian music.

Christian Rock

Christian rock music covers a lot of ground with many different subgenres contained within the rock category. The "sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll" explosion in the 1960s certainly made many Christians wary of jumping into the rock scene, but by the early 1970s Christian rock bands began to separate themselves from a demonic image, and instead produced Christian lyrics with rock tones. Today many bands are considered Christian rock artists, some more devoted to the Christian title than others. Although some might not realize this, the band U2 was a catalyst for Christian rock in the 1990s based on their enormous success beginning in the 1980s.

This is hardly a complete list of Christian music genres, but sampling some of these genres will give you a good taste of the great listening Christian music offers. Finding your favorite genre is important and will certainly enhance your experience. Being able to listen to your favorite Christian bands at home or on the go is a relaxing way to worship throughout the day.

Wednesday 6 August 2008

Easy Folk Songs To Play On Guitar

Folk music is one of the easiest and most fun musical styles for the beginner guitar player to get into. You can enjoy it almost immediately and, through folk songs you can express your own feelings and uplift the emotions of your audience. Folk music is basically about daily life. Sometimes the songs are based on spirituals like Michael Row The Boat Ashore, social change like If I Had A Hammer or tales of love like Lemon Tree.

For the singer and guitar player an important thing to remember about folk music is that it acts as focal point for a number of people to get together and undergo an uplifting of the emotions by taking part in group singing. We are all familiar with the scenario of a family or school sports team helping to pass the time on a road trip by singing 99 Bottles of Beer. Yankee Doodle, Shoo Fly, This Old Man, She'll be Comin' Round the Mountain, Three Blind Mice, Buffalo Gals, Row, Row, Row Your Boat, Hush, Little Baby, Lazy Mary, Bingo, I've Been Working' on the Railroad, On Top of Old Smokey, London Bridge, The Farmer in the Dell, The Crawdad Song, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Rock-A-Bye Baby, The Riddle Song, Oh! Susanna, Mister Frog Went A-Courtin' and Frere Jacques are all simple folk songs that are loved by everybody and can be easily played on the guitar.

Another famous folk song is Banks Of The Ohio which is a gruesome ballad about a young girl being murdered by a rejected suitor. There are many such songs dealing with love gone wrong leading to murder. Greensleeves is an English folk song with dubious subject matter. Dating from the sixteenth century, many musicologists suggest that it is about a lady of loose virtue. House Of The Rising Sun is a song about wasted life but judging by its popularity it is responsible for bringing people much happiness. Another easy folk song is Foggy Mountain Top which contains all the elements of a great folk song - unrequited love, a crime of passion and remorse for a wasted life.

To play these easy folk songs you can simply use a plectrum to accompany your singing by strumming chords. But there are easy fingerstyle guitar techniques that you will find to be quite effective. The simplest is to play the bass note of each chord followed by a down stroke with the first finger across the third, second and first strings. A variation on this technique is to pluck the treble strings instead of strumming them. In practice, you will find yourself using a combination of these two methods. From here, with a little help from some internet research, you will find that you can expand your fingerstyle technique to using the thumb, first, second and third fingers to pick melodic accompaniment to your folk songs. A very popular and easy to play folk guitar style is called Clawhammer. In this technique your thumb plays a regular pattern while the fingers pluck a melody or accompaniment on the treble strings. To find some tabs and videos featuring these methods of playing folk songs, just try searching for "guitar finger picking".

For more inspiration in your search for easy folk songs to play on the guitar, try searching some famous folk artists on the internet. Some good ones to start with are Burl Ives, The Weavers, Peter Paul And Mary, Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

How Can I Produce My Own Song?

Have you been asking yourself, "how can I produce my own song"? Now, you can find the answer to the question out easily. You can do it at home. According to the Independent Musicians Network, you can learn how to produce your own songs and sell those songs yourself. Independent Musicians Network offers the opportunity to create your own music, produce your music, and sell your music online. You can learn the art of audio production, promote your music to hundreds of sites, and work with affiliates that will help you to promote and advertise your product. I'll bet you never thought that it would be this easy. Well, all good things are always surprising, right?

Producing your own music at home has never been easier or more enjoyable. For more information on how you can produce your own song, visit the official website of the Independent Musicians Network and get started making music in your home right now. Better yet, get ready to market it and make some money at it also. Hopefully this has given you some answers to your question, "how can I produce my own song"!

Rap Posters: Let The Music Never Die

Rap is an element in hip-hop music. It is one of the distinguishing features of hip hop music that makes it so different from the rest. Both the musical terms are used synonymously which, shows the indispensable relation between the two. The popularity of this traditional New York music form is so strong that it can be felt in the hearts of millions of fans even today. The best way in which, people have been feeding their craving for their favourite rap music artists is through Posters. Rap posters are in great demand. The craze for these posters is such that some of them are even sold for hundreds and thousands.

Rap Posters of artists, both the legends and the current players are is great demand. Fan clubs of these rap performers purchase these posters for any cost. To many such overt fans, the right of possession of the rarest posters is more than any other treasure in the world. With such maddening demand for these rap posters, the price of these wall-papers in different sizes are flying sky high too.These Hip Hop Posters are available at music stores, stationary stores, online poster websites where you can either download them, or ask for shipping them to your address. Traditional rap posters and posters of the latest rap singers are both amazingly popular. For the hip hop fans, these posters are like pride possessions. They can do anything to get them.

Getting these posters off-line ie, at your nearest store will be slightly difficult as it will mean a lot of hunting. This is because people run a black market of these posters. They are picked from the suppliers and sold to double the rate to people who want to buy them. A better and a safer way of shopping for these rap posters is to find them online. There are several online stores that sell these posters in all shapes and sizes and also ship it to your home.

All About Alternative: Best Alternative Music Festivals

Music festivals, in theory, are one of the greatest modern inventions. The sun comes out, and so do the masses - including this year's biggest musicians. Drinks flow, friends gather, and a whole hog of comedy events are usually thrown in just in case spirits begin to flag. Yet, why is it for every one festival lover, there are five who seem to detest the word itself?

The empty plastic cups, filled with suspicious liquids, that fly through the air and hit unsuspecting fans on the head may have something to do with it; as might the rowdy teenagers that tent trample – and the rain of course. Either way, overcrowded or commercial festivals tend to put people off, and give music festivals a bad name in the process. It's all rather lucky then, that a wide range of wacky and wondrous, alternative festivals have sprung up all over the world, and resurrected the idea of the truly mind-blowing summer festival experience.

The very nature of an 'alternative' festival suggests diversity and encompasses a range of themes. If you're a folk fan, then the Cambridge Folk Festival is the biggest event on the British calendar, playing host to the shining stars of folk in the beautiful British countryside. In terms of dance, then Exit festival, held in the grounds of a spectacular fortress in Serbia, features every possible DJ set you could dream of.

Alternative festivals do not have to be alternative merely in terms of their musical style. Amsterdam's Lowlands, held in the Dutch countryside, and Germany's Haldern Pop Festival, attract tweed indie-pop outfits who regularly tour Europe in their own right – it's the stunning European countryside, the refreshing range of local beer, and most importantly the intimacy of these events that make them different.

Some festivals take the idea of 'alternative' to a new level altogether; and subvert festival ethos from the inside. Roskilde is Denmark's answer to Glastonbury. Bands such as Radiohead flock to the stage, at this non – profit knees - up; and all proceeds go to humanitarian causes, instead of the big sponsors. If you're looking to make a more individual stand then dirty little techno festivals, Czech-Tech, Italia-Tech and Bulgaria-Tech are becoming better known. Roll up to the respective country, follow the baseline (wherever that might be) and you may just stumble upon the greatest free party of your life. This may be a little too loud if you've got little ones, but ditch the excuses as plenty of alternative festivals provide magical entertainment for children too, such as the Isle of White's fancy dress showdown, Bestival.

Whether it's unusual music, location, or festival set-up that you're seeking, alternative can mean what you want it too right now; so head out on tour this summer- just like your favourite band.