RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS Hold the Most No. 1 Modern Rock Hits

"Anthony Kiedis (lead singer).
Red Hot Chilli Pepper in concert at
The Forum, Inglewood,
California. Stadium Arcadium Tour."
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are a popular rock band formed in 1983, based out of California.  Current band members include: Anthony Kiedis (lead vocals), Michael Balzary, or Flea (Bass), John Frusciante (Guitar/Backing vocals), and Chad Smith (Drums).  While the rock band has gone through several line-up changes and personal conflicts, the band has managed to consistently create very diverse music that combines elements of funk, punk, metal, psychedelic rock, rap, and even pop rock.  The band holds the record for the most #1 Modern Rock hits with nine under their belt, having sold a combined estimate of 50 million copies of their nine studio albums over the past 23 years.  (2006)

The band was originally formed for what was going to be a one-time performance in 1983, but would later land a record deal with EMI.  1987’s The Uplift Mofo Party Plan was the group’s first album to enter the Billboard Top 200, but it was not until the band moved to Warner Brothers Records did the group achieve major success.  In 1991, the band released their fifth album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, which would go on to sell seven million copies in the U.S.  A year after its debut, the album still managed to climb to the #3 spot on the U.S. album charts.  The band would win a Grammy award for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal in 1992 for the album’s single, Give it Away.

Dave Navarro made his first appearance with the band at Woodstock 1994 and would again appear on the band’s album One Hot Minute, released in 1995.  The album turned out to be another commercial success, achieving double-platinum status in the U.S. and selling five million copies outside the U.S.  The band would later part ways with Navarro in 1998.  That same year, the band would come out with another album, Californication, which went on to become an even bigger success than Blood Sugar Sex Magik.  The album climbed to #3 in U.S. album charts and several of its songs became major hits, including: the Grammy award-winning Scar Tissue, Otherside, Californication, Around the World, Road Trippin, and Parallel Universe.

In 2001, the band released By The Way, which entered the charts at #2 and produced hit singles, including: By The Way, The Zephyr Song, Can’t Stop, Dosed, and Universally Speaking.  The group would later release their Greatest Hits album and also their first ever live album, Live in Hyde Park.  In May 2006, the band released their ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium.  The 28-track double album garnered the band their first ever chart topper, debuting at #1 on U.S. album charts and remaining there for two weeks.   

More Information about Red Hot Chili Peppers (Wikipedia)

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NATIVE AMERICAN FLUTE - Music-Instruments of the World

Native American Flute

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HIP HOP Slang, Knowing What It’s All About

Bling Bling Bling! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Okay, now you may be a hip hop fan that is just not with it enough.  Or, you may be new to it.  Or, you may even be a parent trying to figure out what the hip hop slang is all about.  Hey, no problem!  Let’s talk about it here.  If you are not sure what the words you are hearing mean, take a minute to check them out.  We’ll get you in touch with a few here, but know that there are some awesome websites out there that can keep you together as well.  So, don’t pretend to know what bling bling means get with it and learn the hip hop slang!

So, what is it that you do not know?  Perhaps you are not sure what all the “izzle” words are standing for?  This form of hip hop was started by Frankie Smith but has been largely popularized by Snoop Dog, a very popular hip hop artist in the current time.  These words are often just changed to add the “izzle” onto them without changing their meaning.

As for bling bling, this term is used to mean something of high worth.  Usually, it refers to expensive jewelry.  Flashy, highly valuable jewelry is very commonly considered part of the hip hop culture.  Bling bling can also be a term used for those who have a lifestyle built on excess spending and accruing wealth.  Having bling bling isn’t a bad thing!

Okay, so this is nowhere near all the information you need about hip hop slang.  So, what do you do to get what you need to know?  Translating songs or just knowing what the artists are talking about on their videos can be somewhat hard when you can’t figure out the words.  But, it isn’t meant for everyone.  If you are determined to learn what hip hop slang means, check out some of the pretty cool websites that talk about it.  Some are even in dictionary form to help you easily converse in hip hop anytime you want to.  So, get with it and learn your hip hop slang!

Author: Brent Wilson - Source: Articlecity

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Adjusting BASSOON REEDS

Are you collecting musical instruments since you have this dream to learn to play as many instruments as you can? Well, you have an extremely unique goal in your life and if you are really determined to do it; you'll definitely reach it the end. All you need to do is to apply your patience and do it with proper timing. Each step must be taken one at a time. Do you already have a bassoon? Is it still functioning well or can you sense some problem for it can't achieve or hit perfect notes? The pitch is wobbling, isn't it? Your bassoon reed is probably a problem now. But, what really are bassoon reeds and how can you adjust them?

Bassoon Reed - Photo by sigurdga 

Bassoon reeds are important parts that make up your instrument and they are frequently made out of two pieces of thin wood and they must be made for good and satisfying performance. However, the natural variations of the materials and your personal technique in playing the instrument can greatly affect the overall sound produced by the reed. Sounds very right? Thus, a player's style of playing the bassoon and the reeds are among the two main reasons for these differences.

Proper adjustments of the bassoon reeds are really necessary because it will affect the way you play the instrument and if you don't know how, this article will reveal to you some important considerations in doing the adjustments. You need tools and a bit of trial and error in the process so you can determine the defect. Gather the tools first, such as plaque, knife, needle nose pliers, small flat file, mandrel, electronic tuner, and lastly the 35-400 grit sandpaper.

After you've completed those materials you need, moisten the reed and test by playing different notes. Be attentive in hearing the notes and note any problem. Then, adjust two wires with the use of pliers and clip the end of the reed to maintain it and so to increase the pitch if it is flat. Clipping of the reed will enhance the ability of playing high notes.

After which, put the plaque in between two halves of the reed and file down the back area of the reed for you to lessen the buzzing and shard effect of notes when played. End the process by doing again the testing. If you need more adjustments, consider an expert or search for more information online.

By Adam Hermann - Article Source: EzineArticles

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Classical PIANO MUSIC – appeal remains eternal

Even though the genre of music changes with the change of ages, the appeal of classical piano music remains never-ending. This is not said by a few people only but by a great number of experts in western music also. If you are cynical still, you can make a meticulous research in the cyberspace and get acquainted with the reality. There are if truth be told, ample numbers of websites on the internet dealing with classical piano music and you can have a lot of info from them. What makes classical piano music so attractive down the ages? Classical piano music has not only been instrumental in shaping the route of western classical music but has brought to the fore illustrious composers also.

A grand piano with music
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of them is certainly Beethoven; internationally celebrated German composer of instrumental music (in particular symphonic and chamber music) and what is most striking that he continued to compose even after his auditory sense was lost. Another unparalleled great composer is certainly Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a creative Austrian composer, and child prodigy. He is considered as a master of the classical approach in all its forms.

Are you interested to have a feeling of classical piano music? In that case, the internet can be a good friend of yours. To cut a long story short, websites are cropping up across the internet without a single interruption and people from all over the world can log in these sites and start on to learn classical piano music and its different versions.

Thanks to the mounting popularity of classical piano music (certainly a turning point once again), many websites are offering the same at reasonably priced rates or even at free. Again, a number of websites do maintain archives of classical piano music and enable the ordinary of free members even to download a number of them.

Now we must focus on the saga of learning. An assortment of websites let users initiate to teach themselves the basic chords along with notes and in this, the application of computer keyboard is enough. If you are the learner, many websites will educate you how to read classical piano music also. For that reason as soon as you get the same, the free classical piano music websites will appear useful for you. This is a good idea since paying money for a piano for a keyboard or a piano is pricey and you may have to expend a good amount of money. On the contrary, use of a computer keyboard is a good and cost-effective approach. Many people have already learned the basics in this way and you can join their group before long given that you have the dedication, forbearance, intelligence, and acumen. Remember that the combination of all these gives rise to a new facet of you – competence.

This is just the beginning and on condition that there is proficiency, you can learn Beethoven’s "Fur Elise"- considered as one of the most illustrious creations in the realm of classical piano music. The majority of young piano students gain knowledge of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" during the early part of a career. You can also reveal and learn "The Entertainer" of Scott Joplin, "Canon in D major" of Pachelbel and certainly "Moonlight Sonata" of Beethoven.

Tim Jones is the author of this article on Classical Piano Music. Article Directory: Article Dashboard

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Your Personal Tone Generator

A guide to getting a sound and trouble shooting

This is Rogelio Rivas trying to learn his guitar lessons. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A good sound starts from the fingers, through the pick-up to the guitar and out. If you don’t start there, you’re spinning in circles and end up with a transparent (fuzzy) sound without body and response. “Your fingers are your tone generators”. Not the amps or pedals. Those are tools to augment your expression. That’s what guitar lessons teach you, not teaching you a song without teaching you, and guiding you in technique.

And, if you learn a thing or two about trouble shooting “on the fly”, you’ll go down the line to find the problem with your rig. The same goes for finding your sound. When establishing your sound you start with your technique, through the pick-up on down to the amp. With trouble shooting on stage, you should start with the amp and go down the line back to you, which make’s sense. Since you’ve established your rig set up. As you’re trying to fix what was working, you back track. 

This saves time and controls moods, besides the over all situation’s under control. Then, if and when you need to use a stage tech, you’ll have a template in which to explain what it is you require from the person “you” hire. There’s nothing more frustrating than hiring someone, that has no idea what it is you need or want. Imagine working for someone without a clue. A band leader who expects you to read his mind? Communication starts with a plan.

Good luck and sound good, where ever your muse takes you, find a clue.

Stay in touch for a more in depth study of the elusive art of tone. Whose tone is good? Someday maybe I’ll be able to dial in someone else’s tone and tell you for sure what the deal is!!! RIGHT……. It’s all subjective!

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Medieval and Renaissance EUROPE MUSIC

Medieval and Renaissance Europe

While musical life in Europe was undoubtedly rich in the early Medieval era, as attested by artistic depictions of instruments, writings about music, and other records, the only European repertory which has survived from before about 800 is the monophonic liturgical plainsong of the Roman Catholic Church, the central tradition of which was called Gregorian chant. Several schools of liturgical polyphony flourished beginning in the 12th century. Alongside these traditions of sacred music, a vibrant tradition of secular song developed, exemplified by the music of the troubadours, trouveres and Minnesanger.

Much of the surviving music of 14th century Europe is secular. By the middle of the 15th century, composers and singers used a smooth polyphony for sacred musical compositions such as the mass, the motet, and the laude, and secular forms such as the chanson and the madrigal. The introduction of commercial printing had an immense influence on the dissemination of musical styles.

European Baroque

The first operas, written around 1600 and the rise of contrapuntal music define the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the Baroque era that lasted until roughly 1750, the year of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach.

German Baroque composers wrote for small ensembles including strings, brass, and woodwinds, as well as Choirs, pipe organ, harpsichord, and clavichord. During the Baroque period, several major music forms were defined that lasted into later periods when they were expanded and evolved further, including the Fugue, the Invention, the Sonata, and the Concerto.

European Classical

The music of the Classical period is characterized by homophonic texture, often featuring prominent melody with accompaniment.



These new melodies tended to be almost voice-like and singable. The now popular instrumental music was dominated by further evolution of musical forms initially defined in the Baroque period: the sonata, and the concerto, with the addition of the new form, the symphony. Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, well known even today, are among the central figures of the Classical period.

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BACH And HANDEL (Their Influence On Future Composers)

Bach and Handel each in their own way were a great influence on later generations of composers. Both of them, in their own personal way, summed up the major styles of European music. Handel cultivated a concerto that was based the style of Correlli and Bach cultivated a concerto that was based on the style of Vivaldi. Handel perfected the Italian opera and the English Oratorio, while Bach perfected the cantata, the German Passion, and the Latin mass.

Bach and Handel

Handel's music relies more on melody and Bach's relies more on counterpoint. This is not to say that Bach couldn't compose good melodies or that Handel couldn't write good counterpoint. It is merely a general observation. Also Bach relied more on phrasing while Handel relied more on dynamics. Although they were both quite adept at using contrasts of texture to create interest, this technique was more important in Handel's music. Handel's music, for the most part, is more vocally oriented, and Bach's music is more instrumentally oriented. They both were masters of the great European styles of their time, but Handel was much more influenced by the Italian style than Bach, and Bach was more influenced by the German style. It should also be mentioned that Handel's music is easier to perform than Bach's. This is certainly one reason that Bach's music was not as popular in his lifetime as was that of Handel.

Let's discuss Bach's influence first. The most widely disseminated work of his in his own lifetime was the Well Tempered Clavier, a huge work, in two volumes, each volume containing a prelude and fugue in every major and minor key, totaling 48 pairs of preludes and fugues. This work is intended to be didactic as well as entertaining to the keyboard player. It was Bach's intention that the player of these wonderful pieces would not only find them entertaining and joyful to play, but also would gain, from performing them, insight into compositional techniques, especially counterpoint. Many keyboard teachers were still using the WTC a generation after Bach's death, indeed, even Chopin's piano teacher was using this book in the early nineteenth century.

The Well Tempered Clavier of Johann Sebastian Bach is one the most seminal works of music ever produced. Generations of composers learned the art of counterpoint by playing and studying this great collection of preludes and fugues. Most of Bach's music was ignored until the latter half of the nineteenth century when the Bach revival got underway. However certain works of Bach, most notably, The Well Tempered Clavier, were kept alive by a small circle of intellectuals. A man by the name Baron Van Swieten was among these great musical connoisseurs. He hired the twenty-six year-old composer, Wolfgang Mozart to direct his small orchestra during his weekly private concerts which were held on Sunday afternoons. He loaned Mozart a copy of the WTC so that he could study and play it in his leisure time. He paid Mozart to arrange some of the fugues of the WTC for string trio. Mozart was amazed by the genius of this work. It was a profound crisis in Mozart's life to discover such extraordinary contrapuntal music, the likes of which he had never known. Suddenly his counterpoint, which was always very good, became even better. His counterpoint kept getting more and more complex after his encounter with the WTC.

At the age of thirty three Mozart heard one of the Bach motets and was transfixed by its intricate complexity and great beauty. The choirmaster at Leipzig gave Mozart a copy of the score to all six of the Bach motets. He kept these for the rest of his short life, (he had less than three years left to live) treasuring them like the precious jewels they are. They were a profound influence on his late style. In the last two years of his life Mozart's counterpoint became even more exquisite and complex than before.

As for Beethoven,  he was raised on Bach's WTC. He could play through book one in its entirety when he was only eight years old. Despite the fact that Beethoven knew the WTC and most other keyboard music of Bach thoroughly, he was not particularly adept at counterpoint, at least not in his early years. Being interested in the more homophonic style in vogue at the time,  the expressiveness in his music relied more on thematic relationships, harmonic movement, and transformation of motifs. Also I would say that Beethoven relied more on rhythmic iteration and rhythmic transition than any other composer. Nonetheless, his early experience with Bach's keyboard music, especially the WTC, was invaluable for him. In his later years, wanting to compose certain pieces in a more contrapuntal style,  Beethoven worked hard at mastering counterpoint. He returned to the music of  Bach and Handel, and even studied Palestrina. In his late music, he developed a style of counterpoint that is more reminiscent of Handel than Bach. His fugues in his late period are very rhythmic in nature and quite unique in the history of music. He was found of using fugue themes with repeated notes and rather angular outlines. In the last decade of his life Beethoven proved himself to be a capable contrapuntalist, even though it can be said that his counterpoint is sometimes a bit awkward. The ungainliness of his counterpoint actually gives it a certain power, a sense of struggle, unique to his music, and at times even quite charming. It may be hard to assess how much he gained from Bach and how much from Handel. He seems outwardly to have been more influenced by Handel but his knowledge of Bach's keyboard music was certainly invaluable to him. It is hard to say how much of Bach's vocal music Beethoven had seen.  He wrote letters to publishers between 1810 and 1824 requesting them to send him copies of the B-minor Mass but it is not known if he ever received any copy of it. Beethoven had access to the libraries of private collectors such as the Archduke Rudolph, Baron Van Swieten, and others. In these private libraries he could have read many vocal works by Bach, Handel, and other composers.

As mentioned above, Chopin's piano teacher had his students play the WTC. Chopin loved and respected this great tome his entire life. On that famous trip he took with George Sand, to Majorca, it was the only music he took with him. The influence of the WTC on Chopin was profound. Most people don't think of Chopin as a contrapuntist, and it is true that one does not find much in the way of imitative counterpoint in his music. He never composed any fugues, except as an academic exercise when he was still quite young, and there are not many canons by Chopin. However it can, and should, be said that Chopin's counterpoint is exquisite. No other piano music in the entire nineteenth century has such smooth voice-leading. The inner voices in his music are almost as melodically interesting as the bass and treble voices, and the music has a transparency that allows one to hear each separate line clearly. Each voice in his piano music, flows mellifluously and smoothly, with never an awkward measure. The influence of the WTC on Chopin should not be underestimated.

Of course it goes without saying that Brahms was influenced by Bach. More than any other composer, Brahms studied the music of previous composers. He was certainly very fond of Handel but he absolutely loved Bach. Brahms was, perhaps, the greatest contrapuntist of the nineteenth century and to this he owed a certain debt to Bach. Schumann also loved Bach and paid homage to him in his Six pieces in Canonic form, opus 56. Schumann recommended playing one prelude and fugue from the WTC per day. As for Mendelssohn, Bach's influence on Mendelssohn can be most easily seen in his preludes and fugues, which are somewhat reminiscent of some of the preludes and fugues in the WTC.

The music of J.S. Bach was kept alive only by a small circle of intellectuals until the Bach revival that was kicked of by Felix Mendelssohn with his historic performance of The St Mathew Passion in March of 1829.  Bach's vocal and instrumental music was gradually becoming more available in print since the last decade of the eighteenth century but Mendelssohn created a greater awareness of the greatness of his music. Then in 1850,on the hundredth anniversary of Bach's death, the Bach Society was formed in Germany. The Bach Society's raison d'etre was to publish every extant work of J.S. Bach. This huge project was not completed until the very end of the nineteenth century.

Handel's influence on later generations was perhaps more direct. His operas and oratorios are very appealing. He certainly knew how to please a crowd, yet there is so much more than mere pandering to the masses in his music. His juxtapositions of strongly contrasting textures, his carefully times use of dynamics, his beautiful melodies, and his ability to eke out so much expressiveness from one motif, make his music a virtual compendium of compositional technique.

Although Mozart knew only a small fraction of Bach's music, he was thoroughly familiar with the music of Handel. During his childhood trip to England he became well acquainted with Handel's music and he never lost his taste for it. To anyone familiar with Mozart's liturgical music, it is obvious that his knowledge of Handel was deep and thorough. You can hear Handel's influence in some of Mozart's early works, such as The Solemn Vespers, and in later works such as the C minor mass and the Requiem mass. In fact, the opening page of Mozart's Requiem, beautiful as it is, is merely a reworking of the opening choral movement of Handel's funeral music for Queen Caroline. And the glorious double fugue in the Kyrie from the Requiem, uses as one of its two themes, a slightly altered version of the theme that Handel used for "With his Stripes, We are Healed" from his "Messiah."

By far, the major influence of Handel on later generations was through his oratorios, the most famous of which is "Messiah." Baron Von Swieten (mentioned above) commissioned Mozart to re-orchestrate this great work as well as Handel's "Acis and Galatea,"   "Alexander's Feast," and "Ode for St Cecilia's Day." "Messiah" is the most thinly scored of Handel's oratorios, mostly because he was writing it for the city of Dublin, and having never visited that city, did not know what instruments would be available. Messiah is scored for the basic Baroque orchestra, which consists of strings, oboes, and bassoons, with trumpets and kettledrums reserved for the more celebrative numbers. Not only did Mozart add many instruments to the score but he altered many of the arias. Some of them he cut short, or altered certain passages. In some of the arias Mozart changed the harmonic structure. But in the choral movements, he made few changes other than adding instruments to double each voice in the choir. He did the same to "Acis and Galatea." Also, "Acis and Galatea" Mozart added an instrumental countermelody to each aria. These marvelous works would have survived without the Mozart versions, however they became even greater masterpieces when reworked by Mozart. The popularity of Handel's "Messiah" is not to be underestimated. It was immensely popular in his day and has remained so, influencing many composers, especially Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn's two oratorios are obviously influenced greatly by Handel.

As mentioned above there can be found a certain Handelain influence in Beethoven's music. Many of Beethoven's grand themes sound as if they could have been written by Handel. A good example is the main theme to the Consecration of the House overture. More than once in his life Beethoven expressed his opinion that Handel was the greatest composer who ever lived. It should be mentioned, however, that Beethoven knew very little of Bach's music outside of the keyboard works.

In general, the nineteenth century, composers were influenced by the grandeur and power of Handel and the exquisite, complex counterpoint of Bach. The most creative of these composers were able to incorporate into their own unique style what they learned from these masters. Bach and Handel were both incredible in their own right, and they were also seeds that bore great fruit in future generations. The influence of these composers should not be underestimated. Bach's WTC alone was a tremendous influence, as was Handel's Messiah. It seems to me that Handel's influence is more direct and obvious, some examples are Mendelssohn's "Elijah" and much of Mozart's church music.  Unfortunately, many of Bach's great choral masterpieces were not heard or published for over 150 years. What would Mozart have thought of Bach's B minor mass, or St Mathew Passion?  How would the Christmas Oratorio or the Magnificat have influenced Mozart if he had known these wonderful pieces? We will never know.

The influence of Bach is more subtle than the influence of Handel and can be seen mostly in the way other composers learned counterpoint by studying his works. If you want to learn how to create a bass line that goes well with the melody, supports the harmony, yet has beauty, and an independence and logic of its own, there is no better composer to study than Bach. If you want to compose contrapuntal music with complexity, yet with smoothness, clarity, and transparency, then studying the music of Bach and Handel is indispensable.

Article Directory: EzineArticles

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THE BEATLES Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the Most Overrated Album of All Time

The Beatles Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album has been universally acclaimed by critics and fans alike as one of the best albums ever made, if not THE best album ever made. Rolling Stone magazine gave the record top honors on their list of best albums of all time. Clearly the album was a breakthrough at the time it was released, due to the Beatles' use of major advancements in recording technology. But was it really the best album of all time?

Front cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, "probably the most famous album cover in popular musical history"Ashplant Smyth 2001, p. 185. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The main knock on Sgt Pepper is that it is overproduced and underwritten, and contains several other flaws that do not exist on other Beatles records. Yes, I said it. There is something wrong with Sgt Pepper, and it is by far the most overrated album in the Beatles catalog, and possibly the most overrated album of all time. Here are the arguments:

1) Overproduced: The stereo effects are way too exaggerated, with vocals or other sounds panned all the way to the left or right, indicating a wild overuse of the Beatles newfound opportunity to mix a record in multitrack stereo. Albums since then, even Beatles albums subsequently produced, do not make use of such gimmicky stereo panning unless the effect is designed to be extreme. In the case of some of the tunes on Sgt Pepper, the extreme panning serves as a distraction instead of an enhancement.

2) Underwritten: Since Sgt Pepper has some of the Beatles best work, in the form of "With a Little Help From My Friends", "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", and the magical wonder of "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite", it is often overlooked that these remarkable tunes sit right next to some of the Beatles' most mediocre songwriting. Compare the songs on Sgt Pepper to other Beatles records that came before (Revolver, Rubber Soul) or after (the White Album, Abbey Road), and you'll notice that there are several tracks that don't appear as polished as the Beatles' best work.

Take "She's Leaving Home", for example, which paints a melancholy portrait of a girl's troubled life, using a string section in the background to emphasize the drama. It is reasonably effective, but compare it to "Eleanor Rigby", the standout track from Revolver, which accomplished a very similar theme with far superior results, both melodically and lyrically, and in the memorable quality of the string arrangements. If a recording of that caliber had been on Sgt Pepper in place of "She's Leaving Home", it would have improved the album immeasurably.

Next, take a look at "Lovely Rita", "Getting Better", and "Good Morning, Good Morning", the last of which John Lennon himself even dismissed as forgettable filler years later when distancing himself from the idea that Sgt Pepper was a "concept album". These tunes are rarely cited by fans as favorites, are not considered hits or classic Beatles songs, and frankly are a bit silly and lacking in prestige compared to the Beatles best work. There is nothing wrong with having them on a Beatles album, but their presence detracts from the idea that Sgt Pepper is a musical masterpiece.

3) Paul ruined "A Day in the Life": This dreamy album finale, whose primary structure was composed by John Lennon, has an unfortunate middle section written apparently too quickly by Paul McCartney. An honest listener will cringe just slightly when Paul stumbles through the awkward phrasing of the line "went upstairs and had a smoke, then somebody spoke and I went into a dream", which has too many syllables for the melody and lacks the usual careful semantics of Paul's typical songwriting. It's clear that the idea was to present a contrasting "day in the life" to the hazy meanderings of John's verses, but it just doesn't hold up, and sits as a wart on the record - a decent idea poorly executed.

4) They left out the two best songs: As many fans know, the recording sessions that spawned Sgt Pepper were actually started with the recording of two of the Beatles' undeniably finest tracks, "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever", which were released months before Sgt Pepper as a double A-sided single. Sir George Martin has said since that one of his biggest regrets was not holding onto those songs to include them on Sgt Pepper, where they almost certainly would have displaced weaker material like "Lovely Rita" or "She's Leaving Home". If they had been included, both tunes would have also bolstered the "concept" album theme, which is supposed to include childhood memories, explored within a circus atmosphere, as performed by a fictitious band. As it stands, this theme is not served at all by the weaker tunes, and the album does not hold up in hindsight as any kind of a concept album, especially when compared to later rock masterpieces like The Who's Tommy, which maintains, expands, and nurtures its theme all the way through.

As a hardcore Beatles fanatic, I love Sgt Pepper, as I love every Beatles album, but I think it is an accurate statement to say that the album is overrated when it is hailed as the Beatles finest work. Another record like Revolver, Abbey Road, or even Rubber Soul holds up much better on a song-by-song basis, and deserves that honor.

The new remastered albums came out this year (2010 !) , and have received rave reviews, so Beatles fans can now appreciate the music in an improved format vs anything that has been previously released. In fact, the Beatles recently released the stereo box set in the form of a Beatles USB apple, and the reviews of that product include the fact that it has an audio format called 24-bit FLAC which is superior to CDs, so fans and real audiophiles can revisit all the albums in a higher quality audio format, and have the whole Beatles collection on one USB drive.

By James Magary Article Source: EzineArticles

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How to Practice Classical ORGAN MUSIC on the Spinet Electronic Organ With the Short Pedal Board?

Hammond TR-200 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Although much of classical organ music requires the full length of pedal board, not every organist have access to this kind of instrument, either pipe organ or electronic organ. Many people have Spinet electronic organs at home and they have to solve the pedal playing problem because Spinet organ pedal board have only 13 keys (C-c). For organists who practice on various kinds of electronic organs, such as Spinet, adjusting to the short pedal board is a very important question. In this article, I will give you 2 solutions for practicing classical organ music on the Spinet electronic organ with the short pedal board.

In general, it depends on what kind of music you are working on. There is plenty of organ music which was written for manuals only. Obviously, to play such music on the Spinet organ is no problem at all. In addition, a significant part of early organ repertoire was composed with a short pedal board in mind.

For example, Italian organs for many centuries didn't have a full pedal board so anything Italian would work fine on a Spinet organ. The question remains what to do with the classical organ music, like the music of Bach which often requires 27 note pedal board (sometimes even 30)

In general, for music which requires the full compass of pedal board you have only 2 options:

1) To arrange the pedal part so that it will fit the short compass of the Spinet. For example, notes in the pedal part above tenor c would have to be played one octave lower. Sometimes an entire excerpt might be played one octave lower.

If you have to play notes from c sharp up to f in the treble octave, you can lower them by two octaves. In doing so, you may also have to adjust the pedaling. For example, this could mean that using the right foot on the Spinet organ might be complicated so the majority of notes should be played by the left foot.

2) To play as written, imagine the additional pedals, and press the approximate spot on the floor. It is also possible to add a wooden board on the floor of approximate the same height as the Spinet pedals so that you will have the same feeling while playing with your feet. In addition, you can draw the missing pedals on this board so that you will know exactly where to play.

If you want to play classical organ music on the Spinet electronic organ, use the above tips for pedal playing. It is also a good idea from time to time to get access to the real pipe organ. Occasional practice on a full length pedal board will allow you to have the correct feeling for your feet.

By Vidas Pinkevicius By the way, do you want to learn to play the King of Instruments - the pipe organ? If so, download my FREE video guide "How to Master Any Organ Composition" http://www.organduo.lt/organ-tutorial.html in which I will show you my EXACT steps, techniques, and methods that I use to practice, learn and master any piece of organ music. Article Source: EzineArticles

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Bowed musical instrument VIOLA

Many people are unfamiliar to the instrument viola and can envision a viola to be a violin. But viola is a stringed instrument that looks similar to violin and it belongs to the class of stringed instrument that is bowed like a violin. On a closer inspection of the instrument viola you can recognize the distinctions between a violin and a viola. The timbre of viola is filled with rich sound and it has a full bodied structure .The instrument is generally not played solo like violin and it does not have the repute of a violin .It is played in concerts and you can find the instrument getting played in inner musical chords and harmonies.

"Playing viola". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Violas have a bow like structure and to play the instrument it is positioned on the shoulders of the player. The instrument size does not have a regular standard size like a violin. The size of viola varies to suit musicians of different age groups. For a child the size of the viola can be 12 inches and for adults the size varies from 13 to 16.5 inches depending upon the choice of the musician. Even a small sized viola has the strong sound like the bigger ones due to its sound box. Voila has a large body and thick strings that need the musicians to have great physical stamina to play the instrument and to press the strings. A few people find it uncomfortable to hold viola on shoulders and for such instrument players a light material and short viola are made accessible.

There are many choices available to the buyers who wish to buy viola for themselves .The person’s comfort level on the instrument helps in selection of the instrument type. Viola is hand made instrument and its looks are very aesthetical .There are many a popular violas in market and one among them is called Mozart.

To purchase a viola you need not go to the local store near your house to check out for the instrument. The internet technology can help you to have your instrument at your doorstep through the window shopping faculties available on the websites. You can get the product online with a guarantee that if you are discontented with the delivered product you are free to return it back to us. You can call us through the leading website of the product called Stringworks. To get more information regarding the instrument and to give it just a try to know how to play the instrument, you can opt for a hired instrument through our website.

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LES PAUL GUITARS - What Makes Them Special?

A 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom guitar.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Gibson Les Paul guitar was conceived at the very beginning of electric guitar history and has held its place at the forefront of guitar technology ever since. The two key elements that make the Les Paul guitars special are the vision of Les Paul himself, an eminent guitarist and enthusiastic inventor and the fact that the Gibson guitar company has always held extremely high standards of excellence for its instruments. 

Les Paul is often credited with inventing the solid body electric guitar, and his involvement with the Gibson models was more or less just a happy accident. When he was a teenage performer he tried amplifying an ordinary acoustic guitar so that he could be heard by the audience. The feedback that resulted was finally eliminated by attaching the neck of an Epiphone guitar onto a block of wood. This was so strange looking that Les' musical talents were not taken seriously so he attached wings to the side of the wood so that it resembled a conventional guitar shape.

The moving force behind the financial and artistic success of the Les Paul guitar was the desire of the Gibson Guitar Corporation to market a solid body model electric guitar under the name of an established guitarist. By this time, the early 1950's, Les Paul was the most popular electric guitar player of the time. It would be a great triumph for Gibson to snare the endorsement of this guitarist who had conceived and made his own electric guitar which had become the basis for a solid electric guitar sold by his friend, Leo Fender. Eventually, after recommending some changes to the appearance of the new Gibson guitar, Les Paul allowed it to be released under his name.

There are a couple of design elements that stand out in the Les Paul range of guitars. The strings on a Les Paul guitar are mounted "hollow body style" on top of the guitar instead of passing through the body as is common with other brands of solid body guitars. This is merely a stylistic distinction, not affecting the sound of the guitar. The characteristic warm tone of the Les Paul guitars is due to the types of wood chosen by Gibson for these models. As we should expect from a guitar endorsed by the man whose own guitar design was nicknamed "the log", Les Paul guitars are also heavier and thicker than other solid body guitars. Both Les Paul and the Gibson corporation were fans of starting with substance and piling on heaps of style, so most Les Paul model guitars feature flashy inlays on the neck and headstock.

The Gibson Guitar Corporation has made many models under the Les Paul brand. Featuring names like Classic, Supreme, Standard, Studio Baritone, Studio, Goddess, Menace, New Century, Vixen, Special, Doublecuts and Melody Maker, each one has its own individual sound. Between 1969 and 1979 Gibson even marketed a range of Les Paul bass guitars. The Gibson Les Paul guitars have also been imitated by other companies such as Ibanez and Tokai. The legal wrangles surrounding these attempts at copying Les Paul guitars have only added to their collectibility.

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MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Of The Renaissance, The Ancestor Of Modern Musical Instruments

The Renaissance is an important time period of history; the word means in French “rebirth” and is very appropriate to define the most spectacular historical age in Italy. Western Europe was also influenced by its main features, the revival of learning based on classical sources (Greek and Latin), and the rise of papal patronage, the development of perspective and great advancements of science.

Albrecht Durer was the first to describe Italian art as “Renaissance”. Giorgio Vasari, Giotto, Masaccio, Bruneleschi, and Donatello are developing the painting art to the perfection. Leonardo da Vinci, a great scientist, painter and sculptor, Michelangelo developed their awesome art on the desire to study the nature.

Left: Octochordis mandolino-lira (mandolin)
Right: Mandolino (mandolin)
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Renaissance was a great period for musical instruments. Renaissance music is represented by liturgical forms. Composers of sacred music began to adopt new forms, such as “madrigal” and use improved musical instruments of the Renaissance. Sacred new genres appeared; the madrigale spirituale, the laude, the mass and the motet. Instrumental music was composed for viol or recorder. Most popular genres were the toccata, the ricercar, the prelude, and the canzona. The great idea of polyphonies, the basic of today’s music, is coming from those great times.

The most important is that most of the musical modern instruments have evolved from the musical instruments of the Renaissance. Many popular musical instruments, such as flute, oboe, trumpet, trombone, and guitar can be traced back to the Renaissance. Wind instruments are really related to this period. Many musical instruments of the Renaissance were made out of wood, such as shawm, flute, recorder or sackbut. The shawm is the first oboe; it is also the ancestor of English horn and bassoon. All these musical instruments of the Renaissance were played with a double reed. The shawm produces really loud sounds, the kortholt and the dulcian too. All those musical instruments of the Renaissance are using a reed-cap and have a two and one-half octave range.

The cornetts were also very popular during the Renaissance; all of them were made out of wood. Today the trumpets are made out of brass. Musical instruments of the Renaissance such as cornetts come in three types: the curved Cornett, the mute Cornett, and the straight Cornett. The recorder, the flute, and the transverse wee also very popular during the Renaissance, because they were easy to play.

The transverse flute was the first musical instrument of the Renaissance where the vibrato can be used. Today vibrato is used on a large scale of musical instruments.

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CLASSICAL for Beginners

Now and then, people ask me for advice on where to begin with the daunting world of classical music recordings. They've heard bits here and there, they're curious, they imagine they'd probably enjoy it once they got involved, but they wouldn't know where to look if they walked into -- oops, I mean logged onto eMusic.com and started poking around. My strategy is always to offer a handful of suggestions, in as wide a variety as possible. "Try these," I say. "See what grabs you, and we'll work from there." 

That's the idea behind this Dozen. Here are 12 recordings selected to entice people who have had little exposure to classical music, but who know they want more. I've carefully contrived the list to cover a wide range of colors and styles, instruments and moods, shapes and sizes. Some pieces are light, some heavy; some charming, some imposing; some dramatic, meditative, amorous, tragic, lofty, goofy. All in all, the selections encompass 1,200 years of music history -- and they've all been chosen to make a good first impression and whet your appetite. They're "gateway" works, if you will. I'd be surprised if there were anyone who couldn't find something on this list that pleasured and intrigued them. Think of it as a sampler, a tapas menu: if you don't care for the stuffed olives/Renaissance Mass, try the garlic shrimp/20th-century string quartet. 

Are these the twelve greatest works ever? No, though some of them could justly claim a place on such a list. Most of these are works I actually have suggested to people, and which have gotten a favorable response. Others I have seen appeal to newbies in ways I never expected. Others are just a few personal favorites which I proselytize for whenever possible. 

Gregorian Chant For Easter

Artist: Capella Antiqua, Munich 

Release Date: 2006

The recorded history of "classical" music in the Western "art" tradition (so many of these terms are so problematic) begins in the medieval period with music composed for church use -- settings of sacred texts in Latin for choirs singing in unison, just one note at a time. The serene meditativeness of Gregorian chant (named for liturgical reformer Pope Gregory, 540-604, who launched the practice according to legend) has made it popular in recent years, usable as a backdrop for anything from yoga to post-rave chilling. There are plenty of chant CDs out there, some with hipper packaging, but these performances by the male voices of Capella Antiqua, Munich, surrounded by a cathedral-like halo of reverb, are stately and gorgeous.

Ockeghem: Requiem

Artist: Ensemble Organum, Marcel Pérès 

Release Date: 1993

A friend of mine, also a musician, has played a number of classical pieces for his infant son, and reports that Allen seems to like the music of Johannes Ockeghem (c. 1410-1497) best. It could be the way this Renaissance composer weaves voices together to create a sort of ear-blanket. Or perhaps this music's low gentle murmuring reminds him of sounds in utero. Either way, the Ensemble Organum's performance of this Requiem (a Mass to honor the dead) is spacious and calm, but also possesses a sort of authoritative, virile resonance. 

Bach: Six Concertos for the Margrave of Brandenburg

Artist: Trevor Pinnock 

Release Date: 2008

Incomparably joyous and sparkling, these six pieces can claim to be both the greatest of baroque instrumental works and, with the possible exception of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" concertos, the most popular. Composers in the baroque era (roughly 1600-1750) prioritized a musical skill called counterpoint, the practice of combining independent instrumental or vocal lines into a complex whole. Johann Sebastian Bach had no rivals (and surely never will) in this art, giving every section of the orchestra something rewarding -- and fun -- to do. He built structures of grandeur and irresistible energy. Each of these concertos are scored for a different combination; if you'd like a taste, try the first movement of the Concerto no. 2, in which four bright-toned soloists (violin, flute, oboe and trumpet) dance festively around the accompanying string orchestra, or the fleet finale of the Concerto no. 3, a whirlwind showpiece for strings alone.

MOZART: Overtures

Artist: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

After Bach and his contemporaries had brought Baroque counterpoint to its peak, composers of the next generation reacted by lightening the texture of their music. The melody line dominated, and the middle and bass instruments were entrusted with harmonic and rhythmic accompaniment rather than with independent lines of their own. This new style, though, was no less bubbling and energetic -- see the overtures (instrumental preludes) which Mozart (1756-91) wrote for his operas. Brilliant attention-getters, arresting but never too pompous, full of catchy tunes, cheeky wind solos and stirring trumpet-and drum passages, these overtures are played with great verve by Capella Istropolitana.

CHOPIN: Etudes Opp. 10 and 25

Artist: Freddy Kempf 

Release Date: 2004

Frederic Chopin's music, full of innovations in nuances of harmony and delicate coloristic effects, pushed the boundaries of what a piano could do. In these two sets of etudes (completed in 1832 and 1836), he also pushed piano technique, making unprecedented demands of virtuosity in works that are still among the most richly dazzling ever written. Not all the pieces are finger-tanglers, though; some are studies in sensitive touch and singing melody. Though pianist Freddy Kempf's technique is precise, these etudes are for him poetry first; in op. 10 no. 3 in E or op. 25 no. 1 in A-flat, he phrases the surface melody with the expressivity a great vocalist might bring to it.

Pearl Fishers and Other Famous Operatic Duets

Artist: Various Artists

It occurred to me that an album of duets might make an even better introduction to opera than one of solo arias -- even though those big diva/divo moments are what the general public thinks of when they hear the term opera. Duets, of course, display the character interplay that the dramatic side of opera is all about: love, conflict, friendship -- or betrayal, as in the searing finale to Act II of Verdi's Otello, when Iago falsely swears loyalty to the title character. Two rapturous and justly popular duets recorded here come from French operas, the rest from Italian. Complete recordings of many of these operas are also available on eMusic, so if these excerpts whet your appetite, you can move on to explore the entire work.

Dvorak / Haydn / Shostakovich: String Quartets

Artist: Quartetto Cassoviae 

Release Date: 2000

Contained on this disc is a mini-history of the string quartet itself: an elegant, buoyant piece (1799) by Franz Josef Haydn, a pioneer of the form; a fragrantly tuneful example (1893) by Antonin Dvorak, written under the influence of American folksong; and a bitter, semi-autobiographical work (1960) by Dmitri Shostakovich, reflective of his state of mind during a life lived under Soviet oppression. The Quartetto Cassoviae's performance of this last quartet is perhaps the disc's most impressive: it's taut, wiry, grippingly expressive and even a little nightmarish.

  

Alexander Borodin: Symphony No.2 - Conducted by Carlos Kleiber & Erich Kleiber

Artist: Kleiber 

Release Date: 2003

I chose this symphony because I clearly remember my sister, eight or nine at the time, dragged to one of my school orchestra concerts and, at its conclusion, telling me she liked this piece best. The brusque gesture that launches Alexander Borodin's Second Symphony (1876) is definitely one of the more arresting openings: glowering, passionate and Russian, Russian, Russian. Compare it to the sinuous oboe melody that comes later, and you hear the two sides of Borodin's musical personality: barbaric vs. sensuous, both tinged with the exotic folk colors of ancient Asian tribes. This disc is also the only one I know that offers father-son performances of the same work, by Erich (1890-1956) and Carlos Kleiber (1930-2004).

STRAVINSKY: 125th Anniversary Album - The Rite of Spring / Violin Concerto (Stravinsky, Vol. 8)

Artist: Jennifer Frautschi

When Igor Stravinsky got a commission to write music for a ballet depicting ancient fertility rituals, did he intend from the start to revolutionize musical history? He filled his colorful score (completed in 1913) with pounding, asymmetrical rhythms and harsh dissonances -- unprecedented elements at the time; he's one of the many composers in the first few decades of the 20th century who tossed a bomb into the middle of Romantic-era assumptions about what music could be. This earthy, viscerally intense showpiece still startles audiences -- especially those who see classical music as something stuffy and genteel. Think of it as heavy metal classical. Robert Craft, a longtime colleague of the composer, conducts a particularly gutsy and un-pretty performance.

Strauss: Symphonia Domestica / Eine Alpensinfonie / Oboe Concerto / Duett-Concertino

Artist: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra 

Release Date: 2006

This disc shows the two sides of composer Richard Strauss. In the Symphonia domestica (1903) and Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony, 1915), he capped the tradition of German romanticism with two of the grandest and most opulent orchestral works ever; in his two nostalgic concertos (one for oboe from 1945, the other for clarinet and bassoon from 1947), he revived the spirit of Mozart in slender, tuneful, but autumnal pieces for a (much) smaller orchestra. Oboe soloist Jonathan Small, in particular, plays with ravishing fluency, and conductor Gerard Schwarz is especially adept in this soaring, sweeping music.

Daughters Of The Lonsome Isle

Artist: Margaret Leng Tan 

Release Date: 1994

Just by inserting screws, rubber erasers and other tidbits between a piano's strings, John Cage (1912-1992) was able to turn the instrument into a miniature percussion orchestra. This was just one of the avant gardist's many innovations. On this disc, keyboardist Margaret Leng Tan, the world's foremost toy piano virtuoso, pays homage to Cage's experiments, his rhythmic vitality and the Zen-inspired spirit that led him to ask profound conceptual questions about music. But even as Cage challenged traditional notions of music, it's not hard to find great beauty, wit, depth and spiritual gentleness in his work. It's scarcely possible, for example, not to fall in love with Cage's pulsing, gnomic Bacchanale or the elegiac In the Name of the Holocaust, which proves that the instrument he called a "prepared piano" was just as capable of stark intensity.

Reich: Different Trains

Artist: The Duke Quartet, Andrew Russo & Marc Mellits

As a child in the early '40s, composer Steve Reich used to travel across the U.S. by train each year. In thinking about the very "different trains" he could have been riding as a Jew had he grown up in Europe, Reich was inspired to compose this powerful work for string quartet and tape. Snippets of recorded interviews with actual railroad employees are woven among the urgently churning string parts, with their licks echoing the speakers' vocal inflections. Also included here is Reich's 1967 Piano Phase, which was a groundbreaking early work that used a compositional technique that caught his imagination: complex rhythmic effects achieved by subtle shifts in temporal coordination between musicians, creating a trance-like rippling effect.

Cheap ELECTRIC GUITARS

If you are looking for cheap electric guitars there is a lot of choice out there. 

You can buy a cheap electric guitar from as little as £70 and there are a number of brands making cheap guitars.

Don’t spend under £90 on a guitar

PRS Standard 22 Platinum Guitar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you are buying your first electric guitar, I wouldn’t recommend spending under £90. Most of these guitars are built with very cheap materials to bring the production costs down, hence the retail price. The guitar’s sound will be compromised with this lower quality and the finish will also look a bit rough. 

You will usually find that the guitar strings are the cheapest ones you can buy, they will sound twangy. 

The other downside of these cheap electric guitars due to the low build quality is the durability. You will be lucky if you can play it for more than 1 year and not have a problem with the guitar parts. You will end up with a cheap electric guitar (cheap meaning the quality this time and not the price). 

Spend £90-£150 on a guitar

My advice is to spend between £90 and £150 on your first electric guitar. You will get some reasonable quality at the lower end and good quality at the upper end. 

Electric guitar brands to look out for

Here is a list of guitar brands that offer beginner electric guitars within the above price range: Stagg, Crafter, Vintage, Encore, Cruiser by Crafter, Gould, Squier, Yamaha, Dean, Peavey, Epiphone, Carlsbro and Ibanez.

The Epiphone, Vintage and Yamaha are the most popular electric guitars from the above list, the Stagg offers the best value for money in my opinion.

Should I Buy My Guitar in a Music Shop or Online? 

It is really up to you, but my advice would be to buy one of the recommended guitar brands above. You can do this easily online, and you won’t get a shop salesman trying to push what’s best for them rather than what’s best for you.

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