Saturday, January 20, 2018

The Melodic Sounds of the TRUMPET

Trumpet player Maynard Ferguson
Trumpet player Maynard Ferguson (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The trumpet is an instrument that is a member of the brass family, though it has also been referred to as a wind or an aerophone instrument, and has the highest register among all the brass instruments. The trumpet is made out of brass tubing that is narrowest at the mouthpiece and widest at the end.

This particular instrument, like other brass instruments, is played by blowing into the mouthpiece through closed lips to create a vibration. The instrument as three keys or piston valves that work to alter the sound produced, often creating a lower pitch. Each valve will lower the sound the trumpet makes as it is pressed down by the musician. There are also different kinds of trumpets that are tuned to different notes. The most common trumpet played is known as the B-flat trumpet. Other types of trumpets that are played but are not as common are the C, D, E, F, G, and A.

Surprisingly enough, the trumpet has been around for a very long time, even if the earlier trumpets did not look like the trumpets people are more familiar with today. The earliest proof of the existence of trumpets goes back as far as 1500 BC, though it is believed that trumpets could have easily existed before this as well.

Another interesting note about the trumpet is that it was not originally used for music. Instead, it was used for signaling purposes for religious ceremonies or military use. It really was not until medieval times that the trumpet started to be used more as a musical instrument instead of being limited to previous purposes. In fact, it was even seen as a special talent, which those who played would keep to themselves because it was regarded as a guarded craft. It was after this time that the trumpet really started to change, as improvements and adaptations were made to have the trumpet keep up with its demands. Even with these improvements, the addition of the valves on the trumpet did not occur until the early to mid-1800s.


It appears that few young people will take up the instrument instead of popular instruments like the guitar and the piano. A common misconception is that it is really simple to play, but the truth is that it can be a little complex. One has to have good control of the air that they blow into the trumpet in order to get the right sound. Some will take an interest in the trumpet because they appreciate its bold and bright sound. It is common in marching bands, in the military and is also common in schools.

It is a relatively inexpensive instrument to play in comparison to others, so school bands will sometimes be able to teach students who want to learn it. Its drawback for many people is that it does not have a wide range of sounds and many who want to learn how to play an instrument are looking for something that can create a variety of different sounds.


    Victor Epand is an expert consultant for used CDs, autographed CDs, and used musical instruments. 
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Friday, January 19, 2018

BASS GUITAR Tabs And Their Place In The Circle Of Life


Tapping on a bass guitar
Tapping on a bass guitar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Bass guitar tab is an extremely popular way of writing bass guitar music. If you are interested in becoming a bass guitarist you need to get familiar with bass guitar music by playing the bass lines of some of your favorite songs before you let your inner bass player off the chain. Utilizing this handy tool you can learn how to be the bass player in a band quickly without getting too much into boring theory.

The bass player's job is simply to keep time. Nothing could be easier. Until you try to do it. So what is actually involved? The bass guitar player keeps time by playing a 'bassline' which is usually a rhythmic' sequence of notes. The bass player brings together the rhythmic playing of the drummer with the melodies and chords played by the lead guitarist. Do you need to be a talented musician to do this? Yes, you do. The bass guitar player is the guy who switches off his brain and becomes one with the flow of the music. He then switches his brain back on and become the designated driver for the rest of the band.

A novice bass guitarist may not immediately be able to follow (or lead) the rest of the band right from the start. You might need some material to work with while you ease into the job. Bass guitar tab gives the guitar player written directions on what to play to give the bass line to a song. Tablature is a written representation of the strings of the guitar using numbers to show the frets. If you want to learn the bass guitar quickly tab will help you.  It is easy to pick up and to remember, and it enables you to learn the riffs and phrases you need to give structure to your band's music.

A bass guitar tab is a picture of the fretboard which can be drawn using Notepad on your computer or, if you like, by hand. The frets are numbered on lines representing the guitar strings. If you have a four string bass, the upper string is the G string, next to the D string, the A string, and the E string. The numbers below the lines are the frets where the notes are played. If there is zero below the line it means the open string is played. A chord is represented in bass guitar tabs by two numbers, one above the other. Most bass guitar tabs contain a legend which explains any unfamiliar terms.



With the history of rock music going back for generations, tabs are available for any song you can think of. The internet is by far the best source for bass guitar tabs. Just do a Google search and you will have more material than you will ever need. All you have to do is learn and practice. Learn and practice your favorite songs first. Bass guitar is not a musical instrument you can approach without passion. Bass guitar riffs can be learned from tab books but should be played from the heart.




Thursday, January 18, 2018

Everything You Need to Know About Violin From A-Z - YEHUDI MENUHIN

Yehudi Menuhin à l'âge de 12 ans - Photo: Wikimedia
Wow! we have almost reached the end of the series violin from A-Z. Today we are on Y for Yehudi Menuhin. Yehudi Menuhin is regarded as the greatest violin virtuoso ever to have lived.

He was born in New York to Russian Jewish parents but later became a citizen of Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Yehudi began receiving violin lessons at the age of three and displayed an extraordinary talent for someone so young. His first solo performance was at the age of seven with the San Francisco Symphony at Carnegie Hall. As a child and teenager, his fame was phenomenal Albert Einstein is said to have exclaimed at the end of one of his concerts "Now I know there is a God."

During world war two Yehudi performed for performing for the allied soldiers he also performed for the inmates of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp upon its liberation. During this time he experienced physical and artistic difficulties caused by overwork as well as unfocused practice. He overcame these difficulties using meditation and yoga.

He has married twice first to Nola Nicholas an Australian he had two children with her. They divorced in 1947 after which he married the British Ballerina and actress Diana Gould together they had two sons and another child which died shortly after birth. Menuhin continued to perform well into old age and died in Berlin Germany from complications of bronchitis.

The name Yehudi means Jew in Hebrew. His name comes from an incident when his parents were looking for a new apartment; the landlady told them that she would never rent to Jews. His mother was so angry that she vowed that her new baby would have a name that proclaimed his race to all the world.

    Eric B. Hill is a professional violin player and teacher with over 20 years experience.

    Article Source: EzineArticles



Wednesday, January 17, 2018

From Ancient Horns To BRASS ENSEMBLES

Soprano Cornet
Soprano Cornet (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Whether you are watching a parade, listening to an orchestra, or attending a jazz ensemble nothing can capture your attention more than when the brass instruments play. They are bold, rich, exciting, and majestic. They have a certain unique regal tone that commands people to sit up and take notice.

Interestingly though, just because they are called brass instruments does not mean that they are just made of brass. Other materials that have been used in their construction include wood, cane, horn, tusk, clay, and even crystal. In addition, most saxophones and flutes and many clarinets are made of brass but are categorized as woodwind instruments, not brass instruments.

Brass instruments have descended from ancient horns. Their first use was in military, royal, or hunting contexts. Curt Sachs reported that even around 1250BC the si-im was played which is depicted as a short and thick horn played with a large frame drum. There was evidence found that around 1400BC straight trumpets were played by soldiers. A trumpet-shaped music instrument was even found in Tutankhamen's tomb. It was not until the late 1600's that brass instruments acquired a new role as an art instrument. During this time, physical alterations were made to them to allow for improved ease of fingering and made blowing less effortful. These improvements enhanced their artistic role and they became a regular member of the orchestra.

By the 1830's the first brass bands came into existence, most notably in England, Wales, and the United States. The first one in the U.S. was established by Allen Dodworth in 1834 as the Brass Band of New York. Beginning in 1860, mechanical changes were made which gave every instrument a complete scale of notes throughout the range. With these enhancements, brass instruments took on an even stronger, clearer, crisper sound. By 1900 there was an explosion in their popularity. Almost every park built a bandstand gazebo and some brass bands attracted 10-20,000 people. Their popularity declined after World War II but increased again in 1960.

Today, brass bands, or brass ensembles as they are more commonly called, continue to include brass instruments such as French horns, trumpets, euphoniums, tubas, trombones, etc. These groups play classical, Broadway, show tunes, marches, and pop/rock music. Some ensembles are not such brass instrument purists and include other instruments such as woodwind instruments, percussion instruments, bass, guitars, or keyboards. With additional instruments, a wider array of musical mixes can be played, such as Dixieland, jazz, rock, blues, or funk. An advantage of being in a brass ensemble is that the players have the freedom to take on roles usually reserved for other instruments. When in a brass ensemble each player has a responsibility to work as a team so not one person or music instrument dominates the sound. The focus of the group is cohesiveness with one mutual goal and a flexibility to accept other's ideas.


Brass instruments have had a long history since ancient times. They have acquired popularity through their ability to produce a rich, bold, exciting sound and their prevalence in so many musical genres. When we hear brass instruments we tend to pay attention and listen. 

    By Dianna Joseph
    Dianna Joseph is the owner of DJ Music Store. She is a saxophonist, novice pianist, and novice guitarist. In addition, she is an occupational therapist who works with a host of disabilities utilizing sensory integration and neurodevelopmental therapy in combination with music and a variety of other techniques to assist these persons in achieving the highest level of function and quality of life possible.
    Article Source: EzineArticles


Tuesday, January 16, 2018

LOUIS ARMSTRONG: Transformation From Reform School to Infamous Trumpets

Head and shoulders portrait of jazz musician L...
Head and shoulders portrait of jazz musician Louis Armstrong. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Trumpets have been in existence since primitive times, but they did not really gain the recognition they deserved until the infiltration of jazz into the music world. When Buddy Bolden altered his own music style in the 1890's, it had the first inklings of what jazz music would become with its hearty spirit and spontaneity. He eventually leads the first genuine New Orleans jazz band. Continuing to invent jazz music was Freddie Keppard and Joe "King" Oliver playing the cornet as the lead instrument.

Then along came Louis Armstrong from a poor section of New Orleans where the heroes of the neighborhood were gamblers and pimps. His first musical instrument, within the family of trumpets, was a long, tin horn that he would blast while working on a coal delivery wagon to let clients know the wagon was coming. At age 10 Louis Armstrong had earned enough money to buy a battered cornet in a pawnshop. By age 11 he had left school, left his job, and organized a street corner quartet. Unfortunately, while on the street he committed some minor crimes and was sent to reform school at the age of 12. While in reform school Louis Armstrong joined the band and developed his talent. He became the leader of the band which changed his reputation. By the age of 13, he was back on the street and found small jobs to keep himself out of trouble.

As a teenager, Louis Armstrong worked with professional musicians and joined Fate Marable's band playing on a riverboat in Mississippi. By his early twenties, he could outplay any trumpets at cutting contests where soloists improvised until one was clearly outperforming the others. With the addition of 23-year-old Lois Armstrong to the Fletcher Henderson band in New York, the band began to really swing with their new featured soloist. A year later he formed his own group in Chicago called the Hot Five. He organized the band and music around the solos which became one of the key characteristics of modern jazz.


Louis Armstrong became known as the father of modern jazz trumpets and the first modern jazz soloist. He greatly extended the range of trumpets as he could hit high notes that none of his peers could reach. His main contribution to jazz was his sense of rhythm which had a natural beat that made anyone listening want to get up and dance. Louis Armstrong taught the world how to really swing. He also taught jazz musicians how to extend the melodic line with improvisations on trumpets. Louis Armstrong used trumpets to belt out loud, sharp cutting sounds that commanded his listeners to pay attention. He had made trumpets the leading instruments with cornets virtually disappearing from the jazz scene.

Trumpets were not the only driving force in Louis Armstrong's career. Not only did he extend the range of trumpets, but he also showcased the extension of his own range of talents. He had a unique compositional and vocal ability, he was comedic, he had charisma, and he had charm. All of these talents wrapped up together made for a famously popular musician and showman.

    By Dianna Joseph
    Dianna Joseph is the owner of DJ Music Store. She is a saxophonist, novice pianist, and novice guitarist. In addition, she is an occupational therapist who works with a host of disabilities utilizing sensory integration and neurodevelopmental therapy in combination with music and a variety of other techniques to assist these persons in achieving the highest level of function and quality of life possible.
    Article Source: EzineArticles



Monday, January 15, 2018

VIVALDI's "The Four Seasons"

Deutsch: Antonio Lucio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Another day, another vindication. I had been asked to do this post because it's true that these pieces are everywhere. The first of these is featured in almost every lazy film where people are meant to look snooty while sipping tea out in their formal gardens while being served by extravagantly mustachioed butlers. The second has been hardly spared, either, though I will say that it was the first one that was most recently featured in a commercial touting colon health. What "Spring" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons has to do with the lower intestine is beyond me, but I suppose any publicity is good 250 years post-mortem.

Antonio Vivaldi was born during an earthquake in Venice in the year 1678. Well, perhaps not during the earthquake itself, but there was certainly one in the city that day. He was the contemporary of both Handel and Bach, and I suppose one could say he represents Italy in terms of great Baroque composers. His father was a violinist and perhaps a composer, and though not much is known for certain about Antonio's childhood, one can safely assume that he was taught much of what he knew by his father. Antonio was a student of the violin as well as composition - childhood respiratory illnesses kept him away from woodwinds, as well as other childhood activities, I'm sure. He began studying for the priesthood at 15 and was ordained at 25. His nickname, "The Red Priest," is the fusing of his original vocation as well as a nod to his red hair. That's right. Antonio Vivaldi was a ginger.

At 25, he also began a long working relationship with the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, an orphanage that was oddly forward-thinking. There were five of these orphanages in Venice at the time, and while the boys were eventually trained for a trade, the girls were educated in music - and this was a HUGE deal, as women were generally not allowed to see music as anything more than a hobby. The Pietà featured a choir and orchestra entirely comprised of women and girls, and they were, by all accounts, incredible. Vivaldi began there as a violin teacher and spent many years working up the ranks at the orphanage until, in 1716, he was named the music director of the entire organization.

In 1705, when Vivaldi was 27, his first collection of compositions was published. These were mostly sonatas and other smaller forms of music, though he was about to embark on a long and decidedly fruitful career as an opera composer. Italy (both at the time, and, arguably, for about two hundred years afterward) was the center of opera - still a somewhat new art form at the time - and in 1713, Vivaldi jumped on the bandwagon with Ottone in villa. In his lifetime, he composed at least 50 and as many as 95 operas, and the fact that attention hasn't been paid to them is really quite surprising. Between the late 1710s and 1725, he moved around Italy, living in Mantua, Rome, and Milan, but by 1725 - the year The Four Seasons was premiered - he was back in Venice. He was wildly successful for a time, but by his middle age, he was considered out of style and moved to Vienna to try and make a fresh start. It didn't work out, unfortunately, and he died there at the age of 63, all but penniless. To rub salt in that indignity, Vivaldi was never given the 19th-century renaissance that Handel and Bach both (posthumously, of course) enjoyed. It wasn't until the 1920s that interest in Vivaldi was rekindled - and even now, he is really only known for one work, though his catalog is gigantic. But yes - enough lamenting his lack of acknowledgment. On to The Four Seasons.

The Four Seasons is a set of four violin concertos composed in 1723 and published in 1725 as the first third of a set of twelve. The concert itself is an interesting genre of music. Older than the symphony, it first appeared in the 17th century. The word "concerto" is thought to come from Italian words meaning "together" and "competition," which makes sense - in the concerto (and its slightly earlier counterpart, the concerto grosso, which simply translates to "big concerto"), musical material is passed between a large ensemble and a small ensemble (in the grosso) or a soloist. It is usually in three movements (opposed to the generally four-movement symphony), and by Vivaldi's time and afterward, it was used to highlight a solo instrument. Vivaldi was one of the early masters of the concerto, and it was his work that dictated the form of the style for many years after his time.



Beyond being a set of four elegant concertos, The Four Seasons may be one of the earliest examples of program music. Composers have tried for hundreds of years to evoke specific emotions or even concrete images with music. In vocal pieces, this is called word painting - an example being a rising melody line on words that imply height, such as 'mountain' or 'sky.' Program music takes this idea further by giving an entire narrative to instrumental music. The Four Seasons was written to accompany four sonnets that may have been written by Vivaldi himself, and if they were, then they are some of the earliest examples of programs being prescribed to instrumental pieces. Vivaldi liked the music he composed for the set so much that he transplanted the opening of the "Spring" concerto to the beginning of his pastoral opera Dorilla in Tempe. And today, well... it's been transplanted to people trying to make colon health fancy. Not exactly the highest of praise, I suppose, but at least it's something.



Sunday, January 14, 2018

How to SING Deep

Illu01 head neck.jpg
. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Are you looking for tips on how to sing deep or to just deepen your voice overall?  This can give you more singing range and even help the sound of your voice when you're just talking. Men especially are often concerned with having a deeper voice but women too may find their voice is too "pitchy" or may sound nasal as well.

You can learn singing deep with a few simple tips to consider. First, remember to strengthen your diaphragm muscles in order to deepen your voice. This means working on your breathing; take deep, full breaths. They should be deliberate breaths that you pull slowly and hold for a few seconds before exhaling. You can also try panting quickly and deeply as well to strengthen the diaphragm.

Second, mind your posture. Remember that singing comes not just from the throat but from many different muscles in the body. Good posture will help those muscles to be properly aligned and ready to support that deep voice. Think of having a long tail that extends past your tailbone and how you want to stand up enough to support that tail. This will help train your posture to support those muscles as well. You also need to raise your chest and pull the shoulders back a bit so they too are properly aligned.

Learning how to sing deep is not difficult if you practice these simple tips. It helps to try them in between singing sessions. When you're at a microphone is not the time to start practicing your breathing! Your posture especially is something that should be a part of your everyday life; if you work on it regularly you'll just have naturally supportive posture. Try these tips and see if you don't notice a beautiful deepening of your singing voice!




Saturday, January 13, 2018

History of PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS

Percussion instruments3
Percussion instruments3 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Anthropologists and historians repeatedly speculate that percussion instruments were the first musical apparatus ever came into being. But with the utmost certainty, the human voice was the first musical instrument, and surely, percussion tools such as feet, hands, rocks, sticks, and logs came in second to the on-going evolution of music. When humans developed tools for hunting and agriculture, their knowledge alongside with skill, enabled them to produce more complex tools. They use slit drum, made from a hollowed-out tree trunk. For instance, a simple log may have been shaped to generate louder tones (log drum) and may have been pooled to create numerous tones (set of log drums).

As time moved on, so is the evolution of percussion instruments. In the early 10th century, it was known that most tribes in Africa use sorts of percussions such as djembe, macaras used in Latin America, karimbas in Asia and seed rattles in Australia for their recreational and worship rituals and sometimes used in sending signals.

Percussion instruments that are displayed in orchestra first came from Asia Minor. In the 15th century, people began migrating east and brought with them numerous instruments. Our percussion instruments got their initial stages there when the Crusades took back the drums that they found in the Middle East. From then on, an evolution of percussion and drums kicked up a notch and assortments of percussion instruments came into being.

Percussion is categorized by a variety of criteria at times depending on their cultural origin, construction and function within the musical orchestration. It is generally referred as ?the heartbeat? of a musical ensemble, often functioning close collaboration with bass instruments if present.

Drums and percussions, as well as bass, are known as the rhythm section of the most popular music genres. Most classical pieces written for an orchestra since the time of Mozart and Haydn are schemed to put emphasis on strings, brass, and woodwinds. However, time and again they include a pair of timpani (kettle drums) although not played continuously. But moderately, they serve to offer additional accents when needed.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, more percussion instruments (like the cymbals or triangles) came to being and frequently, again moderately and cautiously played in general. The massive uses of percussion instruments become more recurrent in the 20th century, on classical music.


In almost all types of music, percussion plays a fundamental role. In a military parade, it is the strike of the bass drum that holds the soldiers' instep and at a normal speed, and it is the snare that endows that crisp, vital air to the tune of a troop. In traditional jazz, one almost instantly thinks of the distinguishing rhythm of the hi-hats or the ride cymbal when the word "swing" is uttered. In more current popular music genres, it is almost impossible to name at least three or four rock, hip-hop, rap, funk, punk, techno, grunge, alternative and blues songs that don?t have some kind of percussive beat maintaining the tune in time.

Because of the mixture and wide assortments of percussive instruments, it is not unusual to find large musical gathering composed wholly of percussion. Rhythm, harmony, and melody are all evident and alive in these musical factions, and in live performances, they are quite a spectacle to see.




Friday, January 12, 2018

MOZART's Don Giovanni: How Women Become More Important Than Men

A scene from Don Giovanni as perform'd at the ...
A scene from Don Giovanni as performed at the Kings Theatre (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Mozart used Don Giovanni as a means to show his affinity towards the female roles he experienced in his life. He was one of the first in the 18th century to show that women could be intelligent and vibrant in public life. This extrovert portrayal of the women would be more prevalent at the beginning of the 19th century when women played an important role in European salons and the literary circles. Mozart took the audacious move of showing a "mélange" of social classes. He also showed men to be weak and in need of women rather than the contrary. His men are shown to be pathetic creatures.

In the 18th century, women were given intellectual and artistic liberties as long as they were discrete. Their sitting rooms of the aristocracy had male servants and ladies-in-waiting. The dual existence was to show that their devotion to their husbands took precedence. Donna Anna was engaged to get married though she had been "scorned" by Don Giovanni. It would have put her aristocratic standing in question. Donna Elvira was also supposed to get married She was in constant conflict with Don Giovanni. Their love-hate relationship prevailed throughout the opera.

Sexual freedom was part of the social etiquette in the period of Enlightenment. It was quite common for both men and women to have discrete extramarital affairs in 18th century Europe. Mozart's wife tolerated his affairs only with the servant girls. She would not allow him to philanderer with the aristocrats or other women from the social elite. One must understand Mozart often wrote his female roles for specific women with whom he had a relationship. He was the man who had never found his mother. It was well-known.

Don Giovanni was never discrete. He had not come from the aristocratic class. Mozart was a Don Giovanni in disguise. He was not terribly discrete and he was still considered part of the court. He had his patron and worked under the orders of the Prince or the Church who employed him at the time of his musical composition.

By the end of the first act of the opera, the three women unite together to show they are capable of existing without the need of their male counterparts. In the second act, they work to get Don Giovanni.

Donna Anna, who was engaged, would have had a waiting room with either a man-servant or a lady-in-waiting. She was an strong-willed young woman who obviously pretended as though she had been humiliated. Don Giovanni would never have had access to her inner chambers. Donna Anna shows her aristocratic intelligence by running down the stair singing she had been scorned. Perhaps it was only her pride or ego which had been insulted. She is the stronger of the two showing Don Giovanni running away from her. Mozart liked strong, intelligent women.

Donna Elvira also is a strong-willed aristocratic woman who had been deceived two times by Don Giovanni. She unites with Donna Anna. The two of them go looking for him. They find themselves at a tavern. Mozart mixed the social classes again. Don Giovanni who had tried to get into the aristocratic class is now singing to Zerlina, a young tavern girl who was also supposed to be engaged. Mozart shows three women who are off-limits to the outside world.

The three men in the opera can be analyzed as weak and capricious. At the end of the 2nd act, the three women see Don Giovanni for whom he really was He is a young weak man who never gets what he wants. He goes after women who are impossible to have. The father who becomes the stone statue when he loses his life in a dual asks for Don Giovanni to repent. When he refuses, the Commendatore pulls him into the earth. Perhaps they both have been pulled into hell?

The opera shows the social tension. The pride of the woman's public reputation is more important than her own personal integrity. The duality of reputation over sexual freedom behind doors is used by Donna Anna to her benefit. She frees herself from Don Giovanni and she keeps her reputation. No one will ever know what happened. Donna Elvira forgives Don Giovanni and asks him to change his ways. He loses interest in her. Donna Elvira spends her life in a convent. Zerlina is free to go back to her fiancé. Donna Anna refuses requests to get married as her father only just died. Did she want her freedom as Mozart implied, or did she want to respect the year custom after a parent died? Mozart made a mockery of the different social customs



Mozart made a courageous stand by showing that women's existence did not depend on men. Women stood together and achieved what they were after. In the opera, the three women stand together. Mozart was ahead of his time. They were strong, vibrant women who took control. Don Giovanni, the frustrated young man, looks for the mother he never finds. Mozart was a prolific composer who died a pauper. His infatuation with women and his low esteem for men would be the vice which would be his downfall.




Thursday, January 11, 2018

The Japanese BAMBOO FLUTE

Shakuhachi_player.jpg
Shakuhachi player (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
These days Japanese bamboo flutes or Shakuhachi flutes are used by a lot of practitioners of Zen Buddhism and meditation as well as for playing Jazz, Classical, Japanese folk music and improvisation. The soothing sound of the Japanese bamboo flute or Shakuhachi helps guide us, breath by breath, into a more relaxed and peaceful state of being, while gifting ourselves and others with the beauty of the unique sound.

The Shakuhachi bamboo flute is made from the very bottom of a bamboo tree, but versions now exist in ABS and hardwoods. The name shakuhachi is derived from the term "isshaku hassun" meaning one shaku and eight sun (1.8 Japanese feet). Generally, the term shakuhachi refers to the standard size instrument, which is 54.5 cm in length, but it can also refer to many different sizes ranging from 1.3 - 2.5 shaku (39.4 - 75.7 cm) and longer. The shakuhachi is frequently made from the root portion of a thick-walled bamboo (known as madake in Japanese).

If you see a Japanese bamboo flute you can see that it looks simple in appearance. But, did you know that it is very difficult to play? If played by a master this bamboo flute can create amazing, subtle, sensual music - prized as being perfect for meditation and relaxation. It's beautiful, soulful sound is wonderful to listen to when you are taking a good rest or are relaxing or getting ready for sleep. If you are into Zen then having a Japanese bamboo flute can help you with your focus. The soothing sounds that the bamboo flute make create a calm feeling. Did you know that The Zen flute came from China to Japan sometime in the 6th century? The instrument was then adopted by a sect of Zen Buddhist monks around the 15th century. This fact definitely explains the bamboo flutes long relationship with martial arts.

If you are looking for an instrument for your energetic child to learn, look no further. The Shakuhachi will help calm your child's soul and give them focus and concentration. Imagine if your child took up the bamboo flute as one of their hobbies. Not only it is safe but at the same time your children will be musically inclined and be calmer and more focused because of their daily practice.
Another good thing about bamboo flutes is that you can buy them cheaply or you can make them at home. If you are going to make a homemade bamboo flute just make sure to have the right guidelines and information. You need to know the proper measurements, the holes and the exact length and weight of a good bamboo flute which you can find online. Get yourself a bamboo flute and have soothing and relaxing sounds anytime you want in your own home!





Wednesday, January 10, 2018

BALLET Music Through The Ages

Publicity shot of the original cast of Tchaiko...
Publicity shot of the original cast of Tchaikovsky's ballet, The Sleeping Beauty, St Petersburg: Mariinsky Theater, 1890. Carlotta Brianza starred as Aurora. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Right from the beginning, ballet and music have been uniquely intertwined. Without music, ballet is nothing more than the empty motions of a ritual. Without the movement and rhythm of the dance, music loses all vitality. And so, ballet as a doorway to human expression hinges on both music and dance.

Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), the Italian-born French composer who founded the national French opera was not just a court composer to Louis XIV, but also a choreographer who produced court ballets for Molière's plays. This probably explains why his productions never lacked an accompaniment. However, theatre productions of the eighteenth century turned composers away from ballet and toward the music of ballroom dancing.

This phase sustained its self straight through the nineteenth century with the exception of pieces by Russian classical composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) which include the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty.

In the twentieth century, however, ballet came back to the spotlight. Once again considered a respectable art form, choreographers looked to the works of classical composers such as Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Chopin, Brahms, and Handel to perform the art of ballet dancing too.

Many agree that ballet owes its very existence to the likes of those who are both composers and choreographers. Because being musicians in nature, they naturally pay close attention to ballet following the rhythmic structure of its accompaniment precisely. One who does not understand music can easily create a ballet that looks good that in of itself, yet at the mercy of a great classical piece the novice falls short of expressing the true nature of the piece. Instead, they turn the production into a form of movement that is devoid of both art and beauty. The experts instead know when it is appropriate to go against the grain of the accompaniment to heighten those dramatic periods which capture their audience's attention and leaves them breathless.  


As we dawn a new era of music and dance, it's undeniable that ballet will continue to change. However, just as music and dance have always been the best of friends, the ballet will continue to find its new identity in the constantly changing music of today.




Tuesday, January 9, 2018

How to Play BLUES HARMONICA - To Get Started Right - Here's What You Need to Know

Folk Blues - Tombo
Photo by le-topographe
First of all, it's important to know that there is not a separate, "blues" harmonica instrument - "blues harmonica" is instead a style of playing the harmonica. Blues harmonica is played most often on the major diatonic 10 hole harmonica.


Harmonicas were invented in Germany in the 1800s and were at the time were basically used to play the "oom-pa-pa" or classical music or folk tunes of the time and of that area. The major diatonic harmonicas really haven't changed their tuning very much since that time.

That doesn't mean that you have to play folk, classical, or oom-pa-pa music on the diatonic harmonica, it just means that you have to play in a different style, and with a few different techniques, in order to get the blues harmonica sound.

The first that has to be done in order to be able to play in the blues harmonica style and get the blues harmonica sound is to no longer play using the built-in blow-oriented tuning of the diatonic harmonica.

Instead, what you do is play in what's called second position or "crossharp".

In second position playing, your root note for the harmonica is the #2 draw on the harmonica ("draw" means inhale in harmonica language), NOT the #1 blow (which is the standard folk, classical, oom-pa-pa position).

The second position takes advantage of the DRAW CHORD which is built into the first four holes of the diatonic harmonica, which is a seventh chord - seventh chords are extremely important for blues music.

So now you have a new orientation for your harmonica playing: away from the BLOW-oriented style of the first position, to the DRAW-oriented of the 2nd position which uses the root note #2 draw, or the root chord you could also say, on the diatonic harmonica.

By starting on the #2 draw - what you have is a different scale that you are taking advantage of on the harmonica - technically it is a minor pentatonic scale.

However, this particular pentatonic scale has flatted notes or "blue" notes in it in order to get that "bluesy" sound and is a specialized scale often called the blues scale. To get the flatted "blue" notes in the blues harmonica style it is necessary to become proficient at a technique called "bending notes" on the harmonica.

Bending a note on the harmonica is actually creating a note that wasn't built into the harmonica - it's almost a magical thing. The harmonica works by air flowing a brass reed that is riveted in a slot. The harmonica has one blow reed and one draw reed right above it in each slot. When the harmonica is assembled, you don't see the slots, but just know that these reeds, 1 blow, and 1 draw, are in the same hole, one above the other.

You have 10 holes in the typical major diatonic harmonica, and 10 blow and 10 draw notes, so you have twenty built-in notes.

By bending notes, you can get considerably more notes, and more often than not it is these bent notes that give the harmonica its' "soul" and its' very "vocal" sound.

How to bend a note is quite a study unto itself, but the main thing you are doing while bending a note is changing the air pressure while the air is flowing over the reed, and in almost all cases this will be on a draw note.

To get started bending notes, choose one of the harmonica holes that usually is one of the easier notes to bend, the #2 draw.

First, you must have a good single note technique. That is, you must be good at playing only one hole at a time without other holes leaking in their sound.

Next - you draw in the #2 draw with that clear relaxed single note style so you can hear what that single note is supposed to sound like and imagine that you are articulating the vowel "E" while drawing in on the #2 draw.

Three: Exhale so that you have a lot of air to work with on the #2 draw, and while drawing in saying "E", without changing anything else inside your mouth, change the vowel articulation to "OOO" or "AAAH".

What this ultimately will do will be to change the air pressure inside that slot and will cause the brass reed to vibrate at a different rate, and the reed will be "bent" down.This gives you your bent note or "blue" note.

Harmonicas come in many different keys: the higher the pitch of harmonica, the shorter the reed. The shorter the reed, the harder it is to bend the note, at least until you get used to it. So start with at least a midrange harmonica such as the key of C, or go to a lower pitch harmonica key such as an A or even lower, a G harmonica, to practice bending notes.



The actual bending technique will be the same for all keys, but you will find it easier to learn the bending technique initially on the lower pitch harmonicas.

So those are the main elements of how to play blues harmonica:

1. Playing in the 2nd position or "crossharp" style

2. Playing in a pentatonic blues scale

3. Getting the "missing" blue notes of the scale by using the bending technique.

Blues harmonica is the root technique of almost all other harmonica styles, so whether you are a blues fan or not, it is a great place to start learning more fun techniques on the harmonica.

You can go to harmonicasuperstart.com to get more help on how to play blues harmonica, especially the bending technique.

    By Matthew Shelton
    Matthew Shelton is the founder of HarmonicaSuperstart.com, your best source for harmonica instruments, books, audio, and video. You CAN learn to play the harmonica, and you can carry it with you to have fun wherever you go!

    Article Source: EzineArticles 


Monday, January 8, 2018

The Great RAGTIME Pianists Through the Years

English: Copy of sheet music for Maple Leaf Ra...
 Maple Leaf Rag, published in US pre-1923.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ragtime is a style that developed from the roughest of neighborhoods and was originally performed in brothels. A precursor to jazz, it is enjoying a resurgence in popularity today. There are quite a few famous ragtime pianists, though many of the originators of the genre died before audio recording was widely available.

Though not famous purely for his piano playing, Scott Joplin remains the most influential ragtime composer. Joplin wrote the first instrumental ("Maple Leaf Rag") to sell over one million copies. Though he never recorded a note, famous friends bore witness to his skills, saying that he played slowly but with perfect execution.

Joplin created several piano rolls for companies, some of which survive today. Unfortunately, the illness that eventually killed him also caused his later playing to suffer, which is why there is debate as to his technical skill. Still, Joplin's mastery of ragtime composition laid the groundwork upon which later pianists would embellish.

Another ragtime composer noted for his piano skills was Ferdinand "Jelly Roll" Morton. Beginning his training at a young age in a local brothel, Morton developed both great technical skills and a rather infamous ego. He brought the techniques he had learned from playing ragtime piano to Chicago, where he wrote the first jazz song, "Jelly Roll Blues." Morton brought traditions from New Orleans to the rest of the world and turned piano playing, and music in general, completely upside down.

The image of composer, Eubie Blake (1887-1983).
Eubie Blake (1887-1983).
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Eubie Blake was yet another practitioner of the style, though he incorporated other musical genres into his playing. As a boy of four or five, he climbed onto an organ bench while shopping with his mother. Blake started fooling around with the instrument, causing the store owner to proclaim him a genius. His parents bought a pump organ, and he received lessons from his neighbor. He also played in a bordello before moving on to play in proper bands.

Blake composed the song Charleston Rag, which became a huge crossover hit. He went on to write one of the first Broadway musicals written and directed by African Americans.

Sometimes referred to as New York Ragtime, stride piano developed from traditional styles into its own form of playing. Developed during World War I by Luckey Roberts and James Johnson, it relies heavily on the left hand playing a bass line and the right hand playing chords on alternating beats. Though it is often related more to jazz playing, stride was given birth through ragtime.

Modern pianists continue to keep ragtime in the public eye. Butch Thompson was an integral part of A Prairie Home Companion between 1974 and 1986, serving as both the house pianist and band leader. Thompson began playing at the age of three, taking up lessons a few years later. After playing the clarinet in high school, he went to college and joined a local jazz group. After this, he traveled to New Orleans to learn from the masters of jazz and ragtime. He currently tours the world and hosts a jazz program on the radio in Minneapolis.