January 20th, 2009 by admin

Trying to figure out how to play violin for beginners and on your own can be extremely difficult and frustrating. It can be an uphill struggle for anyone but your musical education on the instrument need not end before it has begun. You can turn things around and make them fun with disciplined commitment and dedicated learning. Hundreds of thousands of musicians worldwide have sworn on the same commitment. They have all become successful professional musicians. This can apply just as easily to anyone interested in learning the violin but wishing to do it on his own. It is not always necessary to have a personal violin teacher when trying to master the instrument, as long as one has the patience, understanding and determination to succeed by being self taught.

An important question has to be put to you before making a definite choice in pursuing the violin on your own without professional instruction. How serious are you about doing it? Is your passion for the instrument strong or just something that is on the spur of the moment? A natural love for music is also necessary. It helps to increase tenfold the enjoyment of pursuing your musical education. Dealing with any obstacles will be less difficult if your passion and love for what you do is strong as it pushes you on.

While it is admirable to be self taught, do not exempt the fact that some form of sharing and learning from others would be necessary during your journey. Seek out other violinists and exchange ideas. Learning from others' experience could speed up your own progress. Inculcate their experiences in your own lessons and progression might result quicker. Do not neglect other resources such as picking up a learn violin dvd to gather more insight from other professionals.

Students who have professional guidance can expect encouragement from their teachers. But for one who pursues the self teaching route, self discipline becomes increasingly important in achieving their goals. One must not be irresponsible in practicing regularly, as the violin could take more effort to master for someone who chooses to be self taught. Always check and look back on your progress so that mistakes and details can be ironed out to ensure future growth.

Many self taught musicians neglect classical musical theory. Trying to make it on your own is tough, and long hours of study will be required to master musical theory. But it helps to make you a better violinist. It is also really necessary to know musical theory in order to become a better violin player as there is no alternative theory system for the instrument. There are many violin lessons online that can provide help in this area and you should turn to them for extra knowledge.

At the end of the day, whether you are enrolled in a music school or choose the self taught path, becoming proficient in the violin requires all your attention to detail, dedication, passion and commitment. Understand that if you remain committed and stick to what you are best at, you can become a great violinist beyond your wildest imaginations. The journey will be long but fruitful till the end.

January 19th, 2009 by admin

The Devil Went Down to Georgia Was first heard by the public in 1979, performed by the Charlie Daniels band.  30 years later it’s still popular.

The Devil Went Down To Georgia

The song’s roots are in a melody called “Lonesome Fiddle Blues.”  Charlie added the lyrics.  The Devil Went Down to Georgia became the most popular hit the band ever had.  as far as songs with a state in the name, the best seller of all time. 

Here’s the plot.  It’s been a slow year so the devil travels to Georgia in search of souls.  He’s willing to negotiate.  He offers a deal to a young fiddler named Johnny.  It takes the form of a fiddle contest.  The devil puts up a golden fiddle.  It’s worth a lot of money.  If the devil wins he gets Johnny’s soul.

The Devil Went Down To Georgia

The Devil starts.  Demons come from hell to help him put on a rock ‘n roll extravaganza.  Johnny may be in trouble.  But Johnny’s simple and pure fiddle work is even better.  The devil can’t argue.  The devil gives him the golden fiddle.  Johnny brags that he’s open for a rematch.  Johnnie swears in the original version.

There have been countless remakes and parodies of the song.  There’s a Spanish version called “El Diablo bajo a Georgia”.  In the cartoon “Futurama” the heroes challenge the robot devil to a similar fiddle contest to save their robot friend.  The humans cheat by attacking the robot Devil with the Golden fiddle.  There is a good Devil Went Down to Georgia video on YouTube.  The story is well animated.  Charlie Daniels and Johnny Cash performed a sequel.  Daniels named it “The Devil Comes Back to Georgia”.

The Devil Went Down To Georgia

The Devil Went Down to Georgia  is a song that people sing.  Give it a try, you’ll know why the title has a ring.

January 17th, 2009 by admin

Ghost Riders in the Sky is a country song composed in the cowboy style in 1948 by Stan Jones. He had no clue about what a hit his song was going to become, as there dozens of rewrites and versions have appeared along the years. Ghost Riders in the Sky remains the song of a cowboy who red-eyed cattle chased by ghost cowboys in the sky. He is warned to improve his life style or never find peace in the after life and be damned for eternity. The song has strong echoes of European myths and it surely has a great artistic making.

Ghost Riders In The Sky

Ghost Riders in the Sky wrote music history, it became part of the tradition and almost all the big names of country music  made an attempt at its interpretation. Even the Riders on the Storm composed by The Doors, seems to find its sources in Stan Jones’ song. From all the variants of the material, the one V. Monroe recorded in 1949 was the best getting the first place in the Billboard charts of the year, and remaining in this position for more than five months.

Ghost Riders In The Sky

Ghost Riders in the Sky became part of the soundtrack of the movie Blues Brothers 2000, and then it inspired a heavy metal rendition by a German band. Along the years, other rock bands made attempts at combining the initial original country song with the message of the rock movement, and they enjoyed different levels of success. Beside rewrites, new versions and source of inspiration, Ghost Riders in the Sky also fueled all sorts of parodies from the Ghost Writers in Disguise to politically engaged lyrics that some listeners may not even be aware of.

Ghost Riders In The Sky

An Irish parody version of Ghost Riders in the Sky deals with the destruction of British helicopters by IRA members, although no such acts of violence were ever committed. Despite these politically engaged messages that could be added to the Ghost Riders in the Sky, the majority of the performing artists don’t see any such interpretation in the lyrics, and sing the song without pointing at terrorist or Republican facts. Last but not least, Ghost Riders in the Sky also served as a starting point for the creation of some football club songs by supporters. Yet, beyond all the remaking, it is clearly obvious that Ghost riders in the Sky marked history in the annals of country music.

January 17th, 2009 by admin

When most people set out to learn guitar few of them have the desire to want to learn how to play the bass guitar. I don't think many people know that the bass is the real heart and soul of good music. People feel the bass just as much as they hear it. This makes the bass guitar one of the most exciting instruments in all of music. For this article we will be taking a look at how to play bass guitar.

Learning the bass starts with learning the basics of the instrument. Make sure that you learn the names of the different parts and what those parts do. The basics start with knowing the names of the strings, how to tune your guitar, and then with learning the scales. All bass teachers would agree that you should start learning by playing a fretted bass guitar.

You need to get good with your fingers if you want to play bass. There are all sorts of different exercises you can learn to help improve your ability to play. Don't forget to take a few practices just learning how to hold it the right way and get the right technique down. If you don’t hold the bass the right way you will find learning to be rather difficult.

It’s important that you learn to play songs that you actually like. Learning the bass is allot harder when you are trying to learn songs or music that you don't even like. At the same time these songs need to be relativity simple and easy to learn. Picking songs that are too hard for a beginner to learn is one of the biggest mistakes new players make.

How you choose to learn is up to you. Many people simply learn to play by ear. This is probably one of the best ways. However, it is still a great skill to be able to learn how to read some notes. You may want to take lessons from an instuctor, but you should also consider teaching yourself how to play by ear.

You may also want to consider learning bass online. There are a number of good tutorials that can be found or even some affordable lessons that you can take. This just happens to be something you should keep in mind.

January 13th, 2009 by admin

It has always been your dream to play the guitar. You listen to all those rock and metal songs. You wish you could learn to play just like the greatest guitarist in the world. Now you can! All you have to do is take some good beginner guitar lessons to get started. This article will take an introductory look at what it takes to play and learn guitar.

Most people start learning guitar by studying some books and DVDs. However, not everyone finds these methods to be easy. In fact, many people will try the techniques taught in these lessons with allot of frustration. Allot of new guitarists struggle learning the notes and with reading the music. Many would rather learn by ear. This is when taking lessons from an instructor can be your best bet.

It Starts With The Basics

When you take lessons you will start out with the basics. You will learn how to hold the guitar, the different strings, how to tune the guitar, and how to hold it correctly. When you make a mistake your teacher will correct you. This is the main advantage on having an instructor. The main advantage of having an instuctor teach you is that they can help you with anything you are having a hard time with.

An instructor can also help you pick the right beginner songs to learn. Before you decide on an instuctor make certain that he or she can teach you the type of music that you like to listen to and want to play. You don't want an instructor who teaches country guitar when you want to learn how to play rock and metal. This will make things frustrating for the instructor and waist your time. Be sure to ask the instructor if they can teach the type of music you would like to learn how to create.

Another area where an instructor can help you out allot is when it comes to a tablature. A tablature is readable music that guitarists have made. You see guitarists do not use their own sheet music. If you know some sheet music you will be in for a huge change because guitar players have their own style of writing music. An instructor can help you out a great deal with this.

As you can probably tell learning how to play electric guitar has never been this easy. There are lots of options for you. You can learn online, through DVD, through professional lessons, or simply teach yourself. There isn't really any right or wrong ways to go about it.

January 12th, 2009 by admin

Nicole and Natalie Albino are the voices that make up Nina Sky. Though they had a childhood marked by music experiences of a variety of kinds, Nina Sky girls only got known on the market in 2004. They both play drums and the guitar and they were educated in a very eclectic music background by their DJ step dad. They composed  their first song at the age of seven and by the time they turned ten they were committed to becoming singers. It took some very good years afterwards for Nina Sky to finally get on stage and stay up to personal expectations.

Nina Sky

Success came hard and before getting in tops, the girls from Nina Sky worked as DJs and started developing their own sound under the guidance of two musical producers, Elijah Wells and Lionel Bermingham, known as the Jettsonz. It is thanks to the Jettsonz that, Nina Sky came to work on their first single Move Ya Body that thrilled listeners by the Caribbean rhythms with some R&B beats. The demo version of the song was very much to the liking of a division president from Universal Records, and a collaboration with the production house followed for Nina Sky.

Nina Sky

Move Ya Body remains the song to have opened many doors for Nina Sky but they had to set higher goals for their musical career. It was time to focus on music promotion, and they started working hard in this direction particularly, with their efforts reflected in the increased appreciation for reggaeton music on both sides of the Atlantic. At the end of 2007, Nina Sky terminated their collaboration with Universal Records and signed with J Records, for an album the release of which has been postponed. In the meantime the twins made various remixes of other very popular songs like J. Holiday’s Bed or Cassidy’s  My Drink n My 2 Steps

Nina Sky

Nina Sky’s songs address pretty varied topics from love themes and friendship to loss and bitter stuff of an emotional nature. On the other hand their music is stimulating with nice R&B notes that don’t remain unnoticed on the dance floor Nina Sky even participated to the writing of the famous Betty Wright’s song You Deserve for which they also contributed as guest vocalists. Nina Sky has lots of things to prove after only two albums, plenty remixes and some sparkling collaborations. Will change style or go for the same beat? It remains to see.

January 12th, 2009 by admin

Composed by Norman Greenbaum, at the end of the 60s, Spirit in the Sky got famous all around the world by its cultural impact, tune and lyrics. The writer of Spirit in the Sky was inspired after listening to a gospel song on TV, and he put the lyrics down in fifteen minutes. It speaks about the life after death and the Christian experience in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Though, Greenbaum is Jewish and identifies himself as such, the Christian dimension of the song did not remain hidden even if the author claimed that he had no religious intention to pour in the song.

Spirit In The Sky

Greenbaum had the intention of reaching broader audiences when he referred to sin in Spirit in the Sky, particularly since the concept of wrong doing is found in all cultures and religions, and Christianity doesn’t have exclusive rights on it. In terms of sound print, the guitar dominates the musical economy of the song. It seems that the producers used a Fender Telecaster with a fuzz box in order to to make the sound guitar preponderant.

Spirit In The Sky

The characteristics of Spirit in the Sky are amazing by the new sound imprint: psychedelic rock music mixes with gospel in a combination of tambourines, hand clapping, great drum playing and distorted electric guitar. Though Spirit in the Sky proved a hit, the start was rather small as the record company showed was skeptical about its success because of the unusual lyrics and the originality of the style. Spirit in the Sky actually came to the rescue of the album on which it was included, since it followed two other single releases which were rated as failures. Somehow, the producers needed to save the project, without even imagining the kind of impact the song would have on the market.

Spirit In The Sky

John Lennon rated Spirit in the Sky as a great song, while the Rolling Stones ranked it on the 333rd position in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Even so, the song was listened to everywhere in UK, Canada, US or Australia, and it made a statement that was to become the foundation stone of glam rock development and the more extensive usage of electronic technologies in music making. Due to its message and sound uniqueness, Spirit in the Sky met the necessities of film making too, being included in over twenty movies.

January 10th, 2009 by admin

If you have thought about learning guitar then you have probably thought about taking a electric guitar lesson or acoustic guitar lesson. You should know that you have plenty of options besides going directly to a guitar instructor. Most people should be able to teach themselves guitar. Today we will be taking a look at a guide to help new guitar players start playing in the easiest way possible.

Pick Your Style First

The first thing you need to decide is what type of music you would like to learn. Learning to play country guitar is not the same as learning how to play heavy metal. You want to learn songs that are your type. You should also make sure that you are learning songs from someone who is an expert at the type of music you would like to play and create. The real trick to this is to find songs that are very easy to learn in your type of music.

Your First Guitar

Some people make the mistake of buying a really fancy and expensive guitar to learn from. This is something that doesn't happen often. When you are starting out you need something that is simply to learn from. You can always buy another guitar later on when your skills improve. You shouldn’t have spend to much more then a couple hundred dollars for a good starter guitar. You should consider buying used if you can find a deal that is worth it. In most cases you want need a used guitar and should be able to buy one that is new at an affordable price.

Should You Take Lessons

Most people can easily teach themselves guitar without the need for taking lessons. You can easily learn by watching a DVD, going through a book, using software, and learning by ear. But there will always be people who struggle and need to take lessons. If you do take lessons you can expect them to cost you a fair bit. The more lessons you need the more the cost will add up. I recommend that you record the lessons so that you can continue to go through them over time.

The only way you will ever get good at playing guitar is practice. It isn't easy and it will take you a fair amount of time to master this as a hobby. I would recommend that you try practicing at least 30 to 60 minutes everyday.

January 9th, 2009 by admin

Founded in the 1980s, the comic music group Riders in the Sky still remain influent in American entertainment, their great artistic contribution being recognized by the granting of two Grammies for the performance in animation films. Initially, Riders in the Sky had only three members, Tom Slim (Fred LaBour, Woody Paul (Paul Woodrow Chrisman) and Ranger Doug (Douglas Green). The group was joined by Joey the Cowpolka King (Joey Miskulin, in the 90s, and he became the accordion player. The Riders in the Sky put great energy in their performances over the years, and their impact on the public has not diminished, on the contrary, respect and popularity just added up to their fame.

Riders In The Sky

The Riders in the Sky distinguish themselves not only by their artistic skills but also by the superior education level of the group members: Ranger Doug has a Master degree in literature, Too Slim in Wildlife Management and Woody Paul a PhD in theoretical plasma Physics. {If that is not an impressive array of diplomas, then what is?That really  is great academic education!} Even so, Riders in the Sky built personal professional lives not many other groups had the chance to accomplish; in their twenty-five year history, they have taken part to more than 300 television shows, 5,200 live performances, 200 radio acts and marked more than 700 Grand Ole Opry participations, not to mention the making of the three TV series in which they appeared. Their thirty albums only complement the moments spent on stage in a life dedicated to the arts.

Riders In The Sky

Other activities of Riders in the Sky include the appearance in CBS morning shows on Saturdays from 1991 to 1992 as well as many Christmas events organized for television purposes. On the other hand, Riders in the Sky remained committed to the traditional Western style that made them famous. Music and comedy often combine in their shows in some of great parody sows. The old American spirit is addressed with respect and wit, according to the values consecrated by tradition.

Riders In The Sky

The tours and general agenda of the Riders in the Sky are posted on the web page of the group for fans to consult. You can also consult the biographic outline and check with their awesome hall of fame. After all, Riders in the Sky did win the title of Entertainers of the Years seven times as well as Traditional Group of the Year and Traditional Album of the Year on multiple occasions too. These being said, it is explainable why Billboard magazine considers them a major event in the history of American music.

January 7th, 2009 by admin

Most people will never imagine learning a piano without the guidance of a teacher. They believe that there is not much of a chance to master it without professional instruction. But despite the piano being a difficult instrument to pick up, it is not mandatory to be taught by a professional.

You can teach yourself how to play the piano. Not every student with teachers will succeed in knowing how to play the piano, so results are not guaranteed in any situation. As piano teachers are mainly to ensure practice, there is no real need for them if you have the proper discipline.

Piano teachers could also have the reverse effect on someone who is keen to pick up the instrument. A strict or disagreeable teacher could sour the whole experience for a student. Without making lessons more interesting, budding pianists might decide to give up learning instead.

If there is a strict budget involved, then a piano teacher will be out of the question. Most teachers charge monthly fees that average hundreds of dollars, depending on their qualifications. They might provide some experience in guidance, but there are just as many willing teachers online who provide their opinions for free.

Being able to learn at your own pace and structure can also encourage better artistic expression. That is a freedom that might not be afforded to students in a piano school and under strict teachers. It does not encourage deeper exploration and understanding of the music as they could be influenced to play and think in a certain fixed way.

By becoming self taught, there is a more relaxed atmosphere and feel to learning how to play the piano. To prevent the process from having less than desired effects, discipline should be a factor while learning the instrument. But it is a method that can fit the most trying of learning ability, and easily customized for all.

There should also be considerable usage of online piano lessons that are freely available. They will add to the whole experience, and can be suitable substitutes for piano teachers. The personal touch is lacking, and sometimes it might still take some human explanation to understand certain points. But these can be replaced by getting involved with communities who have a passion for the instrument.

There is no clear advantage to having a piano teacher compared to teaching yourself how to play. In fact, it could be easier to learn the piano yourself, and indulge in endless hours of fun with music that you enjoy. The millions of self taught professional musicians worldwide will not disagree at all.