Tips for Buying a New Guitar

April 30th, 2009 by ama

Custom Guitar Bulider Video

Guitars - custom guitars are still made today. This video shows a man who makes custom guitars, and it tells some interesting history of the guitars he’s made. Most guitar players won’t need to buy a custom or handmade guitar (and most can’t afford to). There are good guitars that are made by the top manufacturers that are sold at reasonable prices.

Whether you are a beginner guitar player or an experienced guitarist…

Maybe this is going to be your first guitar, or you are buying a better guitar (upgrading). You may be buying an additional guitar (because you need another style of guitar or are staring a collection).

No matter your reason for buying a new guitar, do your research and homework first. This research can be done by searching for information you can find on the internet, in guitar magazines, or by visiting guitar stores. Through these three sources, you can compare prices and styles of guitars. You can also read many online blogs with great information about guitars and guitar lessons.

Read manufacturers information about their guitars, read musician’s guitar reviews, and ask friends about which guitars they like. If there are local music stores in your town, visit those stores and test out their guitars. When you try out different guitars, don’t worry about your playing (you don’t have to be a great guitar player); just focus on how the guitars sound. Look carefully at the neck and body and make sure the guitar is not warped (especially check the neck to see that it is straight, not bowed in any way).

Play it first before you buy a guitar! 

There should not be any buzzing sound when you test play a guitar you are interested in buying. Make sure the strings are not too high up from the fretboard - this makes the guitar much harder to play.

For electric guitars, check the volume by having the guitar plugged into an amplifier when you test it. Check the pickups and the tone and volume controls. Music store salespeople may be able to play guitar - ask them to test some of the guitars for you. If you can bring a guitar playing friend along to the store, they can be a resource to test guitars and give you an objective opinion.

Once you have an idea of the range of prices for new guitars, figure out what your budget will be and stick to it when you actually go out to make the purchase. You need to know the current prices and information about guitar brands before you try to negotiate with the guitar store salesperson. They are there to convice you to spend money - and they could possibly persuade you to spend more than you planned to spend. 

If this is your first guitar, you probably should not consider buying your instrument in an online auction.  And in most cases, an auction in which you can’t actually play the guitar is not a good way to buy. A guitar should feel good to hold and play - get the right size and style that suits you and the kind of music you play. Your goal is to find a guitar (within your budget) that feels and sounds right to you.

Online Beat Maker

April 30th, 2009 by ama

A beat maker these days usually requires a download that you then install on your computer. The internet has made it very easy to download a beat maker and try it out on your computer. This means that you can essentially try out as many beat makers as you like before you purchase one. This is a nice change from the old days when you had to purchase the software and try it out while you crossed your fingers and hoped you didn’t waist your hard earned money.

A beat maker will usually provide 16 tracks which can allow a song writer to layer their beat or song. This layering effect provides the different sounds you might hear including the drum, sneer, hi-hat etc. You can also take these 16 tracks, and depending on the beat maker, bounce those onto one of the tracks leaving you with 15 more tracks to work with and so-on and so-forth. However, just because you use more tracks there is no guarantee the song your are writing will sound better. In fact sometimes a simple beat is all you need.

Click for the best, most recommended beat maker

Obviously each track is going to have a volume control slider so you can adjust the mix to meet your needs. There is also going to be a tempo setting for the entire song as well. This will work with something called ‘beats per minute’ or BPM. So if you have a song at 120 BPM this means that every minute 120 beats will be played (of course they don’t all have to be used.). Along with that feature, there might be a measure setting, meaning 4/4 time or 3/4 time etc (which has to do with the beats per measure).

Virtual beat makers allow you to add the sounds by assigning a sound to a specific beat. Typically, a measure will loop round-and-round and you can assign a sneer drum to every other beat for instance, and then when it loops around again you will hear the sneer on every other beat. Then you can add other sounds using the other tracks at your disposal. This makes it very easy to create a beat in a very short amount of time. The newer beat makers will have a piano key-set as well so you can add piano sounds, bass-lines, guitar parts or vocal samples etc. (without having to buy any hardware). This is nice if you want to make the entire song from start to finish using an inexpensive virtual music beat maker.

One of the most important things to look for in a beat maker is the quality of the sound library you have access to. If the sound of the samples is poor, then no matter how good your beat, you will be frustrated with the final product.

Once you have produced your hip-hop or rap beat you can usually convert this to an mp3 with the click of a button. This is a feature you should definitely look for in a beat maker and the more exporting options available, the better. Many people will make a quick loop in the beat maker and then transfer the mp3 to a more sophisticated multi-track sequencer for further polishing.

 

Click for the best, most recommended beat maker

So to re-cap, you should look for at least a 16 track sequencer, individual controls for the volume, tempo control, and high quality samples as well as an easy-to-use export option. Other than that, it is important to shop around and try out as many beat makers as possible so you know what you like and don’t like about the different software interfaces.

Brazillian Bossa Nova Music

April 30th, 2009 by ama

Soothing and sensual, steeped in tropical atmosphere, bossa nova (Portuguese for “new trend”) is a Brazilian musical style which evolved from another South American musical tradition, the samba.

The beginning of the bossa nova can be linked to Elizete Cardoso’s 1958 recording of lyricist Vinícius de Moraes and multi-talented composer Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Chega de Saudade.” Although Elizete Cardoso’s rendering went unnoticed, João Gilberto’s subsequent record became a hit, creating the bossa nova craze. An English-language translation of the song has been recorded by both jazz and rock artists under the title “No More Blues,” though it can also be translated as “enough longing.” “Chega” stands for “no more,” and “saudade” means an acute, heartfelt desire.

Most people are familiar with the Stan Getz/João Gilberto single “The Girl from Ipanema” (edited to highlight Astrud Gilberto’s vocals), but Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, and João Gilberto are looked upon the most significant musicians in popularizing the bossa nova sound.

The movie “Black Orpheus” (1959) added to the popularity of bossa nova, while American jazz musicians traveling to Brazil took the bossa nova back to North America. Dusty Springfield’s breathy 1967 recording of Bacharach and David’s “The Look of Love” (featured in the movie “Casino Royale”) remains one of the most respected North American pop interpretations of bossa nova.

A fine example of the Bossa Nova genre can be found on the “Bossa Nova for Lovers” CD (Verve).

Bossa nova music instruments include nylon string guitar, piano, vocals, and Brazilian musical instruments such as the tamborim (a small wooden drum of African origin)

By 1963, the bossa nova movement had ended, but the music’s influence lingered. In the late 60s, the Brazilian rock group Os Mutantes integrated bossa nova with psychedelia, and Italian soundtrack composers such as Piero Umiliani, Stelvio Cipriani and Piero Piccioni developed a distinctive Mediterranean variation, recently compiled on the CDs “Bossa Galore” (Cinevox) and “Morricone Bossa” (Cinedelic). Bossa nova enjoyed a revival in the 1990s, and today performers as diverse as Bebel Gilberto (daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miúcha), Koop, Nouvelle Vague, Stereolab, and Diana Krall have assimilated bossa nova into their work.

3 metal guitarists who legacy endures even today

April 30th, 2009 by ama

Heavy metal has a huge line of guitar players who dominated the stage and played like the demons the vocalists sung about. Lets talk about three guitarists who influenced the sound of heavy metal, and how they still impact on the genre even today.

  • Randy Rhoads. Randy Rhoads was remembered more for his work with ex Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne rather than the LA band Quiet Riot. Randy Rhoads was instrumental in the writing of Ozzy classics ‘Crazy train,’ and ‘Dee’. Unlike most rock players Randy had a musical grounding in Classical playing, working it into the first two albums that he played on with Ozzy. Randys work can be seen on the Ozzy albums ‘Blizzard of Oz’ and ‘Diary of a madman’. It is believed that Rhoades would’ve gone on to leave the band to study classical guitar at UCLA, and he would seek out classical guitar tutors on tour with Ozzy to keep up his knowledge and playing skill. The specialist Jackson guitars made for Rhoads are a popular choice amongst guitarists today. Rhoads lost his life in a plane crash in 1982 and guitar playing and character has been paid tribute to numerous times throughout the years.
  • Chuck Schuldiner. The chief songwriter and guitar player of the band ‘Death’. Often hailed as the ‘father of death metal’, a term that the man himself wasnt in agreement with, Chuck was a huge influence on extreme metal and metal in general. ‘Scream bloody gore’, the first album from Death, was the template for the genre known as death metal, but with each album the style and directions changed. Death release a further 4 albums with the band, ‘Human, ‘Spiritual healing’,'Symbolic’ and ‘The sound of perseverance’ before folding Death to play guitar for ‘Control denied’, which released ‘The fragile art of exsistance’ in 1999. Chuck Schulidner died in 2001 after a long standing battle with brain cancer, which had seen the metal community rally round to try and raise funds for his operations.
  • Darrell Lance Abbott -’Dimebag’. Guitarist of the infamous Pantera later of Damageplan and also played guitar on the country band rebel meets rebel. Pantera was formed in 1981 as a glam metal band, but the bands first album ‘Cowboys from hell’ saw them take a much more heavier groove laden approach with the music. Their breakthrough album was 1992’s ‘A vulgar display of power’, which gave the band a whole ‘new level’ of exposure. The next album ‘Far beyond driven’ reached the top of the US charts at a time when metal wasnt considered ‘popular’. Pantera also released ‘Greater Southern Trendkill’ and ‘Re-inventing the steel’, after which Pantera split, as bassist Rex Brown and vocalist Phil Anselmo went off to do ‘Down’ and ‘Superjoint ritual’ and Dimebag and his brother and drummer Vinnie Paul created ‘Damageplan’. Dimebag was shot while playing onstage in Dec 2004, his influence is still seen in many bands such as ‘Lamb of God’ today.

Inspired to get playing some electric guitars? Come to these guys to get a great deal on guitars

How To Play Bass Guitar – Learn Bass Guitar Basics

April 30th, 2009 by ama

Whether you have a musical bone in your body or not, being your own teacher on how to play the bass guitar is not impossible since a lot of musicians are self-trained. It is a challenge that requires patience and determination. To help out, here are the reminders before learning to produce music with this stringed instrument.

Choose a bass guitar and familiarize yourself in holding it. The “waist” or the slope of the body of the guitar would fit perfectly on your thigh while sitting. Regularly exercise the flexibility of your fingers by alternately tapping each on a flat surface so that strumming the notes will not be a problem.

Identify the parts of the bass guitar. There are typically four strings, and the components are very similar to a guitar. The thickest string is the E (the topmost), followed by A, D, and G, and are also referred to as 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively. On the neck of the guitar forming a grid-like pattern with the strings are metal strips called frets that make the notes produced higher as it goes farther from you.

Bass amplifiers have heavy-duty speakers that help you hear the low-frequency sounds you produce, and are much preferable than guitar amps since quality is guaranteed. Located on the guitar itself are tuning pegs for holding and tuning of the strings, pick-ups, nut, headstock, and those mentioned already, the body and the neck.

Getting a guitar strap can help your hands focus on playing instead of carrying the instrument. It is advisable to keep your fingernails trimmed so that they do not interfere with the sound. Blisters signify the first signs of learning. They hurt a lot, but eventually you will get used to them and eventually calluses will develop to protect you from the sting.

With all these in mind, strum your way to mastering how to play the bass guitar and be a rock star in your own right.

Check out how to play bass guitar fast online. I recommend FunkyChops Slap bass guitar video courses if you are looking for learn bass guitar videos.

Online Guitar Lessons For Beginners – Advantages Of Learning Guitar Online

April 30th, 2009 by ama

Guitar lessons can be a lot of fun. There are actually many ways on how you can learn to play the guitar whether be it an acoustic guitar or bass guitar. Most ask for their friends´ help in teaching them how to get started. Others hire private tutors.

While this prove to be a little costly, the outcome could be really good as you have the guidance from the expert. But if you do not have enough time and money to learn the guitar and want it at your own pace, then online guitar lessons for beginners is suitable for you.

This method of learning how to play the guitar became a phenomenon to those who are eager to learn but do not have sufficient time. With online guitar lessons, you just have to visit the sites that offer this kind of lesson while having a break at your office and you can little by little get yourself familiar with the basics in playing the guitar.

To help you further, online guitar lessons uses plenty of diagrams, ebooks and pictures to help your way out. Some even offers guitar learning software and videos to learning easier as well as more fun.

Watching videos where the instructor teach you step by step on how to play the guitar is one of the most effective and common ways to learn to play the guitar fast while doing it at your own pace.

Most of these lessons have a common set-up of pay once for the entire course. If you already know the basics such as strumming, you are given options if you´d still like to go on with further specialized training.

Other types of online guitar lessons include acoustic guitar, blues guitar and lead guitar. You can try it all at your own speed. The price of these lessons is all worth. You can just surprise your friends with your new ability in playing the guitar.

If you are looking for the best online guitar lessons for beginners, i recommend Jamorama. Check out my in depth Jamorama review for more information.

How To Play Guitar 101: To Your Success

April 30th, 2009 by ama

The great motivator Earl Nightingale came up with the following definition of success…
“Success is the progressive realization of a worthy ideal.” I love that definition! What does this definition mean to you? Let’s take a closer look at what you want to achieve…

Please spend a few minutes writing down what the words “worthy ideal” mean to you. It is my vision of perfection…a vision of how I would ideally like things to be.It is a vision that I find inspiring and energizing!

If you success with the guitar is completely dependant on working towards your goal, won’t it make sense that you need to first figure out what your goal is? How can you progressively realize something even if you don’t know what it is? How about we do some exercises to figure your one out…

You must invest a couple hours a day doing the following exercises. They will seriously help you build a mental picture of what your goal is in your head…

Exercise 1:
Try to imagine how you would like to play.Try and imagine what your electric guitar playing would sound, look and feel like.What kind of acoustic guitar are you an expert at? How does your improvising sound? What about your composing? Please write your answers down now.

Exercise 2:
Imagine your ideal guitar playing career. Would you be a master guitar teacher? What about an amazing performing artist? Or another goal can be performing as part of a highly successful band? How would you like to be an in demand studio guitarist? What do you really want to do? You can write down your answers now.

Exercise 3:
Write down your worthy ideal. Write your goal down in the present tense like you have already achieved it.Try to make it into a one paragraph statement.

Exercise 4:
Invest 5 minutes every morning and night to read your worthy ideal. This will be a factor in helping you stay motivated and focused on the goals that you want to achieve.

Clarity is something that you must have. If you don’t do it, you might not be able to start developing an effective career geared towards your goal.

You may find as you answer the questions that self-doubt starts to creep in. You may doubt whether or not what you write down is even possible! This is normal. Just write down your answers anyway :) You don’t need to know right now HOW you will achieve your worthy ideal. All you need to do is figure out WHAT it is.

You can improve your guitar skills. You only learn by doing.

How to Play the Piano

April 29th, 2009 by ama

The piano is an superb easy on the ear apparatus that may be a bit frightening to learn but is worth every be concerned time and money you’ll pay out If you want to teach yourself to play piano simply and fast, start now. The prior you embark on the advance you’ll be and the past you’ll be able to play a much loved member Here’s how you can boon

If you want to teach manually to play piano by a long way you need to fix on what kind of piano competitor you want to be. If you want to be a show pianist singing Mozart or Tchaikovsky, you will have to learn how to read notes and wherever down the line, most likely take formal education if only for the method But if you only want to learn the piano so you can be an adjunct to a vocalist or collect yourself your own song, you can start with chords, which is debatably the easier way to start live
There are also separate styles of piano singing you might want to thicken on – usual jazz, depression new age, etc. You can learn one or quite a lot of of these styles in the forthcoming once you’re recurring with the tool itself.
To teach yourself to play piano without doubt you need access to a keyboard A piano is a bit high-priced but you don’t have to buy one to be able to teach physically to play piano by a long way There are many sources you can tap for free – local clubs, schools, churches, even contacts and neighbors who might be eager to let you use their upright

If you’re a miniature shy and want to training at home, get a manageable electronic upright to learn to play piano by a long way There are some very reasonably priced ones that work as well as a Korg or a Roland. These keyboards even allow you to plug a headphone so no one else hears your in performance Just buy one with full-sized keys for the reason that the especially cheap ones can have smaller-sized keys. If your fingers get used to less important keys, you might have some hitch adjusting if you begin before a live audience a full-sized piano in the upcoming

A piano period is never far away. There are frequent books, CDs and online lessons you can tap to help you to teach by hand to play piano straightforwardly There are some videos and audio instructional sources you can use.

You can get free or paid education by a long way and can even edit some of the most well-liked music to realize Because we all learn in a different way it’s essential that you find the seminar that you feel most snug with to teach yourself to play piano easily

There are times when you might get confused on a moral cleanly since you don’t get it or are not using the right technique If this happens, find a sundry supply you can use for note to teach manually to play piano without problems such as a assorted website, book or video or just purely ask someone if you’re before a live audience the piano precisely
not a soulwell-read to play the piano committed only when they felt like it. Even the virtuosos played the piano as often as they can. live this appliance requires principles your hand and mind to bear in mind motions and learn to confederate notes with the black and white keys on the grand piano run through for at least half an hour everyday or about 4 to 5 days a week is one way to teach yourself to play piano by a long shot

cultureto play the piano doesn’t mean you have to be born with ability nor do you have to be as young as your niece or grandchild. anybody who has usual cerebral and real abilities can teach himself to learn to play piano by a long shot and follow Piano live is as much a well-read skill as it is a bent.

If you can teach physically the skill you’re central there.

Be sure to look at the vancouver piano website for special, one-one-one classes. There is no better vancouver piano teacher anywhere. So if you have been searching for piano lessons in vancouver that are made for both new piano students, checkout the webpage!

What You Need to Know Before You Can Learn to Play Acoustic Guitar

April 29th, 2009 by ama

 

The most traditional type of guitar is the acoustic guitar.  In fact, its brother the electric guitar wasn’t invented until the 1930’s.  The acoustic guitar, as we know it, has been in existence since around 1779.  Close relatives to the acoustic guitar such as the oud and the lute have been in existence for thousands of years.  If you want to learn to play acoustic guitar you’ll be in good company.

The most used type of guitar is the acoustic guitar. It has been used in unplugged sessions by musicians for decades. It doesn’t produce a loud sound like the electric guitar, because it is not amplified.  In the right hands, an acoustic guitar is a very powerful and emotion provoking instrument. 

Learning to play the acoustic guitar is not that hard. First you must choose the right acoustic guitar that you will use to learn how to play. It should have the right size and weight for you.

You shouldn’t try to use someone else’s acoustic guitar when you learn to play acoustic guitar either.  The size and weight may not be right for you.  You need to buy your own acoustic guitar. 

Acoustic guitars are quite easy to obtain.  You can buy them brand new at most every music store.  You can also easily obtain a second hand acoustic guitar as well.  Again, just be sure it is the right size for you.  

Once you have your acoustic guitar you’re ready to begin.  There are many ways that you can learn to play acoustic guitar.  You just have to pick the method which is most convenient for you.  The most common ways to learn acoustic guitar are as follows:

Take lessons-This is probably the most traditional way to learn acoustic guitar.  You pay someone who is qualified to teach acoustic guitar to teach you.  The advantage is you have someone who can work with you one-on-one.  They can keep you motivated and make sure you’re using proper technique.  If you get stuck they will be able to help you.

This method also has some disadvantages.  It can become very expensive.  Your lessons are weekly and you have to pay weekly.  These costs can really add up.  You have to work the lessons in around your busy life.  Finally, you have to pack up your guitar and drive to the lessons.

Internet-Thanks to modern technology you can learn just about anything you want, including how to play acoustic guitar.  There are free lessons out there and paid ones.  You can wind up wasting a lot of time and effort looking for free quality guitar lessons.  It’s better just to find a good one and pay the money instead of wasting your time. 

The advantages are clear.  You only pay a one time fee and you have all the instruction and lessons you need.  You don’t have to leave your house.  You can take your lessons when it’s convenient for you.  Of course, you won’t have one-on-one instruction, but this is very close to it.
If you learn to play acoustic guitar from the right source, you will progress reasonably well.  You can learn how to play acoustic guitar without difficulty if you start with the right steps. This article gives you some of the easy steps to start learning it.

 

Country Music Artist Laura Bryna Joins with Southern Beauty Magazine in Nationwide Search for American ‘Hometown Heroes’

April 29th, 2009 by admin

Winners Will Receive Trip to L.A. this August for Concert Event at House of Blues Honoring Special Women of the Air Guard and Southern Beauty magazine. Laura Bryna's single, 'Hometown Heroes', was adopted by the Air Guard as its national campaign song. She'll perform at the event. (PRWeb Apr 29, 2009)


Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/04/prweb2367934.htm