Technology News

Normally in pop and rock songs, eighth notes divide each beat into two equal pieces. The eighth notes create the familiar “one & two & three & four &” feel that were used to in rock songs. On the other hand, blues guitar uses a swing feel, where each beat is divided into three pieces. Instead of “one & two &,” we get “one & a two & a three & a four & a.” Breaking the beats into three pieces creates what are called eighth note triplets. Since there are usually four beats per measure in the blues, you are usually playing four groups of three.

When you are learning how to play blues guitar, you want to practice strumming a chord like an E7, which is a shorthand way to write E dominant 7, with a swing feel. You should practice strumming down on the strong beats, those that fall on the one, two, three, or four, skip the ?&, and strum up again on the “a.” With that rhythm you get the do DAH do DAH do DAH do DAH sound made famous by artists such as Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, and BB King.

1. Another big part of learning how to play blues guitar is learning how to play a dominant seventh type of chord.
2. All chords have 2 pieces, and blues guitar chords are no exception.
3. If you have an A7 chord, you know two pieces of information from that name, you know that the chord is built on an A note, and you know it has a dominant seventh chord quality, or sound.
4. Dominant seventh chords use the root, third, fifth, and flatted seventh of the major scale.
5. It is that blending together of the major third and minor seventh notes that give dominant seventh chords their unique appeal.
6. In most forms of music, only the chord built from the fifth tone is permitted to be a dominant seventh chord.
7. Not so in blues, every chord is a dominant seventh chord often.

The last thing about blues guitar is the use of the blues scale. From a major scale, take the root, flatted third, fourth, flatted fifth, fifth, and flatted seventh degree and you have a minor blues scale. To get the major blues scale, you take the root, second, flatted third, third, fifth, and sixth tones from a major scale. What really makes these scales sound ?bluesy is the way they contain a flatted third, but are played against dominant seventh chords which have a major third. This usage is one of the more prevalent characteristics of blues music. It is also a major component of a lot of blues-based rock and popular music.

If you are learning how to play blues guitar, never forget the words of the great BB King, “The blues is the easiest music to learn, and the hardest to master.” As in many facets of life, the blues is taking small ideas and constructing them together in such a way that they make something great.

If you have a six-string, a pick and a solid but comfortable armless chair, you are ready for some easy guitar lessons. Here are some of the basic things you should learn.

Know your instrument.

The topmost portion of your guitar is called the head or the headstock. This is where you well find the tuners, which are used to adjust the pitch of the six strings. The long part attached to the head is the neck.

Down the neck is the body of the guitar. If you are using a classical or acoustic guitar, you will find a sound hole in the middle. This serves to project and amplify the sound. Electric guitars, on the other hand, do not have holes. Instead, they have pickups, which intensify the sounds coming from your instrument. Of course, you have the strings that are attached to the tuners, run down over the neck, over the hole and attached to the bridge.

Hold your guitar properly.

The thickest guitar string should be the topmost when you hold the guitar and the neck should be parallel to the ground. The body should rest comfortably on one of your thighs. Tune your guitar.
Before you can learn how to play the guitar, you will have to learn this skill first. You can refer to a book, an online source or a friend to learn how to tune. You can tune your guitar three ways: by ear, with a piano or a tuning flute.

Next, decide on your fret hand. This is the one that will be spending a lot of time on the neck of your guitar, pressing on the chord. If you are right handed, it is your left. If you are left handed, its your right hand. Your pick hand is the other hand. This is the one that will hold the pick and strum the guitar.

When using your pick to strike the strings, make sure not to strike too hard or too soft. You are a beginner and need to hear how you sound like. Use only your wrist when you play and not your whole arm. Practice three different strokes on each string: downward, upward and alternate down and up. Once you get the hang of it, you will learn the best pressure to put on the string to produce the proper sound.

Learn the chords.

Get a chord book and begin practicing the chords. You can practice doing them one by one as shown on the book until your mind and fingers memorize them. Only problem is that this can get a little boring. There is just no sense playing a bunch of chords that do not sound like a real melody.

The better alternative would be to learn the most common chords first. These are: C major, D major and G major. Play one chord first until you memorize it and then move to the other. You can then practice moving from one chord to the next, keeping both the sound and the movement as fluid as possible. Practice on songs that play these chords until you have mastered them. When you do, move on to other songs using other chords.

Where to find your lessons online

There are plenty of resources you can turn to for easy guitar lessons books, magazines and online resources. If you want free lessons, here are some websites you can check out for help.

If you know the basics of playing the guitar, this site is a great resource for learning easy songs. Do not worry, because lessons are designed for beginners. A few sessions online and you should learn enough songs to surprise anyone in no time.

Not only does this site feature easy step by step lessons on guitar playing, there is also a link to a page featuring songs made popular in the 1960s. Bring back the groovy years with easy to follow instructions.

All the easy guitar playing secrets you have always wanted to learn are here, plus you get to learn how to play lead guitar. You can also order their instructional CD-ROM to learn easy guitar lessons at your own pace.

Music examinations are a method of formally assessing the accomplishments of pupils learning musical instruments. Although there are music examinations available to school and university students alongside other regular qualifications and assessments, there are also a number of independent, examination bodies who solely provide assessment in musical ability which are open to all.

Music exams are set in both theory and practical aspects. The theory examinations are taken by pupils of all instruments and typically cover areas such as musical notation, construction of scales and composition. The practical exams concentrate on the particular instrument favoured by the pupil, for example piano, guitar or flute. They cover elements such as playing set pieces; scales; sight reading and aural.

Most students who enter these exams have taken a course of music lessons with a private teacher. Often this is a way for children to receive music training over and above what is provided at their usual place of learning.

Examination Boards:

ABRSM: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music

//www.abrsm.org
The Associated Board is the worlds leading examination body for music, with a system of examinations and assessments in over 80 countries around the world. The Associated Board is linked to some of Europes leading Conservatoires – the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in London; the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama.

Established in 1889, the Associated Board provides schools, private teachers of music and the general public with a scheme of music examinations of recognised authority. Examinations are offered in 35 instruments, singing, theory and practical musicianship and are open to students of all ages. The Associated Board examines over half a million candidates each year making it the largest examining body for music in the world.

In 1991, the Associated Board was delighted to be asked to return to examine in Australia after an absence of more than 30 years. Associated Board examinations are conducted at St.Andrews Cathedral School, with the Boards examiners making regular visits to Sydney.

AMEB: Australian Music Examinations Board

//www.ameb.edu.au/
The Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) provides a full range of music and speech and drama education, from the first steps through to Diploma level performance and scholarship. The AMEB exists to provide a graded system of examinations in music, speech and drama, by offering high quality syllabuses, educative services to our teachers, examiners and candidates, and quality publications to the highest editorial standard. The AMEB has a long record of providing quality music examinations for students, with over 100,000 students nationally taking its examinations each year. AMEB standards are well respected internationally, and it is the only examining body with formal links to the major Australian universities and Ministers of Education.

AGMS: Australian Guild of Music Education

www.guildmusic.edu.au
The AGMS was founded in 1969 as a continuation of the London Guild of Music and Speech (Australia). It is non-profit, Public Education Institution, constituted to provide professional and private Teachers and Students of Music and Speech (including Drama) with a responsive organization through a comprehensive set of syllabi throughout Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore with examinations which recognize excellence in the selected study, as well as providing supportive encouragement for teachers and all music and speech students and candidates.

The Guild education system provides an avenue for music & speech teachers to offer a methodical teaching and assessment system for their students via the Guilds public examinations and opens the way for further education at Tertiary level, for both themselves and their students, by distance education in the Creative Skills program from Certificate to Advanced Diploma and the Higher Education program with the Bachelor of Music degree.

ANZCA: Australian and New Zealand Cultural Arts

www.anzca.com.au
Australian and New Zealand Cultural Arts Limited (ANZCA) offer syllabuses and both practical and written examinations in modern and classical streams, which stimulate students of all ages. For over twenty-three years, examinations have been conducted throughout Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Trinity Guildhall Examinations (Australia)

www.trinitycollege.co.uk
Trinity College London, the international examinations board incorporating Trinity Guildhall, offers accredited qualifications in English language and the performing arts. Trinity has been assessing students since 1872 and is considered a leader in performance assessment. Trinity is supported by the leading performing arts organizations, teacher associations, colleges and universities in Australia and worldwide. 500,000 assessments are conducted each year worldwide, from graded examinations and certificates to diplomas and higher level vocational qualifications. Trinity offers a flexible range of syllabuses, across a variety of teaching and learning styles, to encourage and motivate students to achieve their personal, vocational and professional goals.

Before I had even begun to build my first Weissenborn guitar I was assailed by many doubts such as” Am I going to screw this up?” or ” suppose I get this wrong? and similar kinds of horrible thoughts!I would actually lie awake at nights thinking about it, half scared ,half excited, about doing this for the first time.

However, I came to the conclusion rapidly that it was only wood, only cost money and if I did screw up, well, I could always buy some more and start again! I realised that I had to curb my impatience and start to be a little more thorough in my approach to this project.

I had scoured the net looking for all kinds of information regarding the building of a Weissenborn and realised that there was very little to find. There were no books on how to do it, and I could only find one set of plans available from a company in America. It seemed to me that it must be the best kept secret on the Planet. There were a few hardy individuals that had bitten the bullet and had built a Weissenborn but it seemed that mostly it was the secretive domain of Luthiers, the gods of all gods! All of this intrigued me more and more and gradually I built up an arsenal of facts and fiction about the construction of these here Weissenborn guitars They were definitely popular and there was no doubts about that. The likes of Ben Harper, Jeff Lang and Johnny Depp had seen to that, for certain. When I finally came across a plan of a Weissenborn I was amazed at what little detail that there actually was on the plan itself! I had expected there to be all kinds of tips and hints and secret little tricks the help the unwary innocent ( me) to find his way through the maze.

1. It seemed to me that the thing to do was to buy a conventional guitar building book and take some ( if not most!) of the techniques and use them to build my guitar.
2. In fact, that is really what I did in the end, more or less.
3. As I gathered together more info and ordered the timber from my pal Kim Hancock, a luthier of note from Tamborine Mountain in Queensland, I made a definite promise to myself that I would, if this project was successful I would not only write a book about the building of a Weissenborn but would also draw a plan for my very own guitar before I started!
4. This is also exactly what I did.
5. I had seen Jeff Langs beautiful Weissenborn style guitar made for him by South Australian luthier, David Churchill and had seen how deep the body and neck were.
6. I wanted one something like that! I realised the beautiful ringing overtones and sweet sounds came from a combination of the workmanship, the timber and certainly the depth of this great slide guitar

I went off to the local print and copy shop and bought about two metres of virginal white paper, the sort of stuff architects draw houses on. I burned midnight oil drawing, re-drawing, cursing, muttering and checking dimensions from books, drawings and photos. Id had the good fortune to get an old plan of a Weissenborn style one from a friend and checked it out against the dimensions of my own . So far, so good!

Soon the day came around. The plans was born. I was really glad that the Weissenborn style was the one I had chosen for my first build and I was secretly pleased that I had no tricky truss rods to deal with and the great fact I had realised about halfway through the design was that because the strings are never pressed down onto the frets it wouldnt matter if they were slightly inaccurate. A conventional guitar would be ruined if you got that wrong!!!

I was really pleased with the plan as I studied it. There was heaps of information on there, Id seen to that. Type of wood, exact thickness in millimetres and inches, no horrible decimals of inches, what are they? Yuk! Little warning notes about things that had nearly caught me with my trousers down. What kind of glue to use and loads of stuff like that. It was looking good. I also decided that I would get it turned into PDF files and TIFF files eeventually for putting onto CD-Rom when the time came to put them up on my site. Now all I had to do was build my guitar!

I actually live on a forty foot yacht so the challenge of building this guitar was more than a little interesting, to say the least. It required careful planning and a little forethought. I had thought the whole project through and because I didnt have a workshop as such I would improvise a little. The engine block housing would be my workplace, four feet by two foot six inches, plenty! I had a piece of solid three quarter inch piece of MDF board to work on and I had decided to use the ?mould ?method of building the guitar.

The deck outside would be used for sawing, cutting and all the messy stuff and I had an ample sheet of ply to protect that. With a little trepidation I began. I soon realised things were going well and really got into the swing of things. Well, folks, the rest is history! I actually made me a Mississipi Delta mud slidinwhiny,shiny weissinbyorn folks and it shure do sound purty! Even I ah do say so mahself! It has turned out better than I could have ever dreamed and I play it every damn day! The good thing is too that its getting sweeter as time goes by and I dont even play it the wrong way up no more! I sit it on my lap now! I did write a book about the build and if you like you can visit my site www.buildaweissenborn.com that I built in honour of these wonderful instruments and you can see the results of my efforts and even hear a soundclip of the guitar itself if you are so inclined!

If you are reading this then hopefully the question of “Should I get my Sound Mastered” has been answered. If not, then this article will briefly discuss this issue. If you are asking this question to begin with, then your answer is more than likely “yes” . Mastering is just as important as your recording and mixing process. Here is a question? Your music is recorded, did you mix it yet? If yes, why? Is it because you wanted it to sound better? Well, what if I told you that the improvement you made from the recording to the mixing is the same type of improvement you will hear from the mixing to the mastering process. Yes, you heard it correct. Your sound will be so much harder and crisper you and your buddies will all be amazed.

1. Now, you are convinced to get your music mastered, but the professional part has not been talked about.
2. Well, let us discuss that issue right now.
3. Let me paint a picture for you. You are 55 years old and worked on a great job all your life.
4. You have 2 beautiful grown kids and 4 grandkids.
5. You and your spouse are making a huge decision today about the rest of your lives.
6. You are deciding to retire after 30 years service from your company.
7. Now, your goal is to live off your 1 Million dollar nest egg you have built up over the past 30 years.
8. That may seem like a lot of money, but consider the fact that you are used to living off of $60,000 per year.
9. Being as smart as you are, you calculate the math and realize if you put that money in your bank or try to play the stock market, your savings may only last for 16 years.
10. That means when you are 55 years young, you are out of money. Not to mention, inflation.
11. So, is this picture clear enough for you? My question to you is, would you rather gamble with your life savings and be a do it yourself member in the market, or would you rather give this problem to a professional and have them fix it?
12. Do you know anything about beta, dollar cost averaging, rebalancing?
13. Can you see the importance of getting a professional?
14. If you answered yes for a professional, then you are on the right track.
15. If not, then best of luck in your musical journey.

Think about your music in the same way. If you do not get it mastered by a professional and you are as serious about it as you think you are, then you are potentially flushing your money down the toilet. You are an artist and are probably good at what you do or you would not be reading this. Mastering engineers are just like you, good at what they do. They would not pick up an instrument and try to show you how to play your song. Their expertise is in the studio making your music sound even more hard and crispclear. Use them, that is what they do and that is what makes them so valuable. Have I made my point yet?

Not many people are fortunate enough to have an audio engineer that can mix and master at the same time, but if you are, then a straight transfer might do fine. If not, you need to consider getting your audio mastered by a professional. Some facilities do their mastering in house and some studios have to send it off.

Usually a lot can be done to improve the mixes. There is a huge demand in this market. Now, if youre reading this, then you are probably wanting your disc to be competitive in-store play, homes of consumers, and in radio markets, it has to be perfect sonically. Think of it like a brand new car -without a good wash and wax, few people will appreciate how great it looks. Also, since the mixes were recorded at different times of day over a week or more, you end up with differences in level and tone. Mastering creates a seamless whole out of a collection of individual tracks.

The mastering studio has ultra-clean processors that are made to handle stereo signals. Obvious as this may be – it is one thing to run a guitar through a limiter and equalizer, and another thing to run your whole mix through it. A finished mix is an intense balance that can be made worse as easily as it can be improved. Its worth using the best equipment available.

People who have not started dancing at an early age may want to try dancing when they reach their 30s or even the golden years. The method of teaching an adult dance class may differ from other age groups. Adults do not have the same physical make-up with younger dancers. They are not as flexible as children. This is one consideration that teachers look into when teaching adults.

It would be best for adults to enroll in dance classes whose teachers understand this unique requirement. Adults will have certain concerns and limitations that do not bother other age groups. For instance, they may find it awkward wearing revealing clothes, they are worried about getting injured or they might feel out of place in a group comprised mostly of young dance students.

Dance instruction should not be for the different age groups. The reason for this is largely due to physiological differences. An adult beginner dancer enrolled in dance class filled with teenagers may find themselves pushing too hard to keep up with the young ones. These could pose risks to their health rather than help them.

1. Adults must look for a studio where they can have a good warm-up before doing the dance routines.
2. A good warm-up consists of exercises that move the joints from neck down and all muscles.
3. It should enhance flexibility, balance and speed.
4. The exercise should last 30 minutes for a one-hour class.
5. If the class runs for 90 minutes then a 45 minute warm-up would be enough.
6. Warm-up exercises usually become routine.
7. This will enable adult students to memorize the steps and make the most of the exercises.

The dance warm-ups must make use of aerobic motion. This will develop flexibility of body. It will also help prepare the body for the physical demands of the class.

Exercises that are non-weight bearing enable adults to utilize their energy for lifting and holding without using balance. Progressive exercises will prepare the adult step-by-step on a level they are comfortable with.

Warm-ups that only use basic stretches, kicks or bending are not sufficient. The requirement should be moving all muscles and joints of the body. Basic moves cannot accomplish that. Insufficient warm-up can pose risks of injury and strain to an adult dancer.

A great teacher should inquire from the adult dancers if they have existing injuries or if they have physical conditions that pose limitations on their movements that day. An instructor must be able to communicate to students not just issue directions. This will make the class more interactive and fun for the student.

After a good warm-up, dancers will proceed to the center of the studio. The teacher demonstrates to the student how certain moves are made. If there are limitations in an adult dancers movements due to a physical condition then the teacher must not force her or him to execute some steps. A teacher is there to guide not to force instruction.

Adult students do not attend classes to be able to compete professionally. This is a very rare occurrence although not an impossible situation. Adult students usually enroll for the love of salsa dancing. If an adult student has the passion for the dance then letting him or her help choreograph will enable the dancer to feel fulfilled.

An adult dancer who learns to be flexible can perform as well as the young dancers. It might take time to perfect a performance but the dancer can learn various moves that will help in the dance. Jumping, twisting, turning, balancing and partnering are all part of the rigorous demands of dancing which an adult should prepare for. Teachers can make a difference in the adult dancing experience in a dance class by helping him or her adjust.

A dance class should be safe for students particularly young children. Parents should ensure that the place their children go to a class that provides adequate training and amenities for them.

Some parents may consider the location, time and price of the class but the most important factor to look into is the safety of the kid. They should make sure that the child is getting the right training without overexertion.

Safety to children does not only mean safety in the studios physical features. It also means proper training methods which is suitable for the age of the child. This will help prevent unwanted injuries while dancing.

The parent must see to it that the child gets proper supervision and adequate training that do not strain his or her young body. The teacher has to consider that the childs age pose some developmental limitations when it comes to physical exertion. He is, for instance, not capable of lifting his partner.

1. To be able to determine if the class is safe, the parents should be able to watch the class.
2. The students must be able to follow the teachers direction.
3. If most students are struggling with the instruction, the dance classes might be too advanced for their skill level.
4. This is an indication that the training might be too strenuous for the child.
5. Another factor parents should look into is the number of accidents or injuries in the class.
6. If the teacher fails to provide a comprehensive warm-up for the kids before the start of the lessons, this can result in injuries.
7. If the child just experience temporary aches at the early stages of the lessons then that is understandable.

But if the muscle pain does not go away then the routine could be too advanced for the child or they are not doing enough warm-up exercises. It is best if the parent asks the child if he or she experiences physical problems after the dance. This can prevent injuries from occurring or worsening them.

The childrens bodies may be flexible but plunging into their routine immediately right after they get into class will not be beneficial to them in the long run. This practice can have harmful effects on the joint, tendon and muscles. Dance education should forego preliminary procedures.

If there are acrobatic exercises to be executed in dance classes, it will best that the floor have cushions or mats. The cushion will be great for any tumbling, twisting or flipping moves in a dance. This can prevent the child from getting injured or strained.

There are some lessons that require several years of training before a child can take part in it. If the school does not allow your child to join in some lessons then that means it is not age-appropriate for her or him. You should not insist on enrolling because forcing a child to study dance techniques beyond her age and experience can lead to physical problems later.

Children below 6 years old should be allowed to experience several dancing classes. Older children who have enrolled in dancing classes and wish to quit should be allowed to do so. A child who is not interested in the class will most likely not learn anything. Forcing your child will not produce positive results. A dance class for children should be a fun, exciting and safe experience for the child.