Join existing bands or start new bands. This is a great way for enthusiastic musicians to gain some playing experience right away, although it is sometimes harder to find these kinds of opportunities. These are established bands that are looking for single or multiple members for various reasons (their guitarist overdosed on cocaine, bass player got fired for drinking problems, etc). This might go without saying, but make sure you really do like the type of music a band plays before deciding to join their group! There are many musicians I know that play in a band where they don’t even like the music they play, all just to “gain experience” to get their foot in the door and hopefully move on to greener pastures. It can’t be stressed enough that if you don’t like the music you play, you’re going to do a half-assed job at it, so why bother?

Also, know your playing experience and limits. For example, if you’ve only started playing guitar learning all Green Day songs for a few months, don’t expect to join a thrash metal band that requires you to do sweep-picking, fast arpeggios, or any other insane guitar techniques. Make sure you choose a band where the technicality of the music they play is comfortable with your own skill level as a musician.

A huge advantage for joining an established band (maybe) is that most of the back-end stuff is already taken care of. This includes tasks such as finding an agent/manager to book your gigs, song development, contracts with music labels, etc. All you have to do is show up for rehearsals and play shows as scheduled.

After you have researched about the advantages of flat panels and you have measured your entertainment center, make sure that it can handle an extra-large screen. Now, you have waited for screen sizes to increase as prices drop. There has never been a more suitable time, but now for brands that entice customers with indulgent prices, or finances could now accommodate a better TV. Thanks to the many smaller recognized brands that entice buyers with low prices. Your budget could now help you in deciding to make a switch from old CRT to a new flat panel.

Best Buy has a 50 inch 720p Insignia flat panel plasma is a great example of an affordable-priced TV . A lot of consumers purchase TVs based on their sizes, they want something that would absolutely be a statement piece.

A higher-end TV from Sony and or other popular brands can go as high as$6,000, while Insignia plasma TV will furnish size and quality at a much lower price. With the price of $1,299.99, Insignia plasma TV allowyou buy all the components neccessaryfor creating a an impressive home theater.

If you are upgrading from your CRT TV, you will find out that Insignia plasma TV fixes two problems at once. It is a flat panel television which means it takes up lesser space than the old and bulky CRTs. More importantly, the Insignia TV has built-in HDTV tuner that ensures that it would accomodate any upcoming technology changes that over-the-air TV stations produce. The TV will also contain the documents,statements and directions for quick and easy home theater installation. The TV can also support high high definition or hi-def cable television any of theHD DVD players and blu-ray discs.

The Insignia plasma TV offers giant and clear picture, thanks to the 15,000:1 contrast ratio and the 50 inch screen. It also supports standard 16:9 widescreen ratio, however, it could also switch to zoom modes when you’d want a TV that does not accomodate the new widescreen format.

You could experience theater surround sound through connecting the Insignia TV to any sound system that is compact andhas 6 or more speakers.

So, you also want a home theater in your house? In this case, you may be thinking of designing your own even if you are still unsure about how to go about it. To make things easier for you, you may buy a ready-made home theater design plans which will be able to help you out. Plus, here are a few tips on your design.

Just answer these simple questions and you will come up with a few great plans.

How much space will you use?

If you’re just beginning to go to work on your theater, take into consideration the amount of people who would likely be seated in your theater. Consider the form of the area. And, is the room exposed to the remainder of the house or is it a close one?

Will the room that you will operate for the home theater be primarily for theater only?

If the area that you will use is a multi-purpose room, you may have to arrange some accessories or devices, which can cloak the home theater system while it’s not in being used. The home theater design plans will be very essential in order to expand the use of the open space.

Do you have a motif in mind for your home theater?

What type of decoration do you want? Do you care for a modern design? How about something antique? Would you like to balance the design to the theme of the remainder of your house?

Who will assemble your theater?

Will you hire a home theater installer or you will build it yourself? If so, do you have the capacity and knowledge to do it by yourself?

After you have clarify all of the questions, you should be able to construct a enjoyable design for your home. Don’t forget, a well-designed room can make viewing experience very gratifying for you and your family.

For more information click here to visit our website.

For seven years, Nicky Byrne’s dad had begged him to perform Elvis Costello’s hit song Please Stay alongside Westlife. On Saturday at the end of an emotional ceremony at St Laurence O’Toole Church in Baldoyle, the heartbroken singer granted his father’s long-held wish.

His voice shaking, Nicky sang the poignant words ‘please stay, please don’t go’ before breaking down at the immensity of his loss.

The love he and his family felt for Nicky Senior, a man he called “a legend” and “the coolest dad in the world”, was marked throughout the moving tribute.

Earlier he had painted a colourful picture of the type of person his father was. “A true gentleman, he had an amazing smile. In fact he died with a smile on his face,” he told the packed congregation. “He looked so peaceful and relaxed. He was the best looking dead person I ever saw,” quipped the singer.

It was a heartfelt speech. Filled with jokes and funny anecdotes; a tribute to a man who was renowned for his large bank of witticisms.

“He was the coolest dad. He could never cramp our style. Except this one time when he bought a Lada. We used to hate it but he tried so hard to change our mind,” recalled Nicky.

“I remember one day he put all his power into passing a Porsche out on the motorway just to prove it was cool.”

A man of simple pleasures, the Westlife star described how his father loved football, snooker, pitch ‘n’ putt, chicken and chips and Guinness.

But there was only one true love in his father’s life — and that was his wife Yvonne.

“He met my mam at a dancehall on a mid-summer’s day in 1968 and that night he came home and told his parents he had just met the girl he was going to marry, as I did many years later when I met Georgina,” explained Nicky. “They were soul mates and they made a great team.”

Addressing his father-in-law, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, who was present at the service, the Westlife singer also recalled how his father, who worked for the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, reacted when he got wind of the decentralisation plan.

“He rang Bertie to make sure he wouldn’t be moved to Co Kerry. He then announced to the entire office that he’d been on to Bertie and it’d all be OK, they were going nowhere. Bertie was going to look after them all,” he said to laughter in the pews.

Describing him as “the greatest grandfather anyone could ask for”, he explained how his dad would collect spiders with Jay and Rocco, saying their playtime would cover everything from hunting down ants to making magic wands.

A musical movement of the mid-1960s, the British Invasion was composed of British rock-and-roll and beat groups whose popularity spread rapidly to the rest of the English-speaking world, especially the United States which, from the beginnings of rock-and-roll music in the early 1950s, had nearly a monopoly on the genre.

Though generally not credited with starting the “Invasion”, Dusty Springfield was one of the first British artist to have significant success in the U.S., with her hit single “I Only Want to Be with You”, released in November 1963. She appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in early 1964 singing the popular hit, and continued to have several U.S. hits through the rest of the decade. For a list of songs by British artists which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, click here.

However, The Beatles’ triumphant arrival in New York on February 7, 1964, is widely credited with truly throwing open America’s doors to a wealth of British musical talent, and officially beginning what would come to be calledwith historical condescension by the willingly reconquered colonythe second British Invasion. Like their transatlantic counterparts in the 1950s, British youth heard their future in the frantic beats and suggestive lyrics of American rock and roll, but initial attempts to replicate it failed. Lacking the indigenous basic ingredients of rock and roll, rhythm and blues and country music, enthusiasts could bring only crippling British decorum and diffidence. The only sign of life was in the skiffle craze of the 1950s, spearheaded by Scottish-born Lonnie Donegan. Skiffle groups (like The Quarrymen, first forerunner of the Beatles) were mainly drummerless, acousticguitar and banjo ensembles, similar to jugbands, who most often sang traditional American folk songs, frequently with more spirit than instrumental polish, although early British skiffle was played by highly skilled Tradd jazz musicians.

There are 3 pedals on most pianos. The one on the left dampens the strings and makes the sound come out softer. The one in the middle - I have no idea what that one does, but the one on the right - the sustain pedal - this one is the pedal I have my foot on when I play the piano.

I like to let the tones ring out, but if I keep the sustain pedal depressed for too long, the music turns into a mud puddle - hundreds of overtones coming out everywhere. Don’t let anyone tell you that there is a proper way to pedal the piano.

Each style of music uses the sustain pedal differently. New age music, fortunately for us, is much more liberal with its use. Why? Because we usually throw the pedal “rules” out the window. The key to pedaling is to listen for the sound YOU WANT then pedal accordingly.

How do you think the great pianists and composers of the past did it? Do you think they asked themselves, “well maybe I should pedal here?” Of course not. They put pedal marks down where they themselves used it in a piece. You should do the same.

There’s nothing like the ringing sound of overtones you get when you let the notes hang in mid-air. In fact, this is one of the charms of the piano - that mysterious echo barely discernible to the untrained ear, but there nevertheless providing warmth and realism to the music.

It’s all accomplished through the use of the sustain pedal. When you want your music to breathe, use it. Experiment with it. Don’t be afraid to keep it depressed for as long as you want to.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

The violin is a stringed instrument that you play by pulling a
bow across the strings. It belongs to the stringed instrument
family that contains the same instruments as the viola, cello
and the double bass. The violin is the smallest instrument in
this group and the one with the highest sounding pitch. This
musical instrument is essential when performing chamber music,
but it provides for exceptional solo performances as well.

Description of a violin

A violin is a hollow wooden box with rounded ends and a narrow
center. The front and the back of the instrument are slightly
convex and connected to each other by the sides, also called
ribs. There are four sets of strings on a violin that extend
from a string holder at the bottom of the body, over a raised
bridge to the end of the narrow neck, which is called the
fingerboard. On the fingerboard, the four strings are inserted
into a pegbox and are held there with pegs. The pegs are twisted
in order to tune the violin, in much the same way as you tune a
guitar, in order to raise or lower the pitch of each string. The
bow is a long arched strip of wood with horsehair strings
stretched along its length. When the bow is drawn across the
strings on the body of the violin it produces a sound.

The body of the violin is a resonator, which means that it
amplifies the vibration produced by drawing the bow across the
strings. There is a block of wood inside the body of the violin,
called a sound post and this device helps to coordinate the
vibrations of the front and back panels. There are two F-shaped
holes in the table near the bridge that lets the panels vibrate
freely.

Playing the violin

When a musician plays the violin, he/she must hold the neck of
the instrument with the thumb and forefinger of the left hand.
The left shoulder supports the violin and keeps it in the
correct position of having the chin rest on a support located
beside the stringholder. He/She grasps the bow with the right
hand and draws it across the strings near the bridge. The left
hand fingers press or pluck the strings against the wood in
different ways to produce different c sounds or chords. This
pressure shortens the string and raises or lowers the pitch.

History of the Violin

The modern violin was developed in Italy in the sixteenth
century using the techniques used in a variety of other stringed
instruments, but mainly the viol. The viol had more strings than
we see on the violin and the body was not convex, but was flat.
The most famous violin in the world is the Stradivarius, named
after its maker, Antonio Stradivari from the Italian town of
Cremona. Although there have been a few minor changes in the
overall design of the violin, the designs of the Italian
masters, the design has basically remain the same.

“Hey, I’m looking for a rhythm guitar player for my virtual
blues band. Can you play the blues? You can? Great! Would you
like to audition? You would? Fantastic! Come on, step into my
virtual rehearsal room and meet my virtual band mates. We’ve got
a big virtual tour coming up and we desperately need a virtual
rhythm guitarist. By the way, what’s your name? Stevie? Nice to
meet you Stevie, I’m Pete. Come on, come inside…..”

CUT TO…..

VIRTUAL REHEARSAL ROOM -EVENING

A dimly lit room with graffiti on the walls. The drummer and
the bass player are jamming a jazz blues. Pete and Stevie
interrupt.

PETE: (Shouting) Guys

They don’t hear him

PETE: (Shouting louder) Guys, QUIET!!!!!!

They stop playing.

PETE: Thank you. This is Stevie. He says he can play the blues.

JAKEY THE DRUMMER: Hi Stevie, I’m Jakey

COLIN THE BASS PLAYER: Yo, I’m Colin

STEVIE: Nice to meet you both.

JAKEY: So you play the blues, huh?

STEVIE: Sure, anybody can play the blues.

PETE: Ok, grab a guitar Steve. We’ll have a jam.

Jakey adjusts his hi-hat. Colin turns the volume up on his
amplifier.

COLIN: Ok, how about something simple to start off with.

JAKEY: A 16 bar?

PETE: Sounds good, key of C sharp.

Jakey starts counting in

JAKEY: 1…2…3..

Stevie interrupts

STEVIE: Sorry, a what bar?

PETE: A 16 bar

Stevie has a blank look on his face. Colin and Jakey exchange
glances.

PETE: Have you played a 16 bar before?

Stevie shakes his head.

PETE: Ok, erm…I know let’s try an 8 bar blues.

COLIN: Yeah. Let’s do it in A flat

JAKEY: Great! 1….2….3….

STEVIE: (Interrupting) Hold on guys.

Everybody looks at Stevie.

STEVIE: I’m sorry, I’m not too sure how to play an 8 bar.

PETE: I thought you said you could play the blues…

STEVIE: (Angry) Sure I can play the blues. I’ve been playing
the blues for years. I grew up playing the blues.

PETE: Erm, ok then, let’s try a minor blues in F sharp,

JAKEY: 1…2…3…

STEVIE: (Interrupting) Er…no

PETE: But you did say you can play the blues.

STEVIE: Course I can play the blues.

COLIN: Ok, your call Stevie, what shall we play?

STEVIE: Well, how about a 12 bar blues in E?

PETE: Yeah, ok. Let’s give it a go. We’ll make it a quick
change 12 bar in 12/8 time. Oh yeah and lead in with the
turnaround.

JAKEY: 1………..

STEVIE: (Interrupting) Erm…….

Pete, Jakey and Colin are puzzled

PETE: What?

STEVIE: Quick change? 12/8? Lead in with the turnaround?

PETE: But you said you can play the blues.

STEVIE: yeah, well not this sort of blues.

An awkward silence fills the room.

STEVIE: (Embarrassed) Erm…maybe…..I should…er……go

Stevie turns and leaves

Jakey and Colin glare at Pete

PETE: But he said he could play the blues….

Cymbal crash - THE END!

Ok, let’s step out of virtuality and back to reality. I have a
question for you…..

If you were in Stevie’s shoes, what would you have answered
when asked you if you could play the blues?

Be honest, would you have said yes? I think most guitar players
would have. It seems as though a lot of people think the blues
is an easy music. Three chords in a 12 bar format. Well, a lot
of it is three chords and a lot of it is in a 12 bar format.
There is no denying that. But, there is also a lot more to it
than most people think.

Let me ask you another question. Once again, answer honestly.

Imagine it was you in the audition room and not Stevie. Could
you have played the 16 bar in the key of C sharp? How about the
8 bar or the minor blues? How would you have coped with the
turnaround intro or the quick change? Would you have known what
12/8 time was? Would you have been comfortable in the keys that
were suggested? C sharp?, A flat? F sharp? Remember, you are
being asked to play these things on the spot.

If you answered yes to all the above then, great! You need read
no further. Go reward yourself with a jam doughnut, you deserve
it. For those of you that answered no to all, or just one of the
questions, we need to do some work. Maybe you could argue that
“feel” would have got you through the audition. What is this
word; “feel?” Well, it’s great to have it, but a bit silly to
rely on it. Sometimes we need a little bit more than feel to get
us through tough situations. The truth is we need knowledge!

If you are serious about becoming a professional guitar player
then you really do need a good knowledge of the blues. It is a
language that all musicians love to use. The way to get this
knowledge is to work hard and commit yourself to your musical
education. A solid understanding of blues progressions is
essential to your development. Sorry but a 12 bar in E just will
not do.

That’s why we, at Jack Sky Ltd, have produced an excellent blues
rhythm guitar study entitled “Blues Progressions.” This 32 page
e-Book covers 8 bar, 12 bar 16 bar, minor blues, jazz blues plus
many variations of these progressions. It also includes a chord
syllabus with chords that are commonly used in blues music. It
really is packed with information that will equip you with the
skills required to jam with any blues band.

The next time somebody asks “Can you play the blues?” make sure
you are in a position to stick out your chest, lift up your
head, look em in the eye and reply….”Yes, I play the blues!”
Grab this fantastic e-book today. Visit our on-line store at
www.jack-sky.com

Knowledge breeds confidence. Confidence will, in turn, create
opportunities. Opportunities will bring experience. Experience
will bring success!! Here’s to your success! Work hard and feel
yourself improve……

Oh, and by the way, can you play the blues………..?

Hip Hop
Mixtapes are an excellent source of exposure for many up and
coming artists. in some cases they can make the difference
between super-stardom and obscurity. href="http://www.djemir.com/hip-hop-mixtape-vol6.html"
target=_blank rel="nofollow">Good Mixtapes have the ability to shift the
scale towards the artist’s favor.

Most veteran Hip Hop music and Reggae music artists understand
this concept and utilize mixtapes as a valuable tool in their
promotional campaign efforts. They many times use mixtapes to
strengthen the promotion of their own new music albums and
singles.

The mixtapes help promote Hip Hop Artists and their music by
offering an early sampling of new music either in its original
format or sometimes in a special DJ remix format. Often times
the song is mixed into and out of quickly only offering a sample
of the entire song so as to still encourage patrons to get the
full song. In this way Mixtape enthusiasts can get a good taste
of new music without the Artist suffering lost revenue and album
sales. This creates hype for these new songs and albums, almost
like a movie trailer does for movies.

Thus the mixtape format helps boost song and artist recognition
and actually helps boost artist sales and concert sales,
especially in parts of the country that would otherwise be
missed by the limitations of their advertising campaign.

target=_blank rel="nofollow">Mixtapes are also a great promotional tool for
the DJs who make them, allowing nightclub owners, record
executives and concert promoters to get a quick feel for the
talents, mixing skills, scratching skills, music selection, and
energy that the DJ may bring to an event. In a way mixtapes
serve as part of a portfolio or skills set-resume for the DJ who
distributes the mixtapes.

Recommended Mixtapes:

Any DJ Emir Hip
Hop Mixtape for example:

target=_blank rel="nofollow">DJ Emir Techniques Hip Hop Mixtape Vol 6

Any DJ Chonz
Mixtape

Crunk Brothers Mixtapes

The New Joe Buddens Mixtape

& Oldschool DJ Sinbad mixtapes!