Kamis, 11 Desember 2008

Is Bass Or Guitar Harder To Play?

The question of whether bass or guitar is harder to play often comes up in the minds of guitar beginners. Some even think that the bass must be easier to play because it has less strings than the guitar. Right at the beginning of guitar playing, instead of just trying to learn a chord or finding a course of guitar lessons on the internet, newbies always start looking for the easiest or the "best" way to learn guitar. So wondering about which is harder to play between guitar and bass is another question that holds up progress.

The guitar has six strings while the bass has only four but the thicker strings on the bass make it more difficult to play. The choice of which notes to play is harder for a ball player. Once the band has departed from simple chords, playing the root note is not enough for the bass player.

Playing bass needs a completely different frame of mind which needs to be learned and practiced. The bass player does not just stand there and play in the background. He is supporting the drummer and the rhythm guitar player.

There are certain musical styles that are less complex than others. Take punk rock, for instance. You learn a few power chords and you are almost there. For bass players pop rock is not too difficult. Hard rock is more challenging, and genres based on the blues tradition offer the new guitar player a little more background to absorb before he can consider himself a player.

Some musical genres feature the bass in the role of a lead instrument. Funk rock, jazz, groove metal, soul or reggae all demand alot from the bass guitar player.

The fact is playing bass guitar or regular guitar is as easy as you allow it to be. People say that bass is easier to play, but the guitar student's attitude can change that.

The main thing is your love for music and your wish to play and create music. If you can keep time, have some idea when to be a part of the group and when to be at the front, then you have a start to being a guitar or bass player. Once you start playing, how hard it is does not matter.

For the bass player who started out learning the guitar bass is usually easier to learn. That is because the guitar player already has a feel for the instrument, His body has already become used to fingering chords, playing scales and using a pick, so most bass players who started with the guitar will advise others to do the same.

The most practical approach to the question of whether bass or guitar is harder to play is to take a lesson or two in both. If you cannot afford lessons, check out the free guitar or bass lessons on the internet. Another way to decide is to watch guitar and bass players on YouTube. If your feelings go towards either the guitar or bass, then that is where the rest of you should go. Whether it is harder makes no difference.

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Selasa, 09 Desember 2008

Games in Music Lessons and Their Benefits

How my music school grew from 6 to over 200 students in under two years.

When my husband and I started our music school - everyone around us thought it couldn't be done. It had not been done in our home town much and no one we knew had ever quit their day job as a teacher to go and run their own music school business. we weighed up the pros and cons of it all and decided after it all that it was a challenge that we wanted to pursue. So we went ahead and before we knew it we leased a commercial premise, found ourselves a program and we were on our first opening day ready a raring to go!

Our first term was tough- we enrolled thirty students and half of them quit within a few weeks. We couldn't work it out - here we were fully established, credible teachers and it wasn't working. What were we doing wrong?

We could no longer think the same as we previously did in working in schools and operate the same teaching methods because they were not working. Something we were doing was not right and we had to find out what it was quickly.

We talked to our six families that we had on board and any families which came through our doors. We asked them all the one simple question:

"What is it that you would like to get out of have music lessons for your child?"

With this question we found out some very important information. Because our parents were doing this in their free time with their children, it had to be FUN. A parent didn't want to pay for lessons if it was all too hard or if their child didn't enjoy it and they definitely didn't want to bring their children because it was good for them. The other observation we made was that if a parent enjoyed lessons, then their child would as well. The parent didn't even have to be in the room, but when a parent asked their child how their day was and what happened in music, if their child was excited about it, it would in turn make the parent excited as well. It had to be fun for both child and parent.

With this information, we started implementing different ideas. The children would tell us that they enjoyed playing games and so we took this to the next level. In fact everything in our music sessions became a game of some description.Teachers never had a chance to sit down in our school - they were too busy having fun and playing games. Notes would be learn't with stories and note races, kids would be running up to the piano with special cues, games were played learning pieces - even aural activities were a game. In general the place became a bustling games area! .... And the other thing that started happening was that we were suddenly growing out of control. We only had a small music school premises, but suddenly there was no room left in the car park, in the hallways and parents wanted to start learning in this method as well in our lunch hour!....many had told us that MUSIC HAD NEVER BEEN SO MUCH FUN! On top of this, our older students started achieving the highest exam results we had ever seen...

So what changed?

All we did was come up with strategies in playing games. Basically we came up with literally thousands of games ideas and on a lesson to lesson basis and for two years we tested them, made them work and we taught them to our staff members and students. The spin off effect was that students started remembering more...and therefore achieved higher grades.

In essence this is what the FUN music company is about. We no longer have time to teach anymore because we are too busy packaging the ideas we have been using in our years as music teachers. It is impossible to be a teacher and to keep coming up with more and more ideas without an end in sight. So now we are ready to share these ideas with others.. so that they dont need to be spending years getting it right. Our passion is to make music learning fun and easy for everyone at the click of a button - not just for those in our home town, but to share it around the world and increase the enjoyment of music for everyone.
Janice shares regular tips, tricks and advice on keeping music lessons fun with her blog The Music Teachers blog at http://www.musicteachersblog.com visit now to discover more information and tips on the power of games in music lessons.

Janice Tuck
Music Teacher, Mother, and Chief Musical Fun Officer
The Fun Music Company Pty Ltd

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Music Offers One of the Most Exciting Careers

If you are serious about a contemporary music career, selecting the best type of music school education is very important. An ideal school is one that offers comprehensive, hands-on education in contemporary music performance (typically, guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and voice), recording, songwriting, original music production, music business and related fields such as music video production and instrument-making.

Professionally-oriented schools offer programs designed to increase your technical skills, musicianship and performing experience to a level that will allow you to play any style of music. To evaluate the best schools of this type, you need to analyze the music course content along with the professional background of the instructors who teach them. Another valuable indicator is found in the record of students who have gone through the school - their success stories will tell you whether the school is providing relevant education.

Vocational music schools offer specialized training in instruments like guitar, keyboards, drums, bass, voice, and so on. Private instructors provide individualized training that suits your style and level while classes in technique, theory, and performance give you a broader foundation in musicianship.

Private schools and universities offer music programs ranging from Non-certificate training to Certificates, Associate Degrees, Bachelor Degrees, etc. Depending on your level of skill and the length of the program, you can either enhance and broaden your musical abilities for your own enjoyment or become an expert musician ready for concerts or the recording studio.

Hollywood, California is the location for several music institutes nurturing up-and-coming talent of different age groups. As the contemporary music capital of the world, Los Angeles also offers a vast number of private music teachers who can provide independent music lessons on typical contemporary instruments such as bass, guitar, keyboards, drum set and voice.

For the serious student, larger music institutes in Hollywood provide comprehensive training in contemporary music performance and technology, with courses designed by world-renowned music teachers and professionals.
Mi.edu - is the best music school in Los Angeles. Musicians Institute offers professional-level certificate and degree programs for guitar college program, bass, keyboards, percussion, voice, audio engineering, original music production, music business, guitar craft and music video, film & television production.

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To Make Your Kids More Successful, Teach Them Music!

Benefits of Music Education Shown to Include Leadership and Teamwork Skills

Besides being a sure way to become the life of the party, learning to play an instrument can make your children smarter, better adjusted, and better equipped to adopt a position of leadership in a diverse world.

The idea that music education makes children smarter isn't just our opinion. Music has a mathematical precision; the rhythms, pitches, and motifs in musical composition can all be expressed with numbers and equations. Maybe that is why the 1993 Standardized Achievement Test (SAT) showed above-average scores in both mathematical and verbal portions of the test by high school students who studied music. At the time, President Bill Clinton and Education Secretary Richard Riley were calling for enriched arts education for all children.

Being smart is important, but it's also critical that children be well adjusted. Children with music education—especially in a school setting with other musicians—develop the key people-skills that are essential to functioning in society, including teamwork, problem solving, and leadership. They gain from the hard work of music mastery, learning self-discipline and self-worth through accomplishments. Studies demonstrate that the students most likely to be elected to class office, achieve the highest grades, or receive honors for academic achievement are the students who—you guessed it—study music.

There is also an impossible to quantify, yet essential quality that music adds to each of our lives. If, as argued by the Oxford Review of Education as far back as 1996, the richness of music is itself enough justification for the teaching of it , then are music's other benefits unimportant? We do not believe so. Music education should—and does—have measurable benefits.

What we know is that music education helps children improve academic skills, develop leadership skills, and gain a sense of accomplishment. We also know that support for music education in public schools is always under financial pressure. You may have to resort to private or virtual lessons to help your children learn music. Be involved, pay attention, and behave as if your children's music education is as important as math and writing education. Why? Because it is.

But if that doesn't convince your son or daughter to study music, perhaps the fact that musicians are the life of the party will! Guitar players and singers and pianists are always in demand, no matter what the venue; whether in church musical groups or jazz combos or contemporary rock groups, with bass players and drummers close behind. With the current decline in support for music and arts education, it is more important than ever for parents to encourage their children to study music.
Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and music educational materials such as DVD's, CD's, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. His book-CD-DVD course titled http://www.pianolessonsbyvideo.com/ "Crash Course For Busy Adults In Exciting Piano Playing!" is used around the world. He holds advanced degrees from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Keyboard Workshop in Southern Oregon. He is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled http://www.playpiano.com/ "Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions" with over 70,000 current subscribers. Assisted by Phil Honstein

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Senin, 01 Desember 2008

The Music Industry - Flaunting Jewellery & Watches

When you think about watches, you think about time, but you may as well also think about music! The truth of the matter is that jewelry in general and watches in particular have always been a part of music. Whether you are thinking about watching your favorite music videos or even of listening to the lyrics themselves, you will find that watches and jewelry play a huge part in the music we love and the songs that we sing.

In the first place, you will find that since the beginning of time, we have loved to adorn ourselves and to make ourselves beautiful with jewelry. After all, “Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend” and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” just wouldn't be the same without the diamonds! Jewels are a sign of leisure, something purely ornamental there because we find them lovely. They are things that are offered with love, and in darker songs, they are returned frostily to an erring lover. Music and jewels go together like peas in a pod!

You will find that in many ways, the same can be said of watches. Take a look at the hip hop genre, where you are sure to see the stars sporting some amazingly gorgeous and unashamedly pricey timepieces to match their blinged out chains. When people want to show off how much money and power they have, the jewelry that they wear plays such an important part in it. Think about how you know that a singer is rich, or doing well for himself or how you know that he's got cash and he's not ashamed to spend it You can bet if the song touches on this at all that he's going to be sporting some seriously expensive watches or jewelry or often both!

Even when a song doesn't reference a watch specifically, see how often they are depicted in music videos where time passes. When the girl checks her watch to see when her boyfriend is going to come home, or when you see a clock move to denote the passage of time, watches are being referenced as something that tell a story. Watches mark the passing of time and you will see them used over and over again by artists and musicians and writers. The appeal of beautiful watch is something that really transcends genre!.

Take some time and make sure that you think about what watches mean in your favorite media. Is someone waiting on someone they love or does the singer want everyone to know how rich he is? You will find that you have every reason to think about watches. You can bet that the younger generation is taking notice and that watches now mean more than they ever have!

Pop over to Which Mens Watch.com to read more interesting articles related to watches and it's fashion aspects!

By: Sam Ha

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