Hey there! In this lesson we’re going to be looking at emulating the tones and sounds of other instruments on the guitar, focusing on 3 instruments from the Far East, the Pipa, the Koto and the Shackuhachi (Japanese Flute). Being brought up on a diet of old Kung Fu movies and Manga, the distinctive music of the Orient has always been of great interest to me Continue reading »
As drummers our most important task is to keep the tempo steady and make it feel good while tastefully and musically leading our band through the song. We are laying down the roadway along with our Bassist in order to give the melody a solid foundation. I see it as a pyramid with Drums and Bass on the bottom, Guitars, Keyboards, Horns and whatever you have as the higher pitched melodic instruments next, and finally the melody line itself as the capstone. Continue reading »
The band Radiohead recently (2007) offered music for free on the Internet. This initiates an entirely new view of recorded music. Not in the obvious sense. Such a move is one towards the gradual dematerialization of society. It won’t be long before it happens. And it will still cost to consume over the Internet. But the object is leaving for good. The earth’s resources are dwindling and there is no reason to make what can be translated into a form that can be sold electronically. Continue reading »
If you look at my last article, “superimposing arpeggios” you’ll read how it is possible to superimpose a different arpeggio of a chord from the same parent scale over the chord that you are improvising on. In this lesson I am going to take it one step further and combine it with another of my previous articles “Jazz Up Your Blues Progressions”, in which I describe how to add a jazz flavor to your blues progressions by adding different chord substitutions throughout the sequence. Continue reading »
When playing over a particular chord how many different arpeggios would you consider using? Over any chord you can superimpose a large number of different arpeggios which can give you greater harmonic choices. In this lesson I am going to look at one approach of doing this. By having a parent scale in mind (ie playing in a specific key) whether it’s for one chord, a chord sequence or for a whole piece of music, I’m going to show how to determine all the different arpeggios that are available to play over each chord in that key. Continue reading »
Some basic skills in arranging jazz standards for solo playing are a great addition to a jazz guitarist’s abilities for several reasons:
1. With a large enough rep or enough skill to arrange tunes on the fly you can stop splitting up the money from all those “music to be ignored by gigs” that we all love so much. Continue reading »
Robert Johnson was born in Hazelhurst, Mississippi on May 8, 1911 and died in Greenwood, Mississippi on August 16, 1938. During those 27 years he recorded 29 songs that influenced modern blues and paved the way for the future of blues-based rock.
Continue reading »
Let’s get one thing straight before I get loads of complaints. Singers ARE musicians. We do a very good job at being musicians. The title is a bit pedantic, but I am trying to make a point here. I think it is about time that those of you who are not singers, need to understand our “ways”. Yes I know some of us throw tantrums, lash expensive mic’s to the floor, kick speakers, and walk out of rehearsals in disgust-never to be seen again, or in the nearest bar drowning our sorrows and saluting Freddy Mecury, et al: “why can’t I sing like them?”. Continue reading »
When we think of great bass players we only mention the players of the male persuasion. There are many great female bassist who have carved their path into music history. With this interview I like introduce one of those female greats.
Ladies and gentlemen ………. Madame Double Z Continue reading »
As a guitar player and guitar teacher I meet a lot of people who always wanted to play jazz but thought it was too difficult so they never give it a go. This lesson is kind of aimed at those players who want to jazz up their blues playing without too much stress. It’s not designed as quick-fix but will get you sounding much more jazzy in just a few simple steps. Continue reading »
Well by the time you start reading this 2nd part you guys should be ‘purring’ freely in the vocal region to carry on with more basic vocal technique. Continue reading »
Research paper on “The Healing aspects of Micro-tones of musical, astrological and psychical vibrations” connected through the universal principle of Spiral of fifths. Continue reading »
As a guitarist for hire I’ve learned a couple of things: keep your teeth together, attitude professional, gear in top form, and ears wide open. As Frank Zappa said, “Shut up and play your guitar!” Here are some thoughts about a past gig. Continue reading »
The blues scale was the first thing they taught me when I got into jazz band in high school. It’s a simple scale to learn, and all the tones sound good over blues changes. The advantage of knowing it Continue reading »
The music business: a weird, wonderful and sometimes ugly world, where we all try and find our way in. It can be a very confusing place, and I have been working in it one way or another for the past 17 years and have been living inside of it for the last 24. Continue reading »
Whenever I’m learning a new lick, riff or scale, I always find it best to start off slowly then gradually get faster until I can play it faster than actually I need to, then it’s always a relief to play it at the correct speed 8). To help you do this, I’ve put together a range of drum backing tracks in various time signatures for you to practice your licks and riffs over.
Right, where were we?
In the previous part, we laid down a very simple MIDI drum part and bass line for a 6 bar ‘jingle’. Next it’s time to get some real instruments on there. For this example I am going to use my guitar, I have plugged my guitar into the back of my PC through the Microphone-In port using an 1/4 inch to 1/8th inch mono adapter.
Here’s some more ready to print Word document music templates I made. Enjoy 
Music is mysterious stuff. It’s completely invisible. You can’t smell it, taste it or feel it in a normal sense, yet it can touch you. Fair enough you can hear it, but what makes music different from anything else you may hear? After all, it uses the same parts of your body you would use to detect a barking dog, or an engine starting. We have evolved ears as a kind of early warning system for our eyes - We will hear a bus coming before we see it, so we’re less likely to get run over by it. Music was not ‘planned’ by nature, and has no real purpose in our survival except for what we have made of it since we discovered it. Continue reading »
How is your bassdrum technique? Many drummers are looking for a better way to control their foot technique as it seems the bass drum presents the most challenge on the conventional drumkit . Most of us are looking for some type of secret technique to conquer it’s mass and awkwardness. There are however many ways which to address this issue however today we will talk about a simple secret that is very effective. Continue reading »
Have you ever wanted to go to a music store and get a book that had the best information on how to play guitar, explained in ways that were easy to understand and made sense, and not know which book to buy? Ever go out and get that book, only to discover that it had a bunch of information that you didn’t need and didn’t make a good deal of sense after all? Ever wonder whether the “get chops quick” guitar methods so prevalent on the Internet today are really ripoffs? Well, no need for further frustration, help is here. Continue reading »
In the two main forms of Indian classical music, improvisation plays a very significant role. In the South Indian variety of classical music, Manodharma comes into the main foray much later into the concert, within a span of 3-4 hours. Continue reading »
Exercise of Doom Part 1The exercise of Doom as I christened this 15 years ago. Is a way of practicing major scale fingerings. Continue reading »
I’m very proud to introduce one of our newest authors Jagan Ramamoorthy
Jagan Ramamoorthy is a very senior Indian classical musician, Graduated from CalArts in May 2004, with an MFA degree in world music performance. He has been teaching many String musicians in the colleges/ institutions listed below:-
a) California Institute of the Arts– Valencia, CA
Also taught a special String Workshop for Grad and Undergrad students plus Cello faculties, in Spring 2007. His classroom included about 20 Students who were specializing in Western classical Violin, Viola or Cello. Apart from this, three Cello students have been specially training under him in his rare style of Violin, known as the Gaayaki Ang, or trying to emulate the human voice through the violin. All of these students are brilliant Artists and are on full or big scholarships at CalArts.
b) Sangeet School of world music, where he trains many students, including the Director: Paul Livingstone, who is an ace Sitar & Guitar player.
c) Durfee foundation– he was awarded the Durfee Master Musician fellowship for 2006-2007, in which he is training an apprentice in my style.
He has also taught a special visiting class for over sixty students in Ethnomusicology department headed by Prof Ric Alviso at the California state university, at Northridge (CSUN). This class was a grand success when almost 65 students attended a two hour class.
Jagan says : “Since my specialty is about trying to emulate the human voice through the instrument”–may it be Violin, Cello, Viola, Guitar or Sitar/Flute–I have been training many advanced students in this rare style pioneered by Dr. N. Rajam, world renowned violin virtuosi, in the North Indian Khyaal style of music”.
Almost all of my students here in Los angeles–those of who are advanced are concert musicians of most of the western classical genre and few of them are or Indian origin but settled here in the US for a long time.
I have uploaded about Seventy videos onto the http://gaayakiang.magnify.net website for now, for everybody to pick up as much as is possible through this medium, with a lot of limitations about “Lighting, Backgrounds, plus proper technology help for Video recordings” of this special type of Violin style.
Please join in and ask me directly through email, about any video or lesson I am writing about. welcome, namaste
jagan ramamoorthy
In this installment we’ll explore the playing of chords on the bass. While this stretches a bit beyond ‘basic’ I think is is an often unexplored area for new bassists. It is another tool for creating interesting basslines and is particularly useful in situations such as a trio (or 4 piece with a singer who’s not playing another instrument) where the bass may need to occupy more space. Use of chords on bass crosses many genres as well, including jazz, classical and rock. Some bands and players to check out for chordal bass work would be Rush, Primus, Stu Hamm, and John Patitucci (especially his “Heart of the Bass” cd.). My band Strange Land also employs this technique.
Continue reading »
Here is an exercise I use with the pupils at a performing arts school.
This is about developing the students aural skills and their internal awareness of pitch and intervals through vocal improvisation. Use the following as a guide that you can adapt suitably for your own group of students. Continue reading »
“What is it like to be a Working Musician?” Welcome back to part 2 “What is it like?” Well,…it can be like anything in life. Some days it’s just a job. Other days.. a pretty cool experience, but always interesting. The one thing you must get use to is the up and the down, the yin and the yang of life. What does that mean? As I’ve said in the past, learning by example can sometimes be the best way. Here’s my tale. Continue reading »
Listening to music calms me right down, especially if my mind is troubled. Music provides a means for aligning the mind with a language that it knows inherently much less needs to learn about technically in order to appreciate it. No matter the effect that music exerts, no matter the type of music, its purpose lies in its power to communicate. Continue reading »
As far as rock guitar lead is concerned, it is the scale of all scales, the mother lode so to speak, the scale used early and often by such lead guitar greats as Jimmy Page, Edward Van Halen, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Slash, and Neal Schon, to name a few. If indeed a rock n’ roll encyclopedia exists specifically for rock lead guitar (and who knows, there might be one floating out on the web somewhere), this scale would and should appear on the top, right up front. Continue reading »
Hi and a big welcome to everyone out there in guitar cyberspace. As this is my first contribution to the site I thought we would begin by taking a look at how to harmonize the Major Scale, This will then help us to determine various chord types and their association within Major keys. Over the coming months I will endeavour to address many guitar related subjects. If you have any suggestions or items that you would like to see included here then please feel free to send me an E-mail. Have fun and I’ll see you next time! Continue reading »
One of the best things a sax player can do to improve the overall command of their instrument is play with rock or blues bands. This is because most rock or blues bands are basically guitar-driven, and most guitar players like to play in keys like E, A, and C Continue reading »
Using substitute chords is a common practice that spices up chord changes and often makes melodies sound more “modern.” The most common chord substitution you see is the tritone sub. Continue reading »
Over the coming weeks I plan on uploading my collection of guitar charts… so you’ve been for warned! I’ll start off with one of my favorites, which is simply the C Major Scale. Everywhere. Continue reading »
In an earlier lesson we discussed playing two-finger G chords. In this lesson we’re going to put those chords to use. Listen to the following example… Continue reading »
For those of you that found QECC 1 and 2 too easy, or would like to know where to go after you’ve mastered the one-finger chords, here’s the same concept using two-finger G chords. Continue reading »
The minor7b5 chord is found diatonically across major and minor scales but is often misunderstood, or worse, poorly applied. Continue reading »
The tetrachord for deriving minor scales is the same as for major, but it is treated differently in two important ways: it starts at the top and descends, and the lower tone of the upper tetrachord is the same as the upper tone of the lower tetrachord — they interlock with no whole step between the tetrachords. Continue reading »
How do you start writing your own music? It’s a pretty big question with many answers, any one of them just as valid as another. I’ll try to give you some ideas as to how to go about creating your own music, and hopefully stimulate some ideas in you. Continue reading »
Playing guitar is a lifelong endeavor. So don’t plan on learning everything anytime soon. Here’s a few essential tips it took me twenty years and half a head of hair to figure out. Continue reading »
About 18 years ago I accepted a position at a church as their new Director of Music Ministries. Most of the duties were familiar to me as I had been trained to conduct choral groups, write music, accompany when needed, etc. However, one of the responsibilities was a new one for me. Continue reading »
I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked by students and others, “How do I become a working musician?” “What is it like?” “How do I keep a gig?” Well for all who are concern here’s the my answers to those questions. Continue reading »
Whether you’re a classically trained player looking to branch out into jazz, a budding jazz player looking for more explanation on how to solo over changes, or a rhythm section player starting to approach jazz Continue reading »
Rhythm is the most neglected area of musical study in Western musical practice. I know that may seem like a bold claim, but in my experience it rings true. Most players are so consumed with the notes that they forsake the rhythm. Continue reading »
In this article, I’m expanding on my previous piece, “Why I-IV-V Works, And Works So Well.” I’ll be adding 7ths to the chords and starting to talk about harmony a little more. Continue reading »
Everyone knows the drummer keeps the time in a band, right? Or in an orchestra, the conductor leads the tempo with his/her baton? What about in a string quartet? Who controls the tempo there? Continue reading »
Thinking Like A Guitarist. This is a continuation of the the mini-series I’m writing on beginner guitar. This lesson will get us acquainted with the fundamentals of playing the instrument. Continue reading »
Anatomy of the guitar. In this lesson series “Beginner Guitar” we’ll cover all of the basics so that you can finally build up the confidence to pull out that guitar that’s been in your closet since you were 16 years old, and at very least reach “Campfire” proficiency. Continue reading »
Everyone knows it, a progression so common that entire genres of music are based on it: the I-IV-V. What makes it so powerful? The answer is surprisingly simple Continue reading »
Let’s face it, if learning was easy, we’d all be experts. But how does one balance the tears and apathy with the delayed joy and gratification that will undoubtedly come to one who devotes the time? Continue reading »
There are all kinds of ways to gain dexterity and technical facility on your instrument. A lot of students get books with etudes or exercises, but I’m a big proponent of making up my own exercises. Anyone can do it. Here’s how. Continue reading »