Hammond Music

Posts Tagged ‘jazz’

If you have ever thought about trying to learn how to play the piano, I would recommend that you give it more thought. My own experience, learning how to play, was that it was not as easy as I was thinking it would be. There are many more things that you need to learn in order to play the piano that most novices don't recognize. It’s not a matter of just learning the right keys is to play but you also have to learn to read music.

So if you’re thinking about learning how to play the piano, I have some helpful tips that I think will make a difference. First go online and see what resources you have available on the Internet. Recently piano playing has become more convenient with the Roll Up Electric Piano keyboards. There are a lot of free information items that will help you both to read sheet music, and also learn what keys to be used when playing the piano. There an unlimited amount of free resources online that will assist you to get started learning how to play.

If you are still interested in learning how to play piano, I recommend that you either buy a piano or rent one. I would recommend the latter choice. When you’re just beginning to learn to play the piano, I think it’s best to rent your equipment because you never know how long you will stick with it. If the rental becomes more expensive than buying it, then go ahead and buy the equipment that you need. It would also be a good idea to look into getting the more convenient version like buying or renting a electronic piano keyboards. They are simple to setup, move around and don’t take up too much room.

These days, as I said above, there are a lot of resources available to you for free that will help you learn to play the piano. If you don’t find what you need online you can also go down to your public library and find plenty of information available to you that will help you learn to play. Finding a good instructor is also very critical to your enjoyment of playing and to the speed at which you will learn. A good teacher would be someone who enjoys playing the piano themselves and has a long history of teaching other people to play. You can usually get recommendations from other people on who is the best teacher or teachers available in your area.

As you can see there are a lot of things to consider before you start your journey forward on learning how to play the piano. The best news is that there is a lot of free information online that can help you and there are some great instructors out there that love to play the piano and will show you how. Really consider getting a roll up piano first for the lower cost and convenience. I really didn’t find it so simple and I’m still trying to learn to play to this day. So go find some good resources on learning to play the piano, rent an inexpensive piano, and find a good instructor. You’ll be well on your way to mastering and learning this beautiful art.

Hip Hop is one of the genre of music that has conquered the world in the past decades and it is undeniably one of the fastest growing genres in the music industry today. There are even other musicians and singers who would merged their own music to hip hop to make a new kind of sound. Hip Hop and Rap when mixed together makes a sound that is totally out of this world. Heavy metal with Hip Hop beats will surely make one go crazy and wild and musical barriers are opened up because of the various mixtures of different music from Hip Hop, Rap, Rock, Gospel, Dance, Trance and even Jazz. Yes, lots of different bands have merged their Jazz roots with Hip Hop therefore came up with a new kind of sound.

Hip Hop beats do come from Rap beats but they branched out and formed a new kind of groove so that when you mix them together again, they form a new monster. Almost all people have heard a Hip Hop song or two even though how Metalheads they are or how deep they are in the Trance music. Some even went to the core of making their own Hip Hop instrumental beats and make their own music. Even a famous and superb Rock guitar god is creating his own Hip Hop beats and jam it up with his guitar and the sound is simply superb and earth-moving.

Now, anyone can make their own Hip Hop instrumental beats without wasting too much time and all they need to have is some kind of software that will teach them how in a very easy and convenient way. Actually, a lot of software today are created for such purpose. One just needs to find something that suits his taste and his preference and he has to make sure that the software he chooses is something that will make him thing of what to do and not how to do what.

Jazz is the medium through which improvisation is king. Most all players know a common set of songs called standards. These are songs that players are expected to be able to perform at a moments notice. Standards are often the base around which a jazz solo is created. If you plan to be a instrumentalist, you definitely should attempt to learn the jazz standards. Only after you know the song and its chordal pattern can you be an effective player . Learn to read music and this will help you in your attempt at jazz or any other music.

The player usually will not begin prior to the main melody of the song being played once through by everyone. Awaiting your cue to begin your jazz solo, you are well advised to know how long the first section will be. Should you lose your place, the leader will give you a nod when it is your time to solo. Sometimes if there is a vocalist, your solo will begin after they sing.

A great jazz improvisation will come with experience and study. Knowledge of the pattern of a song will give you a road map of where your solo should go. This is where all the time you spent practicing scales will bear its fruit. A good jazz improvisation solo combines your knowledge of scales with your knowledge of the chord structure of the song itself. If you find it difficult at first to build a solo, try playing arpeggios in the key signatures as you move through the song.  A solo is not just running scales however. A good jazz solo should have something interesting to say, not just blah, blah, blah of endless scales. A good jazz solo cannot by definition be planned exactly, but can you can know roughly where you are going.

Most jazz improvisations start with at least a general understanding and statement of the melody. If you start too hurried and frantic, it will be hard to build upon that mood. The tempo and tension can then be allowed to increase before eventually resolving to the main melody again. If you examine some of your favorite solos, you will see that more often than not they follow this general pattern .

It is always a good idea to listen to other soloists, either in person or on recordings to see and hear how they build their jazz improvisations. In time you will know what the pattern of a good jazz improvisation is intrinsically without being told.

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 dawn of the bossa nova can be traced 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” in this context means “no more,” and “saudade” describes an intense, passionately heartfelt need.

Americans are likely to be 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 regarded as the most important figures in popularizing the bossa nova sound.

The film “Black Orpheus” (1959) contributed immensely to the popularity of bossa nova, while American jazz musicians visiting Brazil brought the bossa nova back to North America. Dusty Springfield’s 1967 recording of Bacharach and David’s “The Look of Love” (featured in the movie “Casino Royale”) continues to be among the most illustrious North American pop renderings 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.