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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Where To Start Learning How To Sing

By Charle Rivers

You might enjoy belting your favorite toons in the shower or crooning in your church choir. Regardless of where and when you like to sing, it is never too late to hone your skills if you are serious and passionate. Your beginning level does not matter. Perhaps you cannot hold a tune or are close to auditioning for the opera. Regardless, you need to dispel some common myths before you can reach your potential.

Lots of people do not learn to sing simply because they have been told or believe that they cannot do it. Some people think they are "tone-deaf," while others think nature bestows the gift of music on just a select few. Some people are born more talented, but you can improve no matter where you are starting!

Truly done-deaf individuals cannot detect and identify pitches at all; very few people suffer from this. In fact, just about two percent of people worldwide suffer from this problem. Many people who struggle holding a tune just need some training to hit pitches and intervals correctly.

Frequently, people fail to sing commensurate with their ability merely because they are not singing in an appropriate range. Even an excellent alto cannot sing in a sopranos range with the same accuracy. A voice teacher can help you find your natural range and choose songs appropriate for your voice.

Breathing is also important when trying to sing. After all, who wants to listen to someone gasping for breaths between the melody and verse of a song? When you teach yourself specific breathing techniques, always try to use your diaphragm when singing. You know that you are doing this if your stomach expands with air intake.

We have all heard amateur singers who have an unpleasing, even irritating quality, to their voices. This is often a result of projecting the voice through the mouth and nasal cavities. More pleasing is to project the sound through the head, sometimes called "head voice." To develop this skill, work at visualizing your breath and voice flowing up to and radiating out of your forehead.

After mastering some basic skills and determining your range, find some songs you can sing. Enjoy and embrace the singing. Show some emotion. Your listeners will appreciate it, and often prefer an emotionally invested singer who may be less experienced over a cold, more experienced singer.

It is never too late to hone your vocal skills and become passionate about singing and celebrating life as it should be celebrated. Adults have the capability to improve even the most pathetic vocal prowess. Incorporating lessons from a qualified instructor will certainly enhance your vocal skills and lead you to many satisfying nights of karaoke and possibly even to a new career! - 18423

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Simple Guidelines in Picking a Bass Guitar

By Jackie Strohm

If you are a bassist and do not have a bass guitar, then it does not really compute or add up. Get yourself a bass guitar. But before you head to the nearest music store, here are some pointer you might need to know in order to make the best purchase.

The body style of your bass guitar means a lot. If you are into loud bass action, then a solid-body bass guitar is the perfect body style for you. However, if you are into the slower side of things, go for a bass guitar with a hollow body.

After getting the body style of your guitar, check the neck. The rule when it comes to the guitar necks is simple. The size of your hands determines the size of your guitar's neck. Whether you prefer round, flat back, oval, "vee" and asymmetrical types of neck, small hands equate to thinner necks and vice versa.

Anther important factor is the scale length. A bass guitar that sports short scale lengths is the best instrument for people with small hands. But you can still pick guitars that have longer scale lengths provided play them well and in tune with the other instruments of the band.

A bass guitar should also come with an extremely functional tuning machine. This little device is what you use to fine tune your instrument and hold pitch, so you are better off if you have the best one available. Also, a tuning machine with an enclosed head is much better than an open air tuning head, which is very exposed to the elements.

When choosing a bass guitar, do not concern yourself much about the number of frets. You can pick any guitar with any number of frets. It does not really matter if you have a bass guitar that has 21, 22, or 24 frets, what matters is that most notes are played on lower frets.

The type of wood material is also a significant attribute when buying a bass guitar. The type of wood totally affects the tone and the weight of your instrument. If you will be playing on your feet, better pick a guitar that is made of lightweight wood, such as swamp ash. Alder is also a very good choice.

Before ending this guide, just remember to be very thorough with your options. The best thing you can possibly do is find a guitar that really produces the sound you want. Do not concern yourself much with the finish, as it can never affect the way you play. - 18423

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What Makes Great Guitar Lessons for Beginners?

By Payo W Perry

Students just starting out on guitar need to exercise caution in the early stages. It's always a period when bad habits can easily form and once established they can be stubborn things to change. In this article we'll talk about what makes good quality guitar lessons for beginners.

If youre not fortunate enough to have a good local tutor to go to in person your next best bet is finding online guitar lessons. These come with typical membership offers and plans however the quality of the guitar instruction is what you should be interested in.

It's best to try out some of their sample lessons. I'll always think it's a bad sign if they don't have any on offer as it shows a lack of confidence on their part. You need to check that their teaching style is at a speed you can learn from and that you understand the content covered in the lesson very clearly.

Beginner guitar lessons must be taught in a specialized way and not every tutor can do it equally well. Look out for lessons where nothing is left to doubt; at the end of each lesson you should be 100 percent clear on what to do and how to do it. It's the only way you'll really learn effectively, especially when the lessons are online.

You also need what's called an even learning curve. This means that the lessons should maintain a seamless flow without large jumps in difficulty. Guitar lessons for beginners are all about building upon success and you can't do this without the correct learning curve.

Don't neglect your own responsibility as the student either. Great guitar lessons aren't in themselves enough to guarantee your success! Use the pause button a lot to review the material as it goes along and don't rush, try to learn each step in a secure way before building upon it.

Let's have a review now about the essential elements needed in guitar lessons for beginners.

Firstly, get the best quality lessons you can find. Make sure the speed of delivery is not too fast for you and that you understand the lessons content very clearly. If you don't, find other lessons. Lastly remember that the biggest responsibility for success lies with you, good quality guitar lessons for beginners can help you but ultimately it's your own approach and practice which is the ultimate decider. - 18423

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The Top 5 Guitarists Of All Time

By Nathan Spencer

There are many well-known guitarists in the world who have swept the crowd off their feet with their performance. Jimi Hendrix is a very popular American guitarist, rather one of the best in the entire genre of rock music. Born in Seattle, Washington on November 27, 1942, Jimi was the first to use phasing and stereophonic effect in rock recording. Due to his unmatchable contribution he has had many awards to his credit which also includes the UK Music Hall of Fame.

Eric Clapton, a famous English blues-rock guitarist, songwriter, and singer was born on the 30th of March, 1945. Due to his valuable work he has been able to secure the 4th place in the Rolling Stone magazine, amongst the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". One of his best recordings happens to be the song "Layla" which became an instant hit. He has been a member of Cream and Yardbirds and has been included into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the same.

The famous English guitarist, Jimmy Page, was born on the 9th of January, 1944. He also happens to be a composer and a record producer. His career started in London being a studio session guitarist and later Jimmy became a member of the Yardbirds. Thereafter he co-founded the Led Zeppelin, the famous English rock band. Page, as a member of Led Zeppelin and the Yardbirds, has been included into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some of his well-known albums are The Firm, Outrider and Mean Business.

Born on the 24th of June 1944 Jeff Beck was and is a famous English rock guitarist. He is amongst the three guitarists who happened to play with the Yardbirds. He has managed to gain the fourteenth position as the "100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time" in the Rolling Stone Magazine plus in his musical pieces he has covered genres like heavy metal, blues-rock and jazz fusion. For his great contribution to the field of music, Beck has won the Grammy Award, for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, four times.

Eddie Van Halen, a Dutch American guitarist, was born on the 26th of January 1955. He also happens to be a producer, keyboardist and songwriter. Eddie's popularity can be best defined as being the co-founder and lead guitarist of Van Halen, a hard rock band. The further members of the band were Mark Stone as the bassist and Halen's brother Alex on drums. Eddie definitely is one of the best rock guitarists of his time with his ability of high frequency feedback, rapid guitar playing and tapping. - 18423

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Electric Drum Machines - Make Your Own Best Songs

By John Waters

Electric drum machines are melodic instruments which let you make music from hundreds of built in sounds. Electric drum machines are dissimilar from electric drum kits which are real electronic drums that you play to produce beats and rhythm.

Electric drum machines come programmed with a wide selection of sounds. These sounds are then mixed together in various ways to create patterns. The patterns are then joined together to make music.

You create music with electric drum machines by chaining together multiple pieces of these patterns to create songs. These machines support all kinds of music from jazz to rock.

You may use rhythm patterns already preset or you can create your own and add them using the on board sequencer. Electric drum machines are used to combine these patterns in a never ending variety of ways. You can store around 100 of your creations to play back any time you need.

Electric drum machines are available at various prices and with different specs. For example, the Alesis SR18 Drum Machine costs two hundred dollars and includes a hundred presets and enables you to create a hundred patterns. It has a headphone output so you can make music without disturbing anyone. It has an effects engine with compression, EQ and reverb so you can customize your sound.

Electric drum machines can be purchased for around $100. The Zoom MRT3B is one of these cheap models that pack in a lot for the price. It has 100 drum sounds and seventy drum kits. It offers 396 presets and 99 slots for custom patterns.

Electric drum machines are tiny and simple to take with you. They seem like a little box with numerous buttons and dials. These musical devices have been around since the 1930s and have undergone a few changes thanks to technological advances the past few decades.

Electric drum machines not only produce drum sounds but sounds of other percussion instruments also. Some have tiny pads that can be used for finger drumming. Each pad is allotted to a selected instrument like a snare, cymbal or bass.

If you're looking to learn how to play the drums or want a collection of drums for practice or for your band, you might be better off with electric drum kits or perhaps a set of Sonar drums. If you're looking for something to provide back beats or a synthesizer for creating your own music then electric drum machines are a good selection.

Electric drum machines are not just for fun though. Many bands and rock musicians use these devices and need folks skilled in their operation. It isn't difficult to be told how to use a drum machine, it just takes practice.

Thru the utilization of electric drum machines, musicians can practice and perform even if session drummers are not present. Because of this, drum machines are very important instruments.

Electric drum machines are enjoyable instruments for anybody that is into music. They're reasonable and straightforward to program. They are little and light. Electric drum machines make good gifts too. And as the output can go to headphones, anybody can create music anywhere at several hours and not trouble anybody else. - 18423

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