I can’t emphasise how important the first two lines of the first verse are, in any song.This is where you the artist set the hook in their miniscule attention spans or not. If you simper your way into a song, as per a style I like to call Captain Cliche, you’ve probably lost them before the second guitar comes in. Please avoid a first verse that goes like this: ooh I love you, yes it’s true, what am I supposed to do, baby I know without you, all my dreams are down the loo…blah blah…

Anybody still awake? The only thing that might just save that song would be a beat strong enough to flip Lazarus out of the grave and over the horizon. I never thought that the years I spent writing ad copy for various ad agencies would be worth so much to me now. The rule in advertising is: when you’ve written the headline, you’ve spent 80c of your dollar. It’s got to hook them. It’s gotta say something different about a subject you’ve heard a million times. Take the neverending subject of LOVE ( also known as LURV…the NASTY…and BUMPING UGLIES) If I taught songwriting, one of the first projects I would set would have to be: write a song about LOVE, but make it interesting.Make it different. Make the listener say: I never thought of it that way before. Now Paul McCartney, being famous, doesn’t have to work as hard as the rest of us. So he calls it: Another Silly Love Song. With a chorus that goes: iloveyouiloveyouiloveyou. Phew, Macca…time to open the window!

Here’s how I do it: my song is called: If You Were Icecream… and the first verse is: If you were icecream, I would eat you, with a very small spoon… if you were starlight, I’d go to meet you, halfway to the moon… I think that’s a lot more interesting than Paulie’s but hey, he’s famous, and I’ve just started kicking at the door. For more examples of how I approach first verses and songs in general, scoot along to my new site or click on the link below.

Must get into town for some new acoustic guitar strings. Haven’t changed them for a year, and No..there’s no direct link between underwear rotation and guitar strings. And-a one…two…three…

Copyright 2005 Bill Dollar

Bill Dollar is a survivor of the record company wars. He currently lives on a small farm somewhere in the southern hemisphere, amongst cats,dogs and cobras.He writes songs he likes, because he’s not hearing anything worthwhile on the radio. Hear what he calls music at Bill Dollar Music

Alternate picking is used in many styles of guitar. It’s most often used when you want to play at an extremely fast rate. Instead of just getting one note every time you move your picking hand down, you get two. It can easily double your playing speed, if you can do it well.

How to alternate pick

To actually do the basics with alternate picking is not hard. Pick down away from you on any one string, then pick up back towards you. That’s pretty much it. Make sure you don’t move your hand too far – if you can keep the pick close to the string, it can increase your speed. I personally find it easier to keep the pick under control by resting my hand against the guitar, underneath the string(s) I’m playing. Try to keep the pick flat when it strikes against the string, not angled. This makes it easier to move across the string in both directions.

Exercises to try

Here are a few exercises you can use to perfect your alternate picking technique. The first one is the most basic. This is good to do as a warmup.

e ——————————————————————5–6–7–8–

B —————————————————–5–6–7–8—————

G —————————————-5–6–7–8—————————-

D —————————5–6–7–8—————————————–

A ————–5–6–7–8——————————————————

E -5–6–7–8——————————————————————-

Start with a downstroke on the first note, then alternate each note up and down. If you have a metronome, use it to make sure you’re playing at a constant rate. This is crucial to get a clean sound – make sure you play evenly.

This next exercise is very good to perfect your synchronization between right and left hand. It may sound familiar to you.

e -5–0–7–0–8–0–5–0–7–0–8–0–10–0–7–0–8–0–10–0–12–0–

B ——————————————————————————–

G ——————————————————————————–

D ——————————————————————————–

A ——————————————————————————–

E ——————————————————————————–

e -8–0–10–0–12–0–13–0–10–0–12–0–8–0–10–0–7–0–8–0–5-

B ——————————————————————————–

G ——————————————————————————–

D ——————————————————————————–

A ——————————————————————————–

E ——————————————————————————–

e -0–7–0–16–0–17–0–12–0–13–0–10–0–12–0–8–0–10–0–7–0

B ——————————————————————————–

G ——————————————————————————–

D ——————————————————————————–

A ——————————————————————————–

E ——————————————————————————–

e -12–0–8–0–10–0–7–0–8–0–5–0–7–0——————————

B ——————————————————-6—-5——————

G ——————————————————————————–

D ——————————————————————————–

A ——————————————————————————–

E ——————————————————————————–

The trick to this one is to memorize it, then practice it. Start slowly, then gradually speed up. Make sure your notes all stay clean! It’s easy to crank up your speed, but if you don’t keep your alternate picking clean, it’s not worthwhile. Clean chops are much, much better than fast sloppy ones.

From here the next step is to alternate pick across multiple strings. The best way to do this is to pick one of your favorite scales – NOT a minor or major pentatonic, though. The pentatonics are not good because with these you don’t have to adjust picking direction on each string, since you only have two notes on each string. You want a scale where you have to pick in different directions when you change strings. This will help you adjust to keep your alternate picking moving across strings.

The Sweep Technique

If you’re going to cross strings often, you may want to learn the sweep technique. The sweep technique is used anytime you’re playing the last note on one string with a downstroke and you want to change to a higher string, or playing a note with an upstroke and changing to a lower string. Instead of alternate picking, you keep your hand moving in the same motion. So if you play a note on the B string with a downstroke, if you’re playing the next note on the high E, play it with another downstroke. This takes a lot of practice, but it can help improve your speed.

Crank up the speed!

Once you get your alternate picking down cleanly, you’ll notice your chops improve immensely. Just keep practicing with it, and you’ll keep getting faster. Remember to keep it clean, keep a constant tempo, and you’ll become a guitar master in no time!

Alan Marquez is a guitarist with over 10 years of experience. He plays on a weekly basis and has taught guitar for over five years. See his reviews on online guitar lesson packages at http://LearnGuitar.ReviewsOfStuff.com/

Musicians advocate that practice is of utmost importance in the development of any player. Jascha Heifetz, possibly the 20th Century’s most amazing violinist, said, If I don’t practice one day, I know it; two days, the critics know it; three days, the public knows it.

For something that is so crucial to musicians, it is surprising that so many players resist it. Telling a child to practice can be like asking him/her to eat brussels sprouts or to clean his/her room. As a violin teacher, I deal with the dreaded P word every week. (This also applies to adults!)

What’s so terrible about practicing?

Priorities: The common complaint is I don’t have any time to practice. Really, in the end it’s not a matter of having a full plate. The amazing players who practice every day are not working with 28-hours a day. Students who practice regularly have simply made practicing a priority. These dedicated individuals enjoy practicing and its benefits so much that they sacrifice other activities to make time for their playing.

This doesn’t mean you have to give your right arm as an offering to the merciless practice gods. You may get a bit less time on the tv or computer, or maybe you have to ignore the ringing phone until you’re done. A nip and tuck here and there can add up to a lot of previously unavailable time.

Be Inspired: The key to enjoyable practicing is inspiration. For example, when a musician feels inspired by a favourite song or role model s/he is compelled to practice. Inspiration frequently emerges while attending a live concert and meeting a famous musician. Just ask anyone who’s seen a famous musician play live in concert.

Perhaps the materials you’re working with are too dry for your tastes? Maybe you’re not being challenged enough? Discuss any inspirations or lack thereof with your teacher or another musician to get you back on track.

Set Goals: Many players also thrive on setting and meeting goals, such as to play with an advanced group, to learn a challenging piece, or to perform well in festival or an upcoming concert. My best music making has come from feeling inspired and by achieving personal aspirations.

Each summer I ask my students to set goals for the following fall and also for 1 year, 5 year and 10-year. Their responses are impressive; more than half aspire to teach violin someday and most others just want to be more confident players and to play for pay!

Check-Points: My job as teacher is to help the students make their goals a reality. We create appropriate time-lines for the goals, including check-points to make sure the players’ actions are aligned with their end goal.

For example, if a student’s goal is to master a concerto, we make sure they’ve have outlined the steps to learning the piece along with the technique and skills required required. I’ll practice these exercizes for two months, and by December I will be starting on 5th position.

Sometimes this practice involves excercizes, scales and theory, but other times it’s as simple as completing a book or gaining more confidence through public performance. By setting up check-points at comfortable intervals to make sure you are on the right track and to make the overall goal seem less daunting.

And besides, life is a journey, not a destination. Enjoy the journey to meeting your goal and once you get there you’ll have plenty more road ahead to explore.

Goals Can Change: I’ve always got a list of short to long-term goals for myself, ranging from one-week, one-month, six-month, and 1, 2, 5, 10-year goals. Sometimes the goals change, which is okay because I am constantly learning and growing. What was important to me 10 years ago may not be a big deal to me now. The important thing

Incentives: Everything we work for has reward. Just as brussels sprouts contribute to physical health, practice contributes to better musicianship. However, musicianship just isn’t tangible to 5-year-olds.

Thus, teachers and parents are prompted to offer fun incentives for practice. Kids are rewarded with stickers, ice cream coupons and other treats. My students can earnFiddlebucks for their practicing, which can be used to purchase trinkets and toys.

These programs work for most children, but even stickers can become pass? after a while. Children should be encouraged to aspire to higher goals, thus setting higher rewards. As my students progress, they curb their spending to save Fiddlebucks for long-term rewards, like lunch with the teacher, which takes over a year to earn.

How to Practice: Though students understand the benefits and rewards of practice, many do not know exactly *how* to practice. Each teacher has particular requirements and expectations, but generally my start/focus/playtime routine works best.

Start: The student stretches and warms-up with long, clear tones, then scales and arpeggios, and finally a warm-up piece or exercise.

Focus: Here the student works on new and challenging pieces, paying close attention to detail and correcting mistakes but also focusing on his/her strengths. Focus allows the player to make improvements and build confidence simultaneously.

Playtime: Saving the best for last, Playtime is when the student reviews favourite songs and has some fun. Tasks such as playing with the radio (ear training in disguise), recording yourself, composition and improvising are all enjoyable assignments that can motivate a player.

Homework: Sometimes I assign violin homework to students of all ages. The assignments vary from draw a picture of your violin, to play a concert for your family andwrite a report about your favourite or a famous violinist. Interestingly all the children love these special assignments and become increasingly inspired and motivated to practice.

For example, one of my students e-mailed Natalie MacMaster for an essay project and was encouraged by Natalie, herself, to play the fiddle each day. The Cape Breton Canadian fiddler said, it really does make things better.

Consistency: I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, I meant to practice, but it slipped my mind. Consistency is the most important step to enjoying successful practice. The truth is that practice is best done and easiest when done consistently. The more we practice, the more we are inspired to practice.

Have a hard time with consistency? I’m sure you still manage to eat and sleep every day, so you’ll find a way to get the practice in if it works around one of those schedules! Play just after waking or right before bedtime. Eat your lunch halfway between your warm-up and pieces. When you make it a routine it’s harder to leave out of your day and you’ll actually get it done! No more guilty lessons!

Sometimes it’s not possible to play every day, but it does make a tremendous difference. For players just starting a consistent routine it’s best to do two shorter practices rather than one long one. Going at it full steam can tire a player out and make them less inclined to want to do it again. You’ll be left with more energy after a couple of shorter practices and will gradually lengthen them.

Family Support: It is of utmost importance that parents or spouses of aspiring musicians provide encouragement for the player. Never poke fun at sour notes or say things like, if you don’t practice we’ll take away your lessons. Through thick and thin the family’s job is to support the player as they master their art.

Other Perks: For students who still find it difficult to keep a practice routine I suggest they opt out of washing dinner dishes and serenade the dishwashers each night. It’s amazing how quickly they jump to it when they know there is no more dishwashing! There are countless other perks (excuses to get out of work) to practice that can be sorted out with your family.

I spent my formative years either grounded or due for a grounding due to the occasional landscaping mummification. However, in the 542 times I was grounded, my kind mother never took away my violin. I could be heard playing my violin sadly from my bedroom prison cell: Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.

And I loved it.

**Rhiannon Schmitt (nee Nachbaur) is a professional violinist and music teacher who has enjoyed creative writing for years.

She currently writes columns for two Canadian publications and has been featured in Australia’s Music Teacher Magazine. Writing allows her to teach people that the world of music is as fun as you spin it to be!

Rhiannon, age 29, has worn the hats of businesswoman, performer, events promoter, classical music radio host and school orchestra music arranger in rural British Columbia, Canada.

Her business, Fiddleheads Violin School & Shop, has won several distinguished young entrepreneur business awards for her commitment to excellence. Her shop offers beginner to professional level instruments, accessories and supplies for very reasonable prices: Visit http://www.fiddleheads.ca

Rhiannon is also Founding President of the Shuswap Violin Society which promotes violin & fiddle music and helps young musicians in need: http://www.violinsociety.ca

Hip hop message forums are a great place to stop and talk. Like the lyrics to a certain song? Want to find out the inside scoop on what your favorite hip hop artist is up to? The message forums are the places to go to find this. All sorts of various artists are out there and every once in a while you may just find one stopping in for a chat or a message about them. Hey, that?s worth it!

Of course, you can also use hip hop message forums to get in touch with others out there that love hip hop as much as you do. This is a great place to make some friends and talk some music. Get in touch with them in a safe place where you can just chat without worrying about anyone preying on you. Make some great friends and talk to others that love what you love, hip hop.

Hip hop message forums are out there and available to anyone who is looking for them. Some of the hottest hip hop sensations have their own chats and message forums. There are also a number of great websites that you can get online with others about hip hop in general. There are a million fans out there just like you who are looking to find someone to connect to. Get in touch with others and show off your knowledge of all that has to do with hip hop. Hip hop message forums are just the right place to do it.

Hip Hop Capital is the home of online hip hop jewelry. The place where you can find TONS of 50 Cent bling. Hip Hop Capital has been a force online for years and only continues to grow. Go to http://hiphopcapital.com/catalog/iced-out-earrings.html and see for yourself why thousands choose Hip Hop Capital.

As I clicked on a popular music business forum, I was greeted with a question. Why won’t commercial radio play music by Indie Artists?

My reply to this person was as follows:

As a former Operations Manager and Music Director on both the Comm and Non-Comm sides, Let me break the reason down for you.

Commercial Radio needs ratings to get paid from advertisers. Most advertiser’s, on radio, are ad agencies. Ad agencies base their buys (sponsorships) on a Cost per point (CPP) basis. CPP is based on how many thousands of listeners a radio station can capture in a 15 minute period (or cume).

Many commercial radio [Program and Music don’t want to put thier ratings at risk, by airing an ‘untested song’ on the air. So what these commercial radio directors do, is, air music based on the national charts provided by Radio and Records, Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) and Billboard.

These charts are mainly influenced by the major labels via promotions and strategic alliances.

Your best best is to do like Knarles Barkley. Knarles Barkleys’ single Crazy went #1 on the internet and radio couldn’t help but to get them the single on the air.

Get your music on music submission sites, make some noise on the net, and get a CDBaby.com account so you can get your music on iTunes and start promoting.

I suggested this because the music business is going digital. Clear Channel has a partnership with GarageBand.com where they will feature a certain amount of new artists every week in on their website. Since Clear Channel is the biggest and most innovative broadcaster in the music business, it’s just a matter of time before the other cowardly copy-cat broadcasters will follow suit.

The world is going digital, while radio continutes to operate using an analog business model. You can be successful in the music business if you change your marketing model from analog to digital.

by Jeronimo Black

Jerome C. Ford is a 20 year Radio and Records Veteran, Music Marketing expert and Vice President of Succeed In the Music Biz!

2. Well if you’re from the Noblesville Indiana area the Fishers-Hamilton Southeastern Youth Football organization will host a silent auction fund-raiser on Sat 19 Aug 06 from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at Mudsock Fields, 11989 E. 131st St. All proceeds benefit Mudsock’s lighting project. They’ll be auctioning off lots of item, including an autographed guitar by Kenny.

3. In case you haven’t heard, You Save Me now has it’s own video .. a little over 8 min in length. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out. It’s a pretty cool video.

4. And speaking of You Save Me, it’s currently sitting at #47 on the Hot Country Songs Chart at Billboard. I’m sure this one will rise over the next several weeks.

5. And just a reminder, Kenny’s Live CD hits the shelves 19 September 06. 14 songs recorded live from various performances. Here is a list of the songs on this upcoming release. Live Those Songs — Young — Never Gonna Feel Like That Again — Beer In Mexico — Keg In The Closet — What I Need To Do — I Go Back — When The Sun Goes Down — On The Coast Of Somewhere Beautiful — Anything But Mine — Back Where I Come From — Don’t Happen Twice — How Forever Feels — She Thinks MyTractor’s Sexy. I’m not sure if a DVD of the performances will be released at a later date, but I sure hope so. I’d betit would sell like hotcakes.

6. Here is a Google Tip – Change any question to an answer and leave the part you’re looking for blank. For example if you’re looking for the the President of Uzbekistan … type in quotes, the current president of Uzbekistan is … and you’ll get an answer. Works almost every time.

7. A computer tip before we go … If you haven’t checked out Google Video, give it a look on the homepage at www.google.com. Similar to YouTube (but not as many searches yet), the videos are set up in categories down the left side of the page. Jump into a category then do a quoted search. The link in the upper right corner at the homepage allows you to upload your own videos.

8. And as always, if you have any suggestions, I’m listening.

Til next time.

Kirby Swinemar

Webmaster @ http://www.learn-kenny-chesney-guitar.com
——————————————————————-
Kirby Swinemar is an avid Kenny Chesney fan and hosts a website that teaches people how to play Kenny Chesney hits on the guitar

Welcome to the fascinating world of guitar chords! While this report is not meant to replace any of the fine harmony/theory books available that elaborate in greater detail, I think you will find it contains information that you can quickly and easily use to enhance and expand your own guitar playing – regardless of what style of music you play. So let’s get right into it!

A two octave C major scale would contain the following notes going from low to high:

C1 – D2 – E3 – F4 – G5 – A6 – B7 – C8 – D9 – E10 – F11 – G12 – A13 – B14 – C15. Notice that there is a number following each of the notes. These are the scale degrees that will be used to explain the spelling of the various chords.

A C major chord would consist of the 1st, 3rd and 5th degrees of the major scale or C, E and G. Instead of just playing a C major chord you could embellish the song by using any of the following chords which will sound richer and fuller:

*C major6th – which contains the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 6th degrees or C, E, G and A

*C major7th – which contains the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th degrees or C, E, G and B

*C major6/9 – which contains the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 9th degrees or C, E, G, A and D

*C major9th – which contains the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th degrees or C, E, G, B and D

*C major13th – which contains the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 13th degrees or C, E, G, B, D and A

Hopefully, this report has helped clarify some of the confusion and mystery surrounding major chords and harmony in general. I hope you’ll start having some real fun experimenting with all the new possibilities that you’ve just learned in this report!

Never B#, Never Bb, Just B Natural,

Steven Herron

Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron is the owner of Chord Melody Guitar Music which specializes in fingerstyle and pickstyle guitar sheet music, tab books with CDs, instruction videos and DVDs for all styles of guitar – including jazz, classical, flamenco, rock, blues, country and acoustic. He also teaches a Free monthly internet guitar lesson complete with audio sound clips that you can easily sign up for at the Chord Melody Guitar Music website – http://www.chordmelody.com

Create 3 Pieces of Music

For those of you who are just beginning to improvise, don’t worry about this. But for those who are beginning to compose, you’ll need to have 3 complete pieces to play. Why? Because this will come to around 10-15 minutes of music – the perfect amount of time for a mini-concert! If you’re in the process of creating your 3 pieces and haven’t finished yet set an goal date. For example, it’s a good idea to write something like this down:

By August 12, 2006, I will have 3 complete and polished pieces of music to play for others.

This is a time-based goal and will work wonders if you write it out and place it where you can read it everyday. Most likely, you will try and find excuses for why you can’t finish something on time. This goal with time and date on it will continually remind you to stay on track.

Practice Your 3 Pieces

Practice is the only way you will build up your confidence level. Practice each piece slowly at first. Never back up if you make a mistake. I repeat? NEVER back up if you make a mistake. Why? What are you going to do when you’re playing for an audience and you mess up. You’re not going to stop everything and go back. No! You go forward. Chances are very good that the audience won’t even notice. I can testify to this from personal experience.

When you practice, be with the music. The audience isn’t really concerned with you per se. They want an emotional experience through the music and the best way to give that to them is for you to be in the moment.

Overcome Performance Anxiety

To do this, you must first practice until you can play all 3 pieces straight through and you must first perform for a very small audience. Perhaps one or two people. You see you have to get used to the idea that eyes will be watching you. This makes most very self-conscious. By playing for very small groups of people, or even one person first, you get used to this and you can simply shrug it off. Playing for others should be a joyful experience. It can be if you follow these simple guidelines.

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/pianolessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

When we put a music poster up on the wall what exactly are we doing? Usually it?s because we have some kind of liking for the artist. It could be the music (Coldplay), the image (Marilyn Manson) or maybe we find them attractive (Beyonce). In any of these cases, we are displaying behaviour associated with being a fan, which is of course short for fanatic.

I have come up with the following list of fanatics, which should cover most categories of poster hangers, but please feel free to add your own.

1. The teeny. These are early teenage girls who, as yet, are unable to find any suitably mature similarly aged boys to fall in love with, so they fall in love with a poster instead. Their main targets are boy bands, ex boy band solo artists and female solo artists if they?re in ?girlie-crush? mode.

2. The mid-teen. This is where rebellion starts. For the girls, it?s the biggest, ugliest rap star they can find which will be guaranteed to upset their parents. For the boys it?s the most disgusting thrash metal group they can find which will be guaranteed to upset their parents.

3. The late teen. By now, serious prejudices have been formed and allegiance to one particular type of music is essential. Having, or not having, the right poster on the wall can mean the difference between social acceptance and rejection and will confirm the tribe that you will now be in for many years to come, if not the rest of your life.

4. The student. A little like the late teen, but in a very different way. Has allegiances, but dare not admit them. Will therefore put up ?ironic? posters usually only considered by the teeny which thus become cool because they are in a student dorm ? a bit like bricks in an art gallery.

5. The obsessed. Can be any age, diagnosed by the fact that all available wall space of their bedroom or study is plastered with posters of one particular band or artist. All possible additional memorabilia will have been purchased and will occupy any available floor space in their bedroom or study. They only come out of their bedroom or study for comfort breaks.

6. The trendy. Can also be any age, but has only one motive for poster hanging ? to be in with other people. Easy to spot as there?s no allegiance to anyone other than themselves. Also they often get it completely wrong.

7. The musician. Usually male and will have a select set of ?heroes? posters on the wall which reflect his aspirations as a singer, lead guitar player etc. When you go and see him perform he bears no resemblance to these heroes whatsoever.

Some people pass through several, if not all of these categories during the course of their life, I must admit to a couple of them myself. There?s nothing wrong with being a fanatic, but just be aware that it?ll always give other people the opportunity to poke fun at you.

John Webber is editor for http://www.music-on-posters.com where you can find articles on posters, original band biographies and poster merchants in the USA, UK and Europe

The practice environment will do one of two things.

1. It will detract from learning; or

2. It will support learning.

Make a list of things in the environment that support learning. Make another list of things in the environment that create distractions. Since kids tend to self-distract a lot, the environment needs to be as helpful as possible. Here are ten examples of factors that detract from the learning environment. You can probably think of more.

Practice Environment Distractions

1. No routine practice time established.

2. Busy running errands with parents so no time is left for practice.

3. Television is on in the piano practice room.

4. Friends coming to play at practice time.

5. Eating snacks at the piano during practice.

6. Music books scattered around the floor, they get lost or ?misplaced.?

7. Pets or younger siblings demand student?s attention.

8. No routine practice time established.

9. Busy running errands with parents leaving no time left for practice.

10. Keyboard is moved to student?s bedroom where they isolated during practice.

Supportive Practice Environment

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