Like anything in life that you want to learn how to do or to be good at, you have to practice to make it happen. Diligent practice is the key to success if you really want to learn to play guitar. Steady practice helps you to improve on the skills that you learn and ingrains them in you until you can play what you have been practicing without even thinking about it. It does not take long at all to learn to play guitar, as long you have a constant practice schedule and stick to it.

To learn to play guitar, you should set small goals to accomplish each time you practice. This builds confidence each time that you make of your goals, and makes you feel that you are able to accomplish something even harder the next time. You should not jump in and try to follow your favorite song on the radio in the beginning. It would only discourage you from moving forward and get you down.

A very important thing to remember when you start to learn to play guitar, is to practice correctly. If you start off wrong and improperly practice, it will be a lot harder for you to learn to play guitar because you will have unlearn those wrong techniques which will take much longer than if you started off right. Posture and finger positioning are a couple of the techniques that you will want to get right in the very beginning to get you started on the right foot.

When practicing to learn to play guitar, you will want to have proper instructions or teachings to ensure your success. Although, there are plenty of guitar players that have learned to play all on there own, but the quickest and best way to learn to play guitar is to have someone to teach you. Preferably, you want whoever teaches you to be an experienced guitar player themselves for obvious reasons. There are probably many credible instructors in your area, or you can get online training from various sources on the internet. There are very good training programs on the internet to help you learn to play guitar, but there are also some scams out there by people who don?t even know how to play guitar, so be very careful.

Basically to learn to play guitar, you need consistent and diligent practice. You can?t cram and practice for a few hours every once and a while to be successful, practice must be steady over time. So find you a good instructor or some good instructions, make a plan to practice and stick to it. As long as you take small steps, you will be great and learn to play guitar in no time at all.

For more helpful information, visit my blog to learn to play guitar.

Lyric writing is much like any other style of writing, the more time you spend working on it, the more you will grow as a writer. So what exactly are lyrics? Song lyrics can basically be thought of as singable poetry. The Oxford dictionary defines the word ‘lyric’ as 1) (of poetry) expressing the poet’s thoughts and feelings, usually briefly and in stanzas, songlike (a lyric poem) 2) (lyrics) the words of a song. By using this definition, we can assume that the process of writing lyrics draws from some of the same techniques used in poetry.

Why write lyrics? This may seem like an odd question, there are literary hundreds of answers to this, but it is something you will need to ask yourself before you start. Is it because you have a story to tell, because you want to express a particular emotion to your audience? Some write purely for themselves, like a kind of personal therapy. Or perhaps it’s simply because the human voice is an important part of the style of music they are written for.

What do you want to say? Most lyrics are written with a message or some kind of effect in mind. You will need to have a clear idea of what you want out of the lyrics or you will run the risk of creating weak lyrics. Weak lyrics tend to resort to clich?d, generic and boring phrases when they are written solely to ‘fit’ the tune. On the other hand, don’t be carried away with the message, make it a point for the lyrics to be somewhat cryptic. Do not ‘spoon feed’ your audience, plant the seed of your idea and let the audience come to their own conclusions.

As with all forms of creativity, lyrics are an expression of personal ideas, beliefs and themes. Lyric writing is just a matter of expressing these beliefs and feelings. As with most forms of writing, it is best to write about what you know. Because everybody has their own experiences, emotions and beliefs, it becomes hard to give an exact instruction on how to write, everyone has their own opinions on how it should be done. The most I can do in this series is give a guide about how to go about finding your own style by learning from the music that you listen to. This is a great way to learn, as many of the bands you listen to have learned, and draw influences, from other established artists.

There are several ways you can write lyrics:

* Create a melody & write lyrics to accompany it; or
* Write a set of lyrics & add the melody to it; or
* A combination of the above two examples, i.e. do both at the same time.

So, where do you actually start with the writing process? Well, there are countless possible ways (too many to mention here). It really is a matter of preference; every lyricist has his or her own style, much like any artist. A couple of simple ways that are an excellent way to begin are as follows:

1) Start with a possible hook line or chorus and work around it

An example of this can be taken from Coldplay’s hit “Yellow”. The song was derived from a first line that came about from where the band was on the night, as explained in October’s SOS: “‘Yellow’ was written at Rockfield when we where there. The studio we were in is called the Quadrangle Studio – the studio is along one side of an open courtyard, and we went out one night, and because there were so few lights, the stars were just amazing. Guy just came up with the line ‘Look at the stars.’”

2) Start with a title and work around it.

For example, using “Written in Sand” as your title, you can brain-storm around this idea: The phrase suggests that which can be washed away; it also brings the phrase ‘written in stone’ to mind; the word “sand” brings to mind the words like flowing & changing, which brings the words time & water. The word “written” suggests fate or destiny. So a possibility that the song will be about how you can change your destiny. Now there is a basic theme that you can work around.

Tools Of The Trade

What are the tools of a lyricist? One would obviously think a pen and paper (or a computer & word processor) plus the creative mind of the lyricist and the possible use of a musical instrument. There are other tools available for the lyricist to take advantage of, these may seem painfully obvious, but they are quite often overlooked by many people.

Dictionary – A dictionary is an essential tool for any writer, not only for spelling but word meanings. English is a dynamic language, words are constantly being added so it is important to keep an updated dictionary on hand, a 20-year-old dictionary may’ no longer contain the latest words and meanings. It is important not to be too abstruse for your audience but neither is there the need to overuse the same monosyllabic words. It may be of use to keep a couple of different dictionaries (i.e. Oxford & Macquarie) this is because some word meanings may differ slightly, and can be used to colour your lyrics.

Thesaurus – A good dictionary can be supplemented with a thesaurus. The use of a thesaurus is a great way to avoid over-using words and can even inspire your ideas leading them to new directions. This can be very usefully whilst brainstorming.

* — * This is just a simple word-association game; that you can easily apply to any word. Look up the word ‘remains’ in your thesaurus, you are shown: debris, fragments, leavings, leftovers, remnants, and scraps. Now look up ‘debris’ and you will find it also has: flotsam, litter, pieces, refuse, rubbish, rubble, ruins, wreckage and waste to add to your word list. You can do this with as many of the words you like. Some of these extra words will have no use for what you are working on but there may be those one or two words that will fit perfectly.

Rhyming Dictionaries – These particular dictionaries are specifically generated for poets and lyricists. They do not define words as most dictionaries do; they merely list words that rhyme. Some scorn the use of this particular tool, sighting that it is all too easy to rely solely on the list of rhymes than to put a little thought into your rhyming structure. It is also true that many people waste a considerable amount of time listing the words they know to rhyme only to lose the train of thought they were on thus, killing the creative process. If used sensibly, like a thesaurus, a rhyming dictionary can be a very useful tool.

Other Dictionaries – There are other dictionaries available that may be of use to a lyricist. One that comes to mind is the ‘slang’ dictionary. I’ve only seen an “Australian Dictionary of Slang”. Most countries use their own form of slang so I would assume that there are others available. It really depends on what you are working on and who your target audience is, but they may help to put that finishing touch, or stamp of authenticity on a piece. Check your local bookshop for the range of other dictionaries available.

Other Means – What other tools are available? There are many other ways to help with the creative process. Listening to a wide range of music can be helpful, don’t just listen to your normal ‘style’ of music, there are thousands of different music styles around, explore these possibilities. Music has been inspiring people for thousands of years, so it seems logical to turn to it when it comes to your own musical venture.

You may not like some particular styles of music, but you can get an idea from them that you can convert or merge to your chosen genre. If done correctly, it has the potential of being a powerful piece of music that is unique. This is why it is important to be open to all styles and ideas. Some of the most ‘controversial’ bands have reached the popularity they have, simply because they have a unique sound and the ‘message’ they want to convey is something that their fans can relate to.

Bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit, Staind, Linkin Park and Disturbed are given the music ‘title’ of nu-metal (or nu-music) simply because they utilize a wide range of musical sub-genres within the ‘rock’ genre. This can be seen in other more established merges such as ‘country-rock’, ‘pop-rock’ and the recent surfacing of ‘Latin-pop/rock’. If you look throughout music history (particularly that of ‘rock & roll’) you can see this trend more clearly. What do I mean by mixing the different genres? Below are some examples of what I mean.

* ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen is a perfect example of genre mixing. The song has three distinct phase changes within it. It starts off similar to many ballads, then phase changes to a ‘light opera-ish’ stage, and phase changes to ‘rock’ before changing back to the ‘ballad’.

* Another trend that is starting up is adapting a song from one style of music and transforming it to another. An example of this can be taken from many of Staind’s songs. The album version of their song ‘Can’t Believe’ has a distinguished ‘rock’ sound. But if you listen to the MTV: Unplugged version, you will notice that (although the music has the same tune) it is acoustic and is sung in a more ballad-like tune.

* — * In Australia, the radio station Triple M’s Breakfast Show has a ‘Musical Challenge’ in place where they put musicians (both local & international) “to the test”. The Challenge: give a song to a band which is the total opposite to their normal style and get them to ‘remake’ it. Triple M has released some of these songs on CD (proceeds going to charity) if your interested in listening. Some of the songs used: Radiohead’s “Creep” performed by country singer Gina Jeffreys (one of the stations most requested songs); Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” performed by rock musician Richard Clapton, Men At Work’s “Down Under” performed by The Russian Red Army Choir (now one of their most popular songs); Silverchair’s “Freak” performed by country singer Troy Cassar-Daley; the list goes on. It’s well worth the listen.

Apart from listening to these different forms, you could simply go to a site like http://www.getlyrics.com and just read the lyric form of different musical styles. You can easily use the above example and apply it to just the lyric process of some of these artists and merge it to your own music. There is a wealth of knowledge to be discovered from established artists, only if you are willing to look. It may not be ‘conventional’ but then, throughout history, music has been about breaking down pre-existing barriers

As you can see, there is a lot more available to the lyricist besides the simple pen and paper. If used wisely these various tools can help to hone your skills as a lyricist, bringing the best out of your work. Naturally, there may be other tools available that haven’t been mentioned here that the lyricist can use. By all means, use whatever comes to mind. You are only limited by your imagination.

Look out for Part 2 of this series, where you will learn how to accompany words with music by writing Alternate Lyrics.

Chyna Dolores is an author on http://www.Writing.Com which is a site for Creative Writing. You can view her personal work at http://www.chynadoll.writing.com

Although the first music video ever broadcasted was ?Video Killed the Radio Star? played by MTV in 1981, some consider the music video to be much older than that year. It seems that the film Alexander Nevsky, directed by Sergei Eisenstein in 1938 had some extended images of battles which had been choreographed by Sergei Prokofiev. These new scenes were so innovative that they have lately been considered to be the first music video.

Apparently, the music video is even much older than these innovative scenes. The 1911 Alexander Scriabin?s symphony ? Prometheus: Poem of Fire was written for orchestra and ?light organ?. Oskar Fischinger?s animated movies were considered to be other ancestors of the music video as they were called ?visual music? and they were equipped with orchestral scores.

Max Fleischer?s short cartoons were also considered to be attempts of a music video. He created a new type of cartoons, the sing-along cartoons which he called Screen Songs. These short cartoons were inviting the public to sing along to famous songs at that time. Few years later, in the 1930s, these cartoons were changed; they displayed the musicians singing their hit songs in front of the camera in a live-action show.

Walt Disney also contributed to the music video evolution through his ?Silly Symphonies? which were based on musical pieces. The Warner Brothers cartoons were also created around songs. But the most popular videos were the live music concerts, performing popular singers, videos which were displayed in theatres.

Bessie Smith?s dramatized performance of a song was another attempt to make a music video. This performance consisted in a short film named Saint Louis Blues. It was very popular and it had been played in theatres for more than 3 years. She wasn?t the only musician that appeared in short musical materials. Many musicians liked the idea and started shooting their own materials. Music historian Donald Clarke considers that Louis Jordan?s strange feature film Lookout is the official ancestor of the music video.

In conclusion, it seems that the first music video issue is still a controversial subject. The important thing that needs to be noted is that the music video is by far much older than the television which made it famous: MTV.

For a great data base of music video codes just visit us at http://www.videocode.org

It is believed that the custom of dining in began in the monasteries, was adopted by the early universities, and later spread to military units when the officer’s mess was established. British officers of the 19th century were drawn from the aristocracy, and while they considered themselves gentlemen, they were not necessarily men of means; third and fourth sons had little chance of inheriting title and lands under primogeniture. While the pooling of resources may have been out of economic necessity, the regimental officer’s mess maintained the social stratification of English society and ensured that the traditions of gentlemanly conduct were maintained and inculcated to junior officers. The primary elements are a rigidly formal setting, espirit de corps and the camaraderie of peers, a fine dinner, traditional toasts to the head of state and military services, martial music and the attendance of honored guests or speakers. Today, although the purpose of a dinner may be to observe an appointment, promotion, retirement, or some auspicious occasion, a central theme of such events is a ceremonial focus upon the history of the host organization.

While the tradition of having a piper at high table may have it’s origins in the clan system in Scotland & Ireland, the formal dinners and dining in ceremonies as we know them today are directly attributable to the traditions of the officers mess in the British Army and Royal Navy. Originally fife & drums or trumpeters were employed to sound the calls; as Highland regiments were organized, pipers were employed not only for this purpose, but to celebrate great battles and victories in the history of the regiment and to memorialize their dead, quite in keeping with the Celtic bardic tradition. It should be borne in mind that originally Army pipers were outfitted and paid not by the Exchequer but exclusively by the officer’s mess; without their patronage, modern Highland regiments wouldn’t have ever had pipers, and without the Army to maintain and build upon this tradition the great Highland bagpipe would be about as familiar to most people today as the zampogna.

When a piper is requested to pipe the calls and the music at a formal dinner, you might be engaged to perform throughout dinner; to provide a limited performance such as pipe in the head table, pipe the lament and/or pipe in the port; or to simply pipe in the head table and depart. While there are many different traditions associated with formal dining, the following are some of the customs associated with piping a formal dinner. You may be requested to perform some, all, or some variant of any of them on occasion.

Dress

Such affairs are invariably formal, requiring black tie, occasionally white tie, or full parade regalia. Miniature decorations and medals are worn. If flying a pipe banner, ensure that the drone cords and/or ribbons are to the left of the banner; i.e., not over the regimental crest. If there is more than one piper, the banner is traditionally flown by the ranking piper present, who will lead the detachment, formed up in order of rank or seniority.

Seating

The seating arrangement at the head table is always based on rank, seniority and status. The host sits in the middle, the next senior person (or guest of honor) to his/her right, the next senior person to his/her left and so on, until all are seated. The senior-ranking member of the mess is the head (or ?President?) of the mess dinner and sits in the center. The President of the Mess may appoint a second (?Mr. Vice?), usually the junior officer of the mess, who will be in charge of planning, and who usually occupies the seat farthest from the host, sometimes on the far right, sometimes at another table. Officers take precedence over civilians. If a guest speaker has no rank or status, he/she is positioned as close to the center (right of the host) as possible without offending rank precedence. Chaplains are usually included at the head table, usually at the far left of the President.

Warning Calls

15 minute and 5 minute warning calls are usually sounded to alert the guests that dinner is about to be served, and may be provided by a piper. When piping warning calls a short up-tempo tune is required but no specific title may be prescribed. In some regiments it would be the Officers Call (e.g., ?All the Blue Bonnets Are O?er The Border?). A naval tradition is to ring ?six bells? (19:00) on a ship?s bell for the 15-minute warning (if dining at 7:15 PM, of course). Dinner may be signaled by a brief pipe tune (?Brose and Butter? is a traditional one), followed by the host or master of ceremonies announcing, Dinner is served!?

March-in

The guests (except the head table) will proceed into the dining room and remain standing behind their chairs; the closer to top table, the higher the rank or seniority. You may be requested to pipe in the guests. The head table forms up in order of seating, led by the host and the principal guest. When cued, lead the people of the head table into the dining room playing an appropriate tune; ?Roast Beef of Old England?, ?A Man?s A Man for all That?, ?Prince of Denmark?s March?, or the regimental march. If space permits, parade counter clockwise around the room. This is particularly important when flying a drone banner. The regimental crest on the obverse of the banner is always displayed first. When everyone is in place, continue to march, and finish playing at the halt near the dining-room entrance. At a signal from the host, stop playing and remain at attention until grace has been said. If you are not to provide the music during dinner, march from the room after grace is said.

Posting the Colors

An honor guard may post and retire the colors; as a piper you may be requested to pipe them in and out. As the American and Canadian national anthems cannot be properly played on the pipes, other appropriate patriotic tunes must be selected. If you march in with the color guard, make sure that you?re well rehearsed in their drill first; they march in close order with wheeling movements to change direction. Of course, if not playing stand at attention with pipes down for the National Anthem(s). If you’re flying a drone banner, watch the color guard and drop your bass drone from horizontal when they dip the colors.

The Lament

In some military and veterans organizations it is customary to remember comrades killed in action, sometimes with an empty place setting, sometimes with a small table before the head table. You may be requested to play a lament in their memory. ?Flowers of the Forest? is traditional, but other laments may work equally as well if the host has expressed no preference.

Piping in the Beef

In some traditions, the main course (traditionally beef) is ceremoniously piped in to the head table (or ?Mr. Vice?), which will sample it and formally announce it fit for consumption. ?Roast Beef of Old England? or ?A Man?s a Man For All That? may be used if not played previously to pipe in the head table. You may pipe the beef out as well.

Piping in the Haggis

If haggis is served (such as a Burn?s Dinner), pipe the haggis to the head table to ?A Man?s a Man For All That?. Stand at attention for the recital of Burn?s ?Address to a Haggis?, and participate in the toast to his ?immortal memory?. Pipe the haggis out to ?Neil Gow?s Farewell to Whisky?.

Main Course Music

Wait until all at the head table has been served before beginning to play suitable selections intermittently throughout the main course. A piobaireachd is often considered customary. If parading around the room, it is customary to start ?widdershins?; counterclockwise. If flying a pipe banner, it may be appropriate to countermarch as well, in order to display the unit crest on the obverse side. Prior to the port wine being served, the host/delegate will signal you to stop playing.

Piping in the Port

An old custom is the piping in of the port wine for the Loyal Toast. After dessert and coffee are served, tables are cleared except for the table decorations and wine glasses. No special music is required, but it should be short and appropriate. On cue, lead the wine stewards into the dining room, positioning yourself at a predetermined spot, and continue to play until the wine is about to be sampled and declared potable by the host. Sometimes the piper will play as the port is passed down the tables as the guests charge their glasses. Remain at attention until the Loyal Toast is drunk and then march from the room, unless required to stay for the Toast to the Corps.

Loyal Toast

If a Commonwealth dinner (or if UK guests are present), you may be requested to play ?God Save the Queen? before the Loyal Toast. The person proposing the toast will ask everyone to stand and join him in a toast to the Queen. The member will then raise his/her wineglass shoulder high and say: The Queen. The assembly will respond: The Queen.

If an American dinner, the host may propose a toast to the Commander-in-Chief. Mr. Vice seconds this by rising and addressing the company, saying, Gentlemen, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States. Each member and guest then stands, repeats in unison the toast (e.g., The Commander-in-Chief of the United States), sips the drink, and remains standing. The band then plays the National Anthem. If piping, play ?America the Beautiful? or ?God Bless America?. At the conclusion of the music, members and guests are again seated.

Toast to the Corps

You may be requested to play the regimental march prior to a Toast to the Corps. Unfortunately, the only American regimental marches that ?fit? well on the pipes are the ?Marine Corps Hymn? and ?Semper Paratus?.

Paying the Piper

At the conclusion of your performance, the host may offer you (or the lead piper) a quaich containing a dram (about 3.5 ml) of whisky. Stand to the left of the host. Taking the quaich in both hands, hold it shoulder high and face the head table. It is traditional for the piper to toast the head table (Sl?inte! ?to your health? in Gaelic; phonetically Slanjer or Slanja), turn to the company and offer a formal toast. Following the toast, you?re expected to drink the whisky in one draught, toast the company (Sl?inte!), and flip the cup over and kiss the bottom. Following the ceremony, take your leave of the head table and march from the room. Unless you?re Gaelic is very good, you?re probably best off offering your formal toast in English.

The traditional Pipe Major’s toast of the Liverpool Scottish might be adapted to a range of events;

Gaelic Slainte mhor, Slainte Banrighinn

Slainte agus buaidh gu brath

le Gillean Forbasach.

Phonetic Slanjervaw, slanjer banreen

Slanjer aggus booey goo bra

la gillian forbusach

English Good health, health to the Queen

Health and success for ever

to the Forbes lads

Conclusion

At the conclusion of the dinner, you may be requested to play the National Anthem. As neither ?The Star Spangled Banner? nor ?Oh Canada? can be played successfully on the limited tonal range of the pipes, play ?America the Beautiful? or ?Maple Leaf Forever? instead. Of course, if not playing stand at attention with pipes down for the National Anthem(s). If you’re flying a drone banner, watch the color guard and drop your bass drone from horizontal when they dip the colors.

Duty Tunes of the 48th Highlanders of Canada

Officers Mess Call (15 minutes)

?Bannock & Barley Meal?

Meal Call (5 minutes)

?Caller Herrin??

Pipe in Guests

?Lt. Col. Robertson?

Pipe in Head Table

?Highland Laddie?

Lament

?Flowers of the Forest?

First Set (Main Course)

Ends with ?Highland Laddie?

Second Set (Dessert)

Ends with ?Lt. Col. Robertson?

Pipe Major?s Toast:

Host:

A Mh?idseir na p?oba, ?lamaid deoch-sl?inte!

(Pipe Major, let us drink a toast)

Pipe Major’s reply:

A h-uile latha a ch? ‘s nach fhaic, an d? fhicheadamh ‘s a h-ochd gu br?th! Sl?inte don Bh?nrigh! Sl?inte Mh?r! Sl?inte!

(Every day that I see you, or that I don’t see you, the 48th forever! Health to the Queen! Great good health! Health!)

Piper for Hire; Tampa Bay, FL

Bagpiper available for weddings, receptions, formal dinners, ceremonies, corporate functions, funerals, memorials, and special events of all kinds throughout the greater Tampa Bay area.

Muscle memory is the terminology used by physiologists to describe the phenomenon of skeletal muscle activity that is learned and becomes essentially automatic with practice. Muscle memory plays a major part In the world of drumming as well as other things. Think of when you were first learning to ride a bicycle. You had to concentrate very hard to make all your body parts move in just the right way, as well as balance just right so that you could ride. It seemed very difficult but once you got the hang of it, then riding became a very natural feeling. this same thing happens in drumming. When playing a new beat at first may feel very okward and difficult but with some practice and repetition that beat begins to feel good and gradually becomes much easier. After some practice these motions requireless concentration.

Scientists have discovered internal brain stuctures that work together with input/output brain structures to form fleeting images in the mind. Using these images we interpret input signals, process them and formulate output responses in a deliberate and concious way. Scientists refer to this as kinesthetic memory or neuro-muscle facilitation. where seeing, thinking, and doing gets cut down to just seeing, and doing.

Muscle memory comes into play by eliminating the thinking process. Your muscles begin to know just what to do. And this is when one developes efficentcy to become a much better drummer.

Once you are capable of playing a beat with out thinking then your mind is free to think of how to make that beat more creative by adding fills, accents, etc.

The motions of the basic beat are now almost effortless. It takes a certain amount of time for your drum beat to feel effortless. First you must create the new motions or pattern, the next step is feeling at ease with those motions. This will not always happen over it can take sometime depending what time signature you are playing. I feel Sometimes its best to make a recording of the new material you are working on. That way when you want to play it again you will have that tape to help guide you.

When the motions of the basic beat become almost effortless. That is where the saying practice makes perfect comes from. How can you be at ease with a beat that now seems hard to you now? Practice and practice some more. And eventually you will be playing that beat with the same amount of effort it takes to walk.

When you can play a drum beat and keep a conversation or read a book that is a good indication that your muscle memory has developed just right.

Helping you march to your own beat ==>www.drumhelper.com

Written by Jason palat the author of http://www.drumhelper.com there are many more helpfull drumming articles on the site to enjoy.

The difference between success and failure is information, notes Ritch Esra, and he should know. Along with his partner, Stephen Trumbull, Esra is a leading part of the number one most-reliable source of information on who’s who and who does what in the music business. Best of all, they can tell you where everybody is located.

FIVE VOLUMES OF DATA.

The Music Business Registry (http://www.musicregistry.com) publishes five directories: the A&R Registry, the Music Publisher Registry, the Music Business Attorney Registry the Film and Television Music Guide, and the Record Producer and Recording Engineer Directory. For many in the business, these are indispensable reference works.

The directories give everyone vital, accurate and the most up-to-date information they need to contact the entire A&R, music publishing, legal and film/TV music communities, Esra states. From comparing notes with dozens of professionals in all of these areas of expertise, I can tell you that no one disputes his claim.

More than one music industry executive has told me that the Music Business Registry publications are worth their weight in platinum. Tess Taylor, president of NARIP (National Association of Record Industry Professionals), says I couldn’t get through one day without the directories from the Music Business Registry. These publications are the finest in the business.

Each directory tells you how to reach industry professionals by regular mail, e-mail, direct dial telephone and fax. The books provide each person’s exact title, street address, the name of their assistant and the styles of music in which each executive specializes. Web sites are also included.

UPDATES? YOU WANT UPDATES?

The world of the A&R executive is exciting but ever-changing. Which is to say, there’s a lot of turnover in this part of the industry. So much turnover, in fact, that the A&R Registry is completely updated and reprinted every eight weeks, whereas the publisher volume is biannual and the other books come out yearly.

NEED A PRODUCER? HERE ARE 1,700 OF THEM!

Created in partnership with RPM Direct, the Record Producer & Recording Engineer Directory presents 1,700 of today’s leading Record Producers, Recording Engineers & Remixers throughout the US, Canada and Europe in every genre of music. Included in the book are:

(1) Complete contact information for every Producer, Remixer & Recording Engineer along with a list of their credits.

(2) Producer/Engineer/Remixer Management Companies including a complete staff listing as well as full client rosters.

(3) A Complete Index to easily locate any producer.

(4) Several Interviews and articles with today’s leading Producers & Engineers.

No wonder you can find the Music Business Registry’s publications in the offices of top record company executives, music publishers, artist managers, agents, music attorneys, recording artists, studios and other music business professionals everywhere from Los Angeles to London, New York to Nashville, Chicago to Copenhagen, Toronto to Tokyo, Stockholm to Sydney and Minneapolis to Munich.

YOUR SEARCH BEGINS HERE.

The Music Business Registry is located at 7510 Sunset Blvd #1041, Los Angeles, CA 90046-3400. Phone: 800-377-7411 or 818-995-7458. Fax: 800-228-9411 or 818-995-7459. E-mail: ritch@musicregistry.com.

Scott G (The G-Man) writes and produces radio commercials from G-Man Music & Radical Radio. With albums on Delvian Records, iTunes, Amazon, and many other online stores, he also composes music that is played in clubs, on college radio stations, and on commercials. A member of NARAS (the Grammy organization) and NARIP (National Association of Record Industry Professionals), he writes about music, advertising, marketing, communications, advertainment, and digital distribution for the Immedia Wire Service and MusicDish.com. Samples of his songs and commercials are on his site at: http://www.gmanmusic.com

Downloading music off the internet can be a tedious and usually boring task. This article will show you how to find online music faster and more precisely then ever before.

There are a few different ways of obtaining music over the net, however each one has its own set of pro?s and con?s.

1) The first way is to download music off a basic web server or website. Not only is this highly illegal, but it puts your computer at risk to any number of ActiveX exploits, porn pop-ups, and forced installs. This of course is necessary to insure that the webmaster of the illegal site gains a profit, off the expense of his surfers.

2) The second highly popular way to download music is through a peer-to-peer network such as Kazaa, IMesh, Limewire etc. Nothing is ever free! Theses programs are all ad-supported and include spy ware and frequent pop-ups that essentially infect your computer. They hijack your start page, search page etc, and are designed to be extremely difficult to remove.

3) Recently pay-per download sites have emerged such as Napster and the famous Apple Itunes. These sites unfortunately charge upwards of $1 a song which quickly adds up to a large price for an album. There are alternatives to the high profile sites listed above that offer music at a much reduced price. A web review site recently launched has ranked these programs on a scale of 1 to 5 and has review article for each site. A free music and mp3 review site providing unbiased comparison information of the Top-Rated Music/MP3 download sites. Free MP3 Reviews

Charles Oakland is a journalist by nature who manage the popular web review site: Free Web Reviews

In 1994 Daniel Johns and his group Silverchair were catapulted into the mainstream by winning a demo competition in Australia. Their single ?Tomorrow? is still widely regarded as one of the defining songs of the early 90s. Now, before you rush out to buy The Dissociatives you?re going to want to sit down before I break this next part to you; This cd is not silverchair, it sounds nothing like silverchair, and you are only seeing comparisons because Daniel Johns is in both of these bands. It is best to keep these 2 entities separate, or you will probably end up enjoying them both a lot less.

This album is a collaboration with Australian techno king Paul Mac, the eclectic mix of poppy songwriting, eerie soundscapes, 3/4 timing and multi-layered vocals brings out the best of both members of the band. The music and songwriting is filled nearly to a breaking point with more little noises and beeps than you?d think you could digest, but somehow everything falls into its right place.

Opening with a constant 4/4 bass drum beat, the opening track ?We?re much preferred customers? quickly builds constantly with multi-layered vocals, sparse piano, eventually turning into a veritable electronic orchestra. From this moment on, you can tell that this is a very experimental album, created by 2 very creative musicians. While the songwriting and melodies would fit perfectly on every pop radio station, avid listeners will notice much more subtle details and nuances than the average electronic pop album.

The standout track on the album in my mind is ?Horror with eyeballs? a bizarre tune based around a 3/4 verse of carnival music, mixed with a poppy chorus featuring many layers of Daniel Johns singing ?all of this time on my hands/so far has gone/ to feeding my animals?. Nonsense? I think so, but you?ll be singing it for days.While the rest of the album is very hard to categorize, each song features the same elements; Multi-layered vocals and instruments, noises, a full helping of ?na-na-na-na? and everything you?d expect from a pop album. I find myself rarely listening to single songs, as the album seems to flow much better as a whole.

Nearing the end of the album, the band pulls out ?Young man, Old man?, another interesting track. Based around a guitar part, only instead of playing it only on guitar, Johns elects to sing the part as well. This is the type of abstract thinking that makes this album stand out so much in my eyes. You will have a very tough time guessing what is going to come next, and I think everyone loves music that suprises them.

The band managed to find a fantastic artist by the name of James Hackett to produce 3 videos from this album; Horror with eyeballs, Somewhere down the barrel and Young man, Old man (You ain?t better than the rest) all 3 are available for your viewing pleasure from the bands website.

It seems that most of the mainstream press is tearing this album apart, but from where I stand (about 2 feet infront of my computer monitor) this is one of the best albums released thus-far this year. If you?re looking for a solid, happy album featuring one of the best voices in rock, check this out, you won?t be disappointed.

Overall: 8.2

Chris Elkjar is the founder of ‘trust.me’ an online music magazine for the enthusiast. He spends all of his spare time immersed in music, be it writing reviews, interviews with leading bands or writing his own music.

For more of his writing, check out Trust-Me.ca – Music for robots

The ability to get your free full movie download has finally come around. Broadband internet has opened a Pandora’s Box for movie and music downloads. You can now get a free full movie download in a few hours. Thanks to video compression you can fit an entire movie on a couple of CDs or a single DVD.

Now that they have DVD burners people are looking for ways to get DVDs for free. There are tons of DVD rips all over the net. You just have to know where to look. These are high quality rips that give you the exact same performance as regular DVDs. You can download all this and more at little to no cost.

There are a lot of sites out there that you can use to get a free full movie download. You could be a couple clicks away from never paying for a movie again. Imagine never having to dish out 20 bucks for a DVD.

When you download free full movies always make sure you do it safely. You don’t want to end up getting in trouble by the law. I recommend trying out one of these sites that insures safety by blocking your IP or by another means of anonymity. These are your best bet and they don’t cost much at all.

Shared Movies
Movie Download World
Ultimate Movie Download
iMovieSearch
Full Movie Downloads

John Rivers has been involved with music for over 30 years as a student, performer and teacher. His site The-NetGuide-for-MusicDownloads.com helps individuals to find safe and legal Music and Movie download sites. Subscribe to NetMusic News and receive Free music downloads each month.

Americans are crazy about Shakira. No, I’m not talking about her latest album sales. We are talking about the craze for Shakira concert tickets. This Spanish diva has left the likes of Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera & Beyonce in the dust, so to speak.

The summer concert tour is starting to heat up and the demand for Shakira concert tickets is unsurpassed by any other performer. How do I know? By using a powerful little tool from Overture.com that displays the number of times a search phrase was typed in the previous month. According to overture, here are some search results for last month:

1) Shakira Concert Tickets: 331,484 searches(wow!)

2) Concert tickets: 219,592 searches (a not so close second)

3) Linkin Park Concert Tickets: 86,438 searches (a lot of searches…but shakira concert tickets got 4 times as many!)

4) Pink Concert Tickets: 80,696 searches (a very popular artist…but not even close to Shakira)

So there you have it. Proof positive that Shakira concert tickets blew other similar search phrases out of the water last month! So….why is Shakira such a superstar anyways? Many music industry experts cite her unique style (a breakaway from the Britney Spears mold) and spectactular, fluent movement on stage while performing. She did dye her hair blonde, however for her 2001 album release, Laundry Service. But we won’t hold that against her.

Shakira continues to capture the awe of millions of American music fans as she continues her summer concert tour. Interested in Shakira Concert Tickets? A great site to purchase Shakira tickets is listed below for fast, secure ordering with fast FedEx shipping.

http://www.ezwaytickets.com Trusted, Verified Online Ticket Broker.