So, you want to buy a new piano or upgrade your old piano. There are so many options when it comes to purchasing one of the oldest musical instruments, the piano. You have the choice of purchasing a new piano, a 2nd hand piano, or even a digital piano. There are so many choices and so many brands to choose from. But, be careful? there are also many traps along the way.

The piano has been around for about 300 years and over that time the essence of the piano has not really changed. The cabinets have changed over the years and have improved but the internal workings have not really changed from the first models produced in the 1700?s. The basic workings are that you play a key then a hammer hits a string and it vibrates and the sound is reflected off the soundboard to produce the musical tone (sound). There are approx. 10,000 parts in a piano and many of these are very finely tuned. The moving parts within the piano are called the ?action?. Just like a car the ?action? is the engine of the piano. If the action has problems or is not maintained then the piano will not perform as it should. A piano is generally considered to be one of the hi-end purchases or investments that we make in our lifetime. It is very important to spend time researching various options like new, 2nd hand, brands, warranty, etc. before jumping in on an impulse and purchasing a lemon.

Does size matter?

The answer to this question is? Yes and No. Size/height of an upright piano does not really matter. The difference in pianos in relation to size, means that in an upright piano the soundboard and also string length are greater therefore give the piano a richer tone and an increased resonant sound. For instance? in an upright piano with a height of 108cm compared to a larger upright of 121cm there is a height difference of 13cm. Therefore there is approx. 13cm more in the height of the soundboard and also greater length of the strings. The soundboard of a piano is like the speakers in a stereo system, the bigger the speakers the greater the bass response and deeper the tone. This is exactly what happens in a piano. You must also keep in mind the size of the room in which the piano is going to live. In some rooms that have deep pile carpet and heavy curtains the smaller pianos will loose their volume because of the ?soft furnishings? absorbing the sound. If the player is just a beginner or has only been learning for a short amount of time then a smaller size piano like the 108cm or 112cm will be fine. If the player is a serious student, teacher or a person that has been playing for sometime, then a 121cm or larger would be required, maybe a grand piano. The reason for this is that the player has experience and performance ability and would be looking for a better tone and resonance in the piano which they are playing or practicing on.

New or 2nd hand?

I guess the short answer to the question of 2nd hand is?

PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

This is for several reasons. There are a lot of people selling 2nd hand pianos who are making a lot of money playing upon the ignorance of the piano buying public. They have found that they can take an old piano and clean up the instrument, make the metal parts shine, polish the wood and in general tidy up the appearance of an otherwise useless piano and then place a high price on the instrument. There has always been a sense of ?the higher the price the better quality?, this is not the case. When it comes to second-hand pianos you need to ?do your homework?. Its like buying a second-hand car!! You need to get the advise of someone in the industry like a Qualified Piano Tuner, or a Piano Teacher who knows what to look out for. One of the pianos to try and avoid is the ?over-damper? pianos. These usually have problems with the damper mechanism and have been found to be a lot of hassle to repair by tuners and technicians.

Be aware that there are a lot of second-hand pianos being imported from Asia and you really need to ?proceed with caution? on these. You will probably be told that they are great pianos, excellent condition, etc. But, consider if they are all that they are made out to be, why did the Music School, University, etc. in Asia decide to replace these pianos??? Also, the comment by the salesperson, ?they have not had much use!!? is something you need to think about. Remember that about 75% of these pianos have come from a Music School, University, etc. and are from 5 years to 20 years old and have countless students practicing on them for maybe up to 14 hours a day over every day of the year for 5-20 years. That?s a lot of work that these pianos have been receiving and it makes you wonder if over this time if they have been properly maintained and serviced.

There are some good models coming in to Australia as second-hand Imported Pianos and these are from homes and have been used as private pianos. When purchasing any of these instruments from a store or a private piano tuner selling these types of pianos is to make sure that they have some type of warranty which include the pin block, frame, soundboard. The person selling these instruments should be able to place a 5 year warranty on the above. Also make sure that the piano is tuned in your home after delivery, this is usually done about 1 week after delivery with a new piano and should also be done with a piano that is second-hand .

Why maintain a piano?

The piano is a highly developed and complicated piece of equipment. It contains about 240 different lengths of high tensioned wire. These lengths of wire make up to 85 to 88 notes spread across the music tonal range. For each note there exists a mechanism which in the upright piano contains up to 14 different moving parts and in a grand piano up to 22 moving parts per note. This means that there is around 2000 moving parts in a piano!! Since the piano must be maintained at a specific tension to achieve a good musical sound the matter of maintenance becomes an ongoing process. If you play the piano several hours a day and work to a performance standard you may need to have your piano tuned frequently. This could be mean that your piano would need to be tuned 5-6 times a year, or more!! A finely tuned and functioning instrument will make practice and performance much easier and encourage students to practice more because their instrument is performing at its best. It will also give you peace of mind that your investment in the piano will last. Having the piano maintained will ensure that it will always be performing at its best and will stand the test of time. You should realize that a piano will never stay in tune, no matter what brand it is or if it is an upright or a grand. However, a piano that is manufactured to a high standard and using better materials will stay in tune for longer periods. Also keep in mind that a new piano will require several tunings throughout the first 2 years. This is usually every 3-4 months until the strings and pin block have time to ?wear in? and settle down.

Does the brand name make a difference?

The answer has changed a great deal over the years. Brand names do not really make a great deal of difference when it comes to buying a new piano. When it comes to buying a 2nd hand piano which has had many birthdays (30 ), the brand name will make a HUGE difference in the quality of the instrument and also the purchase price. In regard to new pianos most brands have a model (usually the height is the model number, 121cm 108cm, 115cm, etc.), and you will find that all brand names have a model in the same height. The price is usually around the same or maybe $500.00-1000.00 difference. The difference in price does not mean that the more expensive one is any better or is going to last any longer or not less tunings each year. Warranty varies on new pianos from 3-5 years, to 10 years to a Lifetime Warranty. The longer the warranty the better off you will be because the manufacture is willing to provide a warranty like this to their instrument, which means they are certain that the piano will be fault free for the warranty period. The only advice really when it comes to buying a new piano is to shop around and be sure you purchase a well known brand name from an authorised piano dealer. If in doubt talk to your piano tuner or call the importers of the product and talk to them. The best advice is to? get advice!!

Acoustic or Digital?

This is really a matter of preference. With today’s digital pianos becoming better and better it is very hard to make judgment between digital and acoustic. I guess the best way to work out which is best for you is to think like this?An acoustic piano is essentially the same instrument that has been around for about 300 years. Music was and is still composed for the piano and for piano performance with orchestras, concert halls, etc. It is a pure instrument and always will be. The digital piano however has a multitude of instruments and drum samples with disk drives, etc. It is more like a computer with a keyboard!! It is an excellent composition tool with various voices like, piano, strings, brass & woodwind sounds and of course the rhythm unit and disk drive to save your work. You can then transfer your work to a computer and using MIDI software printout your composition as a musical score. The digital piano is also great for the younger student providing all these features to help keep their interest in learning the piano. So, as you can see either acoustic or digital, you need to work out which is best for you and what you see to be long-term value for yourself and your family. Although acoustic pianos have been around for 300 years, the digital models change with technology about 12-18 months. So, the digital piano you buy today will be out dated usually within 1-2 years.

Conclusion…

A piano purchased today will always be a piano. Unlike the digital piano where the features are increasing and becoming more impressive each year as technology gets better and better. You will not see on an Acoustic Piano a rhythm unit (drum machine), auto chords, display screens like the star ship enterprise, or a blender or even a milkshake maker!! The piano is a ?true? instrument that requires dedication and determination to master. It takes years of lessons, practice and a belief in oneself of achieving an ability to be able to perform on such a majestic instrument.

Before purchasing any piano keep the following points in mind and your purchase should then be a happy one!!

Best advice is to? Get Advice!

Paul J. Kenny

Paul’s extensive musical career spans over 20 years. His accolades and degrees include several Bachelor of Arts (Music) Degrees, Associate of Music, Licentiate in Composition, Bachelor in Business Administration, Doctorate Degree in Music and Doctor of Philosophy in Music Education. Paul is also a Fellowship Member of the Academy of Saint Cecilia London and a Fellowship Member of the Cambridge Society of Musicians, as well as a Professional Member of the Australian Society of Music Educators.

Paul has been a music teacher and performer for over 20 years. Some of Paul’s students have gone on to be professional musicians or continuing studies at a University or Conservatorium of Music.

Music downloads are very popular right now and rightfully so. Just image having access to thousands of songs with the ability to get your own digital copy. The proliferation of iPods, iTunes, Napster, MP3 players, high speed internet connections, and CD burners has made the world ripe for digital music. How do you get digital music? You download music to your PC. That?s how.

Where can you find music downloads? There are several services online that provide music download to their customer. You can download music from Walmart for $.88 per song. That is a pretty good deal and they have a nice selection of songs. For the iPod owners out there, you can download music from iTunes. They also have a real nice selection of music and they charge $.99 per song.

If you don?t want to use either of those services then you may want to try Napster. Napster actually popularized music downloads back when they gave users access to songs for free. The free music swapping was, of course, shut down and now they charge $9.95 per month for unlimited access to their music library. They currently advertise a selection of 1,500,000 songs.

Today?s version of Napster is called Kazaa. It allows users to share music files amongst themselves. Music downloads through Kazaa are free for now, but expect Kazaa to eventually go the way of Napster. Music companies do not like people to download music for free so the free music downloads will not last forever.

MP3.com also provides visitors music downloads. They actually sell songs through other sites, but they allow you to find and listen to songs before you make a purchase. They have a good selection of songs and even off some music downloads for free.

One last place to look for music downloads is in music user groups. It is common for users in those groups to share music, so you should be able to find music to download if you look hard enough.

For more information on cell phones and the companies that provide cell phone service simply run a search for ?music download? or download music on Google and you will get plenty of addtional information.

Jason D. Barrett is currently focused on writing informative articles for InfoBriefs.com, child insurance articles for ChildInsure.com, and technology articles for ScoutTechnology.com. This is part of his highly successful internet property development approach. Please feel free to contact Jason through one of his sites to see how he can help you develop your own internet property!

Ready to start your own band? There are plenty of musicians out there willing to pursue a career in music with you, but how do you choose the right musician? Different musicians contribute different sounds to a band depending on their technical skills, innovations, and music diversity. For example, Metallica would not sound the way they do without James Hetfield, or Dream Theater would definitely not sound the same without the drumming talents of Mike Portnoy.

Here are some tips on how to narrow down your list of potential band members.

1. Determine their level of commitment. You want a musician that is in the same commitment level as the rest of the band. Is the band a full-time thing or are you just jamming on occasions for fun on weekends? Musicians with a high level of commitment are always good but they can discouraged if the rest of the band is lazy and only wants to play at minimal times. Figure out how often the band should get together to play and then find musicians that can commit to that schedule.

2. Technical abilities versus diversity. While technical abilities are important, there should be a good balance between music diversification as well. Anyone can pick up a guitar and shred like Yngwie Malmsteen with proper amount of practice picking the same notes over and over, but not everyone can play with such feel as Jimmi Hendrix.

3. The right musician should enjoy playing the same music style as the rest of the band members.

4. Compatibility with personality. Playing in a band is about having fun and you should be able to get along with all your band members off-stage. Generally speaking, you might get along with people within your age group better, so that might be something to consider when choosing musicians.

5. Open-minded to other music genres. While this may not apply to every band, it might be good to consider if your band ever decides to change its musical direction.

6. Band playing experience. Typically, the more band playing experience the better. There is a difference between self-taught musicians that practice at home by themselves and musicians that learn through others by playing in bands. Musicians with no band experience might have trouble with following songs since they are used to playing at home to album CD’s. In addition, if your band ever plans on performing live gigs, inexperienced musicians might have stage freight.

7. Enthusiasm. Does the musician take the band seriously enough to prioritize it? Does the musician contribute to the band musically? Enthusiasm is shown if the they contribute a lot of ideas into the songs and take some extra to practice at home as well. If the musician is always running late to practices, does not contribute and only plays what they’re told to play, then chances are he/she is not very committed to the band.

Kenny Auyoung: Webmaster @ http://www.getmeaband.com – Looking for a band? Search through our directory of musicians to find band members in your local area.

Led Zeppelin was blaring on the stereo and our violins trembled in the back seat. We devoured our fast food suppers as we zoomed along the dark winter highway to the big city two hours away from our small, rural Canadian town.

Anticipating the evening with mixed anxiety and excitement, our insides danced a quick nervous jig. We were travelling to the first of seven practices this month with a symphony orchestra and were already sick of the drive.

Ari, a 17-year-old fiddle student of mine, had never played in an orchestra but had won plenty of hardware at fiddle contests. Seeing the opportunity as great career experience, he reluctantly agreed to spend four Wednesdays and an entire weekend away from his friends in rehearsals. He was a proficient player and incredibly confident, which I hoped would keep him from bailing out before any music was played.

We were not at all prepared to play our parts since the music was held up by another orchestra until the day before. Thus the entire orchestra would have to sight-read (musician for fake it or die a terrible death) the music with the rest of the orchestra.

Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t have been nervous in the least. I played first violin for a year with the symphony, but had spent a couple years pregnant then raising my son. My mind had turned into a mish-mash of strained carrots and Barney and I was worrying about everything all at once.

Did I still have what it took to play with an orchestra? Was the cat fed today? Would I be able to stay awake at the rehearsal after only 4 hours sleep the night previous? Did I leave the stove on? Would my child survive at home with my unobservant husband? What if the conductor asked me to play in front of everyone else and I spontaneously forgot how to play the violin?

Leaving behind a toddler screaming for mommy was difficult, but no where near as frightening as the impending embarrassment that could have struck if I have lost my touch. My nervous tension grew as we approached the city lights.

After getting lost and being locked out of the building we were late, but thankfully, so was our boss, the section leader. We finally settled into our seats, clutching our violins with cold, shaking hands, and were met with intimidating folders crammed full of what a non-musician would think to be inkblot exams for testing the insane. On second thought, they very well could be tonight. The conductor raised his baton and we began.

Playing with a symphony is always wonderfully intense and the enormous volume within the orchestra is fantastic. Our conductor waved his hands with enthusiasm and the complete concentration everyone was immersed in was wonderfully intense. During an overture I was busy avoiding blasting unwanted notes when there was supposed to be silence and looking out for my young pupil beside me that he was on the same track.

For me the tension melted away when we pulled Beethoven Symphony No. 4 out of our folders.

Playing Beethoven was what inspired me to leave my warm cozy home and family to subject myself to potential humiliation. Playing Beethoven was enough incentive to keep all of us coming to rehearsals, though most of us were volunteers and weren’t paid to rehearse or perform in the concert. Playing Beethoven was what made the 4-hour drive in winter weather and midnight bedtime worthwhile.

Surprisingly, Ari was the one slumped over a kettledrum napping during the break, and not me. My maternal instinct took over and I helped him into a chair. He’s new to all this, I said to another player and she smirked and let him rest in peace, with full understanding of how the late rehearsals can drain a player. Players exchanged baby pictures, ate cake, then played Happy Birthday for a flautist.

Bruce, not The Maestro, but Bruce, was a great leader who told jokes and hung with the rest of us. His friendliness and encouragement always made orchestra rehearsals fun for me and I’m sure all the musicians played better as a result.

At one point he asked the rookie, Ari, how he was holding up with the music. Fine, Ari replied. How’s she doing, Bruce teased, looking at me, the teacher. Oh, I don’t know about her! Ari said with an impish grin. We all laughed and again I felt my tension evaporate until I was just having fun again.

After playing remarkably well and avoiding the wrath of the sectionleader we drove home and reflected on the events behind us. Ari was having the time of his life and became delirious and giddy with fatigue. At one point he took his violin out of the case and started playing hyper-fast jigs in the car, his bow bumping the soft ceiling. We laughed and sang and talked.

Inside I was cherishing the feeling of being back in my element: I’m playing Beethoven again I kept reminding myself as the words’ euphoric effect had not yet worn off. Ari thought playing with a symphony was pretty cool and was glad he was giving it a try.

I thought of all the other musicians around the world who were on their way home from rehearsals and concerts, dog-tired and hopelessly broke, but content because they were feeding their souls. In the weeks to come our duo would run out of gas in the middle of nowhere, my son would nearly drive my husband batty with frustration and Ari would expose my car stereo to so-called music featuring indecent bodily noises, but it was all part of the musicians’ experience.

It allowed me to play Beethoven again.

We cranked up the Zeppelin and air-guitared all the way back home through a light blizzard, enjoying every minute of the drive together.

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

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

Born out of a religious devotion to one of the greatest exponents of all that was ever Metal; Metallica, Alien Ant Farm housed a quartet of cheeky, wholesome Californian nerds. Perhaps, four of the most unpredictable and unimaginable rock stars ever to grace the U.S, these ordinary looking kids off the block blazed into teenage vulnerability around 1996.

In strange and extreme arrogance, their first album was titled ?Greatest Hits,? released in the U.S in November 1999. In America, it managed to con the teens into submissiveness and an award was promptly handed out to the band the same year at the L.A Music Awards. The Brits, on the other hand, were having none of that and the LP failed to create even the slightest dent over here. After all, we invented Metal. We already knew what it was like to feel our ear drums bleed – we had Ozzy?

Thunderous, thrashy and somewhat Alice In Chains tinted, the band, visually, can only be described as The Beastie Boys meets the Myth busters, or perhaps even Adam Sandlers lost cousins, yet there is something disturbingly appealing about these guys with their shaved heads and Scooby Doo tee shirts. They reflect a certain mood within all teenagers, but perhaps mostly towards kids in the U.S. Sniggering still at their farts and whistling at girls, it is not difficult to imagine that these fellas, loaded and famous as they are, still ring old ladies door bells in the middle of the night and run away laughing.

Their contribution to the rock industry is merely down to taste. If you like your rock heavy on the bass and minus any real noticeable guitar riffs yet you prefer the lead vocal to actually sing in key, then AAF is certainly the band for you. If you ever become fortunate to see them live, then please don?t be put off by the fact that they are not famous for putting on a show. The all-American named Dryden Mitchell does nothing to promote a form of eye candy. His hunched over stance with mouth busy tonguing the microphone is almost an imitation of Grindcore Gods, Napalm Death. Despite their visual effect and their ability to perform good, and surprisingly tuneful Metal music, they have, unlike a lot of their hero?s, stayed far away from making any social comment. Choosing, I believe, to distance themselves from anything too political and topical, they have, in previous years, met only criticism from the media on how they were a bad influence on the youngsters of the Nineties generation. Although the critics were harsh, it was how the band unitedly stood their ground with great maturity that was perhaps, more shocking.

AAF gave us another shock in September of 2001 by releasing their own take on Michael Jackson?s ?Smooth Criminal.? This shaky, club classic dance number filled with all the glitz and styled glamour that was Jackson in his element, was probably one of the very last pieces of cover that any rock band would ever dare to take on, let alone endanger their already growing respect from other long haired rock giants already masterful. This daring take on such a record was tarnished with all the right amount of bass, heavy drums and chain saw styled guitars that was needed and leapt, peculiarly to number three in the singles charts in the U.K. The British kids were buying it at last. As a ?make sure? marketing ploy, the song was released again in February 2002 as the B side to the single, ?Movies,? which, again had enjoyed such huge success that it was released twice and instead of it?s humble number 55, it sat readily at number five the second time around.

For a group of four young lads, all born between 1971 and 1977, it is surprising that in the years of Alien Ant Farm being around, they have only managed to release five singles. Four of which were two songs released twice, and only two chart positioning albums to 2003. At a glance, one could argue that they are the laziest rock band in existence, failing to produce a decent single and record a fairly passable album, but a closer look shows us that these musicians (and isn?t it a blessing from God that we see a band that can actually play instruments? This is the only reason why I think Ben should win the X Factor?) we can see that apart from the obvious single, these fellas have written everything. Like their counterparts of today and the giant Metal bands of the past, they are proud to say that they have not once leaned on others for their musical contribution to teenage album collections. They are humorous, thoughtful and, most of the time, polite. They are melodic, play in time and are good to their mothers. In my book, they posses all the makings of a fairly decent heavy rock band.

Their music can?t always be described as custom built heavy metal. In fact, many of you out their will be disagreeing with their title of Metal band as it is. For example, the jolliness of the backbone of ?Glow,? from the album ?TruANT,? (2003) is more Manic Street Preachers than Anthrax. Yet, ?These Days,? taken from the same album has a more grinding feel to its theme, hanging in the air with the heaviest of cobweb guitar riffs, the density of some of their work would have even Miss Havisham reaching for the duster. They had even tried their hands at deliberately mixing Spanish guitar with a darkly forcible bass line yet keeping the vocals strained and cutting. Working these layered Latin themes, this band takes on a whole knew meaning and far from the Metal legends they are supposed to be. Although they still appear to be a bunch of guys fresh out on vacation from high school, they seem friendly, alluring, shy and very attractive to English speaking teens across the world.

However geeky and freak loving, these giggling, immature youths on a Blair Witch Project trip shouldn?t be regarded as what they appear to be. Frighteningly in 2001, the band came close to a major loss. Dryden Mitchell suffered a severe broken neck when the band?s tour bus crashed after colliding with a big truck on route from Spain to Portugal at two o?clock one morning. After the initial shock and then being shown the devastating pictures of the remains of their twisted coach, the band took the incident as a true near death experience for all of them. Their work has since taken a more serious turn. Passing fans, probably won?t notice anything different about this heavy metal band, but for Alien Ant Farm, their next album, ?TruANT,? released in August 2003, certainly lent towards a more definitive and reflective key. Though the bands style and lack of responsibility will pretty much, always shine through, it is their inner most souls that had been tarnished with the freak accident two years before. Due to extensive surgery to Mitchell following the smash, the band took time out whilst Mitchell lived for months in a halo brace around his head, holding it in place with screws and wires.

The band now take on a whole new meaning yet again, yet this time, matured, edged and introspective, we wonder where the band go from here. After the release for the long awaited ?TruANT,? they seemed to have died a death as far as the Brits are concerned. Even though it had been noted that they are one of those rare bands that genuinely appreciate their fans, nothing seems to have come from the AAF camp for quite sometime. It is a shame as I do believe that we haven?t, in many ways, not seen the best of Alien Ant Farm yet?

Dryden Mitchell – vocals
Terry Corso – guitar
Tye Zamora – bass/vocals
Mike Cosgrove – drums
DreamWorks records

Album releases;

Greatest Hits – November 1999 (cd)
ANTology – March 2001 (cd)
TruANT – August 2003 (cd)

?michelle duffy 2006 Also on ciao and dooyoo (sam1942). 2006.

Michelle is a freelance writer in the South of England and owner of the websites, www.generationsounds.co.uk, nevermindthebloggers.bravehost.com and their successful sister, ?Never Mind The Bloggers? at paperback-writer29.tripod.com. She has been writing over the last year, for five major consumer websites across the world and is one of the only two music category advisors for one website in the U.K. Her websites promote young, amateur and professional bands/artists and their fan clubs whilst also reviewing them for local and world wide promotion. She has also recently launched the blogs; ‘The Ramblings Of An Old Rocker,’ ‘Bohemian Waffle,’ ?The Rhythm Rock And Blues Machine? and ?The Moped?s Musings? and ?Generation Sound Suite.? She is currently working on two shops selling her music styled artwork and now sells on Ebay.

When I first met my husband, Larry, he said, If Madonna was playing in my front yard, I would go out the back door and take a crap. Needless to say, he did not go with me to Chicago, July 2004, to see her in concert. While I watched her, I told my friend, Suzie, My soul aches to know I may never befriend her.

Once in an interview, Madonna, talked about people that have been standing at her gate for twenty years, not listening to the lessons she was trying to get them to hear. These fans choose to disrupt her privacy and life, instead of appreciating and applying her experiences to theirs. I don?t want to be a person at the gate; rather my soul yearns to know what she knows and what must be expressed. I am comforted by her creativity and respect this individual that needs to know more and continue to grow.

As we returned from dinner one night, I played ?Paradise Not For Me? by Madonna. Larry said, My God, that was great who was it? The weeks that followed, I played more songs and we watched videos from her Madonna Video Collection 93:99. By spring 2005, Larry’s Material Girl, sexually exploitive, irreverent opinion of Madonna was abolished. He is an advocate for her creativity, beauty of expression, individualistic talents and now says, You know, Patti, people are going to look back on her and think, ?what we were thinking, we should have listened when she was living.? She is amazing; everyone should pay attention to this girl.

You don’t have to like her, understand her images or ideas, but you must listen and try to apply what you hear to your life and experiences. Like my Larry and Madonna, you too can change, grow and be better. Pay attention to this beautiful soul while we still have her.

A former computer professor turned Internet writer, I have combined elements of the film,music,and publishing industries to create a new genre exclusive to the Internet- Digi-Tome’s. Interested in a different way of learning and beautiful way of living, I created the world’s first digi-tome, life.

Respectfully- Patti Pacifico
http://www.pattipacifico.com
http://www.respectfully-pattipacifico.com

There are only seven of them; plus their respective flats, sharps, and octaves…and from so few, can come such abundance.

In many ways we can say more through the notes than we can through speech.

In fact, we convey more through the notes than we could ever express in spoken or written forms of language–the notes transcend our skill with words.

The notes can transport us to another era, or to a moment in our past.

They can inspire us beyond the lesser levels we accept in our verbal world.

They will raise bumps of ecstasy on our flesh, or shiver us with an icy refrain.

They bring forth our other senses; our hidden senses. And we might recall a fragrance, a taste, a pain felt, a sensuous caress.

The notes may be so beautiful, that we will weep with the hearing of them.

There is a pulse to the notes; a meter to each trill; a cadence to each sonorous phrase.

And, the notes can embolden us…to dance.

And there are so many more vehicles for the notes than there are for mere words. So many things to make the music on…to create the notes with.

I wonder how we humans attained the knowledge of music, of the notes?

I imagine we probably communicated through music even when our language skills were at the primal level; when our utterances were little more than grunts and base articulations.

Maybe the notes were a gift…of magic. Or perhaps we just borrowed them from the birds.

copyright ? 2000 by Kathy Pippig Harris

I live in central, sunny California, where I share my life with my husband and our furry family. I work full time for a living, and I write in order to live fully. My works have been featured in 2TheHeart, StoryTime Tapestry, Starfish, Driftwood, CatTails, Petwarmers, uhad2bthere, Heartwarmers, Insight of the Day, Warm Fuzzy Stories, Gwen’s Place Newsletter, Sir Froggie’s Positive News Network, and Eternal Ink. I am also a weekly columnist for the publication Frank Talk which is distributed in six counties in Michigan, USA. I have four published novels, 4 fiction and 1 non-fiction, which can be orderd from Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com

How long has it been since you visited a music store? That question used to have a fairly straightforward answer, but not anymore. Although a traditional music store can be found by looking in your local yellow pages, the term today has at least 3 different meanings. You can buy ?music? from all of them, but the form you get it in could be completely different. The traditional music supply store will sell you supplies like guitar picks, sheet music, drum sets, and CDs. The online music store sells many of the same items as the traditional, but because you can choose from hundreds of different stores, your choices and numbers of selections are much higher. The final music store is actually a downloading site for all of the songs and albums from artists new and old.

For personalized service you probably cannot beat your local music store. They may rent instruments for your school band and they can help you pick the perfect fit and grip on a new guitar. The problems come because they may not have the inventory that you can find online.

You can find not one music store online, but hundreds. Some are general interest stores which offer hundreds of different products to choose from. Others may offer single items or families of items such as stringed instruments, or sheet music. The advantage of shopping through an online store is that if you don?t find what you are looking for at one store, you can look at another store. You can compare prices quickly and easily. Just make sure that any online store that you are using has a good warranty and return policy. They should also offer good customer service in case you have questions or problems.

The last store which may be the most popular these days is the downloading ?store.? ITunes has one, so do MSN and Napster to name just a couple. Make sure that when you sign up for a subscription you understand the terms and that the site is compatible with the system or MP3 player that you currently own.

Eriani Doyel writes articles about Music. For more information about amusic store visit fimmusic.com.

Improvisation (also known as improvising) is the act of making something up as you go along — an act with which we all have a little experience. Remember playing House or Doctor as a child, letting the game go wherever your mind would take you? That was improvisation. No rules, no boundaries, just the limitless potential of your imagination.

Similarly, musical improvisation is the act of writing (creating it as you play) a song while performing it, a technique found most often in jazz and bluegrass (but can be traced back to renowned classical improvisers like Handel and Bach). Of course, it’s a little more complicated than an imaginative children’s game. Though improvisation is a highly creative and flexible technique, it requires great skill on the part of the musician. A musician involved in an improvisation must have a detailed knowledge of chord structure and complicated scales and modes. The musician must also have an intuitive ability to structure a song on the fly; great improvisation thrives on its ability to sound not improvised but rather wholly composed. That illusion, the ability of a song to seem anything but spontaneously made up, is part of improvisation’s allure.

There are two basic forms of improvisation: structured improvisation and free improvisation. Structured improvisation, though a contradiction in terms, is the most common of the two. In this form, musicians will use a pre-determined series of chord changes, usually held down by the rhythm section, as the song’s base. The lead instrument in the improvisation (sometimes also pre-determined) then have the freedom to create new melodies and harmonies from these pre-determined chords. The flexibility of this improvisation form is dependent on the flexibility of the chord changes, and the musicians involved must be able to play exactly what they hear in their heads, as some complicated changes may not allow for large deviations.

If we were to improvise on a song such as Billy Boy, for example, we would follow the chord progressions of the song, but make up a different melody for it. Some musicians choose to stay fairly close to the melody by using neighboring tones and half-step slides and so on; other musicians feel free to completely abandon the traditional melody and make up a new melody entirely.

In addition to songs, many musicians in the jazz and rhythm & blues tradition improvise endlessly on the 12-bar blues, which has a chord progression using only the I, IV and V chords (also known as the primary chords of a given key) of whatever key the musicians are playing in. For example, if a jazz group was playing in the key of Bb, the improvisations would be based on the I, IV and V chords in the key of Bb: namely Bb, Eb, and F.

Of course musicians also add extra notes to chords such as the 7th — especially in the blues — and sometimes also change the harmony somewhat from time to time. But the recurring theme always reverts to the I – IV – V formula.

Free improvisation, on the other hand, is far more like a game of House or Doctor — it has no rules. Instead of focusing on harmony or melody, free improvisation focuses on the feeling and texture of the music and the way the instruments complement each other. This form tends to be far more experimental and rarely adheres to one style or genre or music — it is, quite simply, what it is.

Duane Shinn is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions- Intelligent Piano Lessons For Adults Only! with over 84,400 current subscribers.

Let’s face it. Learning isn’t usually fun. It’s a big drag.

Especially when it comes to learning a musical instrument. Scales, repetition, and monotonous exercises abound. Most people love the piano but won’t go near it for fear of not being able to to play it. And most times, their fear is justified!

A typical beginning piano student scenario may go like this: You walk into the teacher’s studio. He or she asks you what you want to learn. You respond with any number of choices; classical, jazz, new age. Then out pop the books. You know the one’s I’m talking about. Hanon scales, Czerny. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll get introduced to a chord-based method. Maybe. But probably not.

You see, most piano teachers have this idea that you must learn how to read music before you can play music. That’s nonsense!

In fact, it really works the other way around. You should be able to make music with chords and improvise first. Why? Because music is what the end result is. Music is not notes on a sheet of paper. It’s hammers striking strings produced when a pianist fingers a chord. Children speak their native language first before they learn how to spell and write it. They have no difficulties doing this BECAUSE IT COMES NATURALLY! Music should be the same way! We learn the language of music by understanding how to use chords first. We then use these chords to create our music with.

There is nothing wrong with being able to read music, but if that’s all you can do, you’re limiting yourself creatively. Stop playing piano the hard way and learn how to use chords and improvise first. Because by learning how to improvise, you are actually speaking the language of music first!

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!