Big Band

Archive for July, 2010

Many guitarists are adamant that the only way to learn guitar is by learning to read sheet music. Some even go so far as to say that if all guitar tab was removed from the world the level of guitar playing would be much higher. The main objection to that idea is that many famous guitar players never learnt to read sheet music. Some even have trouble with tab. Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Tommy Emmanuel and Jeff Beck are shining examples. Of course, all these guitarists were following their own idiosyncratic ways of expressing themselves through the guitar rather than learning a broad range of music but there are still those who are thinking of a whole world of music that is closed to people who have not learnt to read notation. What would possibly be raised if tab were eliminated would be the level of communication between guitarists because we would all be speaking the same langusage.

But it is highly unlikely that guitar players who have more of an instinctive approach to the guitar will ever take the trouble to learn theory and standard music notation. At the same time the people who have made the effort to learn to read music will continue to feel that they have a greater understanding  of the guitar and the ability to learn new music faster than guitarists who do not have a background of theory at their fingertips.

You could say that the bottom line is what works for the individual. If you can play guitar but can’t read music, does that make you an inferior guitarist? A weakness with learning from tabs is that timing and rhythm can’t be learnt from tabs but some people write tabs incorporating the elements of sheet music notation that show note values and timing, and this kind of notation is very easy to learn.

There are those guitar players who see sheet music notation as a language that was invented by keyboard players and is not very well suited to the guitar. It should be noted that without learning musical theory as well, learning to read music is just a part of the language of music and is not a great deal more useful than tabs. Also the amount of music theory a guitarist learns is in proportion to his interest in music in general but will not necessarily make him a better guitar player than a guy who doesn’t read music.

It has often been pointed out by guitar players who play in an open or alternate tuning that if you are used to reading and playing music in standard tuning you might find it very difficult to sight read a piece written in an alternate tuning using standard musical notation. If this is true it would suggest that reading standard music is not the key to universal understanding of the guitar.

For anyone studying popular classical music, it can be a daunting task to know where to begin. There are so many great pieces that a beginner can get overwhelmed. Here are 10 of the most popular classical pieces with a brief background of each. There are many others, of course, but these 10 are certainly among the most popular classical pieces of all time.

Clair de Lune is a piece by Claude Debussy, a French composer. It is the third and most popular movement of the larger Suite bergamasque. It is played pianissimo and is largely in D-flat major, with a shift to E major toward the end. Clair de Lune has been taught to students of popular classical piano for years and is prominently featured in movies and television shows.

Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14, popularly called the Moonlight Sonata, was completed in 1801. Beethoven had begun to suffer from hearing loss prior to this and used a special rod attached to the piano’s soundboard in order to feel the vibrations and enhance his sense of the music. It was given the name Moonlight Sonata by a music critic who compared it to the moonlight shining on a lake.

Canon in D is the most well known piece by Johann Pachelbel. Originally written for three violins and basso continuo, it has since been given many different arrangements. Basso continuo refers to a group of instruments, one of which must be able to play chords. Other instruments must be able to play in the bass register, such as a cello. Canon in D is often played at weddings.

The Hallelujah Chorus is part of George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. The text is from a libretto by Charles Jennens, who adapted parts of the Old and New Testaments for his composition. The Hallelujah Chorus is taken from the book of Revelation, and it is customary for audiences to stand during this movement of the Messiah.

George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is a piece that combines the elements of popular classical music with the popular jazz music of the era. It was commissioned as a classical element in an all-jazz concert to be presented by band leader Paul Whiteman. Known as Al Capone’s favorite song, Rhapsody in Blue has been featured in numerous films and advertisements.

The Piano Sonata in B minor is one of Franz Listz’s most popular classical solo piano works. It is a piece in the Romantic style and consists of small movements woven into a larger whole. Thematic elements are presented in each movement, although the different setting of the movements make the elements sound differently each time. In one section the melody may seem violent, yet later in the piece it becomes something beautiful in a different context.

Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler contains many of the common elements of Mahler’s work, such as the funeral march. Commentators have noted that when hearing Mahler’s Fifth “you forget that time has passed.” Scored for a large orchestra, the Fifth is considered to be Mahler’s most conventional symphony up to that point in his career. He was regarded as a highly unconventional composer until the Fifth was published.

Johann Sebastian Bach composed The Well-Tempered Clavier to instruct students in solo piano playing. He collected 24 pieces and published them in 1722 as The Well-Tempered Clavier. In 1744 he published a similar collection with the title Twenty-Four Preludes and Fugues. Combined, these two books comprise The Well-Tempered Clavier.

The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi consists of four violin concertos. A Baroque piece from 1723, The Four Seasons is also considered a series of tone poems, as Vivaldi provided instructions with each movement. Phrases such as “the drunkards have fallen asleep” and “the barking dog” give conductors instructions about the feel of each concerto in this popular classical piece.

Music is a magical gift we must cultivate and nourish. Casals says music fills him up with the wonders of life and the incredible marvel of being a human. Berstein says it is enriching and ennobling. Music teaches us to appreciate the wonders of life.

Music builds up the skills of creativity, cooperation and communication and helps us to see the world from a new prospective. We are introduced to the myriad rhythms, richness and diversity of human life. Music has a great power of bringing the world together.

In today’s busy and hectic world people young and old look for an opportunity to chase away their blues with good music. There is a variety of music available in the market these days. You can even download music from the net on to your computers and from there to your mobiles. No family function or gathering is complete without a good DJ system – everyone dances together enjoying themselves for hours. Music and a good voice are God’s gifts to humans. Even animals have now been proven to respond to music.

A disc jockey or a DJ is a person who selects and plays prerecorded music for an audience. In 1934 American commentator Waller Winchell coined the term “disc jockey” the combination of “disc” and “jockey” which is the operator of a machine.

In 1943 Jimmy Savile launched the world’s first DJ dance party playing Jazz records in England. In 1947 he became the first DJ to use twin turntables for continuous play.

In 1947 the “Whiskey-a-go-go” night club opened in Paris, France, considered to be the world’s first discotheque or disco deriving its name from the French word, meaning a nightclub where the featured entertainment is recorded music rather than an onstage band.

There are several types of disc jockeys –

Radio jockey – They introduce and play music that is broadcasted on AM, FM, shortwave or digital stations.

Club Jockey- Select and play music in a bar, club, disco or a rave.

Hip hop jockeys- They select and play music with multiple turntables with one or more backup.

MCs Reggae disc jockeys- In Reggae, the DJ is a vocalist raps, beat boxes or chats over digital music recording.

Mobile disc jockeys- They travel with a portable sound system and play at a variety of functions like birthday parties, marriages, and a variety of other events.

DJ equipments:

-The music recording is done in a DJ preferred medium eg. Vinyl records, compact discs, computer media files.

-A minimum of two devices to play sound recording for alternate back and forth to create continuous playback of music.

-A sound system for amplification of or broadcasting of the music.

-A DJ mixer, an electronic two channel mixer with a cross mixer with a crossfader to go from one song to another.

-Headphones used to play one recording while the other is being played to the audience.

-A Microphone so that the DJ can introduce songs and speak to the audience.

Several techniques are used by DJs as means to better mix prerecorded music like cueing, audio mixing of two or more sound sources. Club DJs use turntable techniques like cutting, scratching, needle drops etc. In part two of this article we will learn more about music.