nurture musical talent as you would care for a new garden

Nurture Musical Talent as You Would Care for a New GardenWriten by Cynthia VanLandingham

The modern world of high speed internet, microwave ovens, fast cars, and Television creates expectations of instant results that are neither realistic nor sustainable when it comes to learning a difficult instrument such as the piano. Children and sometimes parents expect overnight results. This perception of learning is based on what C. Wright Mills calls a Sociological Imagination, or what I call a shared illusion about reality, learned mainly from TV and the movies.

Heres an example. Ever watch the show Friends. This show glorifies people in their 30s who still act like adolescents. Wait a minute, thats not really fair my apologies. I know plenty of adolescents who are more responsible than the cast of characters in Friends. Sure. Its a cute show but think about its content? What message does it send to young people? Certainly not the message that hard work and sacrifice pays off.

Learning to play the piano is more like the sustained effort of planning and growing your own garden, and then sharing your harvest with your family and friends. We have some blueberry plants growing in our back yard. They were very small when we first planted them, producing only a few berries. Now 15 years later, we harvest a freezer full of blueberries every summer! Many times we could have dug them up and planted some more attractive shrubs, but we always believed that one day they would grow into big blueberry trees and give us lots of yummy fruit. And now after years of care, they do.

Nurturing your childs or your own musical talent is a lot like growing a garden. It takes time and patience. As well as attention to the simple things, like coming to lessons each week, attending recitals, developing a practice routine, staying focused on your goals, and believing that one day your dream will come true.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources Youll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their free internet newsletter so you can download free piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

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building a regional music market the texas model

Building a Regional Music Market - The Texas ModelWriten by Pat Watters

For those of you who have been living under a rock, theres something brewing down in Texas. Actually, it has been for quite some time. It started when Willie grew his hair, rolled his own, moved back to Austin, and brought Waylon with him. Its a revolution- its artists who turn their back on the establishment, and succeed not in spite of it, but because of it. Its a regional country music market where unsigned bands place a higher premium on their music and fans than they do on their money and the size of your heart matters more than the size of your home. And the coolest thing of all- these guys are making a living doing what they love, on their own terms. Fast forward a few decades and the legacy of the men who started it all is being carried on through guys like Pat Green, Jack Ingram, Cory Morrow, Jason Boland, Reckless Kelly, and Cross Canadian Ragweed (although from Oklahoma, its the Texas market theyre working).

When I look at Texas, and all thats happening there, only one question crosses my mind- why Texas? Not just why Texas, but why not Wisconsin, Missouri, Arizona, Maine, Delaware, Nebraska, and the list goes on? Country music is a whole lot bigger than the south. There are rednecks and hillbillies all over the place. So what does Texas have that we dont? I think it comes down to relationships- three very important relationships.

Artist/Artist Relationships
The first thing that makes the Texas music market successful is the good old fashioned principle of teamwork. What is good for one is good for all. Often times, in a regional market, there is 1-3 lead horses. And damn, dont they feel good? They are the band that the radio stations call when they need an opener. They are the band that headlines every county fair, rodeo, pig roast, corn broil, and keg party in the state. Then theres everybody else. They play shows here and there, and book what they can, wherever they can. If we as local musicians recognized our opportunities and learned to work together, we could do so much more together than we can as individuals. The artists in Texas look out for each other. Imagine the power that a union of 5-10 bands could hold. They could do so much. They could host their own independent musical festivals. They could pool their resources to bring national acts to the area, and they could all have an opening gig. They could fund an indy label and recording studio where they all have the opportunity to affordably produce and market their music. They could develop a referral network and help each other find jobs.

Theres really no limit to the possibilities. And arrogance is the only thing in the way. Look, you may be the most popular country band in the state, but what does that really mean? Wouldnt it mean more if your state was known for great country music? I think youll agree that it means a lot more to be even on the bottom rung in a place with Texas reputation than it does to be on the top rung in any other regional market.

Artist/Radio Relationship
Artists and radio need to meet in the middle somewhere. Heres a reality check for independent country artists: Radio is annoyed to shit by you and your relatives constant calls to play your song. And heres a reality check for radio: If you guys would throw us a god damn bone once in a while, we wouldnt always be on your ass. Were both in this industry, so why dont we work together? For a regional music market to work, the fans have to be exposed to the music. Its plain and simple. And the best way to expose them to the music is to mix it in with the regular radio play list. For the most part, indy artists dont want a freakin royalty check. They want a NAME check. They want their song to be sandwiched between Kenny Chesneys latest hit and a classic from Alabama. They just want to be heard. But as artists, we need to understand the stations position as well. They are responsible to their advertisers and listeners. And just because your grandma wants to hear your latest song, that dont make it good. HONESTLY assess your music. If what you are about to send does not stand head and shoulders with or above whats currently on the radio, dont send it. Dont waste their time. Why should they play a half-assed song by an artist nobody knows? You have to give them a reason to play your stuff. And it better be good. So focus on your VERY best material.

In Texas, not only do the regional artists get regular airplay, but they even have a Texas music chart where regional artists chart their latest singles. I realize that some stations are owned by the evil conglomerate drones like Clear Channel, and their hands are tied. But every station could all be doing something to help their local bands and expose their listeners to some great local music. Maybe it is a weekly 1 hr. program on the local scene, or maybe it is a daily featured song from a local artist. But damnit, do something! Were more than willing to work with you! Indy artists, focus your attention more on independently owned stations. They typically have more freedom with their play lists.

Artist/Fan Relationships
This is the single most important relationship in the equation. For a regional country music market to thrive, there has to be demand for it. And only the fans can create the demand. It cant be faked or manufactured. It has to be real. There has to be a commitment from the artists to stay true to themselves and their music. And there has to be a commitment from the fans to go to the shows, buy the music, and help promote the artist. See, thats what so many musicians forget. The only difference between an artist and his fans is which side of the microphone they are standing on. The sooner we all realize that, the better off well be. Fans dont want some phony ass wanna be up there. They want someone real. Someone who will be true to the music, true to himself, and true to them. If they want an arrogant jackass to feed them bullshit, they can get that from plenty of major label egomaniacs. They dont need us.

So I guess Van Zants got it right. If you want to build a regional music market, damnit, help somebody if you can. Oh, and a little sip now and then dont hurt either.

Pat Watters is a St. Louis-based singer/songwriter/honky tonker. He also runs The Man in the Middle, a blog that looks at the country music industry from the perspective of an independent artist.

More articles are available at http://www.patwatters.blogspot.com

Visit Pat's virtual Honky Tonk at http://www.patwatters.com

Check him out on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/patwatters

free music downloads

Free Music DownloadsWriten by Sam Watkins

Free music downloads? Is there really such a thing?

I remember back in the 90s, this really existed. There was such a thing as completely free music. You could go online and get as much music as you wanted, any time, for absolutely nothing.

Nowadays, I think there's something new...

Computer adware and and viruses! And, well, basically...just a bunch of low quality files.

It's sad but true.

Back in the oaring Napster era, there were millions of people waiting online, at any given hour of the day, waiting to exchange files with you. Now, you'll be lucky if there are several thousand.

So what happened?

Basically, the major music labels decided they were sick and tired of losing billions of dollars to people who chose to rip off their artist's music. Musical piracy is just not cool, and people started to catch on to this new idea.

Lawsuits started, aimed at getting high profile news attention to hopefully discourage young people to stop using peer to peer services. And the efforts paid off.

Today, itunes and other legal places to download free music thrive and make a profit at selling high quality, relatively inexpensive downloads.

What about the rest? Have all the free music download sites really disappeared?

Check around the internet, and you will soon see the answer before you.

Sam Watkins goes to Free Music Downloads for great music and MP3's.

rhapsody music downloads part ii a pleasant experience

Rhapsody Music Downloads Part II - A Pleasant Experience?Writen by Patrick C. Martinez

Welcome back to Part II of Rhapsody Music Downloads! I hope you took an opportunity to enjoy the first week of your two-week trial. Must have been a joy to stream and download online music by the truckloads. Now...you did take the liberty to utilize the free trial, didn't you??

In my last article, I summarized the history surrounding the service which allows you to download and/or stream tens of 1000's of songs quickly with superior quality (at 160Kbps WMA, you can't go wrong...). Also covered were some of the elegant features in the new Rhapsody 3 version.

This article will be more practical in scope, covering the experience you may expect when encountering the fully-featured service. For more information, though, you may read the full Rhapsody music downloads review here.

If you compare the software to that of Napster or iTunes, you will find that for some reason the Rhapsody Music Downloads software takes a bit longer to download. The interface, as I've stated, is magnificent, although it looks less current than that of Napster or iTunes.

You will find that the songs are quite easy to find even though you will generally have an additional screen or two to click through compared with Napster and iTunes in order to get to your favorite song.

I.e., whereas Napster lists the most popular songs first, then conveniently lists the catalog underneath, the interface associated with the Rhapsody music downloads service will first list the five most popular songs on the first page. If, for example, your favorite hit doesn't show up there, you just click on more, and more tracks list, which will list more of the popular songs.

How about albums? The list of albums, not to mention single releases, will portray on a window to the left of the popular track list.

With Rhapsody music downloads, the track selection is not present immediately on the same page that the album list is on. You'll have to click on the album cover or name in order to check out the track selection before you stream or download online music.

iTunes and Napster on the other hand will not only list the albums but it immediately lists the songs available for downloading online music on each album. And... they both also maintain the option of clicking on the album in order to navigate its track content.

The Rhapsody music downloads service does make up for this though. Unlike Napster, where you'll have to click to an extra page if you don't find your favorite album, all album, singles and even compilation albums where your favorite artists' songs may abound, come all on one page - the first page you arrive when you type in the artist's name.

Also as for Napster, when you actually come to the next page (by clicking on more), the releases are arranged in a haphazard fashion that makes finding what you want a bit more difficult before you download online music.

The situation is even more of a challenge with iTunes which does not immediately spoon-feed you with all album releases in its list.

So in short, Rhapsody wins bigtime with album/single release navigation; Napster and iTunes win slightly with track navigation. Oh... with the Rhapsody music downloads service, you'll also find tracks on the album that aren't available for download.

Looking for artists similar to the one you typed in? Rhapsody provides this conveniently on the right of the screen. You'll also find influential artists to your searched artist, and also followers (artists that your searched artist influenced). Spin-offs and precursors to the artist, if any, are listed too. No other digital music downloads service entertains these options.

For example, Napster will only list similar artists, whereas iTunes won't even go that far (I suppose they can get away with it though - at least for now).

I discussed Rhapsody's My Library search tool in my last article. But how elegant is the music store search tool? Is it better than iTunes? Napster? Wal-mart (yes, they offer downloads as well)?

I'll cover these, as well as how the Rhapsody music downloads service can be the cheapest for you out of all the legitimate digital music services (spending pennies on the dollar), and other odds and ends in a future article.

So, stay tuned. While you're waiting, don't forget to read the full Rhapsody music downloads review here.

Copyright 2005. download-latest-online-music.com

Patrick Chris Martinez

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music and movies download sites are they a scam

Music And Movies Download Sites - Are They A Scam?Writen by Henk Rekers

Surfing the Internet, looking for music and movies to download, you will find a lot of so called music and movie download sites. These sites do not provide you with music, or movies to download, no, they provide you with file sharing soft ware you can use to search for, and download music, movies and games. Most of them also provide you with cd burning soft ware and they have a helpdesk for those members who run in to problems with their downloading.

These site are under attack.

First of all there is the entertainment industry that want to shut them down. They claim that these file sharing programs are used to download copy right protected materials. This is true of course, but lots of people download and trade files legally on file-sharing networks.You can, for example, legally download music from hundreds of bands and thousands live concerts, as well as multiple software titles and games. File sharing has enabled music fans from around the world to build the largest library of recorded music in history. File sharing is not illegal as long as you obey and comply with all relevant copyright laws. Sharing copyrighted material without permission could be illegal in your country. In america the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) are leading the fight against the sharing of copyrighted music. Others, like hollywood's MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) are also starting to get involved and are taking legal action against the music and movie download sites. It will not be easy to shut down these download sites. Especially since the Internet has no borders, it will be an almost impossible task, to get all the countries in the world to agree on how to legislate Internet downloading.

Another attack on music and movies download sites comes from, what I call, seasoned Internet users. They claim these download sites are a scam, because they charge for something you can get for free. Well, you could get it for free, that is true. These download sites provide you with soft ware to search for and download files from the Internet. They provide you with soft ware to burn these files on a cd should you wish to do so.

All this software is available for free on the Internet, but for an Internet novice it could be a daunting task to look for this kind of soft ware, to decide which soft ware to use, how to use it.On top of that they have to make sure that they do not download spy ware, ad ware or what ever. Joining a download site and have all the info in one place is not a bad option for most of them. Another advantage is the fact that these download sites provide a help desk for their members. Is it a scam if you provide info that people could get for free elsewhere?

Consider this.

You are looking for a telephone number, so you look it up in the phone book. Say you do not have the right phone book, you can go out looking for it. You probably can find this free info in the library.

You can also pick up the phone and ring an information service.

They will provide you with this free info and they will charge you for it.

So, is this information service a scam?

I do not think so, and I also do not think that the music and movies download sites are a scam.

Provided of course that they tell you what you can expect from them before you sign up with them, and that they deliver on this promise

If you want to join a download site, chose one that gives a guaranty that you can have your money back if not satisfied.

Once you have joined, test out everything, especially their helpdesk.

If you have no questions, ask them a few things you know already, just to test their response.

And last but not least, do not hesitate to charge back your money if you are not completely satisfied.

Happy downloading!

Henk Rekers is W.M of Download music, movies, and games.

More Guitar Learning Site : http://www.guitarready.com/

the power of music

The Power of MusicWriten by N Singh, PhD

Although Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart may have passed away mysteriously his legacy still lives on in his music and the buzzword Mozart Effect referring to an increase in brain development when listening to Mozarts music.

It has always been known that sound environment has a good outcome on the feeling of well being on people on various age groups. Unfortunately very little scientific work has been carried out to investigate behaviour changes in relative to use of music. However in recent years there has been growing interest in the therapeutic use of music for stress relief. Several properly conducted scientific experiments have concluded that good music can affect the neurochemical transmissions leading to positive outcome on the brain at all periods. Currently one experiment is being conducted to figure out if classical music such as of Mozart can affect stress levels, heart rate, motor activity, mood and vital signs in premature babies. This will be done by using a monitoring device and video camera to indicate the reactions of the infants to effect of music. Interestingly premature newborns that are being exposed to music have reduced symptoms of stress and gain weight faster.

Another study showed that when music is being played in the background it can relieve stress in a hospital setting; as music reduces anxiety and stress in patients undergoing surgery. Amazingly Mozart's K448 sonata has been found to decrease epileptic attacks in humans and rats listening to it are able to go through a maze faster than those that were left in silence. Concomitantly, playing classical music to children initiates positive physiological effects, low heart rate, low breathing rate, and lower levels of the cortisol, the stress hormone. In sports psychology, music has been used to aid runners and baseball players during their warm-ups, to enhance performance by increasing focus and reducing stress. Most probably all classical music in general could trigger the Mozart Effect.

Good soothing music has no side-effects and is highly good for people leading to reduced anxiety and stress levels. It also induces increased memory, reduces emotional stress, depression, anxiety, agitation and promotes good immune system, decreases cortisol levels and increase well-being. Above all it can be applied everyday and is virtually free. Health professionals can teach patients about the power of music so that it can lead to decrease in negative mood, stress and depression, and promote feelings of well being and relaxation. It is important we develop and investigate the power of such non traditional and non-pharmacological therapeutic modalities taking into consideration its ease and practicality in daily practice.

http://www.eStressHelp.com Please feel free to use this article with proper referencing and outgoing link.

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what to look for in royalty free music

What to Look for in Royalty Free MusicWriten by Scott Johnson

Purchasing music for use as production music for film, television and video projects, or as background music for different projects and companies as well as music on-hold for personal and professional telephone systems can be a time-consuming and very expensive endeavor. Because many businesses do not have the money to spend on on-going music royalties, many are turning to libraries of royalty free music to fulfill their many musical needs.

While royalty free music is certainly a convenient and inexpensive option for those in search of bulk music for their restaurants, not all royalty free music is created equal. Music from major providers such as Award Winning Music is an affordable and premium music choice for all types of professionals. The following are five characteristics to look for in high quality royalty background music, production music, and music on-hold to help insure it will enhance a business or projects mission and communicate its purpose and style without reducing its value:

1. Good make that excellent -- sound quality. The sound quality of the music you are listening to will be the first and most noticeable element. If the music has been recorded under optimal conditions, you will hear a perfect balance between bass and treble, as well as consistent sound and texture regardless of the volume at which you are listening to the music. Similarly, you will be able to pick out the individual sounds of different instruments as they blend to create the whole piece.

2. Instruments that sound true-to-life. Similar to excellent sound quality, the best royalty free music ideally uses real instruments and not those that are synthesized. And if they must be synthesized, they should sound just like their original instruments and not like hollow versions of themselves. Most people have at some point heard instrumental pieces in the grocery store, in an elevator or used as on-hold music for major companies that sound no more textured than a sub-par demo on a low-end keyboard. The best royalty free music will have depth to it, and will demonstrate the many capabilities of the violins, cellos, percussion, electric guitars or brass instruments it incorporates.

3. Original musical themes that still evoke familiar tunes. One of the many benefits of royalty free music is that is an inexpensive way for film producers and directors to use original-sounding production music in their films, television programs and video projects. But, not all providers of royalty free music enlist the best composers and musicians (or, if it is purely digital, any trained composers or musicians at all!) to create their repertoire. First-rate royalty free music will sound original, yet be reminiscent of favorite songs. Stylistically and technically, it will make sense and fit into the grand scheme of a project while still making it unique. It will have rhyme and reason to it, and will therefore sound as though someone composed it for the specific film or project and will resonate in the minds and hearts of each listener and create a true emotional response.

4. Well-composed music by musicians and artists with real credentials. Great royalty free music sites will provide credentials for the composers and performers they enlist, and their artistry will shine through in the finished product. A purveyor of beautifully and carefully crafted background music, on-hold music and production music will be able to give the history of the artists involved in the design and production of the music, and this history will include collaborations with major artists in the genre of the type of music being composed.

5. A diverse yet still versatile music library. The best royalty free music will offer diverse styles that run the gamut of musical tastes. Genres of music might involve classical, jazz, different types of rock and roll, New Age and some progressive styles such as Hip-Hop and techno/dance music. But even within the more traditional styles of music, such as classical, there will be selections that appeal to younger listeners with typically more modern musical tastes, just as within the more cutting-edge styles, there will be pieces that can be enjoyed by even those that would not normally listen to techno and Hip-Hop.

Looking for these basic characteristics when shopping for royalty free music will help discriminating professionals select the perfect production music, music on-hold or background music to suit their very specific projects.

Award Winning Music is an excellent source for royalty free music that far exceeds all standards. If you would like to take a look as what they have to offer, their website is at RoyaltyFreeMusic.com.

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