ten commandments for good music practice

Ten Commandments for Good Music PracticeWriten by Arthur Haule

Reports are surfacing about a recent archeological discovery in the Middle East involving a heretofore unknown second ten commandments. The passage evidently immediately follows the reciting of the Commandments in the fifth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy.

The discovered text reportedly reads as follows:

And after Moses had presented the tablets with the commandments of the Lord to the Hebrew children he reached into his back pocket and pulled out two more tablets of stone. And he spake further.

And the Lord God has given me two more tablets of stone, on which he has written his precepts especially for those who would praise him with song, instructing them in the ways of proper practice.

And Moses read:

I. THOU SHALT HAVE A PLAN BEFORE THOU STARTEST PRACTICING.

II. THOU SHALT WARM UP THOROUGHLY BEFORE THOU STARTEST THINE EXERCISES.

III. THOU SHALT NOT ONLY PLAY THE EASY STUFF, BUT SHALT SPEND TIME ON THAT WHICH THOU NEEDEST TO IMPROVE.

IV. THOU SHALT TRULY LISTEN TO WHAT THOU PLAYEST, RATHER THAN SIMPLY PLAYING WITHOUT INTEREST.

V. THOU SHALT NOT EXPECT THINE PRACTICES TO BE PERFECT.

VI. THOU SHALT NOT CRITICIZE THYSELF OVERLY HARSHLY DURING THE PRACTICE, NOR TAKE THE NAME OF THINE INSTRUMENT OR THINE MUSIC TEACHER IN VAIN WHEN THINGS DON'T GO THE WAY YOU HOPED!

VII. THOU SHALT PUT IN THE TIME THAT IS NECESSARY.

VIII. THOU SHALT NOT NEGLECT SPENDING SOME TIME TO HAVE FUN WITH YOUR INSTRUMENT DURING EVERY SINGLE PRACTICE.

IX. THOU SHALT RECORD THINE PROGRESS IN SOME SORT OF JOURNAL.

X. THOU SHALT PROPERLY PUT AWAY THINE INSTRUMENT, THINE SHEET MUSIC AND ALL THINE OTHER STUFF WHEN THINE PRACTICE TIME IS OVER.

IF THOU FOLLOWEST MINE INSTRUCTIONS THOU SHALT SING WITHOUT SCREECHING, PLAY WITHOUT SQUAWKING, AND SHALT CAUSE THINE NEIGHBORS TO TAP THEIR TOES WITH SMILES UPON THEIR FACES.

Some noted Biblical scholars have expressed doubt that this second set of commandments actually appeared in the original writings. But others have indicated that the Lord would undoubtedly have commanded musicians to practice before playing to Him. And they insinuated that the big, fluffy white clouds we see floating in the sky are actually giant cotton balls the Lord removes from His ears when practice time is over.

Arthur Haule studied violin in a traditional program for ten years. He participated in several orchestras and an opera company in the New York City area and founded a string quartet. He has taken part in several music festivals and even acted as a violin coach. He is currently webmaster of http://www.ViolinStudent.com Although Art learned violin in a tradtional setting, his daughter Adriana studied with a Suzuki Violin teacher. So Art has personal experience in both traditions. And you'll often hear him say, It Doesn't Matter How You Learned, All That Counts Is That You Play!

A fan of classical music, Art is dedicated to promoting the violin no matter what type of music is being played. If there is a melody there, Art probably listens to it.

Art Haule lives in Flower Mound, Texas with his wife Kathy and his daughter Adriana.

More Music Related Sites : http://www.learntoplaydrum.com/

burnlounge musics mlm

Burnlounge: Music's MLMWriten by Jerimi Walker

In a typical multi-level marketing or network marketing arrangement, individuals associate with a parent company as an independent contractor and are compensated based on their sales of products or service, as well as the sales achieved by those they bring into the business.

In a legitimate MLM company, commissions are earned only on sales of the companys products. No money may be earned from recruiting alone (sign-up fees). Some, less legitimate, companies produce revenues primarily by attracting new participants or selling them marketing services, as opposed to selling actual products. One must analyze the compensation plan to determine whether participants are paid from actual sales to customers and not from new-recruit bonuses or business support sales. - source (wikipedia on MLMs).

Initially, Burnlounge seems like a wonderful revolution in the music industry. Through my own internet surfing I have run across countless people with their own Burnlounge Stores and thought nothing of it!

In case you arent familiar with it, Burnlounge is a company that allows users to set up a digital music store. You sign up under one of three different levels for a set up fee along with monthly fees. At the bottom you get the chance to set up your own store within the site where people purchase digital music from you that you choose to carry, and you get a commission from these sales. At the top level, not only do you get this, but also the ability to recruit (and earn a bonus from recruiting) others to open their own burnlounge store. They themselves are also able to recruit in the typical MLM setup. You get bonuses from everyone signing up as well as a commission from both yours and their sales.

This is a legal pyramid/MLM. Unlike the common misconception that all pyramids are illegal, pyramid companies only become illegal when they break the FTCs rules. These rules are set up to make sure that the majority of profits come from the product and not the recruiting. Even calling them illegal at that point is misleading. It simply means the FTC can take action to shut them down. Looking at the digital music marketplace you will see that Apple selling mp3s for the same price as Burnlounge proposes barely breaks even, with a large market share. Burnlounge store owners can't compete with that large market share, and the immediate conclusion is that those who come in at the higher subscription levels stand to gain much of their profits from the recruitment of others.

This should be a red flag to anyone who has considered working with this company. Leaving the merits or lack thereof of MLM as a business model, you can see that Burnlounge is on the seedier side of such companies. They seem to be walking the line of FTC rules while using recruiting that appeals to a young and sometimes naive audience. Their banners say Wanna be in the Music Industry? when owning such a store is nothing of the sort.

There are many other resources for musicians to get their music out there, and for fans to feel a part of things. If you are looking to do that, ignore Burnlounge and keep looking.

Jerimi Ann Walker is the Director of Marketing and Promotions for UVTV, Underground Video Television. UVTV is a website and television show featuring exclusive live performances from touring underground artists as well as music videos from hardcore, metal, and rock acts. All videos aired on the show are also available at http://www.uvtv.info as well as archived episodes, music news, a blog featuring guest contributors from all areas of music, and an active forum community.

carolina beach music tunes to shag by

Carolina Beach Music: Tunes To Shag ByWriten by Stefan Smith

To anyone who did not grow up in the U.S. states of North or South Carolina, or perhaps Virginia or Georgia, Carolina beach music takes some explaining.

Even a southerner such as I, growing up in Alabama, did not realize that there was something called beach music that had little resemblance to, or connection with, the California sound of the Beach Boys or Jan and Dean.

Carolina beach music isn't about surfing or drag racing. It's about dancing at the pavilion in Myrtle Beach, shagging on the sand with your best girl, holding hands and watching the moon rise over Atlantic breakers as the harmonies of The Drifters, the Embers or the Tams drift over the dunes.

Now right now I must stop and explain to my English readers--that is, the possibly shocked citizens and residents of the United Kingdom--that "shagging" as used here does not mean what it you think it does. Here, the shag is the dance that you do to beach music. Shagging means to do the shag.

Carolina beach music goes back to the 1950s. The premier exponent of the style at that time was The Drifters. I've long known and liked the music of The Drifters--"Up On the Roof" is one of my all-time favorite songs--but I just considered it to be rock 'n' roll or perhaps r&b. It took moving to North Carolina to learn that some people considered it part of a separate genre.

Carolina beach music is gentle, sweet, romantic and innocent rock 'n' roll. It celebrates stealing kisses in the back row of the movie theater and couples sharing a blanket in the shade of the boardwalk.

It's no wonder that today, Myrtle Beach has clubs and entire theaters that exist just to showcase the top beach music acts, and that they do a booming business. Without doubt, many of the fans who flock there are recapturing a happy, uncomplicated youth spent cruising the strip and shagging (dance shagging) the night away. But Carolina beach music has a broad appeal, and it would not be surprising to see 20- and 30-somethings finding their way through the doors of those clubs, too.

Stefan Smith is a radio and music junkie who writes on these and other subjects for the Solid Gold Info Writers Consortium. Recently, he has written an extensive review of new software that anyone can use to capture music audio streams from Internet radio broadcasts and break them up into individual mp3 song files--a legal way to download virtually free music. Read the review at: http://www.solid-gold.info/radio2mp3.html

can you really learn to play a musical instrument from an online course

Can You Really Learn To Play a Musical Instrument From an Online Course?Writen by Duane Shinn

Out of the 250 million people in the United States, about 25 million of them play an instrument of some kind, or used to when they were in school and would like to pick up where they left off. Another 30 million or so sing in a church choir, a barbershop quartet, or at the very least, in the shower.

That means that there are over 50 million folks adults who would like to play their instrument or sing better than they do now. After all, everyone wants to improve his or her skills, no matter what the field.

Before the advent of the Internet, if adults wanted to learn to play a musical instrument, they had to schedule a lesson time with a teacher in a store or studio or if they were fortunate, in their own home with a teacher who would come each week for a lesson.

That meant doing it after work, driving to a store or studio, dealing with transportation, babysitting, illness, cancellations, and so on. Very few adults who started lessons that way continued very long, as it was a continual hassle.

But with the development of the World Wide Web, music teachers have gone online to offer lessons to adults in the comfort and convenience of their own homes. No scheduling problems, no transportation issues, no cancellations none of the problems inherent in traditional lessons.

Here are a few of the many courses available for adults online:

Jamorama Guitar Course

Stripped-Down Guitar Course

SlapBass Guitar Riffs

Guitar Made Easy

Acoustic Guitar Workshop

Screaming Fingers Guitar Course

One Weekend Guitar

Make Money Teaching Guitar

Learn Chords Fast

Instant Chord Finding Software Download

84 Piano Chords

Crash Course in Exciting Piano Playing on DVDs!

How To Play Piano By Ear

How To Dress Up Naked Music

How To Play Praise & Gospel Piano

How To Play Black Gospel Piano

How To Play Contemporary Urban Worship Piano

All The Chords In The Whole Wide World

How To Play Chord Piano...In Ten Days!

Learn To Play Electronic Keyboards

Singing Success!

Drum patterns online to download!

Your own Drum Machine online!

Learn to read music fast

Children Can Read Notes Easily!

Learn to Read Music in One Evening!

Even though this is a big list of music courses for adults now, it is growing at an exponential rate. The opportunity for learning music at your own pace online has never been greater, so take advantage of it and start improving your musical skills without delay!

Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music educational materials for adults. A review of music courses online is at Great Music Courses Online!. Duane is the author of the popular free 101-week online e-mail newsletter titled Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions with over 58,600 current subscribers.

brazilian music rank

Brazilian Music RankWriten by Eduardo Reisinho

Brazil has the Amazon, the worlds largest rainforest and river; Brazil has the Iguassu Falls, the biggest waterfalls in the world; Brazil has the Pantanal, the hugest concentration of wild life in America; Brazil has the longest tropical beach coast in the world, with internationally unknown paradisiacal beaches. Brazil has the biggest popular street festival in the world (the Carnival)

Those are objective and statistically verifiable phenomena. But I would dare to add another one: Brazil also has the worlds most genuine set of musical traditions and expressions.

An assertion too bold?

Undoubtedly. And a risky one, too... I should explain myself better. I do not contest the dominance of anglo-american music, or the prominence of some higher expressions of it. I accept that. In a certain sense, if compared to north-american music, brazilian music is just a minor player in the world music panorama.

When I place the Brazilian music at the top of the world rank, I am selecting some particular expressions of it. And I am considering the way Brazilians live their music and express it.

Brazilians love music, with an intensity unknown elsewhere. In places like Salvador da Bahia the music and dance are a regular popular explosion. Until midnight on certain days of the long summer, the music doesnt stop, with people and vendors mixing with bands and street musicians everywhere. For Bahianos (the inhabitants of Bahia) and Cariocas (the inhabitants of Rio) any occasion is suited for music.

You may ask: and the creativity, and the artistic themes? Where are the higher expressions of that music? Do they exist?

Surely. And by that I am not pointing to some major samba themes (there are major samba themes), or to the Bossa Nova of forty or fifty years ago. I mean present day music, top quality in the world (though not necessarily at the commercial top).

Some of the present day brazilian music is highly elaborated, demanding attention, with lyrics having a very broad importance (its lower international visibility is due to the language in which it is expressed: Portuguese).

There are plenty of new highly inventive brazilian composers and performers. And Brazilians love their musicians and composers. They are their gods. Gods with names like Maria Bethania, Gal Costa, Ivan Lins, Ivete Sangalo, Elis Regina, Djavan, Daniela Mercury, Elba Ramalho, Marisa Monte, Milton Nascimento, Rita Lee, Adriana Calcanhoto

Eduardo Reisinho publishes Brazil-Travel-Guide.com

( Brazil Travel Guide), a website where you can look for more information about music, and other themes and travel information involving Brazil.

exciting improvising how to make up music out of your head as you play

Exciting Improvising: How to Make Up Music Out Of Your Head As You PlayWriten by Duane Shinn

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.

See Online Music Lessons at > http://www.entertainbox.com/

a closer look at violin sheet music

A Closer Look at Violin Sheet MusicWriten by Richard Romando

Nearly all violinists are well versed in reading sheet music. There are literally thousands, if not millions of musical pieces for violinists to play. Violin sheet music is available for a wide range of classical music, including pieces written by composers like Beethoven and Mozart to contemporary pieces by Phillip Glass. Other violinists play bluegrass music or even rock and roll songs. People can either buy violin sheet music at music stores or online, or they can find free violin sheet music from many websites.

Sheet music appears on one of two clefs, either the bass clef or the treble clef. Each clef has a number of horizontal lines that are put into perspective by the clef symbol that appears at the left side of the lines. The bass clef features a symbol that looks like the letter F while the treble clef is designated by a symbol that resembles a G. Lower pitched notes are written on the bass clef and notes of a higher pitch appear on the treble clef. Since almost all of the notes produced by violins are above the middle C, violin music is written on the treble clef. The place a note appears on the clef determines where it is played on the violin.

Violinists who play any in any genre can find sheet music of interest. Players interested in classical music can find sheet music for entire symphonies. Other players can find books containing bluegrass violin sheet music. The advent of the Internet was a boon to musicians in that it became possible to view or download many pieces of free violin sheet music. People often transcribe violin music and put it on websites for others to play.

Violin sheet music is available for players of all ability levels. Beginners can find instructional pieces to help them master the basics while expert violinists can play transcriptions of long and complicated symphonies. People could even transcribe contemporary pop songs into violin music.

Violins Info provides detailed information about antique and electric violins, violin music, sheet music, strings, and shops; violin makers and repair; and explanations of how to play the violin and a short history of the violin. Violins Info is affiliated with Business Plans by Growthink.