Mega Music Talent

Archive for May, 2009

Like for many who aspire to learn to play the guitar, my quest at proficiency has taken many twists and turns. I have considered taking formal classes at $30 an hour. While this method appears to be the best, it is expensive and requires a long commitment. In addition, due to my busy schedule I found it impossible to commit to a set schedule. I purchased the latest books, videos, and online software. By using each of these different delivery methods I learned a bit, and am able to play many basic tunes on the guitar. The purpose of this article is to share my thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of each method mentioned above. These opinions are based on my experiences and frustrations in my journey to learn to play guitar. So lets get started!

My love affair with the guitar started about 12 to 15 years ago. I was listening to B.B King and was entranced by the sounds coming out of Lucille. I knew that I would love nothing more than to sit back at home and play those awesome songs all night! I thought it would be pretty cool to play some sick blues for a few of my friends at my very frequent (and often drunken!) parties. So I started to look for information on how to learn to play guitar. The Internet was not quite so replete with information as it is today (and I did not have a PC at my disposal) so I went to the bookstore and bought a few books. These books gave a pretty good basic history of the guitar and a cursory introduction into music theory. When it came to learning how to play, problems occurred from the start.

The first issue was tuning the guitar! The instructions were to use a piano for tuning. I did not have one and I suspect not many people do today. The tuning fork was a pain and I suspect that my first few months of learning were done with an out of tune guitar. The next issue was hand and finger position. Six lines, frets and black dots are a poor way to show you how to place your fingers. Even if you have no problem with this, the dynamic nature of playing guitar is difficult to illustrate on paper. The next issue was reading the music. It was presented in a cumbersome and very boring manner. How did I know that I was playing the notes right? The big issue with the book method for me was a lack of visual step-by-step instructions that showed me how the fingers worked in unison, and how the notes (and songs) were supposed to sound. In later years, books on how to learn to play guitar came with CDs. This was a tremendous improvement and help. Tuning was much easier, and I could listen to what the songs I was learning were supposed to sound like. But many of the problems remained. I feel that books are not the best delivery method for learning to play guitar.

Next came the videos. This media was leaps and bounds better than the books I had purchased. I could see and hear what the instructor was teaching. Tuning was even easier than before. Video close ups shed light on many of my previous questions on hand position and the dynamic nature of guitar playing. I was able to copy the instructor and actually play some cool tunes. I used the rewind function hundreds of times to reproduce something I had missed or was having troubles with. There were some very painful limitations to this method though. The first was boredom. You can only rewind the same tape to watch the same thing so many times. After that you lose interest. The next problem was that you really only learned to play whatever songs are on the 60 min tape. You were never (or at least not very well) given the tools to play other songs. This was quite limiting for me. The last issue was the actual camera angles of the videos. The shots were often too far or at wrong angles for you to see exactly what the instructor was doing. This was frustrating for me.

So we get to my favorite method: Online software! Today’s Internet gives us the ability to download full courses that allow you to learn to play guitar in the comfort of your home. Some of these courses are multimedia instructions that allow you to use technology to maximum effect. One such course is Jamorama. This course teaches the user TAB, and how to play songs by ear. It takes advantage of the thousands of TAB songs available for free on the Internet. The price is close to what you would pay for one hour of instruction, or what you would pay for 2 good books on learning to play guitar. This course overcomes the shortcoming of books and videos because it is dynamic. There are games that teach you to learn the tedious and boring tasks of reading and transcribing music. There are over 148 videos that show you step-by-step how to play songs. One of the more interesting things about Jamorama is that it also has 26 tracks that you play along with. In fact, you can turn off the guitar track and play along with drummer and bassist. This is a vast improvement over the other methods. The main benefit with this method, and with this course in particular is that it is more interactive!

So what are the downfalls? Because these methods are made to appeal to a large audience with many different musical style interests, there are a lot of songs that just don’t appeal to me. I personally have no interest in Nirvana, Van Halen or a multitude of Bands/singers that always appear on these types of courses. Much of the content is just not interesting and therefore some of the wealth of information that is offered is often wasted. I still believe that online software is the best way to go to learn to play guitar. The interactive benefits are excellent. This is also a very convenient way to learn!

Author Bio: Learn to play guitar online like the pros. Visit my Jamorama Review to find out how you can be playing real songs in no time!

Sometimes you read something on the internet and even though it’s posted on several “reputable” sites, by several different writers, you still don’t believe it’s true.

A month ago I experienced this phenomenon when I read that Sean Penn was cast in the new Three Stooges movie. I experienced it again in regards to the new Spider-man musical that’s heading to Broadway.

Surprisingly, I completely believe Spider-man would provide fodder for the musical stage. Like Hollywood, Broadway’s profit margins are so thin they can’t take many chances on new material. They have to use well-known source material in order to secure the financial backing necessary to produce a Broadway show.

Of course, I might have chosen a Disney movie or gone the route of a cheesy jukebox musical instead of having everyone’s favorite web slinger croon and prance around on stage.

Spider-man is probably the most sarcastic superhero around and musical theater is the one medium that eschews sarcasm. After all, it’s hard to be acerbic when you’re expressing your feelings in song.

What shocked me about “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark,” a musical directed by Julie Taymor, is the show’s composer. It’s none other than Messrs. Bono and Edge.

Taymor and Bono worked together on her Beatles musical, “Across the Universe.” For the project Bono covered two Beatles’ classics, “I Am the Walrus” and “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”

Still, Taymor must have some incriminating pictures of the U2 duo, or maybe she’s has pull with the Malibu city council and can help the Edge build those houses. Either way, this project seems an odd undertaking for the coolest-half of the coolest rock band in the world.

Nationwide casting calls are currently underway although rumors had Rachel Evan Wood slated to play Mary Jane. However, Taymor dismissed the speculation stating she wants to go with unknown actors.

The casting process began April 9th in Orlando and ends May 27th in Austin, Texas. When it’s all said and done, casting directors will have visited six U.S. cities.

What are they looking for besides someone that tingles their Spidey senses? Well they’re looking for “performers with dynamic rock/pop voices including those with experience in bands and as solo performers.” Fortunately, that leaves out Tobey Maguire.

The musical, which begins previews in 2010 (but of course Spiderman tickets go on sale this June), caused a bit of stir on the internet over the announcement that it included a “lead female villain.”

It makes sense, Doctor Octopus, the Green Goblin, Venom, Carnage, Electro, the Sandman, the Vulture, the Hobgoblin and Sam Raimi would be too hard to recreate for the stage.

The casting call described the show’s villain as “Sinead O’Connor with a Middle Eastern/Bulgarian/Greek twist.” You have to love the way entertainment types mix and match characteristics; I have no idea what they are talking about.

Some speculated that the unnamed villainess is Dr. Victoria Von Doom while others claimed it’s Black Cat. Another thinks it’s Hillary Clinton. According to several sources the new bad girl, created specifically for the show, is Swiss Miss (the name doesn’t fit the description though).

The nerds at Aint It Cool News had an interesting post claiming the villainess is a new character called Arachne. She’s your typical time traveling beauty that turned herself into a “spider for her hubris.”

Who knows, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet.

Author Bio: Ryan Hogan writes for ClickitTicket.com, a website that sells affordable Broadway tickets to shows like Spider-Man the Musical.

The very word “MP3 player” brings to mind iPod from Apple in much the same way as once the personal cassette player brought Sony’s Walkman to mind. But the fact remains that iPod was not really the first MP3 player to be introduced into the market.

The honor of discovering MP3 players goes to Saehan Information Systems MPMan F10. This Korean company first manufactured the players in bulk about 10 years ago. With a flash memory capacity of 32 Mb, it could be connected through the computer’s parallel port, as USB ports were in its infancy stage those days. It is quite a surprise that these players became popular as the amount of good quality music that could be stored in 32 Mb was quite questionable. Also the fact that it cost a whopping two hundred and fifty dollars did not seem to dampen the spirits of the music lovers.

But one thing that did affect the companies, either adversely or favorably, were the lawsuits. The music and recording industry in 1998 was petrified by the launch of MP3 players. Whether it was the real potential of these players that scared the industry or whether the industry saw it as just another copyright infringement (technically speaking copying CDs without proper authorization is still illegal) is quite debatable. But the music industry’s parlous state today forces us to assume that it was the latter reason.

Being Korean helped Saehan to escape from the litigious wrath of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which could not sue them in the American courts. On the downside though, they missed the free publicity their main competitor Diamond Multimedia Rio PMP300 gained by being dragged into the courts. Though Rio had to be briefly removed from the sales counters, thanks to the RIAA’s lawsuit, the publicity that it gained made people remember Rio, rather than MPMan, as the foremost MP3 player.

But the omnipresent MP3 players and iPods are a witness to the fact that RIAA could not keep Rio off the sales counters for too long. However this did not discourage RIAA from continuing the lawsuit for some more years.

Sharing music through MP3 amongst peer groups became more popular in late 1999. But it was the introduction of Apple’s iPod with a capacity of 5 GB that sealed the fate of the music and recording industry. IPods were light, sleek, user friendly, style iconic, and could store a thousand songs in your pocket, (Apple’s adage at that time). The iPod’s capacity grew within the next eight months to double and it also became compatible to personal computers and Macs, making its march to success that much more easier.

The standpoint of the music industry had changed radically with the advent of MP3 players and even after six long years, the music industry is reeling under the onslaught of MP3. It is trying to revive itself by slapping lawsuits after lawsuits, having shifted focus on to music lovers from the manufactures of MP3 players. Hopefully they will come to terms with the reality and adjust to the new environment.

Author Bio: If you are interested in learning more about using a MP3 search engine, visit www.musicinstant.com today. You can use their music search engine to find and download songs from hundreds of popular artists.

Ever wondered what it took for ordinary men with extraordinary music sense to reach the pinnacle of stardom. The world has witnessed the rise of many guitar players who have paved their way and reached the ultimate glory. So, what was the star material that made them the legends that they are?

Of course, it must have taken the rare combination of unmatched musical genius, immeasurable dedication and quality hard-work. They must have been through endless jamming sessions and long practice hours. After all, it’s not a joke to master this splendid skill. It’s pleasing the way, these men rose from their plain conditions and became eternal in history of musicians.

The all time great guitar stars are hard to list down; there will always be indifference for the top spots among the guitar lovers. It’s their immense amount of love and loyalty for the legends that would lead to the controversy. But there are a few names that have equal amount of following and respect among all guitar players.

Take the all time great Jimi Hendrix for instance, the kind of genius that he would demonstrate not only in his recording and films alone, but also his stage performances would create a spell-bounding effect on the audiences. Hendrix teared apart the basics of guitar playing, dazzling the listeners with a fresh approach to sound and space innovations like the use of Univibe and Octavia effect.

Few people know about the hard time that he had to go through as a child and the effort to reach perfection in his initial years. He had learned by practising almost persistently watching others play through his tips from more experienced players, and by listening to records. Hendrix started playing from the music class to the local bands and ultimately reached the point of fame. Hendrix had started with humble beginnings and had to face lots of barriers to establish his talent and success came in only after much of frustrated experiences on the ground level.

Some believe that these men did not have to do a lot of hard work, but their success was accountable to something they had a flair for. It’s easier said than done, it’s true that they did had a rare gift of musical genius but it requires a lot more than that, to be what they are.

Same could be said for B.B King, who had a revolutionary yet sophisticated style of soloing that would practically influence every electric blues guitarist that followed. King too had to face lots of difficulties and hardships and which had forced him to go back. But the maestro returned with preparation and started working with the local bands. He soon realised that he had, what it takes to be a musical wizard and he then formed his own band.

The kind of supreme conviction for his goals is something to admire. For over 50 years King has played in thousands of performances and was conferred the prestigious Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. With his matchless style, King had gained visibility with the rock audiences and continued to be cherished by his numerous fans.

Another big name that comes to mind is that of Eric Clapton. It first appeared on the walls of London in1965, “Clapton is God”. Clapton started with a bang only at the age of twenty and was playing only since he was fifteen. But Clapton had already soloing with improvisational spirit that has astounded his fans and peers for forty years. He had made enormous contribution to genres such as psychadelic, blues rock and heavy metal.

Another name that’s hard to forget is that of Duane Allman. The legend’s contribution to the albums went on to become a part of rock history. Duane was motivated to guitar by his brother’s guitar playing and also by attending the concert of B.B. King whose music had promptly created a spell on him.

Allman had been a cheery light-spirited hippie all his childhood and his adult life. All these men have much in common; they have all strived hard to get to the top and had absolute conviction going all the way through exigent conditions. They not only showed their striking music brilliance they did it so effortlessly that it seemed incredibly easy.

These guitarists had an astonishing ability to express, bond with the listeners and tell rich musical tales through playing. There vibrant guitar sound integrated melody and warp and singlehandedly altered the visage of popular music. But one has to bear in mind that, the kind of power that these stars were able to exhibit was not just a matter of a few practice sessions, but it was tons of hard-work, after which success followed. Once they had achieved success it was equally demanding to maintain their places and do justice to the kind of expectations of their followers and the music community.

Author Bio: If You Like To learn How to play Guitar Click Here

The GUITAR is one of the most admired musical instruments of all times. It’s not only popular with the music-bugs, but it also tends to create a remarkable style statement. The rocking head shake style of the guitar players is so cool; it makes the audience go crazy.

Talking about the history of guitar, the use of similar musical instruments dates long back to thousands of years. The cool instrument has its roots back to Europe and central Asia. Since then the guitar has evolved aesthetically. The guitar has many forms broadly two- acoustic guitar which includes classical guitar, ten-string guitar, Portuguese guitar, Archtop guitar and many other. The other type is the electric guitar and electric bass guitar.

The guitar has well maintained its special place across the music lover’s community. I can be said that the guitar is all the rage with all almost age-groups, especially among the youth. The young music lovers aspire to learn the jamming style which seems greatly appealing and simple which indeed is not. Learning guitar takes a great deal of effort and dedication, coupled with immense passion for music which is found wanting in most cases. As a beginner player the first step should be to understand the instrument itself. . It is important for the new players to acclimatise with various parts of guitar. It means getting introduced to basic segments like the head stocks, nut, machine heads, truss rods, neck, body, pickups, electronics etc. All this is to fundamentally understand what is where and how it works. Next comes the part of holding the guitar in the right position. Guitar can be made to meet the requirements of both left and right-handed players. Traditionally, the dominant hand is assigned the task of strumming or plucking the strings. For majority of people this means using the right-hand. This is because the tune expression is largely determined by the plucking hand while the other hand is assigned the lesser mechanical work of gripping the strings. Starting with the playing, its important to build vigour and dexterity to be more like a pro, so that the gauche fingers can be moved smoothly for effortless tunes.

After being comfortable with the strings, the learner should emphasise on techniques of strumming styles, percussive strum, deadening, staccato strum, tricked out scales, hammer-on, pull offs, transposing keys, vibrato, palm muting etc. This could take a while, but the great golden rule applies here, that of practising more and more for flawless motions. After this the simple tunes can be started with and slowly going ahead with different range of tunes which cover number of chords. The basic chords are very important, once a player learns them he or she will be able to bang out a decent range of several songs. If the learner likes to be taught then e should ask a guitarist to show few basic chords, this is the best mode to learn and will go a long way. After this, taking a cue from the internet itself can help. This can be done by looking at the tablature of songs which shows where to put the finger to play the chords to a tune. It is perhaps a great way for guitar learners who can’t read music. Now, comes learning to play ‘barre’ chords. These are basically chord shapes that can be moved up and down the neck of the guitar. When a learner ‘barre’ the chord with finger, he is moving the top fret down to get in the different key. The easiest way of learning the ‘barre’ chord is by using a book and practising the shapes on the guitar and moving them up and down on the neck. For beginners the fingers get cramps and sores, but over time the hands will become stronger and fingers will develop calluses. Learning finger picking can also enhance the playing; many songs are entirely composed of finger picking. There are many different styles of it, it takes time to get comfortable with how the fingers move, but with time it will almost move by themselves. After being conversant with the guitar the most important part comes that of practise. The more a player practises; his fingers will glide smoothly and effortlessly over the neck of the guitar. As a thumb rule the best way to learn is to play that song. People who have become pros in guitar have not achieved it over-night. Of course, it has taken long hours of practice, hard-work and dedication. It is after years of good practice sessions that bring out a true guitarist in oneself. Some of the new learners find it difficult to move ahead and learn fresh and more difficult lessons but what can stop a guitarist whose true soul knows nothing but the essential ardour for music.

Author Bio: If You Like To learn How to play Guitar Click Here

A digital piano is a modernized version of the electronic piano that was manufactured and sold from the 1950′s through the 1980′s. Electronic pianos were based upon synthesized sound as opposed to the mechanical sounds carried by the electric pianos which were sold for awhile in the 1960′s and 70′s.

When the digital piano appeared on the scene in the 1980′s, they began to take the place of the acoustic piano because they were less expensive than acoustic pianos. Comparing a digital piano and an acoustic piano of the same size, the digital piano generally costs much less. Today, the cost savings also continue to add up because the digital piano has no strings; this, in turn, means that it does not have to be tuned. Since the cost of tuning an acoustic piano can run between $75.00 to 175.00 each time the piano is tuned, usually at least once a year, obtaining a digital piano as opposed to an acoustic piano may also be desirable because of the savings in its continued upkeep.

The digital pianos were and are also a bit smaller than their acoustic counterparts making them easy to put into tight places. The feel of the key on the modern digital pianos compares favorably with the acoustic piano, as well. For a pianist, the touch of the keyboard is very important in how that musician plays the instrument. The digital pianos available now are able to simulate the weight of the keys on the acoustic keyboard making them an attractive alternative to the serious musician.

There are other features which make digital pianos very attractive to keyboardists as well. The ability to transpose is available at the touch of a button. For those who sing solos or who sing with other groups, that ability is a very attractive feature, especially when a lot of music is written for sopranos and the person who wants to sing a solo may be an alto or a bass.

Many of the newest digital pianos have the ability to link to a computer or they have a place for a disk on which the keyboardist can record the music for later use. With the advent of digital music players such as Ipods, Zunes, mp3′s, and other equipment, this can be seen as very advantageous for the person who wants to record his or her own playing so that it can be used later at a different venue.

The most important feature is the timbre of the instrument. Timbre has to do with the quality of sound that comes from an instrument. New digital pianos do not have the “tinny” sound that came with early electric and electronic pianos. The timbre of the instruments synthesized into the piano gives a beautiful tone that can even sometimes be deepened or lightened according to the whims of the keyboardist. This is very easily done at the touch of a control wheel or slider on the digital piano.

While most concert halls still used highly crafted acoustic grand pianos, the advent of the digital piano is a great help to people who desire to have pianos in their homes so that their children can learn to play the piano. Since learning to play the piano on an old upright piano of indiscriminate age, having a digital piano has been a delight. It provides for creativity and enjoyment in my home for the listener and the keyboardist. Having access to a piano in the home is one of the greatest joys of my life. I wish that joy for children and adults everywhere.

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Hawaiian music is a product of years of acculturation of different cultures and sounds, a wonderful melding of different Its history is as diverse as the history of its peoples.

Hawaiians did not merely absorb music and instrument brought to the island. They adapted music based on how it their own traditional songs and chants. As a result, the Hawaiians have given the world the slack key guitar, the steel guitar, and the ukulele among others.

Traditional Hawaiian folk music is primarily a celebration

of nature, their gods, and love of life. Religious in nature, Hawaiian music traditionally involved chant and hula. Chants were either accompanied with music and dance (mele hula) or without (mele oli).

Before the arrival of the Europeans and their guitars, traditional Hawaiian musical instruments included the ipu (gourd drum), ipu heke (double gourd drum), ili’ili (two flat stones clicked together), ohe hanu inu (wooden nose flute), large Conch shell that produces deep resonant sounds when blown, pu ohe (bamboo trumpet), and puili (slit sticks made from bamboo). Hawaii has little metals and minerasl (besides lava) so their ancient musical instruments were mostly made from shells, plants, and trees.

Documented Hawaiian music history did not start until the 18th century upon the arrival of the haoles (non-Hawaiian) in the island. Hawaiian culture expert Elizabeth Tatar divides Hawaiian music history from the arrival of the Europeans to the present into seven periods:

1820 to 1872

Mexican cowboys (vaqueros) came to Hawaiian with their guitars. King Kamehameha III brought them to teach Hawaiians how to control overpopulation of cattle in 1832. They taught the Hawaiians how to play the guitar. The Hawaiians changed the tuning of the guitar to adapt it to their traditional Hawaiian songs and chants. They loosened or slackened the strings of the guitar, thus giving the world the slack key guitar.

Though slack key guitar became popular, families kept their own string tuning styles a secret. For this reason, slack key guitar (called Ki ho ‘alu by Hawaiians) was a “back porch” musical instrument until Gabby Pahinui popularized it in the 20th century.

During this period, numerous styles of European music including Protestant hymns and falsetto singing.

1873 to 1900

This was a period of acculturation and creation of Hawaiian modern style. In 1879, Portugues immigrant workers arrived in Hawaii. One immigrant, Joao Fernandes played native Portuguese folk songs using a braguinha. The Hawaiians who witnessed Fernandes playing called the instrument ukulele, which means “jumping flea,” to describe the speed of Fernandes fingers and how they danced on the fingerboard.

Around the 1880s, steel guitar was invented. According to legend, the slack key guitar was invented in the 1880s by a Hawaiian schoolboy named Joseph Kehuku when he slid a piece of metal along the strings of his guitar. Called kila kila in Hawaiian, the origins of steel guitar is still hotly debated.

King David Kalakuau, a patron of arts, promoted Hawaiian music and culture, and encouraged the use of steel guitar and ukulele.

Queen Lili’uokalani, King Kalakaua’s sister wrote a number of songs, including the popular Aloha ‘Oe.

1900 to 1915

This was a period of integration of Hawaiian music into broader field of American music. Hapa haole songs (English-written songs using superficial elements of Hawaiian music) were created during this period. Recording industry began.

Hawaiian artists toured the mainland. In 1912, a Broadway show entitled Birds of Paradise featured Hawaiian music. This was followed in 1915 by the Panama Pacific Exhibition showcased in San Francisco.

1915 to 1930

Hawaiian music found another influence: Tahitian and Samoan music. Meanwhile, mainstream American audience developed a growing fondness for Hawaiian music. It even influenced blues, country, and jazz musicians.

In 1927, Tau Moe and Rose Moe toured with the traveling show, Madame Riviera’s Hawaiians. For 50 years, Tau and Rose with their children (the family was known as the “Aloha Four” lived in foreign places including Japan and Germany promoting Hawaiian folk music and hapa haole music. Doing so, they spread Hawaiian music to many places around the world.

1930 to 1960

1930 to 1960 is considered the “Golden Age of Hawaiian Music.” This period also saw the adaptation of Hawaiian music to orchestras and big bands, and Hawaiian performers like Sol Hoopi became mainstream stars.

1960 to 1970

The 1960s showed a decline in interest in Hawaiian music as the Hawaii and the world got interested in rock and roll.

1970 onwards: modern Hawaiian period

This is a Renaissance period for Hawaiian music. There is also a renewed interest in it from both native and non-Hawaiians. Rock, pop, hiphop, reggae, and soul music have been produced in the Islands. Musicians like Don Ho and Gabby Pahinui have produced songs and albums that became wildly known. Several new music genres have emerged such as the Jawaiian, created when Hawaiians adapted reggae into their own local music.

Author Bio: For more information about Hawaiian music, visit http://www.playhawaiianmusic.com

Ukelele ( spelled ukelele in the UK, abbreviated to uke; pronounced yoo-kuh-ley-lee [American English] or oo-koo-ley-ley [original Hawaiian]) is a small, guitar-like lute with four to ten strings. Developed in the 1880s, the ukulele is the Hawaiian interpretation of the Portuguese braguinha.

Hawaii’s most famous musical instrument produces big tone and sweet sound. Ukuleles usually come in 4 sizes: Soprano (or what Hawaiians refer to as Standard size), Concert, Tenor , and Baritone. The Solid Body Cutaway is a more recent innovation.

Ukuleles are typically made of wood, although there are some models made of plastic or a composite of plastic and wood. Expensive models are made from hardwood (e.g.mahogany, kulawood, spruce, and sequoia), the most expensive of which are made from koa tree.

A typical ukulele has a figure 8 shape like that of a small acoustic guitar. There are also other interesting shape variations such as oval (called pineapple ukulele), boat paddle, and square (usually made from an old wooden cigar box).

History

Ukulele was brought to the Hawaiians by Portuguese immigrants. To celebrate their arrival on August 23, 1879, Joao Fernandes played Portuguese folk songs on the wharf using a braguinha borrowed from a friend. Hawaiians who witnessed him on the dock where so impressed not only with his music, but also with the speed of his fingers: it seemed like they danced across the fingerboard. Hence, they called the instrument “ukulele,” meaning “jumping flea.”

(Queen Lili’uokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii, gave a different version to the origins of “ukulele”. She thought ukulele meant “the gift that came here,” from uku meaning “the gift” and lele meaning “to come.”)

There were 419 immigrants aboard the ship Ravenscrag, but three people would be the first to establish ukulele shops. They were Manuel Nunes, Augustine Dias, and Joao Fernandes.

Within 10 years after the arrival of the Portuguese, the ukulele became Hawaii’s most popular instrument. It is said that Joao Fernandes was a key behind this, as he spent a lot of time playing around Honolulu with his instrument.

Ukelele: A royal endorsement

It was also from Fernandes that King Kalakaua first heard

the music from the ukulele, but he learned to play it from Augusto Diaz. He encouraged that it was played during royal gatherings. A patron of arts, King Kalakaua’s enthusiasm over ukulele made it more acceptable to people of Hawaii. It was played by Hawaiian from all walks of life— from taro farmers to fishermen to royalties. Other royalties who learned how to play included Queen Emma, Queen Lili’uokalani, Prince Leleihoku, and Princess Likelike.

In 1915, ukulele’s popularity moved to the mainland beginning in San Francisco during the Panama Pacific International Exposition. As a result, ukulele sales increased. In addition to its sweet sound,

From US the mainland, ukulele moved to the UK and to the rest of the world. The ukulele even became an icon of the Jazz Age.

Author Bio: For more information about Hawaiian music, visit http://www.playhawaiianmusic.com

The advent of the Internet has revolutionized guitar instruction. Formal guitar instruction is becoming less and less prevalent. Online guitar lessons are becoming more and more popular. Why is this shift occurring? Why are people choosing online guitar lessons over instructor led courses? There are several factors that contribute to this change. Price and convenience are two of the main factors for this shift.

Traditional Instructor led courses are great for students who have true musical aspirations. This category includes professional musicians and music students among others. In fact, I do not believe that any online guitar lessons can meet the needs of this category. They need to learn sheet music. They need to learn the minutiae of playing that only a true music teacher can provide. The one-on-one instruction is paramount to their success.

For the category of people who are only interested in recreational play, traditional lessons have long been the only choice. Books and early VHS instructions were fraught with problems. These media were and still are very static and not well suited to then dynamic nature of guitar playing. This category of aspiring guitar players had to invest a lot of money and time to learn the guitar. Lessons can run anywhere from $30 per hour to over a $100, depending on the pedigree of your instructor. Students had to make time in their often-busy schedules for the lessons. Finally most students had to travel to the location where the class was being offered. The costs of instruction got quite high as many lessons had to be scheduled in order to make any noticeable progress. We can see that the above factors, while acceptable to most students with professional aspirations, were often too much for the casual student.

People that want to play recreationally make up the majority of people trying to learn to play the guitar. They need a method of instruction that is not expensive and is convenient. Enter online guitar lessons!

Online guitar lessons offer the flexibility that instructors cannot. The online lessons usually cost what one-hour of instructor led training would. This is very appealing because it is a one-time fee. No recurring expenses that drain your finances over a long period of time. The online guitar lessons that you buy can teach you for months instead of one hour. You get a lot of bang for your buck.

The next benefit of online guitar lessons is that they are convenient. You do not need to travel to any location to learn how to play the guitar. You can do it in your own home. No braving traffic or parking hassles. You are learning in the comfort of your own home. In addition to this, you do not have to have a set schedule to take the classes. Most of us already lead busy lives and have little time to spare. With online guitar lessons you can learn whenever you want. This fun activity can be learned at your leisure. If you can’t do it one day there is no stress. This is supposed to be enjoyable after all, not a stressful time management challenge.

We can see from the points above that online guitar lessons are very appealing to the aspiring recreational guitar student. Since this category of people make up the large majority of potential students, it is understandable that they would shun the heavier commitments required for traditional guitar instruction.

If you are interested in online guitar lessons, consider Jamorama. It is a complete multimedia online guitar course with many more benefits than those listed above, and none of the downfalls of having an instructor.

Author Bio: Learn to play guitar online like the pros. Visit my Jamorama Review to find out how you can be playing real songs in no time!

Do you want to play your favourite song on the guitar? You seek to learn this musical instrument and experience an inner rewarding feeling. You need to have your own guitar to learn to play it. It needs lots of patience and daily practice. You have to keep practicing to keep getting better at playing the guitar.

Guitar is a popular musical instrument that people learn due its portability and economical accessibility. Guitar is used in most music forms like the folk, country, rock, jazz and pop etc. Before playing the guitar you need to understand the instrument itself. The instrument is similar to the Indian sitar and another instrument called the mandolin in quite close to it. However, learning to play a guitar is best done with a music teacher.

Getting back to playing the guitar, a general guitar has six strings. Some may have even more, may be even eighteen. There also electronic guitars that we see rock singers playing. The strings are divided like EADGBE – 654321. These are strings named that produce thicker to thinner sounds and that is what creates the different sounds.

Firstly, sit in a comfortable position. Sitting on a chair is preferable. Now hold the end or neck of your guitar in your left hand. The back should touch your chest. The right hand over the guitar. Keep it afloat the guitar and stay light. Do not tense the muscles. Relax and play. Everyone makes mistakes and that is how you will learn.

You have to play the strings with the help of something called a plectrum. A plectrum is a triangular shape of plastic that helps you play the guitar. Now you can begin by stroking the strings from thinner scale E, A, D, G, B to thickest scale E. The strings on the guitar are called scales – major and minor scales. Major – thick sound and minor – thin sound.

Getting down playing:

Place your left hand fingers over the frets. Frets are metals strips that are opposite the metal strings. Press your fingers between metal strings and not on them. Play on your finger tips. Do not press the entire finger. Placing the finger closer to the fret produces crisp notes. With the other hand keep strumming with the plectrum on the same string. This requires a lot of mental agility and ability to balance the frets and strumming with the right hands. Now play notes from a music book on the major minor scales that you have learnt.

Tuning:

Once you start practicing on your guitar, you will develop a sense of the sounds and notes. The days your notes are not playing correctly you need to tune it. A guitar can be tuned with the pegs. Pegs can be seen at the end of the guitar to which the strings are attached. Tightening and loosening these pegs at the optimum level produces the right notes. Tuning your guitar is an essential part of playing the guitar. Tune your guitar regularly to produce perfect notes.

Things to take care of before playing:

You can buy a good guitar from brands such as PRS, Gibson, Dean, Gretsch, Ibanez, Martin, Jackson, Fender and Schecter. Here are some basic things to look after when you begin to play a guitar: Trim your nails. They may interfere how you play the guitar; Get a music book to learn to play the guitar; Arrange for a comfortable seat; Keep spare plectrums; Your fingers may ache so take breaks between practice sessions.

Playing the guitar can be painstaking. Well, good things do not come easy. If you have decided to learn to play the guitar then nothing can stop you except yourself. Your passion for playing the guitar and your love for music will take you places. Try it now.

Author Bio: You can have access to articles in portuguese language from page Articles Roberto Sedycias works as IT consultant for Polomercantil