Archive for November 2010
Classical music in strict terms is music that was written and composed during a very specific time period. This time period is 1750 to 1820. What is it that sets this particular period apart from the Baroque period which comes right before or the Romantic which is the period right after? These are not just random dates that some forgotten historian chose, but rather refer to the actual way that the music was composed.
In literature, there are a number of recognized styles of writing. A limerick or a Haiku are both poems, and yet each one has a very strict format and layout. This same principle applies to music. Pieces written during the classical period have a very distinct structure and layout as well. A person who has classical music training can recognize the differences between pieces in the same way that a person schooled in literature can tell you the exact difference between an English sonnet and an Italian one.
So what happens when you have a piece of music that follows this exact format, but was written during a later period? Do you call it a piece of classical music, or maybe, a modern classical piece?
When I took up guitar as a high school kid in 1968, rock music had entered it’s golden age. Certainly the influence of Chicago-style blues was huge, and had been for several years [particularly in Great Britain], but rock musicians were searching for ideas and inspiration from other genres as well, including classical [The Moody Blues, Procol Harum] country/western [The Byrds], Afro/Cuban [Santana] and Indian [experiments by The Beatles and others]. But, the blues notwithstanding, it was the influence of jazz that made the biggest impression on the music and musicians of the late ’60′s and early ’70′s.
Instrumental performance became a focus of interest for many during this period. The virtuosity of players such as Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, and Jack Casady was being recognized and applauded by audiences, and rock musicians began finding and listening to new heroes among jazz’s elite players. Long, improvised instrumental jams became the norm during live rock shows. Jazz tunes were being covered by rock bands [Tito Puente's Oye Como Va by Santana, Roland Kirk's Serenade to a Cuckoo by Jethro Tull]. The IIm7-V7 chord progression, the backbone of jazz harmony, began appearing in pop tunes. Brass rock bands Chicago Transit Authority [soon to be Chicago] and Blood, Sweat and Tears were writing jazz-rock songs, i.e. rock tunes but arranging them in a jazz fashion, replete with bop solos, odd time signatures, sophisticated chord changes and swing grooves.
In the past, being recognized as new indie music artists was so hard to do. You had to be a really good musician in order to be heard for your unique new indie pop music. Nowadays, with the help of the Internet, all you need to do is upload your song into a website and wait for people to comment on it. As it becomes easier, more and more people are doing it, and the difficulty is now focused on how to be heard amidst the thousands of aspiring new indie pop music artists. Here are a few tips so you can be heard.
How New Indie Musicians Beat Writer’s Block
As a new indie music artist, you need to have serious writing skills. But sometimes, even the most experienced independent artists, to the latest indie musician on the blog, we all sit for hours with nothing to write about. Do you always suffer form creative block?
Choosing a drum set should be based on your own individual requirements.If you already are an experienced drummer, the chances are that you will already know what you are looking for. However if you are just starting out, picking a drum kit can be a little more daunting.
There is no point spending a few thousand dollars on a drum set if you are a beginner drummer. There are 2 reasons as to why you should not spend that amount of money right at the beginning.
The first is that at this point in time you may really want to get good at playing the drums, but you won’t know if you are going to feel the same way 6 or 12 months down the road. If you lose interest in drum playing, you will have spent a lot of money by buying an expensive drum kit that you are never going to get back.
The second thing for a beginner drummer is that you will only improve if you practice. You can practice just as easily on a cheaper or used drum set, as you could on a very expensive model. So it would be wise to choose a mid range set of drum which will not break the bank.