The Jimi Hendrix Facts

Jimi Hendrix was such a dominant presence in the late 1960's music scene his whole career was full of milestones of one kind or another. So what "facts" help us see this unique character more clearly? Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle. A family friend sold him a cheap acoustic guitar when he was fifteen years old. From then on he spent almost all his waking hours playing the guitar. He listened to records by B.B. King and Muddy Waters, and imitated what he heard. He got to know some other guitar lessons and learned from them. After a short stint in the army where he met fellow musician, Billy Cox, Jimi moved to Clarksville, Tennessee and formed a band.

Great Jazz Pianists and Their Contributions to Music

Some of the greatest piano players in history became known for their proficiency in jazz. Technicality and a heavy reliance upon the ability of the musician to improvise makes jazz piano one of the hardest styles to learn. That does NOT mean, however, that it can't be learned, but to get to the highest rungs a pianist must have lots of talent, a great ear, and the ability to improvise. The birth of jazz music in the early 1900s was a significant period in musical history. Many of those who are considered among the greatest jazz pianists of all times were pioneers of the genre during this period.

Piano Lesson - What to Practice on Your Piano

How can you decide what to practice among all available choices? Is it possible to find a balance between playing by ear, learning sheet music, finger dexterity and other aspects of piano playing? Let us take a closer look at the art of piano practicing! I have piano playing friends with diverse musical backgrounds. Some of my friends do not know how to play one note of sheet music and have relied entirely on their well developed ability to play by ear. To have a good ear is a great asset but not being able to read sheet music or at least be able to read lead sheets with chords can make things unnecessary complicated when confronted with the task of playing other peoples music.

The Wonders of Woodwind Instruments

This type of instrument is usually a tube that makes a sound when air is blown through it. Some of these are played by the musician blowing air directly into the tube through the mouthpiece, such as when playing the saxophone, while others only require the musician to blow air over the mouthpiece, such as when playing the flute. The length of the tube is what determines the pitch of the sound the instrument will make, as does the covering of certain holes that have been drilled into the tube. The wind instrument has been around for quite a long time and has become more complex with time. Originally starting out as a small wooden tube with a few holes drilled into it, many wind instruments today have keys that cover different holes when pressed and many are made out of metal, such as brass.

The High Pitched Beauty of the Flute

The flute is a member of the woodwind family and is played by blowing air across the mouth of the instrument instead of using a reed, which makes it rather distinct from most other woodwind instruments. It appears that the flute has been around for thousands of years and predates many of the instruments most are familiar with today. In fact, there have been flutes found that have been dated to be as old as 30, 000 years. There have been many flutes found that have been made out of the bones of animals or out of different kinds of wood. To change the sounds that the flute makes, the musician covers the different holes in the body, either with the pad of their fingers or by pressing the keys.

Piano Wars

The history of the piano as a commodity is quite interesting. By 1890, the piano had penetrated everywhere in Western culture. With no electricity, no cars, no radio and no telephone, the ideal was to sit in one's living room in the evening and listen to someone playing the piano. There were 150 piano companies in the USA alone, trying to meet the public's insatiable need for the instrument. In fact, the piano industry, always labor intensive, provided jobs for more Americans than any other industry. There were to be several shocks, historical forces, really, that were to shake the piano industry and ultimately cripple it.

Carla Sings and Talks - Everywhere

The publicity campaign to accompany the release of her third album is in full swing, and France's first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has been doing the rounds here to promote "Comme si de rien n'était." On Thursday, the eve of the album hitting the stores, she spent a punishing day talking to the press from home and abroad. And on Friday she gave an "exclusive" to a national radio station during the day and in the evening she popped up at the end of TF1's prime time news for a full 10-minute section with anchorwoman Claire Chazal. It's not unusual for style or cultural pieces to appear towards the end of the main news bulletin on either TF1, France's biggest private channel, or its public television equivalent France 2, although perhaps the length of the segment was a little longer than is the norm.

Online Video Guitar Lessons

Why do YOU want to learn to play guitar? Do you want to learn just for the fun of it? Do you want to impress yourself? Do you want to impress your family and friends? What ever your reasons are, you too can learn to play the guitar with an online video guitar lessons. There are plenty of good ones on the Internet. There are probably a lot of songs that you love and want to learn to play on the guitar. You are probably, at the same time, using ineffective ways of learning how to play them without even knowing it! It really doesn't matter what level you are right now. You can be a beginner, intermediate, or advanced guitar player.

Practice Your Karaoke at Home

"But I don't want to practice now". Remember telling that to your parents as they told you to go practice your instrument. Boy I do. I had to practice my instrument for a half hour every day. I pretty much hated it. But what I didn't realize was that it was making me good. In my second and third year, I was always chosen to go the all city regional performances to be part of a much larger orchestra. I used to think that I was just naturally good. What I didn't realize, until I was an adult, was that I wasn't just good at it by nature, but it was because of all that practicing. Well it's the same way with singing.

My Top 10 Classic Rock Bands!

Ever since I can remember, I've always been drawn to the energy of rock music. My mind-opening moment was during my growing years when my uncle would blast their cassette stereo with strains from The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" tape. This was in the early 1980's by the way and I wasn't even 10 years old then. I became amazed, when I thought about it years later, how a 1967 Beatles album would still sound good, even after decades have passed. That's when I learned about other groups whose musical outputs eventually transcended time and still reached their listeners on a different level.