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Review: Medications - All Your Favorite People In One Place One of the most intriguing aspects of music is how easily it can transform one's mood. The right notes, at the right tempo, and all of a sudden, BAM! You're in a good mood. This 3 piece from Washington, DC knows exactly how to pull this off. Consisting of members of the now defunct band "Faraquet", Medications oddly enough, sounds a lot like Faraquet. It's peculiar how a band consisting of the same musicians can sound very similar. After the Faraquet breakup 2 of the founding members created Medications and while the sound is very similar, the new third wheel does add some new elements into the mix. A mere 6 months since the release of their Medications EP, they have returned with their first full length Your favorite people all in one place available now on Dischord. Musicians: What Chords Do You Absolutely, Positively Have To Know? As you probably know, there are thousands and thousands of different chords in music - everything from basic major chords to minor 7ths to 13ths to suspensions to poly-chords. Someday, you might want to learn all those chords if you don't already know them. Music: Uniting Nations, Dividing Generations Cultures around the world since the beginning of time have appreciated, enjoyed, and incorporated some form of music in their everyday lives. However, just as one man's trash is another man's treasure, one man's music can often be another man's noise, and vice versa. Still, certain universal aspects of music can serve as a means of communication between two people who have little else in common. Rabbitt Productions - Up & Coming Atlanta Producer When you think of music in Atlanta you generally think of Crunk Music but there is more to Atlanta's musical soundscape than that. Lots of young musicians in the A-Town venture off into different musical directions. One such musician/DJ/Producer is DeJuan Boyd, head of Rabbitt Productions. How To Dress Up Naked Music On The Piano What in the world is "naked music?" Performing, Whats the Big Deal? Performance anxiety is not something that only happens to musicians, singers, actors and dancers. It happens any time we feel pressure to "perform" in a specific situation or over a period of time. Writing a book or creating a painting or sculpture may evoke symptoms as well. The Flower Garden and New Age Piano Music If you've ever looked at a flower garden, not only its beauty may have captivated you, but also its overall arrangement. Free, Legal Music Online Almost everyone has heard about the massive crack down on Internet music piracy that has been occurring over the past few years. Napster was taken down (although it has now returned as a pay service), other file sharing programs now require users to pay for a license and the RIAA and other similar organizations are doing their best to hunt down copyright offenders and put an end to their crime sprees. The consumers on the other hand argue that their actions hurt nobody, that there is no damage done to anyone by their not buying an album. Furthermore, they claim, MP3s allow them to sample a CD before purchasing it, thus actually helping sales. Why Learning How to Improvise is So Important Imagine asking a beginning writer to write a short story from scratch. Our writer does not yet have much experience in writing but accepts the challenge and begins to plunge ahead. How To Write A Song Did you ever wish that it was your song playing on the radio? It could be. It is not that hard once you know the formula. With a little creativity, a little knowledge, a little luck and a good formula to follow, your song could be one of the next biggest hits. Songwriting comes easy for some, and is very difficult for others. I have actually written songs in my sleep, and immediately upon awaking, written it as quickly as I could get the words on down on paper. What I want to discuss here is popular songwriting, like the songs you hear on the radio. A good pop song, whether rock, country, middle of the road, is composed of two things: a catchy tune and some good lyrics. There is a formula that most great songwriters use to write great songs. It regards the structure used to write a song. Granted, it is music and it is art, so the rules are not hard and fast. But if you want to increase your chances of getting your song on the radio, it is a good starting point. Here is the formula. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus. Write that down on paper leaving plenty of space between each word and this will be your script. Verse The verse is the part of the song that tells the story, the part that leads to the chorus. Each verse is usually different, telling a different part of, or adding to, the story. It usually explains how you got to the things you are singing about in the chorus. Chorus. The chorus is the part of the song that is repeated after each verse. The lyrics are usually the same each time the chorus comes around. The verse usually leads to the chorus, and the chorus is usually the pay off for listening to the verse. Does that make sense? Here is a lame example (you did not think I would give you my best work, did you?): (verse) My dog is sick, he's got a tick He's my best friend, don't let it end (chorus) Oh, woe is me, can't you see Woe is me, will I ever be free (verse) My car broke down, just out of town It got towed in, but it's broke again (chorus) Oh, woe is me, can't you see Woe is me, will I ever be free Now, if you would kindly stop laughing at my lame song for a minute, I want you to think about whether or not you understand my point. Songwriting is story telling. The verse tells the problems, the chorus expresses the results or the emotions. All right, now that you have that mastered, let's tackle the bridge. Ah, yeah, there is more to the song than the pain and the release. We need the diversion. That is what the bridge is; it is the diversion from the verse and the chorus. The bridge may have a slightly different melody to it, or it could even have a different rhythm or a different tempo (Elvis' "Suspicious Minds" did a great job on this technique). Let's go back to the lame song and add a bridge: (verse) My dog is sick, he's got a tick He's my best friend, don't let it end (chorus) Oh, woe is me, can't you see Woe is me, will I ever be free (verse) My car broke down, just out of town It got towed in, but it's broke again (chorus) Oh, woe is me, can't you see Woe is me, will I ever be free (bridge) Tomorrow is a better day, I've got a new truck on the way My dog just had a flea it seems, so once again I'll live my dreams (chorus) Oh, woe was me, can't you see Woe was me, but now I'm free The bridge offers a solution to the problems I was having. You don't want to leave your listener on the edge of suicide, you want to give them hope. Notice, I also changed up the wording of the chorus. This was done to reflect my new found joy. One more thing on formula. It can be anyway you want, but most verses and chorus come in lines of 4. So, instead of this: (verse) Oh, woe is me, can't you see Woe is me, will I ever be free (verse) My car broke down, just out of town It got towed in, but it's broke again it would be: Oh, woe is me, can't you see Woe is me, will I ever be free My car broke down, just out of town It got towed in, but it's broke again The same goes for the chorus. Again, if you are creative, do it however you want. But for a new songwriter, this gives you some guidelines to scratch out and start carving out your new creation. One more thing, do not make the notes to the melody so high that your fans cannot sing along. We are certainly all not Stevie Wonder. Its Jewish Music, But Is The Music Jewish? A while back I was driving along the Jerusalem highway scanning the radio stations. On one frequency, a very intense dance beat was exploding out of the speakers. I was about to move the dial some more in search of a Jewish tune when the vocalist started in. Shock of shocks, he was a heavily Hassidic singer, complete with eastern European pronunciation. And what was he singing? "Kumee oy'ree ki va oy-reich.." from 16th century Rabbi Shlomo Alkavetz' classic Sabbath poem, L'cha Dodi. Before he had began his rendition I had been expecting something like "Oh baby, the way you move with me ..."! The Art of Music Music is the art of arranging sounds in periodic time so as to produce a continuous, unified, and evocative composition, as through melody, harmony, rhythm, and timbre. Musical Improvisation Basics - Four Strategies For Playing Wrong Notes While it probably doesn't seem like this would help - let's face it - if you are unwilling to play a lot of wrong notes, you're never going to learn how to do anything hard. And improvising is hard! It isn't something that you can do safely, with the assurance that you will look good while trying to get good at it. You won't look good. You won't sound good -- and the sooner you realize this, the sooner you will be able to do something of real value. How to Compose Using ABA Form ABA form is like a musical sandwich. You have the 2 slices of bread with the contrasting meat and cheese on the inside. Instead of bread and meat, you use musical materials. Perhaps an 8-bar phrase for the A section followed by a 4 or 8-bar phrase for the B section. A nice little musical sandwich. Motorhead Inferno Motorhead-"Inferno"-Review by Les Lewellyn When David Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame release the sensational CD "Probot" this year it rekindled my metal tastebuds. For those of you not familiar with his project I'll explain. He recorded songs on which he played all instruments and he had guest vocalists come in and sing as well as write the lyrics and play whatever instrument they might also play. The cd features vocalists such as King Diamond, Snake from Voivod, and many other great singers/musicians. The whole cd flows like it was a gift from God or at least the Heavy Metal God. On that cd Lemmy from Motorhead does a fantastic job on the tune "Shake Your Blood". On first listen I was excited to hear Lemmy singing on such a awesome tune and the excitement was enough for me to do some google searching and that is where I found out that the boys were back and had a new CD released on the indie label Sanctuary entitled "Inferno". Like Monster Magnet, being on an indie has enhanced their sound big time! Always a rough and tough rocking band, Motorhead has never rocked like they do on this CD. What's amazing is how great Lemmy's vocals sound. I have loved the band since their beginning and my fondness for Lemmy dates back to his Hawkwind days. I have to say I have enjoyed Motorhead whenever I've bought a cd and listened. But NEVER have I been entrapped into their sound like I am today. The opening song, "Terminal Show", features Steve Vai on guitar. I have to admit even though I'm a guitarist I respect Steve Vai but I just can't get into the instrumental cds he's released. Actually, I dig them I just don't find myself playing them very often. But Steve takes hold of "Terminal Show" and sounds like he's in the band. He refrains from overplaying his part and he fits Motorhead like a glove. Philip Campbell, Motorhead's guitarist, allows Steve Vai to play with no conflicts and it's sweet as honey! But Philip Campbell then goes on to play lead on all the rest of the tunes like a banshee in heat except the end of "Down On Me" on which Steve Vai returns. What's cool about this is the fact that the two tunes on which Steve Vai plays guitar are not necessarily the best on the cd. It's a seemless collection of tunes that will rock the toughest crowd. I can only imagine how great they sound live and I can't wait to catch them on their current tour. Mikkey Dee returns on drums and this cat pounds the hell out of them. Lemmy attacks the bass like a maniac and his vocals are his best to date. The cd never gets politcal but it does paint a dim look at life in these troubled times. It's really kind of creepy how convincing Lemmy sounds on the tune "Killers". Obviously the dude is fascinated with murder because he sings three tunes about the topic. I'm glad he's got his bass and band to keep him busy!!!! I know I claimed Monster Magnet have the best cd this year but I have to say that Motorhead are coming in with a tie at least! "Inferno" is a must buy cd for any hard rock fan. From start to finish the album soars past and demands repeated plays. I am sure that Motorhead's old fans will freak out over this cd and also they've created a cd that will hopefully get them some new young fans. Visit their site at http://www.imotorhead.com Buy this CD! Piano Lessons Can be Fun! There are essentially two ways to learn piano - note reading or chords. For those who want to spend years learning how to play other peoples music, note reading is the way to go. Music Industry Insider: Tess Taylor of NARIP and LAMN Members of LAMN (founded in 1988) and NARIP (founded in 1998), are able to more quickly gain the insight, knowledge, and contact information they need for career development and career enhancement. Discover The Perfect Place To Perform Once you know what your Unique Selling Proposition is as a musician (we covered this in the last issue), it's time to ask yourself what kind of venue you want to be letting those talents out in. This is the process that will help you determine your "Perfect Performance Venue" so that you don't waste your energy and efforts searching for performances in the wrong area! New Age Music - How Its Made Different styles of music have different "sounds." We can all pretty much agree on that point. For example, Jazz uses seventh chords almost exclusively. This, and the kind of chord progressions used in Jazz gives it its unique flavor. But what about new age music? Does it have it's own special ingredients? Yes it does. Dance Musics Most Popular and Enduring Theme: The Declaration of Independence It all started with Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" in 1979, perhaps the biggest fluke in popular music history. To follow up her hit "Never Can Say Goodbye", Gloria's label issued a song called "Substitute". The track bombed. Everyone hated it, including the radio DJs and the public. Then DJs started to play the B-Side track "I Will Survive" and the rest is history.
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