To understand the electric bass guitar, you would need to fully understand the parts of the guitar. What are the parts of the electric bass guitar? Here are the following parts.

Tuning heads or tuners – these tuners and tuning heads are used to tighten or to loosen the strings. Tightening or loosening the string would either decrease or increase the tension. Tightening the string would make the pitch higher, while loosening the string would make it lower.

Headstock and nut – is the piece of wood where the tuning heads are attached. The nut is between the headstock and the fretboard which raises the strings off and make them vibrate freely.

The neck this is the longest part of the bass. This is where you hold with you fretting hand. There are some guitars where the neck is very slim and faster to play, while others would still be chunkier. Necks are mostly made of maple and mahogany.

Fretboard and frets – this is also called the fingerboard. This supports you fingers when you are fretting. It contains the frets; the frets are pieces of metals found in the fretboard and at specific intervals. The intervals which the frets are spaced correspond to half notes. There are also fret markers which can be found in the fretboard. These markers helped the guitarist to identify the frets the guitarist to identify the frets just by looking at it.

Strings – there are commonly four strings with an electric bass guitar. Sometimes there are also some bass guitars which have about five or six strings. The four strings would be E, A, D and G. The four strings are tuned an octave lower than the regular guitar.

Body – the body of the electric bass guitar could be made of fiberglass, graphite, Lucite or Plexiglas. It is essential the body made of something hard and dense enough to resonate in a satisfactory way. There is a cavity inside the body where the electronics is found.

Pick-up – this is a magnetic device which allows the vibration to b picked up.

Volume and tone controls – these controls the volume and the tone of the bass guitar.

Pickguard – this protects the body from scratches.

Strap buttons – this is very important whenever performing in standing position. This can be found in the bottom edge of the bass guitar, with the other one on the top edge of the body.

Other Related posts:

1. Tuning Your Electric Bass Guitar
2. How to Play the Electric Bass Guitar

Do you ever watch musicians in jazz clubs? Piano players are the most awesome to behold. They seem to just pick up and play songs they have never heard before that night. Many individuals can do this. No matter their instrument, they can listen to a song once and play it without hesitation and error free. The rest of us need music, carefully written keys, notes and time signatures as a guide. Perhaps we have neglected our own improvisational education. This article is to aid others in avoiding the same mistakes.

It is possible to learn the piano by playing by ear, although it is not a common method. To learn piano is to learn to read music simultaneously, is the most common method. This is a talent honed by many years of practice, reading music, listening, and imitating that most professional musicians can play by ear, no matter how they originally learned to play. For some individuals, playing by ear in an inborn talent and gift that come to them naturally, for instance, Mozart composed and played many complicated compositions as a child before he ever saw sheet music.

Do not fool yourself into thinking you would not need to learn to read music to activate this talent within yourself. Nothing is further than the truth. If you want to be a good musician, perhaps even going professional this is a necessary skill. You have access to every great piece of music ever written when you can read music. There is no need to hear it to be able to play it. You improve your overall musicianship, when you learn to read music and play the piano as you gain better hand to eye coordination. When you learn to play the piano by reading music, you will recognize the notes, and this will give you an idea of what the music sounds like. When you read music, you unconsciously learn to play by ear. While you concentrate on learning to play by ear, you are able to translate a piece of written music, as you need to.

Reading music is an essential while generally beginning piano instruction includes learning to read music. You have all the basics needed to learn to play by ear. For the majority without a good understanding of music theory and good techniques learning to play by ear can be difficult. Invest some of your time in practicing your positions and scales. These techniques should be part of every practice session as they build good habits while training your ear. With practice we gain skills.

After reaching intermediate level, you may wish to search for a skilled teacher with a talent for teaching the art of playing by ear. This helps you to revise your abilities. You can learn the tricks of listening that aid you in picking out the chord progressions that form the basis of any piano work. Generally, this skill accompanies regular music-related teachings.

No matter your reason for wanting to play, it is best to be able to read music and play by ear. It is never too late to begin training yourself in either technique. You will find there are computer-based courses on-line that teach these musical skills. Begin today, start learning and enjoy yourself as you learn.

Other Related posts:

1. Play Piano Songs Today – Three Methods
2. How to Learn the Piano and Stay Inspired

By Guest Blogger Steven Wagenheim

In my last article, I gave a bit of an introduction to song structure. In this article, I’m going to tackle three common song structures and hopefully give you a decent idea of how to go about utilizing them.

I mentioned that a gentleman by the name of Phil Sims (again, no relationship to the football player) taught me about AAB form many years ago. Actually, it was 1984. Hard to believe 25 years have gone by. Anyway, AAB form is where you take a main musical idea for the first part of your song, repeat it for the second part and then for the third part, slip in a totally different idea musically. An example of an AAB song would be “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” written by Burt Bacharach.

The beginning of the song that begins, “Raindrops keep falling on my head…” is the first A section. The second part of the song that begins “So I just did me some talkin’ to the sun…” is the second A section. The reason it’s another A section is because it has the exact same melody as the first A section. The part of the song that begins “But there’s one thing I know…” is the B section. The reason it’s the B section is because the musical idea is different from the A section. The melody is different. If you listen to the song, you can clearly hear this.

AAB is used by most of the old timers of writing. It is the so called “correct” way of writing a song, according to many composers. I’m not so sure I totally agree with this theory, but I will say this much. If you can master the AAB form of writing, you can probably write just about any other song structure that there is.

Another popular song structure is verse, chorus. If you listen to a lot of rock and roll, you will find this structure all over the place. In many songs you will find verse, verse, chorus. Now, if this seems to be similar to AAB, it is, but there is a big difference between the two. With AAB the A section is the main part of the song. With verse, verse, chorus, the chorus is the main part of the song. So while the structures seem to be similar, the feel of the song is totally different for each.

An example of verse, chorus would be “Highway To Hell” by AC/DC. The verse starts out “Living easy living free.” The chorus, about nine lines later is simply a few lines “Highway To Hell” repeated. Yes, that’s the whole chorus. A chorus does not have to be complicated. This is a perfect example of one that is very simple. An example of verse, verse, chorus would be “Brother Louie” by Stories. The first verse begins “She was black as the night…” The second verse begins “Nothing bad, it was good…” The chorus is the section that begins “Louie Louie Louie, Louie…” It’s not my favorite song of all time but it’s a classic example of verse, verse, chorus. The verse, chorus form is commonly referred to as AB. However, I feel that verse, chorus more correctly identifies it.

Another song structure, though not as common, is AAA. This is very hard to write well. As I said in an earlier article, a lot of Bob Dylan songs are simply AAA. To pull these type of songs off, you need a really compelling story and set of lyrics. The reason is obvious. You don’t have a chorus or B section to break things up. So musically, AAA can get to be pretty monotonous. This is why you won’t find a lot of people writing in AAA unless they are either extremely talented or don’t know any better. I should know. I used to write some pretty crappy AAA tunes about 30 years ago.

Okay, here is what’s important that you take away from this article. It doesn’t really matter what song structure you use. What DOES matter is that you understand each one, how it works, what it sounds like and how to use it in a song.

The rest will come.

To YOUR Songwriting Success

Steven Wagenheim

Want to get more great FREE tips on songwriting? Visit my blog at http://songwriting-tips-online.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Other Related posts:

1. StepUp – Songwriting Tips & Tricks
2. You Can Write A Song

To become a successful professional singer, you need to have the ability to go well beyond the ability of singing and having the looks of a superstar. You also need to have the correct traits and characteristics to make it to the top and be successful.

Listed below are some of the ways in which to find out if you have the qualities to be a successful singer.

A successful professional singer is a hard worker

You may have heard of various success stories about singing superstars. How they have earned their celebrity status, and their record deals and awards. However, for the singing superstars to have received this success, they have been hardworking for many years, practicing day after day and performing in small, unknown venues and clubs which hold an even smaller audience before getting that dreamed of record deal.

Professional singers still need to work hard to promote their current albums as well as creating new material for their up-and-coming albums. They also need to stay in shape to ensure that they look good, even after they have achieved success.

A successful professional singer remains true to their craft

A professional singer will always remain true to their first love, which is music, no matter how much fame and fortune has come their way. Their appearance may change, and their outlook on life, but the passion for music will always remain with them. A successful singer will always remember that, the reason that they have success is because of their love and passion for music, and without this they would not have fame and fortune.

A successful professional singer loves their job

A professional singer must love their job, otherwise they would not be any good at it. A professional singing career is not to be looked at as just a job, it is something in which you must be committed to. A large part of a professional singers life has been dedicated to music, and will continue to be dedicated.

A successful professional singer is other-centered

True success lies in how a person shares their blessings. It is essential to a professional singer in how they help others, either through their music or their generosity. Inspiring fans with their music, and helping those who are less fortunate than them, through charities or anonymous donations is something important to a professional singer. A professional successful singer does realize how blessed they are with their fame and fortune, and know that it is their duty to share their good fortune with others.

So, do you think you have what it takes to be as professional singer? Do not be deterred if you do not hold these traits, as with success itself, you are not born with them, but you can certainly earn them.

Other Related posts:

1. Traits Of A Successful Professional
2. Getting A Professional To Manage Your Singing Career

By Guest Blogger Victor Epand

After learning simple music theory such as the different types of notes and what the stave, time signature and clef symbols are you are then ready to delve further into learning about the different types of time that are found in music. Put simply the three types are simple, compound and irregular times. Simple time is the easiest to identify.

In simple time the top number will always be a 2,3 or 4 denoting that there will be that many beats per bar. This is very straight forward and is easy for beginning music students to pick up making it a good choice for beginner bands. The next type of time, compound, is also relatively easy to distinguish. It will be a number that is greater than four, but at the same time it must be divisible by three.

When you examine compound time you will notice that the notes will normally be grouped in threes. One example of this can be found in 6/8 time where you will find two groups of three eighth notes each. You can also find many different combinations of these. You might find two quarter notes and two eighth notes together in one bar or you might find two dotted quarter notes. You could also find a dotted half note.

While this may seem rather easy in and of itself it can be a bit tricky. If you were only counting the beats in slow music you would find it rather easy. Faster music can be a good deal harder however. It is much easier to just count the eighth note groups as if they were just one big beat. This means that in a rapidly moving piece of sheet music written in 6/8 time you would have two separate pulses.

The first one will be on the first of the eighth notes and will be a strong one. The second will be lighter and will hit on the fourth of the eighth notes. This will leave you with two countable beats for each bar. Each of these two beats will then be able to divide into three. This benefit to 6/8 time is what helps it to be an almost perfect marching tempo. As a matter of fact, many of the early 20th century military marches were written in this time signature.

Most of the time you will find 6/8 time described as having two dotted quarter notes per bar rather than having six eighth notes per bar. Some of the other compound time signatures include 12/8 and 9/8 time. In 12/8 time you will find four groups total. This means there would be four dotted quarter notes for each bar. In 9/8 time you will find three groups of three eighth notes which will be represented by three dotted quarter notes for each bar.

The last type of time is irregular time. The top number will always be higher than four but it must not be divisible by three. Some examples of irregular time signatures includes 7/4 and 5/8 time. Note that the top numbers are both higher than four but three will definitely not divide into them.

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, keyboards, sheet music, guitar tab, and home theater audio. You can find the best marketplace at these sites for guitars, drums, keyboards, teaching sheet.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Other Related posts:

1. Music Key Signatures – Showing a Student the Key Signatures is Not Enough
2. Free Piano Sheet Music – How to Find It

It’s sad how people can literally undermine the importance of the electric bass guitar in the chemistry and the overall make up of a band. Familiar scenes like, the lead singer is hot! The lead guitarist rocks! The drummer is awesome! But no mention of the bassist, the worst is that we don’t even know what his name is. People would be like who’s that guy with the four string guitar again? Or yeah they’re good but I can’t remember the guy on bass. Those kinds of things makes people a little weary about trying learn how to play the electric bass guitar.

Fortunately, for us no matter how bad we under appreciate bass players there are still several people wanting to learn the unrecognized instrument. Even the icons of heavy metal, Metallica, wouldn’t start playing gigs until they found a replacement for Jason Newsted. Robert Trujillo joined the band in 2003 after auditioning, with him bass players like Pepper Keenan, Jeordie White, Scott Reeder, Eric Avery, Danny Lohner, and Chris Wyse also joined the auditions. This is a testament to the importance of a bassist to a band.

Now moving on to the topic, if you haven’t played the bass all your life it’s not too late for you. Here are some easy steps to learn the bass guitar without banging your head against the wall. The results may vary depending on your natural skill and how much practice you put into playing the bass. Don’t expect to be the next superstar bassist without practice. Professional bass players put years into practicing before they could be where they are now.

- Start with the first finger, or forefinger. Find a relaxed position to rest the thumb on top of the strings so the hand is anchored. The forefinger or any other finger that is used for plucking ought to get to all the strings at ease without the thumb stirring.

- Use the second finger, otherwise known as the middle finger, next. Drag the string, opening with the fleshy part of the finger. Then rapidly pull on the string, and allow it to scuff your fingertip and over the fingernail.

- Pluck with your thumb. In this case, secure your hand beneath the strings with a fingertip.

- Attempt using a pick. A pick crafts a good deal of a clearer resonance. The sound is not as much of soft than a sound from a finger pluck, and has a kind of clack to it.

- Carry out these diverse plucking techniques time and again on your bass guitar. The frets ought to not buzz. Plucking the strings so they quiver up and down as an alternative of side to side creates the correct sound.

- Perform every note with a finger and then with a pick to put side by side the diverse sounds.

Other Related posts:

1. Practicing the Electric Bass Guitar
2. How to Play the Electric Bass Guitar

The chances of an aspiring singer being noticed by a recording studio lies in the quality of his voice. Thus, the budding singer should take care of his voice even if he has to go to singing practice every day for long hours.

Even professional singers who are already famous should take care of their voice quality to make sure they stay long in the business. Most singers who become famous have allowed fame and fortune to go to their heads and have forgotten how to take good care of their voice. Losing voice quality can lead to career failure.

Those who are just beginning to sing should take voice lessons regularly to improve the quality of their voice as well as their singing styles. A person may have good vocal quality but taking voice lessons can improve voice quality as well as teach a person to increase the use of his singing voice.

Professional singers also turn to voice coaches to make sure they keep the quality of their voices as well as their performance level. Singing songs is not just belting out tunes but more importantly it is the act of putting meaning into the songs.

Taking care of the singing voice of a singer enables him to discover and experiment on different music styles that can make him a versatile singer. Singing lessons also include the ability to pronounce the words or the songs properly. It also includes confidence building for the singer.

It is important to take voice lessons because a singer can’t hear his mistakes. A vocal coach can correct mistakes in emoting, pronunciation and even in moving the body.

Taking voice lessons should be one of the basic activities that should be regularly taken by a budding as well as a professional singer because it will teach the singer to breath properly and get his voice range properly. It will also enable the singer to learn proper singing techniques.

A singer should also take care of his vocal quality by making sure he doesn’t use his voice excessively. Singers should limit practice hours to reasonable periods to keep a good vocal quality. They should also inhibit from talking too much before and after practice.

A good singing voice is said to be the capital of a singer and it can make or break his singing career. This makes it all the more important for him to preserve his vocal quality in whatever way he sees possible and feasible for him.

Other Related posts:

1. How to Ensure A Singer Takes Good Care of His or Her Singing Voice
2. How to Win Singing Jobs

By Guest BloggerAndrew Stratton

Your child can announce that he wants to play the piano when he comes home. The question of he is too young, always arises. Generally anything under 4 or 5 is too young however children under 4 can still be introduced to music in many forms including piano that is appropriate for age and attention span. Many lessons can be learned by young children when put in the form of music. If your child is under 4, check with the local musical schools or pre-schools to see if they have any kind of musical programs for your child.

There have been many studies done regarding children and exposure to music with many positive results. Children exposed or involved in music early, learn to read earlier and generally score better on tests (even standardized tests such as SAT etc.).

Only you can tell if purchasing an acoustic piano is right for you and your budget; or perhaps you want to let your child first start with a digital one (less expensive) and judge to see if the expense is warranted based on your child’s enthusiasm.

Upright pianos and the grand piano style are examples of an acoustic piano. A digital one is just the key board and the electronics give all the sounds of a piano without taking up the room like an acoustic takes. Perhaps if space is tight in your house then a digital piano might be the way to go.

Since we are talking about teaching young children, the prospective teacher should be approachable, with the ability to motivate your child through inventive lessons. A devoted teacher will treat each child as an individual and gear lessons towards both your child’s strengths and weaknesses.

Ask the teacher about their philosophy on piano technique. Some teach that the fingers and only the fingers should be involved in playing, while others believe the whole arm is involved. See what the teacher feels is appropriate for your child and ask how they go about teaching it.

One method of teaching that does work with very young music students is called the Suzuki method. The drawback of this method is that it concentrates on developing istening skills but doesn’t teach the reading of musical notes until the child gets older. Some teachers swear by this method while others disagree.

The Music Tree (or Clark Method) does a very good job teaching the basics. The lessons teach the reading of music as well as counting, phrases and form from day one.

A very popular series is written by Nancy and Randall Faber (Faber & Faber) and is used by many teachers. The position method is taught in these books and it reinforces proper hand position and appropriate suggestions for counting.

There are many other methods used by teachers and the goal will be to find the right teacher and method for your child. Many teachers believe that playing scales over and over is the right thing to do, where as others feel it’s making a child do something that is not necessary. Some children do well with one method and not with another.

When speaking with the prospective teacher, ask about what books they use. Is it possible they loan the books to you until you know if the method they are going to use will be good for your child. That way should your child decide he doesn’t want to play piano anymore; maybe it has to do with the method being taught. Find out how flexible is the teacher when it comes to method.

By doing some foot work following your child’s announcement of wanting to play piano, you will be giving your child the gift of music today and long into their future.

Gift your child with piano lessons Kenner Louisiana to learn the art of music. Search a trained teacher who can teach some techniques and methods for playing the instrument. To know about various pianos available and their maintenance, visit http://www.hallpiano.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Other Related posts:

1. Is Your Child Ready for Piano Lessons?
2. Play Piano Songs Today – Three Methods

A view exists that performing and practicing music are two different activities. It is true that learning the basics of music is an exercise which is important and without this, true performing cannot be undertaken to the highest ability. However, the relationship between performing and practicing is deeply intertwined and at a certain level the distinction between the two almost disappears.

At a certain stage in an individual’s musical career, practicing morphs rather than using them as a learning experience will prepare the performer for the performance. It is at this point, that performing becomes a larger learning experience.

There are countless reasons for this. One reason is the aspect of performing will give the performer a great energy kick that is experienced when performing to a live audience. The performer can feel the energy of the audience, which enables the performer to reach new heights of artistic achievement.

Once the performer has experienced the thrill of performing for a live audience, that thrill then becomes clear in every practice session which follows and the energy of the live performance. The true aim of developing mechanical and musical ability will become obvious and the focus in practice sessions will be changed. It is at this point that performing becomes the true learning experience and every practice session becomes preparation to concentrate and improve that experience. This will mark the difference between musician and artist.

The artists will easily find new ways in which to practice and bring live performances closer to the pure pleasure of musical expressions in every way. The performer will bring different and assorted disciplines such as psychology, exercise kinesiology and acoustics with other artistic disciplines such as theater and dance into the practice session to develop new areas of experimentation.

By doing this the artist-musician will achieve greater control of the instrument in which they are playing when it comes to their overall performance. The artist will also find new ideas and ways of practicing. There will be a gradual transformation of the musician in a creative and fulfilling way so it optimizes the live performances before an audience.

The true transformation from musician to artist is this, and during this combination the artist will surely be able to develop and find personal, unique and creative techniques of expression. As this progresses, the artist will become to realize that their concentration is largely improved with ease of performance and a greater synchronicity of body, mind and “soul” as professional musicians like to call it.

To some individuals, this may sound complicated. However, music is something which an artist enjoys. Practicing is in effect, playing music, which a musician should always enjoy for his own sake. Practicing will transform into a more rewarding and fulfilling experience and one of the most important steps in reaching such heights of artistic achievement will be reached.

Other Related posts:

1. Practicing to Play the Guitar
2. Why Should You Do a Warm Up Activity Before Singing?

There are four primary notes on an electric bass guitar strings. The fattest one is the E note, the second one is the A note, the third one is the G note and the last one is the D note. With these notes come other notes as well. These notes are usually found within the range of the first fret and the first two strings. Along the E note are G, A and B notes. They are more or less one fret apart (apart from G which is two frets lower than E) and along the A note string are C, D and E notes. Usually note patterns and tablatures are founded along these basic notes.

You need to remember all these things because playing the electric bass guitar calls for shifting notes along the progression of the song and that means the notes also progress with it. You would need to know the positions of these notes for you to better shift from one note to another as often as the song calls for it. There are different exercises to help master finger placement for the bass guitar, one good exercise is to press the notes as you call them out in random succession.

You don’t necessarily have to strum it, you just have to put your finger on the note without looking at the electric bass guitar itself. A good suggestion is that you do it while facing a mirror so you could see where you are at or if you are on the wrong note.

Now let’s start playing the bass. Place your right thumb on the E string this is the fattest string on your electric bass guitar just between where the pickup is and the right after the neck of the bass guitar, there are some bass guitars that have thumb rests. If this is the case with your bass guitar, you need to use your index finger for strumming (or slapping).

Then, pick up your index finger and place it on the G string one string on top of the D string, the furthest string away from you in the similar stuff that you had it on the D string and move it back to the D string, plucking the G string in the progression. (TIP: Do not try to compel the G string to come back to the D string, there ought to be minute in the way of heaviness that you’re putting on the G string).

After plucking the G string, let your index finger rest on the D string once more, and your middle finger in the same procedure. Go over this sample increasing speed, but make sure you do not slack accurateness with each pluck.

Other Related posts:

1. How to Play the Electric Bass Guitar
2. Step-by-step Guide to Playing the Electric Bass Guitar