Learning Guitar

Learning guitar has never been so easy. With the internet and advancing technology it is becoming easier to learn guitar by the day. All you need is to have a good source of information and to know what kind of information someone your level should know. So how do you find this information? There are tons of websites out there for guitarists. Many are specifically for beginner guitarists, others are for all levels. Blogs can be a great place to start because they are full of different techniques, chords, and scales that you need to know. This is a great place to start. Blogs are free and are definitely worth looking into. As good of a start as these are, I suggest you have other products to augment your learning. The more sources you have to learn from the better your learning will be.

What's going on? Well, a new line of ethnic percussion has arrived. Made in Thailand, the Tycoon Percussion line has arrived in the US. Boutique quality professional gear at an awesome deal. Bongos, Congas, Maracas, and more(like claves). Look for instructional books and videos to help the beginner to pro hone their trade. For a bigger selection of World Percussion, see Remo.com. Their whole line up is available from extramusical.com. Start shopping now, to get exactly what your looking to buy. While extramusical.com handles more music products than anyone else, email or call for the item you want, with some cool service and an awesome experience.

Music in my Circle

For some reason it's taken me 30 years to start putting together even the simplest of home studio. Digital, of course. What I mean is I put together a Tascam analog to usb interface with a Behringer 802 mixer, that has phantom power for my Behringer C-1 condenser mic.

The Tascam seems to have better software with it, as opposed to the freeware that Behringer has you download from the net. While a nice mic'ed drum set would be awesome, right now I'll have to settle with programming my Alesis SR16 drum machine.

Here's a list of other entry level items for a beginners home studio:

Alesis SR18 Drum Machine

Zoom MRT-3B(great as it will run on batteries)

AT 2020 Condenser Mic

Boom Mic Stand

Assortment of Cables(patch, instrument, mic)

David 29 Years in the trades

About MXR Effects Pedals

MXR guitar effects have been used for decades. With their bucket brigade technology they last just as long. MXR Effects Pedals originated with some of the best effects pedals in the 70’s and still inspire with effects like the Carbon Copy.

Top 3 Reasons to Get a MXR Guitar Effects Pedal

1-MXR ’78 Custom Bad Ass Distortion – A most popular MXR effect.

*“The first in a line from the MXR Custom Badass design team, the MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion is a factory-modded pedal that roars with huge amp stack tones and old school tube amp-like distortion.”

2-MXR Distorion+ : 70’s soft clipped distortion used by the likes of Randy Rhoads and Jimmy Hendrix.

*“This little yellow box is responsible for those great distortion sounds heard on so many classic recordings. Set the Distortion control low and crank the Output knob to drive the front end of your amp for cool blues tones, or max out the Distortion knob for the tone that made Randy Rhoads famous. There still isn't any distortion unit on the market that sounds like the Distortion+.”

3-MXR Fullbore Metal Guitar Effects Pedal

*“Ultimate riff power is yours with the Fullbore Metal Distortion pedal from MXR. This compact but powerful device is all you need to unleash the most devastating contemporary metal guitar tones ever heard. The Fullbore Metal turbo-charges your guitar signal with lethal amounts of ultra high gain. This is combined with a built-in Noise Gate to knock out the noise associated with extreme gain levels while also adding definition and tightness to syncopated metal riffs.”

*From Dunlop Website

Search Amazon.com for mxr

Vocal Exercises to Improve Voice Quality And Tone

There are a number of vocal exercises that you can use to improve the tone and quality of your voice. Some of these exercises can even help you develop a much broader vocal range. Here are a few classics to get you started:

Vocal Exercises: Warm-Ups

Your vocal chords need to be warmed up before you sing. Warming up helps protect your pipes from injury, and it also helps you sing a lot better.

To start, practice singing up and down the C chromatic scale a half-step at a time. This will force you to hit lots of subtle notes, and will give your voice a smoother quality.

The yawning technique is another approach. Open your mouth and sing a note. Now, without pausing for breath, keep singing the note while you change the pitch. Think of the way your voice gets higher when you yawn. This exercise should have a similar effect. Use it to go from the bottom of your range to the very top.

Try to spend at least 10 to 15 minutes warming up before you rehearse or perform.

Vocal Exercises: Range

One popular exercise to help you increase your vocal range involves playing notes on an instrument and singing along with them until you can’t sing any higher (or lower). With the help of a tuning device or a musical instrument, you can quickly identify your natural vocal range.

Other range-expanding vocal exercises focus on building a strong middle voice, which is a voice that combines the chest and head voices. Practice singing across your natural vocal break. As you sing, pay attention to where each note vibrates in your throat. Chest voice notes will vibrate lower in your vocal chords; head voice notes often vibrate at the back of your soft palate.

Practice these notes until you can routinely produce them with good quality and voice control. Go a step higher each week until you can sing well above your natural range.

Vocal Exercises: Pitch

Perfect pitch comes naturally to a rare few individuals. Most of us have to practice at it. Fortunately, there are vocal exercises that can help you improve your pitch.

The easiest way is to play a note on an instrument or in a sound software program, and sing that note as it plays. When you match the pitch perfectly, there will be a resonance that isn’t present when you sing off-pitch.

You can also practice pitch with other vocalists. Try harmonizing with another singer or two, with one singer taking the higher notes, one taking middle notes, and one taking lower notes. When you’re all on pitch, the result will be a resonating harmony.

Vocal Exercises: Volume

Volume is another important part of vocals. Sometimes you will need to sing at a higher volume, especially if you sing opera or rock music, or if you sing with a band that plays loudly.

Finding your natural volume is a lot like finding your natural range. Simply start out at a regular volume, singing in your speaking voice. Sing gradually louder until you can no longer sing comfortably. That is your natural volume range.

You can increase your volume by identifying your diaphragm (the band of muscle beneath your ribcage) and using it to push out your voice as you sing. Exhale sharply; the muscle that tightens when you exhale is your diaphragm.

These vocal exercises will help you identify and increase your natural range and volume, and add power to your notes. Practice daily to develop the best tone possible.

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This article comes to you courtesy of Singorama:
http://www.singorama.com

If you'd like to take your singing voice from ordinary to extraordinary, make a signature song all your own, increase your vocal range, hit every note with professional precision and learn every nitty-gritty detail about auditions, singing in a band, harmonizing and more, then check out the most comprehensive learn-to-sing system available.

No matter if you are a beginner, intermediate, or advanced singer, Singorama can help you. Not only is it educational, it's really fun!

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Sing like a professional starting today!
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How to Sign a Record Label As an Indie Artist

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How to Sign a Record Label As an Indie Artist
By Paul Mileny

There are several ways that each new or becoming artist must follow in order to reach the 'top of the crop' and finally sign the record deal. Here are some hints as to what needs of the music industry.

1. Great music is always in demand and that is exactly what you must have. There's so many new artists that think that they can persuade an agent with boring stuff and still sign a record deal. No, it doesn't work that way. You must have good music and you must understand the importance of it. What i mean by 'good music' is not personal taste, but the kind of music that has innovation, talent and a bit of experience in it.

2. Your potential agent asks himself a questions, "Well, why should i sign this guy"? The answer to this question is simple, you must look "signable and presentable." No one will want to sign you unless you're going to make them lots of money and profit. Make sure that you or your band look experienced and confident so that they believe in you and in the idea of making a living off of you, when you become famous.

3. Having a professional demo always helps. That's generally the second thing they ask for, after they examine your looks and how you behave yourself. Music industry is all about first impressions, great demo and appearances. All in all, it's the whole package that matters. If you have all that, then you are on your way to signing a record deal and could be very successful.

However, if you are new to this industry, there are some downsides. Most insigned artists or Indie musician think that signing a recording contract is all that matters. Actually, no. Here's what you maybe facing:

• Committing yourself to a record label is almost like selling your soul to a devil. Not literally, of course. However, in terms of locking yourself up for so many years of hard work, some new Indie artist musicians give up.
• You'd be losing your personal freedom and personal space. You'll constantly be performing, traveling, singing, interviewing, etc.
• You may be losing some money on your CD sales due to profit sharing.
• You may misread the recording contract and sign something that you may not like down the road that will affect your CD's getting released without your music-publishing rights.

If you are a real artist, great signer, performer or entertainer, do not be belittled about all that negativity about signing a record deal being said, there are still some advantages to signing with a record label. Your talents will bring you closer to signing a record label. For more details, please click here.

Paul Mileny is the content writer for ReachFame and for various other online resources. ReachFame is specifically designed to get anyone signed fast, without major industry problems and avoiding falsely promising music managers, who would charge you an arm & a leg for their services. To learn more about how to submit your demo, sign a record deal or become a music manager, please visit ReachFame.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Mileny
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Sign-a-Record-Label-As-an-Indie-Artist&id=3296933

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Tuner for guitar, mandolin, ukulele, fiddle, banjo, bass guitar allows standard and open* tunings. The program shows the name of the note, together with its place on the stave, and numerical values of pitch/frequency. If the open tunings doesn't fit your needs, you can use the keyboard (in chromatic mode) and choose any other note to tuneo

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Description: Tune your musical instrument quickly and accurately with this digital tuner. Uses microphone or direct electric guitar input for tuning. You can tune guitar, bass guitar, banjo, mandolin, violin, viola, cello, double bass, and other instruments using the pitch selector. Has choice of gauge and pitch graph views. Short tags: tuning, guitar, tuner, digital, tune, banjo, musical, instrument, piano, fork, open, electric, pitch, microphone, accurate, frequency System Requirements: PC microphone port Change Info: Now includes auto-calibration feature. Download In-Tune Multi-Instrument Tuner 1.97