Showing posts with label While. Show all posts
Showing posts with label While. Show all posts

Friday, July 1, 2011

Learning to Perform While Playing a Guitar

Do you think that you're the next Kurt Cobain? If you've got the pipes to belt out Nirvana's classic songs such as "Lithium" and "Smells like teen spirit," why don't you back it up with awesome guitar-playing skills? By doing this, you'll have something more to show other than your singing prowess. But if you don't have any idea how to play a guitar, you can always take guitar lessons so you can learn the basics. Who knows? If you invest enough time and effort in this endeavor, you might even surpass your own expectations and be a guitar virtuoso.

If you're a beginner, the most basic question that you should ask your tutor is: how do you play the guitar? Well, for starters, you need to know how to form chords on the guitar's fret board by using your fingers. These chords are classified into two types: the major scale and the minor scale. By familiarizing yourself with these guitar chords, you can guarantee that you'll be proficient in producing various sounds by strumming or plucking the strings. Although you can play this stringed instrument using your own fingers, you can also employ a small flat tool called pick that's usually made of plastic, metal, or wood. The guitar's framework is often built from wood or polycarbonate materials with nylon or steel strings. It can also be categorized as an acoustic guitar, electric guitar, twelve-string guitar, classical guitar, and many more.

Learning to play the guitar can be done in a couple of ways. It's either you try to teach yourself by constantly reading books and watching online videos or hire a really good guitar teacher to help you out. But if you really don't have any background in playing this particular instrument, there's no reason for you not to choose the latter option. With proper guidance from a person who has enough experience and knowledge, rest assured that you'll quickly pickup several helpful techniques in playing guitar. Now, if you're wondering, how do you play the guitar properly while performing on stage? Try to watch several artists in the music industry. From country singers to rock legends, you can see that they all have different ways of handling this instrument. Aside from resting the guitar on your lap while you're sitting, you can also use a strap to sling the instrument on your own body. Thus, it would be easier for you to move around or even sing while strumming or plucking the strings.

Whether you're trying to form a kick-ass band or emerge as a solo artist, an important question that you should ask yourself is how do you play the guitar? Since it's a big factor that can surely affect your career, you must work on this skill to make sure that you can also use it in your performance. Caleb Followill of Kings of Leon and Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters are both capable front men of their respective bands. But aside from unbelievable vocals, what makes them even more special is the fact that they can blow your mind with their showmanship simply by standing in front of the microphone while playing the guitar.

Cindee Daniel, who has a degree in Journalism, has been a casual yet big fan of music since she first listened to The Beatles when she was 10. She then came to discover other bands, most specifically from the punk, grunge, and post-grunge movements, and has since been interested in the scene. Her exposure to music saw him writing music reviews for various websites and founding his own band, with him composing songs and performing drumming duties.

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Monday, June 27, 2011

Things To Consider While Looking at Keyboard MIDI Controllers

If you're looking around at some new usb keyboard midi controllers you could be in for some serious shopping around time. They're not just a two octave keyboard with a volume control anymore. Spend some time researching all the big brands and their models and features. Try reading all the reviews you possibly can. Trying to find the right keyboard might not be as much fun as recording but it's still something you need to do.

Figure out what your requirements need to be and start from there. What you'll be doing most of the time with it will tell you what features you'll need and don't need: Are you laying down a bass line and then some chords or can you take advantage of a full 7 plus octave board as in the full 88 keyboard? Will the keyboard just stay in the home studio or will you use it on stage and take it touring? Will regular light plastic keys suffice or do you need weighted keys? Having a list of features you simply must have and ones that you don't care about will make the process quicker and easier.

Of course the price will come into some consideration when choosing the right midi controller. Spending upwards of $400 is very easy to do but if you opt for a very basic controller they can be had for under $100. Getting the keyboard that's right for you just comes down to what you can afford and what you need. The manufacturers you will be looking at will include:
M-AudioAkaiKorgBehringerNovation

These are some of the top manufacturers most of which have been making instruments or recording equipment for many years so they're all quite reputable and good at what they do. Keep in mind of course they all make several models for you to choose from. The number of keys might very well be the most obvious thing to consider. The most popular choices are the 25 keys, then the 49 keys, then the 61 keys, most also have an 88 key model.

Midi controllers have come a long way from very simple features of not much more than a volume control and mod wheel. Now you can have control over everything in your DAW if that's what you want. And not every virtual instrument really requires too much fiddling so multiple options may not be necessary if you're using these kinds of plugins... and yet, some do.

Johnny Ferreira is a professional musician and editor of http://yourhomerecordingstudio.com/ featuring free articles, tips and reviews on keyboard midi controllers and lots of other great gear for musicians and home studio recording.


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