The very talented, and controversial Dixie Chicks trio has finally released their follow up CD to the largely popular 2002 release, Home.
Their latest release entitled Taking The Long Way comes after a somewhat turbulent couple of years for the Chicks following the fury that descended upon the group when lead singer Natalie Maines stated she was ashamed that President Bush was from her native Texas.
Those Anti-Bush comments initially spoken off the cuff in concert but then repeated in numerous interviews, earned her, and indeed the entire trio, plenty of enemies within the music community. Most notably from country music star Toby Keith.
Yes, it really is possible to go bananas with your music! Take my word for it, because I?ve helped many musicians do so in the past and here?s your chance to do it to. One of the most important ways to sky rocket your sales, increase your fan base and music career is to start your online newsletter that keeps people updated about what?s going on in the life of an artist, which is you.
I?m quite pleased to say that the online newsletters are one of the most important mediums through which you can keep in touch with everyone, and of course, is the cheapest and cost-effective way of doing so.
Neon Blue is an 18×24 oil on canvas and part of the Walk On The Wild Side Series.
Everything was inspired by the poem, Neon Blue, and then the song I wrote below.
When playing in a major scale, only seven notes are used, out of a total of twelve. The five notes that remain are said to be out of key, and should be avoided in standard playing unless following a structural change in the accompanying rhythm or chord progression(s). To understand how you can use the excluded five tones, you must first change your perspective on the nature of keys.
Everything that can be invented has been invented. ~ Charles H. Duell, Commissioner of the US Patent Office in 1899.
Children nowadays are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food and tyrannize their teachers. ~ Socrates
Why is popular music so bad today? I mean, I’m not that old, but jeez, the music of today, with only a few rare exceptions, kinda stinks. Some would say that when New Year’s Eve 1979 ended, we were ushered into an era of lame music that we still haven’t escaped from today.
Today’s music fan interacts with a community that is far larger than anyone ever dreamed possible before the widespread personal use of the Internet. This social networking is changing the way people market and sell music and it’s doing so on a global scale.
Here’s How:
One fan hears a song and tells a dozen others online. Each, in turn, sends the information (and sometimes the entire song file) to another dozen people, and so on. If the song’s hook is catchy and universal enough, the artist can reach thousands of fans in a matter of seconds. It’s fast, it’s easy, it’s free, and it’s global.
Believe it or not, there is actually a hard and a soft way to play New Age piano. Two different schools or styles that have made their appearance in the last 20 years or so.
The first style made popular by George Winston introduces a more percussive hard sound. Created mostly be a left-hand ostinato, this style is very chord-oriented and paints a background of textures while the right-hand is free to improvise a melody. The reason that I say this style is a hard sounding one is that when compared with someone like David Lanz, the difference is readily apparent.
Have you ever wished that you could make your own car? You know, have a little factory set up in the back yard next to the storage shed where you could just create the cars of your dreams? Well, for decades, people have longed to make their own albums, CDs, or whatever format they happen to take at the time. The only problem was, of course, having the equipment necessary to create your own CDs. But now, thanks to dramatic improvements in pricing and technology, people can in fact create and distribute their own CDs, without bothering with the hassles and contracts associated with signing with a record label. Of course, just like CDs made in the big factories, CD labels are an important part of the process - if you hope to fashion a respectable image for yourself and your label.
Chopin used them extensively. So did Beethoven and Mozart. Arpeggios are beautiful and are perfect for the New Age piano style too!
You can hear them in George Winston’s music. David Lanz uses them in many of his compositions, and of course, I use them as well. Why? Because the piano is well suited for this technique!
The left-hand is used mostly to create this cascading flow of notes. For example, in the lesson Wood Thrush we use over 2 octaves of the keyboard. This creates a very nice background over which we can improvise (or compose) our melodies.
The flow of music between England and America operates under laws known to none but a blessed few. Why is it that for many English people, myself included, American music has always implied bland soft rock; the Eagles or Journey? Yet fine musicians like John Hiatt are rarely heard in England. The same discrepancy applies to English music. There are English musicians who seem fated never to gain the recognition they merit and of these, Richard Thompson must be the saddest casualty.