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Stage Presence
Source: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/the_guide_to/stage_presence.html
So your walking out of the venue, your voice raspy, your neck sore, and your body covered in sweat. A smaller unsigned band had just put on one of the most amazing shows you have ever seen. They don’t have vastly expensive instruments, or huge gimmicks, yet you just had an amazing night. So what’s their secret?
Stage presence. Some bands have it, some don’t. It can be the difference between being opener’s and headliners. So what is this phenomena? It’s the art of commanding a show, and creating the energy of three acts put together.
Some bands try to use fancy gimmicks to improve their shows, such as dressing up, crazy moves, or pyrotechnics, and as good as those things are, without stage presence, it can’t get to the, “I can’t go to work because I rocked out too hard at the show last night” level. So how can a band properly use stage presence? Here are tips to help you command the stage:
1. Synchronization
Have you ever seen a band that performs like a well put together machine, like they can all read each others minds? This is the art of synchronization. A show from a fan’s eye can look like a totally random crazy display of skill, yet in reality it is a choreographed set of movements mad through vigorous practice, like a dance crew routine.
To achieve this, talk to the rest of your band about some cool things to do at shows, then practice it with them. During practice move and play/sing with the energy you would at a show. Tell everyone what your going to do, and make sure you know what they are doing. Sure, random things will make the show more fun, but at least you and your members know what to do in the situation whenever you should decide to do it. It also helps to make it so you plan particular movements during a particular part of a song, such as synchronized head banging during an epic rhythm break down.
2. Movement
Now I don’t know about you, but to me it’s a bit boring to just watch a guitarist stand there head banging with his feet together in the same exact spot. The key is to move with the music. Don’t just stand in your assigned spot by your amp. Move, walk around the stage. Head bang then jump around. Don’t keep your feet together, spread them apart. Play your guitar down low, then sometimes pull the guitar so the guitar neck is vertical. Stand in the back round, then during an explosive beat, go up in the front and rock it out. Just don’t be a scare crow.
3. Interaction
Interaction with band members on stage during a song can not only be fun for you, but it can be fun for the crowd, because they can see the relationships you have with your members unfold. Get up and play face to face with your singer, head bang next to your bassist. Singers go put your arm around to your guitarist and let him sing into the mic. Guitarists can stand back to back and push and shove against each other “fighting” for the spot light.
Commanding the Crowd:
Commanding the crowd can be one of the most difficult things in stage presence, yet is absolutely essential for the crowd to get that “WOW” effect. The key of this is to command the crowd, like you’re the maestro in a grand choir of kids in tight pants and band t-shirts. The object is to get the crowd to move as you want them. When the band gets extreme in the music, the crowd starts to mosh, and when you slow it down, they sway.
This factor all really depends on the crowd, where you are, and if they like your music. Now people can not like your music, yet totally get crazy, it all varies from person to person, but it may be difficult to get people who have never heard of you before to move around and get excited. Try to just get up to the crowd and interact, get them to clap in rhythm, get close to them. Make them feel like a part of the band. However this job may largely fall to the singer. He is (usually) the spokes-person of the band, so he needs to try to get the crowd to clap, jump and down, and mosh. Screaming “Get Crazy!” in a key, heated part of a song can mean all the difference in the world. Just see how the crowd responds to certain things and try to get them to follow you.
Something that may help when you are at an unfamiliar venue is to bring a couple of your fans and put them in the crowd and get them to riled up, or find one of the more loose people in the crowd and get them to participate. This usually results in a domino effect, and people gradually drop their ego’s and rock, and then from there it’s a lot easier to get the show to a higher level.
(Also bring the crowd really close to the stage, it makes things much easier!)
Stage Antics:
Now like I said stage antics can be very good things. They can make, or break a show. Sprinkle some synchronized head banging, some guitar swinging, some cool wardrobe maybe in with stage presence and it can be really fun. However try to have some idea about the crowd you are playing for, some may go for it, and some may think you look stupid. For instance, a local crowd of friends may love every minute of your dressing up like pirates, yet an unfamiliar cold crowd may think you’re an idiot for getting on top of the speakers and doing back flips.
These are just a few things to help your stage presence, and the basic premise is, to make yourselves bigger then you really are, not fake, but being able to put the presence of twenty musicians into five. And remember, all this stuff require a lot of practice and being able rock with your band like a finely tuned rock machine, which in turn takes lot’s of practice.
So your walking out of the venue, your voice raspy, your neck sore, and your body covered in sweat. A smaller unsigned band had just put on one of the most amazing shows you have ever seen. They don’t have vastly expensive instruments, or huge gimmicks, yet you just had an amazing night. So what’s their secret?
Stage presence. Some bands have it, some don’t. It can be the difference between being opener’s and headliners. So what is this phenomena? It’s the art of commanding a show, and creating the energy of three acts put together.
Some bands try to use fancy gimmicks to improve their shows, such as dressing up, crazy moves, or pyrotechnics, and as good as those things are, without stage presence, it can’t get to the, “I can’t go to work because I rocked out too hard at the show last night” level. So how can a band properly use stage presence? Here are tips to help you command the stage:
1. Synchronization
Have you ever seen a band that performs like a well put together machine, like they can all read each others minds? This is the art of synchronization. A show from a fan’s eye can look like a totally random crazy display of skill, yet in reality it is a choreographed set of movements mad through vigorous practice, like a dance crew routine.
To achieve this, talk to the rest of your band about some cool things to do at shows, then practice it with them. During practice move and play/sing with the energy you would at a show. Tell everyone what your going to do, and make sure you know what they are doing. Sure, random things will make the show more fun, but at least you and your members know what to do in the situation whenever you should decide to do it. It also helps to make it so you plan particular movements during a particular part of a song, such as synchronized head banging during an epic rhythm break down.
2. Movement
Now I don’t know about you, but to me it’s a bit boring to just watch a guitarist stand there head banging with his feet together in the same exact spot. The key is to move with the music. Don’t just stand in your assigned spot by your amp. Move, walk around the stage. Head bang then jump around. Don’t keep your feet together, spread them apart. Play your guitar down low, then sometimes pull the guitar so the guitar neck is vertical. Stand in the back round, then during an explosive beat, go up in the front and rock it out. Just don’t be a scare crow.
3. Interaction
Interaction with band members on stage during a song can not only be fun for you, but it can be fun for the crowd, because they can see the relationships you have with your members unfold. Get up and play face to face with your singer, head bang next to your bassist. Singers go put your arm around to your guitarist and let him sing into the mic. Guitarists can stand back to back and push and shove against each other “fighting” for the spot light.
Commanding the Crowd:
Commanding the crowd can be one of the most difficult things in stage presence, yet is absolutely essential for the crowd to get that “WOW” effect. The key of this is to command the crowd, like you’re the maestro in a grand choir of kids in tight pants and band t-shirts. The object is to get the crowd to move as you want them. When the band gets extreme in the music, the crowd starts to mosh, and when you slow it down, they sway.
This factor all really depends on the crowd, where you are, and if they like your music. Now people can not like your music, yet totally get crazy, it all varies from person to person, but it may be difficult to get people who have never heard of you before to move around and get excited. Try to just get up to the crowd and interact, get them to clap in rhythm, get close to them. Make them feel like a part of the band. However this job may largely fall to the singer. He is (usually) the spokes-person of the band, so he needs to try to get the crowd to clap, jump and down, and mosh. Screaming “Get Crazy!” in a key, heated part of a song can mean all the difference in the world. Just see how the crowd responds to certain things and try to get them to follow you.
Something that may help when you are at an unfamiliar venue is to bring a couple of your fans and put them in the crowd and get them to riled up, or find one of the more loose people in the crowd and get them to participate. This usually results in a domino effect, and people gradually drop their ego’s and rock, and then from there it’s a lot easier to get the show to a higher level.
(Also bring the crowd really close to the stage, it makes things much easier!)
Stage Antics:
Now like I said stage antics can be very good things. They can make, or break a show. Sprinkle some synchronized head banging, some guitar swinging, some cool wardrobe maybe in with stage presence and it can be really fun. However try to have some idea about the crowd you are playing for, some may go for it, and some may think you look stupid. For instance, a local crowd of friends may love every minute of your dressing up like pirates, yet an unfamiliar cold crowd may think you’re an idiot for getting on top of the speakers and doing back flips.
These are just a few things to help your stage presence, and the basic premise is, to make yourselves bigger then you really are, not fake, but being able to put the presence of twenty musicians into five. And remember, all this stuff require a lot of practice and being able rock with your band like a finely tuned rock machine, which in turn takes lot’s of practice.
How To Have Productive Band Practice/Rehearsals
Source: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/general_music/how_to_have_productive_rehearsals.html
Note: This is a very useful article for those who are playing in a band, I highlighted the parts which I felt is important.
Before The Rehearsal
You should learn to play yourself alone all the parts or songs you have planned for rehearsals, and along with metronome. Be self-critic, to avoid making mistakes that you won't be able to fix on the spot later on. Prepare all your ideas and write them out or record them, and even send them to your band peers, so they could be prepared to what you're about to work on. If you have some solo spots, make sure that you don't look for notes or options of how to play them on rehearsal. That really should be done at home. Make a loop of chord progressions you have to solo on and hit it. The only exception to this should be a complexly constructed solo that involves all band, though, that can be worked on alone, too. If you have in plan to make new songs on rehearsal, get enough sleep and try to warm up before, if you have time. Don't be late for rehearsals, especially if you pay for rehearse time, have respect for time of everyone else in the band, and they will respect yours. Also try to make sure you take care of all important phone calls and potential distractions before the rehearsals, as well as other basic stuff such as changing strings and similar things. And of course, don't go to rehearsals drunk or under some other influence.
During The Rehearsal
The worst thing that could happen on a rehearsal is when someone comes in really bad mood. It reflects on everyone else, and the music itself. If everything irritates you, find real reasons for that, and calm down. Don't snap on your band peers, because they might not be the source of your bad mood. Negative energy issue can be a real band-breaker.
Set up your sound. I suggest you to study the physical nature of sound of your instrument, and learn how to make a healthy sound for rehearsals. Don't allow yourselves to play in the noise. And make sure you don't play too loud. If you don't hear yourself well, and you hear that you're in balance with drums, lower other instruments, or fix your frequency configurations. Sometimes more noise occurs at bad equalizer settings than on loud playing. Be informed about making a good sound setting or have someone set it up for you. Have this problem fixed in the beginning because it will drive you to deafness and uncreativity.
When you're working on your new stuff, be open to everyone's opinion, even if you're about to play the song you wrote yourself. Have everyone put a part of themselves in the song and listen to everyone's idea, because they just might provide a bit to the song that you might have missed or hadn't thought of before yourself. When some band members have to work on the part they play together and that doesn't involve you, don't make noise with your instrument, you'll distract them a lot, and it can get on a nerve easily. Rather think about other ideas you can provide for the song.
Always. ALWAYS stop whatever you're doing if you get some really great idea, and write it out or record it immediately, because no matter how good it might be, there is an enormously big chance that you will forget it. Don't allow yourself that. I lost few of ideas that way, and I totally regret it. It is also advisable to record your whole rehearsal in some way, especially if you're making new songs on the spot. You might find lots of potential material on those recordings.
When you fully practiced out a song with your band, and it is technically ready, don't stay on playing it while stand and not move at all, or even worse, not move and only look at your guitar. Jump, move, dance, give your peers a deadly eye look, play with your guitar behind your back, play with your guitar on the floor, play with your teeth, with your tongue, whatever. Just don't stay on playing it with your mind. You should get to the point where you actually don't even think about what you play. When you get to play live, there is a certain problem that comes out if you don't listen to what I just wrote, even more often if you play energetic music. The problem is that when you play, you turn the crowd on, and when you turn the crowd on, they turn you on even more, and you wanna do all the things you should've done and practiced on rehearsals, but you won't be able to do them, or you will do them, but make tons of mistakes. Turn of your lights and get a small light show for your rehearsals. Feel and go into it like you're on stage, in front of thousands of people! You'll find this very interesting and amusing, and it will spare you of all the bad things on the stage. Even make a small choreography of your live shows if necessary, and go into details. See what might happen on stage, and try to work it out on rehearsals, before unwanted consequences can occur.
I also advise you to squeeze all the best from the rehearsal time. Don't go in senseless jams (unless you know for sure they'll benefit your bandwork), don't have a cigar every 5 minutes, don't get stuck in some non-music related chats for too long, don't have too long breaks (though, they are useful sometimes, when you go way over the top and it really doesn't make sense to push yourself too much, because nothing creative will happen) and most importantly, don't wander off with your thoughts. Be there 120%, or at least 100%, and you'll notice the difference.
After The Rehearsal
If you have the time, go for a drink with your peers and talk about everything you've done on rehearsals. Review all your ideas, and talk about what you could do next. Give yourselves some directions for next rehearsals. Fix all the other problems you have in between yourselves right here, and not during rehearsals. And have a good time, establish a great personal relationships. If you enjoy being with your band outside the band, you will enjoy it even more when you're in the band. And everyone who'll hear or see the band will notice that, and it plays a big factor of success.
Note: This is a very useful article for those who are playing in a band, I highlighted the parts which I felt is important.
Before The Rehearsal
You should learn to play yourself alone all the parts or songs you have planned for rehearsals, and along with metronome. Be self-critic, to avoid making mistakes that you won't be able to fix on the spot later on. Prepare all your ideas and write them out or record them, and even send them to your band peers, so they could be prepared to what you're about to work on. If you have some solo spots, make sure that you don't look for notes or options of how to play them on rehearsal. That really should be done at home. Make a loop of chord progressions you have to solo on and hit it. The only exception to this should be a complexly constructed solo that involves all band, though, that can be worked on alone, too. If you have in plan to make new songs on rehearsal, get enough sleep and try to warm up before, if you have time. Don't be late for rehearsals, especially if you pay for rehearse time, have respect for time of everyone else in the band, and they will respect yours. Also try to make sure you take care of all important phone calls and potential distractions before the rehearsals, as well as other basic stuff such as changing strings and similar things. And of course, don't go to rehearsals drunk or under some other influence.
During The Rehearsal
The worst thing that could happen on a rehearsal is when someone comes in really bad mood. It reflects on everyone else, and the music itself. If everything irritates you, find real reasons for that, and calm down. Don't snap on your band peers, because they might not be the source of your bad mood. Negative energy issue can be a real band-breaker.
Set up your sound. I suggest you to study the physical nature of sound of your instrument, and learn how to make a healthy sound for rehearsals. Don't allow yourselves to play in the noise. And make sure you don't play too loud. If you don't hear yourself well, and you hear that you're in balance with drums, lower other instruments, or fix your frequency configurations. Sometimes more noise occurs at bad equalizer settings than on loud playing. Be informed about making a good sound setting or have someone set it up for you. Have this problem fixed in the beginning because it will drive you to deafness and uncreativity.
When you're working on your new stuff, be open to everyone's opinion, even if you're about to play the song you wrote yourself. Have everyone put a part of themselves in the song and listen to everyone's idea, because they just might provide a bit to the song that you might have missed or hadn't thought of before yourself. When some band members have to work on the part they play together and that doesn't involve you, don't make noise with your instrument, you'll distract them a lot, and it can get on a nerve easily. Rather think about other ideas you can provide for the song.
Always. ALWAYS stop whatever you're doing if you get some really great idea, and write it out or record it immediately, because no matter how good it might be, there is an enormously big chance that you will forget it. Don't allow yourself that. I lost few of ideas that way, and I totally regret it. It is also advisable to record your whole rehearsal in some way, especially if you're making new songs on the spot. You might find lots of potential material on those recordings.
When you fully practiced out a song with your band, and it is technically ready, don't stay on playing it while stand and not move at all, or even worse, not move and only look at your guitar. Jump, move, dance, give your peers a deadly eye look, play with your guitar behind your back, play with your guitar on the floor, play with your teeth, with your tongue, whatever. Just don't stay on playing it with your mind. You should get to the point where you actually don't even think about what you play. When you get to play live, there is a certain problem that comes out if you don't listen to what I just wrote, even more often if you play energetic music. The problem is that when you play, you turn the crowd on, and when you turn the crowd on, they turn you on even more, and you wanna do all the things you should've done and practiced on rehearsals, but you won't be able to do them, or you will do them, but make tons of mistakes. Turn of your lights and get a small light show for your rehearsals. Feel and go into it like you're on stage, in front of thousands of people! You'll find this very interesting and amusing, and it will spare you of all the bad things on the stage. Even make a small choreography of your live shows if necessary, and go into details. See what might happen on stage, and try to work it out on rehearsals, before unwanted consequences can occur.
I also advise you to squeeze all the best from the rehearsal time. Don't go in senseless jams (unless you know for sure they'll benefit your bandwork), don't have a cigar every 5 minutes, don't get stuck in some non-music related chats for too long, don't have too long breaks (though, they are useful sometimes, when you go way over the top and it really doesn't make sense to push yourself too much, because nothing creative will happen) and most importantly, don't wander off with your thoughts. Be there 120%, or at least 100%, and you'll notice the difference.
After The Rehearsal
If you have the time, go for a drink with your peers and talk about everything you've done on rehearsals. Review all your ideas, and talk about what you could do next. Give yourselves some directions for next rehearsals. Fix all the other problems you have in between yourselves right here, and not during rehearsals. And have a good time, establish a great personal relationships. If you enjoy being with your band outside the band, you will enjoy it even more when you're in the band. And everyone who'll hear or see the band will notice that, and it plays a big factor of success.
How To Practice More Effectively
Source: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/general_music/dobro_lessons_-_how_to_practice_more_effectively.html
Things to keep in mind:
• Find a place where you live where you feel really comfortable playing. Always keep your instrument on a stand, out of the case where you can always be reminded of it. You will practice more if your instrument can easily be played!
• Find a time of day that you can set aside for playing music and try hard to stick to it.
* Just a little bit of practice everyday is better than a ton of practice here and there.
• Practice Slowly and always try to play in tune
* Everyone wants to immediately play fast. However, you should always work your way up to playing fast by practicing playing everything correctly at a slow tempo with a metronome.
• Always keep in mind the FOUR T’s.
1. Timing 2. Tone 3. Technique 4. Taste
The Four T’s:
• Timing
Always try and play with something or someone to help you keep you honest about your rhythm.
• Tone
Simply listen and really try hard to avoid playing things that sound “BAD”. This is will also improve as your technique improves.
Find a musician with a tone you ABSOLUTELY LOVE and try your hardest to get that tone. You probably will come close if you really work at it, and in doing so you will have a great goal to shoot for in your practice!
• Technique
Watch Videos of your favorite musicians of your whatever instrument you are learning. Really watch closely how they hold their instrument and the details of their hand/finger placement.
When you practice either put a mirror in front of you or better yet, videotape yourself. Watch back intently and look for things that you could improve upon.
• Taste
One of the most important qualities of being a great musician is having taste. It's hard to describe "how to get taste", but one can start by simply listening to other players that are very tasteful players. These players know what to play and what not play....when to play and when to not play. Just simply by being very sensitive to the music and the musicians around, you can start doing this. Know when to play quiet and when to play with volume and intensity. Know when to be bluesy and know when playing bluesy is not fitting for the song. Use your ear...listen, listen, listen. Be sensitive. Don't force what you what to happen in the song, let the song and the music, environment, and audience around you help you choose what to play next next.
Things to work on:
• Transcribe, Transcribe, Transcribe!
Transcribing means sitting down and learning a song or a lick by ear directly off of the CD. Why is this good? In doing this you will be working on the Three T’s, and your ear all at the same time. It’s like having a super condensed power packed practice session!
You can buy several programs for your computer to help your
Slow The Lick/Song Down so you can figure it out.
The best transcriber I’ve found is called the Amazing Slow Downer! (Download it here)
You can slow what you want to figure out down, yet it doesn’t try the pitch and the sound quality stays really close the original.
• Scales, Arpeggios, Chords, Music Theory, Etc.
With a Metronome, Band-In-A-Box, or another musicians playing backup, or playing along with a practice track you made or bought, work on playing/improvising with whatever new scale, arpeggio, or chord you are learning.
You should always strive to have a complete understanding of your instrument. Work on knowing very quickly exactly where each note, chord, scale is on your instrument, and how to play it with the most efficiency and best tone you can get.
• Songs!
Always be learning a new song!
• Arrangements And Originals
You should always have either a new song or idea your are working on or take a song you already know, and try and work out your own version of it. Write it down and save it so you don’t forget it! Before you know it you will have a library of songs you have done!
• Join A Band Or Go To Jams!
Joining a band or going to jams will motivate you to practice, and also give you an outlet to play and experiment with some of the things you are working. It will also help you with your rhythm and give you ideas for new songs that you can work.
• Practice Playing Standing Up If You Are Going To Be Playing A Lot Standing Up.
It always is different playing standing up until you get used to it. If you only practice sitting down when you go out to play and you have to stand up it will feel very unnatural and your playing will greatly suffer.
Things to keep in mind:
• Find a place where you live where you feel really comfortable playing. Always keep your instrument on a stand, out of the case where you can always be reminded of it. You will practice more if your instrument can easily be played!
• Find a time of day that you can set aside for playing music and try hard to stick to it.
* Just a little bit of practice everyday is better than a ton of practice here and there.
• Practice Slowly and always try to play in tune
* Everyone wants to immediately play fast. However, you should always work your way up to playing fast by practicing playing everything correctly at a slow tempo with a metronome.
• Always keep in mind the FOUR T’s.
1. Timing 2. Tone 3. Technique 4. Taste
The Four T’s:
• Timing
Always try and play with something or someone to help you keep you honest about your rhythm.
- Metronome
- Play along with CD’s
- Play with other musicians
- Join a Band
- Go to Jams
• Tone
Simply listen and really try hard to avoid playing things that sound “BAD”. This is will also improve as your technique improves.
Find a musician with a tone you ABSOLUTELY LOVE and try your hardest to get that tone. You probably will come close if you really work at it, and in doing so you will have a great goal to shoot for in your practice!
• Technique
Watch Videos of your favorite musicians of your whatever instrument you are learning. Really watch closely how they hold their instrument and the details of their hand/finger placement.
When you practice either put a mirror in front of you or better yet, videotape yourself. Watch back intently and look for things that you could improve upon.
• Taste
One of the most important qualities of being a great musician is having taste. It's hard to describe "how to get taste", but one can start by simply listening to other players that are very tasteful players. These players know what to play and what not play....when to play and when to not play. Just simply by being very sensitive to the music and the musicians around, you can start doing this. Know when to play quiet and when to play with volume and intensity. Know when to be bluesy and know when playing bluesy is not fitting for the song. Use your ear...listen, listen, listen. Be sensitive. Don't force what you what to happen in the song, let the song and the music, environment, and audience around you help you choose what to play next next.
Things to work on:
• Transcribe, Transcribe, Transcribe!
Transcribing means sitting down and learning a song or a lick by ear directly off of the CD. Why is this good? In doing this you will be working on the Three T’s, and your ear all at the same time. It’s like having a super condensed power packed practice session!
You can buy several programs for your computer to help your
Slow The Lick/Song Down so you can figure it out.
The best transcriber I’ve found is called the Amazing Slow Downer! (Download it here)
You can slow what you want to figure out down, yet it doesn’t try the pitch and the sound quality stays really close the original.
• Scales, Arpeggios, Chords, Music Theory, Etc.
With a Metronome, Band-In-A-Box, or another musicians playing backup, or playing along with a practice track you made or bought, work on playing/improvising with whatever new scale, arpeggio, or chord you are learning.
You should always strive to have a complete understanding of your instrument. Work on knowing very quickly exactly where each note, chord, scale is on your instrument, and how to play it with the most efficiency and best tone you can get.
• Songs!
Always be learning a new song!
- Learn the Melody and be able to play rhythm while someone else plays the melody.
- Understand and know what chord goes with each melody note of the song. You should also strive to understand what notes you could play over each chord.
- The notes in that chord (G - B - D)
- G major scale (G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G)
- G major pentatonic scale (G, A, B, D, E) (You’ve removed the 4th, and 7th tone of the scale.
- G minor pentatonic (G, Bb, C, D, F, G)
- G blues scale (G, Bb, C, Db, D, F, G)
• Arrangements And Originals
You should always have either a new song or idea your are working on or take a song you already know, and try and work out your own version of it. Write it down and save it so you don’t forget it! Before you know it you will have a library of songs you have done!
• Join A Band Or Go To Jams!
Joining a band or going to jams will motivate you to practice, and also give you an outlet to play and experiment with some of the things you are working. It will also help you with your rhythm and give you ideas for new songs that you can work.
• Practice Playing Standing Up If You Are Going To Be Playing A Lot Standing Up.
It always is different playing standing up until you get used to it. If you only practice sitting down when you go out to play and you have to stand up it will feel very unnatural and your playing will greatly suffer.
26/10/09 - Finalized T-Shirt Design
We have finalized the design for the shirt for Music Club. Special thanks to our chairman, members from the Publicity Dept, especially to Yeoh Pei Yee who helped the most with the design, and all the other members who were involved.
The T-shirt will be sold at the price of RM 20 per piece. All members of Music Club are required to buy this T-shirt as this shirt will be used as the official club uniform for each activity starting from the year 2010. Thank you and have a nice day!
How to Practice Guitar?
Source: http://www.notplayingguitar.com/2008/12/instant-guitar-practice-routine.html
Do you wonder what to practice when you sit down with your guitar? If you do, you could be wasting valuable practice time. Maybe you just sit and twiddle and play a few songs you know. This is fine relaxation, but it won't make your playing much better.
The best way to counter the problem is to plan your practice in advance, say a week or so at a time. But we all have those busy weeks when we just don't get around to it, and that's when an instant guitar practice routine comes in useful.
Just copy the instant practice routine below and keep it near your guitar. It will be ready for you to pick a couple of things to work on every time you practice.
Practice What You're Stuck On
Maybe there's a chord change you can't make fast enough, or a bar where you always go wrong. Focus on that problem and practice until you solve it.
Learn Fretboard Notes and Intervals
Pick notes, say them and play them in different places on the fretboard. Combining these actions reinforces your learning.
Play a Chord Progression in Several Keys
Take a chord progression you know and practice it in unfamiliar keys. Aim to play in all twelve keys if you can, you'll need some movable chord positions to do it.
Play Chords You Know in New Orders
Build your chord changing skills with this easy exercise. Take a sequence of chords, the chords of a song you know for example, and play them in different orders. You should be able to change to and from all the chords with equal ease. Can you?
Practice Strum Patterns
Add more to your strumming bag of tricks, the more strums you know the better. Use a chord progression you know and make up new strums over it.
Practice Arpeggio Patterns
Again, take a chord progression you know and create an arpeggio pattern over it. Practice with a metronome to build accuracy and speed.
Make up Bass Runs between Chords
Take two chords you know and experiment with bass lines to link them. You can use scales, chromatic lines or just pick notes randomly to see what they sound like. Practice lines you like until you are good enough to add them in your songs.
Practice Intervals
Take an interval such as maj 3rd, min 3rd, 4ths, 5th, etc., and play them all over your fretboard. A good way to do this is to take a scale and play each note of the scale with the chosen interval.
Work out a Melody
Choose a nursery rhyme, Christmas carol or some other melody you know by heart and work it out on your guitar. Don't worry about getting the right key, start from any note and try to find what comes next.
Practice Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, Vibrato, Bends, Slides
Brush up on your basics by playing some notes using these common guitar skills.
Make up Licks
Pick between three and five notes and see how many interesting licks you can make up with them.
There you have an instant practice routine to ensure you do something valuable every time you pick up your guitar. If you are serious about improving your guitar playing then copy it now and keep it with your guitar ready for your next practice session.
Do you wonder what to practice when you sit down with your guitar? If you do, you could be wasting valuable practice time. Maybe you just sit and twiddle and play a few songs you know. This is fine relaxation, but it won't make your playing much better.
The best way to counter the problem is to plan your practice in advance, say a week or so at a time. But we all have those busy weeks when we just don't get around to it, and that's when an instant guitar practice routine comes in useful.
Just copy the instant practice routine below and keep it near your guitar. It will be ready for you to pick a couple of things to work on every time you practice.
Practice What You're Stuck On
Maybe there's a chord change you can't make fast enough, or a bar where you always go wrong. Focus on that problem and practice until you solve it.
Learn Fretboard Notes and Intervals
Pick notes, say them and play them in different places on the fretboard. Combining these actions reinforces your learning.
Play a Chord Progression in Several Keys
Take a chord progression you know and practice it in unfamiliar keys. Aim to play in all twelve keys if you can, you'll need some movable chord positions to do it.
Play Chords You Know in New Orders
Build your chord changing skills with this easy exercise. Take a sequence of chords, the chords of a song you know for example, and play them in different orders. You should be able to change to and from all the chords with equal ease. Can you?
Practice Strum Patterns
Add more to your strumming bag of tricks, the more strums you know the better. Use a chord progression you know and make up new strums over it.
Practice Arpeggio Patterns
Again, take a chord progression you know and create an arpeggio pattern over it. Practice with a metronome to build accuracy and speed.
Make up Bass Runs between Chords
Take two chords you know and experiment with bass lines to link them. You can use scales, chromatic lines or just pick notes randomly to see what they sound like. Practice lines you like until you are good enough to add them in your songs.
Practice Intervals
Take an interval such as maj 3rd, min 3rd, 4ths, 5th, etc., and play them all over your fretboard. A good way to do this is to take a scale and play each note of the scale with the chosen interval.
Work out a Melody
Choose a nursery rhyme, Christmas carol or some other melody you know by heart and work it out on your guitar. Don't worry about getting the right key, start from any note and try to find what comes next.
Practice Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, Vibrato, Bends, Slides
Brush up on your basics by playing some notes using these common guitar skills.
Make up Licks
Pick between three and five notes and see how many interesting licks you can make up with them.
There you have an instant practice routine to ensure you do something valuable every time you pick up your guitar. If you are serious about improving your guitar playing then copy it now and keep it with your guitar ready for your next practice session.
Types of Guitar
Source: http://www.howtotuneaguitar.org/lessons/the-guitar/guitar-types/
There are plenty types of guitars(more than 10). I've chosen this article from web because it's simpler & easier to be understand by beginners.
Classical and Flamenco Guitars
Sometimes known as Spanish guitars, these instruments are very suitable for Classical Style solo playing Flamenco Music and for accompanying singers. The nylon strings are plucked or strummed with the right-hand thumb or fingers - a pick is never used. The Flamenco Guitar is similar to the classical Guitar but has plates to protect the face of the guitar during golpe tapping.
Round-hole Steel Strung Guitars
The most common type of Acoustic guitar found in North America, these all-round instruments are used for most popular guitar music; pretty much everything except Classical or Flamenco. They may be finger-picked, or played with a Guitar Pick. They are suitable for accompanying singing and playing with others. Pick-ups may be added to those guitars for playing with an amplifier.
The Jumbo is a Round-hole Guitar with an extra large body which gives a deep bass sound.
The 12-string Guitar is similar to the Jumbo, but is a more specialized instrument. It is not recommend for absolute beginners.
Semi Acoustic Guitars
These very slim guitars give enough acoustic (un-amplified) sound for practicing, but are otherwise played with an amplifier. They are lighter than Solid Guitars and often have a better tone when amplified.
Cello Guitars are similar but have a thicker body. They are played with or without an amplifier and give a chunky rhythm sound.
Electric Guitars
Electric Guitars are only played with an amplifier, as they have no real acoustic sound. They are made in various shapes, styles and sizes and usually come with a solid body. You can also use effects pedals and different types of contraptions to alter the sound.
Semi-Acoustic and Solid Body Guitars have lower action then an Acoustic or Classical Guitar, and are ideal for fast ‘electric’ playing - Jazz, Rock, Pop, etc.
Electric guitars are generally played with a guitar pick.
There are plenty types of guitars(more than 10). I've chosen this article from web because it's simpler & easier to be understand by beginners.
Classical and Flamenco Guitars
Sometimes known as Spanish guitars, these instruments are very suitable for Classical Style solo playing Flamenco Music and for accompanying singers. The nylon strings are plucked or strummed with the right-hand thumb or fingers - a pick is never used. The Flamenco Guitar is similar to the classical Guitar but has plates to protect the face of the guitar during golpe tapping.
Round-hole Steel Strung Guitars
The most common type of Acoustic guitar found in North America, these all-round instruments are used for most popular guitar music; pretty much everything except Classical or Flamenco. They may be finger-picked, or played with a Guitar Pick. They are suitable for accompanying singing and playing with others. Pick-ups may be added to those guitars for playing with an amplifier.
The Jumbo is a Round-hole Guitar with an extra large body which gives a deep bass sound.
The 12-string Guitar is similar to the Jumbo, but is a more specialized instrument. It is not recommend for absolute beginners.
Semi Acoustic Guitars
These very slim guitars give enough acoustic (un-amplified) sound for practicing, but are otherwise played with an amplifier. They are lighter than Solid Guitars and often have a better tone when amplified.
Cello Guitars are similar but have a thicker body. They are played with or without an amplifier and give a chunky rhythm sound.
Electric Guitars
Electric Guitars are only played with an amplifier, as they have no real acoustic sound. They are made in various shapes, styles and sizes and usually come with a solid body. You can also use effects pedals and different types of contraptions to alter the sound.
Semi-Acoustic and Solid Body Guitars have lower action then an Acoustic or Classical Guitar, and are ideal for fast ‘electric’ playing - Jazz, Rock, Pop, etc.
Electric guitars are generally played with a guitar pick.
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