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The piano has been an integral part of jazz bands since the origin of jazz. The best thing about it is that you can play jazz music as a soloist or as part of the band and thus the piano is also the most flexible musical instrument in a jazz band with its myriads of playing techniques.

Furthermore, most musical instruments in a jazz band can only play single notes with the exception of the vibraphone which at most can play two notes together, the guitar and the piano the latter two being able to play multiple notes as in a chord or single notes as and when the musician choose to do. That is why playing the jazz piano can be a very challenging but gratifying experience.

In the beginning, the jazz piano player’s role was just a percussionist role of keeping tempos with repetitive chord combinations. Those days are now long gone and the pianist now can choose any style and techniques to play with the band or to accompany singers such as using short sustained chordal and melodic fragments known as comping in the jazz fraternity.

If you want to be a good jazz pianist, you must be good at sight reading, playing by ear as well as being very skillful at improvising chords and notes. Furthermore, you must be very adaptable to the playing styles of various bands because playing jazz is often a jam session with other fellow musicians and very often in unrehearsed impromptu sessions.  Read more...

Back 120 years ago, the “How’s” of the cause and spread of infection were just being discovered.  Celebrated surgeons in the 19th century frequently used the same medical instruments while going from one patient to the next.  The cleanliness aspects of wiping the surgical instrument with a cloth or pouring a alcohol liquid over it to clean it, were the only measures of sterilization available.   Often times, during surgery, the knife would be placed between the teeth of the surgeon, enabling his hands to be free to operate within the incision, till its use was needed again.  If a cut healed rapidly, it was a rarity and sufficiently great to spawn dialog and comment.  Now, today the exact opposite holds true.  The former result was a accident of cleanliness rather than the deliberate acknowledgement of what should have been the rule.  The most successful surgeons/doctors of the day were those that possessed intuitive habits of neatness and cleanliness.

Dr. Valentine Mott, (one of the most highly regarded surgeons in the 1890′s) was meticulous to a fault on the cleanliness of his hands and medical instruments, prior to, during and after surgery.  Often the butt of jokes by his peers and friends, Dr. Mott was steadfast in his routine and his success rate was above reproach.  Only years later with the advances of knowing the “Whys” in the spread of infection, did others fully understand the achievements of Dr. Mott.  Read more...

Guitar is a very old musical instrument. It is normally played in an unplugged way. But when played in a show, a microphone is also used. Otherwise the sound will not reach every listener. Acoustic guitars have a unique sound.

Microphones sometimes cause different kinds of problems. And for that reason, the use of a proper microphone is ensured for acoustic guitars. Here we will talk about different microphone techniques for acoustic guitars.

The acoustic guitar delivers a varied range of frequencies. The range is from under 100hz to the extent which is not audible to human beings. The resonance of the largest string delivers low frequencies and the plucking system delivers the high frequencies. In most types of acoustic guitars, the sound hole generates the bass sound.

This instrument has always been so popular that people have thought of making some microphone which will not harm the sound of this instrument. And for this reason, a lot of experiments were made on microphones.

After a lot of experiments, dynamic and condenser microphones were made. These two microphones are suitable for acoustic guitars. But among these two, the condenser microphone delivers the most detailed and the brightest sound.

There are small and large diaphragm microphones available. Both of them are perfect for acoustic guitars. But while playing the lead portion of the acoustic guitar, if you stroke the string hard, then a sharp transient will be produced. It is louder than the sustain portion of the waveform. This will not sound well at the time of recording. So it will be better if you use the dynamic microphones for playing the lead portion.  Read more...

If music is promoted the right way, then one has a really good chance of making oneself into a hit. The secret lies in getting to the hearts of the public. Obviously this means that the quality of the song or the music that you are selling is equally good and appealing. However, the technique with which your music is promoted means a lot and has a lot of effect on the kind of music that you have created.

There are many different ways by which you can promote music. This means that you should have strong connections with music studios and links with radio stations which help getting your song to the public and make it heard over and over again amongst the people. Obviously, the more popular your song will become and more hearts it will touch and you will be able to promote your music to the fullest. Moreover, if you are able to promote your single song, it will also help in creating a music album for yourself in the future.

You can also post short clips of your songs on certain websites who market the songs of new comers for free. In this way, you will also get exposure on the internet. A quick search on the net just gives you a quick review of the song and you know all about it as well. If you want to make you number even more popular, you can even create a ringtone over it and post it on the website. In this way the internet public will get to hear your song in a more convenient way.  Read more...