Duff Music Blog

Hole Notes: The Chord and Rhythm Patterns of Django Reinhardt

2012-01-29T12:41:00.000-05:00

These videos are related to the February 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full text and tablature for the column, you can pick up the issue of newsstands now or in our online store.

In this month's "Hole Notes," Musician's Institute instructor Dale Turned takes a look at artistry of guitar great and inventor of "gypsy jazz," Django Reinhardt. Because his famed quintet, Hot Club of France, didn't have a percussionist, the rhythmic patterns and chord choices in Django's unique brand of jazz were of paramount importance.

Click below for lesson.

Hole Notes: The Chord and Rhythm Patterns of Django Reinhardt

Fender Guitar: A Fun Investment For You

2012-01-28T13:16:00.000-05:00

The first name which strikes us when we think of electric guitars is undoubtedly "Fender". Most every guitarist dreams of owning a Fender guitar. Most of the renowned rock guitarists as well as guitarists of other music genre swear by their Fender guitars. Before we discuss the various types of Fender guitars available, let us take a overview of the Fender musical instruments corporation.

Arizona is the home of this guitar manufacturer. The wild success of Fender's "Stratocaster" and "Telecaster" guitars has helped it's rise to fame. A solid body is a feature of both of these electric guitars. Even though many popular brands of electric guitars are on the market today, the reputation and likability of Fender guitars is without comparison.

The most popular Fender guitar to date is the Fender Stratocaster. This is a solid-body electric guitar with a maple neck. The fret board of this guitar is made of maple, rosewood or ebony. This amazing guitar boasts of three single-coil pick-ups. The Fender Stratocaster is a versatile guitar as it allows the player to produce a large variety of tones. This guitar has been associated with music greats like Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and many more guitar legends.

Likewise, another well-known Fender guitar is the "Fender Telecaster". This electric guitar has two single-coil pick-ups. The Telecaster is popular for its prominent sound quality. Even today, after almost six decades of its birth, the Telecaster continues to impress millions with its crystal clear sound. Many beautiful melodies have been developed on the Fender Telecaster.

Fender manufactures other electric guitars like the "Fender Esquire". Designed in 1950, the Esquire had one single-coil pick-up. This guitar is also a solid body guitar. Though essentially being a single pick-up guitar, the Fender Esquire never failed to impress the audience with its perfect tone and melody.

If you know the type of sound quality you want in a guitar, then it's not hard to select a Fender guitar to meet your needs. Fender electric guitars are available worldwide, plus there are many online music stores where you can purchase your chosen musical instrument. By buying a Fender electric guitar you'll be able to create a melodic aura which will captivate your audiences and make your performance a most memorable one.

Daniel Wright

HELD MY BABY LAST NIGHT - HOUND DOG TAYLOR and the HouseRockers

2012-01-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

Learn Piano Blues

2012-01-27T11:51:00.000-05:00

No matter what level of playing you're at now or which musical instruments you may know how to play, learn piano blues and you'll be much better off for it. As someone who spends a lot of time playing the saxophone and writing music I have found learning to play the piano invaluable for musical ideas, arranging for other instruments and just plain fun and relaxation. Not to mention being able to accompany other performers when the opportunity comes up.

Learn piano blues and you have also learned many other of your favorite rock and roll songs as well since that style developed out of blues music so the two styles are harmonically very close.

Another great thing about being able to play some kind of blues piano is that you can learn a couple fairly easy patterns on each hand and as you become more comfortable with them before you know it you can quickly develop them into patterns that are slightly more technical and before you know it you're playing some very decent boogie woogie too.

The boogie style came directly out of the blues and is one of the best ways for a pianist to show what they can do. This style of blues with a bit of speed is very impressive.

I learned by standing behind and beside some of my piano player friends and just watched what they did with their hands. Watching from above you can really see what's going on with both hands and how these repetitive riffs are being executed.

It's amazing how easy it can be when you break it down and take it slow. Then, like anything else, with a little daily practice comes the speed and dexterity. Sure, kids usually pick it up quicker than adults but anyone who has the desire to learn can do it regardless of age.

So, learning to play blues music on the piano is not only very basic technically but is also a great spring board for other styles like gospel and jazz. Even if you only learn to play the blues think of the fun you'll have next time there's a jam session opportunity... you know what they say; Blues is the international language of music.

John Ferreira

How To Get The Beat Going With Your Guitar

2012-01-26T13:34:00.000-05:00

The reason that so many people fail at playing the guitar is because they give up their lessons too soon. They usually think that they are not capable of learning the instrument and think that the problem lies completely with them.

The truth of the matter is that the problem is not with the person learning but the method they are using to learn. If the player finds that he has advanced to a certain level and is unable to continue they should consider the technique they are using to learn the guitar.

The only way to move beyond this problem is to try another technique and see if it helps.

When you ask eight out of ten people who are learning the guitar why they continued they would answer that they learned the approach of feeling the beat.

The experts in guitar playing will tell you that there is a difference between a good guitarist and a great guitarist is their ability to feel the beat.

What you are learning is that feeling the beat will completely change the way you are learning your instrument. When you try to feel the beat as you are playing the guitar you will bring inside yourself the pulse of the song and let it flow out of you to the strings on your instrument.

This is where the understanding of playing the guitar from your soul comes from. That is the approach you are using in this method.

The experts in the music field know that when a singer or composer puts their emotion and soul into a piece of music the result is a person who stands above the crowd. When a musician learns how to feel the beat in the music they are playing they will put the individual notes in their body and let the music flow from them.

So you must be wondering how you learn to feel the beat.

The first thing you will need to do is internalize the beat. You will want to be emotionally ready to play your guitar. Listen to the music and feel a connection between the music and your feelings. This is how you feel the beat when it is flowing in you. Once you have gotten the beat inside of you should play those strings and play the feelings you are having not the song.

You will also need to learn to play a song by ear. Once you learn how to feel the beat you will begin to learn how to play music by ear. The act of playing the guitar by ear involves listening to some music and being able to play it. There have been many great musicians that had this ability. Once they felt the song inside of them they were able to begin playing the notes as the song progressed. Most of the people who write music do not use the tabs and music sheets; they simply play music as they hear it inside of themselves.

You do not have to follow the rules when you are learning to play the guitar. The instrument you are trying to play and the music is available to anyone who wants to play. Take some time to become acquainted with your instrument and learn to feel the beat. It will not happen overnight, you will need to practice and allow the music to become a part of you.

Many people who fail at the guitar just didn’t put in enough time and practice. You will need to put in the time if you ever want to become an expert at playing. Just get started and before you know it you will be playing like a pro.

Rick Napolitano

Talkin' Blues: Conversational Phrasing

2012-01-26T12:50:00.001-05:00

These videos are related to the February 2012 issue of Guitar World. For the full text and tablature for the column, you can pick up the issue of newsstands now or in our online store.

February's "Talkin' Blues" column looks at the ways in which everyday speech patterns influence blues guitar playing, a concept called conversational phrasing. Conversational phrasing could be best epitomized by the guitar work of Albert Collins, but as Keith Wyatt points out, it has remained a secret ingredient in the arsenals of many guitar greats.

Click on the link below for lesson.

Talkin' Blues: Conversational Phrasing

Bummer: All major music publishers are now suing Grooveshark (update) | VentureBeat

2012-01-26T11:20:00.000-05:00

EMI, one of the largest music publishers in the world, is suing streaming music service Grooveshark over a discrepancy in royalty payments.

Grooveshark is different from other prominent streaming music services like Spotify, MOG and Rdio because it doesn’t have broad licensing agreements to play the majority of its music. It depends on its users to upload music that can be enjoyed by the community. If a user uploads a file that he or she doesn’t own and it gets a DMCA complaint, Grooveshark takes the file down.

To date, Universal Music Group, Sony Music and the Warner Music Group have filed a lawsuit against Grooveshark for allegedly pirating thousands of songs through its streaming service.

Now EMI is accusing Grooveshark of not paying any royalties since entering into a streaming music licensing agreement in 2009, according to a Reuters report. This means that all four of the major music companies are now tied up in legal disputes with Grooveshark for one reason or another — making the music startup’s future look mighty bleak.

Grooveshark estimates that it owes EMI about $150,000 in fees. EMI, however, says that the amount owed is much larger and that Grooveshark has “continued to exploit” its copyrighted music while ignoring demands for both accounting statements and payments. We’ve reached out to Grooveshark for comment and will update this post with any new information.

Gainesville, Fla.-based Grooveshark has over 30 million active monthly users who stream more than 15 billion songs per year, according to the company. In November, the company rolled out a new design of its online music player that includes a social layer.

Update: 11:00 a.m. PST

A Grooveshark spokesperson responded to our inquiries about the accusations by pointing out that EMI music publishing (not the record label) is the organization currently disputing the royalty payments. The spokesperson also clarified that EMI filed a formal complaint (not a full lawsuit) with the New York State Supreme Court. Here’s a copy of the full court document: EMI Entertainment World Inc v. Escape Media Group Inc, New York State Supreme Court, New York County, No. 650013/2012 (PDF).

Official statement from Grooveshark below:

“We make regular payments to EMI. This is a contract dispute with the Publisher EMI (not the record label) that we expect to resolve.”

Bummer: All major music publishers are now suing Grooveshark (update) | VentureBeat

Hard Rock Rising

2012-01-25T20:55:00.002-05:00

FREE Tracks. Download to Vote. Decide a Winner!
Please vote for Jim Duff & the Necessities to play LIVE at Louisville for Hard Rock Rising. Download FREE tracks and vote now! Voting ends February 5th.

Learn How to Play the Guitar Quickly

2012-01-25T11:26:00.000-05:00

Before we dive into the basics of how to play the guitar, let's take a look at the actual exercise layout. When we watch our favorite rock stars jamming with their amazing guitars at concerts or in music videos, we are envious of their speed, dexterity and skill. We want to be able to do the same thing and find ourselves wondering how in the world they learned to play so well.

The guitar is not a difficult instrument to learn how to play, but before you begin taking lessons there are a few basics you should keep in mind. You must be determined to succeed. Without determination, you are destined to give up before you've learned to play this wonderful instrument. Determination is especially important when it comes to learning to play the guitar.

Patience is the Key

Another key to learning the guitar is patience. You cannot become a rock star overnight. Learning the guitar takes time, especially during the initial days. Once you have these two basic tenets, the third thing, which is specific to music, is having a musical ear. You have to be able to, over a period of time, identify the sounds associated with particular notes.

Buy yourself a Guitar

The first step to actually learning how to play the guitar is to get yourself a guitar. Owning a guitar is vital to the learning process simply because learning involves constant practice. You have to constantly practice what you learn, as a lack of practice can make you rusty and setback your learning process.

Having your own guitar enables you to practice whenever you want, at the frequency you desire. Also, the feeling of ownership is a big confidence booster. By purchasing your own guitar, you have taken the first step to learning how to play it. The last and final preliminary step before you kick off the actual learning process is getting yourself a teacher.

Find a Good Teacher

In the days before the Internet, to learn how to play the guitar, you had to learn from a guitar teacher. This meant you had to actually go to the house of a teacher, or have the teacher come to your house. That was quite a limiting experience, because there was no guarantee the teacher you were learning from was the best or was able to teach you the style you wanted to learn.

Did you Know?
These days it's getting harder and harder to find a good guitar teacher that will actually come to your house and teach you how to play the guitar. Most aspiring players are looking towards the Internet for lessons.

Learning Guitar Online

There has been an explosion of online guitar teaching course lately and this has changed the equation forever. There are numerous online websites that are designed to teach a student how to play the guitar. These courses take potential guitar players from the simple basics to complex chords and various playing styles. In order to learn online, all you really need is your guitar, a computer and internet access. You should search for a site that best suits your particular needs. Once you've found the perfect site for you, jump right in and start taking those guitar lessons. You will be glad that you did.

Kirk Downing

Get More Bang for Your Buck at Musician's Friend! Take 15% Off and Free Gifts!

2012-01-24T19:39:00.001-05:00

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Thanks to all of our fans!

2012-01-24T11:57:00.002-05:00

I just want to send a shout out to all of our supporters and fans to let you know that because of you we have sold over 7,000 downloads and 4,000 CD’s! My sincerest thanks to each of you! Who needs a record deal when we have people like you that support what we're doing? I absolutely love our fans and I never will be able to truly express my gratitude for each and every one of you!
People really do have the power to make choices when it comes to music, thanks to the Internet. In the end, a record deal means nothing to me because I didn't start making music for fame. All along, for me, it has always been my passion for music, my passion to share this passion. I care about music and because of music, I care about my fans. Someone asked me the other day if I had “'made it”' yet? I replied, "Well, if truth be known, I "made it”' a long time ago." They responded by saying, "I don't hear you on the radio or see you on TV." I answered by saying, ‘I have raised my son to be an independent, educated young man.' I have taught him that respecting
others and hard work will yield positive results. I am working to instill in my daughter these same values. I have taught them not to be dependent others, but, at the same time to know that we are there for them if and when they need us, that by the will of The Almighty they have the power to be whatever they want to be. In the end, for me, that's really what this life, fame, success -- all of it -- is about to me.

In Deep: Howlin' Wolf and Hubert Sumlin

2012-01-24T11:12:00.000-05:00

In this month's "In Deep," our own Andy Aledort takes a close-up look at the blues guitar artistry of Howlin' Wolf and Hubert Sumlin, the guitarists who epitomized the sound of Chicago blues.

In Deep: Howlin' Wolf and Hubert Sumlin

The Art Of Practicing

2012-01-24T10:41:00.000-05:00

I have always believed that success, in practically any subject you can think of, is a direct result of "clear thinking". That is, the ability to understand very clearly what needs to be achieved and the action to set about surmounting very necessary hurdles in order to reach those goals. Less than successful people are either not clear in their goals or for one reason or another give up along the way. It's leveling that rough terrain, along with a clearly defined end result in mind that will get you there in the end. The success roadmap might go something like this:

Visualize goal => Surmount problems => Score

Sounds simple doesn't it? However, this clear thinking is all very well but it's usually the thought required before step 1 (visualization) that causes problems. Very often the goal does not manifest in mind because the process is so overwhelming.

And so it is with practicing the guitar, or any instrument for that matter. In more laymen's terms it's more like "What the hell should I be practicing?".

Practice is a constant struggle for many people. There is so much to learn and often so little time to allocate to it. For the jazz musician, clear thinking can be as simple as "I really like that Charlie Parker 2, 5 - how does he do that?". Then transcribing the line, practicing it in all keys and working the phrase into your own vocabulary. The 'score' as I like to call it is the ability to work it in to your own playing. I want to talk a little about that in a minute.

First, I think the most important thing to talk about is how to make best use of your practice time. There was a time when I started playing where I used to sit in my room and allocate 15 minutes to practicing scales and arpeggios, 10 minutes on technique exercises, 20 minutes on sight reading and 1/2 an hour on practicing my classical guitar repertoire. Why? because my teacher told me I had to. Years later once I started to study jazz guitar on my own I didn't feel the need to be practicing this way. It wasn't really benefiting me fully. I started to have my own goals in mind that I wanted to reach. I wanted to learn to play like one or two of my heroes, but more importantly because I liked what they played. Even more under the microscope were certain melodic lines and licks that tweaked my ear and fueled me to transcribe or simply copy the way they phrased or 'felt' a phrase. Once I clearly had in mind what I wanted to achieve I could go about achieving it - I knew what I had to do.

It's important to sit down to practice and be really clear about what you are going to do during that practice time. Now, one thing that helped me tremendously was when I made a huge commitment to scheduled practicing. In other words, deciding that every single day, no matter what, I would sit down and dedicate exactly one hour to working at this instrument. The amazing thing I found is that my regularly scheduled practice literally fueled my regularly scheduled practice! Does this make sense? What this means is that, the more I practiced, the more I wanted to practice. What started out as a committed hour turned into committed six hour sessions. Once I got into music college in London I remember waking up in the morning and practicing until I went to bed at night, remembering to eat on occasion. I was so fueled by the commitment to practice that the drive to play took over completely.

Regular practice clearly keeps your guitar technique on tip top form. There's nothing like picking up the guitar and playing a few short runs and being on top of your game, simply because you are playing regularly.

The other wonderful thing about committing to regular practice is that it actually helps you to think much more clearly, because you start to see results. Once you start to see results the concept of learning is much less overwhelming and you are able to make decisions about what you want to work on much more easily.

So do yourself a huge favor, first, make the decision to want to get much better at your guitar playing. Then once you have decided that, make a clear commitment right now and allocate a certain time of day to your guitar practice. If you only have limited time then give yourself what you know you can afford. Once you get your teeth into this system, if you don't have more time, trust me you will want to find more time. You might just want to wake up earlier. The drive to learn will take over.

Quality practice is key. I find now I am older that, if I let myself, I can get more and more distracted because there are so many other facets to my life. When I make the decision to focus 100% on my guitar problems and how I can surmount them, I find I can get completely absorbed for hours once I get going. Sometimes it helps to avoid those distractions from the outset. Maybe turn the phone off!

There is a huge difference between playing the guitar and practicing the guitar. I can play for days quite happily but am I learning anything new? Not unless I stop myself and work on my weaknesses. And there are plenty of those trust me! Many years ago I wanted to learn licks from my favorite players. I would hear a line and transcribe it. Many times I found that those musical phrases would not come out in my playing and I asked myself why. It dawned on me that there were three possible reasons:

1) I found the phrase too technically difficult to pull off.
2) It just didn't feel like it belonged in my vocabulary.
3) I hadn't fully explored the idea enough - perhaps I didn't fully understand how to use it in a practical sense.

Let's talk about these briefly.

Sometimes a horn line does not necessarily fit under the fingers on the guitar. The line might sound just terrific on a sax but if I can't play it on my guitar it's not going to have the same effect. In fact quite the opposite! Everyone is somewhat limited technically (although there are a few players that keep my head scratching I must admit!), every player has a ceiling in their own mind and I think it's perfectly OK to let some things go because they are just two gymnastic on the guitar. It's of course relative to each player's ability and comfort zone.

Occasionally I'll try and work something into my music vocabulary and it just doesn't feel like me. Some players sound great playing certain things and when I play them them they either sound too much like that other great player or I just don't feel it. Music has to be personal, it's OK to weed out stuff that you don't want to use, even when those 'weeds' are a rose garden to others.

The last idea is something very important I think. That is the idea that when you work on some new vocabulary or a new harmonic idea, that you fully understand how to use it and just as importantly, how to work it into your playing so it comes out naturally. Let's assume you are transcribing a lick on a CD you like. The first thing to do is to make sure you get the notes right. You might slow it down (there is plenty of software on the market that enables you to do this now). Whatever it takes, make sure the notes you are transcribing are correct. Then it is a matter of practicing that phrase so it feels good when you play it.

Now most folks stop right there and wonder why the phrase never shows up in their playing. The secret is to figure out exactly what chord (or group of chords) is being played underneath that line. After that, figure out what other chords could also be played underneath that phrase. Next, learn how to play that phrase everywhere on the fretboard, in different positions and keys. Finally and the most important, work the phrase into your own playing. To do this, start by improvising in any way that you normally might and focus on ways to connect that new phrase you want to play. The new phrase starts on a certain note and you will need to focus on that starting note in order to make a connection to it. Practice improvising freely and connecting to that new phrase, focusing on its starting note. Do this in all keys. Pretty soon you will know if the phrase is going to come out into your playing or not.

The art of practice is a huge subject and musicians have written complete books on it. But I do believe the real success starts with clear thinking. Make a decision to focus on something specific. Here is a more detailed roadmap to take on board:

1) Visualize. What do you want to work on - what do you want to achieve?
2) Plan. What exactly do you have to do in order to achieve that goal?
3) Action. Explore the subject in enough detail.
4) Surmount. Expect problems along the way - this is normal - don't give up! Just level the terrain.
5) Score - making sure that the subject is fully absorbed and part of your new musical make up, unless you decide otherwise.

Great players really got to grips with practicing in the early stages. It became fascinating to them and the results they saw fueled more practice. It's a self perpetuating phenomenon. By simply not practicing, the incentive to pick up your instrument diminishes over time. Then the excuses start to pour out in torrents. Then regrets. Then a very dusty guitar possibly in a dark attic somewhere.

Get practicing. Quality practice. Ask yourself questions. Look for the answers. Insist on results. This is the key to improving.

Chris Standring

One Way Out (Jim Duff & the Necessities)

2012-01-24T10:40:00.000-05:00

Blues Jamtrack in the Key Of " A " To Practice Your Licks

2012-01-23T15:19:00.000-05:00

Learn How to Easily Read Guitar Tabs

2012-01-23T11:21:00.000-05:00

With all those technical quarter notes and treble clefs, who really has time to learn guitar chords and riffs without spending days, weeks or even months taking private music lessons? Music notation is intimidating, but there is a simple solution to the problem - guitar tablature. Known as tab to professional musicians, it is almost like a diagram that shows guitarists exactly where to place their fingers. Tab presents amateurs and professionals alike with an easy way to learn new guitar chords or even a complete song. Let's break down the basics.

Where to begin with guitar tabs

Think of it this way - if you can read a map, then you can also learn guitar chords from tab. Tab consists of six horizontal lines, representing the strings of the guitar (similar to a guitar chord chart, only sideways). The low E string is represented by the bottom line, and the other strings follow in succession the highest E. Players simply follow symbols on the lines indicating what string should be pushed, and in what location (fret). For example, if the number one appears on the top line, it indicates that a finger should be placed on the highest guitar string, in the first fret. When multiple numbers appear simultaneously, it indicates that certain strings should be pushed at the same time, in the fret indicated by the numbers provided.

Taking guitar tabs to the next musical level

Most tab will indicate the chord symbol above the lines and fret numbers, so that more advanced players can read along with what they already know. Advanced tab notation may consist of complex instructions from the author. For example, sometimes a guitarist will slap their finger down forcefully on top of a string, creating a different sound. This technique, known as a hammer-on, is often indicated by appearance of the letter h in tab.

Unfortunately, tab does not have a set of standardized rules, and there are many variations. There is also little direction for rhythm and timing, but it will work well for musicians who have a good ear, and a preexisting idea about how something is supposed to sound before they play it. It is best to start by picking out a well known, simple folk melody that is easily identifiable, and then move on to more complex patterns including chords and riffs.

Guitar tabs for every musician

Tab is not only an excellent way to learn new guitar chords; it is also used to notate scales, riffs, or entire songs. Guitarists who wish to try their hand with classical pieces, but do not read standard notation can experience the joy of tackling and mastering challenging pieces. Many publishers create albums of classical pieces which include standard notation, chords, and tab. Every genre is available in tab on the Internet or for purchase in a music store.

One of the greatest aspects of tab is that once you learn how to read it, the notation can be applied to many stringed instruments like the mandolin or bass. The possibilities for a blossoming musician are endless with this simple system. From chord charts to power ballads and sonatas, tab will expand your repertoire to include an unlimited number of pieces.

Jay Field

Etta James - At Last

2012-01-20T12:04:00.000-05:00

John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers- Mists Of Time - Stories

2012-01-20T09:30:00.000-05:00

Playing Guitar - A Reflection Of Your Soul

2012-01-20T09:24:00.000-05:00

The guitar, be it electric or acoustic, is the most versatile of instruments. You can strum a few chords, adopt a highly disciplined classical guitar technique, or play sophisticated jazz chord and scale progressions. The choice is yours. Whatever your bag, the journey to achieving your goal and the fundamental sound is the real buzz.

It's a funny thing, but music is unlike most other activities. Take football for example, there is no escaping the fact that if you want to play pro-football you had better be good and there are no short cuts. Technique and fitness is an absolute must. Musical expression is different and shares may similarities with the spoken word. A few well chosen words can be far more effective than a tidal wave of sophisticated verbal statement. So it is with playing the guitar.

Arguably, the most successful singer songwriter who ever lived is Bob Dylan, whose delivery is based essentially on guitar sounds combined with an awesome skill as a lyricist. His musical structure is generally simple - but the simplicity of the music combined with great hook lines and lyrics is bang on the nail as a musical statement.

So the fact to take on board is that technical ability has little to do with musical talent. If your groove is a simple country, reggae or blues feel you can be damn good and highly relevant without being a technical genius. The simple player who plays with feel and taste is a musician, the same as a highly accomplished classical or jazz guitarist. It is amazing how formally trained musicians, i.e. classical, or other technical jazz players, are usually the most ineffective exponents of rock, country, pop or blues music.

Playing guitar is essentially an attitude, combined with feel and the necessary musical knowledge to express what you wish to play. Don't be fooled into following the path of so many potentially great musicians and be fazed by more accomplished players. When you tune in to the simplicity of a player such as the great blues guitarist B. B. King, you can't help but be affected by his economy of notes, played in such a meaningful, soulful musical context.

Playing guitar has an infinite number of possibilities. It is the most adaptable, useable instrument, and it's the journey to your goal that's the fun part. You will never stop learning guitar. Each time you pick it up you will discover something new and it needn't be hard to play to be relevant!

Arthor Pens

The 4-Letter Acronym That Could Kill The New Music Industry

2012-01-19T14:36:00.002-05:00

As some of you may already know, there are two bills bouncing around Capitol Hill called PIPA and SOPA that are supposed to stop websites and internet services from illegally giving away other people’s music (this also extends to film, books, software, video games etc., but I am only going to focus on the music side of things).

I adamantly believe that when an artist creates and records a song, the artist, and only the artist, should have the right to do with it what they want. If they want to sell it, they should sell it. If they want to give it away, it’s theirs to give away. No one else has the right to make those decisions for them.

As noble as this premise may sound, the reality is that the world is full of good people, bad people, and uneducated people. And, whether we like it or not, all these people have access to technology that makes a lot of my beliefs moot–what good is a belief or law if it is simply unenforceable.

To that end, Congress got lobbied hard by the RIAA to write a new law that allows its label members (note: the RIAA is the trade association for the major labels) to have a new legal weapon to go after “rogue” websites and services that give the middle finger to copyright by allowing people to get music for free from artists that do not want to give it away for free.

The problem is that the bills lobbied for were done so by the RIAA, the organization that no longer represents the music industry. The majority of today’s music is being created, distributed, bought, streamed and shared from artists outside of the RIAA label member system. The RIAA and its members are no longer the voice of the industry; they are the voice of what was, and an ever-shrinking part of what is. Congress needs to wake up to this fact.

Or said more eloquently by the Deputy Director of Future Of Music Coalition Casey Rae Hunter:

“Artists have every right to be wary when powerful entertainment conglomerates push for policies that could undermine free expression, all the while claiming to speak for creators.”

The second problem is that the bill gives the old school players the power to not only protect their copyrights (which I support), but also to kill the new music industry.

Simply stated, if the SOPA bill was signed into law in its original form, TuneCore could have been threatened to be turned off, and thus cut off the choice, freedom, and future revenue from the hundreds of thousands of TuneCore Artists that have earned over a quarter billion dollars. Fortunately, TuneCore would be able to handle the threat, but others with fewer resources may not have the same outcome (not to mention why should TuneCore have to spend its time and money to deal with another entity making frivolous claims).

And before you think I am being hyperbolic, here is a perfect example; the US is already seizing web properties through the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division. One of their targets was a hip-hop blog called Djaz1.com which they literally shut down, claiming the hip-hop blog was illegally distributing songs it did not have the right to distribute. That’s right, the government just grabbed the domain and shut the thing down.

Turns out the government had it all wrong – and a year later they finally relented, but not before irreparable damage was done.
The article on TechDirt titled: “Feds Falsely Censor Popular Blog For Over A Year, Deny All Due Process, Hide All Details…” provides a great play by play. The author summarizes it well when he says:

The Dajaz1 case became particularly interesting to us, after we saw evidence showing that the songs that ICE used in its affidavit as “evidence” of criminal copyright infringement were songs sent by representatives of the copyright holder with the request that the site publicize the works — in one case, even coming from a VP at a major music label. Even worse, about the only evidence that ICE had that these songs were infringing was the word of the “VP of Anti-Piracy Legal Affairs for the RIAA,” Carlos Linares, who was simply not in a position to know if the songs were infringing or authorized. In fact, one of the songs involved an artist not even represented by an RIAA label, and Linares clearly had absolutely no right to speak on behalf of that artist.

If this doesn’t scare the crap out of you, it should. If the original versions of the SOPA or PIPA bills passed, TuneCore, just like Djaz1.com could have been targeted.

The concept behind the bill is good—protect copyright—but the execution stinks. Congressman and Senators don’t know that the power has shifted, and they need to hear from you.

Seriously, they need to hear from you.

Take action, get involved. Call your Senator and/or Congressman and tell them what you think and why.

Or go here to learn and do more.

By Jeff Price

Free Ringtones

2012-01-19T13:18:00.002-05:00

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2012-01-19T12:52:00.000-05:00

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2012-01-19T12:47:00.000-05:00

Do You Want Free Rhapsody Downloads?

2012-01-19T11:05:00.000-05:00

Free music is a big deal in this world and more people are finding that they are working the process out to make a change in the way that things are being done. When you are looking to get some free music then you have to be sure that you are getting it from the right place. The last thing that you want is to go through a huge process to get the free music just to find out that you are getting nothing more than a bunch of Indie bands that are covering really old tunes and so on. This will make it impossible for you to get what you are looking for.

Through it all you can see that you are working through the deals in the right way when you investigate the place that is giving away the free music downloads. In this case we are talking about free Rhapsody downloads. This is something that is becoming more and more popular as they are trying to attract some customers. Well those customers are going to be disappointed when they get there because of the fact that most of the songs that the place has are all indie music and cover tunes by bands that no one has ever heard of.

The idea behind the free Rhapsody downloads is to get the customers in there to find the indie bands that have done all of their cover tunes and so on. When you start looking through the catalog of tunes you will find that they have cover tunes of nearly any song that you can dream of. This is where the free Rhapsody downloads come into play. They are willing to give them away because they want to help get the small bands developed and found by the people of the world.

You can see that free Rhapsody downloads is a great thing for those people that are looking to find the newer bands that they have not heard. Well you can see that you are going to have the best time with this company. However, there are a good many people that are not even close to being happy with it. They are looking to have a chance in this process and you can see that they want something more.

So if you are looking for the free Rhapsody downloads then you should think about the fact that they are all indie music and they have nothing to do with the original artists out there in the world at this point.

Hilary Mujikwa

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2012-01-19T10:49:00.000-05:00

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