Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
8 Sonatas For Guitar
Domenico Scarlatti has been a favorite subject for guitar transcriptions for the last half century. There are so many beautiful sonatas that he wrote, around 550 actually, and some of them lend themselves beautifully to the guitar. Many of course are too hard and don’t work on the guitar. I think you will find in this collection, a few pieces which are challenging, and then some which you will be able to play with a very reasonable amount of work. Here you will find a few sonatas you might already know, and also some that are new to the guitarist’s repertoire. The CD which accompanies the book will give you a sense of the pieces, and hearing them played will make them easier to learn. The music notation is clear and crisp. The pieces are thoughtfully and meticulously fingered for ease of playing. The beautiful drawing on the cover is done by Aleksandra Alexander.
You can buy this book on our website ADG Productions or from your favorite music store.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
LES PAUL: LESSONS OF A LEGEND Guitarist Releases Rock CD at Age 90
The first thing to substantiate about Les Paul is that there really is one. Young people think he's a sociology report. Riddled middle-agers think he's a guitar.
Older folks—aware that he was revolutionizing guitar-playing before Eric Clapton had his first pair of long pants—think he's a legend. All of them probably think he has guitar strings for arteries.
Nowadays, to confuse matters further, the 90-year-old guitar-picker has stepped into the stratospheric category known as Rock Star. On his recent CD release, American Made/World Played, his sidemen include the likes of Jeff Beck, Joe Perry and Buddy Guy.
The CD puts a big bold exclamation mark to Mr. Paul becoming what was called a “permanent installation” exhibit at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame last year. He had been inducted into the hall in 1988.
What does Les Paul, person, think about all the fame fuss that has surrounded his life? “I don't think I'm very successful,” he drawls. “I just constantly try to improve, knowing that I've improved very little since I was fifteen, sixteen years old. You don't improve much after that."
Older folks—aware that he was revolutionizing guitar-playing before Eric Clapton had his first pair of long pants—think he's a legend. All of them probably think he has guitar strings for arteries.
Nowadays, to confuse matters further, the 90-year-old guitar-picker has stepped into the stratospheric category known as Rock Star. On his recent CD release, American Made/World Played, his sidemen include the likes of Jeff Beck, Joe Perry and Buddy Guy.
The CD puts a big bold exclamation mark to Mr. Paul becoming what was called a “permanent installation” exhibit at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame last year. He had been inducted into the hall in 1988.
What does Les Paul, person, think about all the fame fuss that has surrounded his life? “I don't think I'm very successful,” he drawls. “I just constantly try to improve, knowing that I've improved very little since I was fifteen, sixteen years old. You don't improve much after that."
Monday, October 26, 2009
Outta Sight Funk and R&B Riffs for Piano/Keyboards
Outta Sight Funk and R&B Riffs for Piano/Keyboards by Andrew D. Gordon is designed to help piano/keyboard players improve their playing technique with a wide range of different Funk & R&B riffs and grooves.
While living in London during my early 20’s I had the opportunity of developing my Funk & R&B skills by playing or jamming with musicians of mainly African & Jamaican descent 3 to 4 times a week. We would jam for hours on end including doing gigs to the early hours of the morning. From this experience it is my feeling that it is important to play and learn from other musicians, however, if one is unable to do so then incorporating this product into your practicing routine is the next best thing. By using this book your Funk/R&B keyboard playing will definitely improve.
What is Funk Music
Funk is an Afro American musical style originated by James Brown and later Sly and the Family Stone emphasizing the rhythm and putting melody and harmony in the background. Funk often consists of a complex groove where every instrument is playing a different rhythmic part fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle. Entire songs are written without any or minimal chord changes where one or two riffs form the basis of the song as represented by the examples in this book.
One of the most distinctive features of funk music is the role of the bass line as a foundation with melodic bass lines at the centerpiece of a funk tune. The left hand parts in this book capture both the rhythmic and melodic essence of funk bass while the right hand parts capture the percussive syncopated rhythms of funk music similar to what a guitarist may play.
Funk music uses the same type of extended chords as in jazz, including minor chords with added sevenths, ninths and elevenths, or dominant seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords.
Each of the 55 examples has been recorded three times: 1. The left and right hand parts are played through twice with drums & percussion, guitars and keyboards at the regular tempo. 2. Rhythm tracks at the regular tempo of guitar, bass, drums & percussion to practice the keyboard parts along with. 3. Slowed down track of the left & right keyboard parts with the drums so that you can precisely hear what the keyboard parts are playing.
For musicians/students who would like extended 2 minute Play A Long tracks for each of the 55 examples ADG Productions offer downloadable mp3 files or MIDI files.
This book is a companion book to "Outta Sight Funk and R&B Riffs for Bass and "Outta Sight Funk and R&B Patterns for Drums".
While living in London during my early 20’s I had the opportunity of developing my Funk & R&B skills by playing or jamming with musicians of mainly African & Jamaican descent 3 to 4 times a week. We would jam for hours on end including doing gigs to the early hours of the morning. From this experience it is my feeling that it is important to play and learn from other musicians, however, if one is unable to do so then incorporating this product into your practicing routine is the next best thing. By using this book your Funk/R&B keyboard playing will definitely improve.
What is Funk Music
Funk is an Afro American musical style originated by James Brown and later Sly and the Family Stone emphasizing the rhythm and putting melody and harmony in the background. Funk often consists of a complex groove where every instrument is playing a different rhythmic part fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle. Entire songs are written without any or minimal chord changes where one or two riffs form the basis of the song as represented by the examples in this book.
One of the most distinctive features of funk music is the role of the bass line as a foundation with melodic bass lines at the centerpiece of a funk tune. The left hand parts in this book capture both the rhythmic and melodic essence of funk bass while the right hand parts capture the percussive syncopated rhythms of funk music similar to what a guitarist may play.
Funk music uses the same type of extended chords as in jazz, including minor chords with added sevenths, ninths and elevenths, or dominant seventh, ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords.
Each of the 55 examples has been recorded three times: 1. The left and right hand parts are played through twice with drums & percussion, guitars and keyboards at the regular tempo. 2. Rhythm tracks at the regular tempo of guitar, bass, drums & percussion to practice the keyboard parts along with. 3. Slowed down track of the left & right keyboard parts with the drums so that you can precisely hear what the keyboard parts are playing.
For musicians/students who would like extended 2 minute Play A Long tracks for each of the 55 examples ADG Productions offer downloadable mp3 files or MIDI files.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Music is time-art
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Time Signatures
Shows how many beats are in each measure and what note value makes up one beat. Most time signatures are made up of two numbers, one above the other. They are written like a fraction but no line appears between the numbers when written in the music. The upper number indicates the number of beats, while the lower number shows the note value making up a beat. Example: 4/4 = four quarter notes per measure, 3/4 = three quarter notes per measure. The time signature appears at the beginning of the piece. A time signature after that, usually immediately after a barline, shows a change of time signature.
Some frequent time signatures:
 |
2/2 alla breve, cut time: used frequently for marches and fast music.
3/4 used for waltzes, minuets and jazz waltzes and some ballads.
6/8 double jigs, polkas, Spanish / South American music and some rock music etc.
Odd times signatures are often used in Jazz and middle eastern music :-e.g. 7/4 and 5/4 as used by Dave Brubeck .
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