Wednesday, March 11, 2009

How To Choose Your First Acoustic Guitar

While looking for your first acoustic guitar, there are many things to consider.

If you are buying your first guitar, you do not want to spend a ton of money on it, because there is always a chance you may not stick to it. But there is an even greater risk involved.

Cheap guitars are generally of poor make and quality. Cheap guitars might not hold a good tune, and if they do they may not keep it long. It is difficult for new guitarists to tune and this can get annoying and discourage the aspiring musician. Poor tune and other traits can make it difficault for the new player to get a good sound.

The goal of all beginner musicians is to start sounding good. If even a skilled musician can’t make the guitar sound good, then a beginner will surely be discouraged. This may cause them to loose interest in all music.

So when buying a guitar for a beginner, I would strongly recommend buying a used guitar for several reasons.

As with all wooden instruments, the wood sounds better as it ages. Therefor buying a used instrument will usually get you a better sound. It may have a few dings or scratches, but the sound is the important part.

Also used guitars will cost less than their new counter parts. So you can pay less and get a better sounding instrument.

Don’t make the mistake of buying from a pawn shop on your first time out. They will try to sell the guitar at the highest price they can get away with, and knowing you are a beginner they will more than likely take advantage of you.

Lastly but probably the most important is that all acoustics sound unique. Even guitars mass produced in a factory all have varying sound qualities. Just the fact that it has a popular name on the head stock does not mean it sounds good. If you can, take an experienced guitarist with you to try out the guitar for pros and cons.

Remember that the first guitar you buy may decide whether you stick with it or not, so choose the right one.

Play the Piano for Free!

I honestly don’t know any musical instrument that can enrich someone’s life as much as that of the piano. If you have the desire, you too can learn to play the piano for free as this is one of the instruments that can truly be played within a matter of hours.

Given the fact that you have a good attention span and are ready to undergo the process of gathering the necessary knowledge of the piano, you can definitely learn to play the piano. The first thing that you need to have is a piano and a decent ear for music. Most people enjoy all kinds of music as music makes them feel good and helps them to escape the realities of life.

They will listen to their favorite music when they feel happy or sad. By learning how to play the piano, you will not only have a vast amount of music within your grasp; you will be able to astound your friends and family by expressing your emotions of a musical level. All of this by learning to play the piano for free. As mentioned, you need to have a pretty good ear in order to play the piano.

This is because you are not going to have a piano teacher teaching you the art of playing the piano. Instead, you are going to learn how to play the piano by using your own ears. This art of play is known as “playing by ear” and many people have this capability, and fortunately you too can learn to do this as well if you do not already possess this skill.

In order to learn how to play the basics of the piano, use your fingers to guide you through the various notes and chords of the piano. Use your ears to hear the difference, the richness between the notes. You may be able to find a paper key board of notes that you can set on the top of your piano keyboard. But if not, you can always put labels on each key. Choose to purchase sheet music that has the keys already written out. This will also help you to learn to play the piano for free.

By practicing and learning the various keys on the keyboard, you will be able to distinguish the many different sounds that the piano is capable of creating. Your ears will let you know if you have struck a wrong chord or note. You haven’t had to pay any money for training, as this experience is helping you learn to play the piano. Your ears are the key.

After you have practiced the many different songs available to you by learning to play the piano, you will then be able to use your ears more precisely. Listen to the music all around you and find the correct chords and keys to bring that music to life. This will not only enhance your life, but it will also bring pleasure to your family and friends.

Wouldn’t you love to be able to tell your family and friends that you did this all on your own? That you learned how to the play the piano for free? What an accomplishment that would be. This will astound your friends and you can provide them with your own renditions of their favorite songs.

Monday, March 2, 2009

iPod Touch 32GB - The greatest multimedia player ever!

Apple have done it again and come up with a state of the art gadget with groundbreaking technologies that most consider to be the funnest iPod yet!

iPod Touch 32GB feels even better in your hand with contoured enclosure.

Volume buttons are built giving you easy access to the most frequently used controls.

2nd Generation Touch 32GB provides up to 36 hours of audio playback or 6 hours of video playback with improved battery life,

Volume buttons are built giving you easy access to the most frequently used controls.

More and new ways to play with iPod touch games and applications.

New and more ways to play with iPod touch games and applications.

And the best of all with the 2nd Generation Apple iPod Touch now you have more to love and less to pay with promo price that start at $229.

All new features compact in its new sleek design that will you make you love your iPod more than ever with Touch 32.

Features:

Music

On Touch 32 with 6 hours of video playback, charging is no option and with a crisp 3.5-inch color widescreen display what else will you look for on mobile entertainment?

Music

You can’t beat Touch 32GB games. Alot of games come to life with 3d graphics with accurate fingertip control over game elements and to make your gaming more exciting built in accelerometer responds to your action and rolls to your movements.

Games

On Touch 32 with 6 hours of video playback, charging is no option and with a crisp 3.5-inch color widescreen display what else will you look for on mobile entertainment?

Games

On the homescreen arrange the icons just the way that you want them. You can now make up to 9 home screens for quick access. For every Application you download a new icon appears and by adding a web clip, you can easily access this directly from your HomeScreen.

HomeScreen

The built-in wireless capability gives you access to the iTunes Music store anywhere everywhere.

Maps

iPod Touch 32 has the most advanced web browser ever on a portable device. You can browse anywhere with 802.11b/g wireless access to the web and access your favorite websites and do almost everything you do with your usual web surfing.

Safari

Play slideshows plus music and transitions makes it more fun and enjoying. Save, show, receive, and share thousands of photos from the palm of your hand.

Maps

Get directions on iPod Touch 32, find local businesses and check traffic Just like Google Maps on your PC, Maps lets you view map data from google, satellite images, and a hybrid of both.

Mail

Fond of YouTube? Get to watch, share, explore the most recent, most viewed, top rated, latest and all the fun of the webs best videos ” pocket-size. All on touch 32GB

Photos

A fan of YouTube? Get to watch, explore and share, the most recent, most viewed, top rated, latest and all the fun of the webs best videos ” pocket-size. All on touch 32GB

Stocks, Weather, Notes

Check rising and falling share prices, worldwide weather, and forget the usual pen and paper for a quick note your iPod Touch 32GB can do it with the touch of a finger!

Calendar

Check up to date stock performance, worldwide weather, and forget the usual pen and paper for a quick note your iPod Touch 32GB can do it for you in just a touch.

Stocks, Weather, Notes

Check worldwide weather, up to date stocks and shares, and no need for pen and paper when your iPod Touch 32GB can do it for you in just a touch.

Nike + iPod

With iPod Touch 32 GB you can now tune your run and cardio work out as it includes built in Nike+iPod support that tracks your time, distance and calories burned and, sync your iPod touch via iTunes and transfer your exercise data to nikeplus.com, where you can track your workouts, set goals, and challenge friends.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

How To Learn The Piano

In order to learn the piano you are going to have to make a solid commitment to yourself. This commitment is what will make you follow through on your lessons no matter what. If you are determined to learn the piano you can get it done, but making a strong commitment is what will help you follow through.

You may want to write down your commitment. Quite often, you can start a project and start to lose interest in it at a certain point in time. It is at this point that you want to be able to read the commitment you originally had so is that you can take strength and remember your long-term goals. You want to be able to play the piano, and taking the time and energy to do the lessons is what is going to get you there.

You need to stay motivated at all times. Before you sit down and begin your lessons take a moment to reflect on the reasons why you are doing this. What is it that is making you sit in front of the piano right now?

If you can visualize the end goal and how it will feel when you are able to actually play the piano you will keep the motivational alive. This is critical to your success, and even the finest and most stimulating lessons can be put away if you don’t have a connection with your motivation.

Another way to keep your motivational life is to continually reward yourself. What is it that you can give to yourself every time you have completed a lesson? Is there anything you like to do or something you want to have right after you have taken the time to practice? Think about it. Small rewards can keep you committed and motivated, and before long you will have learned all you need to know about the piano in order to play it properly.

When you want to learn the piano, keep in mind that commitment and motivation are what will keep you interested, but along with that you need to find a great course on the Internet that is both stimulating and entertaining. A combination of both will get you to your goal and you will become a great piano player.

Online courses are very cheap. It is easy to learn the piano with them. You do not have to go to a music school to get private lessons that are out of your budget. Many people have learned to play the piano online, and you can easily be one of them. Take a moment to check out some great piano courses that have led others towards their piano goals.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Zune Country Music Downloads at MP3MP4Downloads.com

If you are a proud owner of a zune device and a country music lover at the same time, you will most definitely want to have unlimited access to zune country music downloads.

The best site where you can download country music to zune without limit is MP3MP4Downloads.com, a site where you can literally say goodbye to per-download fees. MP3MP4Downloads.com offers its customers a wide range of files (95 million, in fact) for download for a minimal fee of only $39.00.

There are two other membership plans you can go for besides the one-time payment plan. You can have the option to pay annually or every two years, but then this could be more expensive in the long run especially if you are going to renew your membership at the end of your term. For all its membership plans, MP3MP4Downloads.com also offers a money back guarantee.

The site is not limited to country music downloads. You can download audio books, games, videos and movies, and even screen savers to your computer and then transfer them to your zune.

You cannot make a direct download of country music to zune device. This kind of service is not yet available. What you can do then, after you have duly paid the membership fee, that is, is to download the software to your PC and then choose the song that you want, and download it to your hard drive. Then connect your zune device to your PC and copy the country music file from your PC to your zune. It really doesn’t take a genius to be able to do this.

You can find plenty of other sites where to download country music to zune from. Free sites, though, may contain viruses and spyware applications that make downloading country music to zune very risky. After all, these viruses can damage your computer, and sometimes the damage can even be irreversible.

Paid sites, on the other hand, are usually secure and virus-free, but then they may differ from one another in terms of sound and image quality, speed of download, membership fees, and availability of technical support.

There seems to be no better way to listen to country music than with a zune device. My site will show you more tips on how to find the best zune country music downloads on the web.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Piano Learning Software To Get You Playing Fast

How Cool is the Apple iPod Touch 16GB?

Most mp3 players do not offer this large of storage space and if they do, they do not offer the extras you will get with the Apple iPod Touch 16GB. Also, this is probably one of the most advanced iPods available on the market today making the Apple iPod Touch 16GB is one of the coolest new iPods that you can purchase. With 16 gigabytes of memory, you can store even the biggest music or video files without wiping out all of your hard drive space.

When you purchase the Apple iPod Touch 16GB, you will have access to your files with the touch of a finger. The large display, three and a half inch wide screen, makes it easy to see and get to your files easily. Do not think that just because you are getting all that storage space and a huge touch screen that this unit is going to be huge or bulky, the Apple iPod Touch 16GB is one of the most sleek mp3 players to be had. You will be able to carry it on you and listen without having a lot of weight bearing down on you.

You will get over thirty five hours of music playing time and six hours of video playing time with the Apple Touch 16GB. You will also be able to access the internet to check your email and get your location or driving directions if you are traveling and have gotten lost. You will also be able to store precious pictures on this unit. Most picture files are supported, check the documentation to see if your picture files are included on the support list.

If you are a gamer, you will appreciate the three D technology that is standard in the Apple iPod Touch 16GB. With the long battery life, you can play many hours of your favorite game while on the go and not be worried about losing your game because the batteries have died. There are over one hundred games that you can choose from to download on to your unit and there will be something no matter what type of gaming you enjoy. This can make long commutes to work a breeze since you will be able to keep yourself amused with all the games that you can access.

If you are one who does not like wearing head phone or ear buds, there is a built in speaker so you can hear your music, games or videos without having to use any type of head gear. If you are taking your children on a long car trip, download a movie for them and you will be assured of some quiet time while they watch their favorite movies and it will make the trip more pleasurable for mom and dad. The iPod Touch 2nd Generation is great for anyone who is on the go.

About the Author:
10 March

Piano Learning Software To Get You Playing Fast

There are a lot of bad piano courses being offered on the Internet and you are going to have to make sure that you choose a good one. There are stories about lessons that you can get online that are far too advanced and written by instructors that do not take the beginner into account at all. These lessons are too confusing and do not follow a step-by-step pattern to get you easily from one level to the next. Watch out for these lessons and look for piano learning software that is recommended by others.

A good course will offer you a money back guarantee. You do not want to be stuck wasting your money on a product that guarantees results but delivers nothing. You want to get a course that gives you a guarantee no questions asked. In this way, you will find that you can try out the course and see if it does deliver what it promises. If it does, you will know that this is the course for you.

With money being so tight and the economy being so bad, you will need to get a course that gives you the most value for your money. You need to find lessons that will give you the fastest results in the least amount of time. A good course will get you playing the piano immediately. Find one with piano learning software that will help teach you the notes and music with e-books, video training and sound files. You work hard for your money and every penny counts. Piano learning software does not have to be expensive to be good.

If you are looking for great piano learning software on the Internet, you may be looking for one that can teach you how to play by ear so that you can play any songs you know. There is software that is specifically designed to help you play by ear and also be able to read the notes. Both methods are important to learn so that your piano playing is well balanced and you feel more comfortable when you sit down in front of that piano to produce great music.

Piano learning software is as good as any lessons you can get offline. You will be instructed by a professional teacher that has had a lot of training in effective online teaching. This is a simple way to reach your goal of playing the piano, and it is by far the most cost-effective way available. When you are looking for great lessons keep the all of the above points in mind and you will find that you can learn the piano. It will not take very long at all.


Sunday, February 1, 2009

Hear the Difference a Good Vocal Microphone Makes.

What makes the difference between a groundbreaking song and just another flash in the pan top 10 hit? What is the key to capturing a performance during a recording session or missing the juice? There’s a part of every important song that has defines the milestones in modern music history - it’s the vocal performance. Sometimes and amazing piano piece, or guitar par speaks to us, but almost always, it’s a vocal.

If youre like most of us who are into home recording and or studio recording, youve learned the hard way that you cannot compromise on quality when youre capturing a performance. That being said, not everyone can afford a $10,000 vintage Neumann tube condenser microphone, and your choice of microphone also has to do with your budget and what kind of goals you have.

The truth about recording anything, including vocals, is that there is only so much you can do to repair a poorly recorded track after the fact. No matter what your budget, or your purpose or goals, you need to start with the best equipment you can afford. Too often in the home recording studios, the artist delivers an exceptional performance but is betrayed by inadequate equipment, resulting in a lackluster recording that cannot capture the original tone or energy.

It is for this exact reason that conventional wisdom is right on target ” start with the best vocal microphone you can afford. Research your options and decide how you are going to spend your budget. Theres no sense in spending money on a great tube preamp if you are recording your vocals with a Shure SM58. Believe me, you will end up hating everything you record until you get yourself a quality vocal microphone, and in the end, you wont want to listen to your recordings, or allow anyone else to hear them.

Start with the right equipment ” get yourself a quality vocal microphone, you will be glad you did. These days, there are tons of manufacturers like AKG, Audio Technica, Shure, Sennheiser, and others who make decent microphones in the $200-$400 range. A large diaphragm cardiod condenser microphone will give your vocals shape and clarity, allowing your vocal tracks to cut through the rest of the mix.

By now I think we have developed a theme, so let me just drive it home one more time - “start with a good quality vocal mic…” Don’t relegate yourself to hours of EQ-ing and effect layering to try and fix your buddy’s vocal track. Start with the best mic you can afford, and make that vocal cut through the mix, and start collecting your accolades. You don’t even have to thank me.