Unless your a Mac-Nutcase like I am, you might have missed watching Steve Jobs’ latest keynote at Macworld 2008. He presented us with the delight of one very distinguished musician who performed at the end: Randy Newman.
As Gruber points out, the first song he sings is “chock full of ‘I can’t believe he just said that’-lines”. The Good Musician won’t keep this from you, so watch and learn:
One thing that’s common practice among bands, or at least should be, is the concept of group listening.
In a band, playing together is simply not enough. It’s equally paramount to make time to simply listen to songs together and exchange ideas. Here’s how it usually ran during my high school sessions:
Have the equipment ready: In our band room, which had a PA, this meant having the right cables to hook up an iPod over the speakers. It’s double fun at double the bass levels
Get anyone to suggest a song he or she likes. It’s important to listen to …read more
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This little escapade is about missed chances, and the utter consequences that come with it, in a butterfly-effect manner.
Yesterday, I was going to my apartment in the town of my university on a 2-hour train journey from Zurich. I lgged along my suitcase and crashed into the first free booth I could find. In the opposite booth was a young guy sitting with his electric guitar hitting out some blues scales. His guitar caught my eye, I have the same one.
“Hey, there, that a Mexican Fender?”, I asked.
“No, it’s US.”, he replied with a grin.
The conversation took its way into …read more
Musical Republic, hear what I beg! I need your opinion!
Oboeinsight recently featured some brief thoughts on Orchestra Etiquette, resulting in the fact that it’s important to stick to your commitments.
Of course, we here at TGM are happy to get a gig in the first place, so this seems like an odd question. But it does arise when you’re having spells of high musical stress, when it may be legitimate to consider cancelling a gig.
This article is part of the Basic Repertoire Project.
In Jazz music, there is a (fairly large) pool of songs we consider to be “jazz standards”. Kenny Burrell was one of the all-time greats in Jazz music, and he contributed at least this one jazz standard that, in my opinion, everyone should know.
The piece I speak about is “Chitlins Con Carne”, a standard I love jamming to myself. Kenny Burrell plays the guitar and achieves one hell of a legendary solo in the original (which, unfortunately, I couldn’t find, but you can buy it off iTunes!)
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As you may know, I’m of Indian origin. That said, I would like to share some Indian music with you this time around, and show you an instrument that seems to be a variation of what Westerners would describe to be a guitar: The Sarod.
The instrument is highly interesting because in comparison to the guitar, the fretboard is made of steel and the left hand needs to have healthy nails to play. You actually play by pressing the edge of your nail to the string, not your finger! This allows bottleneck-style slides (try sliding a nail edge on your guitar).
Photography by Brittney Bush.
What Is Concert Yoga? To me, as an Indian, it is my ritual of being mentally and physically alert before any concert, or even just before I sit down to practice scales.
My habits that make up my concert yoga are probably obvious, some may be new to you, some might strike a note with your habits, and others you will scoff at.
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Readership ahoy!
I hope you’ve all happily slipped into 2008, and have been faithfully reading the past few posts this year.
In 2008 this blog is going to complete it’s first year, and we’re working hard to make it a year not to be forgotten.
Of course, it all depends on you (I know, it’s a big weight to carry). You, dear readers, could make an enormous difference while approving my work – telling me you value and care this blog.
That’s why I would like to ask you to nominate The Good Musician for the 2008 Weblog Awards, or “Bloggies” in the category …read more
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Here’s the first in our upcoming series of Sunday Goodies.
I’ll use this platform to present to you my favorite musical stuff, from instruments to performances, mostly guitar-related.
Today we’ll kick it off with one of the most beautiful and most talented classical gutiarists out there, Ana Vidovic. She plays a piece I played for my music baccalaureate last year. Fantastic piece: Sonatina Meridional: 1. Campo by Manuel Maria Ponce.
This article is part of the Basic Repertoire Project.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is one of the most recognized composers of all time. Born in 1756 to a well-to-do Austrian family, his father, a composer himself, brought this prodigy forward to become the composer of some brilliant works.
As you know, child prodigies scare the hell out of me.
Mozart wrote a couple of great operas, one of them being The Magic Flute. His early works weren’t as well-received as his later ones, and this last opera of his is considered on of his greatest.
To understand the basics of an opera, it essentially is …read more
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