Which Musical Instrument is Recommended for Beginners?

Which Musical Instrument is Recommended for Beginners?

*Will the instrument I choose be affordable?

*Which instruments are easy to learn and which are difficult to learn?

*Will it be a quiet instrument or a noisy one?

*If I don’t choose a popular instrument will I be able to find a teacher easily?

*Is the musical instrument of my choice popular or is it an instrument that not many people play?

*How much will a lesson cost?

*I want to choose a musical instrument that I can play in a band. What instruments should I choose?

*I want to play a certain type of music. Which musical instruments are suitable for different styles?

In the following article I will be answering all of the above.

Here is a list of musical instruments to choose from listed in popularity, with the number 1 being the most popular:

1) Guitar

2) Piano

3) Keyboard

4) Drums

5) Violin

6) Cello

7) Flute

Saxophone

9) Clarinet

10) Trumpet/Cornet

11) Trombone

12) French Horn

13) Banjo

14) Recorder

15) Viola

16) Tuba

17) Oboe

You can see a list of all musical instruments here:
Musical Instrument Shop. Lots of information and choice. Buy Musical Instruments here

Will the instrument I choose be affordable?
If you want to buy a musical instrument but don’t wont to spend too much money I would choose either a guitar, keyboard, violin, clarinet or trumpet. These instruments are the
cheapest to buy when starting out.

Which musical instruments are easy to learn and which are difficult to learn?
The easiest musical instruments to learn from the list above are: Guitars, Drums and Recorders.

Guitar
The guitar should be easy to pick a few chords and you can almost start strumming and playing a simple tune from your first lesson. It is best advised to learn the classical guitar first as it has nylon strings and will be easier on the fingers than a steel strung electric or acoustic guitar.

Drums
Drums are fairly easy to learn as well. The important thing is to feel the rhythm, once you have this, everything else should be easy to pick up.

Recorder
The recorder is probably the easiest of all musical instruments to learn. Most children at school take up this instrument before progressing on to the clarinet, flute or saxophone which is much more difficult to learn.

The most difficult musical instruments to learn from the list above are: Oboe, French horn, Trumpet and Piano.

The Oboe
The Oboe is probably the most difficult musical instrument to learn. It is very difficult to even produce a sound at first, let alone a musical note. This instrument can take many years to master

The French Horn
The French horn also takes quite a while to get the hang of. The sound is produced not only by blowing, but by creating an embouchure and buzzing the lips to control the air stream, which in turn creates the correct pitch to produce the note. Then the correct valves that correspond to the right pitch have to be learnt. The hand is also used to help the quality of sound by placing in the bell. Wow! Perhaps this is not a great instrument for beginners!

The Trumpet
The trumpet is considered difficult to learn initially because of the techniques needed (similar to the French horn but without using the hand in the bell). The difficult thing about the trumpet is trying to make a nice sound which can take a few years to perfect.

The Piano
Although it is easy to make a sound on a piano, just by pressing any note you sound like a professional, the piano is very difficult when you need to play more than one note at a time. All the above instruments require you to play just one note at a time but with the piano sometimes you need to use every finger and thumb at the same time!
You also need to learn two different clefs, and to learn to read this at the same time is not easy at first.

Will it be a quiet musical instrument or a noisy one?
Do you have neighbours that don’t appreciate music? And they live right next to you with thin walls.
Do you want to play late at night or early in the morning
Are you embarrassed that you are not making a good sound yet, or you don’t want people to hear what you are playing.

If any of the above is true, you need a quite musical instrument or at least one that you can play with headphones or adjust the sound electronically.

If you want to learn a quiet musical instrument, then choose one of the following: Guitar, Piano, Keyboard, Recorder, Clarinet or Flute.

The Classical guitar is very quite and delicate but not the electric or acoustic guitar which are very noisy when amplified!

You can plug headphones in to a digital piano or keyboard or you can turn the sound down. This is the ideal instrument to buy if you don’t want to make any noise. The acoustic piano (also known as the upright or grand piano) is very noisy and should be avoided if you need some peace.

The Recorder is fairly quiet, apart from the high notes, so this instrument would be ok.
The Clarinet is a fairly quiet instrument. It does really depend on how it is played.
The Flute is also quiet but the sound can be a bit piercing on the higher notes.

If I don’t choose a popular musical instrument, will I be able to find a teacher easily?
You can find a musical instrument teacher almost anywhere; there are literally tens of thousands in the UK.
You will almost certainly have no problem finding a teacher if you play the more popular musical instruments: guitar, piano, keyboard, drums or violin.

Is the musical instrument of my choice popular or is it an instrument that not many people play?
Please see the above list of musical instruments. They are listed in order of popularity, number 1 being the most popular instrument.

There are a few guides to find out if a musical instrument is popular. Just look at a symphony orchestra or a wind band and count the number of instruments there are and how many there are of each.
You will find that there are lots of violins and percussion (clarinets and flutes in the wind band case) which means that there is no shortage of people learning these instruments. You will also find that there is only one tuba, one oboe, a few french horns, a few flutes, a few clarinets etc. Of course this is only a guide, as some of the other popular musical instruments such as the guitar, piano and keyboard are not normally found in a symphony orchestra.

How much will a lesson cost?
Individual musical instrument lessons can cost between £8 and £20 for half an hour. Group instrument lessons £5 to £12. Popular musical instruments are normally cheap than not so popular instruments, normally because there is no shortage of teachers and competition tends to bring the prices down.

It is normally better to learn instruments in a group rather than learn individually. Group learning is much more fun as every one is the same level as you and you can share experiences together. Individual instrument lessons can be too serious for a beginner and can actually put you off learning music because of this. However, individual lessons are a must when you get to a certain level of proficiency.

I want to choose a musical instrument that I can play in a band. Which instrument should I choose?
The best musical instruments to learn if you want to play in band are: Guitar, Saxophone, Clarinet, Violin or Cornet.

This list might be considered a strange one, but let me explain the reasoning behind this.

*The guitar is second-to-none as a solo instrument for a band. If you are the lead guitarist (electric guitar), you get all the limelight. You can play great riffs from all the famous songs.

* The Saxophone is a great solo instrument and if you play in a jazz band or big band you get lots of solos to play.

*The clarinet is the king of the wind band; it is the orchestra’s equivalent of the lead violin. In a wind band you get to play lots of solos and intricate melodies.

*The Violin is a fantastic solo instrument and orchestral instrument. Many of the great composers have written beautiful solos and melodies for this instrument.

*The Cornet is the king of the brass band. This instrument has one of the most delightful sounds of all. The cornet is given the lead role in a brass band and is featured in all the best arrangements. The lead cornet player gets to play many solos.

I want to play a certain type of music. Which musical instruments are suitable for different styles?

Here is a list of different music styles:
Rock, Classical, Pop, heavy Metal, R&B, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Carribean, African, Latin, Dance, Country, Rap, Hip Hop, Christian, Opera.
This list below would be endless if I went in to it in great detail, so here is a short list.

1) Guitar. The electric or bass guitar is suitable for pop, rock, R&B, heavy metal, R&B, Jazz and blues, the classical guitar for classical music, the acoustic guitar for pop and folk.

2) Piano. The acoustic piano is suitable for classical, jazz, blues and dance.

3) Digital Piano/Keyboard is suitable for pop music, dance, jazz and blues.

4) Drums are suitable for pop, rock, classical, jazz, African - well, almost everything!

5) Violin is suitable for classical, folk, country and dance.

6) Cello is suitable for classical.

7) Flute is suitable for classical.

Saxophone is suitable for jazz, blues, pop.

9) Clarinet is suitable for classical, jazz and blues.

10) Trumpet/Cornet is suitable for classical, jazz, blues and dance.

11) Trombone is suitable for classical, jazz and blues.

12) French horn is suitable for classical.

13) Banjo is suitable for country and folk.

14) Recorder is suitable for classical.

15) Viola is suitable for classical.

16) Tuba is suitable for classical.

17) Oboe is suitable for classical.

I hope that you now feel more informed and can make a decision on which musical instrument is best for your needs.
If you need more information about musical instruments I can recommend visiting http://www.soundsmusical.comthe top musical instrument shop in the UK - Soundsmusical.com

Happy learning!

About The Author

Henry Howard is a respected member of the music community. He is known as The Master of Music and has written many articles about musical instruments. You can reprint or reuse this article as many times as you wish, but keep my links intact.

50 Cent Biography

You know 50 Cent by his music but in this 50 Cent biography you will get to know more about the man and where he came from. With so many obstacles in his way, this individual was determined to make it big. Now, 50 Cent is the largest figure in the hip hop world, dominating rap for the last two years. So, we can’t get everything into this 50 Cent biography that we would like to, but getting to know where this man came from will give you an idea of what makes him so very real to so many.

Many rap stars out there have no idea what it is like to experience the difficulty of living life on the streets. Sure, they write songs but they don’t necessarily experience what they are writing about. But, 50 Cent has. He grew up in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Queens. He saw crime happening around him everywhere from drugs to stabbings and even fatal shootings. Living in this area and seeing what he saw, he was able to portray a very clear picture of the hardest cities in the United States from a first hand point of view, something that his fellow rappers simply could not. And, he got a name for himself by telling it.

In this 50 Cent biography, we still want to talk about all that this man has accomplished. Anyone in circumstances like this has to be nothing short of extraordinary to pull through and end up on top as he has done. His grandmother raised him because his mother had died when he was only eight and his father had left. He turned to a life of hustling where he ended up in prison. Then, came his break. Deciding to turn his life around, 50 Cent took the higher road that led to a rap career. Working with Run DMC and Jam Master Jay he developed his skills.

This 50 Cent biography only touches on the life that this remarkable man has led. And, it hasn’t stopped yet. Working with Eminem as well as a number of other hip hop artists of high stature, his career continues to climb. You can count on seeing 50 for years to come.

Hip Hop Capital is the home of online hip hop jewelry. The place where you can find TONS of 50 Cent bling. Hip Hop Capital has been a force online for years and only continues to grow. Go to http://hiphopcapital.com/catalog/50-cent-jewelry.htm and see for yourself why thousands choose Hip Hop Capital.

Piano Goals for Beginners: 5 Steps to Getting There

Learning a new piece of music can be daunting for beginners, especially young children, if they don’t know how to approach their learning at the piano. The first thing to do is set a goal. For beginners obvious goal would be to learn their new assigned piece of music or one they have chosen on their own. Taking the next step, however, is where students often get discouraged and express their frustration. “It’s too hard. I can’t play it.” When this happens here’s what to do; and, parents, even very young students will benefit from this advice, so listen closely.

The way to learn something difficult is to simplify it. Yes, it’s that simple. Learning the whole piece of music at one time would be too difficult for a beginner. To achieve something difficult, the goal it has to be broken down into manageable size pieces. If after breaking the task down once, it’s still too difficult, break it down again until it’s no longer difficult. Then work on each piece of the goal one at a time.

Here’s a way to explain this goal setting process to younger children in a way they’ll understand. Think of your goal as a puzzle. How would you begin? You would start sorting the individual pieces by colors and end pieces. Then you would work on one section of the puzzle at a time. Then you’d fit the different sections of the puzzle together until the picture is complete.

Jeff Herring, a business coach, family counselor, and columnist in Tallahassee, Florida refers to this process as Goal Getting. Here’s Jeff’s advice for “Goal Getting” in a nutshell.

1. Write it down

2. Break it down

3. Take small steps

4. Take the next step

5. Take one more step

Whether you’re an older beginner or a parent who wants to support your young child in piano lessons, this plan will work time and time again. And even children can learn a valuable lesson by transferring this good habit to other life areas whenever a creative solution is needed.

For great home piano activities parents can use to help children ages 5 to 11 develop their musical talent, visit Piano Adventure Bears Music Education Resources You’ll find a treasure box filled with piano resources to create an exciting musical adventure for your child - right in your own home! Visit their website and subscribe to their f’ree internet newsletter so you can download f’ree piano sheet music and mp3s of original piano compositions.

These exciting stories, games, piano lessons, and inspirational gifts feature the Piano Adventure Bears, Mrs. Treble Beary and her new piano student, Albeart Littlebud. Young students follow along with Albeart to learn what piano lessons are all about in a fun way that kids readily understand appreciate. Click here to visit PianoAdventureBears.com For a wealth of information about piano lessons, visit tallypiano.com

Best Music download site

Best Music download site Ever since I first began
searching for the best music download site on the internet, I
used to get lost. It was because I was searching for free mp3
downloads. I was asked for the monthly subscription fees which
irritated me
How can we rate a website as the best music download site? I
have some criteria to decide about it.

1) Easy to download. It should not be necessary to go to the
website and search for our favourite music. It would be great if
we have some software installed on our machine which helps us in
easy and fast download.

2) No Subscription fees. I do hate paying subscriptions every
month. It should be all-time free download portal.

3) I should be able to find all my favourite music on the
portal, eventhough my favourite music is not that popular.

4) Its great if I get the movie downloads also
5) If I have to pay something to the site, then it should be a
money-back guarantee scheme.

6) I should get a friendly support from the site to help me find
the tracks I need. Am I expecting too much?

7) I should be able to download the music from any type of cable
connection.
My registration info should be kept confidential. Ah!
nowadays the I am getting spammed
I have found some sites which keeps me happy with all the above
conditions. You can check out at Music Site for more info.

Promote Your Way to Making Music and Money

You’ve spent years learning how to play, and although your
expectations do not include playing for 20,000 fans at the local
arena, it would be nice to have a gig somewhere other than your
back porch. The difference between sitting home and playing for
play is often how you promote your self and your act. You can
create an effective local promotional campaign that will enable
you to play and get paid. You do have to have a listenable act,
whether it’s a single, duo or full band; you do have to play
music that people want to hear. Once you have this product,
however, you still have to promote it. Paying jobs do not just
happen; often it’s left to you to make them happen.

You first need to create your promotional materials. A good
promo kit is crucial; this is often the first impression you
will make with the entertainment buyer. Many musicians believe
recording a demo CD is an essential first step, I disagree. I
have not used an audio demo to book a job in many years; my
promo kit consists of nice business cards, an attractive logo I
print on the header of all written correspondence, a portfolio
of references, quotes and pictures, a list of sample songs, and
my secret weapon. This item in my promotional toolbox is so
effective; I don’t know why everybody isn’t using it.

To duplicate my secret weapon, you need to create an full color
11″x17″ poster. This can be done on your home computer with any
one of a number of graphics programs. You need to include simple
but attractive graphics, your act’s name, a very brief
description of what you do, a photo of the act, and a white
rectangle about 4″ x 8″ located either near the center, or at
the top. If you do not have the expertise create this poster,
find a friend that does, check out your local high school’s art
department or pay somebody in your local newspaper’s advertising
department a few dollars to do it ‘on the side.’. Have them save
it in PDF format on a CD. Take your CD to your local Officemax,
Staples or other office superstore. They can make a digital
11″x17″ print very reasonably. Then you should have them make 5
full color copies from your ‘master’ and laminate them.

Now you have five very glossy, very professional and very
effective promotional tools. When you attempt to book a job,
take a dry erase marker and write in the empty white space
“appearing at Fred’s Restaurant (or whatever business you are
trying to book) Saturday the 2nd” and explain that giving him
several of these to display is just one way you help him promote
his event. You can re-use these many times, and they always make
a huge impression. I’ve been told several times “I never thought
of having music at my event, but when I saw your poster with my
name on it, it just seemed like a wonderful idea.”

Getting the word out and booking jobs is your final step. You
will probably want to play some free gigs in the beginning.
Offer your services for any social occasion you can think of,
your town’s civic festivals, church bazaars or anyplace a crowd
forms. Bring a camera and have somebody take some pictures. One
local band in my home town stage rented a hall on a Monday
night, asked all of their friends to dress up and come to the
party and hired (for a nominal fee) a local newspaper
photographer to shoot for an hour and save every picture on a
CD. They ended up designing their poster as a collage; it was
one of the most attractive pieces of promotional materials I
have ever seen.

You might go to the local radio station that plays music similar
to what you do; tell the advertising director you would be
willing to play select radio remotes free for the publicity. You
might even wind up with a local radio personality saying nice
things about you that you can use in your promotional materials,
Try to write every complimentary quote down anybody of
prominence says about you; when they say it ask them “can I
quote you ?”

Once your act has a track record, you are set to book some
paying jobs. Find out what other acts are making in your area,
approach businesses, make your pitch, and don’t get discouraged
at first. Do not make the mistake of pricing yourself too cheap,
not only will you earn the enmity of other performers in the
area, but the buyers will perceive you as cut rate as well. I
have a cardinal rule; I’ll work for free for a worthy charity
event occasionally, but I’ll never work cheap.

When you look for paying gigs, be creative, do not limit
yourself. I always use the term ‘entertainment buyer,’ rather
than ‘club owner.’ While bars are still one market for live
music, there are many other venues. I have made money performing
for malls, car dealerships, gated communities, weddings,
retirement parties, boat dealerships, fraternal organizations,
radio remotes, fairs, festivals, company parties, restaurants,
flea markets, bowling alleys, RV parks as well as bars and
lounges. You need to check your area out, not just for who has
live music, but who could use live music and might be willing to
pay for it.

A good approach in selling your act to businesses is always put
yourself in the buyer’s position. What is it you can offer the
buyer? Keep in mind it is the buyer’s needs, not yours that he
or she is concerned with. Statements like “I’ve always wanted to
play here” should be avoided. Try something like “We are an
exciting act that your clientele would really love and we have a
following.” If it is a retail business’s special event you are
trying to book, instead of stating “gee, I’d really like to play
for your grand opening, you might say, “I know you are spending
quite a bit advertising your grand opening, why don’t you ad
something special so the people you attract really have a
memorable time?”

The sales pitch is definitely not a time for false modesty, you
should sound confident, but never promise something you can’t
deliver. The most important thing about selling your act is, be
persistent. Selling yourself will be hard at first, but you’ll
learn and it will get easier. You might be turned down the first
20 times, but soon, you’ll be playing and getting paid.

Legal Music Downloads

With the scandals in past years involving the famous (or infamous) Napstar, more and more net users who love music are searching for good quality free legal music downloads. The Record Industry Association of America and the FBI are threatening to find and prosecute people who pass along illegal downloads. This is not an idle threat, since it is easier to trace people who download music illegally than it is to find people who make unauthorized recordings through conventional devices. Therefore, legal music downloads are a safer way of finding the music you want to listen to at no cost. Although some complain about the quality of most legal music downloads, fellow browers can give valuable hints and advice.

There was once a vast library of legal music downloads with millions of recordings to choose from. This music “library” was http://MP3.com, which was later bought by another company and taken offline (no doubt the purchaser realized that the company was giving jewels away for free).

Although more than one lover of legal music downloads compared the dissolution of http://MP3.com to the burning of the great library in Alexandria, there are ways to find great legal music downloads, although it takes much more investigation than was required in the heyday of http://MP3.com.

Many independent musicians who are promoting their work provide legal music downloads from their sites for free. Although they may not be big names, they can sound like those at the top of the charts. It can be fun and exciting searching for these up and coming bands and downloading their music. You can get tips from other music lovers on what bands provide the best free music downloads, or many musicians will give you their information at concerts.

The reason musicians can afford to offer free legal music downloads is that they see it as a way of promoting their music, and they know that those who enjoy the downloads often buy their CDs. It works on the same principle as the bookshop/cafes that allow shoppers to sip coffee and browse through their titles for free; samples increase actual sales. Since these independent musicians do not yet have big names, free legal music downloads is sometimes the only way they can give potential CD buyers an idea of their music.

One of the best ways to find legal music downloads is through iRATE radio, which has a very large database of downloads, and enables the listener to download music, give reviews and rate each recording. You can look at other ratings and reviews as you submit your own, and from this feedback, you can find the best legal music downloads. IRATE radio will send you samples of music that fits your stipulated categories, and if you like a certain artist or style, it will automatically download new recordings for you.

Word of mouth is the best way to locate your favorite legal music downloads, and several friends can get together and make a hobby out of searching for the best new downloads. It is a good idea to look through music magazines and e-zines for reviews of the best up and coming bands and artist. The reviewer will often give you a link to the artists’ website which might contain free legal music downloads.

However you find your music online, keep in mind that it is much easier and safer to stick to legal music downloads than to take advantage of offers that might involve a violation of copyright laws. In the old days of VHS, it was easy to just make a recording without anyone knowing about it, but most PCs can be easily traced, and your music downloads can be investigated by authorities.

Therefore, if your dissatisfaction with the quality of many legal music downloads is tempting you to bend the rules, it might be a good idea to do a more thorough search among legal music downloads to find truly good ones. There are great independent bands out there who sound even better than the big names.

Matt Garrett for www.LMG.Org and www.musiccdsonline.net

Tips For The Solo Musician: Just Who Are You?

So…just who are you?
That is a question that every solo artist, solo musician, and every solo instrumentalist has probably asked themselves down through the years.
The ones who can answer that question will find themselves on the road to a very eventful, and interesting musical career.

Who am I?…Who do I want to be?…Who do I sound like?…Who would I want to be like?
These are all legitimate questions, and ones that should be asked.
Every one has strengths, and weaknesses.
We all have our differences.
We all have different goals, and the way we want to achieve them.

To find ones self as a person is a great achievement.
To find ones self as a person, and a great soloist is a great Blessing.
To find ones self as a person…as a great soloist…and to want to share that with the rest of the world is a most honored desire.

It’s not a fact of being proud.
No, it’s not a fact of being better than any, and everyone else.
It’s not the fact of being able to do more than anyone else, or being in a class of “It’s me, and there’s no one else”.
No…it’s not about any of these things.

Rather, it is knowing that you have something to offer.
Knowing that you have something that may help someone.
Knowing that it is not only a blessing that you are you, and you know that you are you.
But,…knowing that you are blessed so that you may be a blessing to all of the rest of the world.

So…just who are you?
how will you perfect your talent?
What will you do with your talent?
Will you use it to wage war?
Or,…will you use it to make peace?
Will you think of the fact that any one of your performances just may save a persons life?
Or, will you give a darn, and only think you are IT…and there is no reason for you to care?

Finding ones self is not an easy thing.
No, it’s not easy at all.
It takes a lot of heart, and a lot of grit.
It takes a lot of commitment, a lot of patience and endurance.
It takes giving ones self completely over to the tools, and ways of perfection.
You will have to go through the refining fire.
Hours upon hours of epetitiveness, and drudgery.
You will need the focus of a microscope.
You must have the intense burning desire of a perfectionist.

The mountain in front of you must be just another movable object, and the wide valley just another attainable space.
The goal here is to be that great soloist,…that great musician,…that great artist,…that great instrumentalist,…That great vocalist.
The goal is to find that person inside of you.
The goal is to find, and perfect that talent you have been blessed with.
To search your innermost being,…to probe deep in your bowels,…to travel the deep relmes of the mind.
To find that spark and turn it into a super nova!
To reach beyond the pain,…beyond the wall,… to go beyond perfection.
To reach the point where your music is that exact mirror of your soul.

The only lasting way to attain this level that I know of is,…Practice!Practice!Practice!, and Practice some more!
If you can see the end result that is possible, if you could just taste the sweetness of what it is like to move the hearts of thousands,…if you could know what it is like to pour music out of your deepest parts until tears uncontrolably flow,…If you could only feel what it must be like to perform for the Creator Himself!
To capture the power of the elements,…to hold the secrets of the universe.

I am not kidding, nor am I just writing empty words.
I know these things are possible,…I know these things are attainable,…and, I have tasted it.

There are millions of musicians, millions of artists, and millions apon millions of vocalists, and instrumentalists.
The fact in todays world is that to many of us no longer have the desire to find out just who we are.
Too many of us no longer have the patience to find ourselves.
We dont want to spend the time to perfect our talents.
And sadly,…We dont give a care about sharing what we are,…who we are,…why we are,…and do not want to help, or give of ourselves to help our fellow man.
Yes, there are some who do care, and give of themselves, and give their talent freely from their hearts,…but not enough.
Not enough of us.

Too many people have that desire for what I call “Quaker Oats Music”.
Too many people want to do everything Quick,…Fast,…and IN A Hurry!
Well, fast is not always better, and, haste does make waste.

My desire for this article is to encourage those who want to find themselves.
To touch those who do want to spend the time.
To thank those who are giving of themselves until there is almost nothing left,…then they replenish themselves, and give some more.
To encourage the young ones who are just starting out.
“It takes time Bro”
Dont give up,…just keep going until you reach what ever goal you have set for yourself, and then go the seven miles further.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with practicing,…nothing at all.
It is an utmost necessity.
No,…you dont need drugs to attain this perfection.
The energy is within you,…all you need do is tap the source.
That source is deep within your innermost being.
Look for it,…Yearn for it,…Desire it!

In closing:
“If I could do only one thing right, let it be music that inspires people to do the right things”.

Patrick is a blind, jazz saxophonist, his intense, improvive style of playing is both soothing, and captivating to the listener.
Patrick owns, and operates a Texas based recording studio: Curse Buster Sound.
You can hear, and contact Patrick at:
http://www.cursebustersound.com

Peaceful Solution Character Education Program:
http://www.peacefulsolution.com

CurseBuster Market Place:
http://rocketstart.com/Brown2/default.cfm

Was Kurt Cobain Murdered?

On the 8th of April 1994 Kurt Cobain the lead singer of the band Nirvana was found dead in his home in Seattle, USA. Electrician Gary Smith found him with a shotgun wound to the face and he had taken a massive overdose of heroin at about 9:00 am that morning. It was believed that Kurt had died around about the 4th or 5th of April.
Suspicions first arose questioning whether Kurt actually did commit suicide when Rosemary Carroll, a lawyer and good friend of both Kurt and his wife, Courtney Love spoke out about how suspicions of Kurt’s death being a murder and that Kurt had once told her he wasn’t suicidal.

A private investigator that worked for Courtney Love called Tom Grant decided to look further into these claims and after 8 months of searching for evidence, collecting statements and doing a lot of research Grant came to the conclusion that Kurt Cobain was murdered.

Tom Grant had searched Kurt’s Seattle home with his partner Carlson the day before he was found dead however he didn’t check the room above the garage which Kurt called ‘the greenhouse’ which was where Kurt was found dead. At this time Grant didn’t even know that this room existed. Grant also found out that the family’s male nanny Michael ‘Cali’ Hewitt had stayed at the house with Kurt that week and Hewitt even admitted to it. When Grant had searched the house he noticed that Hewitt had left his TV on and his bed unmade almost as if he had left in a hurry. Hewitt had left the house that day with out Grant even seeing him.

When Grant and Carlson later searched the house, this time also not searching the greenhouse, he found a note on the stairs that suggested that Kurt had been trying to avoid Hewitt while they were both at the house that week. However Grant thought it might have been a fake letter made out so Grant would think that Hewitt had trying to be in contact with Kurt.

The next day was the day Kurt was found dead. Grant had heard on the radio that Kurt’s body was found in the greenhouse. Grant asked Carlson why they never searched there and Carlson replied, “It’s just a dirty little room. I think they keep some lumber in there or something.” Grant also found out that Kurt’s credit cards had been stopped that morning which he found weird as Kurt must have been dead at least three days by then.

The events leading up to Kurt’s death and the mysterious way of which Kurt died all pointed towards the suggestion that Kurt Cobain was intentionally killed. Grant also came to a conclusion that Courtney Love and Michael Hewitt were the main suspects in this case due to all the evidence he collected.

About a month before Kurt’s death Courtney Love found him unconscious in a hotel room. They had been arguing the day before and had drunk a lot of champagne and Kurt had taken an overdose of Rohypnol a drug, which Courtney had been taking the day before. Whether this was an early suicide attempt by Kurt or an early murder attempt by Courtney is yet to be uncovered however, either way it left Kurt in a 20-hour coma.

At the scene of Kurt’s death the shotgun that Kurt allegedly shot himself with had no signs of fingerprints on it even though Kurt didn’t wear gloves. Also the pen in which he used to write his suicide note and the box of shotgun shells also turned up with no fingerprints on them at all. Tom Grant found this suspicious and his conclusion was that the scene had purposely been swept clean.

Grant also knew that Courtney had taken an overdose earlier that week and was hospitalised. This felt very suspicious to Grant. It wasn’t the first time Courtney had gone in to hospital due to an overdose. Grant felt the timing was just right to use as an alibi. Maybe she thought if she were in hospital no one would suspect her. However she could have easily have gotten someone else to murder Kurt such as Michael Hewitt.

Tom Grant also analysed the suicide note that was found at the scene of Kurt’s death. The last four lines of the suicide note seemed very suspicious to him as they were written in what seemed a different style of handwriting. After looking at it closer he came to the conclusion that it was very much like Courtney’s handwriting he particularly noticed that the P’s and the F’s were identical to those of Courtney’s. The note may not actually be a suicide note at all. It was long rumoured that Kurt was leaving the music business and that his band Nirvana were going to break up. It was also rumoured that Kurt was planning to leave and he was also intending on filing for a divorce with Courtney. The note could just as easily have been a goodbye note to Courtney as much as a suicide note.

Eldon Hoke the lead singer of a band called The Mentors who is also known as ‘El Duce’ stepped forward and told the police that in December 1993 Courtney had offered him $50,000 to murder Kurt Cobain. El Duce later took a lie detector test in which he was asked whether Courtney Love did ask him to murder Kurt Cobain and was he offered $50,000 for the job. The results came out with 99.9% score towards the truth. However once again Courtney got away with it.

The case had never been taken much further as Grant’s evidence has never been enough to clearly suggest that Kurt was murdered just a lot of question marks over Courtney’s and Hewitt’s actions and reactions around the time of Kurt’s death. Whether Kurt was murdered or not may never be discovered but what was discovered is that there is more evidence pointing towards a murder than a suicide but it is not sound enough. The fact is that Kurt’s death should have been investigated better.

SO, YOU WANNA BE A ROCK N’ ROLL STAR–ling?

Rock n’ Roll has become somewhat of a generic term used to
identify a wide variety of popular music today. Like many other
things associated with this generation, it has been reduced to
an almost pathetic state of relativism, but it wasn’t always so.

When Rock’n Roll was born, it offered up a fresh new sound that
was radical and different. Rockers such as Little Richard, Buddy
Holly, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley and the Comets,
and Elvis, among others, burst onto the scene in such a way that
audiences were amazed, some were shocked and others were
absolutely appalled. However, most of us can now look back in
hindsight and recognize the important influence these early
artists had on the direction that popular music was to take.

Which brings me to the point of this article. Last week, my
husband informed me of an interesting fact about a little bird
known as a starling. Since we happen to have a family of them
living under the eave of our house, he has been having fun
recording them with his new camcorder. He showed me the clip and
pointed out that I should listen to them sing. At first they
sounded like themselves. Then, all of a sudden, one of them sang
like a meadowlark! He told me that he has heard them sound like
magpies, ravens, and even a rooster once! Starlings love to
mimic other birds.

Mr. B.B. King once told a class of young guitar students that he
didn’t care if they could play like him. No one needs another
B.B. King, he said; that’s already been done. You’ve got to find
your own voice.

This is a wise piece of advice from someone who knows from
whence he speaks, so please take heed. Do you have dreams of
really making it big someday? Then let me ask you an important
question: are you going to be a Rock n’ Roll Star or a Rock n’
Roll Star–ling? How you answer, may well determine your future.

Song Writing: To Find Yourself In The Music You Compose

What is songwriting? What is composing? Do you really compose
when you write songs or are you just copying?

If song writers make a living on their writing it will put a lot
of pressure on them. Some song writers are constantly listening
for what’s popular and are trying to imitate hooks in songs.

I can see two ways to go as a song writer:

1. Listening to a lot of hit songs and trying to write similar
songs. By listening to songs and reading a lot on what’s up
trying to feel what type of songs will be popular in the near
future.

2. Trying to be yourself and just work on creating songs you
like yourself in the hope that others will feel the same.

The last method is for me the most rewarding way to go as far as
personal growth is concerned. I feel good and happy when I am
creative as a song writer and feel that the process involves
something about knowing myself better.

In the long run it might also create the best hit songs too. The
song Yesterday is just one example of a different hit song.

Writing songs can be a very rewarding activity and the level of
originality depends on how you write your music. You can help
the creative parts of your brain to be activated or use the more
calculating parts or a combination of both.

May I share a few tips from my own song writing experience:

1. Sit down with your guitar or at your piano singing or humming
without expecting to create something brilliant. When you allow
yourself to wander away a bit from your calculating parts of the
brain and into the exciting forests of imagination and
creativity you can come up with fantastic things.

2. Limitations can help your creativity. Give yourself some
limitations by for example using a chord progression like G Em
Am D7. Many songs use this progression but there will be room
for more. You can of course use a more odd one like E C C#m G#m.

3. Record yourself playing around humming with your guitar or
piano. Listening to what you have come up with a few days later
can help you find interesting melodies or hooks to use in your
songs.

Sometimes you can feel that you are not able to write songs like
the song writers you like but they can’t write songs that is
you. A comforting thought, isn,t it!