All About Digital Keyboard

How To Play Electric Piano

How to add electronic/synthesized sounds to a electric keyboard (Piano)?

Hey,

I am just getting into the electric side of playing the piano. I'm about to buy a keyboard and am wondering what I need to get. I would like something that I can make my own sounds with kind of like a synthesizer but have a full 88 keys to play with. I would like to be able to mix and make my own sounds (like how the keyboard sounds in Kelsey or Shake It by Metro Station). I don't think a keyboard with pre-built in sounds will cut it for me. I've half way heard there is a synth editor that you run to you keyboard that let's you change to any type of electronic sounds right then and there.

Also I don't want to use a laptop.

Thanks,
Peter

You're opening a big new can of worms here. For years I played keyboards with nothing but preset sounds. The first synthesizer I ever bought only had 32 keys and played one note at a time. Not knowing what it was, I was severely disappointed and nearly sold it. I'm glad I didn't, and I've gotten heavily into synthesizers since then. There are TONS of different varieties of synths that each have different functions from others. I'm going to give you a link to a site that you might thank me or curse me later. After I discovered it, I learned a lot about synthesizers, but I also found myself becoming poor (but with a growing collection of synths). Check it out:

www.vintagesynth.com

Here are a few How To Play Electric Piano listings you might enjoy:

Below are a few more great How To Play Electric Piano deals on Amazon:

After the Dance, NT Lyttelton, London Love Story, Minerva, Chichester The Fantasticks, Duchess, London
Drawing-room dramas were once written off as hopelessly passé, full of stuffy or merely silly toffs. British theatre's revolution – famously begun by John Osborne in 1956 – gave the nobs the boot. Terence Rattigan was, instantly, yesterday's man.

Bit Drum Machine

I want to buy some music production software but don't know where to start?

Hi

I would like to buy some music production software for my PC that incorporates a drum machine, sampler and virtual instruments. I am a bit of a novice so I guess PRo-tools is out of my league at the moment. Could someone tell me what a good package to start with would be.

Cheers

You could try Fruityloops... that sounds up your street..

http://www.flstudio.com/index.html

(You can download a demo from that page)

Here are a few Bit Drum Machine listings you might enjoy:

Before you get started, be sure to do warm-up exercises for drum set playing. Generally speaking, drum set exercises would refer to rudiments or chops but the information that is being presented to you has to do with warming up the body before any drumming.

Drumming at times can be a bit strenuous, though you will be able to play for hours when keeping the body relaxed. Without performing warm-up exercises before playing, the body can become tense and show signs of fatigue within a short while. We will explore exercises that are quick and easy encompassing the whole body from head to toe.

Breathing warm-ups

An important part of drum playing is relaxed breathing. A good warm-up, whether you are sitting or standing, is to take a slow, deep breath, filling the lungs with air. Slowly exhale. Repeat 5 times.

Head warm-ups

These exercises are great for relaxing the neck muscles. When doing head warm-ups be sure to maintain good posture and execute them slowly. This is to be emphasized for all of the other exercises as well to prevent injury.

Let us begin. In a standing position, tilt your head downwards as far as it will go (chin to the chest) then up as far as it will go (chin up high). Repeat 10 times. Next, turn your head from side to side and repeat 10 times. Last, put chin to the chest and gently roll to the left making a circle all the way to the right to where the chin is at the starting position. Repeat this process rolling to the right. Alternate 10 times.

Torso warm-ups

With hands in front of you, interlock fingers of both hands, keeping them near the chest. With elbows pointing outward, raise arms until they are level with the ground. Gently twist the torso to the left and then to the right. Repeat 10 times.

Finger warm-ups

Find a flat surface where you are able to place both hands, palms down. Spread your fingers apart and begin stretching as if you were reaching for something. Stretch to the count of 5, and then relax. Repeat this exercise 5 times.

Leg warm-ups

When doing leg warm-ups, make sure you are in a standing position and correct posture. With feet together, raise your right leg up as high as it will go (knee up to the chest) then back down. Repeat this with the left leg and alternate right and left 10 times.

Foot warm-ups

In a sitting position, raise your right foot off the floor about 10 inches. Point your toes away from you as far as you can, then point them towards you as much as you can. In a circular motion, rotate your foot to the right, then rotate to the left. Repeat this exercise 4 times. After you have completed this for the right foot, do the same for the left foot.

Start playing

By doing these warm-up exercises, you have afforded yourself to be relaxed and play for longer periods of time. You will be able to execute techniques accurately and with determination. Make

this an essential part of your drumming.

About the author:

Thaddeus W. Johnson is a writer, professional drummer and drum teacher who enjoys providing tips and valuable information for drummers and online shoppers of the best drum sets and drum lessons

C 2008 Thaddeus W Johnson

Below are a few more great Bit Drum Machine deals on Amazon:

British buzz band the xx adapt to life on the road
Following their debut sensation, British trio the xx played the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Tennessee on Thursday night, swarmed by thousands eager fans.

Roll Up Electronic Piano

Here are a few Roll Up Electronic Piano listings you might enjoy:

In the political world you have republicans, and you have democrats. In automotive circles you have Ford people, and you have Chevy people. In the fishing world you have those who prefer inshore fishing, and those who are fans of off shore angling. In the guitar world, you often have two opposing legions. Stratocaster players verses Les Paul supporters.

It is, of course, not all black and white, and there are always off-shoots in any discipline. Politics has its independents, cars have Toyota and Honda fans, anglers have fly fishermen, and guitarists have Ibanez, PRS, Yamaha and more.

But quite often, the world revolves around two opposing forces, day verse night, high tide verses low tide, summer verses winter - all with varying degrees of "in-betweeness". Back in the day, when I first started playing guitar, the picture was much clearer. If you played rock and roll, you were either a Strat guy or a Les Paul player. Nothing else would do.

To the un-trained eye these two guitars have quite a lot in common. They both are hunks of wood with six strings, that plug into an amplifier to make music. But to the guitar aficionado the differences are many. Some of the comparisons that can be made between the Strat and the Les Paul involve differences in:

1. Tone

2. Pickups

3. Feel

4. Weight

5. Amp Compatibility

1. Tone - The first most apparent difference between the two guitars lies in the tone that each produces. A Les Paul "sounds" distinctly different from a Strat. This is largely due to the pick up configuration, that we will cover next, but the Les Paul tone can be described as a more "meaty" of thicker tone, and the Strat as a "sweeter" of thinner tone.

2. Pickups - A Strat pickup configuration typically consists of three "single coil" pickups. These pickups are known for producing that "sweeter" tone that many players prefer. The Les Paul normally has two "humbucker" pickups. Each humbucker pickup is, in essence, two single coil pickups put together. Humbuckers are a higher output pickup and result in more distortion, hence the meaty or thicker tones. The Strat comes stock with a five-way pickup selector switch, the Les Paul comes with a three way (See our article "Playing Guitar and the Pickup Selector Switch"). Because the Strat has three pickups it is capable of producing five distinct tones through adjustment of the selector switch. The Les Paul, with two pickups, is capable of three distinct tones.

3. Feel - Play the two guitars and you will immediately feel the difference. The fret board of a Strat typically has a more "rounded" or contoured shape. The Les Paul fret board is typically more of a flat plane. The pluses and minuses of the two can be argued, depending on who you are talking to, but most would agree that the feel of both is decidedly different. In addition, Stratocasters often are produced with either a rosewood fret board or a maple fret board. The darker rosewood has a slightly different "feel" and produces a bit of a thicker tone favored by many rock players, and the lighter colored maple fret board has a bit of a thinner tone preferred by many country players.

4. Weight - The difference in weight between the two guitars is considerable. In my early days as a touring musician, I was a Les Paul guy. I spent many years with a Paul strapped on my shoulder six nights a week until the discomfort from the weight became nearly constant. Then one night, on a lark, a fellow band mate let me play his Strat on a gig. It felt like a feather on my shoulder compared to the cinder block of the Les Paul, and I was instantly hooked on Strats.

5. Amp Compatibility - Many consider the perfect marriage in tone to be a Strat plugged into a Fender tube amp. There is an unmistakable "clean" tone when these two are put together that is instantly recognizable. Although Fender amps are not usually known for great distortion, a good stomp box is a common cure, and worth the sacrifice for the ultimate clean tone. Conversely, the Les Paul is often paired with a Marshall tube amp for the ultimate distortion tone. Favored by many guitarists from heavy metal to hard rock to grunge, the Les Paul / Marshall combination is often considered to be rock and roll "nirvana".

Other differences between the Stratocaster and the Les Paul include floating verses fixed bridges, differences in headstock shape, volume/ tone switch placement, body shape and contour, and input jack placement.

All these add up to generations of loyal followers of one style and design, or the other. Which is better, the Stratocaster or the Les Paul? Who knows. It's all a matter of personal taste and preference. Talk to ten different guitar players and you're liable to get ten different answers, and all of them are right!

Keith Dean is founder of AdultGuitarLessons.com and a 30 veteran of stage and studio. He toured extensively as a road musician throughout the US and Europe, was a former lead guitarist for Jason Aldean, and has shared stages with Little Big Town, Wild Rose, Winger, Confederate Railroad and more. He is a published songwriter, owned and operated a successful music store, and has instructed numerous students in guitar. http://www.adultguitarlessons.com

Below are a few more great Roll Up Electronic Piano deals on Amazon:

Glam rock quartet the Frontier Brothers think you should start a band
Glam rock quartet the Frontier Brothers think you should start a band

Best Digital Piano Reviews

Jamorama Review: My Experience With Jamorama's Guitar Lessons

This Jamorama review is based on my own experience of working through the entire course of online guitar lessons from Jamorama. I'm not a beginner guitarist (I've been playing for several years), but as Jamorama is among the most popular online guitar courses available, I wanted to check it out to see if it was worth recommending on my guitar site – and of course it never hurts to revisit the fundamentals too! My overall impression of the course is a positive one, but I don't think that it's the best choice for everyone, and this review explains why.

What Is Jamorama?

Jamorama is a course of downloadable guitar lessons which teach you to play rhythm guitar, as well as general musicianship – so you learn chords, progressions, reading tab and basic notation, basic music theory (including scales and chord construction), playing along with a band, various rhythmic patterns and strumming techniques, ear training and more. It doesn't really cover lead guitar techniques; the follow up course, Jamorama Lead, is designed to build on this one and teach solo guitar playing. The materials are delivered in text, video and audio format, and there are several software bonuses which complement the main course. You get:

• Jamorama Maestro software – enables you to access all of the lessons in sequence, and plays the relevant audio and video tracks
• Jamorama Books 1 & 2 – in digital text format, with full colour photos and illustrations. Most of the music is notated in tab (basic traditional notation is introduced, but you don't need it to play the material in the course). There are 15 lessons in Book 1, and 29 in Book 2
• Video lessons – video instruction for each new chord and exercise, showing the correct positions for both hands, the fretboard and other information
• Audio jam tracks – enable you to practice playing with others, in a variety of musical styles

Plus there are some bonuses too:

• GuitEarIt! – ear training software to improve your aural skills – vital if you want to be able to play by ear or improvise
• Jamorama Metronome – makes it easy to practice playing in time
• Jayde Musica – a software game to help you learn to read music quickly and easily
• Guitar Tuner Pro – simple software that helps you to tune your guitar accurately to a variety of tunings
• How To Tune Your Guitar – PDF guide to various tuning methods
• Advanced Learning Techniques For Guitar – PDF guide to learning more quickly and effectively
• Free access to SongPond – 30 days free membership to the SongPond website, which offers video tutorials showing you how to play a large range of popular songs on guitar or piano

There's also a member's only forum on the Jamorama site, and the course is fully guaranteed for eight weeks after purchase – so you can try it with confidence.

Is Jamorama A Good Quality Course?

So you get a lot of learning material, but is Jamorama actually any good? For the most part, I'm impressed with the quality of the Jamorama materials. The software all runs smoothly, the books are well written and clearly presented, the audio is professionally recorded, and the videos are just excellent. I also had no problems with downloading the course after making my payment, and the website is easy to navigate. It's not perfect however; I didn't really like reading off the screen especially when a jam track was more than one page long), so I ended up printing the text out. Also, I've noticed a few typos in the course text, which are potentially misleading, and it's a shame to see these in such an otherwise good product. Still, anyone who's paying attention to what they're learning should easily spot them.

Reasons To Buy (And Not To Buy) Jamorama

Generally, I think Jamorama is very good. It's not right for everyone though – here's why you should (or shouldn't) buy Jamorama:

• Buy if you're a beginner, or you already play a bit of guitar, but want to improve your skills. Don't buy if you're an advanced guitarist who's already mastered a wide variety of chords, progressions, strumming techniques etc.
• Buy if you want to learn to play popular styles on electric or acoustic guitar. Don't buy if you want to play classical, flamenco or other non-pop styles – Jamorama doesn't cater for these.
• Buy if you're self-motivated and want to learn at home, at your own pace. Don't buy if you'd prefer one to one instruction with a private teacher.
• Buy if you want to play rhythm guitar, or you want to play lead but are starting completely from scratch (in this case, you should do this course, then follow with Jamorama Lead). Don't buy if you want to play lead guitar, but already have solid rhythm guitar skills.
• Buy if you want to learn the skills that you'll need to play popular songs in most styles. Don't buy if you only want to learn specific well known songs – Jamorama doesn't cover these.
• Buy if you have a decent computer and internet connection, and are ok with learning from digital materials (or printing the material out). Don't buy if you can't download the course material, or you only want to learn from physical media (there is a physical version of Jamorama, but in my opinion it's a bit overpriced).
• Buy if you want a great value complete course for the cost of a couple of lessons with a private teacher. Don't buy if you need or prefer the personal attention that one on one instruction provides.

Summary

I think that Jamorama is a solid course that does what it claims – so long as you commit yourself and practice diligently, you'll go from beginner to intermediate level, and will be able to play some pretty impressive stuff by the end of it. The amount of time needed will obviously vary for different people, but there's roughly about a year's worth of lessons here. The course progresses in a very logical manner, so you're always building on what you've learned already (one of the problems with the free guitar lessons available online is that they generally focus on just a few specialised areas, and don't cover all of the necessary basic techniques, so you end up with a lot of gaps in your skill set – this isn't an issue with Jamorama, which provides a very thorough grounding in the essentials that underpin many musical styles). Although Jamorama isn't ideal for everyone, it's a great choice for those who want a high quality, enjoyable course that provides the skills necessary for playing rhythm guitar in various genres.

About the Author

If you want to find out more about my experience with these guitar lessons, and read a more in-depth account, check out the Jamorama review on my site, which also has a range of other articles about learning the guitar.

Here are a few Best Digital Piano Reviews listings you might enjoy:

The top three ways on how to teach a child to play piano online is my gift to you. The number one way is to make it fun while being educational. If you have noticed throughout your kids life their attention span can be extremely limited and they are addicted to fun.

The best programs and courses to teach your child are going to incorporate both learning and fun by making educational games the root of how your child will learn to play the piano. I have a nine-year-old daughter and I've always found that she learns at least 10 to 20 times better when she's having fun.

The second way on how to teach your child to play piano online is to take the course with them and be a leader by example. There is nothing better when you combine fun and give them a partner that has just as much fun with it as they do.

Anytime I want my nine-year-old daughter to really get the grasp and concept of something I participate in it with her and the results are enhanced even more. As we get deeper and deeper into our program for learning to play the piano online I feel it is one of the best decisions that we made.

I love seeing the smile on her face as she is having a blast with our program and is learning an incredibly complex instrument that will reward her for years to come. With as much fun as we have been having you would never think that there is anything educational inside.

I try to set the bar and learn as much as I can myself with playing piano. It is great that this fits both of our age ranges and allows us to come together to learn a difficult craft. We enjoyed listening to the piano music even more now.

The third way on how to teach a child to play piano online is by rewarding them with cool gifts and affirmations. Affirmations are another way of saying complements and boosting their self esteem. Kids always do great when you make them feel better about themselves and reward them.

When my nine-year-old daughter is able to read some music or play by ear with the piano for a difficult task I tell her how much she has grown and how proud I am of her. We go out to watch her favorite movies when she really blows me away with her growth in learning how to play the piano.

Feel like you're stuck in a rut with your Piano Playing? Gain Access to The Ultimate Piano Learning Kit In Just Five Minutes. Get Your FREE Play Piano 6 Part Mini Course. http://learntoplaypianofast.blogspot.com/ - No matter if your 9 to 90 you can do this!

Below are a few more great Best Digital Piano Reviews deals on Amazon:

Eminem's 'Recovery' sales soar
Eminem's latest album enjoys a better-than-healthy debut atop Billboard's albums chart this week. It sold 741,000 copies its first week.

Best Portable Digital Piano

Best Digital Piano that is also portable?

I am looking to buy a digital piano that has 88 keys, and weighted hammer action but is aso the most portable, can anyone give me some ideas?

Yamaha make the best digital pianos, i'm sure they'll have a suitable one. Their website is www.yamaha-europe.com

Here are a few Best Portable Digital Piano listings you might enjoy:

2007 was an excellent year for contemporary Christian music. One only needs to glance at the list of the top 100 songs of the year to verify that belief. Casting Crowns captured the top spot with their smash hit "East To West". Their first offering from the "Altar And The Door" album was huge on Christian Adult Contemporary, Inspirational, and Contemporary Hits Radio charts. TobyMac's "Portable Sounds" album produced two of the year's top ten songs, "Made To Love" at number two and "I'm For You" at number nine. The infectious tune, "Something Beautiful" by the Newsboys, checked in at number three for the year. Newcomers, Rush Of Fools, scored the fourth biggest song of the year with "Undone". MercyMe continued their chart prominence with the number five song, "Bring The Rain". Jeremy Camp placed more songs in the top 100 for the year than any other artist. "Give You Glory", at number six, was the biggest of his five hits this past year. Big Daddy Weave's smash hit, "Everytime I Breathe", finished the year in the number seven spot. Chris Tomlin did well on the charts again this past year, placing three songs in the year end top twenty. "How Can I Keep From Singing" was the biggest at number eight. Brandon Heath rounded out the top ten with the incredibly catchy "I'm Not Who I Was".

The David Crowder Band, Aaron Shust, Third Day and Lincoln Brewster all placed songs in the year's top twenty. Perhaps the most glaring void is the absence of any female artists in the year-end top twenty. Mandisa's "Only The World" was the highest ranking song by a female artist. It came in at number twenty one for the year.

Several artists had multiple appearances on the year end chart. Jeremy Camp, Casting Crowns, Aaron Shust, MercyMe, Chris Tomlin, Mark Schultz, Relient K, Skillet, and the Newsboys all had three or more appearances on the year end chart. Bebo Norman, Big Daddy Weave, Building 429, David Crowder Band, Echoing Angels, Lincoln Brewster, Matt Redmond, Michael W. Smith, Natalie Grant, Phillips, Craig & Dean, Point Of Grace, Rush Of Fools, Third Day and TobyMac all had two appearances each.

There were several big names absent from this year's top 100 chart including Chris Rice, Avalon, Nicole C. Mullin, Amy Grant, Twila Paris, P.O.D., Selah, and Todd Agnew.

To see a complete listing of the Top 100 Christian songs of 2007 please visit our website.

Nate Ohman has been a longtime fan of Christian music and statistics. He has combined the two on his website http://www.topchristianhits.org He currently resides in West Michigan with his wife and two children.

Below are a few more great Best Portable Digital Piano deals on Amazon:

Hudson Brings Retro Favorite to DSiWare With 16 Shot! Shooting Watch
16 Shot! Shooting Watch (DSi) Popular rapid-tapping game available to new generation of gamers.