Keiko Matsui Piano Smooth Jazz Music CD Review

Piano is the latest release from Smooth Jazz Artist Keiko Matsui, and is another great one by this talented musician.

It's a rare day indeed that I get a CD from an artist that I can truthfully say does not have a bad track in the bunch. I'm more than happy to announce that's exactly what I must say about this one. There simply isn't a bad one in the bunch. No fillers here at all, with each song standing tall on it's own.

One of the refreshingly nice things about this CD is the way all of the participating artists seem to be really enjoying themselves. Combine that with the overall presentation and you've got one of Keiko Matsui's most impressive releases ever.

If you're even mildly into Smooth Jazz music you'll enjoy this CD. Overall Piano is an a great release. I give it my double thumbs up. You will not be disappointed with one single track.

While this entire CD is outstanding the truly standout tunes are track 1 - Presence Of The Moon, track 3 - Whisper From The Mirror, and track 5 - Light Above The Trees.

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 10 - See You There. Good stuff!

Piano Release Notes:

Keiko Matsui originally released Piano on May 6, 2003 on the Sony Wonder label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. Presence Of The Moon

2. Water Lily

3. Whisper From The Mirror

4. Between The Moons

5. Light Above The Trees

6. Doll

7. Beyond The Light

8. Trees

9. Forever, Forever

10. See You There

11. Dawn

12. Distance

13. Be With Me

Personnel: Keiko Matsui (piano); Derek Nakamoto (programming). Recorded at Power House Studio, Tokyo, Japan.

3 Doors Down Away From The Sun Rock Music CD Review

The extremely talented group 3 Doors Down have released their latest CD on the Universal Records recording label, entitled Away From The Sun.

It's a rare day indeed that I get a CD from an artist that I can truthfully say does not have a bad track in the bunch. I'm more than happy to announce that's exactly what I must say about this one. There simply is NOT a bad one in the bunch. No fillers here at all.

Refreshingly, this was one of those CDs I was able to just pop in and comfortably listen to from beginning to end. Every track is enjoyable and was pretty easy for me to listen to from start to finish.

Away From The Sun is a nicely varied, mix of 11 tracks that are very well written and brilliantly performed songs by these clearly superb musicians. Most of the songs display a lot of the kind emotion that makes for a really great listen. Clearly drawing from what I can only imagine are their own real life experiences. At different points touching on the most real emotions of love, heartbreak, pain, failed relationships and unattainable romance. They're all here.

Listen to and I think you'll agree that the song choices are excellent, the production is outstanding and 3 Doors Down is clearly a group that is in top form.

While the entire CD is really very good the truly standout tunes are track 2 - Away From The Sun, track 3 - The Road I'm On, and track 10 - Going Up In Flames.

My SmoothLee Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 5 - Running Out Of Days. Good stuff!

Away From The Sun Release Notes:

3 Doors Down originally released Away From The Sun on Nov 12, 2002 on the Universal Records label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. When I'm Gone

2. Away From The Sun

3. Road I'm On, The

4. Ticket To Heaven

5. Running Out Of Days

6. Here Without You

7. I Feel You

8. Dangerous Game

9. Changes

10. Going Down In Flames

11. Sarah Yellin'

12. untitled - (hidden track)

3 Doors Down: Brad Arnold (vocals); Matt Roberts, Chris Henderson (guitar); Todd Harrell (bass). Additional personnel includes: Josh Freese (drums). Recorded at London Bridge, Seattle, Washington; Greenhouse, Burnaby, Canada and Ocean Way Studios, Hollywood, California.

The Correct Approach When Learning How To Play Guitar

Guitar playing skill should be on autopilot


The most important first step to any kind of musical ability is mastering the playing technique on your instrument. whether it's guitar, piano, sax, anything really. One should get as much technique as possible. This may seem obvious, but it is the downfall of many good musicians, that would otherwise have been great.

Forget about playing other peoples music for a while, learning how to play their songs etc.

Okay, there is a small concession to make. If you are using someone else's music for the sake of learning a particular lesson, for example, getting familiar with chords and practicing changing chords faster, then that's still okay. The problem comes in when one learns other peoples solos and runs, guitar riffs etc, but haven't taken the time to really learn the fretboard and scales. I'm going to talk more about the guitar here, because I'm a guitarist, and because guitarists are "My people". Let me just say, that there's no such thing as a rhythm guitarist. Before you get too far along with guitar lessons, you'll realize that the way to be the best rhythm guitarist, is to learn how to play lead guitar as well.

Get as much technical ability going as you can by learning to play scales, in their entirety, up and down the fretboard, so that the various patterns that make up the scales are etched into your memory. You will notice later on how the different chords fit into that scale. This has a very positive effect on your ability to write songs, as well as your understanding of what you are doing within a song. Hone your technical ability to the point where your fingers know what to do, and where to go even before you do.

Half of playing the guitar is confidence

This is where playing guitar really becomes quite beautiful. Get as much technique as you can, and then forget it. It will be that you simply intend for something to happen, and your fingers take care of the rest. The reason I'm telling you all this, is because I have known guitarists who learned other peoples riffs and solo's, could play them perfectly, but when it came time to do their own thing on the guitar, where at a loss because they had a very limited understanding of the fretboard, had only practiced their scales in a few positions on the fretboard or had settled for learning only the pentatonic scale. Be the creative force on the guitar. Why settle for just regurgitating someone else's creativity. Blaze a trail across the fretboard, going where you want, when you want, as fast as you want, without regard for consequence. I have done things on the guitar that I myself couldn't fathom or repeat. that's because my guitar playing is on autopilot.

Free Legal Music Downloads - Should They Be DRM Free Too?

It's what everybody's after; free, legal music downloads. In many cases it's not only the fact that people want free downloads, it's that they want their music to be unencumbered by DRM restrictions. Once they've downloaded their music, people want the ability to transport it to as many of their playback devices as they wish. The typical downloader today has a laptop, at least one desktop machine, a portable MP3 player, and possible an MP3 / WMA enabled head unit in their vehicle(s). Most consumers would like to be able to burn their music onto a CD for archival or playback on other devices that don't support any of the download formats, like a traditional CD player.

The requirements of DRM that limited them from being able to freely use their music in any or all of these devices was a prime consideration in their desire to obtain free, legal music downloads. It's typically not all about the money. There's more in play when it comes to downloads. After all, consumers have shown time and again they are more than willing to pay a fair price for a product or service if it meets their needs and expectations.

A 2005 survey of European Internet consumers by the Indicare Project revealed that 40% listened to music on MP3 players and 69% listened to music on their computers, but many were confused by DRM restrictions. Most surveyed expected to be able to transfer and burn their music downloads, and were "confused and annoyed" when unable to. With the rising popularity of not only music downloads, but the increasing popularity of video and movie downloads, this problem is likely to grow worse.

The recent announcement that Amazon.com and EMI that they would be releasing legal music downloads with no DRM restrictions seems to bear out the fact that such restrictions are actually of dubious benefit to the recording and movie industries, despite vicious prosecution of many downloaders by industry associations such as the RIAA. In fact EMI is the 4th largest record label group in the world, and you can be sure they have studied the DRM / downloading issue ad nausem.

The reality of the situation is that consumers want to be able to do with their downloads as they please, especially if they've paid for them, and the restrictions posed by DRM are actually hurting the industry. Unless it can be shown that a substantial percentage of those who availed themselves of free music downloads would have actually purchased similar content had they not downloaded the music some other way, the music industry will suffer by continuing to impose such restrictions. Actually the number of people who avoid DRM encumbered, legal downloads altogether due to portability issues will continue to contribute to the decline in music sales, when music downloads should be creating a much larger revenue stream for the recording industry and the artists.

The Most Important Piano Scales Revealed

There are dozens of piano scales in music. There are major, minor, pentatonic and a whole lot more. There are four important piano scales that every piano player should learn. This article will tell you what those scales are and how to play them.

Half Steps/Whole Steps

To learn how to play piano scales, you must first understand half and whole steps. A half-step is the distance from one note to the very next note. For example, the distance between E and F is a half step. The distance from F to F# is a half step. A whole step is simply two half steps combined. The distances from C to D and G to A are whole steps. In learning how to play the scales, we will refer to half steps with an H and whole steps will be referred to as a W.

Major

Major piano scales are the most common type of scales used in Western music. To play a major scale, you simply start on the root note and use the following formula: W-W-H-W-W-W-H. Using this formula, you will find that the notes of the C major scale are C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. The notes of the F major scale are F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F. You can use this formula to find the major scale of any key.

Natural Minor

Natural minor scales are also the most commonly used piano scales. To play a natural minor scale, you start on the root note and use the formula: W-H-W-W-H-W-W. Using this formula, you will see that the notes of the C natural minor scale are C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb-C. The notes of the F natural minor scale are F-G-Ab-Bb-C-Db-Eb-F.

Melodic Minor

The next set of piano scales to learn is the melodic minor scales. To play a melodic minor scale, you begin on the root note and use the following formula: W-H-W-W-W-W-H. By using the formula, you will see that the notes of the C melodic minor scale are C-D-Eb-F-G-A-B-C. The notes that make up the F melodic minor scale are F-G-Ab-Bb-C-D-E-F.

Harmonic Minor

The last set of piano scales that everyone should know is the harmonic minor scale. The only difference between the harmonic minor and the melodic minor scale is the sixth note. Instead of going up 1 whole step from the fifth note, you are supposed to go up 1 1/2 whole steps (3 half steps). Therefore, the notes that make up the C harmonic minor scale are C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-B-C. The F harmonic minor scale is made up of F-G-Ab-Bb-C-Db-E-F.

These are the most important piano scales to learn. You should pick a key and learn all four scales before moving on to the next key. Soon, you will be able to play all of the piano scales quickly and easily.

Music From The 70's - An Informal Reveiw Of Some Of My Favorites

I have read that the 1970's were a pivotal decade, sending American culture in a new direction. The decade started with the "Smiley Face" stickers and bubblegum music, and took off from there, in several different directions. Here are some of my favorite hits from that decade:

1) "Popcorn"-


This song was music played on the Moog Synthesizer, an instrument that became popular in the late "60's. It was composed by Gershon Kingsley and first released in 1969, although it was the band "Hot Butter" that really made it a hit in 1972. "Hot Butter" was mostly just Stan Free playing the synthesizer. I loved it because it really does sound like popcorn; it's catchy and fun.

2) "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"-


This was originally a South African Zulu folk song, and was made a hit in the U.S. by the Tokens in 1961. It was remade in 1972 by Robert John, which is the version I liked best. It was actually a big hit in South Africa when it was recorded by Solomon Linda in 1939, who had written it based on an experience he had chasing lions who were stalking his family's cows. This is a catchy tune too, although some of the words can be confusing to some people.

3) "Stairway to Heaven"-


This Led Zeppelin song, from 1971, was everyone's favorite in my school. Actually it has been the most requested song ever on FM stations, as well as the most popular sheet music in rock and roll, selling over a million copies. It was written by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, and is eight minutes long. It was never released as a single.

4) "Lady Marmalade"-


This was a song about prostitutes in New Orleans in the French
Quarter (red-light district), and was recorded by Patti Labelle in 1974. It was written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan and became their biggest hit. I couldn't understand a lot of the words but I was thrilled to be able to understand the French ones "Voulez-vouz coucher avec moi, ce soir? (do you want to go to bed with me tonight?)"

5) "I am Woman"-


This song came out in 1972. Helen Reddy wrote lyrics and Ray Burton changed some of them to fit into the music he wrote for it. They were both Australians. Feminism was big in the "70's and this became one of the leading feminist anthems. I found it affirming and exciting.

6) "Riders on the Storm"-


This song, from 1971, was Jim Morrison's last, shortly before his death. The effect of rain in this song was from the electric piano. I think the piano solo was the best part of the whole song, but it was partly cut out to shorten the song for AM radio. This is my favorite song of all time.

The 1970's were good years for music. There was lots of variety, everything from disco to feminist and protest songs, as well as darker, more "adult" songs. . There was music to please everyone. It is unfortunate that this music doesn't get played much any more, except for the really big hits. A lot of lesser-known 1970's music would be great to hear again.

I Need a Life!

I miss people! Okay, now granted that sentence sounds odd as I work at a place where I am surrounded by tons of people all day long, but that doesn't count! Sure, I work with lots of people, and sure, I see my sister at least once most days, and I stop by my parents a couple times a week, but that's not what I miss.

I miss spending time with a good friend in a non work environment. My social life, outside of family members has been lacking somewhat. Heather, Kyle and I went for drinks last week, and that was pretty fun. That is once in 2 months though. Heather and Kyle are both people that I actually want to hang out with outside of work, however they live an hour and a half away from where I live, and our shift end times are 2 hours different. Makes it hard to hang out outside of work too often, which blows pretty hard! On the bright side though, my sister has been talking a fair amount about wanting to move to the town Heather and Kyle live in, so that wouldn't break my heart.

I guess, living with Adrienne I got spoiled. For a while, her and I where working similar shifts, so we'd hang out every night. We'd go for a drink, or we'd just chill out at home and chat.