The History of Christmas Carols


The custom of caroling and Christmas carols is thought to have originated in England when roaming musicians would go from town to town and visit castles and other houses of the rich to give unrehearsed performances. But there also is the notion that singing carols at Christmas probably came from the group of angels, shepherds and who visited Jesus at his birth, since they worshiped the holy child, sang and proclaim praises unto Him. And after their visit, they went on with their declarations in the street.

How Community Orchestras Contribute to Society

Orchestras are a great example of community investment showing a profit.

It’s quite unfortunate, but when budgets get cut, the arts tends to be the first target of the calculator-wielding cutters. It’s a common misconception that the arts is somehow a luxury; in fact, on average, a dollar invested in the arts can generate up to a thousand per cent return.

Understanding and Perfecting Your Clarinet Tone

Clarinet is a beautiful and interesting instrument to play. Whether you are playing jazz, dixie, classical or another genre, the clarinet has tremendous appeal. It has a woody tone with depth, edge, and a rich quality unparalleled.

Achieving the perfect tone, though, isn’t that easy. The instrument, mouthpiece, reed and other factors such as facial bone density and the shape of your jaw come into play. Then, there’s the size of the auditorium, hall, or room. And, if you are recording, the quality of the equipment and mastering techniques become one of the primary issues.

Choosing Your Dinner Party Music

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Certainly, people make choices everyday about what radio station they listen to or music track to play. But there is nothing like the painstaking planning for a dinner party to make one assess the tiniest details of décor, table setting, food, personal appearance and, of course, music – which may make or break your dinner party.
When you plan to host a dinner party, be it a wedding reception or an after event stint, it is also essential to have a good programming of your soundtrack for that occasion.

Read more: Choosing Your Dinner Party Music

Enjoying and Making a Living with Music



Let’s face it. Musicians are oftentimes torn between developing the musical career and providing for the family or even just for one’s own living expenses. Before you get frustrated to turn in and give up your passion to accept a non-musical job in order to just “get by,” scan through some of these music careers.

Musicians who hold these jobs find creative ways to manifest their passions. According to Abby White and Marie Wakefield, experts on musical careers, it is possible to have a “real job” with music. Here are some of the lucrative music careers.

Read more: Enjoying and Making a Living with Music




Acoustic Guitar Recording Tips

What makes an acoustic guitar a wonderful instrument is that it produces so many sounds from a single source. Capturing all of those sounds and nuances effectively in a recording is the challenge.

The most obvious way to capture an acoustic guitar's sound in different ways is to use more than one microphone at the same time and record them onto separate tracks. An entirely different result can be achieved by using another technique.
Read more: Acoustic Guitar Recording Tips

Tips on Choosing Your Wedding Musicians

Bride and Groom Standing With a Mariachi Band in a Church Garden

Choosing your wedding music and musicians should never be underestimated. It is a tricky business. The possibilities are simply as wide as the world of song and sound. What’s important is, you clearly itemize everything to avoid any unpleasant surprises on you big day.

Here are some of the important elements you should look into when you choose your wedding musicians.

Read more: Tips on Choosing Your Wedding Musicians

Understanding the Sonata and Sonatina Form

A Sonata is a musical composition of several contrasting movements for one or two instruments. A symphony is a sonata for orchestra; a quartet is a sonata for four instruments and a concerto is a sonata for solo instrument and orchestra.

The term sonata form or sonata-allegro form refers to the design or plan frequently used in the first movement. It has three main parts: exposition, development, and recapitulation. Each of these main parts has sections arranged according to key relationships.

Music Abuse and Ear Damage

Karaoke Singer

Loud music, whether it comes from radios, headphones or at a rock band concert, could impair one’s hearing.

Notable Covers of Tears for Fears Songs

I’m a huge fan of Tears for Fears from the 80’s till now. As a teen back then I just loved how their songs sounded, but I couldn’t place where the beauty lies. Their eccentricity attracted me and the variety of their compositions kept my ears glued to the headphones. After more than two decades, with Roland Orzabal’s passionate singing style and Curt Smith’s choir boy voice, coupled with smooth bass lines interspersed with driving yet still melodic instrumental leads, their music and compositions still rock. After having studied music as my major in college, I appreciate them all the more. Here are some of their originals and the notable covers of their songs.

Full article and videos here: Notable Covers of Tears for Fears Songs

Tchaikovsky’s Deadly Symphony: Superstition or Fact?


Many musicians believe that some musical compositions court sinister coincidence. Among them were the noted conductors, Arturo Toscanini and Walter Damrosch.

The Pathetique has a somber history. Maestro Toscanini declared it to be the most sorrowful of all symphonic music and explained: “In its adagio lamentation it is the wail of a soul in torment. Perhaps the soul or Peter Ilyich Tchakovsky is eternally imprisoned therein for it was the swan song of this greatest of all Russian composers.”



Read full article: Tchaikovsky’s Deadly Symphony: Superstition or Fact?


Music From the Caves of Luray Caverns: The Greatest Musical Organ

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Beneath the ground, in the beautiful Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia, is a unique musical instrument. Not only is it unusual, but also the largest in the world — and still growing.

It all began when little Robert Sprinkle visited those Shenandoah Valley caves on his fifth birthday. When the guide struck a stalactite at just the right spot, the rock’s deep, resonant tone, fascinated both him and his father. Mr. Sprinkle, an electronic scientist, became excited over the idea of creating an instrument for playing music on the stalactites. The Blue Ridge Mountain Caverns were probably formed by underground rivers. Slow seepage of rainwater through lime stones produced hanging formations called stalactites.

Full Article:Music From the Caves of Luray Caverns: The Greatest Musical Organ

Electric Guitar Recording Tips

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The beauty of the playback sound relies greatly on the recording. Here are tips on recording your electric guitar performance.
This technique is adapted from Fett of The Performing Songwriter. Aside from a direct sound recording input in the other room of a studio, multiple mics can be used on the amp to capture sounds from different angles, just like in acoustic guitar recording. You may experiment on different ways that may even sound weird as a normal recording concept but they’re definitely worth a try. You just might be able to get that elusive sound you’ve been trying to achieve for years, or a totally new sound that you never could have imagined.


Full Article: Electric Guitar Recording Tips

Church Music Terminology

close-up of a choir group holding music books
Although music has no doubt been an important part of life for many cultures since antiquity, it was in the hands of the Western Christian Church that music underwent important developments that were to send it on a series of courses leading ultimately to classical forms and then on to influence today’s myriad of musical styles. It was in the hands of the church that musical notation was invented and then refined.

Here are the common music terms used in the church:

Full Article: Church Music Terminology

The Influence of Asian Art Noveau to Claude Debussy’s Arabesque No. One

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Claude Debussy’s works were composed in the era of Art Nouveau — a term applied to the commercial art that was a protest against the industrialization of the early 1870s and against the still very ugly machines; it was a time when people were nostalgically remembering workmanship, artistic skill and craftsmanship.

Full Article: The Influence of Asian Art Noveau to Claude Debussy's Arabesque No. One

Quotes of Wisdom From John Legend

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His words reveal so much of why he makes a difference in the music industry today. For the budding musicians of the present era, let these words inspire you to be visionaries in your own way. In his pursuit to save R&B he writes and interprets his own style of music that the world would want to sing.

Full Article: Quotes of Wisdom From John Legend


Undoing Vocal Paralysis


Abusing your vocal muscles will take its toll. Good thing, there is now a solution to this problem.
Researchers at John Hopkins have developed a method of relieving the voice changes due to vocal fold paralysis, atrophy, and other changes with a surgical implant made of a calcium compound that looks much like a block from a child’s LEGO set.


Step Into the Music

Music can be inspired by “steps”– the action of the feet, like walk, hop, run, dance and march in the literal and psychomotor definition of the word, “step.” In the more profound context, to step into the music means to involve one’s self in that wonderful realm of sound and emotion.

Full Article: Step Into the Music
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