Tuesday, June 24, 2014

I need a good Ukulele instruction dvd?




Marley


Sometime within this week or next I plan on buying a Ukulele. This will be the first instrument I have evr owned and I want to make sure I have a good instructional Video. The only problem is I'm not sure what constitutes a good video. So I need recommendations. Keep in mind I need something that will start from the very very beginning because like I said I have never played an instrument before. If you know of any lessons that are uploaded online that contain this content that would also be great as it would save me money lol


Answer
I am not familiar with any Ukulele video but there are many publishers like Mel Bay and Alfred that have published various books ( some with CD's) that are very good for a beginner student of the Ukulele.

You should be aware that there are four sizes of Ukuleles.
From the smallest to the largest they are the Soprano, then Concert, then Tenor, and the Baritone. The three smallest are must often tuned G-C-E-A called "C" tuning and the larger Baritone is tuned D-G-B-E just like the first four strings of a standard guitar. If you have access to a guitar place a "capo" at the 5th fret of the guitar and strum the first four strings (starting a the capo) and you will hear how the three smallest Ukes will sound. If you remove the " capo" then play the first four open strings and you will hear how the Baritone Uke will sound.

Chords are easy to learn but be aware that the chords fingering for the three smallest Ukes is different that the fingering used for the Baritone Uke.
Many guitar players that play the Ukulele (like myself) like the Baritone for the reason that the chord formation are identical to the guitar chords except you only have four strings instead of the six in the guitar and in many cases you will only need two fingers instead of three to form a chord.

Another interesting note is that If you were to use the identical chord fingering you learn in the baritone (or guitar) in the smaller three Ukes you will actually be playing four notes higher in pitch but the sound will be OK just the note will be 4 notes apart. As an example a fingering for a "G" chord in the baritone when playing a small soprano will give you a "C" chord- Four notes higher ("G"-A-B-"C"). The reverse is also the same, playing the fingering for a "C" chord in the soprano in the baritone will sound four notes lower ("C"-B-A-"G") It will sound OK.

The Uke is one of the easiest string Instruments to learn as well as making it easy portable due to its small size. The largest Baritone is only approx. 30" long and some guitar players used them as their "travel" instrument that fit almost anywhere.

Go by your local music or book store and check out the section on instrumental instruction.See which one appeals to you the most and get it. When buying a Ukulele if you can afford it buy it with a solid wood top - not laminated- the extra $30 to $50 will be worth it in the sound projection. A solid-top smaller uke will start around $125. and a larger Baritone around $150. Laminated smaller Ukes that are not toys should start at around $60. and around $75. for a Baritone. Good Luck and Enjoy your Ukulele



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Saturday, June 21, 2014

ideas for a teen christmas party 20-35 people?




ibe2hot4ud


i know its early but ive seen what happens when you wait until its to late and i want to make sure evry1 comes to my party not some1 else's. im renting a large comunity center with a kitchen and a fire place. the guests will be middle school age and im going to have a wii a few tvs to play like guitar hero face offs dance dance revolution dance offs and mabey a murder mystery and a christmas idol sing off with awards. i need ideas for food, decoration, party favors, raffle prizes, somthing to wear and other games. thnks in advance. (also anything else you can think of and no drugs alchohal or anything in apporpriate)
no white elephant or anything like that



Answer
I absolutly love Christmas parties but it sounds like you need a lot of help and I don't know your budget. Lets take it one thing at a time.

FOOD:
I'm not sure if you are having this party over a meal time but here are websites that should help you.
http://www.santas.net/recipes.htm

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/et_hd_christmas/0,1972,FOOD_9832,00.html

http://www.christmas-joy.com/recipes/

http://www.saint-nick.com/recipes/

http://www.abc.net.au/backyard/recipes/christmas.htm

http://www.celebrating-christmas.com/recipes/index.shtml

http://www.santaswarehouse.com.au/favorite/christmas_recipes/

Remember, Christmas food is usually homecooked so be prepared to spend alot of time in the kitchen, it will be worth it! Also make sure that you check with all your guests for food allergies or dietary need (like vegetarians or vegans). You don't want any of your guests going hungry!
Make sure that you have alot of candy for snacks, especially candy canes. Hang these up around the room and you will be able to turn them into nice decorations aswell!

DECORATIONS:
http://www.theydeserveit.com/christmas-decorations/party-decorations.html

http://www.mykindaliving.com/celebrating/holidays/christmas.shtml

http://www.amazing-christmas-ideas.com/white-christmas-decorating.html

http://www.amazing-christmas-ideas.com/christmas-table-decorations.html

http://www.amazing-christmas-ideas.com/quick-and-easy-decorating-with-christmas-wreaths.html

http://www.make-stuff.com/hollidays/christmas.html

http://www.rollanet.org/~anderson/cdecorating.html

http://www.decorating4less.com/pages/cmas99.htm

http://www.home-decorating-made-easy.com/christmas-decorating.html

PARTY FAVORS:
The simplest and easiest party favors would obviously be ornaments. You could buy a buch of colourful Christmas balls and, with sparkly paint, paint each persons name onto their ornament. Everybody will love these and they will always have a reminder of your party.
You could also get a christmas hat or stocking for each persona and fill it with candy. Everyone with love these and they should be pretty cheap.
Another idea is to give everybody a cheap, disposable camera at the beginning of the party. This way evryone can take their own special pictures.
Scented christmas candles in cute holders are small, cheap and give lots of Christmas spirit. Get them in festive colours like red, green and white.
You could give each of them a burnt CD of Christmas songs. This idea is really cheap and suitable for evrybody.
You could get them all a festive photo frame, either store bought or a plain one you have decorated yourself. Put in it a little note telling them that they will be recieving lots of photos from the night (coz obviously you will have had someone taking them with a dgital camera!).
Small snow globes are always a cute idea. This will work best if most of your guests are female but even male guys will love them if you get the right ones.
Buy lots of small tins and fill them with homemade Christmas cookies. No one will be able to resist!

RAFFLE PRIZES:
Obviously you want this to be at least partially Christmas themed. For a group of that many people, I suggest that you have a first prize, second prize, third prize and 5 small consilation prizes. Usually I would make 1st, 2nd and 3rd about equal. The person who gets 1st gets to pick their prize first and so on. This mean people are more likely to get what they want and you don't have to bother with defingin three prizes.
Here are some ideas for your 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes:
A Christmas hamper filled with Christmas food.
A pile of fancy Christmas ornaments and other decorations
A small Christmas tree with a few small Christmas decorations.
A set of Christmas DVDs (make sure they are appropriate for your age group)
A voucher for a specialised Christmas shop

Here are some ideas for the consilation prizes:
A Santa's Cookie Jar
A small Christmas stocking filled with candy
A Christmas Fruit cake
A stack of blank Christmas Cards
A Christmas stuffed toy

WHAT TO WEAR:
You are the host so how you act and look will set the whole tone of the party. I would suggest incorperating some Christmas theme into what you wear and asking everyone else to do the same. This will make your party really seem festive and get everybody in the right mood. Don't go to overboard though and from the sound of your game remind everybody to wear or bring leggings or pants. Maybe you could wear a cute red and white dress with leggings underneath. Or even just jeans and a top you love with some Christmasy accessories. You could supply everbody with a Santa hat to wear when the walk in the door. I don't know how formal o unformal your party is going to be but as long and you are comfortable and love what you are wearing anything will do fine.

GAMES:
There are lots of games that you could give a Christmas twist to. Definatly don't rule our kids games because they seem to young! Trust me, I am 15 and every party that me and my friends have we play Pass the Parcel. Here are some game ideas:

Christmas Charades (use Christmas songs, names, movies,etc)

The Chocolate game - if you don't know this, you all get in a circle and there is a block of chocolate in the middle with a fork and a knife. You each take turns throwing the dice and when someone gets the number you have decided on (usually 1 or 6) they get to start eating the chocolate. The trick is that before they start they have to put on certain items of clothing (baggy shirts, hats, gloves, scarves, etc). They can then start cutting the chocolate using the knife and fork (no hands) but they can only cut of one square at a time. When they have they can put this in their mouth and can't keep going untill they have completely fineshed it. Meanwhile, everybody else keeps on rolling the dice. When the next person get the decided number, no matter how far through the first person is, they must immediatly stop, take of the clothes and return to the middle. Make sure that the chocolate isn't too hard or soft. I would suggest having two sets of the same clothes so that noone is held up by the previous person. Also, with a group that big you might want to think about having two or three groups.Trust me, evryone loves this game.

The marshmallow game - this is basically like bobbing for apples except instead of apples their are marshmallow and instead of water their is icing suger. The marshmallows are hidden in the icing sugar to make it harder and the person bobbing has their hands tied behind their back. If you want, you can turn this into a race where there is more than one bowl set up and each person has to try and get all of their marshmallows out and onto the plate beside them first.

Christmas Balloon Battle - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=CHRISTMAS+BALLOON+BATTLE

Reindeer Games - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=REINDEER+GAMES

Santa Dress Up - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=SANTA+DRESS+UP

Box Game -
http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=BOX+GAME

Pinata - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=PINATA+PARTY

Sweet Spot - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=SWEET+SPOT

Tape the Nose on Santa - http://www.partygamecentral.com/pgcstandard/gametmpstd.asp?gn=TAPE+THE+NOSE+ON+SANTA

I hope this has been a help. Good luck!



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Monday, June 16, 2014

wireless guitar system?




pupe dek


I am looking for a wireless guitar system to buy. dont say something that is like over 200 bucks. when u tell me about one,
tell me its
name and brand and make
a link of it to a music site or something where it has a description of it
how i can walk away from my amp while still working
how long it will last until it breaks.

please include all or most of those things asked above!

thanks



Answer
The answer to every single one of your questions is here...

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Nady-DKW1-VHF-Wireless-Guitar-System?sku=277103

It will last for at least 5-8 years if you take care of it.



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Friday, June 13, 2014

Guitar picking help??!!?




Ledzepp


I just noticed that whenever i play, my pick scratches against my strings and it makes and awful clanging noise. i've heard others play, and it doesn't happen to them. it also happens when i stop my string from vibrating, u hear my hand hitting my strings. do i just have an over-sensitive amp, or it is something i'm doing? how do i stop it?


Answer
Match your guitar pick with the strings. If you are using super light gauge , don't use a 1.0mm pick or it will sound harsh. I use it sometimes but I know how NOT to apply to much pressure on the string. The best gague is around .60 to .75 for most strings.

You may also use economy picking which will help reduce the scratchy sound when playing. You will have to use the left hand more by using hammer-ons, pull-off which can emulate alternatie picking if done right.

Again, if you use a havier gauge string, use a heavier pick and vice - versa. Also, angle the pick so that it hits the string at a 45 deg. angle . This will help you pickup speed and cleanness.



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Thursday, June 12, 2014

How to record professionally, electro-acoustic guitars?




RUSTIC_MAN


How do Great bands, record the acoustic guitar parts?
Do they connect the guitar to a interface? to an amplifier? to a mixing desk?
How to get the best performance?



Answer
Great bands will use lots of equipment - mics - mixers - computers - preamps - signal processors - on and on and on.

You don't need all that - all you need is a simple USB mic to make a great recording of your guitar:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Microphones-Yeti-USB-Microphone/dp/B002VA464S/ref=sr_1_2?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285620765&sr=8-2



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Monday, June 9, 2014

I am looking for a looper for an acoustic guitar?




Becca


My Boyfriend mentioned that he would love a looper. Unfortunately I don't know much about music and all. So I am curious to know what I should get him... What the best is out there? I was looking at a Jamman, and I heard that the boss brand is good. Any suggestions?? I will be getting it for him for Christmas and I would like to keep it under $250


Answer
I've had three loopers and they all have their good & bad points. Right now I own the Boss RC20 loop station and it's really easy to use and the sound quality is almost perfect. It has some things I don't like, but for the money ($225.00 on ebay) it's pretty good. I had a Boomerang phrase sampler too, and it was amazing. Very easy and fun to use, but cost 400 bucks used. I ended up getting rid of it because setting it up live on unfamiliar sound systems was a total nightmare. Finally, I also had a Line 6 DL4, (300 dollar range) which was the best sound quality and easiest for me to use, but it blew up on a gig and I'm left with the Boss. KT Tunstall uses an Akai Headrush and it sounds perfect and looks easy to use. And from what I've seen, they are under the 250 dollar range too. That might be a good one to check out.

In short, there is no "best". But I'd check out the Akai Headrush, and the Boss is pretty decent for the money.



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Thursday, May 29, 2014

Epiphone LP Junior Special Electric Guitar ?




Weap


Can anyone tell me if this would be a good buy for 120? lookin to replace my shitty washburn x10


Answer
Depends on how shitty your Washburn is. It is not in any way, shape or form a major step up (to put it mildly). These lower priced Epiphone guitars is usually bad stuff. The more expensive ones are usually good, but you'll get better value elsewhere.

Personally, I wouldn't play this Epiphone if you paid me good money to do it, but I'd gladly take a Washburn any day and upgrade/fix that.

I agree with the other poster that a Squier is a better instrument. Other options to look at would be Cort, Jay Turser, Ibanez or Samick. In general much, much better instruments than the lower end Epiphone.

Personally, I tend to recommend the Agile brand and the other ones found here: http://www.learnelectricguitarnow.net/agile-electrics - The Agiles will probably be a little too expensive for you, after all we're talking guitars here in the quality league of a good Gibson but for the fraction of the price.



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