There’s probably nothing more romantic than giving anniversary gifts for men every year to show your husband that you still cherish the love and marriage after all these years.

On the other hand, you may run out of ideas if you want to give a different gift every year. If your husband is a music fan, however, gift ideas can flow like a river fountain! There’s just so many things music lovers enjoy, whether he’s a pianist, guitar player or simply loves jamming to his favorite songs.

There’s something very special about personalized mixed tapes. One reason why they’re still very popular may be that they remind people of an era of really good music. Also, mixed tapes can come with sentimental meaning. By adding his favorite songs into one mixed tape, you can add a personal touch. For a more romantic effect, add the first song the two of you danced to, your wedding songs or a collection of love songs.

Another great anniversary gift for him would be books about music. Look for a book about his favorite musician or books that are essential to learning a certain musical instrument.

If your husband is up-to-date with the latest advancements in music, you can give him access to the newest, coolest songs by giving iTunes gift cards, which happen to be very popular with kids these days. If not, give him a copy of his favorite band’s latest CD. Although this can cost a lot, a sleek, stylish music player will be greatly appreciated.

A musical instrument can also cost a lot, but it can be well worth it. Alternatively, give him accessories to an instrument he already owns.

Anniversaries are a time for celebrating the joy of love and marriage. Follow this guide to show him that you truly care and know him.

Technorati Tags: miles davis blue, miles davis kind of blue, Miles Davis Music

There are different types of jazz music, each with their own origin and style. Jazz music is distinctly different from any other types of music and can be recognized world wide as having a uniquely American flair to it. Jazz had its beginnings in the United States but is now considered to have a fine mixture of African culture thrown in with it.

There are four distinct parts to jazz music that include rhythm, harmony, melody, and tonal qualities. No matter what type of jazz that you enjoy you’ll be able to find a club that caters to your tastes. There are many experimental jazz venues that are popping up all over the place, including many European cities where all types of music are welcomed and appreciated.

One jazz style is called the Work Song. It is upbeat and rhythmically fast because it was used to make the work day go by faster. The Work Song is repeated over and over and isn’t considered a modern form. This jazz tends to be associated with African American music. It’s probably the rhythmic beat that makes it the least popular jazz style today.

New Orleans Jazz is another style that had its beginnings in the early 1890′s American history. It began marching songs and gospel songs used in brass band performances. One of the foremost leaders in this style is the famous bandleader, William Basie, otherwise known for his band, the Count Basie Orchestra. This style of jazz is still popular today.

The Chicago Style of jazz started in the late 1917′s. Chicago, known as one of the premiere jazz locations in the country, drew many musicians from southern states as the prohibition forced people to move north looking for new jobs and places where they could play this new type of jazz. During this period, piano was added to the background of jazz music, creating an entirely new sound known as Chicago Style jazz.

World War II came and went transforming jazz yet again. This era is when Bebop was born. Bebop fuses fast tempo with changing rhythmic patterns and makes a softer, lighter sound. Bebop will often focus on a solo performer instead of the whole band.

As you can see, jazz is always changing, yet retains part of its original formation at it roots. Jazz is a musical style that changes with the times and the various outlooks of its listeners. One reason that jazz remains popular and alive is its ability to adapt to the world it lives in.

David Neehly

http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/the-different-styles-of-jazz-music-50083.html

Technorati Tags: Jazz Cd, jazz music

There would barely be any human being on earth who doesn’t like music. God has been veritably benevolent for his creations like this. One form of musical art originated in African American cultures is jazz, a lively music with ultimate rhythms. It was formed when some African slaves experimented to contrast folk music with American music. Unlike other music, jazz requires immense interpretation by those who want to learn to play jazz music. The tremendous variety comes in jazz music because of the fact that its rhythm has a forward momentum, commonly referred as “swing”. The musical assembly affiliated with jazz music is big band jazz music.

Jazz has gained so much of importance that people want to learn this music, specifically practice jazz piano, guitars and jazz bass lines. To learn jazz music one needs to follow certain things which will be beneficial for becoming a true music lover. Those who want to learn jazz music must adopt the habit of listening. Do the researches for the type of music you like i.e. old musicians such as Art Tatum, Count Basic etc or some new musicians and try to listen what you like as much as you can. Listening to the solo musicians will give the clear idea of the notes, for beginners this is the good option. For those who want learn to play jazz piano, they must get themselves familiar with all the 12 scales and when you get comfortable with them, learn pentatonic scale for the key you like the most. This will help them like wonders if they are dedicated. Have a start with playing very small notes and basic stuff.

The more you will practice; more you will sound like the things written in front of you while practicing, without knowing them. At last, improvisation is the key for learning the music, after learning one instrument it will be easy a lot to learn another. You should know what you want. Finding out how to play necessary chords at what time and how to sound the strings of the rhythm will make you master of the art.

Akhila Choudhary

http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/tips-to-learn-jazz-music-707258.html

Technorati Tags: learn jazz

Jazz Music CDs – Learn and Enjoy Jazz Music

Jazz music is a unique style of music which really moves people. It is a dying variety of music that touches the heart of most individuals. It is really great and a catchy music to move your mind and feet too. In most American cities, you will find skilled musicians playing Jazz music in almost every corner of the street. This music posses a lot of sensitivity and will never be over and done. It will always be remembered as a great style of melody ever created.

Jazz music CDs are quite popular worldwide, however, you may have to search for them in some particular areas to find the one you are looking for. It is possibly the most soothing music ever found, and can be quite therapeutic and inspiring too. Jazz music CDs have various types of rests, accidentals and prolonged chords. Such music is quite complicated in nature, since there may be variations from lower to higher pitches. It is basically a combination of diatonic, chromatic and major scales.

What Type of Jazz Music CDs You Must Choose

• Choose Jazz music CDs that gives you the true spirit of music. Jazz singers often have smooth voices that capture the heart of an individual easily.

• Listen to older Jazz music CDs. Study the style of some famous singers, and get acquainted with the way they fuse the music they are singing. You must choose a Jazz music CD that appeals you most and has an exclusive style

• Pick up a Jazz music CD that has a unique rhythm. Listen to the music carefully, and then choose the CD you want.

How Can You Build Jazz Music CDs Collection

There are several ways by which you can build up your Jazz music CDs collection.

• Go through the history of Jazz to decide which type of Jazz music CDs interest you most. Some forms of Jazz music include Dixieland, Ragtime, Bebop, Boogie, Free, Swing and Cool to mention a few.

• Visit library to see what type of Jazz music CD collection they have. Some libraries have large CD collections of all forms and styles. Listen to some samples from each type before selecting any.

• Choose from each type of Jazz music collection that appeals you; copy them with CD burner.

• Listen to Jazz music CDs constantly. It offers a great release to a fashionable life. You may also start appreciating all styles and forms shortly.

gardnerwilkinson

http://www.articlesbase.com/electronics-articles/jazz-music-cds-learn-and-enjoy-jazz-music-691548.html

Technorati Tags: jazz music cds

Beginners Blues guitar lessons are ideal, if you’re just starting out learning to play the guitar. If you are reading this article then you are proably intrested in learning blues guitar. There is nothing like being able to strum some cool Blues guitar riffs. Blues is an incredible genre of music.

At the heart and soul of most Blues songs is the guitar. If you’re just starting to learn to play, or always wanted to play the Blues, you have to remember one thing: Even the most skilled Blues guitar players were novices themselves at one time or another.

This is usually one of the simplest forms of music that has played a huge part in the evolution of other genres that are popular in today’s culture. The origin of Blues is thought to have began somewhere between 1870-1900.

The Blues peaked in popularity in the 1960′s. Back then it was one of the most cherished and loved music genres.  Blues paved the way for many other genres of music. When something becomes loved, its inevitable that it evolves and changes. Creative people, like musicians, often will take something and add their own style or flavor to it. That’s exactly what happened to the Blues.

Blues is often given credit for giving birth to the following genres of music: Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Bluegrass, and Rock and Roll. Blues is still alive and well. Blues music just doesn’t enjoy the same popularity it once did at its height. Even if Blues itself isn’t as popular, the genres that evolved from it are. You can still get a taste of Blues in some hit songs. Blues will never truly die.

Blues is mainly played with a guitar which makes the music all the more appealing to people who want to play guitar. For amateurs, there are many ways to learn how to play this type of music and one of them is by taking a beginners Blues guitar course. You will most likely learn what exactly Blues is. How it stands out from all the other genres. Most important, how it is successfully played on the guitar.

You can try to learn Blues songs on your own. However, your time would be better spent if you had the proper instruction.  You’ll sound a lot better and learn more quickly if you take some beginners Blues guitar lessons.

Considered as one of the most influential genres of music, Blues has contributed much to the success of most genres while retaining its identity as the one that started it all. If you’re a fan of blues who wants to relive those good old days, then a beginners Blues guitar system may just be right for you. As you can see, because Blues influenced so many other types of music, if you can master playing Blues music on your guitar, you’ll more easily be able to play other genres.

Jim Bodine

http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/beginners-blues-guitar-lessons-play-blues-guitar-737353.html

Jazz is truly a great music genre and is featured with an exclusive style thereby making a large number of people the true fans of this music type. If you are really looking forward to learn to play jazz, what better option can be than to start it online. These online learn to play jazz lessons involve teaching how to play different musical instruments of jazz such as guitar and drums.

There are online jazz music schools which contribute a lot in helping the interested people to learn to play jazz and that too in a really easy manner and without involving much time. This online mode of learning jazz music online is gaining huge popularity both among the youngsters as well as the adults who desire to know each and every section of jazz music genre. The best part about these online jazz classes is that the students can learn their favorite music type by enjoying the comforts of their homes and at any point of time when they are free.

These online jazz schools adopt the special tools for teaching jazz so that the students can have the best of their times learning their loved music. Interactive conversations with the trainers is the best of all the tools for teaching jazz as the learners can solve their queries then and there while attending the jazz music classes.

Also, with the help of online jazz music classes, the interested students can easily learn the very basics and concepts of guitar licks and riffs along with the advanced guitar chord structure theory. The jazz students are trained to master in the field of scales so that they can perform solos as well with great skills and expertise. These lessons are offered in the jazz midi files so that the learners can excel in the jazz music genre with ease and fast pace. The jazz midi files are basically the standard form of representing the musical details in the digital format. After learning this music genre properly, one can even try for the jazz improvisations in order to master in playing tunes whenever one wishes to. These lessons also let the students know of different jazz instruments playing by numerous jazz musicians and experts so that the learners can imitate their favorite jazz personality if desired.

Akhila Choudhary
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/tips-on-how-to-learn-and-play-jazz-669001.html

Playing guitar can be an ordinary feat to most people. Any person, with the right ear for music, can learn any instrument in a matter of hours. On the other hand, learning how to play blues guitar is almost a form of dexterity that not everyone can master. Blues music has been the foundation of many other genres of music such as Jazz, R&B and even Rock and Roll. The style of music is so captivating that it almost sounds complicated as well. Here are a few facts in order for you to learn how to play blues guitar:

The Technique

The technique in order to play blues guitar comes from the skill in picking. Although essentially, the scales make the music when playing the instrument, it is imperative to construct the picking technique before scales can be played. The guitar can then be played as a Rhythm Blues Guitar or a Lead Blues Guitar. There has to be suppleness in the fingers of the player in order to get the rhythm right.

Knowing the Difference

For the Rhythm Blues Guitar, the chord progression is founded on the twelve bar blues structure. When you play blues guitar, more often than not, the interval cords that are in progression are the I, IV and V, but other cords may also be played so long as the tonality is present in the rhythm. The Lead Blues Guitar, conversely, is more popular in terms of the measure of its expressiveness. It primarily focuses on the technical skills of vibrato and bending. The pick’s basic motion is up and down, alternating in every turn.

In an example by James Ham, if there is a basic riff with the notes A,C,D,A,E one after another, the A would be played with a downward picking motion while the C would be played directly after the A with an upward motion. This is playing two notes in one motion. You can also try playing a 12-bar chord progression in different keys, in the same way as when you play a rhythm blues guitar in pentatonic scale. Try practicing this rhythm pattern continuously until you get the hang of the beat.

Getting Props

There are also several audio samples of blues records available online. Most of which can be downloaded for free. These samples may be played in both slow and full speed, helping you learn to pace your rhythm during mastering your picking technique. Although agility is integral when you play blues guitar, you must also concentrate on the accuracy of each note that you play and focus on your scales. Fluid rhythm and chord progression are fundamental in making blues music. You can also get a book that offers superb guitar licks that can help you practice.

Expression

As you play blues guitar, or any instrument at that, it is always important to practice. It is in practicing that we master our art and our passion. You can also sing along as you strum the guitar, after all, the blues music is all about expression.

Yuki Shoji

http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/how-to-play-blues-guitar-instantly-751585.html

If you’re a saxophonist interested in playing any type of blues based music including rock and roll and even jazz then you need to use the blues scale as your number one tool to make things sound right.

A little history

If you want to investigate back to the beginnings of the blues as it came about in America just start with W.C. Handy, who was a black composer active in the early 1900′s when the blues form began to get popularized in large part because of his instrumental compositions “Memphis Blues” (1912) and “St. Louis Blues” (1914). Of coarse the blues oral tradition can be traced back to the mid 1800′s.

The blues scale

Because our western music has it’s roots in European classical music the music theorists needed to notate the blues scale as it was naturally played and sung into an understandable notation which could be analyzed and played by western trained musicians.

The simplest way to explain it’s theory is this:

Simply take the traditional major scale; C D E F G A B C and flatten the 3rd, 5th, and 7th. Now it looks like this: C D Eb E F Gb G A Bb C.

(Please look at the example on my website for the full musical notation). Notice the E, G, and B have been flattened, they are the 3rd, 5th and 7th notes of the C major scale and flattening them makes the scale sound minor thus giving it the “blues” or sad sound as opposed to the “major” or happy sound.

For us sax players these flat notes are perfect to incorporate a “growl” sound to further emphasize that “bluesy” expression or make it a bit more nasty. Two other things to notice; the 3rd and 5th can be played as a flat or not but the 7th generally is only played as a flat and not the major 7th in this type of scale or musical genre. (for some audio examples please refer to the website version of this article).

So now our basic major scale of 8 notes is now a blues scale of 10 notes. There are other variations to this blues scale; the basic version for example is a 7 note scale: C Eb F F# G Bb C (the F# being the same as the Gb). Adding the D, E natural and A give us more musical possibilities and will not change the basic sound of the blues scale. Even adding a flat 9th ( D flat) was a favorite thing Charlie Parker did a lot and is a good way to jazz up your phrases.

The blues progression

Of coarse this is all just words and notes and theory. You have to apply it and in any blues music this is done over a musical progression thats 12 measures in length, thus the term “12 bar blues”.

We’re in the key of C so the first 4 bars will be the C chord. The 5th and 6th bars change to the 4 chord which is F (4th note in the C scale).

The 7th and 8th bars change back to the 1 chord (C). The 9th and 10th bars change to the 5 chord, which is G. The 11th and 12th bars change back to the 1 chord (C). There are variations in this 12 bar pattern and can be seen on the website version of this article.

When starting out you can get away with just playing the same C blues scale over the entire progression but try to emphasize 1 or 2 of the notes in the F and G chord to make things a little more interesting. For example, over the F chord play an F or an A note to emphasize the harmonic color of the chord a little more.

In conclusion

The blues mean different things to many people ranging from musical styles to a way of life or philosophy. The blues do have musical influences from Europe and Africa but it is truly an American musical form and tradition fully rooted in the black experience of the post-war southern United States.

I want to be clear that when I talk about the blues or the blues scale I’m not only referring to this type of musical tradition and style but include funk, R&B, country, jazz and pop. Like the old saying goes; The blues had a baby and they names it rock & roll and from there came just about every form of pop music in western history since that explosive time in the mid 1900′s

And so, I think it’s safe to say that the blues scale is easily one of the most used and important scales for all types of western popular music.

john ferreira
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/saxophone-blues-scales-if-you-want-to-play-blues-rock-jazz-you-need-to-start-here-164444.html

Southern California is home to some of the best music festivals in the country. Blues, reggae, gospel, and more — the Long Beach music scene is just as exciting as it is diverse, making this SoCal city a true destination for music fans everywhere. These exciting music festivals feature national, award-winning acts to up-and-coming artists. Block off the streets and turn up the ‘tunes! Here are five of Long Beach’s best music festivals you can’t miss!

Long Beach Jazz Festival: A weekend of smooth beats and soothing saxophones from top jazz headlining artists and local acts awaits you at the Long Beach Jazz Festival. This music festival will be held from August 13 to August 15. Festivities begin at 5PM on Friday night and wrap up at 10:30PM on Sunday night. Tickets can be purchased in advanced or at the door — both VIP and box seats are available.

Annual Blues Festival: Going on its 31st year, Long Beach Blues Festival is the longest-running and most prominent blues event in the United States. This festival is a fundraiser for KKJZ 88.1FM, a publicly-supported radio station. In past years, this music festival has featured top blues performers including the Black Crowes, Kenny Wayne Shepard, and the Allman Brothers. The Blues Festival is held during Labor Day weekend and features musical acts spread out over two stages, shopping, and local food vendors. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance. Free admission for children under 12.

Gospel Fest: Gospel Fest is a new addition to Long Beach’s music festival scene — its first even was held in 2009. This feel-good music festival is held during the middle of July and features performances by local choirs and national headlining performers. Along with upbeat performances, Gospel Fest features excellent food, beautiful ocean views, and it’s a great way to spend the afternoon with people from the community.

Ragga Muffins Festival: This family-friendly reggae indoor music festival honoring Bob Marley takes place annually in February at the Long Beach Arena. Tickets can be purchased online or on the day of the concert. Ragga Muffin’s lineup typically includes nationally recognized reggae artists as well as up-and-coming independent acts. Past events featured artists such as Rootz Underground, Stephan Marley, and Queen Ifrica. The Ragga Muffins Festival also features a huge craft sale and excellent food choices, as well as a kid’s play area with face painting, storytelling, and other activities.

Bayou Festival: You don’t have to travel to Louisiana to experience a Madri Gras-style party! The Bayou Festival is held annually in Long Beach, California’s Rainbow Lagoon near the end of June. This exciting music festival features two stages of Cajun, zydeco, jazz, and blues-style musical acts. Also available are hundreds of craft vendors, traditional Cajun and Creole food, a parade, dancing, and parties — all the the style and tradition of Madri Gras! Tickets can be purchased online or at the event. VIP passes are also available.

These Long Beach music festivals are a great way to support independent artists, see live performances from award-winning acts, meet members of the community, and get out of the house and have a great time. Music festivals are a great way to come together with people to celebrate a love for music, community, and great food.

Darla Blackmon