MUSIC LESSONS

The world record for the worst rendition of a National Anthem probably goes to sprinter Carl Lewis (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJLvCM4j2mg) with Roseanne Barr (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrFW2aYHVR8) finishing a close second. The difference between their 'interpretations' is Roseanne Barr intended to sing it badly, thinking it 'funny.' Carl Lewis was really trying to sing it well, he just cannot sing. Barr's version angered people: Lewis' was just embarrassing.

There are a couple of music lessons in this...

1. There are certain songs that one mocks at one's own peril. If you
are going to make a political statement by mocking anyone's
national anthem, you have that right under our laws. However,
others have equal right to respond in like manner.
2. There are certain songs that one performs at one's own peril. The
Star Spangled Banner is such a song. It's an odd melody, with a
big range. Great singers sing it with fear and trembling. The
history of music is filled with such pieces. Classical works by
Liszt, Brahms, and Rachmaninoff seem to top the difficult piano
pieces. My kids listen to the guitar work of the band, Dragon
Force, which others play only at their peril
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jgrCKhxE1s)

So...before you mock, count the cost. And before you perform a song in public, be sure you're up to it. The rule of thumb is until you can play it flawlessly seven times in a row, you are not ready.

Buyer Beware!

by Jack Phillips


October 10, 2008


Believe it or not, I sometimes shop at the local Walmart. Not always the most fun experience, but they do have really good prices, especially on staples we need each week. Recently, after selecting my purchases, I headed over to the toy section to find one of my children (I'm sure you parents out there are familiar with this task). To my dismay, I saw a couple that had selected a low quality acoustic guitar for I assume their child. Obviously being in the store I could not approach them about their purchase. However, as I continued to look for my son, I saw how much this "discount" store was charging for these, bluntly, crappy instruments!

We often assume that these large discount stores can always beat the little guy on price. I can testify that what I have seen at the local discount stores is not low priced nor good quality. What they are selling for $60 was worth maybe $20, with profit. Now, I have no problem with Walmart getting as much as possible, but what are the customers thinking? Do they shop around? Why are they paying more for a piece of junk when they could pay less for something that is at least playable? I would encourage people who are considering a musical instrument for themselves or a child to check out their local music store. Maybe even Jax Music Supply :-)!

You will find the local store, even chains such as Guitar Center, very helpful and can provide guidance to a quality instrument within your budget. Don't assume that the discount chains are the least expensive or offer the best value. Do the research. Shop around. I know most dealers, Jax included, gladly give free advice. We have people that email us all the time for information and never make a purchase. We are happy to provide this service. We know that in the long run the world is better served by providing friendly service and creating more music in the world.

What do you think?

Website: http://www.JaxMusicSupply.com

Monthly Giveaway:

http://www.jaxmusicsupply.com/monthly-contest.aspx

What’s your favorite song?

by Charles Long

What’s your favorite…er…album…er…CD…er…project?

What makes great music great? This is a fundamental philosophical question. Why do we like what we like? Why are our brains wired in such a way as to find some sounds appealing (we call these music) and other sound revolting (we call these ‘debates’)?

I recently discovered www.acclaimedmusic.net which is sort of a meta-list of all-time greatest songs and CD’s. For example, the top ten most recommended songs of ALL-TIME are…

1 Bob Dylan Like a Rolling Stone

2 The Rolling Stones (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

3 The Beach Boys Good Vibrations

4 Nirvana Smells Like Teen Spirit

5 Aretha Franklin Respect

6 Chuck Berry Johnny B. Goode

7 Otis Redding Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay

8 Marvin Gaye I Heard It Through the Grapevine

9 Led Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven

10. Sex Pistols Anarchy in the U.K.

Hardly the list I would have come up with! There are two songs on the last I am not sure I have ever listened to all the way through. This says more about my age than the songs (Nirvana and Sex Pistols). I’d have added a Beatles song and probably some Springsteen.

That being said, here’s what’s cool about the acclaimed music list. It is strictly based on a statistical analysis of what the CRITICS write. (Imagine getting paid to listen to and comment on music! Nice work if you can get it…o wait…that’s what I’m doing…well, except without the paid part, but I digress). Back the list. Acclaimed music’s creator (Henrik Franzon) compiles critics’ lists from around the world and across the decades and then, after weighting the lists in a fair way, generates the top three thousand songs and albums. Pretty cool! The author of the site also publishes his PERSONAL top 100, so you can judge if he’s biased or not.

He must be biased…my favorite artist, Bruce Cockburn, isn’t anywhere to be found. Sigh.

Improving your tone

September 23^rd 1949…Freehold, NJ…Bruce Springsteen is born (in the U.S.A.).

THE BOSS IS NEARLY 60! Dude puts on a very athletic show for his age. I recently had the pleasure of seeing THE BOSS at the Richmond Coliseum, here in Virginia. Unfortunately, the pleasure was mostly visual. This is was THE WORST LIVE SOUND I have ever experienced from a professional artist. I have heard a lot of bands in a lot of weird venues large and small, but this was FAR AND AWAY THE WORST. YIKES! EVEN IF YOU ARE A ROCK ICON: SOUND MATTERS. So what does this mean to you and me (other than avoid Bruce at the Richmond Coliseum)?

First, good equipment makes a difference in every facet of your rig. Since we at JAX deal with a lot of guitar products, let me give you a guitar example. If you own a vintage Strat and play it through a vintage Fender Twin, but use old worn-out strings, you won’t sound good (or at least not as good as you should).

Second, there are things that even the best equipment cannot fix. A million dollar sound system can’t fix the bad acoustics of an out of date venue. I think that this is what happened to THE BOSS at his Richmond ‘show.’ Similarly, great equipment won’t give you great (any?) talent (Jessica and/or Ashlee Simpson, i.e.). A corollary to all this: LOUDER ISN’T THE SAME AS BETTER (Springsteen might take note of this…just a thought).

Third, little things make a big difference in sound. New strings make a huge difference in how your guitar sounds! Change ‘em often! Also, use decent guitar cables…they matter, too! Even the picks you use change the way your guitar sounds.

The good news is that sometimes little changes (picks, strings, and cables) can make a BIG DIFFERENCE! You’d be surprised how much better your rig will sound with NEW STRINGS, BETTER CABLES, and a change of PICKAGE!

The Beauty of the Beat

By Jack Phillips

September 5, 2008

At this moment, I can here the sound of some music playing in my son’s room; only the drums and bass are coming through. The ceiling fan is on, providing a steady white noise in the background along with the steady click of the chain hitting the light fixture. Somehow it is not annoying, merely comforting. The steady drip of the rain is similar (thank you Hanna). As I think about these things, the reason these sound are not annoying is that they are a steady, regular, rhythm. I feel the human mind craves rhythm, leading to my next point.

Have you ever listened to someone play an instrument that couldn’t get the rhythm right? No matter how precise the notes they play are, it just plain sounds weird. Having a sense of rhythm is essential to quality playing. A guitar player that only knows 3 open chords can sound awesome if their timing is good. How do you learn good timing? PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! If you don’t purposely practice your rhythm, you will always sound bad.

To practice, you need a steady beat to practice with. Many people use metronomes. Metronomes are electronic or mechanical devices that provide a steady sound at an adjustable interval. Many inexpensive metronomes are available that include both an aural and visual cues and are highly adjustable. In addition to a metronome, you can use a drum machine. Drum machines are really cool in that they sound like a real drummer without the fills and you can jam and practice with them. Practicing with other musicians, hopefully including a drummer, is a great way to solidify your rhythm skills and discover the beauty of the beat.

Top 10 songs of presidentail candidates

by Charles Long

I was watching Rachel Ray's show 'Tasty Travels' proving once again that I have no life. RR was in Little Rock, Arkansas visiting the W.J. Clinton presidential library and eatery...I kid you not... it has a restaurant named 42. What was WAY COOL about the W. J. Clinton's library was his collection of saxophones. The man played. This got me to thinking...what does this current crop of candidates listen to? According to Blender.com, here are the candidates top ten songs...

BARACK OBAMA
1. Ready or Not Fugees
2. What's Going On Marvin Gaye
3. I'm On Fire Bruce Springsteen
4. Gimme Shelter Rolling Stones
5. Sinnerman Nina Simone
6. Touch the Sky Kanye West
7. You'd Be So Easy to Love Frank Sinatra
8. Think Aretha Franklin
9. City of Blinding Lights U2
10. Yes We Can will.i.am

JOHN McCAIN
1. Dancing Queen ABBA
2. Blue Bayou Roy Orbison
3. Take a Chance On Me ABBA
4. If We Make It Through December Merle Haggard
5. As Time Goes By Dooley Wilson
6. Good Vibrations The Beach Boys
7. What A Wonderful World Louis Armstrong
8. I've Got You Under My Skin Frank Sinatra
9. Sweet Caroline Neil Diamond1
0. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes The Platters

The only thing these guys have in common is Sinatra! Well, that about sums the election up!

Olymping Along

by Charles Long

We have all heard about the little Chinese girl (Yang Peiye) who was not allowed to be seen singing the Chinese national anthem because she was considered not pretty enough! Another girl, Lin Miaoke lip synced the anthem. Of course, American’s shouldn't be too self-righteous about this. We gave Grammy’s to Milli Vanilli as Best New Artist 1990 after all and they lip synced to beat the band. Then there was the classic play and film ‘My Fair Lady.’ On Broadway, Eliza Doolittle was sung by Julie Andrews (you know, Mary Poppins). The film version featured Katherine Hepburn: a great actress, but no singer. All the songs have Hepburn lip syncing. According to Wikipedia, the real singer was Marni Nixon. So before we cast stones at the Chinese…we ought to consider our glass housing!

All this says more about Man than it does Music. Music doesn’t care about the singer’s looks. What matters to music is the singer’s craft. I am personally so sick of singers who look like models. Give me Mama Cass over Mamma Mia! Give me Janice Joplin over Janet Jackson! Give me Pavarotti over Groben! Man makes everything look great but sound sterile. Music give us a vital sound and peasant looks. Give me music.

And as long as I am on a rant…can we please have some LESS produced music. In the pre-digital era, the music had an edge. The edge was the little imperfections that couldn’t be fixed. In the digital age, those little imperfections are fixed. We get perfect pitch in perfect time…and no soul. And in addition to less produced music can we please have some DISSONANCE, too? When every chord blends perfectly, we have consonant music that is dull! Can I get a clash now and again? Little grind? Its not the consonances that give music real beauty: it’s the dissonances.

So… China …I know you’re reading this…let the singer sing…on camera…the world will love her…she’s a seven year old girl. No one rejects a singing seven year old! So… America …let’s get off the over produced music band wagon and let’s get some real music. Finally, there is hope; the word is that a remake of My Fair Lady is in the works. Columbia Pictures…I know you’re reading this…let’s get some real singers…so don’t keep olymping along.