B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 2

B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 2

By Unknown   10:20   Tidak ada komentar:

By Steve M Herron 

B.B. King

BB King's guitar style may seem simple, yet upon analysis it discloses a sophisticated awareness of melody, harmony, and rhythm. He seems to always hit the right notes, phrases like no one else, and has a vibrato that is universally recognized. BB approaches the guitar as if it were another voice, not just as an instrument. He plays guitar as if he were singing through it. When he has to take a breath, his guitar does as well. He claims that his sound is not something that he learned, it is just the way he asserts himself as a person and as a guitarist.

Stylistically, what separates BB King from his peers is his firm rooting in the jazz as well as the blues idioms. One of BB's major influences was jazz guitarist Lonnie Johnson, who was one of the first guitarists to visualize the guitar as a single-line solo instrument. BB also listened extensively to Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and to horn players such as Lester Young, Johnny Hodges and Bobby Hackett. His blues guitar influence comes primarily from T-Bone Walker. BB softened Walker's somewhat strident style, adding a vibrato that he developed while trying to copy the bottleneck slide guitar sound of his cousin Bukka White. The rest is pure BB King, which is a combination of elements that has produced one of the most distinctive blues guitarists ever!

BB draws from a large pallet of harmonic and melodic devices. Although he is primarily known as a single line player, he does play chords - specifically triads and double stops which he uses to punctuate his solos. Check out his chord intro to the song "Please Love Me" and his rhythm chord comping during the saxophone solo in the song "You Upset Me Baby". Perhaps the most identifiable feature of BB King's sound is his "Bee-Sting" vibrato. He does his vibrato completely from the wrist, as he shakes his whole hand rapidly and evenly. Even though this is a much imitated sound, only BB can make it "sing" the way he does. BB's knowledge of jazz harmony allows him to introduce harmonic concepts into his soloing that are more sophisticated than the typical pentatonic ideas used by most blues guitarists.

The most unique quality of BB King's style is his ability to combine jazzier elements with a rock solid blues sensibility. I was fortunate enough to hear BB King and his big band play live at the Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland back in 1969. The big band sounded incredible - a real wall of sound - and BB's guitar playing just "wailed" and filled the Civic Center with some of the most exciting blues guitar music I've ever heard. Fortunately, for aspiring blues guitarists there is a wealth of blues guitar tab books available as well as an instructional DVD course taught by BB King himself!



Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron helps people succeed at becoming better guitar players. His company ChordMelody.com features an enormous, unique selection of BB King himself.

Article Source:  B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 2

Read More

B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 1

B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 1

By Unknown   10:14   Tidak ada komentar:

By Steve M Herron

One of my favorite guitarists has always been blues guitar music legend BB King! He is arguably the most influential and certainly the most visible blues guitarist in history. Other famous guitar players such as Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons and Mike Bloomfield have all acknowledged their debt to BB King. And, BB King's playing today remains just as fresh, vibrant and alive as ever!



Riley King was born in Mississippi in 1925 to Albert and Nora King. His mother left her husband for another man when BB was 4 years old and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother also in Mississippi without objection from his father. Nora had 2 other husbands and BB was shuffled back and forth between them and his grandmother. His musical education began when he started singing in the Sanctified Church, whose preacher Archie Fair was his uncles' brother-in-law. Archie Fair strummed some gospel guitar songs and gave the curious youngster his first enticing taste of playing on the strings. BB's mother died in 1935 but fortunately not before she could call her 9 year old son to her side before passing.

Afterwards, BB went back to stay with his grandmother and attended the Baptist sponsored Elkhorn School where he continued strengthening his young voice in the gospel choir. When his grandmother died in 1940, the 14 year old tried tenant farming on her land until later that year when he left for the Delta to live with his father and extended family for the next 2 years. By the age of 15 he was already playing on street corners. He had discovered that he could make more money in tips in one day of playing guitar than he could for a whole week's work picking cotton! Soon he was doing singing commercials on Memphis radio stations and from that he moved on to getting his own show. It was at this time that he picked up the nickname "BB" which was short for "Blues Boy".

His popularity continued to grow and eventually he was signed to the RPM record label. His first hit "3 O'Clock Blues" went to Number 1 on the rhythm and blues charts and heralded the arrival of a blues guitar superstar. BB continued touring and recording throughout the fifties, but it wasn't until the sixties that his name became familiar to white audiences. In 1970 he won a grammy award for his monumental hit "The Thrill Is Gone". To this day, he continues to tour over 200 days a year and to record with his band and with other artists as diverse as Larry Carlton and U2. His numerous television and film appearances along with countless awards continue to affirm his stature as an all time blues guitar great. Fortunately, for aspiring blues guitarists there is a wealth of instructional blues guitar tab books as well as a DVD course taught by BB King himself!

Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron helps people succeed at becoming better guitar players. His company ChordMelody.com features an enormous, unique selection of [http://www.chordmelody.com/newpage8.htm]blues guitar tab as well as guitar books and instructional DVDs by BB King himself.

Article Source: [B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 1

B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 2

Read More

Cool Jazz Guitar Playing - Jim Hall Stood Above The Crowd!

Cool Jazz Guitar Playing - Jim Hall Stood Above The Crowd!

By Unknown   09:47   Tidak ada komentar:

By Steve M Herron

Jim-Hall

Jim Hall was born on December 4, 1930 in Buffalo, N.Y. and as a youngster was surrounded by music. His grandfather played the violin, his mom the piano, and his uncle the guitar. It was his uncle who convinced Hall to take up the guitar at the age of 10. His talent was soon apparent and although it was against union policies, he began to play live in local dance bands at age 13. Like many of the jazz guitar greats of the 1950s and 1960s, it was the recordings of Charlie Christian that first turned Hall's focus towards jazz.

Jim Hall's family relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1946. Having actually decided to make a profession in music he got accepted to and later graduated from The Cleveland Institute of Music. It was during this period of time that Hall became familiar with the gypsy jazz guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt's recordings influenced the subsequent development of his guitar style. Not pleased with the financial prospects of working as a guitar player in Cleveland, Jim chose to transfer to Los Angeles in 1955.

There he felt he could both earn money and still continue his musical studies at The University of California in Los Angeles. He was also able to study classical guitar, for a short while, with Vicente Gomez. In 1958 drummer Chico Hamilton was forming what was to be the very first of his numerous outstanding jazz quintets. John Graas, the French horn player, recommended Hall to Hamilton. Hall got the job with what ended up to be among the most successful and innovative jazz groups of the day. He stuck with Hamilton for one and a half years.

This association with Chico Hamilton was to be Hall's very first step up the ladder to the top of the jazz guitar tree. Hall received well-earned critical reviews for his part in Giuffre's trio from jazz audiences and critics all over the world. Now established globally as a jazz artist of the highest caliber, Hall was contracted to play with top singers consisting of Ella Fitzgerald and Yves Montand.

In 1960 Hall moved back to New York city. For a while he worked as a studio musician which included a stint with the band on the popular "Merv Griffin Show". Once more back at the top of his game as a jazz guitar player, the early 1970s and late 1960s saw Hall at his creative best. For many years since, Hall has made lots of exceptional recordings with diverse jazz artists. He has appeared in live performances and recorded with bassists Ron Carter and Red Mitchell, trumpeters Art Farmer and Chet Baker, pianists Bill Evans and George Shearing, saxophonists Paul Desmond and Ornette Coleman, in addition to many other top jazz artists.



Several of these recordings have some of the very best jazz guitar playing on record and certainly validate the title often bestowed upon Hall as "The Poet of Jazz". He likewise recorded with a quartet led by pianist Andre Previn backing classical violinist Itzhak Pearlman and also with The Kronos String Quartet. Jim Hall was awarded the prestigious JAZZPAR Prize for 1998. He accepted the honor which included a cash award of roughly $30,000. at the JAZZPAR Prize Gala Concert in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 5, 1998.

Jim Hall is certainly among the most inventive, prominent, and lyrical jazz guitarists in history. While Jim was initially associated with cool jazz and then with hard bop, he always had his own approach along with a very distinct guitar sound. A master of subtlety, he has over the years consistently created fresh concepts, used space effectively, and made every note he played count. Jim hall passed away on December 10, 2013 at the age of 83.

Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron is an expert on jazz guitar books. He has spent most of his adult life playing professionally at clubs and restaurants as well as teaching private students at his studio. Sign up now for his Free Chord Harmonizations Report and find out more about Jim Hall solos.

Article Source:  Cool Jazz Guitar Playing - Jim Hall Stood Above The Crowd!

Read More

Jazz Guitar Music Legend Charlie Christian Started It All!

Jazz Guitar Music Legend Charlie Christian Started It All!

By Unknown   09:25   Tidak ada komentar:

By Steve M Herron 

Charlie-Christian

Charlie Christian was born on July 29, 1916 in Bonham, Texas but grew up in Oklahoma City. His dad was a singer/guitarist, his mom a pianist, and they played in a Dallas cinema when he was a youngster. His 2 bothers were also musicians. Christian began his musical career on the trumpet but due to a significant chest condition switched to the guitar at age 12. He also had some understanding of the bass and the piano. Following the family's relocation to Oklahoma City in 1921, Christian senior lost his sight. To make a living he ultimately ended up being a street artist accompanied by his three kids, Clarence on violin and mandolin, Edward on string bass, and Charlie on guitar.

Throughout the early 1930s, Charlie Christian played guitar in his brother Edward's band "The Jolly Jugglers". He first gained broader recognition for his obvious skill in 1937 when he signed up with The Anna Mae Winburn Orchestra. He then played in 1938 with The Alphonso Trent Sextet. Christian became captivated with the electric amplified guitar when he saw Eddie Durham, who played an early variation of the electric instrument. Christian chose to explore the electric amplified guitar. He soon mastered exactly what was then a brand-new instrument.

His reputation on the electric amplified guitar grew very swiftly and jazz enthusiasts came from everywhere to hear his new and pioneering guitar style. His amplified single note lines sounded sometimes like a tenor saxophone. Christian began to introduce numerous pioneering ideas into his jazz improvisations. He utilized augmented and diminished chords in a manner which in the not too remote future would change the world of jazz. His ideas were extremely individualistic and he was a great fan of Django Reinhardt's guitar approach. He enjoyed playing Reinhardt's improvised choruses, note-for-note, on numbers like "St. Louis Blues" and then include some of his own improvised choruses.

In 1939 while playing with The Leslie Sheffield Band he was heard by the influential jazz promoter, John Hammond. He had actually been encouraged by pianist May Lou Williams to travel to Oklahoma City to hear Charlie Christian. Hammond was so amazed he encouraged his brother-in-law, band leader Benny Goodman, to hear Christian. Goodman was originally reluctant to listen to the young guitar player but he eventually agreed to provide him an audition on August 16, 1939 in Los Angeles. It only took a couple of bars of Charlie Christian soloing on "Rose Room" for the fantastic clarinetist to recognize the young guitarist's remarkable ability. Christian was hired on the spot.

In the two years that followed Charlie Christian became a major influence, not only in The Benny Goodman Big Band and Sextet, but likewise on the history of jazz. After playing at night with the Goodman band, Christian would go on to play into the early hours of the morning at Minton's Jazz Club in Harlem. Here he played for hours on end, his creative improvisations straight up influencing other jazz musicians who visited the club including Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, Joe Guy, and others. A few of these historical jam sessions luckily were tape-recorded for posterity by Jerry Newman.



Tragically the late nights and Christian's love of the New York night life did not help his health. He had actually experienced poor health for a lot of his life. In the spring of 1940 he was checked in to a medical facility where the medical diagnosis revealed that he had consumption. Despite the medical professionals' warnings he failed to take proper care of his health. In July 1941 he suffered a major relapse and went into The Seaview Sanitarium on Staten Island. He died there in March of 1942.

Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron is an expert on jazz guitar instruction. He has spent most of his adult life playing professionally at clubs and restaurants as well as teaching private students at his studio. Sign up now for his Free Chord Harmonizations Report and find out more about Charlie Christian solos.

Article Source:  Jazz Guitar Music Legend Charlie Christian Started It All!

Read More

What is the History of Stain Removers?

What is the History of Stain Removers?

By Unknown   09:31   Tidak ada komentar:

By Brian Ward 

history of soap

When your kid asks the question 'what is the history of stain removers', you do not really have to fumble for words. Here is an overview of use of different natural materials, soap and detergents for stain removal purposes.

The first of all stain removers is plain water. People find it is easy to wash away mud at a stream or a river.

The history of cleaning agents runs back to ancient Babylonian culture. Soap like materials were evacuated from ancient Babylonian remains. The 4500-5000 year old remains also have detailed description of making such materials. It is however not clear whether they used the fat and ash mixed material for cleaning purposes.

Egyptian, Romans, Japanese, Greek and Chinese cultures of the ancient times paid attention to cleanliness and used different materials for cleaning purposes.

Chinese used the fruit of soap-nut tree (Sapindus Mukorossi) for cleaning soft silk clothes. The nut yielded a soap-like material, which thoroughly cleans the silk and is soft on the fabric.

Soap making started in Europe in the seventh century. Soap making in Europe was mostly a family tradition and people kept the technique of soap making a secret. They used animal fat and plant oils to make soap. They also knew the technique of adding perfumes to the soap for fragrance. The soaps were used for bathing and laundry purposes. Italy, Spain and France were the leaders in soap making.

Large scale soap manufacturing began in 1791, with the invention of a process of making soda ash from common salt by a French scientist Nicholas Leblanc. Several advancements came to Leblanc method of soap. The cost and time for making soda ash became lower.

German scientists developed a method of making cleaning agents without plant oil or animal fat. This chemically synthesized material is called detergent. This is harsher than soap (that produced from fat and oil). This happened in 1916, when the availability of fat and oils was scarce.

Utilization of enzymes for detergent manufacturing was a breakthrough in detergent manufacturing. A no enzyme content detergents too are available today, but the biggest thrust is on enzyme added detergents. There is however different environmental problems associated with use of enzymes in detergents.

Further researches produced higher quality detergents at lower costs. Detergents eventually went on to surpass soap as the preferred cleaning agent.

Later researches on cleaning products were concentrated on safety of the users and environment, ease of use and lower production costs. Detergents and soaps are available as cakes, powder and in liquid form. Detergents that mix well in saline water are also readily available in the market.

That is the history of stain removers, which started off as a mixture of fat and ash or plant products, which, with advancement in research facilities has grown to such high proportions that everyone today can afford to have a stain remover of his or her choice. Read more Carpet Cleaning Tips from a Professional Carpet Cleaner.

Brian Ward, author of cleaning tips for home owners, offers you help in finding helpful Carpet Cleaning Tips from a Professional Carpet Cleaner. Visit http://carpetcleaningtips-hooddoctor.blogspot.com/

Article Source:  What is the History of Stain Removers?

Fenzi Laundry Store

Read More

Book Review : Dawn and Sunset - A Tale of the Oldest Cities in the Near East

Book Review : Dawn and Sunset - A Tale of the Oldest Cities in the Near East

By Unknown   10:03   Tidak ada komentar:

By S. Marie Vernon

Dawn and Sunset is a compelling Tale of the Oldest Cities of the Near East written by amateur historian and Israeli high school English teacher, Michael Baizerman. It's clear, Baizerman has spent countless hours researching and documenting this work. He has compiled minute details of everyday life of the inhabitants of the old world known as Mesopotamia and the cradle of civilization. The oldest cities encompassed the Persian Gulf area and were referred to as Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian regions. The Mesopotamia area today is known as Eastern Turkey, IRAQ, Kuwait, Baghdad, Iran and Northern Syria. The Greek meaning of Mesopotamia is, "land between two rivers." The twin rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates nourished Mesopotamia and made it possible for nomadic tribes to begin to cultivate the land for agriculture and eventually settle into communal villages where life as we know it began. Then much changed over the course of time. A lot of historical ground is covered in the many millenniums referenced with some emphasis on the third and fourth millennia BCE.

This work may be more than A Tale, perhaps it's a social study of our earliest ancestors? Perhaps it's closer to a documentary of facts, yet facts that are sometimes verified through myths, legends and the poetry of that millennium? Baizerman blazes on undaunted by the scarcity of information for some periods and events. He gathers his content from different angles to expose discrepancies and biases for what they were. If there is no documentation to support the claim he will pursue other avenues; he will find a hieroglyphic, a poem or an architectural marker of that time period so his points are well documented. The author himself says it best, "only artists and scholars are entitled to examine our history through a magnifying glass with inexhaustible vigor," which he does very well in creating this educational volume called Dawn and Sunset.

The Gods drove every decision in the ancient world. Temples attested to their glory and power. In the beginning, the Temples controlled the economic life of a community. They were central to all the regions and the many Gods were worshipped and honored constantly. Life was a battle, a consistent struggle with the hostile land and various populations of people. Irrigation and farming allowed for communal villages to give way to more complex societies with district states. Then pristine cities became early empires and these gave way to dynasties with corruption and exploitation that would bring in the Dark Ages and the eventual collapse of this early civilization that had been "two thousand turbulent years in the making." The temples fell to government rule and general's built extravagant palaces to display power and demand respect whether they deserved it or not. Many great leaders and warriors would rise and fall. Some were virtuous and some were not. War was inevitable and peace was all but nonexistent.



Though it all, writing, language and technological advancement prevailed; metals, ceramics and new building materials enhanced and changed their way of life forever. New transportation routes and foreign trade changed the landscape, social classes, and the expectations of the people. Division of labor and other inequities emerged that would lead to more wars and the eventual demise of a once glorious nation known as Mesopotamia. From pre-civilization to civilization to its very downfall, this book delivers a lot as each chapter is organized and packed with great detail about the grueling and difficult historical times between the Dawn and Sunset of Mesopotamia- A Tale of the Oldest Cities of the Near East. Ironically, through this writing we can see many parallels of modern day society as it faces some of the same indignities and dilemmas of this historical period.

After Dawn and Sunset author Michael Baizenman emerges with a new book and is already writing it. It's about the attitude of the Latin West to the East on the eve of the Age of Discovery. Both books should appeal to history lovers and educators who like a dedicated spirit of inquiry and documented exposure of facts that may not be so factual. Of course, any differences in opinion, by this author is well researched, well documented and well written. These volumes are sure to be a handy resource for any educator who would like that little extra detail when it comes to the history of ancient civilizations.

S. Marie Vernon is a book and product reviewer who has her own blog at The Write Review. http://smariev.blogspot.com and you may also find her work at Pacific Book Review. http://www.pacificbookreview.com

Article Source:  Dawn and Sunset - A Tale of the Oldest Cities in the Near East

Read More