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How can country love songs find perfect partners? Thats outrageous, I hear you cry.

Stick around, Ill show you.

First, another question: why are you reading this article?

Its a fair guess that your answer is either, because I like country music, or Im looking for a partner, or both.

Wouldnt you love to find a partner who shared your interest in country love songs. Knowing that you both shared a passion for great music would be a perfect prelude to a great relationship,. Youd be flying right from the start.

Imagine swimming in your partners eyes while John Denver croons you fill up my senses, like a night in the forest, like the mountains in springtime, like a walk in the rain, like a storm in the desert, like the sleepy blue ocean.! And thats just one of thousands of songs that could accompany your romance; think of I Cant Help Falling in Love with You, or Behind Closed Doors.

And thats only the beginning. The music is the backdrop to your relationship. With country music as a common interest, its more than likely that youll find you share a whole host of other country interests.

The bond of shared interests is a solid platform on which to build a long-lasting relationship. Youll always have plenty to talk about and things that you both enjoy doing together. A day out in the country beats a trip to a shopping mall any day. Well, it does in my book.

When youre at any type of social gathering look around and notice who livens up when country music is played. Browse around near the country music section in your music store. You never know who you might strike up a conversation with.

Its my belief that peoples likes in music tell you a lot about the type of person they are.

Can country love songs really find the perfect partner for you? All I can say is that they played in the background when I was courting, and weve been married one heck of a long time.

David Ferrers researches, writes and lives the country life. He is an expert on Country Music, Country Singers, Country Guitars, Country Clothing and all things country. He writes great articles everyday and publishes videos on his blog the Country Music Man about How to Live The Country Way for a Really Full and Rewarding Life.

Learn To Tune And Play Guitar. And Impress Your Neighbors Tomorrow!!!

Are you tired of traditional books that offer very theoretical methods of learning how to tune and play guitar? Or are you bored and disappointed coz you have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out what these books are saying?

There are information in this article that will tell you easy, exciting and interesting methods on how to tune your guitar and learn to play it as well. With these methods, you learn fast and can impress anyone in no time. Or even tomorrow if you really want to.

There are four different kinds on How to Tune a Guitar that are interesting and exciting to know. And these are:

o The Conventional Method

o The Unorthodox Style

o The E-note Method

o The Natural Harmonic Style

There is also an untraditional Method of Instructions and Steps on how to play a guitar by making chords where you get to know more than ten (10) chords by learning just one chord. One can easily learn the basic parts of the guitar and their functions by knowing their definitions.

Do you know the names and skills of Edward Van Halen, Paul Gilbert of Mr. Big, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, or Nuno Bettencourt of The Extremes?

They are guitar virtuosos in the world of rock music. Have you ever wondered how they became what they are now? One sure thing is that they started from the basic lessons of tuning and playing guitar and learned with both patience and persistence.

So, to start your journey in the world of guitars and find out more, GO HERE

The author is considered to be a like-minded person who would like to share his knowledge in the aspect of Music particularly in guitar as the instrument.

Hailing from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Matt Jones is no stranger to the music scene. With three studio albums and over 500 live gigs under his belt, this well versed artist is sure to knock the socks off of anyone who gives his poignant stories a listen. When thinking back on his first live performance, Jones recalls being about twelve years old and singing "Polly" by Nirvana. As a newbie to performing, he admits "I wore my most grunge-music-like outfit so that everyone would believe the song. I'm not sure if it worked, but as I recall, I didn't have anything thrown at me." While early influences stemmed from rock, his own music shows roots in pop and folk and his desire to write, record and perform it blossomed after that first show.

Jones released his first album, Better Transitions, in 2005. Transitions consists of ten tracks one of which is "Maybe It Was Me". His reflective soul shines through in this song -- "How can you be different from the girl I knew back then? You talk the same you look the same and you still got that grin. But now it seems a world of change has caused me to believe, if its not you then maybe it was me." As a listener this is truly relatable and Jones himself admits that many times, as a young musician, stories come directly from personal experience -- "it's difficult to detach yourself from your art when you're not fully developed". Wondering if this particular emotion comes from something Jones experienced in his own life causes the listener to want to connect to him on a personal level such as in a live show atmosphere.

For two years after the release of Transitions, Jones toured and wrote to perfect his 2007 release of the EP The Segue. His ability to produce both a stripped down yet fuller sound is immediately evident in the song "Austin". With breaks in the piano, allowing his lyrical vulnerability to shine through, ("It's been a while since I said goodbye. And even longer since I had to try to let someone go I wished could stay."), Jones once again opens his listener to raw sentiment. His metaphorical examples are rich in visual emotionality; through them the listener feels the pain Jones pours into this powerful ballad. Jones may not have meant for the title of this album to be literal towards the third but it certainly bridges the gap on the journey to his most recent release.

When asked which of the three his favorite album is, Jones states "I'm always a victim of the new, so my favorite album or song is always the one that I'm working on. I just released my album Passerby in January of 2008, and ended up being very happy with it because it's not a repeat of former works". The three songs from this album on Jones' MySpace page include the title track, "Passerby", "What I Wanted to Say" and "Something New". There are interesting musical additions on this album such as what sounds like ocean waves on the title track and more prominence placed on acoustic guitar. These songs have a particular appeal, in more of a pop vein than the other two albums, and it would not be a surprise to hear any of them becoming a big radio hit.

The music behind his lyrics tells just as strong a story as the lyrics alone, and Jones would have it no other way. Although extremely catchy, none of his lyrics are predictable in the rhyming; the progressions from verse, chorus and bridge are strongly influenced by musical transitions. He states "I would almost always like to have some idea of what the music sounds like before putting lyrics to a song because it certainly helps you determine how words fit rhythmically and melodically within the piece." All three of his relatable albums can be purchased on iTunes or through his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/therealmattjones

To view all my available work please visithttp://www.chuckastonedesigns.com

The thing I love to do most on a guitar is to play old-time fiddle tunes with a flatpick. It was not until after I had played guitar for about ten years that I took a few lessons Mick Martin, an incredibly fast and articulate flatpicker in Pittsburgh. Mick set me on the right path toward getting those fiddle tunes to flow and to really ring out crisply and cleanly on a guitar. These principles are applicable to not only bluegrass or fiddle tunes, but to all kinds of acoustic guitar music played with a flatpick.

Let's start with your picking hand. If you want to play fiddle tunes or do lead guitar breaks in a bluegrass band, the first thing you need to do is start with a pick that is thick enough! Use at least a medium pickusually about .73-.81mm. This may seem difficult at first, but it is absolutely necessary, so that youll get strong, snappy notes that really make a statement.

Next, be sure to grip the pick firmly so that your thumb and index finger cover most of the area of the pick. I use a standard Fender 351 Medium pick (or something comparable). Instead of holding it lengthwise, I hold the pick so that the top (that is, the shortest side) of the pick is lined up over the top of my thumbnail, so that the edge of the top of the pick is hitting the strings. This may or may not be best for you, but, in any case, choke up on that pick! You dont want to play little wimpy licks!

Last, but not least, DO NOT rest the palm or wrist of your picking hand on the bridge or on the top of your guitar. Your hand needs to float freely so that you can keep the edge of the pick at pretty much a 90 degree angle from the strings. Keep your pinky or ring finger (or both) stiff so that one of these fingers glides LOOSELY over the top as a reference. This will definitely seem awkward if you are not used to it, but it is a must if youre going to be a good acoustic guitar picker!

So, we have looked at some techniques for the picking hand (the right hand, assuming you are right-handed). Now lets consider the question: What should the left hand be doing?

As to good left-hand technique, here is the first rule (which should be obvious): Keep those fingernails trimmed well! You need to be able to press the strings down with the least amount of effort in order to be a good pickerand long fingernails throw a monkey wrench into the works.

Now, lets start at the very beginningat the first position. The first position simply refers to musical pieces that are played, for the most part, using the first four frets. Thankfully, the kinds of picking I like to do (bluegrass licks and fiddle tunes) are often in the first position. This allows for lots of open strings to be hit often so that the tunes are anchored by the drone of the open strings. This gives the guitar a full sound even when you play all by yourself!

Now, when you pick out guitar lead parts in the first position, the index finger will cover the notes played at the first fret. The second finger will cover notes in the second fret. The third finger will finger the notes in the third fret. And, Mr. Pinkie will finger the notes played on the fourth fret.

Now, as with most things in life, there are exceptions. The above principle should be regarded primarily as a guideline. From time to time, you will find it necessary to break this rule. Many chords, for instance, simply cannot be played unless the "one finger per fret" rule is violated. Certain licks will be played more speedily and cleanly by straying from the principle. But as a general rule, it is best to discipline yourself to abide by the precept of every finger has its fret and every fret has its finger. Make exceptions only when there is a definite purpose in doing so.

Disciplining yourself to play within these guidelines may seem awkward and difficult at first (especially in situations that require the use of Mr. Pinkie). But the long term results of speed and precision will make it all worthwhile!

If you are new to picking, get started out the right way. If youve been playing for years, but it doesnt seem to be happening for you, then unlearn your old ways and learn the way that works. You wont regret it!

Copyright 2007 Lee Griffith. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lee Griffith is an avid acoustic guitar player and a vintage instrument enthusiast. He invites you to receive a FREE REPORT on a revolutionary acoustic guitar lesson kit, along with his weekly newsletter via email. just click on http://optin.flatpickpost.com Check out Lee's blog, "The Flatpick Post" at http://flatpickpost.com

Thanks to the Internet, it's easier than ever for new bands and artists to be discovered and to sell their music directly to fans. How do you get started and what's the best way to promote your band? Here are some tips:

One of the first places you'll want to visit is MySpace. By now, everyone has heard of it and millions and millions of people have their own accounts. But I bet you didn't know that MySpace offers a special type of account just for promoting a band or artist? It's called MySpace Music and it's completely free to sign up. With this type of account, you can add up to 4 full songs to your account for people to listen to while they are reading your MySpace page. This alone makes a MySpace Music page worthwhile to set up, since getting people to listen to and discover your music is the main goal of most new artists. Include a link to buy your CD from your own website, iTunes or other music store and you've got a great way to increase sales.

If someone likes the music on your profile, they can add your band as a friend, which means they can get email notices when you add a blog or send out a bulletin. Blogging on MySpace is one of the best ways to communicate with your audience (friends), when your band has a tour coming up, an appearance, is working on new music or has any news of any kind, you'll want to post it to your blog and keep your fans up to date. The more your communicate with fans, the more they will feel like a part of your community.

In addition, you can take advantage of a multitude of other options, including listing your influences, adding a picture gallery, adding full videos, adding banners and many other options.

Just be sure to log in often to approve new friends and to communicate with other members. There are also many MySpace Groups you can join where a message board is set up for members to communicate. Joining an emerging artist type group would help you to network with other new artists and even to promote each other, discuss new ways to get new fans, find someone to tour with or even to collaborate with.

Another essential step to promoting your music online is to have your own website. While MySpace is excellent, it's best to have as many avenues of promotion as possible. It can be simple, with just a bit about your band and links to buy your album or it can be a major presence loaded with content. The more content you add and the more often you update your website and your MySpace profile, the better, as people will keep coming back to see your fresh content and news. Some elements to consider adding to your band's website include biographies of the members, history of the band, news section, tour dates and appearance schedule, photos, music videos, sample songs to download, wallpapers, icons, ringtones, links to buy your album or merchandise, discography and anything else you want to let people know about. You'll also want to link your website to your MySpace and vice versa.

Lydia Quinn writes for APB Records, a directory of the best music download sites online. Visit us at http://www.apbrecords.com/

It is too simple to learn, how one should play the blue guitar scale. The masters would definitely feel to most easy and smooth playing. However, playing guitar is an art. It is necessary to be in right hands to get wonderful music and beautiful rhythms. But suppose, it falls in wrong hands then, it will definitely sound unsophisticated as well as atonal. The person with right knowledge of playing blue scale guitar can release wonderful sound similar like an expert. It will make people shock and wondering, how anyone can learn so long about music theory fear. Well, the answer the answer of experts is, you just need to everything about blues scale, which covers every important thing one lesson itself.

The blues guitar scale is almost parallel or alike to that of the minor pentatonic scale. Well, it was resulted with indulgence of the flat fifth. The flat fifth is too unique and different having atonal quality. Well, it almost sounds having evil overtones and almost too dark sounding. Before so many years, it is believed that hundreds of years back the flat fifth was recognized as "The Devil's note". It was banned to use at many different places, it was believed that it invokes the devils.
Now days, people are getting more temperate towards the some of the interesting rhythms and their sounds as well. These interesting sounds are of the flat fifth. the other name given to these sounds are "blue" note. You will find that it has being applied or used everywhere over everything - different sound tracks. It is applied over rock and blues at same time from blues to jazz as well as from heavy metal to different world music.

Don't you feel to have knowledge about the method of playing blues guitar scale?

--X---------------X--
--X---------------X--
--X----------X----O--
--X----------X-------
--X----O----X-------
--X---------------X--

Here, is small diagram describing about how you should play the blues guitar scale. There are two different signs "X" and "O". Well, they describe about the notes, which describe and make the scale. It is not at all difficult to add extra note inside. It does not require much expertise as well in adding additional note.

Robert Grazian is an accomplished niche website developer and author.
To learn more about blue scale for guitar visit Acoustic Guitar Site for current articles and discussions.

Unlimited music downloads sites are one of the most popular membership sites online. The reason for its popularity is simple anyone can download unlimited music MP3s from any part of this world with a few mouse clicks, a computer and internet connection. There are easily more than 10 of such sites online. The question that is more pertinent to us is with so many choices, how do we know which are the ones that stand out above the rest and offer us the best value for money.

Many unlimited music download sites not only offer music MP3 files, but also offer collections of movies, music videos, TV shows, games, wall paper etc. All these benefits are definitely worth more than hundreds of dollars, if not thousands of dollars. Good news is you dont have to fork out a fortune to become a lifetime member. Most membership sites offer lifetime memberships at incredibly low one-time fees in the range of $30 to $40. Are you drooling at the offer now? Lets look at what are some of the criteria that makes a membership site a good unlimited music downloads site.

1. Choice of Membership

Most unlimited music downloads sites offer lifetime memberships only. Only a selected few offer 1-year or 2-year memberships. But frankly, the lifetime memberships almost always give you the best bang for your bucks. Even if these sites do offer 1 or 2 year memberships, the price difference is only a few dollars. We recommend that you opt for lifetime membership for a better deal.

2. Music Downloads Selection

All of us have our favorite genre of music. Some dont mind listening to any song. But if you are a more discerning shopper who prefers only specific music such as classical pieces, do check out at the unlimited music downloads site and see if they offer you your choice. Frankly, a safe and lazy way around this is to get hold of a music download site that offers a huge and constantly updated library of music downloads.

3. Downloading Speeds

Downloading speeds are important. Imagine you have a whole long list of music and music videos to download. The last thing you wish for is crawling download speeds.

4. Dummy-proof Instruction Manual

Do you love to read instruction manuals that are thicker than your business/street name directories? No way! There are some download sites that offer simple step-by-step tutorials that are easy to digest. The user interface of several popular download sites are so straightforward that you can even do away from tutorials.

5. Safe & Secured Downloading

People are cautious about downloading files over the internet. This is understandable since the internet is a huge breeding ground for those detestable adware, spyware and viruses. Fortunately, top unlimited music downloads sites go an extra mile to ensure a safe environment for members to download the music files without worrying about possible attacks by harmful spyware and adware.

So much has been said about the qualities an unlimited music downloads site should have. If you are curious to know which online download sites have performed exceedingly well in these criteria, visit our blog to read the detailed review.

This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction.

Davion is a successful webmaster and author. Learn where you can have instant access to unlimited music downloads - all your favorite hits, latest music videos, MP3s and more at unlimited-music-downloads.blogspot.com.

Blues is probably the purest American music ever produced and along with its jazz counterpart is the only true American music form. Its roots lie in the work songs of West African slaves in the South. When they toiled hard in the fields of South plantation owners, these slaves built a call and response method of singing, thus lending rhythm to the drudgery of their lives. These came to be called field hollers and became the basis of all blues music to follow. After the Civil War ended, the blacks could either work as field labor or become traveling minstrels. So quite a few ended up being the latter performing at all-nighters, fish-frys and juke joints, relying on their stamina and mental repertoire of many blues songs.

Powerful Blues Music Is Officially Born

While the lyrics of blues songs seem soulful and sad, the music itself is quite powerful and emotive filled with rhythm and celebrating the life of black Americans. What makes this kind of music appealing is its reflection of their daily lives, talking about sex, drinking, poverty, love lost, hard labor anything they experienced.

Among the first documented blues is W C Handys Memphis Blues in 1909. The music grew in popularity and when the 78-RPM phonograph came in the late 1920s Paramount, Aristocrat and other record labels recorded some of the famous country blues artists. Around 1941-1943, field recordings of blues men were made in their surroundings by famous blues folklorist Alan Lomax. This is significant because thats how the white folks got introduced to the blues. Budding artists got exposure to some national record labels.

Blues Travels North

The blacks migrated North during the Great Depression along the route of the Illinois Central Railroad toward Chicago, bringing with them blues music. With huge crowds gathering to enjoy this, performers like Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf switched to electric guitars and also included drum sets to their bands. This became even more powerful than the original blues. There was a lull until the late 1950s when The Kingston Trio recorded the chart topper, Tom Dooley, and gave birth to the folk revival in 1958. The Newport Folk Festival then brought back folk and blues music to the white American people till 1966.

What followed later was a merging of blues with rock forming the rock blues bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Some artists faithful to the form were The Rolling Stones, John Mayall, Led Zeppelin.

Types of Blues Music

There are four types of blues music. The Deltas blues is said to be the original being played by the black men from the Mississippi delta region, using the piano or harmonica. The style was a call and response lyrical framing. Then we have the Chicago Blues, which used electric amplification of voice using mics, drum sets and electric guitars. The Texas Blues are similar to the Chicago blues. In the early 1960s originated the Blues-rock, which was directly influenced by the Delta and Chicago blues.

by

Werner Wichmann - http://www.electricguitarz.com

Gone are the days when lovers of pinoy music and pinoy artists confine their attention to what's playing at home. Thanks to YouTube. Arnel Pineda of the Philippines, is now the lead singer of a rock great Journey. Now, pinoy music lovers in the Philippines beam their attention and support not only to pinoy artists at home but also to pinoy artists abroad. And conversely now, people from outside the country, Filipinos and non-natives alike have beamed and continue to focus their keen ears and eyes to the artists of the vibrant pinoy music scene.

Arnel Pineda, who is now Journey's frontman, is the latest toast-if not the prime example, of this new phenomenon in music fandom. His life story, which is good enough material for a block-buster movie of one who rose from rags-to-riches-in the most literal sense, changed for the better. Thanks to the music industry. Pinoy music could not give a better example of one with talent who perseveres and gets his place in the sun in the end.

Literally living (and sleeping) in the streets, eking out his daily food consumption from the little money he gets out of scavenging scrap iron and selling them, or from whatever left-over food he could get from relatives, Arnel Pineda lived life with stoic perseverance until he got a break singing for a little-known band.

This poor kid, Arnel Pineda, started his journey in the music scene at age 15. For twenty five years, he came in and out of the pinoy music scene as he came and out of the country in pursuit of his career. The longest stint was nine years in Japan. His career was not without its share of peaks and valleys, while he won an international award, he also got involved in drugs (which in retrospect he regrets and says it almost made him lose his voice.)

Going back to the Philippines where pinoy music is also at its most vibrant, Arnel Pineda got his share of the local limelight with his regular gigs at the country's capital's most popular bars. Pinoy music lovers just couldn't get enough of Arnel Pineda's vocal prowess as he convincingly sing covers of the songs of Journey, Air Supply, Aerosmith, Queen, John Farmham, and a lot of other popular groups whose songs are favorites of the Filipino and foreigners who frequent the bars where he performs.

The big break came when Neil Schon of Journey saw the videos of his performances which were posted over YouTube. The rest of what happened after this has been extensively written about in internet blogs, music magazines, and even CNN and other giant tv networks in the United States.

While Arnel Pineda's journey with Journey continues, pinoy music continues to flourish and continues to discover, develop and nurture more Filipino music talents. It is easy to say that Arnel Pineda's joining journey is a loss to pinoy music development back home, but Arnel's role now has transcended local pinoy music business. He is global now, and instead of seeing this as a loss to the local pinoy music scene, Arnel Pineda of Journey is the Philippine's prime example of the pinoy's excellence. He does better service to pinoy music this way.

Hear the latest podcast of some old 70s, Pinoy Music and Pinoy songs at http://www.OCNHS77.com

Why it is hard to read guitar sheet music

One reason why it is difficult for many guitarists to read sheet music is that you can find the same note on different strings. It is pretty easy to master the notes on the first four frets on your guitar but when you reach the fifth fret you have to decide on which string you are to play a note and you also have to find the fret. Another reason is that many guitarists look at the fretboard continually in order to put down their fingers on the right fret.

Is a good ear your enemy?

Pupils with a good ear, like myself when I was a beginning guitar student, can develop strategies to find notes without really learning the exact position on the fretboard. One strategy is to listen your way around until you will find the right note on another string. This strategy will of course work but you will not develop your sight reading skills. A good ear is an asset but nevertheless you will have to make a conscious effort to learn the fretboard in order to be able to find the notes automatically when looking at the sheet music.

How to avoid looking at the fretboard

One reason for always looking at the fretboard is that you are used to it. The remedy for this is of course to practice reading the sheet music without looking at the fretboard. Practice this skill with easy pieces in the first position and pay attention to correct fingering which will help you finding your notes without looking.

Do you learn to sight read when you sightread?

When you practice sight reading you have to be aware of the fact that you cannot use the same piece of sheet music many times, maybe just once, else you are just kidding yourself. After having practiced on a piece of music it is of no use for developing sightreading skills anymore. You need new fresh material to work on. Play a lot of easy pieces that you can play accurately the first time without looking at your fingers.

Hopefully you will find these easy tips helpful when making the effort to become a better sight reader.

Peter Edvinsson is a guitarist, pianist, composer and educator. He is also the proud owner of the website Capotasto Music with free sheet music, tablature and learn to play resources for musicians and music students. http://www.capotastomusic.com

Learning to sing can be a costly and time consuming process as there is an amazing amount of detail you have to learn for a truly sweet voice. Many turn to Learn to sing software as an alternative to finding a singing coach. While some might say you lose a lot of nuance when you learn from audio or computer courses the advantages of software over human tutoring are more than you think.

• 
  Cost

  Simply put, learning to sing from an instructor is expensive, you can spend hundreds upon hundreds of dollars doing this and that can be if you find an average coach. Really professional instructors can take thousands off you before they deem you worthy of the title of singer. A software program that helps you to sing only costs a fraction of this cost.
  

• 
  Convenience

  Having to go to lessons at a set time every week may be easy for some people to keep but in a busy life things can get in the way and you miss lessons or those lessons get in the way of your work or social life. A software solution allows you to learn to sing any time. If you want to do long sessions you can, if you choose to divide them into shorts sessions you can choose. The convenience of learn to sing software is easy to see and with laptop computers and mp3 players you can take them with you too! Mobile learning allows you to achieve more.
  

So what are the downsides with learn to sing software? You do not get a personalized service for sure and there may be many nuances that an instructor can give you certainly. However this applies more for advanced singers looking to refine their art rather than people learning from a more basic set of skills.

In the end some people feel more comfortable using a computer and practicing in the comfort of their own home than being scrutinized by an instructor. Some people may also simply loathe the idea of learning via computer and will never consider it. Whatever the case learn to sing software is here to stay and has a growing popularity that has enabled many busy people to have an inexpensive way to become great singers.

Do you want a fantastic singing voice?
Does a learn to sing software course sound like the solution to your problems?
If so click here to see what programs there are and which one is best for you!
http://www.squidoo.com/learn_to_sing_software_product_review