Showing posts with label guitar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guitar. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Debashish Bhattacharya - Calcutta Chronicles: Indian Slide Guitar Odyssey



Calcutta Chronicles: Indian Slide Guitar Odyssey is a musical journey through the centuries of guitar playing in India. Using three unique guitars that BBC award winner Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya designed himself, each beautiful raga explores influences ranging from Gypsy to Sufi with deep sensitivity and free-flowing movement between past and present, tradition and innovation. This new album follows on from 3: Calcutta Slide-Guitar, which won a BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music in 2007 and helped bring to the world's attention Debashish Bhattacharya's incredible artistry as a musician and slide guitar player and his talent for innovative composition. He is also known for his collaborations with various musicians, including Bob Brozman, Djeli Moussa Diawara and Takashi Hirayasu. Played on three slide-guitars designed by Debashish, Calcutta Chronicles: Indian Slide-Guitar Odyssey is an album of Indian raga music, interpreted in a way that is accessible both to the Indian and western listener, touching on the blues, jazz, flamenco and Hawaiian music. His home city, Calcutta (now Kolkata), has for centuries been a centre of artistic excellence and this has strongly influenced Debashish's development. This, together with his own inspirations drawn from performing and collaborating all over the world, plus elements of Sufism and the origins of the Romani of Hindustan, have resulted in a beautiful and dynamic album. Debashish grew up in a musical family, accompanying his parents, both singers, on tabla, guitar or tambura. In the late 1920s, the legendary Hawaiian musician, Tao Moe, visited Calcutta, bringing with him a steel guitar and starting a trend for the instrument. Somehow a steel guitar found its way into the Bhattacharya household and Debashish started to play it. As his musical career continued he developed his own style of slide guitar playing, adding resonating and drone strings. He studied with Pandit Brij Bhushan Kabra, who introduced the slide guitar into Indian classical music, and later with vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakrabarty who expanded his knowledge of Raga music. In 2003, aged 40, he was himself made a Pandit (master). Calcutta Chronicles: Indian Slide-Guitar Odyssey reveals Debashish's interest in striking a fine line between the contemporary and the ancient. 'Nivedan' (A Journey Beyond Time) is a thumri-based piece that is devotional – portraying dialogues between Lord Krishna and his devotee - but it has a contemporary feel. 'Sufi Bhakti' (Eternal Joy) blends elements from Sufi music and Bhatki, devotional music of India, using the Anandi with the harp, tabla and one-stringed ektara. The composition is within the forms of the classical raga Bhairavi but there are strong international flavours and rhythms. 'Gypsy Anandi' (Odyssey of Slide Guitar) mixes melodies from diverse cultures – an Indian melody with an Hawaiian flavour, with Afro-Andalusian rhythms but with its soul in raga – played with three different Anandis and 'Maya' (Illuslide) has a strong repetitive melody which again blends the raga with rhythms drawn from elsewhere. And not to try to expand the kingdom of words onto the kingdom of music, listen and see for yourselves:

http://debashish_bhattacharya.mondomix.com/en/video3065.htm

Downloads -

Part 1

Part 2

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

CARLOS MONTOYA - FLAMENCO GUITAR - GOLD COLLECTION


A Spanish guitarist and composer, Carlos Montoya made a lasting contribution to music between the 20s and 50s. He introduced the flamenco style of music as a serious form of guitar music. Traditionally flamenco music was used to accompany gypsy folk dancers and singers but Carlos Montoya changed it into a main genre of music. Carlos Montoya was born into a gypsy family in Spain. His interest in music and the guitar began at an early age. He began studying the guitar with his mother and a neighboring barber, eventually learning from Pepe el Barbero, a guitarist and teacher. Not only was he interested in playing the guitar, Carlos Montoya wanted to learn the history of flamenco music. Flamenco music came out of the Boorish invasion of Spain. His uncle, Ramon Montoya, was a successful flamenco guitarist also. Carlos Montoya started playing professionally at the age of 14, playing for singers and dancers at the cafes in Madrid. Two of the dancers he most often played for were La Teresina and La Argentina. Wanting to broaden his musical career, Carlos Montoya began touring in the 20s and 30s. His tours included performances in Europe, Asia and North America. He accompanied several performers including La Argentina again. He had finally made a name for himself as a flamenco guitarist. When World War II broke out in the 1940s, Carlos Montoya was on tour in the United States with dancer La Argentinita. During the war he decided to settle in New York City and eventually became a United States citizen. In 1945 La Argentinita died but Carlos Montoya toured on his own, opening his repertoire to include not only flamenco but also blues, jazz and folk music. His career took a different turn in 1948 when he began touring with symphonies and orchestras and performing his own guitar recitals. Carlos Montoya became the first flamenco guitarist to tour the world with symphonies and orchestras. His appearances did not stop there, he performed on television and gave several solo recitals. During his touring he recorded more than 40 albums, some with symphonies and orchestras. His albums include Flamenco Guitar and The Art of Flamenco. One of the most notable is Suite flamenco, a concerto he performed with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1966. Carlos Montoya made a very important contribution to flamenco music, transforming it from a dance accompaniment to a style of its own. With his own style, he adapted it to other genres of music, all along making himself an international star. Carlos Justify FullMontoya died at the age of 89 in Wainscott, NY. ~ Kim Summers, All Music Guide


Track List:

Disc: 1
Download Part1
Download Part2
Download Part3
Download Part4

Disc: 2
Download Part1
Download Part2

Download Part3
Download Part4

OR MP3 320 Kbps [330 MB]
Download Part1
Download Part2
Download Part3
Download Part4

Monday, December 1, 2008

Guitar Lessons for Beginners


Playing a Scale:

In order to become skillful on the guitar, we'll need to build the muscles in our hands, and learn to stretch our fingers. Scales are a good, albeit a not very exciting way to do this. Before we start, look at the diagram above to understand how fingers on the "fretting hand" (the hand that plays notes on the neck) are commonly identified. The thumb is labelled as "T", the index finger is the "first finger", the middle finger is the "second finger", and so on.

The Chromatic scale

The above diagram may look confusing... fear not, it's one of the most common methods of explaining notes on the guitar, and is actually quite easy to read. The above represents the neck of the guitar, when looked at head on. The first vertical line on the left of the diagram is the sixth string. The line to the right of that is the fifth string. And so on. The horizontal lines in the diagram represent the frets on the guitar... the space between the top horizontal line, and the one below it is the first fret. The space between that second horizontal line from the top and the one below it is the second fret. And so on. The "0" above the diagram represents the open string for the string it is positioned above. Finally, the black dots are indicators that these notes should be played.

Start by using your pick to play the open sixth string. Next, take the first finger on your fretting hand (remembering to curl it), and place it on the first fret of the sixth string. Apply a significant amount of downward pressure to the string, and strike the string with your pick.

Now, take your second finger, place it on the second fret of the guitar (you can take your first finger off), and again strike the sixth string with the pick.

Now, repeat the same process on the third fret, using your third finger. And lastly, on the fourth fret, using your fourth finger. There! You've played all the notes on the sixth string. Now, move to the fifth string... start by playing the open string, then play frets one, two, three and four.

Repeat this process for each string, altering it only on the third string. On this third string, play only up to the third fret. When you've played all the way up to the first string, fourth fret, you've completed the exercise.

Tips:

  • When playing a note, place your finger at the "top of fret" (the area of the fret farthest away from the headstock). This will produce a clearer sound.
  • Try to use alternate picking while attempting this exercise. If this is overwhelming, try using only downstrokes with your pick, but learn properly once you've gotten used to the scale.
  • Once you've finished the scale, try playing the scale backwards, by starting at the first string, fourth fret, and playing all notes in exactly the reverse order.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Guitar Lessons for Beginners - 4


Tuning the guitar:

Unfortunately, before you begin playing, you'll really need to tune your guitar. The problem is, it is, at first, a relatively difficult task, one that becomes much easier over time. If you know of anyone who plays guitar, who could do the job for you, it is advised that you get them to tune your instrument. Alternately, you could invest in a "guitar tuner", a relatively inexpensive device which listens to the sound of each string, and advises you (via a few blinking lights) on what you need to do in order to get the note in tune.

If neither of these options are realistic for you, however, don't fear. You can learn to tune your instrument, and with some patience and a bit of practice, you'll become a pro at doing it. The following web site offers the best resource on the web for learning how to tune a guitar.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of learning guitar is that it initially seems impossible to play anything that actually sounds good. While it is true that it takes some time to learn the techniques needed to play songs well, the real reason most new guitarists sound bad is because their instrument isn't in tune. Here is a guitar tuning tutorial that, with a little practice, should allow you to keep your instrument in tune.

How Often Should I Tune my Guitar?

You should tune your guitar every single time you pick it up. Guitars (particularly cheaper ones) tend to go out of tune quickly. Make sure your guitar is in tune when you begin to play it, and check the tuning frequently while you're practicing, as the act of playing the guitar can cause it to go out of tune.

How Long Does Tuning the Guitar Take?

At first, it may take you five minutes or more to get your guitar in tune, but the more familiar you are with tuning, the more quickly you'll be able to do it. Many guitarists can get their instrument roughly in tune in about 30 seconds.

Let's move on to learning the process of tuning the instrument.

Tuning the Sixth String:

In order to begin tuning the guitar, you'll need a "reference pitch" from another source. Once you've found a source for this initial pitch (it could be a piano, a tuning fork, another guitar, or any number of other options), you'll be able to tune the rest of your instrument by using that one note.

NOTE: Without a reference pitch, you can tune your guitar, and it will sound fine on it's own. When you try and play with another instrument, however, you will probably sound out-of-tune. In order to interact with other instruments, being in tune with yourself isn't enough. You'll need to make sure that your E note sounds the same as theirs. Thus the need for a standard reference pitch.

STEP 1: Listen to this MP3 of a low E string in tune.
Tune your low E string to this note. Repeat the audio track as many times as you need to, in order to try and match the note perfectly.

Tuning to a Piano

If you have access to a piano, you can alternately tune your low E to the same note on the piano.

Look at the black keys on the keyboard of the image above, and notice that there is a set of two black keys, then an extra white key, then a set of three black keys, then a white key. This pattern is repeated for the length of the keyboard. The white note directly to the right of the set of two black keys is the note E. Play that note, and tune your low E string to it. Note that the E you play on the piano may not be in the same octave as the low E string on your guitar. If the E you play on the piano sounds much higher, or lower than your low E string, try playing a different E on the piano, until you find the one closer to your open sixth string.

Now that we've got our sixth string in tune, let's move on to learning how to tune the rest of the strings.

Tuning the other strings:


Now that we have our sixth string in tune, we need to get our other five strings tuned to that note. Using just a little bit of very basic music theory, we can see how we'll do that.

We know that the names of the six open strings are E A D G B and E. We also know how to count up a string, and find the names of the notes on that string. Using this knowledge, we can count up the low E string (which is in tune), until we reach the note A, on the fifth fret. Knowing this note is in tune, we can use it as a reference pitch, and tune the open fifth string until it sounds the same as the sixth string, fifth fret.

Because this string is in tune, we can assume that this note, A, on the fifth fret, is also in tune. So, we can play the open fifth string, also an A, and check to see if it sounds the same as the note on the sixth string. We'll use this concept to tune the rest of the strings. Observe the graphic above, and follow these rules to fully tune your guitar.

Steps to Tuning Your Guitar

  1. Make sure your sixth string is in tune ( use reference pitch)
  2. Play the sixth string, fifth fret (A), then tune your open fifth string (A) until it they sound the same.
  3. Play the fifth string, fifth fret (D), then tune your open fourth string (D) until they sound the same.
  4. Play the fourth string, fifth fret (G), then tune your open third string (G) until they sound the same.
  5. Play the third string, fourthfret (B), then tune your open second string (B) until they sound the same.
  6. Play the second string, fifth fret (E), then tune your open first string (E) until they sound the same.
After you've tuned your guitar, check it against this MP3 of a fully tuned guitar, and fine tune it if necessary.

Tuning Tips:

Often, new guitarists have a very hard time tuning their guitar. Learning to listen to pitches very closely, then fine-tune them, is a skill that takes practice. In teaching situations, I've found some students can't easily listen to two notes, and identify which is higher, or which is lower - they only know they don't sound the same. If you're having a similar problem, try this:

Listen to, and play the first note. While the note is still ringing, try humming that note. Continue to play the note, until you've managed to match the pitch with your voice. Next, play the second note, and again, hum that note. Repeat this - playing and humming the first note, then follow that by playing and humming the second note. Now, try humming the first note, and without stopping, moving to the second note. Did your voice go down, or up? If it went down, then the second note is lower. If it went up, the second note is higher. Now, make the adjustment to the second note, until they both sound the same.

This may seem like a silly exercise, but it does often help. Soon, you'll be able to recognize the difference in pitches without humming them.

I hope this has helped. As previously mentioned, it's extremely important to tune your guitar every time you pick it up to play it. Not only will it make your playing sound a whole lot better, but the repetition will allow you to conquer tuning your guitar quickly. Good luck!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Video - Classical Guitar Technique for Beginners

WORLD RECORD GUITAR SPEED 2007

Guitar Lessons for beginners - 3

Holding the PICK:

Hopefully, you've found, bought or borrowed a guitar pick. If not, you'll need to buy yourself some. Don't be stingy, go and pick up at least 10 of them - guitar picks are easy to lose (they often don't cost more than 30 or 40 cents each). You can experiment with different shapes and brands, but I highly recommend medium gauge picks to start; ones that aren't too flimsy, or too hard.
The following documentation explains how to hold, and use a pick. When reading, keep in mind that your "picking hand" is the hand which is nearest to the bridge of the guitar, when sitting in the correct position.

  1. Open your picking hand, and turn the palm to face you.
  2. Close your hand to make a very loose fist. Your thumb should remain beside your index finger.
  3. Rotate your hand until you are looking at it's profile, with your thumb's knuckle facing you.
  4. With your other hand, slide your guitar pick between your thumb and index finger. The pick should be approximately located behind the knuckle of the thumb.
  5. Be sure the pointed end of the pick is pointing directly away from your fist, and is protruding by about a half an inch. Hold the pick firmly.
  6. Position your picking hand over the soundhole of your acoustic guitar, or over the body of your electric guitar. Your picking hand, with thumb knuckle still facing you, should hover over the strings.
  7. Do not rest your picking hand on the strings or body of the guitar.
  8. Using your wrist for motion (rather than your entire arm), strike the sixth (lowest) string of your guitar in a downward motion. If the string rattles excessively, try striking the string a bit softer, or with less of the pick surface.
  9. Now, pick the sixth string in an upwards motion.
  10. Repeat the process several times. Try and minimize motion in your picking hand: one short picking stroke downwards, then one short picking stroke upwards. This process is referred to as "alternate picking"
  11. Try the same exercise on the fifth, fourth, third, second, and first strings.
Tips:
  1. Holding the pick in this manner will invariably feel awkward at first. You will initially have to pay special attention to your picking hand whenever you play guitar.
  2. Try and create fluidity in your alternate picking. Your downstrokes should sound virtually identical to your upstrokes.

Guitar lessons for beginners - 2

Holding the guitar:

Now, that we know about the basic parts of a guitar, it's time to get our hands dirty, and start learning to play it. Get yourself an armless chair, and take a seat. You should be sitting comfortably, with your back against the back of the chair. Slouching significantly is a no-no; you'll not only end up with a sore back, you'll develop bad habits on the guitar.

Now, pick up your guitar, and hold it so the back of the body of the instrument comes in contact with your stomach/chest, and the bottom of the neck runs parallel to the floor. The thickest string on the guitar should be the closest to your face, while the thinnest should be closest to the floor. If this isn't the case, turn the guitar the in other direction. Typically, a right-handed person will hold the guitar so the headstock points to the left, whereas a left-handed person will hold the guitar so the headstock points to the right. (NOTE: to play the guitar as a lefty would, you will need a left-handed guitar.)

When playing the guitar sitting down, the body of the guitar will rest on one of your legs. In most styles of guitar playing, the guitar will rest on the leg farthest away from the headstock. This means, a person playing the guitar in a right-handed fashion will typically rest the guitar on his/her right leg, while someone playing the guitar in a lefty manner will rest it on their left leg. (NOTE: proper classical guitarist technique dictates the exact OPPOSITE of the above, but for this lesson, let's stick to our initial explanation)

Next, concentrate on your "fretting hand" (the hand closest to the neck of the guitar, when sitting in proper position). The thumb of your fretting hand should rest behind the neck of the guitar, with your fingers in a slightly curled position, poised above the strings. It is extremely important to keep these fingers curled at the knuckles, except when specifically instructed not to do so.


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Super Mario Theme on Guitar !

Four Hands Guitar - Wow !

Guitar Lessons for beginners

These guitar lessons are designed for people who own (or have borrowed) a guitar, but don't yet know the first thing about playing it.

What you'll need for these Guitar Lessons

  • A guitar with six strings. Any type of guitar will work fine.
  • A guitar pick. Medium gauged picks are recommended to start with, but any will work okay in a pinch.
  • A chair without arms.
  • A reasonable amount of patience.
Guitar Lesson Overview: What you'll learn

By the end of this guitar lesson, you will have learned: the names of many parts of the guitar, the names of the open strings, the process of tuning the guitar, how to hold and use a pick, how to play a chromatic scale, and how to play a simple song using Gmajor, Cmajor, and Dmajor chords.

Guitar Lessons

Basics of guitar:

Learning something for the first time can be really exciting. But you should know the basics of any trade before you become a master of it. So, is the case with learning how to play the guitar too. You will have to learn the basic of guitar before you can start playing it in public.

Playing the guitar has its own set of rules and you need to follow them to become an expert player. Playing guitar is not hard and you will have to put some interest and learn it. While learning guitar you may feel that sensation of being a popular guitarist one day but you should remember that even the masters of guitar started with basics one day.

Before starting to play guitar you should know how the guitar is constructed. You should have the idea of various body parts of an average guitar. All of these parts of the guitar form to make a excellent device that help your create magical tunes. Chords, scales, fingering, etc. are the few terms that you will come across while learning the guitar. But first let’s see how Guitar is made:

Basically, guitar is a long wooden piece with a string attached to it. It follows a simple science by creating music when the chords are stretched in harmony. But a guitar is much more than a simple piece of wood.

A normal guitar’s body is made up of a large wooden piece. The thinned part of the guitar that is joined with the body is called the neck. A bridge is located on the body of the guitar where a hole is created. A single string of guitar is binded at the bridge and the pegs which is located at the head of the guitar. The head of the guitar is present at the end of the neck and is not connected with the body. Besides these, small pieces of metal are inscribed on the long neck on different intervals. These metal pieces are called frets and when a player presses the strings into the frets, then the guitar creates different pitches and music at different places. All of the frets make a different pitch and sound differently. These frets are the most important part of the guitar as they are creating the whole music which made using a guitar.

The way you hold a guitar also depends on the type and melody of the song you choose. For a right handed person, you can hold your guitar on right hand making your right hand the strumming one. You have to hold the guitar in a way that your hand rests on the string above the hole. In this way, your left hand will be holding the neck of the guitar. But if you are a left handed then you should just reverse the order.

Holding the guitar and knowing its body parts are simply the basic. A guitar has much more things to be learned which you will find in following series. Learning guitar is not just a time pass or to matter of interest, it will make you relationship with this amazing device that creates harmonic music too.

Hindi Guitar Tabs

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