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Tips on becoming a better musician

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SEPTEMBER 2011

THE HISTORY

OF jazz Fusion

Features

GUITAR CENTER VS SAM ASH

FUTURE OF CELL PHONES

HOW TO BECOMEA BETTER MUSICIAN

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THE HISTORY

OF jazz Fusion

Miles dewey davis IIIan Ameritcan jazz musician, trumpeter,

bandleader, and composer

Jazz Fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and elec-tronic effects of rock, complex time signa-tures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental composi-tions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations, often using wind and brass and displaying a high level of instrumental technique. The term "jazz rock" is often used as a synonym for "jazz fusion" as well as for music performed by late 1960s and 1970s era rock bands that added jazz ele-ments to their music. Some progressive rock is also labelled "fusion". After a decade of popularity during the 1970s, fusion expanded its improvisa-tory and experimental approaches through the 1980s and 1990s. Fusion albums, even those that are made by the same group or artist, may include a variety of styles. Rather than being a codified musical style, fusion can be viewed as a musical tradition or approach. The term “jazz rock” is often used as a synonym for the term “jazz fusion”. How-ever, some make a distinction between the two terms.

However, some make a distinction be-tween the two terms. The Free Spirits have sometimes been cited as the earliest jazz rock band. During the late 1960s, at the same time that jazz musicians were experimenting with rock rhythms and electric instruments, rock groups such as Cream and the Grateful Dead were "be-ginning to incorporate elements of jazz into their music" by "experimenting with extended free-form improvisation". Other "groups such as Blood, Sweat and Tears directly borrowed harmonic, melodic, rhythmic and instrumentational elements from the jazz tradition". Scaruffi notes that the rock groups that drew on jazz ideas (Soft Machine, Colosseum, Cara-van, Nucleus, Chicago, and Frank Zappa) turned the blend of the two styles "upside down and instead of focusing on sound, rockers focused on dynamics" that could be obtained with amplified electric instru-ments. Scaruffi contrasts "Davis' fusion jazz was slick, smooth and elegant, while "progressive-rock" was typically convo-luted and abrasive."Frank Zappa released two LPs in 1972 which were very jazz-oriented called

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THE HISTORY

OF jazz Fusion

“The Grand Wazoo” and “Waka/Jawaka”. Pro-lific jazz artists such as George Duke and Aynsley Dunbar played on these LPs. ”The Grand Wazoo” and “Waka/Jawaka”. Prolific jazz artists such as George Duke and Aynsley Dunbar played on these amazing LPs. All music states that the term “Jazz-rock may refer to the loudest, wildest, most electrified fusion bands from the jazz camp, but most often it describes performers coming from the rock side of the equation.” The Guide states that “Jazz-rock first emerged during the late ‘60s as an attempt to fuse the visceral power of rock with the musical complexity and improvisational fireworks of jazz. Since rock often emphasized directness and sim-plicity over virtuosity, jazz-rock generally grew out of the most artistically ambitious rock subgenres of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s: psychedelia, progres-sive rock, and the singer/songwriter movement.” All music lists the following jazz rock cat-egories: Davis’ Bitches Brew sessions, recorded in August 1969 and released the following year, abandoned traditional jazz and instead was based on a rock-style backbeat anchored by electric bass grooves. The recording “...mixed free jazz blowing by a large ensemble with electronic keyboards and guitar, plus a dense mix of percussion.” Davis also drew on the rock influence by playing his trumpet through electronic effects and pedals. While the album gave Davis a gold record, the use of electric instruments and rock beats created a great deal of consternation amongst some traditionalist jazz critics. Davis also proved to be an able talent-spot-ter; much of 1970s fusion was performed by bands started by alumni from Davis’ ensembles, includ-ing The Tony Williams Lifetime, Weather Report, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, and Herbie Hancock’s funk-infused Headhunters band. In addition to Davis and the musicians who worked with him, additional important figures in early fusion were Larry Coryell and Billy Cob-ham with his album Spectrum. Herbie Hancock first continued the path of Miles Davis with his experimental fusion albums, such as Crossings in 1972, but soon after that he became an important developer of “jazz-funk” with his seminal albums Head Hunters 1973 and Thrust in 1974. Later in the 1970s and early 1980s Hancock took a more commercial approach. Hancock was one of the first jazz musicians to use synthesizers.

At its inception, Weather Report was an avant-garde experimental jazz group, following in the steps of In A Silent Way. The band received considerable attention for its early albums and live performances, which featured pieces that might last up to 30 minutes. The band later introduced a more commercial sound, which can be heard in Joe Zawinul's hit song "Birdland". Weather Report's albums were also influenced by different styles of Latin, African, and Euro-pean music, offering an early world music fusion variation. Jaco Pastorius, an innovative fretless electric bass player, joined the group in 1976 on the album Black Market, was co-producer with Zawinul on 1977's Heavy Weather, and is promi-nently featured on the 1979 live recording 8:30. Heavy Weather is the top-selling album of the jazz genre. In England, the jazz fusion movement was headed by Nucleus, led by Ian Carr, and whose key players Karl Jenkins and John Mar-shall both later joined the seminal jazz rock band Soft Machine, leaders of what became known as the Canterbury scene. Their best-sell-ing recording, Third 1970, was a double album featuring one track per side in the style of the aforementioned recordings of Miles Davis. A prominent English band in the jazz-rock style of Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago was If, who released a total of seven records in the 1970s. Chick Corea formed his band Return to Forever in 1972. The band started with Latin-in-fluenced music including Brazilians Flora Purim as vocalist and Airto Moreira on percussion, but was transformed in 1973 to become a jazz-rock group that took influences from both psychedel-ic and progressive rock. The new drummer was Lenny White, who had also played with Miles Davis. Return to Forever’s songs were distinc-tively melodic due to the Corea’s composing style and the bass playing style of Stanley Clarke, who is often regarded with Pastorius as the most influential electric bassists of the 1970s. Guitarist Bill Connors joined Corea’s band in 1973, recording Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. Connors describes his sound as a mix of Clapton and Coltrane. Guitarist Al Di Meola, who started his career with Return to Forever in 1974, soon became an important fusion guitarist.

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John McLaughlin formed a fusion band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra with drummer Billy Cobham, violinist Jerry Goodman, bassist Rick Laird and keyboardist Jan Hammer. The band released their first album, The Inner Mounting Flame in 1971. Hammer pioneered the use of the Minimoog synthesizer with distortion effects and with his mastery of the pitch bend wheel, made it sound very much like an electric guitar. The sound of the Mahavishnu Orchestra was influenced by both psychedelic rock and classi-cal Indian sounds The band’s first lineup split after two studio and one live albums, but McLaughlin formed another group under same name which included Jean-Luc Ponty, a jazz violinist, who also made a number of important fusion record-ings under his own name as well as with Frank Zappa, drummer Narada Michael Walden, keyboardist Gayle Moran, and bassist Ralph Armstrong. McLaughlin also worked with Latin-rock guitarist Carlos Santana in the early 1970s.nitially Santana's San Francisco-based band blended Latin salsa, rock, blues, and jazz, featur-ing Santana's clean guitar lines set against Latin instrumentation such as timbales and congas. But in their second incarnation, heavy fusion influences had become central to the 1973-1976 santana band. These can be clearly heard in Santana's use of extended improvised solos and in the harmonic voicings of Tom Coster's keyboard playing on some of the groups' mid 1970s recordings. In 1973 Santana recorded a nearly two-hour live album of mostly instrumen-tal, jazz-fusion music, Lotus, which was only released in Europe and Japan for more than twenty years. Other influential musicians that emerged from the fusion movement during the 1970s include fusion guitarist Larry Coryell with his band The Eleventh House, and electric guitar-ist Pat Metheny. The Pat Metheny Group, which was founded in 1977, made both the jazz and pop charts with their second album, American Garage 1980. Although jazz performers criti-cized the fusion movement's use of rock styles and electric and electronic instruments, even seasoned jazz veterans like Buddy Rich, May-nard Ferguson and Dexter Gordon eventually modified their music to include fusion elements.

In the early 1980s. T-Square’s song Truth would later become the theme for Japan’s Formula One racing events. to the formation of Casiopea and T-Square (The Square), respectively, in 1976. The younger generations embraced this new genre of music and it gained popularity quickly approach-ing the early 1980s. T-Square’s song Truth would later become the theme for Japan’s Formula One racing events.

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Chick corea

influenced byjazz in america

americanjazz musician

t-square

SAM ASHVS

GUITARCENTER

Which store has the best price?What do you mean Sam Ash or Guitar Center? Do you mean which one will rip you off or which one you should go to? Go to the one that has the better deals thats what they all say. We asked 48 people in this poll and it seemed that Guitar Cen-ter has not have the only better deals, but better customer service. Here are a few testimonies to describe their experience in this battle.

“Service. Service. Service. The biggest complaint I have about Sam Ash is the level they go to satisfy you. The only time I have ever argued with an employee at a music store was over pricing of a product at Sam Ash that I was quoted that they decided to not honor after quoting. I have had multiple occasions of Guitar Center quoting me a price only to realize they made a mistake in the quote, then honor it anyways to keep me a loyal customer. Why can’t more stores do this?” -Jesus Monsiviais

Not only Guitar Center had a better communica-tions with their customers, but it seemed able toestablish some commitment on satisfying their customers. Both stores can give you deals on items, but sometimes it’s difficult to give a price to the customers that both parties can benefit for the price. Mostly the person who work their earn their money through comission.It’s really dif-ficult this time due to the effect on the economy. My brother perfers Guitar Center over Sam Ash due to not only having a better price, but a better selection when it comes to purchasing an item. If you can’t go to the store, you order online. Heres a feed back from another customer who wasn’t satisfied with their online experience.

“I will never buy from Sam Ash again due to their horrible packing and lack of cus-tomer service. I received 6 orders so far that were not packed with any protective materials or it was just set on top and the equipment was smashed at the bottom of the box. No markings of Fragile sensi-tive music equipment. Some items were supposedly new and had been previuosly opened/used/scratched/b-stock? Con-tacted them numerous times. No response from customer service or shipping, re-turned items and got a generic response from the President of Sam Ash. No apolo-gy or any resolution to the problems. Will now always shop at G.C. or any other store/on-line mail order. NEVER AGAIN AT SAM ASH!!! “

-Juan Leon

My brother has been placing orders, selling items online for a while now, and he knows how to treat customers. Always establish good communication witht the customers, and always try to give 100% satisfaction. Sam Ash doesn’t seem to carry thatpolicy. Guitar Center on the other hand seem to carry an “Entire Agreement” which listed on their website.Stating you as a customer have rights.The 30 day return policy, stating that if your not satisty with your purchase, you have the right to return the item within 30 days.If you are looking to get the best service and great prices, along with a company doing their best to gain your business, I suggest Guitar Center over Sam Ash. I myself have been to both stores. Both atmospheres greatly differ. Theres just something between the two, Sam Ash has a feeling of isola-tion, and Guitar Center just feels right.

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VS

39.58%

60.42%

Based on 48 votes

Here are the results from 48 people. If you still are indecisive, go out and experience the customer experience by shopping at both.

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future of cellphonescell phones

advancing

How are cells phones going to look like in the future?Today’s world is full of pieces of technology that we take for granted, the microchip has truly revo-lutionised the way in which we live and do busi-ness. The world we see would not be recognisable to people of a few generations ago and nowhere is this truism greater than in the world of comput-ing. Hence it is important to stay up to date with technology news; while many may think that this type of news is purely for geeks it is clear that all of us should have at least a passing interest in news of technological developments. Technology pretty much touches all of our lives in some way and hence technology news is a vital resource that can keep us up to date with developments and ways in which the world will be always be changing. Todays phones your practically can d about anything. From making a simple phone call to chatting through video by the famous programs called skype, and other programs included such a Qik and others, adding more to the music busi-ness industry. The Cell phone business have been

booming ever since the IPhone came out. It revo-lutionized the cell phone industry by having apps, video camera and beat other cell phone compa-nies. The Iphone was ahead of technology as cell phone companies started creating similar phones to compete to the Apple Iphones. Furthering the competition by releasing the Android Operating system. Many things you can do on a cell phone. It’s now been competing with the mp3 players, video game industries, renting movies, now you can watch movies through Netflix subscription, HBOGo, and other types of ways of streaming movies through your cell phone.

dialing with your thoughtsGiving a whole new meaning to hands-free cell-phone use, neuroscientists at the University of California, San Diego, say they’ve discovered a way to dial a cellphone just by thinking of a phone number.How does this brain-dialing work?Researchers had users sit in front of a screen displaying a keypad. The numbers on the keypad each flashed at a slightly different frequency. Special electrodes attached to the users’ scalps detected those frequencies and relayed the brain activity to a cellphone equipped to decode the sig-nals. In the end, users could “dial” just by think-ing of a number on the screen. The study was published in the Journal of Neural Engineering.Its amazing how cell-phones are advancing eachyear that passes by. No longer just make phone calls, they can make life easier by download appli-cations to it and make a difference.

Whats next?dialing with your own thoughts?

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Today the video game industry has been losing money due to the applications on a cell phone. People rather buy a $1 dollar app rather than paying full $60 game Xbox 360 and PS3 and the Wii $50 dollars. The struggling Nintendo 3Ds had to lower the price of the system in order to keep it alive. In the music business, cell phones have apps that can tune your guitar, and customers are able to download it for free. Other apps in-clude a studio app, mixers, music stations, able to download music from application. The apps are replacing CDs, purchases through ITunes, other websites such as Amazon and etc. There are apps that even let your listen to the song that is currently being played and let you know the artist and the title of the song. Most of us enjoy any extra hassles we can go through at airports, because flying is generally far too pleasant an experience these days. Still, some people are actually trying to make it even more convenient Continental was the first airline to try out the entirely electronic boarding system, sending boarding passes to phones complete with a 2-D barcode that can be scanned to allow passengers on planes. The advantages here are that you don’t have to worry about printing your own boarding pass, losing your boarding pass and odds are if you forget everything, you’ll still have your phone so you won’t miss your flight. And the bar codes on cell phones are harder to forge than one dimensional bar codes on paper passes, so it sticks it to counterfeiters.n added bonus to the paperless method is the ease with which the airlines can stop ruining your life. If the flight

CELL-PHONES REVOLUTIONIZED THE WAY WE LIVE

is overbooked, that can be worked out with-out you wasting time. If they have no more kosher meals, if you want to upgrade your seating or if they only have diet Tab cola, you can get in touch with one another with ease. Cell phones are making it more easy on life, is it worth it? There were reports that talking on the cell-phone can cause can-cer due to the radiation that it emits.Other causes are car accidents, texin while driv-ing. Drivers are paying less attention due to spending more time on the phone than rather paying attention. They get distracted easily as soon they get a text message.Cell-phones will keep chaning and evolving. How the cell-phones will look like and what kind of haz-ards will it bring us is still a mystery.

Cell-phones have changed the way we communicate in

every day life

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1.Take responsibility for your own developmentEach musician brings a unique set of talents, aspirations, and abilities to the musical scene. You may be in school or maybe you are study-ing with a private teacher. It is important to take increasing responsibility for developing your particular abilities toward your specific goals. Ultimately, you are responsible for choic-es about how you use your time to improve your musical skills.

2. PracticeWhatever you do or intend to do in music, try to practice it as much as possible. This applies not only to your instrument and/or voice, but also to other types of musical work. For example, composers should practice composing, prospec-tive teachers should try to observe and gain teaching experiences under appropriate super-vision, those interested in music scholarship or criticism should practice writing and speaking on musical topics. No level of knowledge or skill that you can attain will be too high.

3. perform alone & as well w/ othersPerformance ability is essential for all musi-cians. You should be a good secure performer on at least one instrument or with your voice, whether or not you intend to have a perfor-mance career. Keyboard ability is important for the life work of most professional musicians but for the amateur even a small knowledge of key-board harmony will help you understand more about the music you play. If you have keyboard skills you will have a head start as music stu-dent. Ensemble experiences of all kinds should be sought. Work in large and small ensembles develop different kinds of musical skills. Fine

How to become a better musicianA GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS

10 steps On becoming a better musicianensemble playing comes primarily through prac-tice.

4. master the basicsBe sure that you can read both treble and bass-clefs, that you know key signatures, interval qualities, triad qualities, the major and minor scales, and how to write basic notation. Knowl-edge of musical terms and usage is important.

5. develope your earTake every opportunity to train your ear by tak-ing courses or studies in musicianship that in-clude sight-singing, ear-training, sight-reading, rhythmic and harmonic dictation, and so forth. Developing the ear is a lifetime job. The earlier work is started, the better.

6. listen to all kinds types of musicYou need to be familiar with far more music than that which you perform. Try to hear as much music from as many historical periods and cultural sources as possible. Ask your teacher or a musical friend to recommend a listening list for you that covers the various solo, small, and large ensemble repertory in your performance area. Try to make sure that you have heard the major works of all types in the particular area of music that interests you. Listen more to learn the breadth and depth of the repertory than to enjoy what is already familiar. Whenever pos-sible, follow the score as you listen.

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7. learn how music is producedTake opportunities to learn the basics of musi-cal structure, including studies in such areas as form, harmony, counterpoint, composition, and improvisation. Like so many other things in music, this knowledge is developed through-out a lifetime. Those who are able to get started early have an advantage. Work with your music teacher, join a music theory course if it is avail-able where you live or work, take classes at your community music school if there is one, and otherwise explore opportunities to gain initial acquaintance with this material.

8.try to learn a new languageMusicians practice their art internationally. You are likely to perform music with texts in foreign languages, and to work with musicians from all over the world. Significant musical scholarship and criticism are in foreign languages. If you seek advanced degrees in music, reading flu-ency in one or more foreign languages is often required. Since foreign languages are difficult for many people, you should begin acquiring knowl-edge and skills in at least one foreign language as early as possible. Consult with your music teach-er about which languages are best for you.

9.try to get an educationMusic both influences and is influenced by other fields of study: the humanities, mathematics, the sciences, the social sciences, and the other arts architecture, dance, film, literature, theatre, and the visual arts. For entrance into college-level study, you are encouraged to gain a basic over-view of ancient and modern history,

the basic thought processes and procedures of math and science, and familiarity with works in as many of the other arts disciplines as possible. Most professionals who work with music compre-hensively develop a particular sensibility about the connections among music, history, and the other arts. Understanding the basics of math and the sciences support future work in music tech-nologies. Social studies are related to understand-ing the context for various musical endeavors. If you are too old to study at school, join local adult education classes or borrow or buy books so that you can read around these subjects.

10. try to learn from the Very bestAs we have already said, the best musicians continue to learn throughout their lives. They are always studying and thinking, always connecting what they know about music with their knowl-edge of other fields. Keep music at the center of your efforts, but accept and enjoy the challenge of gaining the kind of knowledge and skills in other areas that will support both formal studies at the college level or, if your interests are to be at a less exaulted level, your understanding of the culture from which the music springs.

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