Author: Peter Wentworth

As I pointed out in an earlier post, the Musical Saw was a favorite for performances. Although this clip of an WWII vaudeville act is humorous, there is no musical saw music here.

Sniffing around the web I came upon some of these fun images taken at an Instrument Building Workshop in Damascus Syria – 2010!:

Building a Rain Stick

Cross view of the Rainstick with reeds in place

Lacing the head onto a Doumbec (a Tabla style drum)

Learning Musical Saw Scales – 3 Tips To Accelerate Your Progress

Learning Musical Saw scales can be a very frustrating experience for many Musical Sawyers. ItÂ’s very easy to feel totally overwhelmed with just how much needs to be learnt. To learn and master every possible Musical Saw scale out there would take many lifetimes. Because of this, many Musical Saw Musicians find it hard even knowing where to start!

In this article IÂ’ll reveal three powerful tips to help you in your quest for Musical Saw scale mastery. They are designed to help reduce any feelings of overwhelm that you may currently have. LetÂ’s take a look at the tips nowÂ…

**Tip #1: Develop a written plan for learning Musical Saw scales.**

This is really important. It is vital to introduce some structure into your scale learning process. Rather than aimlessly practicing Musical Saw scales, you want to become laser focused. This is achieved by writing down things such asÂ…

– How much time each day you will devote to scale practice.
– What scales you need to learn, in order to play the style of music that you love.
– What keys are the most common to the style of music that you play.
– What specific scale exercises you will learn.
– What books, DVDs and other resources you will use to learn scales.
– What specific things that you donÂ’t understand yet.

If you donÂ’t know how to work out the stuff above, then I recommend booking some lessons with a professional Music tutor. Make sure that they can play the style of music that you love. ItÂ’s not much point asking a classical Music tutor what scales you need to learn for jazz Musical Saw!

**Tip #2: Learn one scale at a time.**

I canÂ’t stress this tip enough. A major reason why many Musical Sawyers never master scales is that they try to learn too many at once. This usually causes them to learn scales on a very superficial level. They may know lots of scales, but they definitely havenÂ’t mastered any. This causes them to sound very unmusical when they improvise. They just sound like they are running up-and-down scales.

**Tip #3: DonÂ’t worry about trying to learn Musical Saw scales in all 12 keys.**

This advice goes against what a lot of Musical Saw tutors and Musical Saw books say. The reason why I say it is simpleÂ…

Trying to learn all scales in all 12 keys leads to a feeling of overwhelm for most Musical Sawyers! It can take months to learn a scale to mastery in one key.  Here is a much better approach…

1. Find out what the most common keys are for the style of music that you play.

2. List the keys in order. You will put the most common key at the top, and the least common key at the bottom.

3. Master the key that is at the top of the list.

4. Master, (one at a time), the rest of the keys on your list.

There we have it! Implement these three tips and turbo-charge your ability to learn your scales!

The Net has revolutionized all facets of the world from finance to music. Just A few years ago small bands played in garages, family functions, and cafes. They cut cds and sent them to music giants in anticipation that they might be noticed.

The Internet and MP3 music has helped bring about many changes in the prospects of small bands. The distribution system and marketing options changed. New media formats and quite a few personal websites sprang up and the reach of music became world wide. Gone were small town boundaries or traveling on the road to spread awareness. The click of your mouse increased popularity.

However it is not all about success following the initial boom, several music sites and bands proceeded to go bust. What every band with a dream of golden cds must do is:

• Weigh their options carefully and make the time to execute a complete study of their options.
• Create a certified marketing strategy.
• If in doubt consult marketing pros with an understanding of the music business.

To showcase your creative imagination online you must:

• Not expect any monetary returns to start with. You need to popularize your music by giving it away. Put MP3s and videos on your website. Any time a person downloads music and listens he may enjoy it and listen to it time and again. This sort of individual is usually the one more likely to hear your next single.

• Make sure that your music is traceable-if someone has got your song on their IPod chances are they will only be in the position to trace you if the artist/band name along with website address are accessible.

• You must categorize the music correctly. Decide whether or not this should really be placed under rock, pop, folk, or folk.

• Locate popular music distribution sites and utilize these to promote your music. Lots of people who will be searching for new tunes and also a good listening ear visit these sites.

• To publicize your band it is important to set up your own website, purchase a url, park it with a reliable host, and optimize it to ensure that it will rank very well in search engines. Find out about how to create a successful internet site and the way to advertise it properly.

• Build an interactive web site with stories, critiques, along with other music related news. Make the site interesting in order that readers are tempted to scan and listen to your music.

• Decide to have reviews of your music and where it will be available posted on community sites and blogs. Host a music forum and submit press releases to well known news release sites.

• Once you have established a little presence think of approaches to generate funds. You can actually sell the songs or offer subscriptions. Alternately, the downloads of music could possibly be free but generate money from other channels like advertisements, ppc traffic and the like. Or host a music related commerce site selling iPODs, Xboxes, accessories and so forth. The business aspect will need to be determined carefully.

Make certain people know that your band accepts gigs. In case you like writing lyrics or jingles for small enterprises promotions you must advertise this element of your creativity. The entire world can be yours for anyone who is adventurous.

Sorry if this is considerably off topic… I generally like to keep a musical theme going but this video was so cool, I had to share it.

My justification is that even musicians have to eat… So consider this a public service announcement as to how to make your life easier in the kitchen.

Bon Apetit!

Columbian Musical Instruments
Today’s post is about Colombian Folk instruments. I was born in Medellin, Colombia but our family left the country when I was quite young. I have no recollections whatsoever of the music then, however, over the years, I did listen to recordings my parents had picked up in Medellin when I was just a baby.

The Tiple and Quatro are two of the more popular instruments.

Everyone appreciates the amazing treasure of Colombian musical instruments, such as Colombian tiple, produced in coral wood, with clear lines and awesome authentic color. The Tiple hash twelve metal strings arranged throughout four octaves. Any professional or student guitarist will find it simple to utilize for Colombian folks music, additionally for a host of Latin American tunes. Musicians will use it in Latin American folk jazz songs, but also in other genres. The Tiple’s ethereal and clear sound can be used in classic guitar musical pieces. Similar in nature to the ethereal beauty of a Musical Saw.

Another instrucment is the Colombian Cuatro which is actually a concert grade guitar; it is created from laminates of curly walnut. Shaped like a violin, it maintains a true tone and finish.. The ‘seis’ is a sort of hybrid of the cuatro but also contains a supplementary sixth string tuned by a fourth below. It is also an incredibly popular Colombian guitar. This design allows for an expanded bass range. It can be used in place of a guitar, This instrument turns out some awesome music, It has the voice of a guitar, but sweeter, quicker and more volume.

Here’s a couple of treats for you whether or not you play didgeridoo.
These two guys are incredibly impressive on so many planes. And if you can imagine it – how about playing a Musical Saw duet along with this music!

Give ’em a listen:

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And here’s Jerry Donovan…

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Musical Saws are great ensemble instruments (of course, they should still be the feature!) But, if just playing solo without accompaniement sometimes the music may get a bit muddy. I’ve always worked with more mainstream musicians, but only because didgeridoo players (and the like) are hard to find.

The word “Folk Music” is a descriptor for both traditional, contemporary music as well as a host of other sub-genres. Other terms to describe Folk Music are: Traditional (Trad), Mountain, ethnic, world, and roots music. The term “Folk Musician” has fallen out of favor and now they are refered to as: “Singer Songwriters”. In the most historic base of folk music, you will never be able to discern the lyricist, composer, arranger, etc. as the music in all liklihood is the result of a joint effort of the community or society. (Plus eons of new musicians tweaking various elements over time).

Under the Folk umbrella are specialty genres, some of which I have listed(ie.):

1. Old-Time Music
2. Cowboy Songs
3. Protest Songs
4. Folk punk
5. Indie folk
6. Electronic-folk
7. Freak folk
8. Americana

There’s also racially charged folk music and politicaly oriented folk music both have a similar bent albeit with vastly different goals.

Folk music is immutable in that it is not era-specific and musch of folk musci will transcend geographic, social, cultural, and temporal boundaries.