The Origin of Theater Arts

Early man as a means of interaction, to express his inner thoughts and a means to recording events, discovered arts. The ancient caves; monuments and scripts preserved in the museums bear witness to that fact. As we evolved, so did art. Art has reached such height that now it can be classified into various categories that further have subcategories. Different regions and civilizations have different forms, which have a deep influence of the culture. Vaguely arts can be distinguished as one depicted by expressing it on a medium like paintings, sculptures, architecture, and crafts and the other having human body involvement like acting, gestures, dialogues and singing. On this basis broad classifications of arts that can be made are visual arts, culinary arts, performing arts and language art.

Ancient Greeks played a major role in the persuasion of art associating with human form, which comes under the category of performing arts. Here the human figure is used as a medium of expressing art rather than materials like stone, metal, clay or paint. But to support the human form of art, clay or metal model more vividly known as props are used to enhance the performance which come under the category of plastic arts. Some of the subcategories of performing arts are theater, dance, music, magic, opera, juggling, film, comedy, acrobatics, martial arts, and marching arts such as brass bands. Accordingly the human performers depicting these sub classes of performing arts are known as actors, dances, musicians, magician, singers, jugglers, comedians and acrobats.

The word theater also originated from the Greek word “Theatron” which means “Place of Seeing”. Plays were held on special events having religious importance, so the main idea revolved around ancient roman gods with the role of male gods being enacted with musculature, elegance and poise where as the female gods being enacted with beauty, grace and anatomically correct magnitude. Singing was also used as a means of enacting other than dialogue delivery. Along with the costumes masks were also a part of the actors’ attire. The stage was set in a realistic landscape backdrop.

During the middle ages storylines of the plays were mostly based on biblical incidences with an influence of the Byzantine and Gothic art. The Eastern art was mostly influenced by the Western medieval art. Not much concentration was paid to the realistic illustration. The costumes too were surface patterning, which means the basic color of the robe was emphasized upon rather than enhancing it by playing with light.

The nineteenth and the twentieth century saw a revolution being effected by the discoveries made during that era by Aristotle, Einstein and Newton. Light was used to modulate the color and to bring about a realistic feeling by creating an environment to absorb the audience into it. As inventions were made, traveling became very easy. This led to the influence of one culture over the other, which also globalized the western taste in theaters around the world.

As time progressed there have been diverse changes in theater arts that depicted different culture and moral values. The themes have revolved around fairytales, fables, religion, folktales, comedy, fiction, tragedy, romance, legend, history, epic, biography, adventure and material truths. The different forms of theater arts are mime, opera, kabuki, ballet, classical Indian dance, Chinese opera, pantomime and mummersÂ’ play. Today Theater Arts are as important form of art as any other arts and attracts all art lovers towards it.

Some more Vaudeville Entertainment

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.

Workshop Instrument Building – Images

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
instrument

Cross view of the Rainstick with reeds in place
instrument

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

Learning Scales – 3 Tips To Accelerate Your Progress

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!

Small Bands And Just How World-wide-web Assists Them

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.

Not Eggsactly a Musical Saw Topic

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!

Colombian Musical Instruments

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.

Didgeridoos – Two Masters on Youtube

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:


And here’s Jerry Donovan…


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.

Folk Music

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.