Archive for the ‘Instruments’ Category
Beautiful Sounds of Old Ireland
One thing you will find that is popular in the Irish capital is traditional folk music. By going around the streets of Dublin like the Whelan’s in Camden Street, you will surely find traditional and folk music. This is one exciting spot has the best of Ireland’s talented folk performers.
A vast array of instruments are utilized in Irish folk music; and while fiddles and flutes are the first that come to mind, the banjo and guitar are now commonly used as well. Some famous Irish bands who have been very successful in taking traditional Irish folk music to the world are the Clancy brothers, The Dubliners and The Chieftans, Tommy Makem and Altan. These bands were even given tribute by the Irish post office by means of coming up with stamps of these iconic bands. Because of the distinct and mesmerizing sound of traditional Irish folk music, The Chieftans music, as well as The Dubliners’ and Clancy Brothers’ has been very popular all over the world.
Although there are many folk heroes of the American music scene, Woody Guthrie was a true titan among men. He grew up in dire poverty on the Oklahoma prairie and began collecting the regional songs he heard older people performing. This marked the beginning of Guthrie’s legacy as both a songwriter and a musical historian. He kept many traditional songs from dying out completely over time, using everything from mandolins to harmonicas.
In 1940, he wrote “This Land Is Your Land,” a song that’s still identified with American civic pride. During his later years, Guthrie focused on writing protest songs in response to the social injustices he perceived in the world around him. He also inspired and mentored the young Bob Dylan. Woody Guthrie will forever be remembered for his ability to capture the spirit of the times in his folk music.
For those unacquainted with the dulcimer, the first line of business is to point out that two distinct instruments carry the moniker. An Appalachian dulcimer, also referred to as a mountain dulcimer, is a stringed instrument that was highly popularized in American music during the 1800s. Typically, the instrument is played by placing it on your lap, allowing for strumming and fretting from that position. While the instrument experienced a resurgence in the 1950s thanks to folk music, it has never been able to garner mainstream acclaim.
The other type of dulcimer is the hammered dulcimer, and it bares little resemblance to its counterpart. While also being a stringed instrument, the hammered dulcimer is a trapezoidal board and played by striking the individual strings with small mallets. Although the origins of the instrument remain obscure, it is believed to be a relative of the santur from Persia.
The five-string banjo presents a unique problem when using a capo. Since the fifth string doesn’t start until the fifth fret, capoing the four long strings at the most common frets (two, three, or four) leaves the fifth string unaltered. A number of solutions have been devised over the years. Simply re-tuning the fifth string is always an option, but tightening and stretching the string beyond its intended range repeatedly can cause it to break. Plus, the fifth string won’t note correctly when fretted. Fifth-string capos are available; some attach permanently to the side of the neck and some clip temporarily onto the string.
Earl Scruggs solved this problem by hammering a couple of his wife’s bobby pins into the fingerboard at the desired frets, leaving a small length of pin sticking out of the fingerboard and bent over so that the fifth string could be slipped under it. Pete Seeger illustrated the same idea in his pioneering book “How to Play the 5-String Banjo”, using a screw placed in the fingerboard. In more recent years, players have turned to less-obtrusive HO-gauge model railroad spikes to provide a simple and reliable way to capo the fifth string.
I think at one point or another, we’ve all thought about learning to play the guitar. But no matter who you are, when you start playing the guitar you’re terrible, and it takes a lot of time, dedication, and practice to get better. When I was about 13, I told my parents I wanted to learn how to play the acoustic guitar, and of course they gave me that sort of parental sideways glance. I knew acoustic guitars weren’t cheap, nor were the lessons, and since I hadn’t played before, there was no guarantee I’d continue. My parents made a deal with me; they said they’d pay for half of the guitar if I paid for the other.
I worked for a whole summer as a part time paperboy, and earned my half of the guitar. My parents were true to their word, and covered the other half after I had thoroughly examined all of the Johnson guitars the local shop had to offer. I think that because I worked for it, the guitar was a lot more important to me. I played it all through junior high and high school, and when I was 18, a few friends of mine formed a band and played together all throughout college. While I’m not a professional musician now, it was a whole lot of fun!
Certain songwriters take months to write and rewrite the lyrics for an album’s worth of songs. They serve as their own scrupulous editors and critics, and the bar is set very high. Others operate in an entirely different way, improvising their lyrics and even some of the music right on the spot when they get to the recording studio. As a beginner, you should focus on the rehearsed style of writing.
Listen to a few of your favorite pop songs over and over, dissecting the parts that make them tuneful. Are there multiple-part harmonies, guitar solos or obscure instrumentation? Does the song sound “produced” or sonically sparse? These are the questioned that should be asked by a beginner songwriting for the first time—whether you’re preparing music for an orchestra or the 6 string banjo. Don’t be afraid to use music production software, but don’t rely on a computer to come up with the ideas for you.
Banjos have a long history dating back to ancient Egypt, and they’ve evolved today into four basic genres. Folk or Traditional music features a clawhammer (also called a frailing) open-back five-string banjo. It’s usually played with the index finger and the thumb, and produces a melodious sound. It grew in popularity during the American Civil War as soldiers strummed and plucked it around the evening campfires. The standard strings of the day were made from purified cattle entrails, and the banjo head was made from calfskin, giving the instrument a mellow and relaxing tone. Though most clawhammer banjos use steel strings today, many nostalgic players prefer a modern synthetic string set that emulates the old sound. Notable clawhammer banjo artists include Grandpa Jones and Pete Seeger, and Dave Guard (The Kingston Trio).
Dixieland Jazz music came of age in southern Louisiana in the early 1900s and found its home in New Orleans. Four-string banjos became prominent in Dixieland bands due to their volume and percussive rhythm sound. They were strummed with a single flat-pick, and accomplished players such as Eddie Peabody and Perry Bechtel would also pick out the melody notes. The two standard four-string Dixieland banjos are the 19-fret tenor model and the 22-fret plectrum model. Their popularity exploded during the early jazz age; some call it the electric guitar of its day. By the late 1920s, Gibson, Vega and other instrument makers had added a resonator on the back that projected the banjo sound toward the audience, and a bell-bronze tone ring that gave the banjo more depth and clarity of sound.
Irish Folk music has been around for centuries; today the 4-string, 17-fret banjo is the standard for the genre. It’s tuned the same as a fiddle and mandolin, making it easier for musicians to play multiple instruments. Artists who helped popularize Irish Folk music include Gerry O’Connor and Seamus Egan. Listen closely to the style of music, and you’ll discover where bluegrass music got its roots.
The most popular banjo music today is bluegrass, which got its name from Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. Monroe hailed from the bluegrass state of Kentucky. Though he was billed as a country artist during most of his career, his unique style of music developed into a category all its own. Banjo legend Earl Scruggs joined Monroe’s band in 1945 and appeared on the Grand Ole Opry stage for the first time. His unique style of picking electrified audiences. He played a five-string resonator banjo with a thumbpick and two fingerpicks, often at breakneck speed, with a clarity and precision that constituted an entirely new and exciting sound. By 1948 Scruggs left Monroe to form his own band with singer Lester Flatt. Foggy Mountain Breakdown and The Ballad of Jed Clampett became two of their most popular songs. Scruggs, who turned 86 in January 2010, is still touring with his banjo.
When people make resolutions or set goals for themselves, a common thread is that they would like to learn how to play a musical instrument. And for many people, there is a strong desire to learn how to play the guitar. Guitar is a great starter instrument because once you learn some of the basics, you can already sound halfway decent. Of course, learning the finer points and the complicated picking patterns can take you years to master, but it really only takes a few weeks to master some of those basic chords.
This is why so many people opt for acoustic guitars. If you want to learn how to play this instrument, just pick yourself up a guitar, a tuner, and a few how-to beginner books. These will offer the basics of reading music along with a chord list. Once you feel you have a handle on these very basic elements, hop onto YouTube for step-by-step tutorials on how to play all your favorite songs.