Archive for the ‘band music’ Category
All of us like listening to music and each one of us has an individualistic preferences. We have at times listened to the Go-Gos in a car or sang the Melody; ourselves at our graduation. We may have listened to Ode to Joy at a wedding and heard Bruce Springsteen or Madonna while in college. Even though tastes differ, each one of us listens to music and has a favorite type of music and a favorite singer or band.
Music is not only fun but also gratifying. It has a soothing effect on the listener and calms the nerves. Music touches our lives in various ways that are sometimes conspicuous and sometimes subtle. And that is the reason why it is uncommon to find someone who does not listen to any kind of music.
Dentists play music in their waiting rooms and clinics. Many operation theatres have channel music running. Drivers prefer to drive through a maze of unending traffic while listening to music and even baseball players have been known to hum along during warm-up. These days most corporate houses have unobtrusive instrumental music playing in their offices all the time. This reduces job stress.
It seems that the reason why music has a comforting effect on us is because it reminds us of the first time we heard it in our mothers womb. Thus it provides us with a sense of security and well being. Many researches have been done on the physiological aspect of music and it has been discovered that Celtic or Native American music wherein the flute dominates is most relaxing. The serotonin in the body increases with the effect of music and this provides us with a feeling of elevation. Music also is known to reduce the heart rate and increase body temperature. In fact it has also been found out that any kind of music performed in person helps to put the left and the right brain in sync. Those performing also go through a cathartic effect and get a sense of accomplishment.
There are ways in which one can enhance this effect of music. The best way to de-stress yourself is to lie back with a pair of headphones and become a part of the music. Select music that has a pace slower than 72 minutes per minute. This will ease your heartbeat and relax you. Combine music with your morning walk and you will feel doubly rejuvenated by combining the goodness of exercise and music.
Sounds of nature are music to the ears and they can have a similar effect. Sit back on the garden bench and hear the music of the birds, the cricket, the wind and the rustling leaves. You can also find the sounds of the woods or the ocean captured in a CD these days.
Choose any kind of music that you like for relaxation. It is important that you enjoy the general hum and beat of the chosen music to be able to extract the maximum benefit. In our normal lives, we tend to get too busy in our past paced lives to take enough advantage of this cathartic effect of euphony.
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The saxophone section in a big band consists of 5 players – two altos, two tenors and one baritone sax. In a traditional big band setup, the saxes are located in the first (front) row of three rows of horn players. The trombones and trumpets are found in the rows directly behind the saxes.
Saxophones are considered agile instruments, much like the clarinet and flute. They are able to play fast lines or perform effects that cannot be achieved so easily on a brass instrument. This characteristic gives them the ability to cover very fast passages within the ensemble – passages that would be too difficult for the brass section to pull off.
Melodic Roles
Saxophones are often called on to state the melody of a big band composition or arrangement. Playing in unison gives them the power to cut through punches and harmony played by the brass section. When stating the melody as a section (i.e. 4-5 part voicings) the lead alto player must project the lead line so it can be heard above other instrumental activity going on within the arrangement at any given time.
Saxes can also be coupled with other instruments to create a homogeneous sound. Altos are often combined with trumpet, while tenor saxes are most often found sharing a melody with one or more trombones. These melodic couplings work well because the timbre of trumpet and trombone are similar to the alto and tenor respectively. Baritone sax at times plays melody alone, or coupled with bass trombone.
Harmonic Roles
Because the sax section covers a wide range, it lends itself well to supplying harmony and harmonic “pads” to a big band arrangement or composition. In ballads, for example, the saxes are often written as lush voicings that provide all the necessary notes of a chord. They are used in this manner within an arrangement as background to a soloist, or as counter melody to another instrument.
Solos and Solis
The tenor saxophone is one of the more popular solo instruments in jazz, so it only makes sense that tenor solos are written quite regularly throughout the big band music repertoire. Although any of the saxes are called upon at one time or another for solos, the tenor seems to get more improvised solos than the others. Baritone sax solos are written sparingly throughout big band literature. Depending on the level of skill of the players, solo sections can be passed around so that good soloists – even bari sax players – have a chance to shine.
Sax solis occur when the saxophone section is featured by itself by playing a composed jazz “solo”. A soli is most often composed in four or five part harmony that is voiced for the entire section. The lead line is played by Alto 1, while the rest of the section is voiced below the lead line and follows in rhythmic unison. In a four part setting, the bari sax player will often double the alto melody at the octave.
The saxophone section is an integral part of any big band in a variety of ways. Brass players may complain that the saxophones are written too many solos, but it is hard to beat a terrific saxophone section ripping through a difficult Thad Jones or Don Menza soli. As they say, if you can’t beat them, join them!
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Did you know that different types of instruments require different sorts of sheet music? Take the clarinet for example. A clarinet falls in the woodwind family meaning that traditionally it was made of wood and used a reed to be able to produce music. It is made up of four parts. These include (from bottom to top) the bell, the body, the barrel and the mouthpiece. The mouthpiece itself holds the reed in place with another piece known as the reed guard. This instrument can produce beautiful music but with a major distinction from others. It can only produce various flat tones.
Sheet music produced for the clarinet reflects this difference. A flat is a note that is used to reduce the semitone which produces a lower pitch. It is this flat which is integral to its performance. There are many different clarinets that are available in different keys. These include D Flat, C Major, A Flat, A Major, Bass and Alto B Flat and E Flat clarinets. The most commonly preferred type is the B Flat clarinet however.
The type of music an orchestra plays is what determines how they will make use of clarinets. The sheet music for the clarinets will reflect the notes that are particular to their instrument. They cannot play all the notes that might be found on a normal sheet of music. For example, the B Flat sheet music is written in such a way that it will contain notes that can be played in that particular key. Interestingly enough, clarinet sheet music may be very exacting but there are players that can easily play high notes that often times may not be found on the particular sheet of music they are using. A wide number of musical styles today make use of the clarinet. From big band music to even some rock and roll great clarinet players could conceivably find themselves playing nearly any venue available.
One thing to keep in mind is that a clarinet player must remember that each type of music will have its own particular forma, notes and improvisational styles. While sheet music for certain instruments were once hard to come by today there are many different sources that are available. From downloadable sheet music to website stores that specialize in it musicians can now get most any musical score they would like. It does not matter if you are looking for a vintage piece from the big band swing era to a clarinet part from a big Broadway musical you will most likely be able to easily find what you are looking for.
The first thing you will want to do in searching for the piece you would like is to check with local music supply shops around your area. If they do not carry what you are looking for then they may be able to either order it for you or tell you where you might go to find it. If you are not able to find a piece locally then you can find any number of online sources by using your choice of Internet search engine and typing in the keywords you are looking for. Soon you will be playing away on that piece and enjoying every minute of it.
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All of us like listening to music and each one of us has our individualistic preferences. We have at times listened to the Go-Gos in a car or sang the Melody; ourselves at our graduation. We may have listened to Ode to Joy at a wedding and heard Bruce Springsteen or Madonna while in college. Even though tastes differ, each one of us listens to music and has a favorite type of music and a favorite singer or band.
Music is not only fun but also gratifying. It has a soothing effect on the listener and calms the nerves. Music touches our lives in various ways that are sometimes conspicuous and sometimes subtle. And that is the reason why it is uncommon to find someone who does not listen to any kind of music.
Dentists play music in their waiting rooms and clinics. Many operation theatres have channel music running. Drivers prefer to drive through a maze of unending traffic while listening to music and even baseball players have been known to hum along during warm-up. These days most corporate houses have unobtrusive instrumental music playing in their offices all the time. This reduces job stress.
It seems that the reason why music has a comforting effect on us is because it reminds us of the first time we heard it in our mother’s womb. Thus it provides us with a sense of security and well being. Many researches have been done on the physiological aspect of music and it has been discovered that Celtic or Native American music wherein the flute dominates is most relaxing. The serotonin in the body increases with the effect of music and this provides us with a feeling of elevation. Music also is known to reduce the heart rate and increase body temperature. In fact it has also been found out that any kind of music performed in person helps to put the left and the right brain in sync. Those performing also go through a cathartic effect and get a sense of accomplishment.
There are ways in which one can enhance this effect of music. The best way to de-stress yourself is to lie back with a pair of headphones and become a part of the music. Select music that has a pace slower than 72 minutes per minute. This will ease your heartbeat and relax you. Combine music with your morning walk and you will feel doubly rejuvenated by combining the goodness of exercise and music.
Sounds of nature are music to the ears and they can have a similar effect. Sit back on the garden bench and hear the music of the birds, the cricket, the wind and the rustling leaves. You can also find the sounds of the woods or the ocean captured in a CD these days.
Choose any kind of music that you like for relaxation. It is important that you enjoy the general hum and beat of the chosen music to be able to extract the maximum benefit. In our normal lives, we tend to get too busy in our past paced lives to take enough advantage of this cathartic effect of euphony.
Related items
There have been devices that have played the various parts and both of them have all played a good part in making this sadness we know as mother earth into a wonderful place. Hence since the time when the cavemen banged with the bones on the walls to the era today when the arena is filled with spectators urging on a rocking band, music remains an entity present forever and defying the gales of time. Musical instruments have been present in many forms and sizes with the power to make very nice noises. Hence the drums roll in might while the guitars scream in delight and the singers express their emotions but one instrument that plays one of the major parts in the field of music is the keyboard and therefore electronic keyboards are one of the defining elements of the heavenliness associated with music. Perhaps one of the most important tool for any musician, a electronic keyboards are a musical instrument that not only plays the different notes of music but also enriches it by being able to present it in many different forms. Musical instruments have all been fantastic to play as well as hear but keyboards are one of the best devices present for performing the basic task of creating ecstasy with the element of music. There are many companies which have selected music as their major means of performance in the form of making musical instruments. Hence there is Fender which is involved in making fantastic guitars like the Fender Stratocaster. Adonis drums are considered to be one of the best around and finally when it comes to keyboards the only name that flashes through the brain is Casio. Hence Casio keyboards are one of the best brands that are available and come with many features as well as facets. These keyboards are considered to be the musician’s delight and the listener’s garb of feel(as these keyboards come with high quality sounds ). There are many products of these musical keyboards which give the player to experiment with the different sound patterns and hence create magnificent sound patches which revel in their performance. The keyboards that are made under this brand are all very good and hence contain variety of features in the form of key sets and built-in tones for melody as well as percussion. Hence the choice for a good keyboard always falls on the brand Casio.
