Posts Tagged ‘o’

25 July

Madame Butterfly: Review of the Opera

Madame Butterfly is an opera written by Giacomo Puccini which is very popular. We strongly recommend opera glasses for this breathtaking opera. The reasons why are about to be shown to you.

The Madame Butterfly opera begins with a United States Naval Officer, one of the main characters named Pinkerton and a Japanese Marriage Broker named Goro. Pinkerton and Goro are looking at a little house with a gorgeous view from the top of a hill overlooking the bay. Pinkerton wants to have the house home for 999 years. His 999 years include being able to cancel the housing agreement.

The wedding ceremony is soon to take place between Pinkerton and Butterfly. A lot of Butterfly’s relatives will be flying in and coming to the wedding. Butterfly’s uncle will not attend the wedding as he is a priest.

The Officer is to marry Butterfly, but does not plan on this as being a lasting marriage. His ambition is to gain the love from every beautiful woman that he meets. Although he did agree to buy the house for 999 years, he chose retain the right to cancel, to be able to leave the home, and the marriage. At this point of the opera, you are about to meet the beautiful Butterfly. Be prepared to use your opera glasses to see her charm and beauty.

Before you have the chance to see the beautiful bride Butterfly, you see the American consul who is with Pinkerton. He asks Pinkerton if he truly loves his bride to be. Pinkerton tries to say yes, but alas he cannot say for sure, but knows that he is mesmerized by her innocence, charm and beauty. He then speaks of having a true wedding with an American bride.

We finally at this point see the beautiful and elegant Butterfly enters the stage. The wedding begins, and the beautiful Butterfly and uncommitted Pinkerton are wed. A party in honor of the event begins, again all members of the family are in attendance. All are enjoying the festivities when Butterfly’s uncle, the priest breaks into the party. He condemns butter fly for her abandonment of her own religion to join her now husbands religion, and curses her. At this, the party breaks up leaving Butterfly weeping uncontrollably.

Butterfly finally gets over the condemnation and curse that she received from her uncle, and remains happily married to her beloved Pinkerton. Weeks turn to months, and she can hardly contain her joy and love for the man of her dreams, she continues to fall more deeply in love with a man that does not love her back. Pinkerton one day receives notice that he is to go on duty as a naval officer; before he leaves he gives Butterfly money, and promises to return as soon as possible.

As act three begins, we come to know that three years have passed since Pinkerton walked out the door for the last time. Butterfly faithfully watches out the window each day to see if his ship will come in. One day as she is watching out the window, she sees a figure that she recognizes walking up the path. No it is not Pinkerton coming up the path, but his good friend that she has known from the beginning as his friend the American Consul. She greets him excitedly hoping that he brings news from her husband. Unknown to Butterfly, the American Consul has been sent to her by Pinkerton to tell her that he has married an American woman named Kate, and that he would not be returning to her ever. Broken hearted, the American Consul Curses Pinkerton, and gives the news so hard to bear.

Destroyed by the news left by Pinkerton’s friend, Butterfly leaves the room weeping, only to return carrying Pinkerton’s son that she has given birth to. Butterfly tells the American that Pinkerton could not leave his wife and son for another woman. After some convincing she succumbs to the fact that Pinkerton did not love her, and is not to return.

The story does not end here, but to find out the end of the story you will have to see Madame Butterfly for yourself. The costumes are sure to amaze, the music cannot be forgotten, and the story riveting. Make sure you don’t forget to bring your opera glasses so that you can fully enjoy every moment.

About the Author:
2 July

Guitar Lessons DVD: Have Fun While Practicing

Educate yourself! No matter what level you are at today, you can be and should be learning more. If you are currently studying with a teacher or enrolled in a music program at a high school, college or university, you are on the right track. If you aren’t doing this (or if you feel that your current teacher is not helping you enough in reaching your goals) I strongly recommend looking for a new teacher.

I prefer to be wise like the Buddha, and take the Middle Path. This is the one I have chosen, and I will describe it for you.

NEVER GIVE UP! Never say can’t. Never say I can’t. Never say someday. Never say if… If your IQ is higher than room temperature, if you have all of your fingers and if you really want to succeed, you can.

You should be able to play all the techniques of the guitar. Van Halen did tapping but not with all his fingers as others have done. He didn’t play finger style much either, but we still regard him as an important guitarist, the same thing can be said for Vai and many others. Classical guitar master John William’s probably doesn’t play well with a guitar pick (I am assuming this to be true, I have no proof of it), but he is considered one of the greatest classical guitarists alive today.

Skills like improvisation, songwriting and playing with a guitar pick or not going to be high on his list of skills to acquire. This is because classical guitarists generally don’t do those things - and don’t need to to be great at what they do. These players are great players in their own ways and they have spent many years developing their skills. Learning everything about guitar playing would have taken away precious practice time from the things they needed to focus on to reach their goals.

Chopin’s natural ability was his ability to improvise. He was the master, but he worked very hard to become the virtuoso pianist that he would later become. Chopin also was the master at small forms, but struggled with large scale forms.

To be GREAT means I have to be BETTER than everybody else. We already touched on this one above, but it is worth mentioning again here. What matters is reaching YOUR goals, not someone else’s goals. Who cares if you are or are not better than someone else? This is not the olympics. Music is the art of expression (or for some people, the science of entertainment).

Now I know I have to work on something very fundamental. I have to work on the behavior of my third finger, and change the way it reacts to it’s neighbor being used, the second finger. If I can get down to the matter with that degree of specificity, that degree of clarity and focus, I am in a position to cause major Vertical Growth. If I can change the way that finger is behaving in that situation, I will see many playing problems I am having in other pieces of music begin to “melt”, and eventually disappear.

About the Author:
12 June

The History of the Guitar

The guitar is perhaps one of the most recognized musical instrument apart from the piano. What many people dont realize is that this symbol of rock and roll has been around for over 4,000 years, in some form or another.

Origins The first real guitar-like item to be discovered was the tanbur. One of these was actually found in Egypt, near Queen Hatshepsuts tomb. The tanbur was built of polished cedar and had a soundboard made of leather. Though featuring just three strings, it resembles a crude guitar. The tanbur can be seen in the Archeological Museum in Cairo and is about 3,500 years old.

Shortly after the tanbur was popular in Egypt, the lute was developed in Europe. This instrument was made up of a rounded body with a very short neck. Many historians say that this developed into a completely different line of musical instruments and has nothing to do with the guitar, while others claim it does.

What we do know is that there are a number of inventions throughout history around the world that utilized the basic idea of a soundbox body, long fretted neck and varying numbers of strings, including the sitar, setar, and the chitar, a four stringed musical device that was renamed ‘chitarra’ or ‘guitarra’ when it reached Spain.

Early Guitars The original versions were rather stumpy in appearance, with just 8 frets above the soundbox and most had only four strings. These were popular during the 16th century, but by the following century, the instruments had evolved to have six strings and 12 frets along the neck.

During the 1800s, the guitar was in essentially the same form we see it today, only smaller in size. The form of the body was fairly curved. In the 1850s, a Spanish instrument builder named Antonio Torres took the initiative to create a larger body, changed the proportions, and invented the top bracing pattern that gives todays guitars more volume, in a fan shape. However, just a few years later, a German by the name of Christian Frederich Martin designed a version with an X brace. When steel strings began to appear in 1900, the older, fan shaped brace was unable to stand up to the tension provided by the steel strings. Martins design took hold, as it was far stronger and held the guitar together very well, withstanding the far louder steel strings. This version has changed very little in the intervening decades, the design was finally settled.

Altering a Classic Once the basic form was established, people began to come up with their own versions. Orville Gibson developed an arched top guitar with sound holes, Lloyd Loar altered that design further to create the jazz guitar with f-holes, cello tail and a floating bridge.

Then, in the 1920s, the electric guitar was built, without the need for a soundbox since it had electrical pickups. This form didnt become popular for another couple of decades, but then a number of variations were made on this, as well.

The guitar has a long and varied history. Still, it has fascinated people for centuries and we probably havent seen the end of the variations on the basic form.

About the Author:
4 April

Eight Most Popular Guitars

There are literally dozens of guitar brands on the market, some good, some bad and some unbelievably excellent. If you want the best sound and quality, then it really does pay to choose a good brand name. You`ll pay more initially, but it`s worth it since you`ll just have to replace a cheap guitar pretty quickly. Going with an established name will pretty much ensure you`re getting great quality. If you`re serious about playing, then you should definitely take a look at one of the following guitars.

Fender

This company is probably the best known when it comes to top of the line guitars. This is where the famous Stratocasters come from . . . the original guitars in this line are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Fender also produces custom guitars, many of which can be seen in the hands of famous musicians like Santana.

Gibson

Another very popular guitar brand is Gibson, running almost neck in neck with Fender for quality. This brand has pretty much cornered the upper levels of the electric guitar market, though they also produce high quality acoustic instruments. Among musicians who use Gibson brand guitars are Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins and the Allman Brothers Band.

Yamaha

Well known as a musical company, Yamaha isn`t just a keyboard brand. They also turn out some great guitars that are sturdy and well suited to the life of a musician. Many of their designs are actually copies of more popular designs from the US, but they also have some original designs of their own that sell very well. It`s a brand name that is trusted, so many new musicians opt for this brand.

Ovation

These guitars are quite distinctive in how they look. With a rounded back and fibrglass body, Ovation guitars can`t be mistaken for any other brand. Besides the bowl-like back of the instrument, the sound holes are also different. Rather than one large hole, as other guitars have, these instruments tend to have groupings of smaller holes. Despite the odd looks, they are considered precision and provide great sound.

Martin

This brand is also known for its superiority in the world of guitars. Martins are usually more affordable than the top of the line guitars, but still produces excellent instruments. These guitars tend to be larger than the average acoustic guitar and are very popular among players who enjoy playing acoustic.

Alvarez

When it comes to acoustic guitars, Alvarez is certainly one of the first guitar brands that comes to mind. With over 60 years of experience in making precision instruments, Alvarez actually comes from a long Japanese line of well made classical instruments.

Jackson

Best known for the unique design of their guitars, Jackson instruments were originally meant to look like the Fender Strat, but quickly became a hardcore version made for rockers. The Jackson guitar line is usually associated with rock and metal music.

Guild

While perhaps not as well known as some of the above guitar brands, this is a good, solid company with years of excellent guitar making behind it. Guild is 100% American and has been around since the 1940`s. They are best known for making jazz guitars, but have since expanded into other areas, providing distinctive musical instruments and guitars.

There are plenty of different guitar brands to choose from, but if you want an instrument that will give you the quality of sound that you want and something that will last for a good long time, then it`s worth looking at the best in the business. The brands above are all top of the line and excellent guitars.

About the Author:
24 March

Advanced Guitar Lessons - Find the Right Ones and Learn or Find the Wrong Ones and Fail

Advanced guitar lessons are critical for guitarists who want to learn how to play guitar solos, learn lead guitar, create their music, write catchy songs and be on stage with their band. This is the truth that no one can argue or deny.

But to find the guitar tutor who will teach you everything you need to know can become a tedious task. After all, you need someone who can teach you all those tricks, riffs and licks you’ve been dreaming to play, and who can teach you fast.

The problem here is finding the right person to teach you and then being able to pay a big chunk of money to actually take advanced guitar lessons. And one of the biggest problems is that you can’t be sure of your guitar teacher’s teaching skills until you actually take a couple of months’ lessons which could result in paying a big amount of money for someone who can’t actually teach you.

One of the biggest problems people face when taking advanced guitar lessons is that when they can’t learn, they start to think that they actually can’t learn to play. However, what should be considered here first is the ability of the instructor to teach. If they can’t teach you, you can’t learn. That’s as simple as that.

You can have a wonderful guitar instructor, who is a nice person and can play the guitar better than anyone else you know. Sadly, as a person who takes guitar lessons, what is important for you is not how well your instructors can play, but how well they can teach you!

This is especially true with lead guitar lessons where having an instructor who can play at lightning speed won’t cut it. You need someone who can teach you with the same speed!

Thankfully, you know have an infinite array of guitar lessons hidden in the depths of the Internet.

And the best part is that you can immediately start using these lessons to develop your skills with a speed impossible to reach with traditional methods.

About the Author:

Powered by WP VideoTube