Save Our Song
LONG, LONG AGO, before music videos became the talk of the town, a beautiful heroine walked out through the clouds in a dream sequence and the good-looking hero gawked and they sang. The song played itself into the collective thought of the nation and one of the reasons was that the picturisation laid the foundation of strong visuals for strong music, generally a mainstay for many an immortal number. A couple of generations after Awara caught the attention of a nation that thrives on dreams, we continue to produce great music and our cinematography is improving by leaps and bounds.Music videos have entered our bloodstream and, in cinema, the director not only gets a captive audience to watch his film, he can also experiment and have fun filming the song sequences, without which no self respecting Indian film is complete.
Yet, we have seen many great songs that, when heard, enter our hearts, occupy our thoughts and present themselves as song on our lips. But when we wait for an hour in the theatre to see how well it is picturised, we are woken up, a liffle dazed. Rehna tu from Dilli 6 is to my mind a path breaking song in Indian cinema; it has a great tune, is deeply passionate and resonant, and mixes old Indian tunes with the latest technological wizardry The lyrics are fantastic and it had the potential to redefme the way Hindi film songs are played out.
So we waited, after the movie began, to find the song playing itself into obscurity as Rishi Kapoor and Abhishek Bachchan are driven through the streets of Delhi and end up having beer and playing a game of pool in an old house. Good acting, great cinematography, poignant scene. But what on earth was the song doing there? And, more importantly, what was the scene doing in that song???
And I flashback to a couple of years ago when the soundtrack of Guru was released. A brffliant number, Dum tara, was an auspicious note to set up the movie for release. And then the song and even Mani Ratnam, that genius of filmmakers, failed us. The song fell, and the movie went through with itself. An opportunity to carve itself into the annals of Indian film music went abegging. Recently, two fine numbers, the peppy Khabar na/tin from Dostana and Kahin toh from Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na both looked like, to borrow a football term, penalty kicks shot wide.
The set-up was there, the inahaul was created and then lost with absurd goings on, onscreen. Perhaps the songs would have been happiest being in our memory with our own thoughts around what might have been. Too bad, we went to watch the film, so we remembered the film and forgot the song. Rewinding to the RD Burman era, many songs were themselves powerful enough to move the film forward, but scant respect for the screen shots was visible.Roz roz aankhon tale from Jeeva, Tu tu ham vahin from Yeh Vaada Raha and Kya yahi pyaar hai from Rocky were all wasted opportunities to score. That the songs still remain on our lips is true testimony to the sheer quality of the music.
A word of advice for incipient filmmakers: please do watch how Guru Dutt, Vijay Anand and V Shantaram made the songs organic to the film. It is not always true that the context of the film decides if we hum the number to our grave. However, in an age when the music video itself has become a profession and great videos have rocketed average songs to the top of the charts and mediocre artistes to stardom, our expectation from good directors to back up the music with deep and relevant screens is justified. Otherwise, like the ironically named Rehna tu, the song might not remain in our memory.. Hai jaisa tu... thoda sa dard tu, but no sukoon.
Classical Singer Guitars - Beginners Take Note
article source:ezinearticles.com/?id=1527922
You never really see a current billboard band with Classical Guitars on a poster, why? Honestly because they are boring, that's right I did say BORING! At least that's what the perception is among beginners all over the world, "Slash never used classical guitars on stage!", which is true, I think. Anyway, its not the case that your favorite guitarists are never seen using them, its more along the lines of how they start learning the guitars altogether.
On The Fighting Side Of Classical Guitars
Classical guitars really are great guitars, when I first started learning guitar, my family did not have the money to buy me the latest feedback laden guitar and amp, so I had to settle for my old fathers guitar that was tucked away in his tool room, "No wonder he tucked this away I thought, if he had not, my mother would have probably used the fretboard as a table", but still I took out the guitar, blew off the dust and took it into the land of the living, at that time I did not really know it, but that guitar was classical.
One night I was sitting down watching television, my father over the other side of the room, and a show came on about The Beatles, both of us immediately perked up, these were his boy hood super group(along with millions of others), and to me, they were also god-like people who I grew up listening too, anyway as that program unfolded, which was a brief history all about The Beatles, their was a part in it where Sir Paul McCartney was explaining a song he wrote, he sat on a stool, and into shot picked up a classical guitar, and started to play "And I Love Her", and I thought to myself if he is using one, then so should I be!.
My Beginnings with Classical Guitars
Its only now I look back after many years of playing guitar, that I can take some pride in the fact that I started with classical guitars, It really did bring my playing along really well, those nylon stings were soft, nonabrasive, and easy to press down onto the neck, that huge fretboard was plenty of space to be able to play individual strings without hitting others, it was large enough to also help me stretch my smaller fingers out(which would come in handy in my later electric shredding years), it also has such a great sound to it, even though sometimes cheap, most classical guitars sound amazing, I can't say the same for some cheaper electric brands.
Now sometimes when I play my classical guitar I wished I would have used them allot more over the years, sometimes its easy to turn up your amp, plug in your electric, and have your playing washed out by the huge fuzz behind you, and it still sounds great!, but really, its just masking your mistakes, so that even if you did hit a couple of the wrong strings, you meant it right?. I've seen so many good electric guitarists come away from that wall of sound, then just sit down with a classical guitar and just die, there playing really isn't that good to be honest!.
My point
My point is that, even though you never see great bands today using classical guitars, It doesn't mean they are pointless!, if you ever want to give up guitars because its too hard to play, give one a go, its allot easier to learn on than an electric or acoustic let me tell you, and maybe you favorite artist did use one, or does use one, that's great, It makes you a better guitarist to be able to adapt to many different guitars, and what better way to start than a classical?.
A little word to finish off, watching television the other day, viewing one of my favorite bands Coldplay playing Viva La Vida's "Violet Hill", guess what singer Chris Martin was playing, that's right one of his classical guitars, and very well I might add, see, there making a comeback, look out for posters.
Why Study the Classical Approach to Singing?
As a voice teacher early in my career, I receive lots of requests from up- and- coming R&B, contemporary Christian, and Pop artists. They almost always begin by telling me who they are as an artist, and then, their goals for voice lessons, usually, getting better high notes, less 'breaking' points, better breath control, etc. They have called me because after reading my profile or asking around, they have been told that I am qualified to meet that need.
So.... why the confusion when I tell them I teach the classical method?
Classical method meets all these needs. People in 'popular' music tend to use their chest voices so much that their head voice becomes airy to nonexistent, and their voice loses its natural 'color' or beauty. The classical method teaches how to use your head voice in all parts of your range so that their is always an evenness of sound and tone color from top to bottom, and its less physiologically draining.
Now, don't get me wrong, SPS, or speech- level- singing is also taught, in fact, teaching 'style' is a specialty of mine, but just like we have to bake the cake first before we spread any icing, so is it wise to teach the basics before we teach style!
Keep in mind, I am NOT trying to turn you into an opera singer, as that takes a lifetime of intense focus and training, but I guarantee learning to tackle even 1 Italian aria will do wonders for your instrument.
I hope this helps.
Be blessed, and Happy Singing!
I love to hear from you. If you have specific questions, let me know. Canada, USA, UK only.
article source:ezinearticles.com/?id=1527922
You never really see a current billboard band with Classical Guitars on a poster, why? Honestly because they are boring, that's right I did say BORING! At least that's what the perception is among beginners all over the world, "Slash never used classical guitars on stage!", which is true, I think. Anyway, its not the case that your favorite guitarists are never seen using them, its more along the lines of how they start learning the guitars altogether.
On The Fighting Side Of Classical Guitars
Classical guitars really are great guitars, when I first started learning guitar, my family did not have the money to buy me the latest feedback laden guitar and amp, so I had to settle for my old fathers guitar that was tucked away in his tool room, "No wonder he tucked this away I thought, if he had not, my mother would have probably used the fretboard as a table", but still I took out the guitar, blew off the dust and took it into the land of the living, at that time I did not really know it, but that guitar was classical.
One night I was sitting down watching television, my father over the other side of the room, and a show came on about The Beatles, both of us immediately perked up, these were his boy hood super group(along with millions of others), and to me, they were also god-like people who I grew up listening too, anyway as that program unfolded, which was a brief history all about The Beatles, their was a part in it where Sir Paul McCartney was explaining a song he wrote, he sat on a stool, and into shot picked up a classical guitar, and started to play "And I Love Her", and I thought to myself if he is using one, then so should I be!.
My Beginnings with Classical Guitars
Its only now I look back after many years of playing guitar, that I can take some pride in the fact that I started with classical guitars, It really did bring my playing along really well, those nylon stings were soft, nonabrasive, and easy to press down onto the neck, that huge fretboard was plenty of space to be able to play individual strings without hitting others, it was large enough to also help me stretch my smaller fingers out(which would come in handy in my later electric shredding years), it also has such a great sound to it, even though sometimes cheap, most classical guitars sound amazing, I can't say the same for some cheaper electric brands.
Now sometimes when I play my classical guitar I wished I would have used them allot more over the years, sometimes its easy to turn up your amp, plug in your electric, and have your playing washed out by the huge fuzz behind you, and it still sounds great!, but really, its just masking your mistakes, so that even if you did hit a couple of the wrong strings, you meant it right?. I've seen so many good electric guitarists come away from that wall of sound, then just sit down with a classical guitar and just die, there playing really isn't that good to be honest!.
My point
My point is that, even though you never see great bands today using classical guitars, It doesn't mean they are pointless!, if you ever want to give up guitars because its too hard to play, give one a go, its allot easier to learn on than an electric or acoustic let me tell you, and maybe you favorite artist did use one, or does use one, that's great, It makes you a better guitarist to be able to adapt to many different guitars, and what better way to start than a classical?.
A little word to finish off, watching television the other day, viewing one of my favorite bands Coldplay playing Viva La Vida's "Violet Hill", guess what singer Chris Martin was playing, that's right one of his classical guitars, and very well I might add, see, there making a comeback, look out for posters.
Why Study the Classical Approach to Singing?
As a voice teacher early in my career, I receive lots of requests from up- and- coming R&B, contemporary Christian, and Pop artists. They almost always begin by telling me who they are as an artist, and then, their goals for voice lessons, usually, getting better high notes, less 'breaking' points, better breath control, etc. They have called me because after reading my profile or asking around, they have been told that I am qualified to meet that need.
So.... why the confusion when I tell them I teach the classical method?
Classical method meets all these needs. People in 'popular' music tend to use their chest voices so much that their head voice becomes airy to nonexistent, and their voice loses its natural 'color' or beauty. The classical method teaches how to use your head voice in all parts of your range so that their is always an evenness of sound and tone color from top to bottom, and its less physiologically draining.
Now, don't get me wrong, SPS, or speech- level- singing is also taught, in fact, teaching 'style' is a specialty of mine, but just like we have to bake the cake first before we spread any icing, so is it wise to teach the basics before we teach style!
Keep in mind, I am NOT trying to turn you into an opera singer, as that takes a lifetime of intense focus and training, but I guarantee learning to tackle even 1 Italian aria will do wonders for your instrument.
I hope this helps.
Be blessed, and Happy Singing!
I love to hear from you. If you have specific questions, let me know. Canada, USA, UK only.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
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