Music Classes

Jazz is an American art.

There are different kinds of jazz music like :
. cool jazz
. Hard bop
. Modal jazz
. free jazz
. latin jazz
. jazz fusion
. Sing , big band

Cool Jazz originated in the late 1949 played particularly by California bands.
It was a reaction to the bebop. Some of the famous cool jazz musicians are include trumpeters Miles Davis and Chet Baker, and pianist Dave Brubeck. It was a laid-back soloing style.

Hard bop :
Hard bop originated in 1950. It was created by black jazz musicians in response to the white musicians who took over the jazz. They created more hard and intense soloing style. Some of the famous hard bop musicians are trumpeter Miles Davis, saxophonist John Coltrane, and drummer Art Blakey.

Modal :
Modal jazz originated in the late 1950s . It is played on certain mode other than chord changes. Some of the famous modal musicians are trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Herbie Hancock

Free jazz :
Free type of free jazz originated in the early 1960s. Its free rhythms and solos broke the traditional rules of melody. Some of the famous free jazz musicians are saxophonists Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane and cornettist Don Cherry.

Latin :
Latin jazz features Caribbean and south type of instruments and song styles. Especially, it features Brazil style. Latin cannot be restrained to a particular period because it is played with other type of jazz also. Some of the famous Latin jazz musicians are drummer Tito Puente, saxophonist Stan Getz, and pianist Chucho Valdés.

Jazz Fusion :
Originated in the late 1960s. It is a fusion of electrified instruments and aggressive sounds of rock music. Some of the famous fusion musicians are Miles Davis, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Weather Report.

Swing, Big Band :
Originated in the late 1920s. It is smoother if compared to Dixieland. It is played by a large band of 10 musicians. There is one leader and other sidemen; who play soslos. Some of the famous big band leaders are Duke Ellington and Count Basie.

Music sheet represent auditory musical on a paper in symbols basically, it is a sheet representing audio presentation.

However , in the recent years due to computer becoming more popular owing to its more convenient and time saving quality , computer screens are also used to represent musical notation. Print publication of music is released in film, in the form of album or any special occasion of music involvement.

Other term used for music sheet is Score. Music sheets are very helpful to record, to perform or to guide the piece of music. Music sheets are very useful in creating or understanding the music which you might not get the clear idea just by listening. Only by understanding the musical information through written sketches, an authoritative musical piece can be obtained. Early versions of compositions and the final compositions help the composer to come out with the satisfactory musical piece.

Special form of literacy is required to understand the music sheet. This helps to read the musical notation; tut that does not mean that if you are not able to read or write music sheet, you can not compose music. After all it is an inborn art or a god gift which only some people possess. There are many composers who produced excellent music in printed form without the ability of reading and writing musical notation.

Sight reading is a skill of a musician whether he is veteran or amateur who can perform or play the music piece just by reading the written music sheet first time. It is the skill of the musician to imagine the full music composition in mind before even started working on it literally.

These music sheets have different formats. If the piece composed is written for one person it is one piece of music sheet. If it is written for more persons then each person will have separate piece of music sheet.

It is called as a part of the main music sheet which every performer has to perform which he or she has to perform.

+ Scores come in various sizes
+ Full score is a full size book
+ Miniature book is of much reduced size
+ A study score is almost of miniature score but sometimes of octavo size.
+ Piano Score : literal transcription for piano etc

Vocal music is produced with or without instrumental accessory. It is performed by one or more singers. Learning Vocal music is not difficult if learned through right techniques from a veteran vocal coach.

How to breathe properly during the vocal singing is the essence of learning vocal music. It plays an important part in voice projection. Lungs and diaphragm are two main body organs used for breathing.

While singing vocal, one should use diaphragm for breathing as it the responsible for powerful voice generation. During exhalation diaphragm is in its convex position. Diaphragm moves downward when you breathe in and make room for your lungs to take the air in. Inhalation can be controlled only this way.

The lower abdominal muscles also helps in producing powerful voice but these muscles should be in resting position when you are breathing in.

Simple breathing exercises helps to improve the voice quality and power.

If you breathe in through nose and exhale through mouth the lower abdominal muscles expand; and contract as you blow out .Put your right or left palm on your stomach and feel the expansion and contraction of the lower abdominal muscles.

Practice this inhaling and exhaling exercise for one minute. Never forget to take rest in between and always drink water in the breaks. Repeat this exercise after every one minute rest. Slowly increase the duration up to 5 minutes.

Breathing helps in sustainability of your voice and as said above makes it more powerful. Right approach to breathing helps in improving voice quality.

Another exercise is blowing the candle. Take the air in through nose and exhale the airflow slowly and blow the candle at controlled pressure but don’t blow off the light completely till air runs out. Repeat the exercise but do not overdo it. Always take rest and drink water during the rest.

Many books on method of enhancing voice are available. And music courses are available. One can join it but choose the right teacher who can teach with right vocal techniques.

Listen the vocal masters and try to catch the right techniques. Many music CDs are free downloadable from the net.

Music notes means signs that signifies the duration, sound’s pitch, and a pitched sound.

Music Theory

Staff :
Five horizontal lines and four spaces make a staff.

Pitches :
First seven letters of the alphabet constitutes the Pitches. The alphabets are (A B C D E F G).

A musical symbol placed at the beginning of the staff i.e. four horizontal lines, is known as clef. It decides the letter names of the lines and spaces.

Treble and bass are the two main clefs :

Combination of the treble and brass connected with one a line on the left side of the staffs is called a grand staff.

Staff also has extended lines; these lines are called Ledger lines and are on the above and below the staff. These lines are parallel to the staff. Each ledger line has one note.

Meter :
Meter determines the equal duration of strong and weak beats in a regular pattern. It is Infact time of musical composition which is represented by a fraction at the beginning of the staff. Lower fraction denotes the kind of note receives one beat and upper number of fraction denotes how many beats are there in a measure.
There are two kinds of meters : simple and compound. In simple meter the upper number of the fraction is 2. 3, or 4 where each beat is subdivided by two like:

The fraction number in the compound meter is 6,9, 12 with a dot with each beat and subdivided into group of three beats.

Pop Music is light, lively and catchy form of music. It’s a watered -down version of rock and roll. It was born in 1679 in Napoli, Italy. It is a strong combination of rhythm and melody. Owing to its emphasis on romantic love, it is more appealing to the teenagers.

Pop music is short form of popular music. It is the record of sales that the work received makes the music popular and widely accepted. It is flexible music that is constantly changing and popular in a particular period of time. One can easily identify pop music because it occupies top place in music countdown shows and attracts largest concert audiences and most often heard on radio.

Pop music, Infact, evolved out of rock and roll and occupied more describable path. Its basic element is rooted in rock n roll. Pop music consist verse and repeated chorus. The length of a song is 2 ½ minutes to 5 ½ minutes. As said above, pop music is very flexible music and is influenced by different music styles like rock and roll, disco, punk etc.

There is music in the pop category also called pure pop or power pop. The length of song is not more than 3 ½ minutes. Instruments used in the music are electric guitar, bass and drums and makes a strong combination of catchy chorus and hook.

Indian pop music is also known as “Indi pop” or “Hindi pop” music. It is a mixture of Indian folk and Indian classical music and amalgamation of modern beats. Indian film industry dominates the pop music in India but in the 1990s few singers like usha uthup , Peenaz Masani , Baba shegal. Alisha chinoi and colonial cousins, Sunitha rao created niche in the pop music.

Indian pop music has influenced the American pop music. Movies like Moulin Rouge has Indian pop music in it. Alka yagnik ‘s song chamma chamma has been featured in one of the Hollywood movie: “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”.

Remixing is very popular in India. Old Hindi movies songs are reintroduced with modern beats. Remix songs are liked and appreciated by the Indian audiences.

Bollywood has made its unique place in the entertainment industry and bollywood songs make it unique. Its contribution to the entertainment world is immense. Here, all kind of music is produced and for all kind of peoples’ taste. The most interesting thing is that many film did good business just because of good music, like : Rangeela, Ashiqi, race etc. For publicity, music is released before the movie release. Music attracts the audience to watch the movie.

Hindi movie songs is the most popular and profitable music industry. It is so big that anyone who wants to this show his talent, he can never find any other better platform better that bollywood. Earlier, Bollywood music was restricted to the script but now with the arrival of new composers and singer, bollywood is coming up with new and innovation songs. Bollywood songs are popular from north to south. Everyone is fond of the songs created in bollywood.

Not only new songs but the old songs are remixed and re-launched in the market. This is done for the monetary gains. Some people many not like the idea of remix but it is still becoming popular and the demand for them is increasing as well as download movies. This helps the music companies to make huge money.

Bollywood music consist all kind of music: ghazal, Romantic, Sad, patriotic, devotional music, qawali etc.

Bollywood singers are not only as popular as bollywood actors but enjoy the same status and paparazzi .

Singers like lata mangeshker, Kishore kumar are worshipped in the bollwood industry and have fans worldwide.

Some of the new music composers are :
- Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy
- Jatin Lalit
- Himesh Reshammiya
- Aadesh Srivastav
- Ismail Darbar
- Anu Malik

In Bollywood a movie cannot work without music. Music is like heart of the film. Jaikishan, Naushad, SD Burman, OP Nayyar, Kalyanji Anandji and Khaiyyam are the great music composers who brought the golden period of music industry from 1950 – 1960. The truth is that entertainment industry is incomplete without bollywood music.

During Weddings, parties, festivals everywhere you hear the bollywood music loudly running and cannot do without it. Everything becomes so boring without the Bollywood music.

Telugu music is south Indian music and belongs to Andhra Pradesh. It is enriched with tradition and culture like Kannada and Malayalam. “Kalapam” is very popular form of music in the Telgu and performed through a sting of song. A. R. Rehman the living legend has done a lot to change the picture of Telgu music. He supported and gave opportunity to many singers who reached new heights by creating innovative and electrifying telgu music.

Many famous bollywood singers contributed a lot in the Telgu industry. Some of the famous names of telgu singers are Mallikharjun Sumangali, Nithya, Chitra, Kousalya etc.

Some of the popular musuciancs are A. R. Rahman, Chakri, Raghavulu, Ilaiyaraaja, Koti, M. M. Keeravani, SP Kodandapani, Mani Sharma, Devi Sri Prasad, Pendyala, K. V. Mahadevan, Chakravarth etc.

Some of the popular telgu songs are : Salaame, Akh Ladiye, Har Manzar, Kadalenum, Thiruvadi Charanam, Naan Engae, Paruvame, Ukku Ukku, Kanmaniyae Kadhal Enbathu, Arulvaayae etc.

Telgu songs are loved by the people because of their melodious tunes. They soon occupy the place in the top music count down of telgu numbers. Many popular songs were translated into other languages. Devotional songs and Vedic chants have been sung in telgu language. Vocal Carnatic compositions and instrumental music are two important aspect of telgu music.

Many sites have excellent telgu music collections; one can easily download the favorite album. Lots of telgu music sites are available on the net. You can find any kind of songs like old hits, new hits or devotional songs.

Tamil music has a long history and culture. It started from temples and a selected group of people sang the devotional songs in the temple. Sarangi was the instrument at that time used by the singers in the temple. Many temples still have musical pillars like Madurai, Tirunelveli, Sucindram, For Tamil people music is another expression of Tamil culture. It took centuries to musical tradition of Tamil to finally evolved and refine as Carnatic music. Tamil songs download and film music is also very popular.

Tamil songs stem from the poems of sangam, literature and Tamil literature. From the early period, Tamil people practiced music in the various forms. Tamil Siava Saints developed music during the creation of their compositions like Appar, thirugnana Sambanthar and Manikkavagar . Poets like sandakkavi played a major in popularizing and expanding Tamil music in his Tamil hymns like Thiruppugazh.

Tamil Nadu has a long history of Carnatic music. Carnatic music has given birth to many extraordinary performers. Folk music mainly popular in rural areas but has made significant place in the film music. Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan and Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy are two contemporary performers who have done amazing hard work for reviving folk music of Tamil Nadu.

Hill tribes in Tamil Nadu have their uniquie folk music. They have natural affinity towards music and call talams to melodies. These people are the real preservations of music. They are perfect blend of melody and sweetness inspired by birds cooing. Different kinds of instruments are used in folk music.

Tamil cinema has given birth to many talented musicians like laiyaraaja and A. R. Rahman. A. R. Rahman has recently nominated for Oscars and bagged many BAFTA awards. Then we have , Harris Jayaraj, Karthik Raja and Vidyasagar who known for their unmatchable contribution to the Tamil Film Music.

Tamil music is a perfect blend of classical and modern tunes and widely popular for its innovation and freshness. Wide ranges of instruments are used to compose the ragas of Tamil music.

Punjabi music is known as one of the most livelily music; we have in the world. Its popular music is the electrifying music of Bhangra, folk dance. One can clearly find the influence of Punjabi music on most of the Bollywood songs. It has diverse style which is highly rhythmic.

Punjabi music is appreciated and loved all over the country. One cannot stop his feet form twisting on hearing the Punjabi music. The beats and lyrics are so catchy and enticing that you keep humming the lines of the song. Punjabi music can make you dance, cry or happy. It is enriched with new tunes and beats of foreign music.

Punjabi music has great power of attracting people with its tremendous music beats. Punjabi singers are very hard working and constantly compose something breath taking music that touches your soul and heart deeply.

The dhol is one of most famous instrument used in Punjabi folk dances. And it has the amazing power of drawing people to the dance floor. It is king of Punjabi music instrument and no dance is complete without dhol.

Punjabi music has huge fan following and captivated large number of fans not only in Punjab but across the world. Many hit movies in the Bollywood have incorporated Punjabi numbers like Sing is king,jab we met etc. some of the famous Punjabi singers are Labh Janjua, Harpal Singh, babu man singh, Jazzy b. The popularity of Punjabi music is growing day by day and influencing the Indian cinema.

You must be surprised by the fact that there are even ghazals, romantic songs in Punjabi and charm is growing even in the non -punjabi community. And this has helped a lot to the local Punjabi singers to get the opportunity on the bigger platform and also the local instruments are getting more popularity.

Punjab is the most happening place and you can find talented singers, composer, and filmmakers here. With the bollywood exposure, it’s marking its place on the wider market and large population. Now it is not just confined to Punjab but has fans all over the world. Punjabi songs are easily down loadable from internet; remixes are also finding its way on the popular chart busters.

Kananda music is amalgamation of the culture and talent. The other name of kannada music is Carnatic music. Oral tradition is the beauty of kannada music and each song has different meanings. The music is blended with different ragas and evokes different emotions and numerous state of mind. Since the vedic period, Kannada music is deeply connected with Hinduism.

Personalites like Sripadaraya, Kanakadasa and Purandaradasa are responsiblile for developing and popularizing kannada music. Infact Purandaradasa is known as father of Karnataka classical music. Millions of kannada people are die hard fan of the music composed by these legendaries.

Kannada music stands for both Hindustani as well as Carnatic music. Many yesteryears’ composers have contributed a lot in making kannada music more refined and evolved.

Some of the great composer who contributed in the progress of kannada music are Vijaya Dasa and Jagannathadasa, Muthiah Bhagavatar, Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar, Mysore Vasudevaraya, Veene Sheshanna, Bidaram Krishnappa, Veene Subbanna and Bhairavi Kempegowda.

Some famous name of Hindustani musicians are Basavraj Rajguru, Mallikarjun Mansoor, Gangubai Hanagal, Bhimsen Joshi, Havaldar and Nagarajarao.

In making Kananda music famous kananda movies played a very important role. One can find all kinds music in the kannada movies like Carnatic, folk, devotional songs etc. Kanada music has given exposure to all kinds of music in the movies.

M.Ranga Rao, Rajan-Nagendra, Vijaya Bhaskar, G.K.Venkatesh and T.G. Lingappa are some of the prominent names among famous kananda music composers. Kannada music is a combination of melody and modern elements that gives soothing effect to your mind.

One can easily find the influence of western hip- hop rock culture on the kananda music. Latest music albums are hitting the most popular music count down and got astonishing sales record and can easily downloaded from the internet resource.

Electronic tambura, violin, mridangam, veena, kanjira, flute and ghatam are the instrument used in the kannada music for sound and are mind blowing.