Soundpainting Class with Walter Thompson

• Soundpainting (Wikipedia)

Beginner's Lessons in Tabla Playing

Here's a cool post and free pdf about playing tabla: http://www.davidbruce.net/blog/post340.asp

Ektal / Ek Taal / Tabla Lesson

EkTal or Ek Taal is a 12 beat rhythmic cycle used in North Indian Classical music. I recently performed on a concert where I was required to play this taal. I was never taught Ektal by my tabla teacher so I cross referenced a couple of books for the Theka and found this video on YouTube from WorldMusicGuru helpful as well.

Ek Taal Theka

 ||: Dhin Dhin | DhaGe TiReKiTa | Tun Na | Kat Ta | DhaGe TiReKiTa | Dhin Na :||

Ektal Kaida

||: DhaGe NaDha | TiReKiTa DhaGe | Tin Na | 

DhaGe TiReKiTa | DhaGe NaGe | Tin Na |

TaKe NaTa | TiReKiTa TaKe | Tin Na | 

DhaGe TiReKiTa | DhaGe NaGe | Dhin Na :||

||: DhaGe TeTe | GheRe NaGe | Tin Na | 

DhaGe TeTe | DhaGe TeTe | Tin Na | 

TaKa TeTe | KeRe NaKe | Tin Na | 

DhaGe TeTe | GheRe NaGe | Dhin Na :||

||: DhaGe TeTe | GheRe NaGe | Tin Na |

TaKe TeTe | KeRe NaKe | Dhin Na :||

Sources and Resources!

• http://www.youtube.com/worldmusicguru
  This is the YouTube channel that the lesson came from.
• Basic Tabla Strokes and Bols by David Courtney
• EkTal by David Courtney
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ektal
• https://sites.google.com/site/tablafreak/ektaal
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tala_(music)
• Classical Music of North India by Ali Akbar Khan and George Ruckert
• Pete Lockett - Tabla Tutorials

Free Online Resources for Musicians and Educators

Free and open-source resources for musicians, music teachers, and anyone else really. There are lots of free solutions for a variety of computing tasks online. These are some of my favorite online and open source tools and have been extremely useful to me. Most of them are free.

Music Programs and Utilities

• Reaper
  REAPER is digital audio workstation software: a complete multitrack audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing, and mastering environment.  Reaper has a 30 day trial period after which you are required to obtain a license. A non-commercial license is $60 and is a fantastic price for such a great piece of software.
• MuseScore
  MuseScore is a free cross-platform WYSIWYG music notation program that offers a cost-effective alternative to commercial programs such as Sibelius, Finale and Capella. You can print beautifully engraved sheet music or save it as PDF or MIDI file.
• Weird Metronome
  Free metronome for your computer.
• Hydrogen
  Advanced drum machine for GNU/Linux
• Audacity
  Free audio editor and recorder

Internet Browsers

I gave up using Internet Explorer for a browser when I discovered Mozilla Firefox many moons ago. Lately I have found myself using Google Chrome most of the time.

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox

Productivity

• OpenOffice.org
  Apache OpenOffice is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.
• FreeMind
  Download free mind mapping software. Perfect for brainstorming!
• Mindomo
  Online mind mapping tool.
• Foxit Reader
  "The best PDF reader"

Computer Utilities

• ClamWin Antivirus
  Free anti-virus for Windows
• Spybot Search and Destroy

Graphic Design

• Gimp
  Gimp is an free open-source graphic design and image manipulation program.
• Scribus
  Open source desktop publishing.
• Inkscape
  Open-Source vector graphics editor.
• MWSnap3
  MWSnap is a small yet powerful Windows program for snapping (capturing) images from selected parts of the screen. (Also, if you are a windows user check out the snipping tool.)
• IrfanView
  Freeware graphic viewer for windows.

Cloud Computing

• Gmail
  Attach documents and files to an email for storage.
• Google Drive (Google Docs)
• DropBox
  Free online storage for files.
• Amazon Cloud Drive
• SugarSync
  Free, secure cloud storage.

Blogging and Web Design

• Blogger
  Free blogging platform. I used to use a self-installed version of Wordpress.org (I don't like Wordpress.com) until I didn't pay my 1&1 internet hosting bill! No big loss, but with blogger I don't have to worry about it going down and use it in conjunction with other free services on the internet.
• Photobucket
  Photobucket offers image hosting, free photo sharing and video sharing.
• Wordpress.org
  Powerful and free blogging/website building software.
• 1&1
  I used 1&1 to host my website for years. Simple, easy, cheap.
• FileZilla
  Free FTP solution
• Kompozer
  KompoZer is a complete web authoring system that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG web page editing.
• SoundCloud
  Create, record and share the sounds you create anywhere to friends, family and the world with SoundCloud, the world's largest community of sound creators.
• BandCamp
  Bandcamp helps artists sell their music and merch directly to their fans, and helps fans discover new music and directly support those who make it.
• MixCloud

If that isn't enough, here's even more: OPEN SOURCE GOD: 480+ Open Source Applications

More about how I use these tools in conjunction later. Care to share some of your favorite online resources? Leave a comment below!

Online Fake Book Index

I have found this online Fake Book Index extremely helpful today!

http://www.seventhstring.co.uk/fbindex.html 

Jazz Piano Left Hand Shell Voicings

Jazz pianist and composer Earl McDonald's site contains some great free jazz piano lessons and videos: http://www.earlmacdonald.com/jazz-education.html

Check out this video about Jazz Piano Left Hand Shell Voicings!

Tone Clocks - Serial Composition Technique

Peter Schat (1935-2003), author of Tone Clock, was a Dutch composer who created a system of organizing twelve tone rows into tonal groupings for the purpose of music composition. I have been using this method with some success in my own compositions and find that it gets more interesting and challenging the more that I work with it.

• Peter Schat's Tone Clock in Jazz and Improvised Music by Theo Hoogstins
  This article by Theo Hoogstins explains the fundamentals of the Tone Clock.
• The Tone Clock by Theo Hoogstins
  Same article as before in a different format.
• Peter Schat - Autobiography (Official Peter Schat Website)
• Peter Schat - Wikipedia entry

Here is a short "riff-based" composition entitled "Mitten Clause" played by The Fakebooks (Perry Justus, drums; Steven Ronk, bass; Dustin Adams, keys) that I came up with a couple of years ago when I first learned of the technique.

The "Giant Steps Progression" and Cycle Diagrams

Check out this great article about Coltrane's "Giant Steps" progression and other cyclic progressions in music by Dan Adler: http://danadler.com/misc/Cycles.pdf

Any questions? Comment below!

• Coltrane's Subsitution Tunes by Jason Lyon
• Coltrane Changes (Wikipedia)

Fred Hamilton Jazz Guitar Video Lessons

Fred Hamilton is a wonderful guitarist, bassist, and all around musician and human being that I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to play a concert with. He is also a jazz guitar professor at the University of North Texas. I found the following videos helpful in my journey of learning the guitar. I hope you will too. Cheers!

Guitar Technique - Playing on One String

• Jazz Guitar Method - Single String Exercises

Hal Galper Jazz Master Class

I became aware of Hal Galper through his jazz education book Forward Motion: From Bach to Bebop

There are some great videos of Hal Galper teaching master classes on YouTube. Check them out and learn something!

Alternate Tunings for Guitar

Check out this Alternate Tuning Guide by Bill Sethares

Drop 2 Piano Voicings

Drop 2 Piano Voicings are a sophisticated way of voicing chords and can be heard in the playing of virtually all of the jazz piano greats. Drop 2 is a technique that many arrangers use to spread out chords played by an ensemble. Many guitarists are already familiar with the sound of these voicings as many of the basic seventh chord grips on guitar are drop 2.

The concept behind drop 2 voicings is to take the second voice in a four note chord and drop it down an octave. Drop 2 piano voicings take quite a bit of work initially to conceptualize and get under your fingers on piano and even more so to work them into your playing but with persistent practice over time drop 2 piano voicings can become second nature. Melodies can be harmonized beautifully utilizing drop 2 voicings.

I have created a video that can help you get started with Drop 2 Piano Voicings.

The Drop 2 Voicings pdf demonstrates an easy to follow, systematic way to learn these voicings. I say easy to follow because of the way that I present the information. There's no shortcut to learning Drop 2 Voicings, the only way to learn them and work them into your playing is through focused and consistent practice.

I offer these educational materials for free so that more people can benefit. Sign up for email updates and make a donation if you like what you see here, thanks!

Polyrhythm Lesson

Here is a lesson about Polyrhythms that I created in a couple of years ago. The lesson is in pdf format so download, print, share, whatever. Enjoy!

• Polyrhythms Lesson

Moeller Stroke

The Moeller Stroke allows you to get multiple bounces from a single arm motion using a whip-like technique. Mastering the Moeller technique allows a drummer to be more relaxed and obtain more efficiency from each motion. You can play faster and have much more control and precision over where you place accents.

Check out this Moeller Stroke video lesson by master drummer and educator Jim Chapin!

 

Here is another video tutorial about Moeller Stroke technique by Dave Weckl.

How to Tune Your Drum Set

Here are some videos and links to help you tune your drum set. Enjoy!

• Prof. Sound's Drum Tuning Bible
  Just about everything you need to know about tuning drums and how to get the sounds that you are seeking for the type of music that you play.

How to Set Up a Drum Set

I was recently asked by a parent of one of my younger former drum students if I could come to their house and set up his drum set. Since I don't live in the same town as them anymore I found this video online that I thought would help. I wanted to share this, maybe it will help you too!

Beethoven's 5th Graphical Score Animation

Guide Tone Jazz Improvisation

 

Bert Ligon's Connecting Chords With Linear Harmony is an excellent resource for jazz improvisers looking to improve their lines using guide tones. The entire book focuses on three basic melodic patterns that can be found in some shape or form in many of the solos of the jazz greats.

Check out an example of how this works here from the UNC Jazz Studies website: Basic Outlines or Fundamental Patterns to Connect Chords in Jazz Improvisation

• University of South Carolina Jazz Improvisation and Jazz Theory Examples and Handouts
  This site contains tons of free jazz education resources and transcriptions.
• Jazz Practice Tip by Bert Ligon

Internet Archive

 

Check out my bookmarks on the Internet Archive site: http://www.archive.org/bookmarks.php

From the site:

The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general public.

www.archive.org