10 Top Concert Ticket Buying Tips

By Nigel Farley
Concert tickets are big business and sometimes hard to come by. There are many ways of ensuring you get to see your favourite artists. Here are 10 Tips to consider when looking to purchase concert tickets.

1) Find out in advance where the band or artist is going on tour. Check the bands website for this information.

2) Search the main website to see if tickets are still available. One will be designated the main vendore for concert tickets, so check with these.

3) Join the bands fan club if they have one ( most do ). They often make tickets available to members first.

4) Have a look on ebay to see if the tickets you are after are advertised for sale

5) If buying from someone on ebay check their seller feedback/reputation first. Make sure you know how and when you will receive your tickets following payment.

6) Search concert ticket broker websites

7) When purchasing tickets on the internet, make sure the connection is secure and verified when entering credit card details.

8) Beware of fraudulent concert ticket sellers. Try to find a marketplace that offers a guarantee on transactions for peace of mind.

9) Avoid scalpers. These are the ticket touts that will try to sell you tickets on the street. They are best avoided.

10) Have a look at stubhub.com and tickets.com as possible alternatives to the more well known ticketmaster.com

Okay, so remember, buy early, watch out for fraud and try to get the best price possible. Look at all the different online concert ticket vendors and compare prices. Try to use a marketplace that offers some guarantee on transactions undertaken and avoid desperate last minute buying from ticket- touts. Most of all, enjoy the concert!

How to Create Your Own Piano Compositions Quickly and Easily!

Here's one of my favorite methods for quickly blocking out entire sections of music and creating a complete piano composition.

First you need to draw out 8-bars on a piece of paper. I use 8-bars first because it's a relatively small space to "fill up" quickly. You don't have to use notation paper. Any paper will do. In fact, I use a spiral bound notebook with blank pages. I just write out 8-bars and voila, I've jotted down what will become a section of music.

Now, here's the interesting part. Most composers start with the melody line first. Nothing wrong with this. But if you really want to zap out a section quickly, start with the chord changes. Why? Because you can block out bars of music faster. Here's what I mean.

Say you want to create something in the Key of F Major. Great. Now we know that we have at least 6 chords to work with. By using just 3 chords, we can block out our 8-bars. How? Look… Say we have the F Major 7 chord for the first 4 bars, then comes B flat Major for 2-bars and C 7 for the last 2-bars. We have now created a chord progression and charted it out. You can do this in under a minute. I swear it! It's that easy. Now all you have to do is decide upon the kind of arrangement you'll create for these chords.

It might be arpeggios, block chords, open position chords… whatever. The point here is that by using chords, you can map out a harmonic territory. Now you can either create a melody using these chords, or keep it entirely textural. It's up to you! Try it.

Cheap Mp3 Music From Russia with Love

By Jeffrey Meier

I know like you I am always looking for a bargain, a good deal, the best price. When I heard about the website AllofMp3.com on the Drudge Report one night it sparked my curiosity, so I checked it out. Boy what a surprise I found in this wonderfully made website all the way from the Russian Republic. There was all the top music I could ever want, listed in various charts, and to my surprise, the price was amazing. I saw Dixie Chick’s new CD for $1.87 and so many other great artists from Rap to Rock and everything in between all at bargain prices. I also saw that in honor of the World Cup they are offering an addition 10% bonus, what a great bunch of chaps these guys are. They also have a just added section that offers the latest new music. If you want to experience different world music, this place is just right for you, as they offer a huge selection from many countries. Choose your countries flag and start browsing; you will be awed by the musical choices available at rock bottom prices.

I was a little skeptical at first, maybe it was a scam website, or some kind of joke. I did some searching around and found that it is indeed all that it offers, tons of music at low, low prices. So I made a few selections and found the download speeds to be quite fast as well, the shopping cart keeps your choices and you can download anytime you want. I was personally getting 5 songs at time to download, and then listened very closely for errors. That is the latest ploy for the people who download music, to get corrupted files, but no bad songs, all good stuff here.

You may choose between 3 speeds, 128, 192, and 356 Kbps for file size, I choose the 192 Kpbs as I find it offers the quality bass and acoustic sounds I like in my mp3 player. I also found selections that I was not sure would be available using the search box. and again no disappointments found here. I would recommend that you go there quickly and choose the music you like, because they have attracted many lawsuits, including the British RIAA called BPI, claiming that the artists are not being paid, and that the site must declared illegal. It is my belief that for every ALLofMp3.com they successfully shutdown, two more will pop up. The Mp3 has revolutionized the music industry and now they don’t know how to put the Jeannie back into the bottle. I just know that it has made listening to music so convenient, and I really don’t want to go back to CD’s anymore.

So I say appreciate this gift from Russia with Love while it lasts, I see it as our largest chain store says “ Lower Prices Everyday” I have heard that the Chinese have an Mp3 download site up as well. So fear not if the inevitable legal actions shutdown AllofMp3 just like WinMx another Mp3 Music website will most certainly rise up from the ashes and form again.

Choosing a Music Teacher

By Sam Salmon

Although it is quite possible to teach yourself how to play an instrument, the advances that you can make with a good music teacher and following a course of structured lessons can not be overvalued. Don’t be afraid to make that call to a teacher and discuss your needs. As adults it can be hard to take that first step, but playing music is undeniably good for the soul, and you shouldn’t allow yourself to miss out on the opportunity to feel happier and learn something new.

Before you make that call it helps to know what style of music you would like to learn so you can discuss this with a prospective music teacher. Learning a style you enjoy helps you to stay motivated and make you want to keep practicing. It will also help your teacher to tailor the lessons to suit you.

Music teachers can be found in the local papers, Yellow Pages and Thompson Local as well as on the internet. Go to Google and type in “music teachers in ……” and add your town and county. Another good source is your local music shop. They usually know the local teachers personally, or know of the good ones from word of mouth from their customers.

There are a number of things to consider when choosing a music teacher, and price should really NOT be one of them. Four lessons a month with an adequate teacher who is cheap may not be as beneficial to you as twice a month with a superior but more expensive teacher. It’s true that more expensive is not always better, but an excellent teacher will have no problem finding students prepared to pay a higher rate.

You can expect to pay anywhere from £12 to £30 an hour, though many teachers offer half hour lessons which may well be better for people early into their instrument playing. Ask if there is the possibility of group lessons, if this suits you. This can seriously help reduce the costs for those on tight budget. Those who have family constraints or transport problems might want to consider having a teacher come to their home.

Any good teacher will be happy to talk to you about the possibility of teaching you and should be happy to answer your questions.

* Ask if you can sit in on a lesson. This is especially good if you’re thinking of taking group lessons.

* Avoid teachers who are not ‘fun’. Playing an instrument should be fun not a chore. If you don’t find learning with a particular teacher fun, move on. It should not be work, otherwise you’d work an instrument not play it

* Ask if you can tape record any lessons you have. A teacher who is confident in their teaching methods will have no problem with this, and you will have a source of reference to help you in your practice.

* Never be afraid to ask what their professional and educational experience is. While qualifications may not be everything you should expect a music teacher to have taken their music exams in the instrument or instruments they teach. Also find out how long they’ve been teaching and the kind of people they teach. For example – do they teach adults and children? References can be asked for, but none come higher than personal recommendation from a happy student.

* Ask how much practice is expected of you, and find out if there will be opportunities to perform in the future, especially if you are learning an instrument that plays as part of large band or orchestra.

Which ever path you go down, the bottom line is practice practice practice. Little and often is always better than spending 4 hours the day before your next lesson trying to practice what you were shown last lesson! It never fools the teacher and all you do is waste your own money and time. Things sink in better if practiced a little everyday anyway. To spend 10 minutes several times a day working on something you find particularly difficult can often achieve better results than 2 hours in one sitting.

Make Money Singing

By Tom Gauger

You've been thinking about it for a while, but you're just not sure how much time, money and emotional expense you want to invest in your singing career. You're sure you’ve got the talent or you wouldn't even be deliberating the opportunity, but still the question remains. With so many so called "experts" all willing to take your money for some service of some kind, where do you begin to embark upon your singing dream? Certainly if "so and so" can make it in the music business, I certainly should have a chance as well - Or do you?

As a former talent booking agent with the William Morris Agency and jingle singer singing many commercials such as FOX TV, UPN and O’Charley’s, I’ve had the unusual opportunity to visit with many individuals, just like yourself, looking to enter the music industry from one angle or another. Let’s take a few minutes to explore some ideas and concepts that might help to further your career.

The first concept to explore is that you should definitely follow your dream of singing if you feel this strongly about it. We’ll highlight a few strategies you can embrace to eliminate unneeded spending and to avoid the opportunist that line the internet halls and gateways. For now, just follow your passion of singing and look at authentic methods to get you there – And hopefully by the time you’re done reading this you’ll have a foundation to start building from.

What do you want to do? Are you looking to get signed as an artist or are you looking to get into the lucrative session singing market singing commercials and backup vocals on a myriad of projects? Because of the broad nature of this article, I will write from a viewpoint of looking to get into commercial singing and session work because both singers can make money and break into their perspective areas of the business, launched from here. For those of you looking at the dream of becoming a solo artist securing the record deal, I will write more future articles for your benefit.

Let’s get a basic game plan in place and expand on it. You need to start setting goals for today, this week, this month, year and five year goals. You need to have an affordable website that will become your business card and you will have a number of pages including home, bio, sample music that will include your reel, pictures, bio and misc/links. A website can be created for next to nothing and doesn’t have to cost more then $5 - $10 a month. You will need a demo reel of your singing styles and abilities. You will also have your reel in mp3 format to be able to email to producers, etc. You will need a good record keeping system in place. Figure out what works for you and be consistent. You will need a pager or cell phone which virtually everyone has nowadays.

Make sure that your goals are realistic – not over aggressive, but challenging enough to keep your career path moving. You might consider sitting down at a coffee shop once a week and looking at and evaluating goals as well as setting up future goals. This doesn’t have to be fancy; you may jot these down with a pen, but keep these handy and up to date.

Your website should include a logo and picture of yourself. Don’t make the mistake of including cheap looking artwork. Instead, spend a few dollars on a program to help you design artwork layout. We use a $30 program that is fabulous and can’t be beat for the price. Spend a few minutes investigating websites, companies that offer hosting with complimentary website building programs and start visualizing a website layout. It must look pro.

Your demo reel must stand out from the rest. To do this you must create a reel that is without question a knock your socks off, make your socks roll up and down, reel. Your reel must sound like you’ve already arrived on the scene. Don’t be mistaken for the, “My friend has a computer, keyboard and mics,” mentality. Your demo reel needs to sound like you’ve been singing national commercials.

You will want to include jingles as well as song demos on your reel although if time and money are an issue, then it would be better to stick with a straight jingle demo reel including as many jingles as possible on the reel - This gives you multiple styles to showcase, etc. You will want to stretch your singing styles while maintaining musical integrity. Don’t showcase the same musical style over and over – You want as much versatility seen in your demo as possible.

In closing, always remember that content wins. Pro looking and sounding demos reels score more work that multiple half baked reels. Your image on print, media and in person must exude a professional outlook. It is better to be simpler to be more professional, than it is to be sophisticated and not as professional. Understanding these key factors will help drive your career and hopefully land you more session work than you can handle.

Why Is Music So Bad Today?

By Jason OConnor

"Everything that can be invented has been invented." ~ Charles H. Duell, Commissioner of the US Patent Office in 1899.

"Children nowadays are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food and tyrannize their teachers." ~ Socrates

Why is popular music so bad today? I mean, I'm not that old, but jeez, the music of today, with only a few rare exceptions, kinda stinks. Some would say that when New Year's Eve 1979 ended, we were ushered into an era of lame music that we still haven't escaped from today.

I grew up in the 80's and remember listening to the Beatles, John Lennon, Simon & Garfunkel, Roger Waters and Pink Floyd, the Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, and David Bowie, to name a few, with my brothers or my dad. I remember seeing album covers strewn about my brother's bedroom. Albums, not CD's. (If you're a really young reader, albums are like CD's in that they're flat and round, but black, and a lot bigger. The get scratched and don't work just like CD's though).

Some say that the 60's were a turbulent time in the U.S. and the world and thus created a perfect environment and culture for innovative and creative music. But let's face it. These days are pretty turbulent as well. So where's the Crosby, Still, Nash and Young of today to sing about our involvement in Iraq? Or where is the Paul Simon of today to protest the government's stance on stem cell research? All we've gotten recently is the new Paris Hilton CD. Paris Hilton? Isn't she just famous for being famous? And her new CD actually got some good reviews.

Before anyone accuses me of painting a broad brush stroke condemning all music after the 70's, let me say that in more recent times there has been a small amount of good stuff like Phish or Midnite, and even politically-minded music such as U2, but no where near the creative amount of earlier times.

I remember when the Dixi Chicks came out against President Bush and the Iraq war. While not a bad band, they're hardly going to achieve iconic status. And they paid dearly at the hands of big business for their outspoken views. That's a far cry from the politically-charged days of Woodstock where many artists were speaking out, and changing things.

If you think about it, there are only a select few artists or bands that can regularly sell out huge arenas today. These are the icons. And the vast majority of those artists are bands from before the 80's! Between last summer and this summer, here are some of the really big concert ticket sellers: The Rolling Stones, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Eric Clapton and The Eagles.

I recently read an article that suggested that music and tour promoters, large venue owners and ticket companies are all worried about concert sales taking a plunge after the legendary artists stop touring. They realize it's going to be hard to sell out big arenas after the dinosaurs become extinct. Who are the artists of today who will reach that status tomorrow?

In a recent interview with Joe Walsh on Sirius Radio Joe said there is not nearly as much improvisational rock anymore. And I agree. When asked what bands he thought were decent these days, he couldn't think of any for a while, and then finally said he thought the Goo Goo Dolls were good. Hmmm.

Maybe I'm some kind of curmudgeon, but Top 40 today is just not as good as it used to be. Is Kevin Federline really talented? I just found out recently that his nickname is K-Fed. How about fed up? I think K-Fed, J-Lo, X-tina (Christina Aguilera, no joke) and A-Rod all need to get together ASAP and rethink their feeble nicknames, just an FYI.

Here are the top 5 songs right now in the Summer of 2006:

1 - Fergie - London Bridge

2 - Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

3 - Nelly Furtado Featuring Timbaland - Promiscuous

4 - The Pussycat Dolls Featuring Snoop Dogg - Buttons

5 - Panic! At The Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies

And here were the top 5 albums of 2005:

1 - Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi

2 - 50 Cent - The Massacre

3 - Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway

4 - Green Day - American Idiot

5 - The Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business

Here are the top 5 albums of 1976:

1 - Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive

2 - Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac

3 - Wings - Wings At The Speed Of Sound

4 - Eagles - Eagles Greatest Hits 1971-1975

5 - Chicago - Chicago IX Greatest Hits

And here are the top 5 albums of 1966

1 - Original Soundtrack The Sound Of Music

2 - The Beatles - Revolver

3 - The Beatles - Rubber Soul

4 - The Rolling Stones - Aftermath

5 - The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

Is it just me, or is there a glaring difference between the two 21st Century lists and the second two 20th Century lists? To be fair, I actually own Monkey Business and I like it. Also, Green Day is decent. Admittedly, Wings isn't the best Paul McCartney music around, but it is Sir Paul after all, and Chicago and The Beach Boys are a little weak. But overall, the lists just don't compare.

The music industry itself has changed so drastically that I think that is one of the main reasons there is such a chasm between today's music and the creations of yesteryear. Like sports and medicine, music in another industry that has been a casualty of big business and American capitalism.

No longer does the actual music quality drive the industry. Instead, the people with the money and power at the record companies notice some bad music selling well to young people for example, and therefore decide that from then on they're only going to find and promote that type of bad music since it made a few bucks. They've totally stopped listening to the music and instead only listen to the dollars.

No longer does the music they create determine the success of a band. Instead, entertainment conglomerates tell fans what to listen to, and that determines the success. They do this because they have such a strangle hold on the media. We only have the illusion of choice now. A vicious circle has begun where the whole industry is inexorably spinning down, unable to find purchase on the sides of some slimy corporate funnel, circling downward uncontrollably into the abyss of painfully bad music.

Some bands occasionally slip through the vortex relatively intact, sidestepping the almost institutionalized process of "making it" set in place by music executives. Phish is a great example of this. They became hugely successful in spite of the music industry. Because they were so good and so tenacious in touring and jamming, they attracted a large fan base. The sheer numbers of eventual fans Phish had gave them a power that most artists today can't have. Most other artists have to do what the people with the purse strings tell them to do. And that often makes for bad music. Unfortunately, Phish isn't even together any more. But they're a rare exception in that they came after the 70's and were highly creative and improvisational.

Another thing that contributes to the poor music of today is technology. These days, Hollywood actors who can't sing can have singing careers. The engineers touch up their voices, and use every digital sound technique there is to make an average product sellable, just like the magazines airbrush the models and actresses, trimming years off to complete the illusion. There are many ways in which the music engineers can do this in the studio and even for artists on tour.

Ashlee Simpson is a good example of this. First, we saw her on Saturday Night Live getting caught lip-sinking. Then I heard a recent interview where Joe Walsh's daughter, Lucy Walsh, admitted that as Ashlee's keyboard player, she always doubled Ashlee's voice while on tour.

I know that in any era there's going to be silly music acts like Ashlee Simpson, Kevin Federline and Paris Hilton. I realize that during Bob Dylan's time there were lots of feeble yet famous music artists then too. My complaint is that it seems like in any other era there was at least enough really fantastic and original music being created to balance things out.

Let's go backwards. We've looked at the popular music of the 21st Century a little in the lists above and I don't see any really original music in there at all. Some may argue that the grunge era of the 90's produced some great and original music. I argue that almost all of that music was so heavily influenced by the rock of the 60's and 70's that it really wasn't that original at all.

The music of the 80's matched the hair and clothes of the time, lame. The synthesizer was new then, but the music was reasonably bad, and certainly not timeless. But then we come to the 70's and 60's. Those are the decades that last held any hope for people like me who long for fresh, original, creative and improvisational music.

In 1899 the Commissioner of the US Patent Office wrote "Everything that can be invented has been invented." Alright, maybe he was a little off. But in a way, everything that seems new is really just new combinations of existing things. Music is no different. I'm hoping that we return to the days when the combinations of beats, rhythms, harmonies and melodies become as creative as they were in the 60's and 70's.

But maybe things haven't changed much since even Socrates' times. He thought kids were tyrants, as if his generation was the last of a dying breed of angelic children. Maybe he just didn't understand the kids of his era, and maybe I'm the same way.

Am I Too Old To Learn To Play A Musical Instrument?

By Mike Shaw

I have been teaching Keyboard and Organ for nearly thirty years, my youngest student was Four years old, and the oldest was Eighty years old.

So the simple answer to the above question would be No. Maybe the question should be, would I like to learn to play a musical instrument? It is fairly probable that you are not going to become a concert pianist if you start learning at the age of eighty but that does not matter. Learning music is about what you personally want to get out of it. You might for instance want to learn to play one piece of music or a book of music or just to see how far you can go. There are no limits. You can learn as much or as little as you personally want.

I have taught many older people that have said, “I wish I had learned to play when I was younger” and “children can learn a lot quicker” and “maybe I won’t be able to learn at my age”. Yes children will pick things up a little quicker because they have less to think about such as a mortgage, bills, work and many other adult related things that children will never have to think about until they themselves are adults. Adults of any age on the other hand have less time to learn a musical instrument but still have the ability to learn.

So if you are a member of the older generation and wondering whether to learn a musical instrument I say absolutely YES go for it and enjoy it. You won’t regret it I promise you.

How To Pick The Right Musicians For A Band

By Kenny Auyoung

Ready to start your own band? There are plenty of musicians out there willing to pursue a career in music with you, but how do you choose the right musician? Different musicians contribute different sounds to a band depending on their technical skills, innovations, and music diversity. For example, Metallica would not sound the way they do without James Hetfield, or Dream Theater would definitely not sound the same without the drumming talents of Mike Portnoy.

Here are some tips on how to narrow down your list of potential band members.

1. Determine their level of commitment.

You want a musician that is in the same commitment level as the rest of the band. Is the band a full-time thing or are you just jamming on occasions for fun on weekends? Musicians with a high level of commitment are always good but they can discouraged if the rest of the band is lazy and only wants to play at minimal times. Figure out how often the band should get together to play and then find musicians that can commit to that schedule.

2. Technical abilities versus diversity.

While technical abilities are important, there should be a good balance between music diversification as well. Anyone can pick up a guitar and shred like Yngwie Malmsteen with proper amount of practice picking the same notes over and over, but not everyone can play with such feel as Jimmi Hendrix.

3. The right musician should enjoy playing the same music style as the rest of the band members.

4. Compatibility with personality.

Playing in a band is about having fun and you should be able to get along with all your band members off-stage. Generally speaking, you might get along with people within your age group better, so that might be something to consider when choosing musicians.

5. Open-minded to other music genres.

While this may not apply to every band, it might be good to consider if your band ever decides to change its musical direction.

6. Band playing experience.

Typically, the more band playing experience the better. There is a difference between self-taught musicians that practice at home by themselves and musicians that learn through others by playing in bands. Musicians with no band experience might have trouble with following songs since they are used to playing at home to album CD's. In addition, if your band ever plans on performing live gigs, inexperienced musicians might have stage freight.

7. Enthusiasm.

Does the musician take the band seriously enough to prioritize it? Does the musician contribute to the band musically? Enthusiasm is shown if the they contribute a lot of ideas into the songs and take some extra to practice at home as well. If the musician is always running late to practices, does not contribute and only plays what they're told to play, then chances are he/she is not very committed to the band.