Instruments | Classical Music Entertainment

Classical Music in Sports Betting Sites

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Why not? Classical music actually fits any atmosphere, even those you wouldn’t otherwise associate it with. That’s because classical music knows no boundaries; therefore, it could fit perfectly in sports betting sites.

Think about it. How many times have you been watching a movie, whether it involves sports or not, and classical music was played to set the scene? It may have been the “William Tell Overture” to lead into an exciting chase sequence; Tchaikovsky’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers” from “The Nutcracker” to introduce a crowd scene where they were going into a large venue, such as a sports stadium; or any other classical music selection that would help move the story along.

Those who listen to classical music on a regular basis most likely keep up with the latest concert dates and venues where they can find classical music information or events. Whether it’s recordings to add to their collection or opportunities to learn about the new performers who are putting their own “spin” on this very old genre, enthusiasts can keep their interest as fresh as, well, as today’s sports events.

If you should find yourself listening for classical music in rather unusual places (as you very well might once you’ve read this article), try to remember at least a few bars of the piece. Or, wait to see if an announcement is made giving the title of the piece. You may decide to research it to find out more about it.

So the next time you are watching your favorite sporting event, whether live or on TV, keep an ear open when they begin playing the music. You might recognize some of the pieces that were mentioned in the second paragraph of this article. If you do, take a moment to look around while you’re listening and see for yourself how much classical music added to the atmosphere.

Filed Under: Artists, Composers, Concert, General, Instruments, Music Tagged With: Arts, Classical, classicalmusic, Compact Disc, MP3, Music, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Sound Files

How to Play an Instrument

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If you have it in you to play a musical instrument or sing, most likely you will know it at a very early age. It will feel like a force that compels you to act on it. For example, if you like rhythm, you might be pounding on objects or develop makeshift drumsticks, cymbals and drums out of toys or pots and pans!

If you like the guitar, you might be strumming on stretched out rubber bands and if you like the blow instruments, you might be blowing whistles or whistling.

Eventually, you might bug your parents enough that they will buy you an instrument to get started. If that is the case, following are some factors to consider:

Patience. If you are young, you might not have a choice. You might be thrust into joyless lessons on music mechanics that create dullness in what once seemed like great joy. Stay with it. Learn what you can from lessons. You can begin creating quickly in music and can do that in your off time.

Approach. Not only were the Beatles not classically trained but neither John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, nor Ringo Starr could read music. They just played. When they needed a chord, they either figured it out themselves or travelled to see someone who knew it. Discover what works for you and do it.

Practice. Every musician that is worth hearing, practices all the time. Most of the time, if you are driven, it is a labor of love and a chance to get better. In fact, one famous studio guitarist saved up enough money when he was in his late teens to take off work for one year. For that year, all he did eight to ten hours a day like a job, was learn the guitar. After that year, he could play any style guitar and became a much sought after studio musician who constantly worked.

Filed Under: Instruments, Music Tagged With: Drum, Guitar, Musical instrument

The Man With The Dulcet iPad

In April 2010, classical music aficionados in San Francisco were treated to a surprise. Before an audience of hundreds, a beaming pianist ceased his master performance of Flight of the Bumblebees on the piano—and seamlessly continued his performance on the iPad instead. As the pianist devilishly tapped the conductor’s shoulder mid-flight, the audience hushed a bit to watch. The conductor gamely turned and tapped out a guest measure on the computer, and the crowd could barely suppress peals of delighted laughter.

This mischievous virtuoso was Lang Lang, the world-class pianist and showman from Hong Kong. For years Lang Lang has been making waves in the world of classical music both for his magnificent skills and his colorful, crowd-pleasing demeanor. His iPad stunt captured him a new audience of millions as the video rippled across the internet.

Even the origins of his piano career are steeped in his sense of fun and flair for physical humor. Lang Lang proudly admitted that his interests in the piano and classical music were borne out of an early experience watching Tom and Jerry cartoons. Their escalating mayhem set against a backdrop of “Dueling Pianos” struck young Lang Lang’s sense of humor as well as his developing aesthetic.

The life of a young talent is often painted as a meteoric and almost perfunctory rise to fame. Lang Lang confesses that his own was a bit of a struggle. He was expelled by a master tutor at age 9, and contemplated giving up the piano entirely. A sympathetic schoolteacher attempted to cheer him up by suggesting that he play along with Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 10 in C Major, just for fun. The ploy worked, and Lang Lang remembered his love of music.

His enthusiastic, bombastic style is such an integral part of his oeuvre that he’s earned the name “Bang Bang” among his detractors. His fans, however, believe that this is part of his appeal. He has played at Carnegie Hall and at the Nobel Prize Ceremony. But thanks to his larger-than-life style and his iPad, Lang Lang brought his love of music to millions.

Filed Under: Instruments, Music Tagged With: IPad, Music, Piano

Instruments That TIme Forgot: The Serpent and the Ophicleide

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Instruments that Time Forgot: The Serpent and the Ophicleide

Classical music is timeless, but the instruments on an orchestra’s roster are not. Just as the sounds of Mozart’s harpsichord are considered an anachronistic novelty in today’s classical music performance, music history is full of instruments that enjoyed their heyday only to be eclipsed by a newer sound.

So that they will not be relegated solely to museums and the expensive neighborhoods of eBay, here is a profile of two obsolete contrabass wind instruments. Currently, the tuba has a monopoly on their spots in an orchestral lineup.

The Serpent

This Renaissance instrument looks like a simple horn with finger holes. Its chassis traces out a boustrophedonic path to a dramatic circular loop, terminating with the bell. Although the serpent is traditionally made of walnut and leather, it is considered a brass instrument; it has a bell-shaped mouthpiece like a trumpet. Though it originated as a vertical instrument, it evolved to be held horizontally like an elephantine flute.

Playing the serpent is a bit problematic. There is no set fingering strategy, and the note-holes themselves are generally nothing more than lacunae in the instrument’s body, like an elegant artisan Flute-O-Phone.

As more elaborate keyed instruments became de riguer in brass ensembles and orchestras of the early 1800’s, the serpent was replaced. However, it lived on in the hearts of aficionados; artisans produce modern serpents, and the serpent’s very first concerto was performed under the direction of John Williams in 1989.

The Ophicleide

Its ancestor was the serpent. Its nearest relatives are the enigmatic keyed bugles. Its stately verticality evokes a saxophone crossed with the noblest and most refined of hairpins. It’s the ophicleide, a brass instrument that was an orchestral standard of the Romantic era.

Though the ophicleide is keyed, it has a confounding fingering system as well. It isn’t clear whether this fingering system is the reason that the ophicleide never experienced the resurgence of the serpent. There are no modern ophicleides to be found. Since its position was usurped by the modern tuba, there are only four known to exist.

Filed Under: Instruments, Music Tagged With: Brass instrument, Music

Multi-Instrumentalist Kenny Watson – “The Victor Borge of Violin.”

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Kenny Watson grew up in California. He started playing the violin at the age of 7, and by 13, was the youngest member of the symphony. With years of formal classical concert experience and education already behind him, he joined the U.S. Marines. and completed a 4-year tour of duty playing in the Marine band where he traveled internationally, playing violin, mandolin and guitar on tour in The Philippines, Japan, China, and Mexico.

“Professor Watson” has since returned to the concert stage and regularly performs in concert venues all over the world, delivering his unique blend of classical violin music, visual humor (critics have dubbed him “the Victor Borge” of violin) and multi-instrumental virtuosity. His show’s high-energy pace and variety of musical styles keeps audiences of all ages enthusiastically standing to applaud him. From his soulful “Csardas” to the toe-tapping rhythm of “Orange Blossom Special”, Kenny has played his arrangements in 52 countrys, 48 states, and 7 provinces.

His years performing internationally have fine-tuned his ability to translate to a broad multi-cultural demographic, transcending all language barriers with his gifted technique and easy comedic style. When he takes down the pony-tail and lets his wild gray hair fly, he takes on an almost “Groucho-Marx-like” appearance. “Underneath it all, I’m really a jazz cat,” he quips with a wide grin and a twitch of his thick moustache.

Kenny has not only recorded with “Lynard Skynard” at Capricorn studios for Warner Brothers Records, but has opened in Las Vegas for such stars as David Brenner, Phyllis Diller, Hank Williams Jr., Shirley Jones, Johnny Cash, Julius LaRosa, Jimmy Roberts, Debbie Boone, and Boots Randolph, to name a few. Most recently, he completed a tour in the Baltic, and finished his tour with five sell-out concerts in Coral Springs, Florida with the Coral Springs Symphony, conducted by Sy Sugar. He regularly performs “pops” with the Symphony, not only playing but arranging music as well, and he recently recorded his first CD for a family audience. It’s simply entitled, “Sounds of Watson”.

Kenny Watson lives in Florida where he regularly contributes his talents fundraising for M.S. and other local charities.

Filed Under: Artists, Instruments Tagged With: Boots Randolph, Kenny Watson, Music

Garin Bader – “One Heart’s Journey”

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Garin Bader was just 3 when his mother, a piano teacher, began teaching him to play the piano. By age five, he made his first appearance on national television, performing on The Merve Griffin Show. By his teens, Garin received over a dozen classical piano competition awards, including the Artist’s International Young Musicians Audition, and the International Chopin Competition of New York. Part of his Chopin gold medal win included a private tour of Chopin’s home, a memory he tells in the narrative of his concert.

Today, Garin Bader enchants audiences in prestigious concert venues across the U.S., and internationally, including Carnegie Hall and the London Palladium. He is not only an exceptional classical stylist on the piano, his show has expanded to blend his love of magic and illusion for an evening of “mugic” that fills the stage with visual delights, consistently surprises, and leaves audiences spellbound. His closing scene portrays himself as 19th century Mozart composing at his piano with quill in hand, writing by the light of a lit candelabra he produces by illusion. Mozart’s rival, Solieri, steals in from the wings to poison Mozart’s cup, locks him in a trunk, then raises a black canopy. Seconds later, when the canopy falls, Marie Antoinette steps out of the trunk, an impressive twist on traditional magic’s metamorphosis illusion.

Garin’s extensive travels inspired him to record “One Heart’s Journey”, a CD of original “musical portraits and landscapes”. Each melody paints a story, particularly “Table for One”, which is part of his expanded show and features the choreography and dance of his talented wife, Vanessa. “Valiant Return”, “The Wish”, “Just One More Night”, and “Reaching Through the Moon” are just a few of the selections that will refresh your soul, relax your mind, and make your spirit soar.

When he’s not performing, Garin Bader can be found in his studio in Las Vegas where he teaches a core-force fitness strategy he’s developed for improving strength, building confidence, and enhancing your life. This strategy is key to his success, and he’s committed to teaching his methods to others.

Filed Under: Instruments Tagged With: London Palladium, Music, New York City, Piano