Digital Pill – working musicians talk about their lives | Tag Archive

Guitar: rhythmic variation (Doug DeVries) pt 2

Thursday, February 4, 2010

In part 2 of a series Doug DeVries shares some ideas on how to add rhythmic variation to a piece of music. In this lesson he demonstrates how to increase interest by varying the rhythm. Visit Doug on these links His website dougdevries.com Doug’s albums on iTunes Share/Save

Guitar: voice leading (Doug DeVries) pt 1

Monday, January 18, 2010

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Doug DeVries shares some ideas on how to add harmonic and rhythmic variation to a piece of music. In this lesson he uses one of his own compositions – Astoria – as an example of voice leading in harmony as well as examples of how to increase interest by varying the rhythm. Visit Doug on [...]

Anita Hustas – graphical music scores

Thursday, December 10, 2009

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Anita Hustas performs and talks briefly about two graphic scores ‘Stream’ and ‘Underwater’ from her ‘Water’ collection composed in 2008. In trying to find creative approaches to composing and making music, and integrating visual art and music performance, Anita has been creating graphic scores for improvisors since 2003. In this video Anita plays Double Bass [...]

Songwriting: lyrics and poetry (Joe Dolce)

Monday, September 14, 2009

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Joe Dolce uses several examples to make the distinction between poetry and lyrics and demonstrates how this understanding is important for songwriting. ” One of the country’s premier songwriters.” RHYTHMS MAGAZINE ” . . . the Ohio-born Dolce is one hell of a bluesman. . . . [the] guitar work is deceptively complex, weaving in and out [...]

Accordion: bellows shake (Dave Evans)

Friday, July 3, 2009

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Dave Evans explains the uses of the accordion bellows shake. In this video, Dave describes the uses of the double and triple bellows shake in jazz, zydeco and cabaret music. He includes detailed instructions about how to perform the shake as well as techniques for adding accents to play with the rhythmic aspects of [...]

Sax: bebop scales (Paul Williamson)

Saturday, January 3, 2009

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Paul Williamson explains the uses of bebop scales in jazz improvisation. In this video, Paul’s first post for Digital Pill, he describes the construction of bebop scales, jazz articulation, the use of a metronome and how bebop scales place the chord tones firmly ON the beat to create an “inside” sound in improvisation. The [...]

Sax: stratospheric sax gliss (Dean Hilson)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

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Dean explains how to slide effortlessly into the altissimo register of the sax in one long continuously ascending note. Click > HERE < to download a pdf of the lesson Listen to Dean’s music here The Pearly Shells Zydeco Jump The Vanguards Share/Save

Sax: buzzing on the mouthpiece (Leo Dale)

Thursday, September 11, 2008

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Leo gives a sax lesson on how to warm up your tone by buzzing on the mouthpiece Click > HERE < to download a pdf of the lesson Listen to Leo’s music here Leo on myspace Share/Save

Sax: tuning the registers (Leo Dale)

Thursday, July 3, 2008

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Leo gives a sax lesson on how to keep the various registers of the sax in tune. Using the interval of the 6th and some handy tips he picked up from studying J. S. Bach’s cello suites. Click > HERE < to download a pdf of the lesson Listen to Leo’s music here Leo [...]