News Article

If you have been looking for Guitar Tabs Universe you have probably figured out that the site is no longer working. Many people looked to this website to learn how to play their favorite songs in a easy to understand and learn format, with guitar tabs. However, Rob Balch, the one time manager of Guitar Tab Universe decided that he must close the doors of his site in 2006.

Why was the website closed by Balch? However There was a combination of reasons. The culmination was a direct result from the actions of MPA (The Association of Music Publishers) including the NMPA as well (N.M.P.A.) decided that the copyright the writers owned was being infringed upon by the sharing of guitar tabs, creators and those that performed the aforementioned songs.

Both of these organizations threatened legal action again Guitar Tabs Universe and its owner for copyright infringement. Apparently and much to the surprise of its owner, sharing with other people how to learn how to play songs or guitar via the internet is against the ethics of these organizations.

However, as Blach pointed out in his “Goodbye Letter”, Guitar Tabs Universe was about sharing with others the art of learning how to play the guitar. It was not about stealing other people songs, it was not about infringing on the rights of others, it was simply about using various songs and their guitar tabs, showing others how they too can learn how to play.

Mr. Blach was absolutely right when he asked how guitar tabs online is so very different from being taught songs by music teachers or even assisting someone to learn to play something that played on television or radio. What the NMPA and MPA appear to think is that utilizing the internet as a means for sharing is stepping over the proverbial line.

Guitar Tabs Universe ceased to exist because the MPA and NMPA issued threats to the ISP and hosting server; Guitar Tabs Universe was requiired to close. However, as I’m sure you can see, this hasn’t kept the general population from sharing its passion for the guitar and the will to learn to play it.

If you believe for some reason that guitar tabs are infringing on their rights, then you might as well say that millions of people across the world are committing the same crime. Consider everyone who have enjoyed their favorite tunes, By just listening you can learn to play. There are many, many people who have shown their friends how to learn songs. If that is the case, all of the cover bands and beginning bands that do not write their own music.

So, if you are like scores of others searching for the currently closed Guitar Tabs Universe, here’s the reason why it’s gone. Even so, the basic idea seems to continue on as seen in all the various guitar tab websites on the internet. Thank goodness!

The massive metropolis of Greater London is the capital city of England and the largest conurbation in the United Kingdom. London is an incredibly popular place to visit and this is due, in part, to the great many important tourist attractions and historically important landmarks to be found there. A quick look at a map of London will show you how densely it is packed with world class tourist attractions which range from the most modern to the truly ancient and historic. Many of the greatest buildings are, in some way, associated with the Queen of England and the Royal Family but there are also a great many institutions and traditions which go back centuries which add to the immense appeal of this incredibly unique city.

Throughout the history of the United Kingdom it would seem that most of the important events have occurred in London. Obviously, with the King or Queen living in the city and the Houses of Parliament being there, most of the important political events happened in London. However the city also has played an important role in the cultural development of Great Britain and this was extremely apparent during the lively period which has become known as the “Swinging Sixties”. With important events such as the “Ally Pally Pothead Rally” taking place and the most famous bands basing themselves in the city, London has, for many decades, acted as the musical capital of England and the United Kingdom.

One of the most readily recognizable streets in London, viewed from a particular angle is Abbey Road. This view is the one on the cover of the Beatles album, Abbey Road. John, Paul, George and Ringo are pictured strolling across the black and white striped pedestrian crossing.

Many fans found the album cover distressing. It was rumoured that Paul McCartney had died in a car accident, and this photograph was proof. The clues that supported the rumour were, Paul had his eyes closed, was walking barefoot, he was smoking using his right hand when he was left handed and all the other members of the Beatles had their left feet forward but Paul had his right foot forward. These are only the most common clues said to be in the photograph.

Abbey Road, the celebrated album was named after the street in London where the EMI Studios were situated (3 Abbey Road). With EMI Producer George Martin, the Beatles recorded most of their songs at these studios. The studios were renamed in 1970 to Abbey Road Studios. This was after the Beatles recorded their last ever album together.

The astonishing success the Beatles found is still as strong as ever today. This is evident every year when fans from all over the world make the grand tour to London to visit Abbey Road. The fans, both old and new come to have their photographs taken, like their idols, strolling across the pedestrian crossing. This can be problematic, as the fans have to wait for a break in the traffic, to be able to do this.

The studio is situated within a converted Georgian townhouse, in the fashionable residential area of St John’s Wood. The building has ample space for more than one studio as the garden has been encroached upon with buildings in this area too. The property next door is also owned by EMI, and is used by the recording artists working in the studios. In 1967 the Beatles recorded their remarkable album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at the Abbey Road Studio. In total they spent over 18 weeks there.

The studios at Abbey Road are often listed with other famous British landmarks. The complex is considered one of the world’s most famous, and when preparing for a holiday in England one may contemplate visiting the famous street and being photographed outside the studios or on the pedestrian crossing.

Of course there are a great many other places to visit in London but, if you want to visit somewhere other than the usual tourist attractions of Buckingham Palace and similar places, then with only a little research, you will easily find a number of places in hidden London that are well worth visiting which are not on the usual tourist map of the city.

Out of all the instruments, few hold the sophistication that keyboards do. Today’s keyboards originate from the piano, which has long been considered a great instrument to teach younger children to promote growth and maturity. Keyboards are following the same suit, although they are appealing to the modernist generation in an easier manner.

The first thing to remember in playing a keyboard is to have fun- after all, you’re learning because you want to- not because you have to. It is recommended to try and find songs that you may like and try to find music sheets detailing how to play them. Such music can commonly be found over the Internet, in music stores, and from fellow keyboard players who share same tastes.

Learning how to get the perfect listening ear for musical notes is one of the highest sought skills in keyboard playing. This is because anyone who can learn how to play by ear will essentially be able to hear a song and play it just from listening to it! This also serves great purpose for when the keyboardist with the perfect ear wants to record their own music into tablature. Thus, it’s a good idea to try and learn by ear as well as through reading notes.

Metronomes are highly recommended for musicians that haven’t yet grasped the concepts of timing and rhythm. While many would love to skip this step by claiming they know how to keep time, most beginners in fact, do not. It’s almost always required to obtain a metronome and some sheet music for practice. Practice makes perfect, and until one’s own internal metronome is developed, be prepared to do lots of it!

Next, it’s good to try and use both hands where applicable. Even when one hand can be used to play multiple notes close together, it’s good to use two hands to simplify the action and to help learn placement at a quicker pace. This way, less attention will be put onto trying to find keys with a certain hand, and more attention can be put on reading sheet music that most keyboardists require for learning.

As a last word of advice, it is important to have more fun than anything. Often times when a keyboardist makes multiple mistakes, he or she can do so without the listeners actually being able to tell a difference. This fact helps keyboardists relax, since they know that striking every key precisely isn’t vital to having a great show for an audience- since most of the time they won’t even be able to tell the difference!

In Conclusion

Keyboards are wonderful instruments that have brought the intricacies of the piano to modern-day industry. Learning the keyboard can be just as tough as learning the piano, but through technological instruction, the process is much more simple in design. Obtain a metronome, some sheet music, and some professional advice if funds permits. Above all, have fun!

On this thirteenth birthday, an English boy - an illegitimate son of a soldier - picked up his first acoustic guitar from his grandparents.

Despite his love for blues music, he found learning to play so challenging he almost gave up. He practised for many long hours, hanging on to learn chords and trying to imitate and mimic the sounds and tone of his blues guitar idols like Big Bill Broonzy by listening to them on his tape machine.

Soon after finding that the study of stained glass design at England’s Kingston College of Art wasn’t right for him, he busked around Kingston, Richmond and London’s West End before bringing together his first band at age 17 - the Roosters - an R&B outfit, in 1963. Fromthat point onwards, Eric Clapton went on to a sensational musical career as an incredibly talented guitar player, singer and songwriter.

His versatility is remarkable, with hits in genres from Delta blues (’Me & Mr Johnson’), pop (’Change the world’) and reggae (’I shot the sheriff’). Nicknamed ‘Slowhand’ for his string-bending blues licks and riffs, Eric Clapton is known as one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century. Do you know that Eric was ‘christened’ Slowhand by the manager of The Yardbirds because when he broke a string [only had 1 telecaster] he took his time replacing it on stage …and let everone wait…including the audience.

With his love of the instrument demonstrated in his amazing collection of about 750 guitars, Eric Clapton is hailed as one of the greatest blues guitarists of all time. How is your musical journey progressing?

The keyboard is a wonderful instrument to behold, but learning to play it is another story completely. The piano, a close cousin to the keyboard, has long been revered as a culturally defining instrument. In essence, so too has the keyboard become a modernly successful version of the piano that much enjoyment comes out of playing.

Having a good time is what playing the keyboard is all about. Being able to show off one’s skills in front of others is always nice, too! The best way to start out is find a couple of songs that one thinks holds a special value to him or her, and learn how to play it. Buying sheet music online or through local music stores is always a fun adventure, and learning to play one’s most loved songs is more than rewarding in the long run.

Something to keep in mind while learning musical notes is to try and train one’s sense of hearing to hear musical notes. In doing so, keyboard players will be able to hear melodies and play them just by hearing them! This huge feat in musical skill will often take months to years to develop, but it’s something to strive for nonetheless. In the meantime, learn how to play notes and keep the idea of playing by ear ready for when one’s skill set improves.

Two more aspects of the expert keyboard player to keep in mind is timing ability and rhythm. Timing is best bettered by obtaining a metronome and sheet music of one’s favorite song. Try playing the music exactly in time with the song, and listen to the tick of the metronome at the same time. Eventually, one’s body will create a very precise timing measure that will enable the keyboardist to play without the metronome at all!

Next, it’s good to try and use both hands where applicable. Even when one hand can be used to play multiple notes close together, it’s good to use two hands to simplify the action and to help learn placement at a quicker pace. This way, less attention will be put onto trying to find keys with a certain hand, and more attention can be put on reading sheet music that most keyboardists require for learning.

As a last word of advice, it is important to have more fun than anything. Often times when a keyboardist makes multiple mistakes, he or she can do so without the listeners actually being able to tell a difference. This fact helps keyboardists relax, since they know that striking every key precisely isn’t vital to having a great show for an audience- since most of the time they won’t even be able to tell the difference!

Final Thoughts

All in all, beginning on the keyboard is a tough prospect. But learning a bit here and there over the years will essentially make an expert of anyone, given enough time. Being able to play stunning performances on a keyboard on command is a valuable skill to have, and plenty of musicians make their living based on keyboards alone. Whether a hobby or a way of life, starting on this lifelong relationship with music is quite beneficial to growth and stress release for years to come.

Who would have thought that a self-taught musician who, as a boy, wanted a guitar so desperately he made one out of a broom before acquiring a one-stringed ukulele, would eventually be hailed by many as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists in rock music history?

Jimi Hendrix was born in 1942 and served in the US military army as a paratrooper in his early days.Having taught himself the guitar, he played the US’ ‘Chitlin Circuit’ of clubs before heading over to New York, garnering a spot as the new guitarist for The Isley Brothers’ band before joining Little Richard’s back-up band and others.

On moving to London in 1966, he formed a 3 man band - The Jimi Hendrix Experience - which acquired rapid fame in Europe. Jimi became recognised for entertaining showmanship, which occasionally included setting his guitar ablaze! With a landmark show at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, and huge success of record album ‘Are You Experienced?’ Jimi became a world-wide star.

James Marshall Hendrix was the headline artist at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, where he played his controversial military fuzz-guitar version of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’. James Marshall Hendrix died at the tender age of 27 in 1970, having recorded only three fully-conceived studio albums and more than three hundred unreleased recordings.

With his unique style of playing guitars upside down (’left-handed’) and restrung to suit him, Hendrix is credited with taking the electric guitar to a higher level. Hendrix aimed to mix what he called ‘earth’, a blues, jazz, or funk driven rhythm accompaniment, with ’space’, the high-pitched psychedelic sounds he improvised on his guitar.

Hendrix played a central role in establishing the Fender Stratocaster as the highest-selling electric guitar in history and making popular the use of extreme guitar distortion using effects pedals, including the wah-wah pedal, and other pedal units. He pioneered in the recording studio, experimenting with stereophonic and phasing effects.

With his albums amongst the most influential of the 1960s, James Marshall Hendrix altered rock and roll as the world knew it.

Rent or own? For many products, this is real puzzle. For instance, is it more economical to rent a rototiller if you rarely need one, or is it better to buy one, believing it will eventually pay for itself over years of us? In some cases, renting is an unsure prospect. After all, you never know who leased something last and how they treated it, and can you really trust the owner to administer impeccable maintenance every time?

If you know you are going to need a thing only once, and it is quite expensive to buy, there really is no choice but to rent, however. Such is often the case with sound systems. Digital audio consoles are costly to purchase. If you only need the equipment for a short time, a sound system rental is the best option. Also, if you are responsible for sound for a touring stage musical or a concert tour then renting is often the best way to go.

With today’s digital equipment, it is a very simple process to input data and set-up information in minutes. Programming these audio consoles is a snap, and they offer control at the touch of a button. When renting, however, you must have complete confidence in the company with whom you work. They must offer state of the art mixers, conscientiously maintained systems, and complete training on the equipment, if necessary.

All of the equipment in Hi-Tech Audio’s rental stable is of excellent quality. The staff members are trusted by some of the most well known sound providers in the industry for everything from tour work to live broadcasts. Their long history of delivering state of the art sound systems has built for them an unsurpassed reputation.

For those interested in buying pre-owned consoles, they are also a highly reliable source. They run complete diagnostic tests on all of their used sound equipment and throw in a generous guarantee. Purchasing a pre-owned console is a economical choice for anyone with a limited budget. No matter whether you need to rent or own, it is a relief to be able to do it with confidence!

By 1989 the Jackson Guitar company was the foremost producer of the world’s most wanted guitars. Drastic and unparalleled, the Jackson superstrats were mimicked by every guitar manufacturer, including B.C. Rich, Kramer Gibson, Fender and Ibanez.

The original founder of the Jackson company - Grover Jackson - wasn’t the designer of the Warrior guitar, having left his company in 1989. Instead it was an R&D designer named Mikey Wright who produced the new guitar. It was a design that was a drastic change from Jackson’s superstart design. This was a risk when you consider that the superstart had taken the world by storm during the 1980s and put the company into the guitar hall of fame.

The Jackson Warrior was released in 1990 and it was an aggressive and obnoxious design. Vastly different to the well known Dinky and Soloist, it had 5 points - 4 on the body and 1 on the headstock - giving it a very Warrior look and hence its name.

There were two types of Warrior produced. Both the Warrior and Warrior Pro were the same except that the Pro was made in Japan and the plain Warrior was produced in America.

The Pro model came in the following colors: Candy Blue , Snow White Pearl, Ferrari Red, Midnight Black and Pearl Yellow. The USA models offered a bigger options base: Pearl White, Fire Crackle, Snow White, Midnight Black, Candy Red, Metallic Black, Eerie Dess Swirl, Pearl Yellow, Tie Die, Ferrari Red and Metallic Electric Blue.

In 2001, a decade since the original Warrior was produced, Jackson re-released the Warrior model. They retail for about $1,200.

The overseas made Warrior retail for about $400 and are simple bolt on models with a wide range of pickups. The USA made Warrior is more expensive, reflecting the Duncan pickups, Floyd Rose tremolos and other superior qualities. The US model however, doesn’t have the active circuitry, slanted fingerboard and pickup as the previous models did.

Despite the minor changes to the original design, these new Warriors are on par with the original models and the quality of the manufacturing is excellent.

When you play acoustic guitar, you have the advantage of a totally different, and much easier, kind of music notation. No more notes and staffs and time signatures. This is simpler and more intuitive. It’s acoustic guitar tabs, which are notations based on the positions of the instrument’s strings. The greatest advantage is not having to learn to read music the traditional way. A number of string instruments utilize tabs.

Acoustic guitar tabs are a form of visual musical notation . The acoustic guitar tab has a diagram of guitar strings. The first string is the top one and the sixth string is the bottom, these are represented by the lines. There are numbers on the lines which tell you what fret to play. An open string is represented by a zero (0). A muffled string is noted by an X.

In case you don’t know what a fret is, it’s the space between two of the metal bars on the long “neck” of your guitar. Most acoustic guitars have from 21 to 24 of these frets. Their dots are just there to help you in positioning your fingers.

While looking at acoustic guitar tabs, first you should note if the numbers are listed one after another on each of the lines. If they are arranged in this manner, the numbers are indicating to you which fret to use on that string, and you pluck that one string alone. On the other hand, if you notice that the numbers are stacked one on top of the other (in a vertical manner) on the individual line, the acoustic guitar tab is instructing you to play these notes simultaneously, strumming all six strings at the same time.

When reading acoustic guitar tabs, you may come across things like, hammer-on, pull-offs, bends and slides. A hammer-on may be represented by something such as “7h9,” with the “h” being the notation for the hammer-on. A pull-off would be noted in the same way, with a “p” instead of an “h.” A bend is noted by a simple “b” and a slide would be represented by a “/.”

When you’re able to read acoustic guitar tabs, look for simple guitar tabs online. Find a melody that you recognize, and experiment with it. Though it might take a while for you to feel fully comfortable reading and playing acoustic guitar tabs, you’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment when everything falls into place.

It is best that you hear the song you are trying to learn as it makes the learning easier. While you can remember how a song goes, listening to it while you practice can help you with the rhythm and detail. It can be tremendously fun to learn how to play a guitar when you utilize acoustic guitar tabs. Before you realize it, you have many songs in your repertoire that you can play at parties to impress friends, or for your sole pleasure.

Guitar music has it’s own form of notation, called a tab, or tablature. Tabs are different from standard musical notation because they do not use staffs, ledger lines, key signatures, or notes. For this reason, acoustic guitar tabs are beneficial because they allow you to learn how to play the instrument without also having to learn to read music. Tabs may also be used as notation for other stringed instruments.

Acoustic guitar tabs are a form of visual musical notation . The acoustic guitar tab has a diagram of guitar strings. The first string is the top one and the sixth string is the bottom, these are represented by the lines. There are numbers on the lines which tell you what fret to play. An open string is represented by a zero (0). A muffled string is noted by an X.

In case you don’t know what a fret is, it’s the space between two of the metal bars on the long “neck” of your guitar. Most acoustic guitars have from 21 to 24 of these frets. Their dots are just there to help you in positioning your fingers.

Check out acoustic guitar tabs and you’ll notice that the numbers run all in one line, indicating which fret to use on the one string you’re plucking. Those numbers tell you that you’re supposed to be playing each of them individually. If there’s a number on each line and the numbers are on top of each other, then you’re supposed to play the notes simultaneously, strumming away on all six of your strings.

When reading acoustic guitar tabs, you may come across things like, hammer-on, pull-offs, bends and slides. A hammer-on may be represented by something such as “7h9,” with the “h” being the notation for the hammer-on. A pull-off would be noted in the same way, with a “p” instead of an “h.” A bend is noted by a simple “b” and a slide would be represented by a “/.”

After understanding how to read tabs, surf online for easy acoustic guitar tabs and pick a familiar but simple song and practice playing it. You will be amazed at how easily you can read tabs, even while it takes a bit of a time to familiarize yourself to read and play acoustic guitar tabs.

Listening to a song while you are trying to learn it makes it simpler to learn. Details and rhythms that you think you remember will pop out and help you. Learning the guitar using acoustic guitar tabs makes it quite a bit more fun. It won’t take long to learn several songs, and you will be able to play them for your friends at parties, or while you’re alone so you can enjoy them in private.