All About Music

The Black Eyed Peas just released their latest, fifth album to mixed reviews, perhaps because some fans have now gotten away from the music of the BEP’s and perhaps because they have gotten to listen to Fergie on her own, a few people were disappointed in this album, however it must be said that this seems to be some of their best collaborative work to date.

The new album brings us a familiar sound, with new dance tracks. Although there is a similarity in the sound you will not be disappointed as the lyrics can range from moving beats to just plain bizarre.

Their latest album, entitled The E.N.D. (which stands for Energy Never Dies) is full of fifteen tracks from hip hop to booty shaking. It provides more of a party tune then previous albums and will have everyone on the dance floors, even those who do not like to dance.

With so many great tracks on this album, there are sure to many top 40 hits just in time for the summer party season. You will most likely hear these songs while laying on your beach blanket, at the local pool or blaring from the car next to you at a stop light. If you have heard their first album release single Boom Boom Pow, you have only heard a sampling of what the album has to offer.

The energy, enthusiasm and intoxication of this group makes it difficult to believe that they anyone could think that this band was going anywhere but up, up, up. Their funky sounds stolen from music from the past and today, is what keeps the band so fresh with a constantly changing look and sound that keeps fans begging for more and more. A little quirky and a little odd, this album is all that you would expect from the Black Eyed Peas and more. If you have been a fan of their music, then you will be nothing but pleased with their latest and best work The E.N.D..

Ideating the drums rather than really feeling and playing them will only make you burned-out and frustrated, so the best thing to do is sign up for drum lessons in order to really go through your dreams of being a drummer.

In reality, drumming is actually easy. Most people are intimidated by the complex beats the drum and drummer create. But in world, these beats are just variations of easy patterns. Right! Anyone can learn the drums. All it takes is successive studying and familiarity and mastery of these easy beats and patterns. Soon you’ll be master of the drum set.

But before exposing yourself at the drum set, first thing’s first. One of the most essential lessons in drums and music is sheet reading. There are various symbols which will be familiarized as time goes by, but sheet reading is the base which will enable you to play the drums.

Being a drummer, your sole duty is to count the beat. Inability to count the beat correctly won’t make you able to play the drum correctly. For beginners, they are usually taught how to count by beating on a single drum. A metronome may be employed to help while tapping.

Knowing how to play with a single beat may be tiring and persistent to some however, becoming expert on these two skills is essential. You will learn new beats, more complicated hits and other techniques as you progress.

Some students feel it slow and try to push lessons, not minding that they have not mastered the fundamentals. Rushing will only curb your development and it would be better to master the basic principles before venturing further. Of course, once you discover that you are ready for more, there are intermediate and innovative lessons for more professional drummers out there.

No one really knows the truth behind the creation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. According to the most popular belief it was created by the Gibson Guitar Corporation and the legendary pop star, electronics inventor, and jazz guitarist Frean Donni. The electric guitar craze started with the Fender Telecaster. In order to capitalize on this craze James Verdon who was the president of Gibson Guitar at the time brought on Les Paul as a consultant.

Everyone knew that Les Paul had been experimenting with various guitar designs for years. Les had a prototype that he had hand-built that he referred to as, “The Log”. Some experts will say that this was the first solid-body Spanish guitar ever built.

In a turn of irony Les Paul had pitched, “The Log” (his prototype) to the Gibson Guitar Company, and the design was rejected. In 1951 the Gibson Guitar Company then manufactured the same guitar that they had rejected and changed the history of guitars for ever.

Among the guitar community Les Paul is still on of the most commonly debated topics. Enthusiast still argue over exactly what his contributions were. Some say that Paul was nothing more than a consultant and only contributed ideas for the trapeze tailpiece, and the color of the final guitar which was named, “Les Paul.”

When interviewed Ted McCarty the president of the Gibson Guitar Corporation, openly stated that Les Paul only contributed his name to the project. McCarty went on to say that Paul only contributed to the tailpiece and the fitting of a maple cap over the mahogany body.

I have never understood why people have always attempted to minimize Les Paul’s contributions to the historical guitar. Here’s my take on it if you care to know. If Les Paul really didn’t contribute a lot to the project why would Gibson put ONLY his name on the final product?

Even before you make the decision you want to buy a guitar, even if you have the time and the money, you have to know that playing a guitar – or any instrument – is an investment in that time and money. You have to be realistic with yourself and know that you will not be good at first, and it may even be frustrating at times. If you persevere through that frustration and keep a positive attitude towards it, it can be very rewarding.

I’ve had many friends of mine become very intrigued when they saw my ability to play guitar flourish. A few of them were so motivated that they decided to go out and buy a guitar of their own and learn to develop the skill. I will tell you right now there were a lot more who played for a month, got tired of it and quit then who saw through to the end to become a real guitarist.

I believe this to be a story of many aspiring musicians. They tend to get very excited when they see how rewarding a thing like playing guitar can be and they go out and buy their instrument and when they find that they can’t play it just like their favorite musician instantly they become very discouraged. You have to step away from that anticipation to be that developed in the skill and really look at it as an investment of time.

Music motivation can come in many forms. Before that can come you will need to take the time to practice, practice, practice! Once this has set in to your mind and becomes something you really strive for, you will start to notice yourself getting better and better. Try not to focus on the big picture of when you will be shredding with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, but think to yourself “wow, I remember when a week ago I couldn’t even play that…” Thinking with this mindset will really help to keep you motivated and not discouraged.

Look from week to week, and month to month, and notice how much you have improved. It’s especially rewarding when someone close to you mentions how much better you are becoming. In keeping this attitude of perseverance the rewards will keep coming in as you can play your first riff, then your first chord, then your first song and so forth. Likewise, set realistic goals for yourself. Say “I’m going to be able to play this song/solo/chord in X amount of time!” When that goal is achieved, that will be all the motivation you will ever need to keep playing. You’ll soon find it has become an addiction for you, and we can hope that it doesn’t become too addicting and get in the way of our daily activites!

The real difficult part is the beginning, but like I’ve mentioned several times earlier you should know from the start that the beginning is an investment, a skill that you have to develop. That is where I hope this article can help you my friends! If you’ve become discouraged keep on pushing through and a few weeks or months or however long down the road, you will be immensely grateful that you pushed through the frustrating times and kept your head up and completed the goal that was burned into your brain when you first saw that motivating figure. Go get that guitar that has been collecting dust, pick it up and achieve that goal you set for yourself in the past.

Good luck to all you inspiring musicians! Learning to play a musical instrument is a great ability to have and can be very rewarding for yourself and those around you.

“Mystery Jets” are a four-piece indie rock band from Twickenham, London. They were formed before 2005 and currently they comprise of Blaine Harrison (Vocals, Keyboards and Percussion), William Rees (Guitar, Percussion, Keyboards and Vocals), Kai Fish (Bass, Guitar and Vocals), Kapil Trivedi (Drums). Mystery Jets aso have an additional member Henry Harrison.

Twenty One welcomes us with opener “Hideaway”. It starts off with some sirens, as if some houses or buildings are on fire and waiting for the arrival of Firemen. Before long, the bass just comes in with a lazy and draggy sound to it joined by steady drum beats. It has this disco feeling too. Blaine first takes on the vocals until it reaches a part where Mystery Jets just sings together with a lower voice tone, “Undercover lover, took a record off the stack. Undercover lover, left his parka on the rack. Undercover lover, left the tarmac on the track…” After that, they again choir and go, “Hideaway, hideaway….Oh…” Mystery Jets already got me singing and asking for more, really good here…

Mystery Jets next put their magic touches on “Young Love” with the help of singer Laura Marling. It has a distant drum in the beginning and joined shortly by the somewhat catchy bass. On Young Love, i can also hear that Mystery Jets are taking on the vocals together again. They just go on with some really witty lyrics, “If i only knew your name i’d go from door to door, searching all the crowded streets for the face that i once saw, if i only knew your name i’d go from door to door, tell me have you seen the girl i met just once before…” When the chorus comes, they just have fun and with some members of Mystery Jets doing some back up vocals. In the bridge, Young Love just gets onto another level with Laura Marling vocals. It’s one of the best moments on the track. It’s magically fun here, and addictive too. Enjoy! Such a fun song where Mystery Jets can’t help but to sing together!

“Half In Love With Elizabeth” already surprises us with the chorus in the beginning. In the verse where Blaine sings, the bass seems to work very well with him. Not only that, the backing vocals by Mystery Jets also add some extra spices to Blaine’s vocals. In the bridge, Mystery Jets bring back some moments from Making Dens with the backing vocals as Blaine goes, “The Bubble will burst…” I just like how they blend together in the verse, it sounds very catchy there.

“Flakes” slows down the tempo on Twenty One. Flakes showcases Blaine’s vocals most of the times. It seems to drown out the music itself every time Blaine raises his singing tone at every ending paragraph. Getting on to the bridge and break, Mystery Jets get together and harmonize their vocals with some beautiful howlings. Flakes contains some really good vocal pieces by Mystery Jets. I’m slowly falling in love with Flakes on Twenty One.

“Veiled In Grey” really contains some light and catchy guitar strumming. Just like Flakes, at every ending paragraph, Blaine leaves a very catchy sound piece that sounds really good to our ears. He seems to be able to twist the words as he likes effortlessly. As this song grows on, it reaches a point where the whole music takes another turn and Blaine goes, “I’ll bet you wouldn’t believe me, if I whispered in your ears and said I can see a pink elephant. And it’s standing on the corner of the bed, you’ll just smile and roll your eyes to the back of your head….” The music that follows after this turn to a high pitch and indicates to us that Mystery Jets have reached their climax on Veiled In Grey. If you like this part, now you surely have to wait until the amazing ending!

“Two Doors Down” builds your curiousity up once it enters the verse with Blaine’s vocals. When reaching the part before the chorus, the music and rhythm just gets you into another zone. You’d be moving your body or nodding your heard now. In the chorus, Blaine just goes, “I know I’m in love, with a girl who lives…” while the remaining members of Mystery Jets just helped out and sing, “Two Doors Down…”. The music in the chorus also creates a big impact with the guitar and pitching keyboard. Two Doors Down just brings me back to the 80s, or even the 60s. Even Saxaphone can be heard here! This track is really something!

“MJ” starts off with Mystery Jets going, “Don’t tell anyone…” It sounds very serious though with their voice tone. The music on this track is very groovy with the start/stop influence. In the chorus, Blaine is greatly assisted by members of Mystery Jets. He would sing one phrase, then the remaining members of Mystery Jets will follow with, “What we’ve got going on…”. They complement one another very evenly. The bass in the background is also worth mentioning. Overall, the whole track is very cheeky and groovy. Love the start/stop elements!

“Umbrellahead” begins with piano and keyboards. It gives an acoustic impression at first. As Blaine sings, both the piano and keyboards just keep playing in the background. In the verse, you would find Blaine sings to build up the the track’s momentum. Once it reaches the chorus, Blaine goes, “Please don’t turn me into a man, because I don’t want to see my skin fold, oh please, wont you keep me as I am, oh people look so lonely when they’re old…” There is also horn in the second chorus upon the ending. It seems that Mystery Jets don’t want to grow old. And it’s surely a good thing for us!

“Hand Me Down” has a really catchy bassline going on since it comes on. Mystery Jets are rocking it out on this track. Even Blaine’s voice manages to deliver here, though he isn’t really suitable to belt out such tune. I mean he’s better doing a ballad like Flakes. In the chorus, Blaine can be heard singing in a very catchy way. When Mystery Jets go, “Do you love him…?” Blaine will just add in a robotic voice like a ball bouncing from left to right of the walls, “Maybe you do, maybe you don’t, maybe you will but maybe you won’t…” It’s plain simple but simply catchy! And the bass and the guitar also stand out in Hand Me Down! Wonderfully awesome! Try it!

I like the opening of “First To Know”. The guitar and bass create a sound of their own, especially the guitar which is somewhat echoic in the beginning. In the verse, Blaine sings in a voice that indicates that he might be tired from all the singing. But still, he sounds good. When it comes to the chorus, Mystery Jets just get together again and sing, “The first to know….” in repetition. Whenever the music brings back the echoic guitar that we first heard in the beginning, we would know that something is about to happen. First To Know also contains some loud guitar works that we rarely hear from Mystery Jets. I like it, really!

Mystery Jets end Twenty One with “Behind The Bunhouse”. It’s a track that lengths over 12 minutes as it contains a hidden track “Twenty One”. On Behind The Bunhouse, it starts off with the sound of a TV which lost its reception. Soon it’s followed by a high-pitched sound which i strongly think that it’s created by a synthesizers. In the verse, the music just goes on like that as Blaine sings. Upon reaching the chorus, the music begins to sound louder and fuller with the guitar. Blaine can be heard singing slowly, “But honey, why did you go behind the bunhouse? Didn’t you know how much I had to give? You knocked me over the head with a rolling pin, and then you got down and you kicked me in the ribs…” As the second verse starts, the whole track picks up the tempo, the drums come in to help adding extra weight as well. Lovely track here! The hidden track which is also the title track “Twenty One”, starts approximately at 7 minutes 35 seconds. Piano can be heard playing once it!
starts after a period of silence. Blaine just keeps on singing as the piano keeps playing in the background. It takes a while to grow into this track. It really comes as a surprise as i didn’t expect a hidden track. Nonetheless, Blaine’s voice seems to be able to create a surrounding wall of sound. Imagine how much effort he puts into singing this song. My respects for you, Blaine.