2009 End Of Year School Presentation

Today is the day for the 2009 end of year "show" that my music school is organizing. All the students were invited to play songs as a "show what you learned" kind of way. The school books a bar and for about 4-5 hours the students play songs of their choice with a band.

This is my 2nd "show" and this time i'm going to play 2 of rock and roll's greatest hits. The so called " rock and roll anthem" and an ACDC classic, "Rock and Roll All Night - Kiss" and "Back in Black - ACDC".

We have practiced with the band and it sounds good, i'm doing the rythm guitar on Back in Black and i'm doing the lead on Rock and Roll All Night.

I hope that everything goes out fine...

In case I play the song well, i'll be sure to post the video here on "The Rocker".

ROCK AND ROLL :)

So... this is my last post for this semester :)

have a good chirstmas and new years everyone

see you next year,

i'll try to find interesting topics to write about next time ahah

Electric Bass

ok... i think that i've been talking to much about guitars. So, now i'm going to vary the instruments and talk about the electric bass.

The electric bass guitar (a.k.a electric bass and bass) it's pronounced like "base" not bass as in bass fish. The bass is a stringed instrument and is played primarily with the thumb or the fingers ( by plucking, slapping, popping, tapping or thumping), or by a pick.

The bass guitar is very similar to the normal electric guitar but the bass' neck is longer and its scales too and it also has only 4 to 6 strings ( the normal basses...). The sound of the bass guitar is one octave lower than a regular guitar and its string notes go like this ( E [mi], A [la], D [re] and G [sol])

Note: For the electric bass to be heard a amplifier is needed...

Yes i do play the bass and the acoustic guitar and the electric guitar.

I personally prefer the bass than the acoustic guitar. I like the deep sound that it makes, also i like all the cool techniques you have to learn in order to perfect the playing.

it is proved the the bass is the electric instrument that takes the most time to learn and perfect.

so this is it....

Semi-acoustic Guitars

The Semi-acoustic guitars are electic guitars with a hollow body. They have both a sound box and a eletric pickup.
The semi-acoustic guitars are not the same as electric acoustic guitars so be careful!! Electric acoustic guitars are acoustic guitars that you can plug it into a amplifier but there is no pickup needed in this instrument.
They have a beautiful look and are classy and incredible. I say that they are incredible because their jazz and blues sound is very clean and serene.
I would personally love to have one of these guitars, for its look and its use. This guitar can be played with a amplifier our without.

Some examples of Semi-Acoustic Guitars:

Gibson 59' ES-335Ibanez AF125
Pretty right?? ahahah

Gibson SG

Gibson SG's History:

In the 60's it seemed that the Gibson Les Paul was not so popular to compete against the fender stratocaster and the fender telecaster. So the Gibson Guitar Cooperation company revolutionized the old les paul into a new inovating, cheaper, thinner, lighter and practical guitar. Mr. Les Paul was offended with this new style of guitar (which included 2 horns) so he chose not to put his name on the new guitar. So, the new guitar was called SG (or solid guitar). This guitar was created in 1961 so its first model is the Gibson '61 SG.

Gibson SG Models:

'61 SG
Angus Young Custom SG
Double Neck
Zoot Suit
Robot

Famous Musicians That Use The Gibson SG:

• Angus Young
• Slash
• Eric Clapton
• The Edge
• Don Felder (Eagles)
• Ace Frehley
• George Harrison
  

How The Beatles Destroyed Rock n' Roll

Elijah Wald has written a book about "how the beatles destroyed rock n' roll".
He states that rock and roll before the beatles were all about:

• dancing
• doing live shows
• women going to shows
• and considered a "black" genre of music

after the boys from liverpool, rock n' roll became:

• mostly for record listning
• just listling
• mostly men going to the shows
• and considered a white genre music.

I think that it is a very interesting approach to thinking about the beatles history. Everyone always says how they revolutionized music and make everything beautiful, but that's only like that because it is told by fans not by the real information.
I have no option but to agree because they are vivid facts about the beatles music and it is very interesting to look at history like that.
Most people would have never thought about this fact, just like caroline kurzweil. I told her about this and she scold at me saying I was wrong and that it was impossible that the beatles destroyed rock. Mathias Brotero disagreed with the facts but after we explained the facts clearly he understood and "accepted" the facts.

Waiting On The World To Change - John Mayer

Waiting On The World To Change

Me and all my friends
We're all misunderstood
They say we stand for nothing
There's no way we ever could
Now we see everything is going wrong
With the world and those who lead it
We just feel like we don't have the means
To rise above and beat it

So we keep waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
Its hard to be persistant
When we're standing at a distance
So we keep waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

Now if we had the power
To bring our neighbors home from war
They would've never missed a Christmas
No more ribbons on the door
When you trust your television
What you get is what you got
Cuz when when the only information ooohhh,
They can bend it all they want

So while we're waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
It's not that we don't care
We just know that the party's there
So we keep waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change

We're still waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
One day our generation
Is gonna rule the population

So we keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
Know we keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
We keep on waiting (waiting)
Waiting on the world to change
Waiting on the world to change
Waiting on the world to change
Waiting on the world to change.

taken from azlyrics.com

This is one of my favorite songs written by john mayer. This song talks about all the wrongs that happen in the world and how we people just wait for something to change. I think that this is Mayer's most famous song, and for those who haven't listened to it please go here:

John Mayer - Waiting On The World To Change Music Video

John Mayer - Waiting On The World To Change Acoustic

John Mayer - Waiting On The World To Change Live

John's guitar skills are envyous...

please comment on what you thought about the song or thinks about the song...

Vintage Guitars

Definition of vintage from www.dictionary.reference.com:

Vintage:
Adjective:
9. representing the high quality of a past time.

Vintage Guitars are really self explanatory. They are?? Guitars that represent the high quality of a past time.
And what would that be? That would be guitars from the past that were so close to perfection that they would still be used today.
Most vintage guitars are from famous musicians ( mostly rock, blues, and jazz musicians) back from the 50's up until the 80's guitars because that was the era of popular rock and when rock was getting its way up in the music market ( which before had lots of jazz, blues, and R&B also...).
Some vintage guitars offer a rustic sound, others offer a classic rock sound. These guitars are from interest of guitar lovers who seek the good old days sound.
Ok, we know now that the guitars offer a very rustic or classic sound (which is perfect [in my opinion]) but also the guitar's appreance captivates every guitarist.
For example:

Gibson 59' Les Paul:
Fender 52' Telecaster

tell me... they are attractive.
My dream guitar is a 59' Les Paul, just take a look at it without knowing the sound or anything its just beautiful.

Guitar Shops in São Paulo

São Paulo (capital) has a very famous street called Rua Teodoro Sampaio which is known for having almost all the music stores in São Paulo.
Its very easy to locate a good store there, you just have to look for a big store which looks like it's trustworthy.
There are lots of good stores and some include:

• Hendrix World Music

• Reference Music Center
  

• Made In Brazil

These are some reliable stores which the product can be trusted ( the product can be trusted but the price can not me worthy [just like in my last post take a look for guitar prices in Brazil ] ).
Making choices on what instrument you want to buy is not that complicated, you can go to the store and ask for professional counseling (all the workers there are semi-pros or pros in music).
The process is simple, you tell them the range of price you want to pay, they show a various instruments that suit your needs in that specific range of prices, you choose one, test it, see if you match that instrument ( by match I mean that if you feel comfortable playing it) then buy it and enjoy.
So whenever you want to buy a musical instrument check out Rua Teodoro Sampaio which is next to Oscar Freire in the Bairro Pinheiros

Guitar prices in Brazil...

Imagine yourself having the famous Gibson Les Paul at your house, when everytime you come in you see that guitar and can feel pride for that accomplishment, ( the buying of that guitar).
In Brazil that accomplishment is far off reality, Guitars that cost (in the USA) 400$costs about 1500R$ in any brazilian music store. Of course there is the dollar change which is about 1,9$ but even with that change the cost of a guitar here in brazil is absurd. We also should take in consideration the tax fees that we have to pay for the guitar is a USA product, which at maximum costs about 200R$.
Even with all that taxes and dollar change the prices of the guitars here in brazil is way off what any normal class people can buy.
Lets do the math for instance...

400x1,9+200= 960

It's incredible how the market here in brazil can add up 540R$ for no reason apparently.
Lets compare a normal standard Epiphone Les Paul in the USA ( a intermediate guitar in the USA) with a normal standard Epiphone Les Paul here in Brazil.

Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plain-Top = 915$ (USA)

Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plain-Top = 2.466R$ ( BRAZIL)

well thats something to think of...

Gibson x Epiphone

Most people think that Gibson Guitar Cooperation is older than the Epiphone Musical Instruments, but thats not true. Epiphone used to be a very famous bass making company (which later on had inovating ideas to also manufacture guitars), is was so famous that almost all the basses in the market (the good and expensive ones) were epiphone. Gibson eventually got involved in a clash with the fender company (which exists until today as the 2 most prestigious brands). Fender used to have a very good all-around company while gibson had a very concentrated guitar company. In May 1957, Gibson had an offer to buy Epiphone for $20,000 and as the battle for the market was still on gibson bought epiphone now owing the best bass company in those days.
Today, Gibson is a very well rounded company which exceeds in most areas and so does Fender. The clash is less dramatic now a days but the fight for the best quality and preference is still going on.
In my opinion, today, epiphone is cheaper because gibson owns it so its quality and performance were decreased used to the place in the market against its own owner. Epiphone is way cheaper so its better to have a epiphone than to have a gibson in economic status. But of course higher qualities are always better...

Fender Telecaster

Fender Telecaster's History:

The Fender telecaster was developed in 1949 by the founder of Fender Electric Instrument Music Company. Before the telecaster there were lots of solid-body guitars but none of them went to the market. Fender's telecaster was the first solid-body guitar that went to the market and made a major success.
The first telecasters to go to the market were named "Esquires" and as soon as it went to the market the guitar suffered from manufacturing problems and had to be put to rest. Soon the Fender company bought a guitar from a another company called "Broadcaster" which later was renamed to "Telecaster" ( as sort of a joke).
The new Esquire (which was the Telecaster) had a simple and module design which was easy to repair from any manufactured problems or any sort of problems (this made the guitar widely popular for its easy repair and price too).
Lots of guitars were manufactured to compete against the Telecaster but all failed, because none of them had a simple and module design. Later the Gibson Les Paul was able to compete against the Telecaster but lots of work were needed to replace the simple guitar.


Fender Telecaster Models:

Thinline:

Deluxe:
Custom:

American Vintage:

50's Telecaster:

Famous Musicians That Use The Fender Telecaster:

• Elvis Presley
• George Harrison (The Beatles)
• Jimmy Page (Led Zepplin - Stairway to Heaven)
• Eric Clapton
• Andy Summers (The Police)
• Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

And many others...

Pictures taken from www.fender.com

Gibson Les Paul

Gibson Les Paul's History:

The Gibson Les Paul is considered to the the Holy Grail of rock. This guitar was developed during the early 1950's by Ted McCarty (1910-2001) and Les Paul (1915-2009). During the year 1950 the Gibson Guitar Cooperation president Ted McCarty hired Les Paul (which was a jazz musician at that time) to be his advisor on the Gibson vs Fender rivarly (which exists until today and will forever exist). Les Paul was encharged to design a inovating guitar which was able to compete with the Fender Telecaster (later there will be a review on the Fender Telecaster) which made people go wild for that guitar. Yes, it was a challenging thing to do but with Les Paul's incredible imagination they created the Gibson Les Paul which became rapidly more popular than the Fender Telecaster. After making the first Gibson Les Paul the Gibson Guitar Cooperation decided to make the Les Paul guitar a top class guitar (which would later be used for famous artists) so the Les Paul was the "perfect" guitar at that time. Now-a-days people still argue about which guitar is better the Gibson Les Paul or the Fender Stratocaster.

Gibson Les Paul Models:

Goldtop:Custom:
Standard:
Studio:
Robot:
Famous Musicians That Use the Gibson Les Paul:

• Slash (Guns n' Roses / Velvet Revolver)
• Joe Perry (Aerosmith)
• Eric Clapton
• The Edge (U2)
• Ace Frehley (Kiss)
• Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
• Keith Richards (The Rolling Stones)

And many others...

Pictures taken from www.gibson.com

Introduction To Rock Music

Rock music is a genre of popular music which started existing since the 1960's. Rock music has its roots on early Rock & Roll, R&B (rythm and blues), Jazz and many others that were popular genres during the 1940's and 1950's.

Rock bands are made of a singer, electric guitars , a electric bass, a drums, and a piano. A regular band has 2 electric guitarists, one electric bassist, a drummer, and a pianist. The reason for 2 guitar players is that one will play the melody and the other will be the lead guitar which is encharged of doing solos and riffs (common parts of the music). The bassist, drummer, and pianist are encharged of the melody.

Rock has a various of subgenres which were created in the 1960's and 1970's. The most known subgenres are:

• Jazz
• Blues
• Soft Rock
• Heavy Metal
• Punk Rock
• Hard Rock

Introduction to The Rocker

The Rocker is a blog in which we analyze:

1. Musics
2. Instruments
3. Brands (Gibson, Fender, Ibanez ...)
4. Bands
5. Everything related to Rock & Roll!

Enjoy...

... and follow us =)