DIY Live MusicDIY Live MusicFor fans of acoustic and amplified live musc. Instrument and gear reviews, beginners' guides and much more Articles
Guitar: Absolute Beginners?/Bluffers? Lesson #1
2007-09-11 16:32:00 Ok, you want to play guitar. You want to play well - eventually - but for now you just want to be able to play a few songs and maybe jam a bit with other people. No problem! One word of warning. Your early progress will be limited by how much you practice. Sorry, but ... More About: Guitar , Lesson , Lessons , Absolute
Coming Soon:Instrument Lessons/Bluffers Guides
2007-09-05 11:27:00 Yup, we’ll be introducing some tutorial and reference material for beginning instrument players. Eventually we hope to have whole, structured learning courses for a number of instruments, but these will obviously take a while to build up so we’ll do it in installments. Some of the initial lesson articles will be in the form of quick-start ... More About: Guides , Instrument , Lessons , Bluff , Ming
More Gigging Tips
2007-09-03 12:10:00 This article by Chris Officer complements our earlier ‘Gig Check List‘ and ‘Quick Tips for Getting More Gigs‘ articles. * * * * * Right first off this is not going to be a definitive list. I expect to miss things out (it’s been a while since I played a gig after all and the memory ... More About: Amplified , Gigging
Choosing What Instrument to Learn #4: Mandolin
2007-08-31 11:44:00 I have to confess a bias: we are talking about my favourite instrument here! I’m serious. I played guitar badly for decades and thought I was having fun. Then I took up bass guitar, which I played badly for some years, and thought I was having fun. More recently, I took up tenor banjo, which I ... More About: Instruments , Acoustic , Instrument , Learn
Choosing What Instrument to Learn #3: Drums
2007-08-30 16:41:00 There are probably two instruments most kids aspire to play in a band: guitar and drums. For some reason, the glamour seems, in many minds, to be embodied in these two roles. It is relatively rare to hear someone say, “I want to be a keyboard player” or “I want to be a bass player”. One ... More About: Instruments , Acoustic , Drums , Instrument , Learn
GIG: The Ploughmen. Herts, UK. 28th August 2007
2007-08-28 12:24:00 To kick off the new Gig List feature: The Ploughmen: The Red Lion, Breachwood Green, Herts, UK. Tuesday 28th August 2007. 8.30pm An informal acoustic gig. Guest musicians (acoustic) and audience participation welcome! Line-up: banjo, guitars, mandolin, double bass, sax, percussion and vocals. Set: folk, rock, blues, bluegrass, rockabilly. Hayseed Dixie style tongue-in-cheek cover versions in styles you wouldn’t ... More About: Performances , August 2007
The Gig List and Gig Feedback
2007-08-28 12:13:00 A couple of new facilities for those of you who perform, or who have friends who perform. We will promote your gigs here if you email us the details in advance. We will also publish your reports of gigs you have played - how they went, what you played, what you learned from the gig ... More About: Performances , List , Feedback , The G
First Serious Electric Guitar: Recommendations
2007-08-27 20:52:00 When we start out on an instrument, most of us just don’t have a clue. We know next to nothing about the instrument, and even less about how to play it. To make an important purchase like one’s first real instrument from such a position of ingnorance is madness. Take it from someone whose fingers ... More About: Guitar , Instruments , Gear , Electric , Electric Guitar
Choosing What Instrument to Learn #2: Bass Guitar
2007-08-24 21:05:00 The job of a bass guitar is to add some deep, boomy bass notes to the music. Without bass most bands would sound tinny and thin. Along with drums, the bass forms part of the rhythm section. It is often seen as a poor relation to the guitar - a kind of second best or ... More About: Guitar , Bass , Instrument , Learn
Choosing What to Instrument to Learn #1: Guitar
2007-08-23 21:38:00 Well, c’mon. Everyone starts somewhere. Some of our readers know they would like to be in a band, but haven’t really started to learn an instrument seriously. It’s a bit like those scenes in the Bill & Ted movies (showing my age here) where the lads have formed their band, Wyld Stallyns, despite not yet ... More About: Guitar , Instrument , Learn
Rockabilly!
2007-08-21 12:41:00 Another video for you all. The band in the video below is The Montgomery Music Makers, a very authentic rockabilly combo. The video features the Johnny Cash song “Folsom Prison Blues”, and we think you’ll agree that it is a cracking performance. Nice one, gentlemen! That format, 2 x guitar and vocals with double bass, is a very ... More About: Acoustic , Performances , Amplified , Gigging , Rockabilly
PA Systems: The Essential Amplification
2007-08-20 16:50:00 Much of the content on this site is aimed at getting in front of an audience and playing music with the minimum of fuss and bother, thus we have sung the praises of the acoustic approach, where possible. It saves so much time, effort and trouble if one doesn’t have to lug amplification about. But ... More About: Gear , Systems , Amplification , Amplified , Gigging
Help Us Out (and Maybe Yourself)
2007-08-16 17:19:00 Our web stats suggest that the posts with video in them are the most popular. Well, that’s fine, we’re happy to include video when we can. Of course, variety is the spice of life, so the more different videos we have the more we have to offer. Oh, we could trawl Youtube for video but we ... More About: Be Yourself
A Brief Interlude?
2007-08-01 15:03:00 OK, this will either convince you that informal live music is fun, or it will horrify you to the extent that you will never go near another pub jam session so long as you live. Below are a couple of videos from a local pub jam last night. All very relaxed. If you are just starting out ... More About: Brief
Quick Tips for Getting More Gigs
2007-07-27 13:42:00 As with so many of the things we post, this is just common sense, but for beginners it may include the odd thing they haven’t thought of. Come to think of it, for the experienced it may include the odd thing they have forgotten or just no longer bother with. If your gig diary is booked ... More About: Tips , Quick
Choosing Instruments on a Tight Budget
2007-07-23 16:23:00 Once again we revisit the real world: the one where most musicians are struggling to make ends meet. Oh yeah, a big name on your guitar headstock is great for your ego, but what does it do to help you play or to get you gigs? Let’s assume that you are one of the wise minority ... More About: Instruments , Acoustic , Gear , Budget
Another Excuse Blown Away
2007-07-19 15:25:00 An email from one member of our small, but growing, readership praised the idea of a site for people who want to get out playing live music in the quickest, simplest way possible. Sadly, the second paragraph began the process of listing the “reasons” why the writer had not yet managed to play, despite deciding ... More About: Excuse
Gig Check List
2007-07-19 13:06:00 This time we present an exercise in stating the obvious. The following advice is so basic that no one should need it pointed out to them. On the other hand, the problems we are trying to eliminate do happen, so clearly this stuff isn’t obvious to everyone. Even bands who have been gigging for years sometimes ... More About: Instruments , List , Check , Gear , Gigging
Look, It IS That Easy
2007-07-18 12:57:00 This is a kind of case study. It is intended to show how easy it is to get out and start playing to an audience in the shortest possible time. The rather alarming picture below is of a bunch of middle aged hooligans sometimes known as The Ploughmen. Your humble correspondent sits second from left playing ... More About: Acoustic , Easy , Look
The Shortest Route to Performance
2007-07-18 12:15:00 Let’s face it, musicians are traditionally broke. Struggling artists who rely either on dole or a reluctantly tolerated day-job to finance their existence. You may be burning with ambition. You may live to play, but never yet have had the opportunity to share your enthusiasm with others. You are just dying to get out there and ... More About: Performance , Acoustic , Route , Perform
Welcome
2007-07-12 16:46:00 Welcome to DIY Live Music.com. We have just launched and as yet the content has still to be added, but don’t let that put you off. Please do check back regularly and watch as we grow the site into a great resource for anyone who performs, or would like to perform, live music. We will be adding ... |
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