Towards A Healthy Economy + Marketing World

I Want My (Digital) Rights!

It does seem unfair… you paid for those songs and now you can’t play them outside of the iTunes environment, on hardware not supported by Apple, or on operating systems not supported by iTunes.

That’s because the iTunes tracks that you purchase and download are in a “protected” AAC or M4P audio format. Only it’s not YOU that is being protected, it’s Apple, or rather Apple’s bottom line. Apple explains this by saying that their proprietary format gives you superior sound quality, but that’s a smokescreen. It’s all about DRM, and DRM is all about the money.

The ability to make copies of copyrighted materials is seen by the recording industry as a threat to its profitability, and perhaps rightly so. DRM (Digital Rights Management) was created by digital media publishers so they could control the duplication and dissemination of their content. But DRM is actually a misnomer. Because rather than granting rights, DRM actually restricts the consumer from doing perfectly valid and reasonable things with music they own.

MP3 is the standard for digital audio. An MP3 music track can be played on almost ANY player, whether it’s portable or computer-based. You can burn MP3s to a CD and they’ll play just fine on almost any modern CD player.

But Apple’s iTunes software doesn’t create MP3 files when you buy a song. The files are “protected” and cannot be played on a computer which does not have the iTunes software. You CAN copy them to your portable music player, as long as you bought that player from Apple and it says iPod on it. Understandably, this makes Linux users, and the millions of owners of non-iPod music players a little upset.

Converting iTunes to MP3

If you right-click on a music track in iTunes, there is an option to Convert Selection to some other format. Probably it says “Convert Selection to AAC”, which is useless because your iTunes tracks are already in AAC format! So click on Edit / Preferences / Importing then change the Import Using from the default setting to “MP3 Encoder”. Click OK to save this setting. Now when you right-click on a music track, there is an option to Convert Selection to MP3. But just try it… iTunes will tell you that “Protected files cannot be converted to other formats.”

Converting AAC to MP3

Bzzzt! Sorry, thanks for playing. It turns out you can only convert non-protected formats (such as WAV or WMA) to MP3. So what can we do? Fortunately, there are two ways to get around this annoying restriction.

Method 1: Burn the track(s) to a CD, then you can open the CD in iTunes and the Convert Selection to MP3 will do exactly what you want. Just be aware that you’ll have TWO copies of that song in iTunes — one in the original AAC format and one in MP3 format. You can delete the AAC version if you like.

Method 2: If you have lots of music, you might need a big pile of CDs to convert everything with the “burn and rip” method above. That’s where the JHymn software can help. JHymn was created to allow you to exercise your fair-use rights under copyright law, and will free your iTunes music from DRM restrictions with no loss of sound quality. JHymn provides a drag and drop graphical interface for both Mac OSX and Windows users. But currently, JHymn will not work with iTunes Version 6 or higher. If you have an earlier version of iTunes, keep it, or visit http://www.oldapps.com/itunes.htm to search for a backlevel version.

Note that JHymn is not meant to aid music piracy, but it does contradict the iTunes user agreement, and may not be legal in your country. You should be aware of the legalites of DRM circumvention in your country and make your own decision whether using JHymn software is right for you. Then use JHymn only for making archival copies of your own music, for copying tracks to an MP3 player, or for playing your music on a non-Itunes platform. If you decide against using JHymn, you might want to look into TuneBite. The makers of Tunebite claim that it lets you make “totally legal” unprotected copies of copy-protected music files by recording them while they are being played.

Reprinted from: http://www.askbobrankin.com/convert_itunes_to_mp3_format.html

BOB RANKIN… is a tech writer and computer programmer who enjoys exploring the Internet and sharing the fruit of his experience with others. His work has appeared in ComputerWorld, NetGuide, and NY Newsday. Bob is publisher of the Internet TOURBUS newsletter, author of several computer books, and creator of the http://LowfatLinux.com website. Visit Bob Rankin’s website for more helpful articles and free tech support.

While Richard Nixon’s diplomatic visit to China may have created a minor thaw in Sino-US relations, he was not the first President to try to get in sync with the Chinese. Thomas Jefferson preceded him by close to two centuries.

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, happened to be (in contrast to the current US President) an intelligent man, amazing inventor and, as DNA tests have shown, most likely a randy advocate of miscegenation. We now may envision that when the Continental Congress celebrated Thanksgiving together, which type of meat - light or dark - Jefferson put on his plate.

Now if you look at the tails side of a nickel, you can see a picture of TJ’s Monticello home. But what the nickel doesn’t show us is the unique interior of his Virginia manse. The inside of Monticello is much more eclectic: animal skins, Native American artifacts, painted floors the color of green grass. I’m certain that the “design team” of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition would appreciate it.

But the specific objet d’Jefferson that is of interest to the Gong Aficionado is “The Great Clock.”

Originally Jefferson designed it for a home in Philadelphia, but the ropes on the large weights that drive the clock were much too long for the client’s home. So TJ brought it to Monticello and created a clock that could mark time across the entire plantation.

Now to fit this Great Clock and its lengthy ropes into his home, TJ did what any man would do who wasn’t worried about selling his home in two years when interest rates went up, he cut a big hole in the floor, so the ropes could hang down into the basement.

So how does this all relate to Gongs? Well, the chimes of this clock were made from a large Chinese Gong! And according to his ‘employees of enforced servitude,’ the chimes could be heard over three miles away. I am certain many a slave work song was sung to coincide with the hourly gonging. “Go down Moses, way down in Egypt land…Tell Ol’ Pharoah, to let my people Gong. Let my people Gong!”

The clock still tells time, and the Chinese Gong still rings. Here’s to solid manufacturing!

Thankfully, there are no slaves using it to tell time anymore. In 1967 the Supreme Court ruled on Loving vs. Virginia and forced all states to allow interracial marriage. Too little, too late for Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings.

Andrew Borakove is a media writer and the proprietor of Gongs Unlimited, the only internet store devoted solely to gongs. http://www.gongs-unlimited.com

The ‘trois Gnossiennes’ (1890) is a set of dance-like pieces of similar character, like the earlier composed ‘trois Sarabandes’ (1887) and ‘trois Gymnopédies’ (1888). The ‘trois Gnossiennes’ were first published by Satie as a set through Rouart, Lerolle & Cie. in 1913.

The Gnossiennes continue in the minimalist style of the Gymnopédies but add ornaments that give the pieces a destinctly oriental feel. Although the pieces are obviously composed in a 4/4 time signature, Satie did not indicate it in the score. He also omitted barlines, leaving one big “bar” for the entire piece. This gives the impression of great freedom for the pianist. The comments written above the score, like ‘Du bout de la pensée’ (from the tip of the thought) and ‘Postulez en vous mme’ (wonder about yourself) also give much room for interpretation. This has proven to be true since there are few pieces in piano literature that have been interpretated in such diverse ways as the Gnossiennes.

The name ‘Gnossiennes’ can be explained in multiple ways. The ancient Greek word for ‘knowledge’ is ‘gnosis’. Gnosticism was the name of a religious-philosophical belief which has its origins in Greek philosophy as well as early Christian and Jewish Apocalyptic thoughts. In this belief ‘Gnosis’ stands for ‘True knowledge’, which is supposed to lead man to true emancipation. Gnosticism also played a great role in the beliefs of Joséphin Péladan’s (1859-1918) ‘Rose et croix’ sect. Satie’s collaboration with Péladan led him to take an interest in partly-heretical views. It is possible that the title of these works is an hommage to gnosticism.

The most common explanation however is that the title refers to the ritual dances performed by the inhabitants of the island of Crete, with its capitol city Knossos, famous in Greek mythology for the story of its labyrinth, Theseus and the minotaur. In 1890 Crete was in the news because of archeological excavations. Other works by Satie from the same period were named after dances as well. Namely the ‘Sarabande’, a dance which was first introduced in Portugal in 1586 and the ‘Gymnopédie’ which has its origins in ancient Sparta. Even so, it is very unlikely that Satie, a member of the ‘Rose et croix’ from 1891 to 1892, was unaware of the gnosticism relation when the second Gnossienne was first publicly performed in 1893.

In 1967 french composer Robert Caby (1905-1992) revealed many of Satie’s posthumous and often untitled works, taken from sketchbooks and manuscripts. He named three of these pieces Gnossienne. These became Gnossienne 4, 5 and 6 respectively. The piece known as the fourth Gnossienne was composed in 1891, the fifth in 1889 and the sixth in 1897. These pieces were first published in 1968 by ed. Salabert.

Joffrey Wallaart started the Piano Society website to give the public easy access to classical piano music.

http://www.pianosociety.com

“What does it cost to get a record on the charts?” The question was directed to Mike McVay, programming consultant to about 400 radio stations owned by media giant Clear Channel.

A hush fell over the audience, as this was a piece of information that could determine the fate of independent artists everywhere.

McVay pulled no punches. Depending on your genre, the amount is “a hundred thousand dollars up to a quarter of a million.”

And suddenly, the economic reality of the airplay portion of the record business was in full view.

In a different part of the day’s event, someone asked another of those all-important, career-shaping questions: “How many slots are typically available to independent artists?”

This time, the question was directed to Shane Bourbonnais of Clear Channel Entertainment. “Not many” was his reply, albeit in the nicest tone imaginable.

Did these terrifying facts of life appear to dampen the enthusiasm of most of the artists? Nope. After all, hope springs eternal.

Judging from the questions to other panel members during the day, it was clear that many artists in attendance thought that somehow they would be the one who got past the gatekeepers, the one whose awesome talent would cause cold-eyed business people to waive the entry fees, the one whose marketability would get them the major label contract and backing to enter the game with a large checkbook behind them.

And why not? Why shouldn’t they be hopeful? Are they not talented? Judging from the CDs handed to me, there were some amazingly gifted artists at the conference known as the Boot Camp workshop, which was organized by Blak Dog Promotions in association with The Beat 94.5 FM and the Western Canadian Music Awards.

Consider some of the artists: Smokekiller makes music that vibrates with consistent excitement. Ultimate Power Duo blends equal parts modern punk and retro Liverpool sounds for an album that is fun from beginning to end. Lyricist Jacqui Leddy has written lines that make you feel the inside of the human soul.

There also was silky, subtle and seductive jazz from Sandy Foster; strong rock from Scott Douglas; evocative country from John Wort Hannam; excellent rap from Don Castro; and power plus glory in the heavy grooves of Aly Young. Not to be outdone, event organizers Shawn Smith and Chin Injeti are themselves supremely electrifying recording artists.

The quality of the acts was of the highest level of any event at which I’ve been a panelist. Group after group, artist after artist were very impressive. Karen Howlin’ Fowlie seems to put megawatts of electric power into even her softest vocal passages. Sonicjoy delights in fusing electronics with rock ‘n’ roll. This is not to overlook Rallycar, Green Door Club, Chesterfield Rock, Morgan Mayer, Maurice, and James Pender, all of whom are excellent.

Here’s hoping this music gets to your ears. And if would be terrific if someone was recording the panels, because a lot of valuable information was presented by a lot of very smart people, including:

Chris Myers, Program Director, The Beat
Michael McCarty, President of EMI Music Publishing
Michael Persh, Music Manager, E! Networks
Jonathon Simkin, Co-owner, 604 Records
Christopher Ward, Songwriter (Alannah Myles, Ming Tea)
Bob Power, Producer (MeShell N’degeocello, The Roots, David Byrne)
Jim Vallance, Songwriter (Bryan Adams, Steven Tyler, Gene Simmons)
Terry O’Brien, SOCAN
Tom Wilson, Songwriter (Billy Rae Cyrus, Jimmy Rankin)

The event was well-run by Smith, Injeti, Natalie Rhodes, and a large contingent of volunteers. Attendees seemed uniformly pleased: “Extremely informative,” said singer and voiceover artist Marina Seretis. “The whole day was very encouraging,” stated Mitch Helten of SPI International. “It was enlightening,” said singer Jafelin. “This was great,” said Jacqui Leddy. You can’t stop people with this kind of enthusiasm.

Scott G, a member of NARIP and NARAS, records as The G-Man. He is voice artist and producer of radio commercials for Verizon Wireless, DIRECTV, Goodrich, Micron, NASSCO, and the Auto Club. Songs from his 4 albums may be found on iTunes and Real Rhapsody, at http://www.delvianrecords.com, http://www.myspace.com/thegman, and http://www.gmanmusic.com.

“…that ain’t workin’, that’s the way you do it. Play the guitar on the Mtv…”
- from Money For Nothing by Dire Straits

So you or someone you know has decided they want to learn how to play guitar. It looks easy enough. And believe it or not it’s not as hard as some people would have you believe. You can learn how to play guitar very quickly if you are focused on learning and practice regularly.

Getting lessons from a qualified teacher is probably the best way of learning, but sometimes just finding a qualified teacher can be a daunting task. Be sure that the teacher has your best interest at heart and wants to teach you how to play guitar and not just take money from you.

Also, decide what you want to learn. Do you want to learn to strum some basic chords so you can sing around the campfire or in church? Maybe you want to learn music theory so you can write your own songs. Perhaps you want to learn to shred like Eddie Van Halen or Steve Vai. Whatever your motivation to learn how to play guitar, make sure the instructor you choose will help you achieve your goals.

Suppose you decide you want to save some money and teach your self how to play guitar. It can be done. Some of the best guitar players were self taught. There is a virtually endless list of resources available on the internet. A simple trip to your favorite search engine will attest to that.

So what is an aspiring guitar player to do? I would suggest visiting as many web sites as you can and see what type of instruction they have to offer. There are a lot of inadequate guitar oriented sites that want to teach you how to play guitar by simply selling you a cheesy piece of software and send you on your way. Before buying any instructional software check for testimonials or customer reviews.

Books are often the most economical way to teach yourself how to play guitar. Method books will get you up to speed quickly. I teach children how to play using the CAGED method. This works well because it gets them playing music quickly and not plunking out “Mary Had A Little Lamb” which keeps them interested in learning how to play guitar and possibly help them become a student of the guitar.

Whichever method you choose to use to learn how to play guitar, nothing will replace regular practicing. Remember, we are all born with the same musical skills. You have to decide to develop your skill set.

About the author: A life long guitar player, I now spend my time teaching guitar and researching the best guitar resources on the web. Check how to play guitar for more tips or to learn about the CAGED method

Over the past few years or so, I’ve had the chance to meet many
successful people. Actually, many of them I have known for years
and I meet them regularly, but I guess I had just taken the fact
that they were successful for granted. When I realised I could
learn so much from them, and see what they do to be successful,
maybe I can be successful too. I ask all of them a simple
question: “How can I become successful like you?” and the reply
I always get is along the lines of “How successful you are is
dependent on the quality of your relationships.”

This has got me thinking and pondering on the topic of
RELATIONSHIPS for a long time now, and people who know me well
enough, have always said that they can see a change in me, when
they do.

There was a stone in my path though. As the Law of Attraction
plays a crucial role in my life, I always used to think that if
I am Deliberately Creating or attracting more of what I want
then how will I be able to maintain good relationships with
people who may not appreciate what I want? How can I have what I
want while at the same time allow the other person to have what
they want? Especially if we each desire something different?

HARMONY

If you’re in a relationship (it doesn’t have to be a personal
one!), one of the main things you tend to look out for is
harmony. In my house, if I leave things lying around, I need to
take into consideration how it may affect someone else, but if
it’s just in my room, then I don’t.

The only way to get what you want, while the others get what
they want is through Clear Communication. Most disagreements
come about NOT by deliberately disagreeing, but by being in
DEFAULT mode and not understanding what the other person is
wanting.

Here are 4 steps to Crystal Clear Communication that will help
maintain the intention of being in harmony.

1. Identify your desire: Become crystal clear about what you
want and why you want it. 2. Effectively communicate your desire
and intention to the other person. 3. Communicate segment by
segment. Take time to be sure you are fully communicating and
fully understood. 4. Understand your emotions and how you are
feeling as this will help you tell whether you are in harmony,
or not, and what to do to move towards to it.

One ‘trap’ I’ve noticed is that I often think I already know how
a person is going to respond to my communication - and according
to the Law of Attraction, if I think they are going to react
strongly, they most likely will.

The trick is to BELIEVE that the Universe wants to give me the
desire of my heart AND maintain HARMONY in my relationships.
How? Ah, that’s the fun part. The Universe has an infinite
number of ways to achieve this feat…that’s half the
fun…wondering and watching how it will work out.

But why am I telling you this? For me, it’s a success secret
that has really worked well and I’ve received so much abundance
in terms of prosperity, money, wealth, and much more by creating
harmonious relationships where people build awareness, trust and
love for each other that they work with each other in the
exchange of “energies.”

Do you have a secret dream, desire or hope? Get in touch with us
to learn how YOU can live your dream!

As I sit here writing, I can hear in the background my children humming and singing while they play. My four year old son is trying to make up his own rhyming lyrics to a melody he’s made up on the piano and my six year old daughter is reading the lyrics for a song she is practicing for a concert.

Music has had such an impact on our lives. And I know it comes in most part from the simple task of playing children’s music during our day. Together we listen, sing along, dance and even read the lyrics.

For babies and young children music is a wonderful way to learn language and new vocabulary. And they love it. I have never met a young child that doesn’t love music.

Listening to music with your children can create a stimulating atmosphere for your home. Different music can be used to evoke different moods and can be used to create different environments in your home.

When my children were babies, I used to play calm classical music before bedtime. Even now we play classical music when they do art (or when I need a some peace and quiet). At other times we use livelier music to encourage creative movement, development of rhythm, dancing and singing along with. I don’t think we could survive a long car ride without one of our favorite cds.

I have also found music very beneficial for their education. Through music, children (and adults alike) are able to more easily memorize facts. Songs can be used to learn phonics rules, math facts, lifestyle skills and so much more. We now try to find music that teaches about topics the kids are interested in. And I find myself having the opportunity to relearn many subjects including Spanish.

Early exposure to a variety of musical styles can help develop a life long appreciation of music. When your children are young, you as the parent have the opportunity to influence positively the music that the family purchases. You can introduce many different styles and topics before their peers take over in later years.

The greatest benefit of music is that it allows us as a family to spend quality time together. Music is an entertaining alternative to television. With music playing in the background we can still have conversations, read or do other activities. For some strange reason my children seem to quarrel less when their music is playing. We’ll often sing along to lively songs while we fold the laundry and tidy up. Music can be played while we bake cookies or craft. Unlike excessive television which can sometimes distract from our time together, music is something that we can all share together, enhances our home life and promotes family time.

Nowadays there are so many exceptional children’s artists and variety of albums to choose from. It can almost be overwhelming. Fortunately, the internet now allows us the luxury of being able to easily search for music, learn about the artist, read reviews and listen to samples of their work. The following select websites listed below will give you a great start. Good luck, have fun together and allow your child to grow up loving music!

Susan Jarema is the founder of Googol Learning and the Crazy 4 Math Contest. Susan and her Googol Power characters are now visiting schools and libraries to promote family learning and ways to combine reading and math.

The Learning with Googol Power website has many FREE resources such as music downloads, online videos, printable games, worksheets and e-books to inspire mathematics in your home. http://www.googolpower.com

Crazy 4 Math Contest http://www.crazy4math.com

School Fundraisers http://www.googollearning.com

Rhapsody music, from RealNetworks is one of several reputable legal digital services for legal music downloads. In order to download online music or hear songs from them you have to pay for them first. In Rhapsody’s case, the cost is $9.99 per month after a 14 day free trial (the cost may reduced if you purchase it quarterly). Along with Rhapsody, these also include iTunes, Musicnet, Musicnow, wal-mart downloads, and the newly revived Napster.

The Rhapsody music service consists of over 1.2 million music downloads tracks in its catalog, thanks to nitching deals with all five label giants and over 500 independent labels.

Its fully-featured jukebox that makes Rhapsody music downloads searches a snap and importing tunes from, let’s say, a CD easy. Other elegant features include the ability to incorporate different files such as MP3, WMA, AAC (M4A), and RealAudio to your main Library. And you can mix these files in the library any way you like and develop different playlists after you import tracks and/or stream or download online music.

I’m very sure that the Rhapsody music downloads service will only improve with time.

So how did it all start?

Well, we need to rewind the clock some four years ago…

During that time iTunes did not exist, and Napster’s outlawed ancestor had reached its demise a few months prior. Nonetheless, there was… drumroll… Rhapsody.

While part of listen.com, the Rhapsody music downloads service was launched in December 2001. It wasn’t until July, however, that songs from all major labels became part of its diverse catalog. RealNetworks acquired listen.com in August 2003. After thus changing the name to RealRhapsody, the service regained its classic title, “Rhapsody”.

Downloading the software is fairly straight forward. Be advised, however, that this software is not Mac compatible. The music downloads and streamed tracks from Rhapsody are compatible with Windows Media devices which, of course, are only found on Windows PC’s and compatible portable devices.

The interface consists of your simple Play, Stop, etc. functions on the upper left-hand corner of your screen. Next to this is track information including: the title, the artist, and the album. A brief bio plays to the right of the track interface.

So how do you search for your favorite artist or song? Easy… just type it in the Search bar and press “Go”. Once you have found your song, you usually can INSTANTLY play it without downloading it - i.e., you can stream it. In some cases, you can automatically download online music while you listen to the stream. Note: sometimes when you press play, a “!” will appear in a triangle meaning that the stream is unavailable. In this case, you need to press the “+” sign. This adds the track to your Library where you can access it from there and add it to your playlist in the form of music downloads.

That said, the streams are of such excellent quality it seems the song is already downloaded on your computer.

If you don’t want the song to be played immediately (such as if you’re in the middle of listening to another song) you can just press the “+” sign to the left of the song title. Again, this will automatically store the song to the main library. In order to bring it to the playlist, you will have to open up the Library first and then drag the song to your playlist, much the same as how you would do with any other digital music downloads service.

If your library is large, don’t worry. The library search tool is similar to that of iTunes - very easy to find your tune or artist in order to stream or download online music.

OK. So these are some of the handy-dandy features of Rhapsody. But do they contribute to a pleasant experience for music downloads fans?

Stay tuned for my next article…

http://www.download-latest-online-music.com

Whether you are using a book, video, a real live human, or
online lessons, keep these pointers in mind in order to get the
most out our your studies.

1. Complete and master each section before moving on to the
next: As you work through your studies make sure you have each
new technique or idea conquered before moving on to the next.
Lessons are planned to build upon each other and trying to rush
through without fully understanding one will just lead to
frustration and wasted efforts.

2. Study as if you were in school. Do some homework every night.
If all you have is 15 minutes then use those 15 minutes. If you
don’t have time to read/watch and apply then do the application
of your last lesson or drills such as scales and chords.
Reading/watching and not having the opportunity to apply
immediately will usually mean you have to relearn your lesson.
Take notes. Especially if you’re watching a video or working
with a human. Also don’t be afraid to write all over your
workbooks and sheet music.

3. Apply what you’ve learned: Play for others. Your church, your
family, that spare piano sitting in your favorite department
store (ask first). Nothing drives a music lesson home better
than a recital. It will also magnify what you need to work on.

These tips work whether your a child or an adult. Learning to
play an instrument is a wonderful activity.

Most students of a musical instrument hate playing scales, but too many of them only think they learn scales as some sort of finger exercise. How wrong! Instead, all music students should be informed that scales are the Building Blocks from which all music is created and that they can use these vital Blocks to create music for themselves. To do this we first have to understand what scales are and how they came about.

Musical instruments played a large part in the development of scales. The earliest musical instruments were devised having a limited number of playable notes. Maybe a pipe instrument was fashioned using a hollow tube and holes were made in it which could
be covered or uncovered when blowing through it to produce a certain number of pitch variations. If music was to be written down for this instrument it follows that only the exact notes playable should be written. Thus, the scale of notes would be only these, say 5, notes rising or falling in order of pitch.

As instruments developed further more notes could be achieved and in the Western world we gradually created instruments that could all play a minimum of 12 different pitches between notes an octave apart.

Hang on! I hear you say, “What is an octave?” An octave is the gap between two note pitches that are 12 semitones apart. If you listen to these two notes it almost seems as though they are the same note pitch. These notes are named with the same letter name such as C and C. If you pluck a string of a given length, it will vibrate at so many cycles per second (or Hertz) producing a sound at a given pitch, say 220Hz (an A). This note is called the fundamental. The string does funny things however, and it also vibrates at twice the number of Hz but at half the volume of the fundamental. This means that another note is also produced that is an octave above the first (in this case the A at 440Hz), but only half as loud. This explains the close relationship between notes an octave apart. Basically, double the frequency (Hz) and you will get a note that is one octave above.

There are, of course, instruments in the west that can produce note pitches between semitones, such as a stringed instrument like the violin or violoncello, but as they most often have to perform with other instruments of the 12 semitones variety, any note that they produce between these pitches is usually considered as just “out of tune!” In the East, scales are still used which make use of the instruments that can achieve the pitches that are less than a semitone apart, and vocalists are also more adept in singing pitch variations of so-called “quarter-tones.”

In the West the limitation of most of our scales to seven different pitches within the octave came about mainly as a result of singers needing an easy chain of notes to pitch. So it was with our Major scale.

So that’s how we got our scales. Now, at least, the make-up of our most common modern-day scales should not seem so much of a mystery. We know that they are an easy-to-sing chain of 8 note-pitches over an octave, the 1st and 8th being two notes of the same letter-name. The distance between each of these note-pitches can be one, two or sometimes even three semitones. In future articles I will discuss why we have Major and Minor Scales and how you can use these Building Blocks of Music to form melodies and chords.

Brian Farley has been a worldwide professional Musical Director and pianist since 1974. His duet sheet music website “Easy Duets, Sheet Music for Schools, Musical Instrument Students” provides original musical duets and trios for early level students and some good free “reading musical notation” information.