The Fourth String

The Fourth String

Author: Janet Pocorobba

Publisher: Stone Bridge Press, Inc.

Published: 2019-03-12

Total Pages: 216

ISBN-13: 1611729343

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Two women. Two cultures. One music. The word sensei in Japanese literally means “one who came before,” but that’s not what Janet Pocorobba’s teacher wanted to be called. She used her first name, Western-style. She wore a velour Beatles cap and leather jacket, and she taught foreigners, in English, the three-stringed shamisen, an instrument that fell out of tune as soon as you started to play it. Vexed by the music and Sensei’s mission to upend an elite musical system, Pocorobba, on the cusp of thirty, gives up her return ticket home to become a lifelong student of her teacher. She is eventually featured in Japan Cosmo as one of the most accomplished gaijin, “outside people,” to play the instrument. Part memoir, part biography of her Sensei, The Fourth String looks back on the initial few years of that apprenticeship, one that Janet’s own female English students advised her was “wife training,” steeped in obedience, loyalty, and duty. Even with her maverick teacher, Janet is challenged by group hierarchies, obscure traditions, and the tricky spaces of silence in Japanese life.


The Four and the One

The Four and the One

Author: David Rounds

Publisher:

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13:

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Spotlighting the four women of the Lafayette Quartet, a leading Canadian ensemble, Rounds offers both a comprehensive history of the beloved instrumental form and an inside view of the complex world of professional quartet players, revealing the exultation and heatache that are the performing artists' daily fare. A treat for every music lover, whether player, listener or composer.


That Half-barbaric Twang

That Half-barbaric Twang

Author: Karen Linn

Publisher: University of Illinois Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780252064333

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Long a symbol of American culture, the banjo actually originated in Africa before European-Americans adopted it. Karen Linn shows how the banjo--despite design innovations and several modernizing agendas--has failed to escape its image as a "half-barbaric" instrument symbolic of antimodernism and sentimentalism. Caught in the morass of American racial attitudes and often used to express ambivalence toward modern industrial society, the banjo stood in opposition to the "official" values of rationalism, modernism, and belief in the beneficence of material progress. Linn uses popular literature, visual arts, advertisements, film, performance practices, instrument construction and decoration, and song lyrics to illustrate how notions about the banjo have changed. Linn also traces the instrument from its African origins through the 1980s, alternating between themes of urban modernization and rural nostalgia. She examines the banjo fad of bourgeois Northerners during the late nineteenth century; the African-American banjo tradition and the commercially popular cultural image of the southern black banjo player; the banjo's use in ragtime and early jazz; and the image of the white Southerner and mountaineer as banjo player.


Making Poor Man's Guitars

Making Poor Man's Guitars

Author: Shane Speal

Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing

Published: 2018-10-09

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 1607655470

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• Shows how to build cigar box guitars and other amazing musical instruments made from found items. • Step-by-step instructions and color photographs. • Background on the history of cigar box guitars and the golden age of blues and jazz. • Introduction from the New Orleans Museum of Jazz. • Recognized as the creator of the modern cigar box guitar movement and known as the “King of the Cigar Box Guitar,” this author is an active roots music performer with a ready audience of fans on social media.


Dixieland Jazz Banjo

Dixieland Jazz Banjo

Author: Hal Leonard Corp.

Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation

Published: 2015-01-01

Total Pages: 250

ISBN-13: 1495016188

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(Banjo). Tenor and plectrum banjos are key ingredients of Dixieland jazz music. The bright percussive chord strums and flashy tremolo picking glissandos help define the genre. In the 1920s, when Dixieland jazz was at its zenith, the four-string banjo was the fretted instrument of choice because it could easily be heard above the simultaneous improv of the band's clarinet, cornet, saxophone, and trombone frontline. (Electric guitars were not invented until a decade later.) The chord voicings in these expertly crafted arrangements were selected so that the melody notes were always within reach to enable the user to play chord/melody style if desired. The lead sheets consist of lyrics and two sets of chord diagrams tenor and plectrum positioned throughout the arrangements. This collection of 45 songs includes: Ain't Misbehavin' * Alexander's Ragtime Band * Basin Street Blues * Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home * Honeysuckle Rose * I Got Rhythm * Lazy River * St. Louis Blues * Sweet Georgia Brown * 'Way down Yonder in New Orleans * and more.


The Little Book of String Theory

The Little Book of String Theory

Author: Steven S. Gubser

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2010-02-08

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 1400834430

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The essential beginner's guide to string theory The Little Book of String Theory offers a short, accessible, and entertaining introduction to one of the most talked-about areas of physics today. String theory has been called the "theory of everything." It seeks to describe all the fundamental forces of nature. It encompasses gravity and quantum mechanics in one unifying theory. But it is unproven and fraught with controversy. After reading this book, you'll be able to draw your own conclusions about string theory. Steve Gubser begins by explaining Einstein's famous equation E = mc2, quantum mechanics, and black holes. He then gives readers a crash course in string theory and the core ideas behind it. In plain English and with a minimum of mathematics, Gubser covers strings, branes, string dualities, extra dimensions, curved spacetime, quantum fluctuations, symmetry, and supersymmetry. He describes efforts to link string theory to experimental physics and uses analogies that nonscientists can understand. How does Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu relate to quantum mechanics? What would it be like to fall into a black hole? Why is dancing a waltz similar to contemplating a string duality? Find out in the pages of this book. The Little Book of String Theory is the essential, most up-to-date beginner's guide to this elegant, multidimensional field of physics.


Tapping Grooves

Tapping Grooves

Author: Josh Cohen

Publisher:

Published: 2021-06-22

Total Pages: 62

ISBN-13:

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Tapping Grooves: Vol. 1 is a transcription and play-along book for 4, 5 and 6-string bass guitars containing 27 different tapping grooves. These grooves are intended to show the modern bass player how to use tapping techniques to create multi-layered polyphonic grooves that emulate the sound of entire rhythm section. Each of the grooves contained in this book come with access to unique play-along recordings featuring both a sample of the groove and a drum/percussion track in which practice your own playing!


Play Guitar

Play Guitar

Author: John Snowdon

Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

Published: 2014-08-28

Total Pages: 94

ISBN-13: 1783065044

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Play Guitar is a new guide from professional guitar instructor John Snowdon. Based on over fifty years of experience, the aim is to give the beginner a simple introduction to making music with the guitar, with progressions included to encourage various facets of technique. There are many ways in which a guitar can be played: as a solo instrument, or as an accompaniment to a song. This book provides the skills and knowledge for the player to accomplish both of these aims. The pieces of music included are graded from beginner to advanced level, and most of them were written by the author himself. Also included is a small amount of musical theory. With knowledge of the 'grammar' of musical construction, the player will gain a wider understanding and thereby a greater enjoyment of music, which is more satisfying that the mere playing of chord progressions. Taking the beginner from identifying important aspects of the guitar such as the fret board and how to hold it in the right position, to reading music and the different instructions required for practical exams,Play Guitar teaches the player everything they need to know. It is an excellent tutorial for a first-time guitar player, and a fine addition to the library of any guitar enthusiast.


You Can Teach Yourself Dobro

You Can Teach Yourself Dobro

Author: Janet Davis

Publisher: Mel Bay Publications

Published: 2015-12-30

Total Pages: 135

ISBN-13: 1609740777

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The classic resonator guitar sound is currently popping up in all types of music ranging from country to bluegrass to blues to rock. Resonator Guitar is a fun instrument to play. Janet Davis has taught people of all ages to play resonator guitar and in her own words, They all have a good time pickin' and grinnin'. This is a very easy method to follow and it will teach you basics of resonator performance including both chording and single note playing using the slide bar. Also, you will play bluegrass, old-time country, blues, Hawaiian, fiddle tunes, folk songs and more. This method covers an extremely wide and diverse array of topics. If you want to play Dobro, this book will show you how! In tablature only.