The Disk Joke(DJ) is more important than you think

You're engaged, congratulations! Now what? If you're like most brides you're probably overwhelmed with all the planning that goes into creating a fairy-tale reception. Did you know that finding the perfect DJ is one of the biggest responsibilities you have? THAT'S RIGHT! "One of the biggest responsibilities". Let me prove it to you. Ask yourself what would you love to hear as your guests are leaving? Could it be...?

"WOW that was the most fun I've ever had at a wedding, your reception was absolutely beautiful, every detail was perfect!" If that's what you want to hear, then finding the best DJ is the most important job you'll have when planning your reception. This is because the DJ has one of the biggest roles in creating your perfect day. You need to place a lot of TRUST and CONFIDENCE in this person. Why, you ask? Well consider this; you're probably going to spend thousands of dollars on a reception site, catering, flowers and a photographer to name a few expenses. While all these components are important, what do you think most people remember about your reception? Here are the most common top 3 answers:

1. the Fun
2. the Food
3. the Location

Keeping this in mind, let me ask you this; if the location is breath-taking and the food is "to die for", could a bad performance by your DJ sour the whole day? Conversely, if the location poses logistic problems and the food is just o.k. could a spectacular, fun-filled, jammed packed dance floor make up for those problems?

If you answered yes to both questions you now understand how important the DJ is. The reality is, you spend so much time and money to create the perfect reception it seems ashamed to ruin it by choosing the wrong DJ. So what's a nervous bride to do? Get the best DJ now!

I know that if you're reading this your in the process of gathering information. Booking your entertainment should be a top priority. Doesn't it make sense that the best DJs book early? (as early as 12-18 months in advance) This means you need to find someone now. The less time you have, the more you need my help.

I'm a retired DJ of 25 years and my goal is to help you understand the DJs role by revealing a DJ secret that most people in the business don't want you to know.

DJ Secret #1: The majority of brides' think the DJ's role is to make a couple of announcements and play good music. This is because that's all they see. While these are very important to the success of your reception they only represent one-third of the DJs responsibilities. The other two-thirds of the DJs role happens behind the scenes. Helping you plan and managing the flow of the day's events is just as important as playing the right music. Consider this; the function manager's role is to make sure the food is hot and on time. That's their job. When the food service is finished they're gone. But the DJ is there from the beginning to the end. The timing of the food is only one of a number of factors the DJ needs to consider. A keen awareness of every aspect of your reception is the key to maintaining a flow that results in a packed dance floor the rest of the night. You might be asking yourself "how does a DJ prepare for all these factors?"

The best DJs begin their preparations far in advance. Over the course of several conversations with the couple, the DJ should have a good feel for what they are looking for. The final details will be carefully choreographed at the planning meeting with bride a week or so before the reception. Here is where the bride discusses her vision of the perfect reception (order of events, music, announcements, etc...) It is the DJs responsibility to work with the bride in developing a time-line for all the special moments. Together the bride and the DJ should have a clear understanding of exactly when these moments will take place. If the DJ did his job correctly the bride should leave this meeting 100% confident that the DJ will make her vision a reality.

Carrying out your vision the day of your reception takes a team effort.

The best DJs contact the bride's wedding vendors before the reception to go over the agenda. This is where any conflict with food service or photography issues should be discussed. By doing this the DJ can avoid any obstacles that could cause the reception to get off schedule. You can bet a wedding team that understands and agrees on the bride's vision will work more smoothly behind the scenes to make it happen.

What does this mean to you? You should be looking for a DJ who can reassure you they represent your needs behind the scenes; that they are working for you. I can tell you this; there will always be wrinkles at the reception that the vendors must work out. But a wedding team (led by the DJ) that is on the same page will handle it without you ever finding out.

World Of Arts

Learning How To Play The Guitar.....

There are many challenges with learning how to play the guitar, even holding it seems odd at first but provided you have got over that minor problem where do you begin?

Deciding exactly what kind of music you want to play is the first thing you must decide. This may seem obvious but it is strange just how many people start to learn to play the guitar, go for lessons from a local teacher but then give up a little while afterwards just because they wanted to play, for example, jazz but their teacher just taught them some tiresome classical piece.

Learning how to play the guitar should be a challenge, but also great fun. You are wasting your time if your trying to play music you hate. Don't forget that all the world's famous guitarists started at the beginning and had trouble with sore fingers and awkward shapes for chords. The only real difference is that they stuck at it and kept practicing.

For beginners there always is the question that is reading music for guitar necessary or not? The truth is that it really depends on the player themselves and what their final goals are. For a classical player hoping to make a career from their playing then I would advise them to start studying music notation - for everyone else it isn't necessary.

There is obviously a great help if you can sight read music and have an education that allows you to understand all the markings on the page but for most guitarists - that's what they want to do.

Learning how to read tablature or tabs takes only a few minutes to understand and then any piece is available to the student to learn, provided he has a recording. This is what all music readers constantly bring up when they extol the benefits of reading music for guitar. Tablature doesn't contain any information on the timing of a piece - so what. If any musical piece is worth listening to then someone somewhere has already recorded it. With the recording and the tablature all the information is available for others to play the piece.

With modern computers there are several programs available that not only can play the traditional musical notation but also produce the equivalent tablature. With these tools, even the most complex classical or jazz piece can be learned by someone with no knowledge of reading music for guitar at all.

So it really is just a question for the individual player to answer. There is no real need to learn in order to play even to a very advanced level but if you want to go ahead.

Many newcomers, when they start learning how to play the guitar cringe when their teacher informs them that they are going to have their first guitar scales lesson. It is understandable for without knowing scales you cannot appreciate their importance and value and they can seem just like a boring pointless exercise.

It is still vital for guitar beginners to start learning some music since that is what it is all about and being able to play some tunes encourages people to work harder to learn more. Once a student has been learning for a short time it is important to introduce a guitar scales lesson for various reasons. ....

There are so many advantages to learning scales on the guitar that it is impossible to cover them all here but one of the main benefits is that it is a great exercise for both the hands. Being able to move easily up and down the fretboard while employing different plucking / fingering techniques with the other hand guarantees that the student will be able to learn a musical piece much earlier.

Learning where the notes are on the fretboard will help with the understanding of chords and how to play them in alternative positions over the fretboard. This leads to probably the most important benefit that occurs after a good understanding of guitar scales has been achieved - the ability to improvise. Whether you want to play exciting heavy metal riffs or complex accompaniment to a jazz rhythm it is impossible to improvise unless you have a solid grounding in the playing of guitar scales. ....