Category Archives: Education

Troy D. Antunes to host Institute bass masterclass

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Planet-Musician

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance is delighted to welcome one of the busiest bass players and Musical Directors in contemporary, commercial music, Troy D. Antunes, for an intimate and exclusive bass masterclass at their London facility on Tuesday 20th June 2011.

Those who may have read his cover story from this month’s Bass Guitar magazine will already know that Troy, who is also known as FunkySillohuette, has been an integral part of the music industry for over 20 years. He has worked with some of the most successful high-profile pop artist of recent times, including the Backstreet Boys, Justin Timberlake, NSYNC, Britney Spears, Gloria Estefan, Marky Mark, Ciara and Samantha Mumba.

As a music producer Troy has developed the sound of a diverse range of artists from hip hop legend DMX to Liz McClarnon of Atomic Kitten and Bradley McIntosh, formally of the group S Club 7, for each of their solo projects.

Troy is now based in the UK where he runs FunkyViva Productions Ltd – a Production and Management company.

For more information on this Masterclass or other events at the Institute, contact us directly:

Posted in Bass, Education, Events

Chad Smith, Neil Peart and Terry Bozzio TV Shows Now On Demand With Comcast

Posted on May 20, 2011 by Planet-Musician

Drum Channel is now available On Demand in 18 million Comcast Digital households on the A & R Channel. Three shows are already available and a new show will be added every month.

Viewers will be able to find the Drum Channel shows in the A & R Channel Originals Folder, in the music folder on VOD.  Comcast subscribers can access it by pressing 1 or VOD on their remote, then scrolling down to the music folder. The first three shows now available are:

  1. The Back Story – the drummers of Rush, Jethro Tull and Frank Zappa share their stories and wisdom. Neil Peart, Doane Perry and Terry Bozzio also perform an amazing drum improvisation.
  2. Alex Acuña Trio; Acuña-Hoff-Mathisen, three of the most accomplished musicians in the world. Alex Acuña played with Weather Report and performed on over 1000 soundtracks and records. They perform and discuss stories of rhythm and culture.
  3. The Chad Smith Show. Chad is the beat behind the Red Hot Chili Peppers, With guest Kenny Aronoff, (John Mellencamp) they talk and play with the Bombastic Meatbats, one of LA’s hottest bands.

Drum Channel works with the best drummers in the world and their shows offer hours of interviews, roundtable discussions, band concerts, drum jams, master classes and drum lessons. Drum Channel shows bring you exclusive and original content providing rare access to drumming legends which gives you a special opportunity to learn about their lives and the many tips and techniques they love to share.

Comcast is the largest cable operator, home internet service provider, and third largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the District of Columbia.

To find out more about Drum Channel Shows visit DrumChannel.com.

To find out more about Comcast visit Comcast.com.

Posted in Drums & Percussion, Education, Events

Lick Library Present: Jam With Def Leppard Guitar Tuition DVD

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Planet-Musician

Lick Library wants to help you improve your guitar playing in 2011. With that in mind they have just released the Jam with Def Leppard guitar tuition double DVD complete with a CD of backing tracks to play along to. This DVD set takes you right from the early years through to more current tracks so you can really learn to play songs from one of the best selling bands in the world.

Def Leppard, who headline Download June 2011, are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over ten millions copies in the US, the other four being The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Van Halen. Their music is a multi-layered mixture of hard rock and pop, full of harmonic vocals and melodic guitar riffs. Their trade mark dual guitar sound arising from the inventive guitar orchestration of the ‘terror twins’ Steve Clark and Phil Collen. The combination of Steve ‘the riffmaster’ Clark and Phil Collen proved to be a perfect one. They challenged, complimented and inspired each other producing the ideal guitar tandem. Clark’s playing was rhythmic, melodic which contrasted and worked well with Collen’s more technical and precise approach.

Jam with Def Leppard (RRP £27.99) – brings you seven timeless Def Leppard tracks which includes Bring On the Heartbreak from their 1981 second album High ’n’ Dry. From Def Leppard’s third album Pyromania, released in 1983, Jamie Humphries takes a look at the all time great Photograph, which some consider the best pop metal song ever and Rock of Ages notable for the lack of guitar playing during the verses, but the choruses more than make up for that.  Also broken down into bite size pieces is the title track of the 1987 fourth album Hysteria, a mellow ballad with a clean guitar melody. This song has eleven guitar parts; Jamie concentrates on what you can hear and presents a hybrid you can play. Also from this album is the bands first top ten hit in the UK Animal, the song often regarded as the bands signature song Pour Some Sugar on Me and finally the wonderful power ballad Love Bites.

Jamie Humphries, one of the UK’s top rock guitarists, currently on tour with Brian May, presents the guitar tuition DVD. With the characteristic Lick Library split screen you can clearly see both of Jamie’s hands as he walks you through these tracks giving plain easy to understand explanations of what he is doing as he goes along. The set comes with a CD of all seven backing track so you can practice what you learn with a real band. Guitar tuition is at its best when you can go back, slow down, play along whenever and however you want, and that is exactly what this DVD allows you to do.

Going to Download this year? As well as Lick Library’s new DVD on the headliners Def Leppard they also have Guitar Tuition DVD’s on other Download bands including Avenge Sevenfold. To find out more about the full range of products visit www.licklibrary.com.

Posted in DVD, Education, Guitar

The Institute’s Robbie Boyd to play Beachbreak Live 2011

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Planet-Musician

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance is proud to announce that songwriting alumnus Robbie Boyd has been booked to play at the 5th year anniversary of Beachbreak Live as part of the biggest line-up to date.

Robbie has been booked to play two different stages during the festival, the first performing a solo acoustic set and the second with his full band. Sir Tim Rice recently referred to Robbie as a “very talented new singer/songwriter with the ability to create original songs without losing the commercial touch,” after selecting and playing one of Robbie’s tracks ‘Oh Alaska’ on his BBC Radio 2 series, ‘My American Pie’. Having played venues such as the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire already, Robbie is well set to impress the crowds at Beachbreak Live 2011.

Beachbreak Live is billed as the pinnacle of summer festivals for students attracting over 20,000 people each day of the event which runs from Thursday 16th June to Sunday 19th June. Robbie will be joining acts such as Tinie Tempah, White Lies, We Are Scientists, Katy B, Ed Sheeran and Example on the bill.

For more information on the Festival including how to book your tickets, please visit: www.beachbreaklive.com

For more information on courses and events at the Institute, contact us directly:

Posted in Education, Events

Over 500 Drum Rudiments!!

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Planet-Musician

Popular drumming education web site – NinjaDrummist.com has finally reached over 500 Drum Rudiments in their Rudiment Encyclopedia!

This time last year, Lewis Partridge (the site’s founder) had compiled a list of around 300 rudiments based on 2 years of research into rudimental drumming culture and its history. Drummers from all over the world began to send in new rudiments to add to the list and now the encyclopedia contains over 500 sticking patterns!

In order to help you in learning and perfecting each drum rudiment, they have included easy to read examples, performance tips, free PDF sheet music and video tutorials. Lewis is also compiling a book containing all 500 drum rudiments in an educational work book style layout that will hopefully be released sometime next year!

There are currently 566 variations so far!

Do you know of any Drum Rudiments that are not listed in Lewis’ encyclopedia? Please contact Lewis and help to keep this educational resource complete and up to date.

Posted in Drums & Percussion, Education, Sheet Music, Snare Drums

Lick Library Launch Jam With Tom Petty Guitar Tuition DVD

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Planet-Musician

Lick Library continues to launch a wide and varied range of Guitar Tuition DVDs and their latest product further extends their catalogue with the new Jam with Tom Petty double DVD and CD set. The new DVD features over three hours of guitar workshop tutorials in a collection of classic Tom Petty tracks that covers a period of over fifteen years of solo and Heartbreakers music brought to you by top guitar tutor Danny Gill. Also included is a CD of professionally recorded guitar jam tracks for each song allowing you to play along with a full session band!

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers are acknowledged as a world-class outfit whose members are able to blend an array of musical styles and create their own distinctive sound in the process. The bands virtuoso guitarist Mike Campbell has been the back bone of these magical pieces of music. He is noted for his ability to play incredibly melodic tunes whilst never wasting a note, often using two or three strings at a time instead of the more conventional one string at a time.

Jam with Tom Petty (RRP £27.99) – brings you seven classic Tom Petty tracks which includes the fast and urgent American Girl, full of great jangling guitar riffs, followed by the track Refugee. The next lesson features the track Here Comes My Girl from the breakthrough hit 1979 album ‘Damn the Torpedoes’.  Danny then takes a look at the critically acclaimed Free Fallin’, a huge anthem, and one of Tom Petty’s most famous tracks and Runnin’ Down A Dream, from Tom’s first solo album. Next comes the very popular Learning To Fly, a deceptively simple song with a unique structure based on only four simple chords, F, C, A minor and G. Last but not least is Mary Jane’s Last Dance, known for its fuzzy guitar solo.

This guitar tuition DVD is presented by the multitalented Danny Gill. A versatile guitar player, tutor and songwriter, whose cool calm approach helps you understand each section as he breaks each track down into its component parts and will help you learn how to achieve that distinctive Tom Petty sound. Even better you can easily see what both hands are doing on the guitar with the split screen a standard feature of all Lick Library DVDs, plus you can watch any part of each lesson or track again and again through the easy to use menu navigation.

Log on and learn with Lick Library where in addition to being able to purchase a wide range of guitar tuition DVDs, you can download more guitar tracks, watch video tutorials and participate in a large online guitar community. To find out more about these and other products visit www.licklibrary.com.

Posted in DVD, Education, Guitar

Hudson Music releases Drumbassadors: One for the Money, But Two for the Show DVD

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Planet-Musician

Hudson Music has announced the upcoming release of One for the Money, but Two for the Show on the Hudson Ltd. label. Featuring Europe’s most dynamic drumming duo, the Drumbassadors, the 2-DVD set combines beautifully filmed concert footage with tons of educational content.

Disc one contains a concert performed by the Drumbassadors (René Creemers and Wim de Vries) for a wildly enthusiastic live audience in the Netherlands in 2009. René and Wim display the amazing creativity and virtuosity that they have become known for, while performing beautiful original drum compositions. Supported by a handful of guest musicians, the performances take you to a unique peak in the world of musical
drumming.

Disc 2 is an instructional DVD on which René and Wim discuss matters such as stick grip, stroke technique, motion, balance, tone, dynamics, coordination, phrasing, and melodic playing. Further attention is given to playing with brushes and effective practice habits. René and Wim then demonstrate once again, through a number of solo, duo and band performances, how hugely creative and varied their style of playing is.

The 2-disc DVD set is available for $39.95, and is on sale at drum shops and music stores worldwide. It is also available as a digital download via Hudson on Demand. Please visit your favorite dealer’s website or www.hudsonmusic.com.

Posted in Drums & Percussion, DVD, Education

Guitar Institute Announces 2011 Steve Vai Scholarship Winner is Benjamin Lechuga

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Planet-Musician

The Guitar Institute, part of London’s Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, is delighted to announce the winners of this year’s Steve Vai Scholarship, as chosen by legendary Grammy award-winning guitarist Steve Vai.  This exclusive scholarship is worth over £7,500 annually, with the award comprising one fully-funded place plus one part-funded place on the Guitar Institute’s renowned one-year Higher Diploma course.

After uploading original performances to the Guitar Institute’s Steve Vai Scholarship website, a selection of finalists were chosen by a combination public voting and a panel of experts from the Institute. The shortlist was then presented to Steve Vai, who has recently confirmed that he will be joining the 2011 ‘Experience Hendrix’ tribute tour, to pick the full scholarship winner and the partial scholarship winner.

The Guitar Institute and Steve Vai are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2011 Steve Vai Scholarship is Benjamín Lechuga from Chile with the partial scholarship going to Gabe Dovaston!

Benjamín now has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to professionally develop his talent and skills at London’s Guitar Institute. As well as enjoying this great opportunity to learn, Benjamín will also benefit from the many opportunities that arise at the school to write, collaborate and perform in live London showcase events in front of key industry insiders. Benjamín had the following to say about the experience:

I still remember the first time I went to a live concert; December 6th, 2000, I was 12, and Steve Vai played in Santiago, Chile as part of his Ultra Zone tour. That day my perception not only about guitar playing, but most importantly, music, changed completely.  When I found out that I made it to the final round and that Steve Vai himself was going to listen to my music and watch my video, it was an enormous prize in itself! But being chosen from participants from all around the world, as the overall winner is simply unexplainable.  Now Mr. Vai is changing my life once again. Many thanks to both the Guitar Institute and Steve Vai for giving me this wonderful opportunity!

For more information courses and events at the Institute, contact us directly:

Posted in Education, Events, Guitar, Special Offers

Lick Library Unleashes ‘Jam With Black Sabbath’ Guitar Tuition DVD

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Planet-Musician

Further extending its metal collection, Lick Library unleashes Jam with Black Sabbath into the world. This double DVD and CD set features the nimble fingers of Danny Gill taking you through all the fine points of playing the guitar with that deep, heavy sound synonymous with Tony Iommi.

One of the first and most influential heavy metal bands, Black Sabbath helped define the genre with albums like the quadruple platinum Paranoid. MTV ranked them as the ‘Greatest Metal Band’ of all time and Tony Iommi is widely recognised as one of the most important and influential guitarists in the heavy metal world. Along with legend Jimmy Page he is credited with pioneering the mammoth riffs of heavy metal. His revolutionary signature sound was born of necessity, when an accident caused him to lose the tips of his fingers, thus bringing about the need to detune his guitars, use lighter strings and thimbles in order to reduce the stress on his fingers.

Danny Gill, guitar player, tutor, and song writer takes you through these weighty songs at a pace suitable for all. He strips each song down to its component parts and slowly takes you through them piece by piece as he shows you how to play them. And all the time you can see exactly what each hand is doing with the famous Lick Library split screen.

Jam with Black Sabbath (RRP £26.99) – is a must for metal enthusiasts, taking you step by step through the legendary riffs of seven Black Sabbath tracks that helped define the seventies. Danny takes you through three tracks from the Paranoid album, Iron Man used recently in the film of the same title. Also from the same album come one of the bands most enduring compositions War Pigs, and the bluesy Fairies Wear Boots.  From Masters of Reality, Danny walks you through The Void and Children Of The Grave, in which Tony Iommi rarely ventures above middle C sharp, spending almost the whole song below that note with the exception of the solo. Other tracks include N.I.B. named after the then drummer’s beard, and Snowblind, the Black Sabbath classic that demonstrates so well the heavy sound that they became so well known for.

LickLibrary also offer Learn to Play Black Sabbath, Black Sabbath Jamtrax or Learn To Play Black Sabbath, Perfect Partners Set for guitarists looking to develop further Tony Iommi licks and guitar parts. To find out more about these and other products visit www.licklibrary.com.

Posted in Education, Guitar

Institute alumnus performs at Snowbombing Festival with Dub Pistols

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Planet-Musician

The Institute of Contemporary Music Performance alumnus Jack Cowens (Degree, drum) performed at the popular sport and music festival Snowbombing on 5th April in Austria.

The drummer of London-based dub and big beat band the Dub Pistols, Jack took to the stage in the week-long festival supporting Magnetic Man, Professor Green and Ed Sheeran.  Other music acts throughout the festival include Pendulum, The Prodigy, Chase & Status, Fatboy Slim, Example and Dan Le Sac v Scroobius Pip.

Run since 2000, Snowbombing has become Europe’s biggest snow and music festival and won ‘Best Overseas Festival’ at the Festival Awards UK 2010.  Make sure to catch highlights of the week on BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1 Xtra.

For more information courses and events at the Institute, contact us directly:

Posted in Education, Events