Dizzy O'Brian

Why Independent Artists? The question being, why independent artists? If you have the freedom to choose between a few things that are, for all practical purposes, the same, do you really have a freedom of choice? Once upon a time, there was but one Catholic Church and the service was in Latin and there was NO music. No freedom of choice there. One couldn’t say ‘honey, let’s pop down to the new church on the corner and hear the service in German, so we’d know what the hell their saying, and maybe they’ll have some nice lute music.’ No, there was none of that. Of course, we’re talking about the Dark Ages. Then Martin Luther thought he’d just translate the service into German, not change anything, mind you, and for that he was excommunicated. So, as far as music went first you had the Church controlling things and then it sort of shifted over to Royalty and such, supporting music, so they had control and wanted mostly party music. So, all the while the composers dreamt of bei...

Everybody's Got One On The Beatles album, Magical Mystery Tour, there is the song; “I am the Walrus,” which has, among other things, a voice chanting a particular phrase. Everyone took this particular phrase to be “everyone smoke pot,” but John Lennon insisted that the correct phrase was “everyone’s got one.” I tend to take the latter explanation as being correct. Here’s why; let’s take a look at some of the lyrics from “Instant Karma.” “Who in the hell d'you think you are? A super star? Well, right you are! Well we all shine on Like the moon and the stars and the sun Well we all shine on Ev'ryone come on” So what is it that everyone got? Well, a connection, a source, whatever you want to call it. It’s a source of power and wisdom where one’s truth can be found. Dig it; in the Old Testament, you find these people called Judges. Judges were the only ones who could talk to God, so that pretty much eliminates any argument and makes the Judge a god practically...

The Primary Chords in Music Music has it's equivalent of the primary colors and they are called the Primary Chords. They are also known as the Blues Chords. They are the three major chords out of a given scale. If you want more information about the Primary Chords check here . They are the most used chords in all of music, certainly in pop music as the video below will demonstrate in a humorous way. But, if they are the most used chords, is it any wonder that groups are suing each other so much, saying that their material has been stolen? The Primary Chords have been known for hundreds of years, in fact and composers have certainly tried to get away from them a bit as time went on.  As an experiment, I wrote a piece that contains no primary chords whatsoever and, even though I think it's interesting this is not something I foresee doing on a regular basis. If you want to check it out, click here .  I call it "Second by Second" since it contains only the 'secon...

The Universality of Music In an interview, Sir Paul McCartney made the remark that, in the early days, they wrote ‘fan songs.’ Love letters to their fans, so to speak.  A songwriter may be initially inspired to write a song by something that has gone on in his own life but he can easily turn that into a song with a broad appeal by spotting the elements of it that most people have also experienced. Such songs speak to countless listeners who all share similar experiences of their own. The song “I’ve Got A Feeling,” by The Beatles epitomizes this kind of song; “I've got a feeling, a feeling deep inside Oh yeah, oh yeah. I've got a feeling, a feeling I can't hide Oh no, oh no, oh no. Yeah, I've got a feeling. Oh please believe me, I'd hate to miss the train Oh yeah, oh yeah. And if you leave me I won't be late again Oh no, oh no, oh no. Yeah, I've got a feeling, yeah. All these years I've been wandering around, Wondering how come no...

The Power of New Music Did you ever wonder what the world would be like if new music didn’t exist? One thing you have to understand is that new music has a long history. Let’s just go back to the Dark Ages, for example. This is not so long ago, but it will do for the sake of our discussion.  In the Dark Ages everything was under the control of a family called ‘The Church.’ The top dogs in The Church were the Popes and there were some really bad ones, like the Borgias, for example. Back in this time, if you stepped out of line or were suspected of saying anything out of line, you were quickly tried and executed by being stoned or burned at the stake.  Music was mainly done in the church and consisted of monotone chanting of Latin biblical texts. There was no melody and no rhythm except that it fit the syllables of the text. There were no musical instruments allowed. This was because the Church was afraid that music with melody and rhythm would just be too stimulating for the...