Now is the right time to become an American Federation of Musicians member. From ragtime to rap, from the early phonograph to today's digital recordings, the AFM has been there for its members. And now there are more benefits available to AFM members than ever before, including a multi-million dollar pension fund, excellent contract protection, instrument and travelers insurance, work referral programs and access to licensed booking agents to keep you working.
As an AFM member, you are part of a membership of more than 80,000 musicians. Experience has proven that collective activity on behalf of individuals with similar interests is the most effective way to achieve a goal. The AFM can negotiate agreements and administer contracts, procure valuable benefits and achieve legislative goals. A single musician has no such power.
The AFM has a proud history of managing change rather than being victimized by it. We find strength in adversity, and when the going gets tough, we get creative - all on your behalf.
Like the industry, the AFM is also changing and evolving, and its policies and programs will move in new directions dictated by its members. As a member, you will determine these directions through your interest and involvement. Your membership card will be your key to participation in governing your union, keeping it responsive to your needs and enabling it to serve you better. To become a member now, visit www.afm.org/join.
Aria Light’s Forte high brightness LED music stand light has an eight-hour rechargeable battery runtime on full brightness (and 36+ hours on half brightness). Its lithium polymer battery also provides fast USB charging for musicians on the go and battery life is easily checked with the built-in charge indicator. Forte’s housing is made of lightweight, durable aluminum and designed and assembled in the US. It comes with a USB charger, nine-foot cord, and a one-year warranty.
In Cello, Bow, and You, cellist, certified Alexander Technique teacher, and Local 802 (New York City) member Evangeline Benedetti has pioneered an approach to playing that is a synthesis of the cellist’s musical thought, knowledge of the dynamic properties of the instrument and bow, and ability to move effectively according to the mechanics of the human body and laws of gravity. She encourages cellists of all levels to be more aware of themselves and responsive, leading to healthier playing and greater musical expressiveness.
Cello, Bow, and You: Putting It All Together, by Evangeline Benedetti, Oxford University Press, www.oup.com.
Soloing is an important part of playing, but when you are practicing on your own it is difficult to get the creative juices flowing without a band. This series of books with DVDs for guitarists and pianists lets you practice comping and soloing as if you had a live band. Expert instrumentalists lead you through tips and techniques to give life to your practice sessions and add new sounds to your music vocabulary. Books are available in blues, jazz, and rock genres for both piano and guitar.
Sitting In: Blues Piano/Guitar; Sitting In: Jazz Piano/Guitar; Sitting In: Rock Piano/Guitar, Alfred Music, www.alfred.com.
This book provides a practical method for developing the ability to create convincing jazz solos in a wide variety of situations. The concept is based on the idea that any long line from transcribed jazz solos can be broken down into smaller “cells” that have melodic content so idiomatic to the jazz language that they can be recombined into new individual lines that sound as authentic as the original, without simply copying. Actual jazz lines recorded by master players are sliced up and recombined into longer lines to fit almost any harmonic situation. While designed for all instruments, many of the solos are from guitarists as this is an edited version of Local 6 (San Francisco, CA) member Randy Vincent’s original book on the topic, Jazz Guitar Soloing: The Cellular Approach.
Building Solo Lines from Cells for All Instruments, by Randy Vincent,
Sher Music Co., shermusic.com.
The first black female singer on BBC Radio and the first black British female singer to work in America, Evelyn Dove was a trailblazer in the arts industry. Refusing to be constrained by her race or middle-class West African and English backgrounds, she embraced the worlds of jazz, musical theatre, and cabaret, and mesmerized audiences with her grace and beauty. This book examines her extraordinary career filled with many highs and lows. It is illustrated by more than 50 rare photographs from her private collection, now in the possession of author Stephen Bourne.
Evelyn Dove: Britain’s Black Cabaret Queen, by Stephen Bourne,
Jacaranda Books Art Music Ltd., www.jacarandabooksartmusic.co.uk.
In this memoir, Hawaiian slack key guitarist Patrick Landeza describes what it was like to learn the instrument from some of the masters of the genre— George Kuo of Local 677 (Honolulu, HI), Raymond Kāne, Dennis Kamakahi, and Cyril Pahinui. Landeza describes how, having not been born in Hawaii, learning slack key guitar connected him with his roots and led him to become one of the leading slack key guitarists of today.
From the Island of Berkeley: Memoirs from a California-Born Hawaiian, by Patrick Landeza, Addison St. Books, www.patricklandeza.com.
Set against the backdrop of a rapidly changing New York City in the 1980s, Sticking It Out recounts Local 6 (San Francisco, CA) member Patti Niemi’s years mastering her craft and struggling to make it in a cutthroat race to a coveted job in an orchestra. Along the way, she has to compete with friends, and face her own crippling anxiety and reliance on prescription medication, while confronting the delicate, and sometimes perilous, balance of power between teachers and their students.
Sticking It Out: From Juilliard to the Orchestra Pit a Percussionist’s Memoir, by Patti Niemi, ECW Press, ecwpress.com.
The Hal Leonard Trumpet Play-Along series is designed to help you learn to play tunes quickly and easily with printed music and access to online audio tracks for download and streaming. Volume 2, Trumpet Classics includes “Ciribiribin,” Harry James; “Feels So Good,” Chuck Mangione; “Java,” Al Hirt; “Music to Watch Girls By,” Bob Crewe Generation; “Spanish Flea,” Herb Alpert; “Sugar Blue,” Al Hirt; “A Taste of Honey,” Herb Alpert; and “The Toy Trumpet,” Raymond Scott. The other three volumes available are: Volume 1, Popular Hits; Volume 3, Classic Rock, and Volume 4, Great Themes.
Hal Leonard Trumpet Play-Along Volume 2, Hal Leonard Corporation,
www.halleonard.com.
Great for students, Alfred’s Ultimate Easy Play-Along series features easy-to-play arrangements of guitar parts from classic recordings in both TAB and notation. Every book comes with a DVD of tips and a video giving a close-up view of how the parts are played, plus MP3s and TNT 2 software to change the mix, slow tracks down, isolate sections, and loop parts for practice. Available in the series are: The British Invasion 1964, Rush, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and The Rolling Stones.
Alfred’s Ultimate Easy Play-Along Series, Alfred Music, Alfred.com.
In this book author and Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan chronicles his journeys to find new and ancient sounds, textured voices, and nonmalleable songs as he presents readers with an intricate look at our technological society. He explores how colonization has damaged distinct variations between groups through generalizations; the importance of imperfection to authenticity; gaps between manufacturing and invention; and music’s saturation in everyday life.
How Music Dies (or Lives): Field Recording and the Battle for Democracy in the Arts, by Ian Brennan, Allworth Press, www.allworth.com.
