RaftingCanadian

Although Miles Davis first appeared on bebop recordings of Charlie Parker, his first important session as a leader was called The Birth Of The Cool. An album containing all the recordings of this group is available. The cool jazz style has been described as a reaction against the fast tempos and the complex melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic ideas of bebop. These ideas were picked up by many west coast musicians, and this style is thus also called West Coast jazz. This music is generally more relaxed than bebop. Other musicians in the cool style include saxophonists Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan, and trumpet player Chet Baker. Stan Getz is also credited with the popularization of Brazilian styles such as the bossa nova and samba. These and a few other Latin American styles are sometimes collectively known as Latin jazz.

Many groups in the cool style do not use a piano, and instead rely on counterpoint and harmonization among the horns, usually saxophone and trumpet, to outline chord progressions. Pianist-led groups that developed from this school include those of Dave Brubeck (with Paul Desmond on saxophone), Lennie Tristano (with Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh on saxophones), and the Modern Jazz Quartet or MJQ (featuring John Lewis on piano and Milt Jackson on vibraphone), which also infuses elements of classical music. The incorporation of classical music into jazz is often called the third stream.

Made up of a set of two small drums attached by a thick piece of wood, bongos are played while held between the knees. The two drums are of different sizes, with the larger one being called the hembra (Spanish for female) and the smaller one called the macho (male).

Bongos evolved from a set of drums used in religious ceremonies by certain tribes in Africa. When these people were enslaved by the Spanish and brought to Cuba to work in the coffee and sugar plantations, their traditional practices came with them to Cuba. One of the drums used by these people (called the Abakua in Cuba) was called the “bonko enchemiya,” from which the word "bongo" could be derived.

In what has been described as either an extension of bebop ora backlash against cool, a style of music known as hard bop developed in the 1950's. This style also downplayed the technically demanding melodies of bebop, but did so without compromising intensity. It did this by maintaining the rhythmic drive of bebop while including a healthier dose of the blues and gospel music. Art Blakey And The Jazz Messengers were, for decades, the most well-known exponent of this style. Many musicians came up through the so-called "University Of Blakey". Blakey's early groups included pianist Horace Silver, trumpet player Clifford Brown, and saxophonist Lou Donaldson. Clifford Brown also co-led a group with Max Roach that is considered one of the great working quintets in history. Several albums from these groups are available today and all are recommended. Miles Davis also recorded several albums in this style during the early 1950's. There were also a number of groups led by or including organists that came from this school, with even more of a blues and gospel influence. Organist Jimmy Smith and tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine were popular players in this genre.

Chenda is a cylindrical wooden drum which is two feet in length and about a foot in diameter. Both sides of the chenda is covered with skin. Although the chenda has two faces, only one surface of it is beaten. The drummer suspends the chenda from his neck such that it hangs more or less vertically and with two sticks held in both the hands, he strikes the upper parchment. It is an important percussion instrument used in 'Kathakali', 'Koodiyattam' and related forms of dances.

The same instrument is known as the chende in certain areas of Karnataka and it is used in 'Yakshagana' which is a folk dance-drama. The sound produced by the chenda is very loud. There are many varieties of this drum like uruttu chenda (for playing variations), the veekku chenda (one which beats the basic rhythm), acchan chenda and so on.

The period from the mid 1950's until the mid 1960's represents the heyday of mainstream modern jazz. Many of those now considered among the greatest of all time achieved their fame in this era.

Miles Davis had four important groups during this time. The first featured John Coltrane ("Trane") on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and "Philly" Joe Jones on drums. This group is sometimes considered the single greatest jazz group ever. Most of their albums are available today, including the series of Workin' ..., Steamin' ..., Relaxin' ..., and Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet. Miles perfected his muted ballad playing with this group, and the rhythm section was considered by many to be the hardest swinging in the business. The second important Davis group came with the addition of alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderly and the replacement of Garland with Bill Evans or Wynton Kelly and the replacement of Jones with Jimmy Cobb. The album Kind Of Blue from this group is high on most lists of favorite jazz albums. The primary style of this group is called modal, as it relies on songs written around simple scales or modes that often last for many measures each, as opposed to the quickly changing complex harmonies of bebop derived styles. The third Davis group of the era was actually the Gil Evans orchestra. Miles recorded several classic albums with Gil, including Sketches Of Spain. The fourth important Miles group of this period included Wayne Shorter on saxophone, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. The early recordings of this group, including Live At The Plugged Nickel, as well as the earlier My Funny Valentine, with George Coleman on saxophone instead of Wayne Shorter, mainly feature innovative versions of standards. Later recordings such as Miles Smiles and Nefertiti consist of originals, including many by Wayne Shorter, that largely transcend traditional harmonies. Herbie Hancock developeda new approach to harmonization that was based as much on sounds as on any conventional theoretical underpinning. John Coltrane is another giant of this period. In addition to his playing with Miles, he recorded the album Giant Steps under his own name, which showed him to be one of the most technically gifted and harmonically advanced players around. After leaving Miles, he formed a quartet with pianist McCoy Tyner, drummer Elvin Jones, and a variety of bass players, finally settling on Jimmy Garrison. Coltrane's playing with this group showed him to be one of the most intensely emotional players around. Tyner is also a major voice on his instrument, featuring a very percussive attack. Elvin Jones is a master of rhythmic intensity. This group evolved constantly, from the relatively traditional post bop of My Favorite Things to the high energy modal of A Love Supreme to the wailing avant garde of Meditations and Ascension.

Charles Mingus was another influential leader during this period. His small groups tended to be less structured than others, giving more freedom to the individual players, although Mingus also directed larger ensembles in which most of the parts were written out. Mingus' compositions for smaller groups were often only rough sketches, and performances were sometimes literally composed or arranged on the bandstand, with Mingus calling out directions to the musicians. Alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist, and flautist Eric Dolphy was a mainstay of Mingus' groups. His playing was often described angular, meaning that the interval in his lines were often large leaps, as opposed to scalar lines, consist mostly of steps. The album Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus featuring Dolphy is a classic.

Thelonious Monk is widely regarded as one of the most important composers in jazz, as well as being a highly original pianist. His playing is more sparse than most of his contemporaries. Some of his albums include Brilliant Corners and Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane. Pianist Bill Evans was known as one of the most sensitive ballad players, and his trio albums, particularly Waltz For Debby, with Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums, are models of trio interplay. Wes Montgomery was one of the most influential of jazz guitarists. He often played in groups with an organist, and had a particularly soulful sound. He also popularized the technique of playing solos in octaves. His early albums include Full House. Later albums were more commercial and less well regarded. Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins rivaled Coltrane in popularity and recorded many albums under his own name, including Saxophone Colossus and The Bridge, which also featured Jim Hall on guitar. Sonny also recorded with Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, and other giants.

Other noteworthy musicians of the era include saxophonists Jackie McLean, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, and Charlie Rouse; trumpet players Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw, and Booker Little; trombonists J. J. Johnson and Curtis Fuller; clarinetist Jimmy Guiffre, pianists Tommy Flanagan, Hank Jones, Bobby Timmons, Mal Waldron, Andrew Hill, Cedar Walton, Chick Corea, and Ahmad Jamal; organist Larry Young, guitarists Kenny Burrell and Joe Pass; guitarist and harmonica player Toots Thielemans; vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson; bassists Ray Brown, Percy Heath, Sam Jones, Buster Williams, Reggie Workman, Doug Watkins, and Red Mitchell; drummers Billy Higgins and Ben Riley; and vocalists Jon Hendricks, Eddie Jefferson, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Carmen McRae, Abbey Lincoln, and Shirley Horn. Big bands such as those of Woody Herman and Stan Kenton also thrived.

The Darbuka is an hour-glass shaped drum that can be found throughout North African, Turkish and Middle Eastern cutures. Its name has many variations in spelling including:

• Darabuka

• Darbuka

• Doumbek

• Dumbek

• Dumbeck

• Doumbeck

The Darbuka is played with the fingertips and is help under one arm. Various materials can be used to create a Darbuka, such as metal, wood, or clay with a plastic or goat skin across the drum head.

To alter the tone, some players move their fists in and out of the bell to adjust the tone.

Miles Davis helped usher in the fusion of jazz and rock in the mid to late 1960's through albums such as Bitches Brew and Jack Johnson. His bands during this period featured Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Joe Zawinul on electric piano, Ron Carter and Dave Holland on bass, John McLaughlin on guitar, and Tony Williams and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Tony Williams formed a rock oriented band called Lifetime with John McLaughlin, who also formed his own high energy group, the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Through the 1970's Miles continued to explore new directions in the use of electronics and the incorporation of funk and rock elements into his music, leading to albums such as Pangea and Agharta.

Other groups combined jazz and rock in a more popularly oriented manner, from the crossover Top 40 of Spyro Gyra and Chuck Mangione to the somewhat more esoteric guitarist Pat Metheny. Other popular fusion bands include Weather Report, featuring Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, and bass players Jaco Pastorius and Miroslav Vitous; Return To Forever, featuring Chick Corea and bassist Stanley Clarke; The Crusaders, featuring saxophonist Wilton Felder and keyboardist Joe Sample; the Yellowjackets, featuring keyboardist Russell Ferrante; and the Jeff Lorber Fusion, which originally featured Kenny G on saxophone. In recent years, several fusion bands have achieved much commercial success, including those of Pat Metheny and Kenny G.

The Dholak is a classical North Indian hand drum. A dholak may have traditional lacing or turnbuckle tuning. The dholak has a simple membrane on the right-hand side. The left-hand membrane has a special coating on the inner surface. This coating is a mixture of tar, clay and sand (dholak masala) which lowers the pitch and provides a well-defined tone. The dholak is the main accompaniment instrument of the Qawwali.

The Dholak is often used in Filmi Sangeet or Indian film music.

While fusion seemed to dominate the jazz market in the 1970's and early 1980's, there were other developments as well. Some performers started borrowing from 20th century classical music as well as African and other forms of world music. These musicians include Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, saxophonists Anthony Braxton, David Murray, and Dewey Redman, clarinetist John Carter, pianists Carla Bley and Muhal Richard Abrams, the World Saxophone Quartet, featuring four saxophonists with no rhythm section, and the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, featuring trumpet player Lester Bowie and woodwind player Roscoe Mitchell. Their music tended to emphasize compositional elements more sophisticated than the head-solos-head form.

Some groups, such as Oregon, rejected the complexity and dissonance of modern jazz and played in a much simpler style, which has given rise to the current New Age music. On the other extreme are musicians like saxophonist John Zorn and guitarists Sonny Sharrock and Fred Frith, who engaged in a frenetic form of free improvisation sometimes called energy music. Somewhere in between was the long lived group formed by saxophonist George Adams, who was influenced by Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders, and pianist Don Pullen, who was influenced by Cecil Taylor. This group drew heavily from blues music and well as the avant garde. Other important musicians during the 1970's and 1980's include pianists Abdullah Ibrahim, Paul Bley, Anthony Davis and Keith Jarrett.

Not all developments in jazz occur in the United States. Many European musicians extended some of the free jazz ideas of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor, and further dispensed with traditional forms. Others turned toward a more introspective music. Some of the more successful of the European improvisers include saxophonists Evan Parker, John Tchicai, John Surman, and Jan Garbarek, trumpet players Kenny Wheeler and Ian Carr, pianist John Taylor, guitarists Derek Bailey and Allan Holdsworth, bassist Eberhard Weber, drummer John Stevens, and arrangers Mike Westbrook, Franz Koglman, and Willem Breuker.

The Djun-Djun or Djum-Djum (pronounced dununs or dundun) is a cylindrical, double-headed bass drum carved from solid Dembu log and using with cow skin membranes. The Djun-djun is found throughout South America and West Africa. Djun-djun are worn over the shoulder and played with two sticks: one for the bass tones and the other for a bell tied to the side of the drum. Often the player also has a whistle with which to blow calls and breaks to dancers.

The Djun-djun has roots going back to the Mali Empire. This region of West Africa includes all or portions the present day countries of Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

The three djun-djuns, from smallest to largest are named: Kenkeni, Sangban, and Dunumba.

One of the big trends of today is a return to the bebop and post bop roots of modern jazz. This movement is often referred to as neoclassicism. Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and his brother, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, have achieved much popular success playing music that is based on styles of the 1950's and 1960's. The best of this group of young musicians, including the Marsalises and their rhythm sections of Kenny Kirkland or Marcus Roberts on piano, Bob Hurst on bass, and Jeff "Tain" Watts on drums, manage to extend the art through new approaches to melodicism, harmony, rhythm, and form, rather than just recreate the music of past masters.

An exciting development since the mid 1980's has been a collective of musicians that refers to its music as M-Base. There seems to be some disagreement, even among its members, as to what this means exactly, but the music is characterized by angular melodic lines played over complex funky beats with unusual rhythmic twists. This movement is led by saxophonists Steve Coleman, Greg Osby, and Gary Thomas, trumpet player Graham Haynes, trombonist Robin Eubanks, bass player Anthony Cox, and drummer Marvin "Smitty" Smith.

Many other musicians are making strong music in the modern tradition. Among musicians already mentioned, there are Ornette Coleman, David Murray, Joe Henderson, Dewey Redman, Cecil Taylor, Charlie Haden, Dave Holland, Tony Williams, and Jack DeJohnette. Others include saxophonists Phil Woods, Frank Morgan, Bobby Watson, Tim Berne, John Zorn, Chico Freeman, Courtney Pine, Michael Brecker, Joe Lovano, Bob Berg, and Jerry Bergonzi; clarinetists Don Byron and Eddie Daniels; trumpet players Tom Harrell, Marcus Belgrave, and Arturo Sanduval; trombonists Steve Turre and Ray Anderson; pianists Geri Allen, Mulgrew Miller, Kenny Barron, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Eduard Simon, Renee Rosnes, and Marilyn Crispell; guitarists John Scofield, Bill Frisell, and Kevin Eubanks; vibraphonist Gary Burton; bassists Niels-Henning Oersted Pedersen and Lonnie Plaxico; and vocalists Bobby McFerrin and Cassandra Wilson. This is by no means a complete list, and you are encouraged to listen to as many musicians as possible to increase your awareness and appreciation for different styles.

The ghatam is a percussion instrument used for South Indian Carnatic music. Its a large earthenware pot with thick walls made from clay mixed with iron filings. The iron filings help give the ghatam more strength and a higher quality product. Great effort is made to keep the walls a similar thickness and shape as this determines the pitch of the sound produced.

To play a ghatam, a player sits with his legs crossed and the ghatam on his lap. The opening can be pressed against the players stomach, pointing up or facing the audience depending on the type of tone the player is after. With the mouth of the ghatam against the players stomach, a deeper sound can be achieved.

To create a sound, the player strikes the ghatam with various parts of their hands. The palms, fingertips, wrists and fingernails can all be used. Various parts of ghatams can be hit to produce different sounds and sound volumes.

Have you ever heard co-workers talking around the water cooler about a hot tip on a bond? We didn't think so. Tracking bonds can be about as thrilling as watching a chess match, whereas watching stocks can have some investors as excited as NFL fans during the Superbowl. But don't let the hype (or lack thereof) mislead you. Both stocks and bonds have their pros and cons, and in this article we will explain the advantages of bonds and why you might want to include them in your portfolio.

A Safe Haven For Your Money

Those just entering the investment scene are usually able to grasp the concepts underlying stocks and bonds. Essentially, the difference can be summed up in one phrase: debt versus equity. That is, bonds represent debt, and stocks represent equity ownership. (If you are unfamiliar with the differences between these two securities or need a quick refresher on the subject, check out the stock and bond tutorials.)

This difference brings us to the first main advantage of bonds: in general, investing in debt is safer than investing in equity. The reason for this is the priority that debtholders have over shareholders. If a company goes bankrupt, debtholders are ahead of shareholders in the line to get paid. In a worst-case scenario such as bankruptcy, the creditors (debtholders) usually get at least some of their money back, while shareholders often lose their entire investment.

In terms of safety, bonds from the U.S. government (Treasury bonds) are considered "risk-free". (There are no stocks that are considered as such.) If capital preservation - which is a fancy term for "never losing any money" - is your primary goal, then a bond from a stable government is your best investment. But keep in mind that although bonds are safer as a general rule, that doesn't mean they are all completely safe. Very risky bonds are known as junk bonds. (Learn more by reading Junk Bonds: Everything You Need To Know.)

Slow and Steady - Predictable Returns

If history is any indication, stocks will outperform bonds in the long run. However, bonds outperform stocks at certain times in the economic cycle. It's not unusual for stocks to lose 10% or more in a year, so when bonds comprise a portion of your portfolio, they can help smooth out the bumps when a recession comes around.

There are always conditions in which we need security and predictability. Retirees, for instance, often rely on the predictable income generated by bonds. If your portfolio consisted solely of stocks, it would be quite disappointing to retire two years into a bear market! By owning bonds, retirees are able to predict with a greater degree of certainty how much income they'll have in their golden years. An investor who still has many years until retirement has plenty of time to make up for any losses from periods of decline in equities.

Better Than The Bank…

Sometimes bonds are just the only decent option. The interest rates on bonds are typically greater than the rates paid by banks on savings accounts. As a result, if you are saving and you don't need the money in the short term, bonds will give you the greatest return without posing too much risk.

College savings are a good example of funds you want to increase through investment, while also protecting them from risk. Parking your money in the bank is a start, but it's not going to give you any return. With bonds, aspiring college students (or their parents) can predict their investment earnings and determine the amount they'll have to contribute to accumulate their tuition nest egg by the time college rolls around.

How Much Should You Put Towards Bonds?

There really is no easy answer to this question. Quite often you'll hear an old rule that says investors should formulate their allocation by subtracting their age from 100. The resulting figure indicates the percentage of a person's assets that should be invested in stocks, with the rest spread between bonds and cash. According to this rule, a 20 year old should have 80% in stocks and 20% in cash and bonds, while someone who is 65 should have 35% of assets in stocks and 65% in bonds and cash. That being said, guidelines are just guidelines. Determining the asset allocation of your portfolio involves many factors including your investing timeline, risk tolerance, future goals, perception of the market and income. Unfortunately, exploring the various factors affecting risk is beyond the scope of this article.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article has cleared up some misconceptions about bonds and demonstrated when they are appropriate. The bottom line is that bonds are a safe and conservative investment. They provide a predictable stream of income when stocks perform poorly, and they are great vehicles for saving when you don't want to put your money at risk.

The kanjira is a small tambourine. It is made by stretching lizard skin over a wooden frame. The frame is about seven inches in diameter with one metal jingle mounted in it. The kanjira is very popular in South Indian classical performances. But since it is difficult to play it continuously for extended periods of time, it is not used as the main purcussion instrument, but as an additional one with Mridangam.

Shyness, (sometimes inaccurately called 'social phobia'), affects most people at some time in their life. Young people in particular find overcoming shyness difficult as they improve their social skills. And for some, shyness seems to persist into adult life, almost as if it has become a 'habit'.

Shyness has its roots in self consciousness and usually dissipates as people mature and become more experienced. However, for some it can 'stick', and then action is required.

Although most people think in terms of 'overcoming shyness', it is more likely that you will become comfortable in social situations by learning the strategies of self confidence along with social skills. Then, shyness is no longer the issue, as social nerves will melt away as a new 'habit' takes their place.

Shyness versus social phobia

It is my personal opinion that social phobia is too often diagnosed where people are simply experiencing natural shyness. It is perfectly natural to be a little timid in a situation where you don't yet know the 'rules', or what to do. In fact, most people experience some degree of nerves when, say going to meet friends, especially if it is somewhere they haven't been before, or someone new will be there.

We have to be very careful not to assume that there is something wrong with this. Social nerves are natural, as long as they don't get out of hand. Focusing on them and making them into a 'big thing' will only make matters worse.

When learning about social situations, young people need the chance to find their own way, without being labeled with 'social phobia'. This is not to say that social phobia does not exist; I know it does because I have worked with people suffering from it. However, in the vast majority of cases, the solution is social skills training, and perhaps relaxation and rehearsal, rather than drugs.

If a person can maintain a degree of calmness in a situation, then they are much more likely to be able to learn about how the situation works. However, if they are highly anxious and internally focused, both their emotional state and focus of attention will make it more difficult to pick up on subtle social cues.

The other key point about overcoming shyness is that most of socialising is an unconscious process. That doesn't mean you should be asleep when you're doing it (tell that to people I speak to at parties ;-), it simply means that much of human communication is non-verbal. That is, 'it's not what you say, it's the way that you say it'.

If you become highly anxious, this will tend to focus your conscious mind on your immediate environment, getting in the way of those unconscious processes.

Tips for overcoming shyness

Check out the tips in the article on self consciousness, particularly the ones to do with where you focus your attention.

• Practise becoming fascinated by other people. Ask them about themselves, and concentrate when they answer you. Remember what they tell you about themselves so you can talk about it later, or on another occasion.
• Great socialisers make other people feel comfortable and interesting. How do they do that? By being really, genuinely interested in other people. If you are talking to someone and you feel boring or inferior, ask why that is. Is it really all your fault?
• Practise using fewer 'personal pronouns' when you talk about things. Sentences beginning with 'I' are not only a turn-off for the listener, they also keep the focus of attention on you, which increases shyness. (Note: Of course, part of friendship is giving away things about yourself, but only when you feel it is appropriate to do so.)
• Remember that the way to overcome shyness is to focus elsewhere. Like on imagining what it will be like to really enjoy the social event, on how it will feel to be full of energy, or to be having a great conversation with someone.

Mridanga which means body of clay is the most ancient of all percussion instruments. It is commonly used in south as an accompaniment to the vocal and instrumental performances. In the north mridanga is known as pakhawaj and a slight difference is observed in both. In Bengal and Manipur, mridanga is popularly known as khol.

The mridangam is hollowed out of a block of wood and is about 60cm in length. It has the shape of a barrel with the bulge slightly to one side and the right face is smaller than the left. The left face which is called 'tappi' has two lamina. The outer one is a flat ring of leather and at its periphery attached to a plait known as the pinnal. This layer holds on its inner side another parchment which is a circular piece and has a diameter approximating to the outer skin. The whole unit is fixed to the left head. The right face has three laminations. The inner and the outer are rings. The middle circular layer is held taut by pasting along its periphery the annular rings of leather. This entire complex called 'valan talai' is stitched on to a pinnal or plait and mounted onto the right mouth of the barrel. The two faces are joined and held together tight by leather straps which pass in and out of the pinnals or braids on both sides.

A mixture of flour and water is applied on the middle of the left side to lower the tone to the desired pitch. This gives a full, bass sound. This is removed each time after use. The center of the right side has a permanent coating of a black substance called siyahi (or soru, karanai and marundu) which is a mixture of boiled rice, manganese dust, iron filings and other substances. This layer gives characteristic tone to the mridangam and facilitates tuning to a particular pitch.

Tuning of the drum is done by striking the right pinnal with a wooden block, hand or with any substance. Varieties of tone can be obtained from different parts of the instrument in various ways. In the south, the mridangam is the only drum used in classical music recitals except in Nagaswaram recitals.

The main reason she does not call you back is probably because you are doing something that doesn't agree with her. You may be coming at the whole relationship from the traditional or 'courtship' behavior, and this may be leading her to just drop you as soon a she can.

She has other men on hand who are ready to do many things for her and all she has to do is ask them. They will drive her around, fill her stomach, even buy her things and all they get in return is a kiss on the cheek or a hug in the hopes of something more.

And all of that is if she wants to keep you around as one of her boy girlfriends. You will be categorized just like all of her other friends like this if you are even so lucky. All of this is stemming from the wrong frame of relationship in the first place.

When you start courting her, she knows that she has the power especially because of the actions you do to buy her attention almost 'paying' to around her. If you are more of the wussy friend, then you may talk to her a lot and she'll tell you about all of the problems she's having with her 'jerk' boyfriends.

It is true you can have REAL friendships with these women with no ulterior motive other than friendship. This is healthy. These women are my equals and I have several of these relationships. I highly recommend..be a socially adept man.

'Courting her' is really boring to her and she will often just not return your calls even if you are a nice guy with a lot to offer; purely because of the relationship approach that you took.

Dating dynamics have changed in our modern society. Being really traditional and expecting a woman to be interested in you when you take this approach which used to work ( but remember times have changed), is full of all kinds of expectations and is often too much pressure for her to handle even if you are a great catch. This is really why millions of American women are dumping great guys every week.

On the other hand, if you are starting the frame of the relationship on a different level which may be more closer towards an accelerated mating process of attraction, there will be a lot less pressure when done correctly because the entire dynamics are naturally based and without heavy consequence.

When you take a woman out on a date she all of a sudden now senses she is obligated to do something in return because you have paid for her attention. Usually this is just letting you kiss her on the hand or a hug, and because she does not want to deal with all of the pressure of you following her around after she might decide to let you sleep with her. Her anxiety will build up as well as yours, but she isn't thinking about 'you'.

As in the movie Swingers, when Mikey gets a girl's number at the bar and then calls her immediately when he gets home, he is just oozing interest and a high level of expectation. This is a lot of pressure especially for a beautiful woman because she does not know if or when she will be able to get rid of you if she takes things further with you. This is the explanation of why most women will not call you back.

There are also other reasons why she finally just isn't interested in you any more due to her social persona or whatever. If you are in a 50-50 relationship she may resent that you have given her most of the power; this is how two of my American x-girlfriends have broken up with me; I let them just go ahead and have the power in the relationship with me just kind of going along with things (knowing I wasn't being myself and just keeping everything inside).

And this led to the relationship's demise. Usually sooner or later she will lose interest in you if she can not be naturally attracted to you or if the power shifts too much in her favor.

One of the main reason traditional relationships stay together is because a man is being a man and a woman is being a traditional woman. Because of the essential role reversal that is now pervasive in our society everything and everyone has gotten confused.

There is going to be drama in any type of long-term relationship with an independent and especially beautiful woman - guaranteed. The chance that she will give up a lot of her freedom and newfound rights to be more like her traditional and simpler counterpart throughout the rest of the world, is very slim despite her birthright desire still to raise children.

The inability for her to give up a lot of her freedoms and play her more biological role of just being a mother leads to nagging, the gene, griping that many American married men will tell you about (especially if they are divorced).

I do not want to give relationship advice for men in 50-50 relationships with women, because I do not deal with that kind of drama in my life. You will find that if you can just be a man and living your reality, you will attract women to you who will want to stay around you and will not have to question why she is not calling you because she will be calling you more often than you will be calling her.

This is really the way it is supposed to be. She is the one who is supposed to be hanging by you and that's what she wants to do despite what feminists say. Just look at women who are around men; they will often choose men who are not nice guys now and they will be calling them because 'there's something about them'. Women don't have to understand this but you do. You can give them those feelings by truly being yourself (on the universal understanding level).

If you can just be a natural or a man that creates attraction and desire within women, you will have them calling you a lot more often and you will not be wondering why no one ever calls. Hey I've gone through it in the past as well with American women.

It is his energy of essentially giving her the power and choice in the relationship which she ultimately resents it will not call you back for; in that sense some things have never changed. Women are still women beneath their hard edged socially developed exterior.

If you want to learn how to have women calling you, then make sure you check out my ultimate resource 'Mens Guide to Women'. If she can just be around a man who is 100% comfortable around her without letting her perceived socially acceptable appearance get in the way, she will be magnetically attracted to you.

There is a lot of leverage that is giving her this power that is already natural anyways. It is up to you to take advantage of this to give both you and her what you are looking for. This is the opposite of how Mikey reacted after he got back from the club.

In fact in a movie you will notice that his ex-girlfriend finally called him back when he officially let her go by taking the other call from his new girlfriend. This is not too far from the truth of reality.

Somehow women just know (as in the opening sequence of the movie). He was emotionally hanging on to her for too long, giving her the power in the relationship; this is not the biological order, he was being a wussy. When you really get things 'in order' women will be calling you and other women will start calling you all of a sudden (interesting..).

Pakhawaj is an ancient barrel shaped drum with two playing heads. It is essentially a north Indian version of the Mridangam. It was once common throughout north India but in the last few generations tabla has usurped its position of importance. It has a right head which is identical to tabla except somewhat larger. The left head is similar to the tabla bayan except that there is a temporary application of flour and water instead of the black permanent spot. It is laced with rawhide and has tuning blocks placed between the straps and shell. This instrument was very much tied to dhrupad, consequently as dhrupad has declined, the pakhawaj has also fallen out of use. Today this instrument is rare and used only in Dhrupad concerts and percussion ensembles.

Never stay where you are not appreciated. This applies to all phases in life. Work, sports, your social life; but it especially applies when courting single women.

Bad Vibes

If a girl is not interested in you, then there is absolutely nothing you can
do is going to change it. Review the previous chapter and if none of the signs are present don't waste time with people who are not interested in you. Even if she looks like the girl of your dreams, it will lead nowhere and will leave you both physically and emotionally drained. 

By hanging around this girl, you will gain nothing. And worse, she will lose respect for you. At least if you leave with your head high and pride intact, it will leave her with the impression that maybe, just maybe, she missed out on a good thing.

Moving On

There are a few reliable indicators which can alert you if the relationship is going nowhere. Although by no means foolproof, taking note of these behavior patterns should enable you to bail out of the relationship before she dumps you. Think about it. Would you rather she dump you instead of you bravely accepting reality and moving on?

Signs Of Dislike

Firstly, She won't make herself available. Even though her excuses may sound valid, if she were interested, she would make time to see you. If arranging a date to get together becomes a struggle and you are the only one working on the initiating the dates, it might be time to leave. At this point, conversations will be awkward and forced, often ending with her making something up to get you off the line. After all, you are the only one trying to keep it going.

Conversations and the tone in her voice will be neutral. She might occasionally look away and seem bored, as if she would rather be someplace else. Not necessarily negative, but they will be absent of that up-beat positive mood that an interested girl gives.

The most important thing to consider is that most women don't want to hurt you in any way. So, if they are not interested, they will expect you to infer the fact that there is an absence of a "come on" in their manner. Many men will assume that since a girl hasn't come out and said "drop dead," then maybe she is interested. Do realize that this only applies to you if you have been out on at least five or more dates! If you have only just met her, there is absolutely no way you would know if she thinks you are a jerk and a waste of her time.

The snare drum (or side drum) is tubular drum made of wood or metal with skins, or heads, stretched over the top and bottom openings. A cluster of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, or animal gut is stretched across the bottom head. When the drum is struck, the snares vibrate against the bottom head. This produces a short, distinctive, snap-like sound. The snares can be disengaged if this effect is not required. Snare drums come in many different sizes as well, that ultimately change the way the drum will sound. Snare drums that are shallow in size will give a higher "crack" sound while the deeper ones will give a heavier and thicker tone. Many drummers opt to have more than one on their drumset for a more dynamic setup.

Originally, snare drums were military instruments originating from Europe in the 15th and 16th centurys. They were commonly called a Tabor and were used with the fife in the swiss military. Today, the snare drum can be found in nearly every form of western music. Snare drums are used by marching bands and drum and bugle corps to provide a steady source of rhythm. The snare drum was incorporated into classical music to provide color for march-like segments of music. It is used in popular music styles like rock and roll and jazz to provide an accented backbeat. The snare drum is the driving force in samba music: ghost notes are played continuously with accented strokes outlining the rhythm. The snare is also used extensively in death metal, to provide a "blast beat": a rapid alternation of snare and bass drum beats.