Outsourcing for Internet Marketers

By Akoli Penoukou 

site-planning

When your business begins to take off, you will surely have a lot of tasks to carry out. For one thing, you may not have the competence to do them all. For another, you may not have the time to dedicate to them. Under the circumstances, the best thing to maintain efficiency and ensure profitability is to contract out certain tasks.

We are going to see some of the tasks an internet marketer could let someone else perform.

1. If you are looking for somebody to handle tasks such as hiring, data entry, logo design, graphic design, website design, translation, software development, HTML, PHP, internet marketing, Articles, SEO, CSS, Photoshop, software architecture, excel, Android, etc., then visit a freelance site and submit your project.

Within minutes interested candidates will propose their competitive bids. Then using the freelance site's reputation system you can choose the perfect freelancer for your job.

You only pay when you are 100% satisfied with the work done.

2. Are you rather looking for programmers, designers, writers, and other online pros?

Then there is also a place to get more of these works done with freelancers.

First, you post your job and the site will match you with the right freelancers. Then you browse their profiles, reviews, and proposals and interview top candidates. Now you hire a favorite and begin your project.

Concerning payment, invoicing and payments are done on the site. You pay only for work you authorize.

3. Maybe your need is for a Virtual Assistant. Not any Virtual Assistant, but a rock star one.

Then you have to turn to Philippino sites where you can hire a Filipino Virtual Assistant in 5 Minutes and 7 clicks.

To do so, you post a role or browse team members by role title, hourly rate, role start date, role description, and add skills. Then you receive an email every time that a team member applies to your role.

But should you not have a specific role to recruit for, you simply browse Virtualvalley's database of team members to find the one that could be a good fit for your business. You can judge through their overview, profile image, skills, hourly rate and a video in which they introduce themselves.

When satisfied with your Rockstar Team Member, you can hire through the platform.

4. Are you into designing and looking for a place to outsource work?

Design sites enable you to find and work with talented freelance designers online.

You begin by building a design brief, that is, what you need designed and its or their details.

The sites will then circulate it or them among its millions of designers who will submit designs which you can help them shape to your needs through ratings, comments and private messages.

After the winner of your design submits the work and gets paid, you get full design copyright to download and become one of the almost half a million happy customers.

5. Everything your web project needs, such as top class designs of stunning logos, vectors, 3D graphics, illustrations, banners, and avatars; and custom WordPress, PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript websites, some sites community of curated freelance talent will help you get them.

All you have to do is search what's already available and make a down payment to start the job. Or let the site know your need and their freelancers will submit a proposal for you to choose from. The third possibility is to search profiles and contact freelancers yourself.

Once satisfied, you release your escrow funds to pay the invoice.

6. Do you need to hire the top freelance talent software developers and designers out there?

They are on a site described as an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers and designers in the world.

To be part of their happy customers, you communicate to them the kind of freelance tech talent you are looking for and they'll find you the perfect match to work with.

The top sites have designers and developers for any design environment or web, mobile, or desktop technology stack. They offer zero risk as there is a trial period and you pay only if satisfied.

7. Who is looking for article and content writing services?

They can find them on the leading article and content writing service sites.

Do you need fresh, up-to-date content for your business? Whether you need blog posts, product descriptions, or technical content, those sites' authors will furnish you the unique content that is optimized for your users and search engines.

But first you must choose the writer fit for your project from a pool of thousands, select the appropriate order type and quality level for the project, and place your order.

Furthermore, you can order content from native speakers in up to 10 languages for as little as 1.3 cents per word.

8. Get the perfect custom design every time with the world's number one custom design marketplace for logo design, web design, T-shirt design, flyer design, brochure design, and business card design.

Take just a few minutes and describe your project so that your vision is translated into a short guideline for designers.

Now, browse the 100s of new designs the sites send right into your inbox from around the world.

Give the artists your feedback directly for edits. Then you choose the best design for you.

9. If what you need is logo design, web design, graphic design, print design, packaging design, and company naming, some other sites have you covered.

To start your collaboration with them, you pick a category and post your project.

Contractors send you their ideas. Give them feedback and get back revisions.

Choose the one which pleases you and work with the supplier to finalize your favorite design or name. Give your price, set your deadline and pay when you are satisfied with the work.

10. Do you have errands to run but have no time?

There are sites which find you people to handle your chores and errands.

For them to connect you with the right help, you first pick a task from a list of chores and errands on a specialized app. This could be a same day appointment or a future one.

The site immediately connects you with a skilled person they call "Tasker" in your area.

Now you chat with the tasker directly in the app to fix an arrival time.

The tasker arrives at the agreed time, completes the job, bills you directly in the app and you pay electronically.

11. Can your organization be in need of detailed time-use analytics?

Then specialized sites will give you productivity analytics for the workday.

Your accounting system tells you where money is disbursed in your organization. The sites will show you where time is spent by giving you insights into the activities of your workforce.

Thus you can see the time spent by them in answering emails and compare across teams to find out if your better performing teams are handling this task differently.

Do you need to know how work schedules compare among teams? The sites will show you when your employees started working on their computers and for how long. You can also see how often they got up from their computer for meetings or breaks.

By supplying you this actionable data, such a site enables you to analyze business processes, grasp the root causes of inefficiency in your business, so that you can improve and maintain productivity.

The software also adds a data layer to your workforce to help you understand indicators linked to high or low performance.

Thus, you can know the time your sales team spent on their CRM compared to other activities as well as correlate the behaviour of top and bottom performing teams.

You can also use the sites competence to know how certain websites or applications correlate with high employee output as the app uses deep learning algorithms to compare higher and lower performing team members and correlate behaviours with performance. Do higher performing team members spend more or less time on certain websites? Are their meetings shorter or less frequent?

Self-reported time-use data is likely to be highly inaccurate. That is why the site automatically captures data live across your company, and generate insights for analysis.

12. Are you thinking of outsourcing?

Then do it to the Philippines with one of their sites. They is site is described as the world's largest and safest marketplace for finding rock star Filipino workers.

To ease your hiring experience with the over 150,000 Filipinos registered, you first post a job or browse resumes. Then talented workers apply for your job. Next you interview them to find the perfect fit.

Pay them through Payments.ph or PayPal after they've worked.

Now that you know which jobs you can entrust to others and where you can do so, I hope you wouldn't feel yourself going crazy again with too many things to do and how to do some of them. Peace of mind, reduced stress and increased productivity can now be your lot.

My name is Akoli Penoukou, owner and author of the blog http://www.secureyourfuturewithus.com.

I am a blogger and affiliate marketer with Wealthy Affiliate.

A trained and published writer and teacher of business English with many years of business experience, these are the three factors which brought me to blogging and affiliate marketing.

Need free video course of 41 videos to teach you all about affiliate marketing, including keyword research like this one? Then visit our site

We can help you make money online from home FREE with 170 pages of weekly reports + blog posts. Sign up to list:   https://forms.aweber.com/form/62/636179562.htm

N.B.: Should you need names and addresses of specific websites for taks mentioned in this article, kindly contact me through my blog.

Article Source:  Outsourcing for Internet Marketers

3 Things To Do When Listing Your Business Online

By Idd Aziz 

scam-company

Listing your business in the local directories makes it possible for people to find you. When done right, listings also boost your website ranking. For you to get the most from listing your business you need to do it properly. To help you out here is what you should do:






Go for the top directories

It's recommended that you have your business listed in as many directories as possible. When you are starting the process you should have your business listed in the major and popular directories. Being listed in the popular directories increases your reputation and also puts you in front of many potential clients.

In addition to listing your business in the popular directories, you should also find smaller directories that are specific to your niche. For example, if you are an interior designer, you should find a directory that only lists companies dealing with interior design. While this might not give you as much exposure as the large directories, it will give you access to more specific clients. It also lets other business owners in your niche know that you exist.

Enter the necessary details

Since you want people to find you, you should include information that allows them to easily find and recognize you. You should include your name, physical address, phone number, email address and if necessary, the company logo. When you are entering the details in different directories ensure that all the details are consistent. The human brain is known to process images better than text; therefore, experts recommend that you add a few photos of your business. You can include photos of your products or pictures of your business building. Experts recommend that you include images of your products so that your clients can know what to expect when working with you.

Since the directories are online, you should sprinkle a few keywords that will make it easy for people interested in your services to find you.

Respond to customer reviews

If you go through most of the online directories you will find that almost all of them allow customers to leave reviews. To boost your reputation you should encourage people to leave their reviews. Once a customer leaves a review, always take your time to respond to it.

Conclusion

If you are a business owner and you aren't listed you are doing yourself a disservice. You should find the reputable directories in your area and list your business.

If looking to be included in a Company List we will include you in the right category. We have a List of Business Services Companies and many others. Visit the given links to know more.

Article Source:  3 Things To Do When Listing Your Business Online

5 Ways to Rework Your Blog Posts

By Juan A Rademacher 

Rework-Blog-Post

Writing web content can be a time-consuming task. Fresh content is what search engines are looking for.

If you are in need of updated articles for your blog, the answer is right under your nose.

You have a blog filled with posts, why not spend some time updating the ones you have already written? This is the easiest way to maintain top rankings in search engines.

It's fairly easy to rework your own articles and turn them into something entirely new, yet retain the original message.

This is the quickest way to gain new traffic, without putting too much effort into creating completely new content.

It shouldn't take much time to rewrite old blog posts - you already know the material. The simple trick is in knowing how to make improvements without putting out maximum effort.

Below are 5 methods you can use to successfully transform old articles into something new and original:

1. Add Length

Longer posts tend to generate more traffic than shorter ones do. Go through your blog and lengthen those that might seem a bit word shy.

Don't just fill your post with fluff, give your readers more valuable reading material - you want to entertain or teach them something they never knew. Longer posts will also keep your target audience on your page for a while.

2. Make Improvements

Does your post look like a wall of text? These posts are hard on the eyes and may cause some people to just skip the article altogether.

Try breaking apart your article and creating bullet points. Also, use images and video to enhance your message. And make use of italics and underlining to further emphasize a word or phrase.

3. Create a New Title

Do you have a great article that you feel gets little attention? Sometimes the greatest works can get overlooked due to a poorly worded title.

If you think this might be the case, change the title and sub-headings and see if that brings in the needed traffic. If the content is fine then leave it alone; just create an eye-catching title that will generate a ton of traffic.

4. Use Internal Links

Make generous use of internal links. Search engines love web pages that include links to other pages within a site.

Add new links in a few of your currently popular articles, linking to relevant material within your own blog.

This is a great way to get people to browse through your site, and it keeps them reading longer. Internal links are a great SEO tool which helps generate a ton of new traffic to your blog.

5. Make Old 'New'

At least once a month you should take your most popular blog posts and share them on various social media sites.

It doesn't matter if the post is years old, if it still generates traffic then it is still relevant.

Introduce this terrific post to those who may have missed it before. Let social media work and direct traffic directly to your blog.

My obsession is helping beginners get results online. That's because after years of frustration trying to make a steady income online, I've discovered a few basic, time-tested "secrets" the gurus have used for a long time, that practically guarantee success.

Learn more by visiting: http://jarwinsmarketing.com/how-to-persuade-your-target-audience/

Article Source:  5 Ways to Rework Your Blog Posts

Money Making Strategies With Private Label Rights (PLR) Products

By Peter Molnar 

PLR

Affiliate E-book Giveaway Strategy

Everyone loves free gifts! What better way to share free gifts than by turning your PLR products into e-books to giveaway? When you give free content to your subscribers, you build trust and credibility with them and they will love you even more.

But let's take things a step further... Inside your free e-books, you can include links to products of interest... Something related to what they are reading. These links are actually your Affiliate Links. So, if they happen to buy something through your link, you will be paid commissions by the vendor!

You can also encourage your subscribers to share the e-books with others if they liked it. That way, your affiliate links in the book will be spread to even more people virally and the chances of you making a commission through click-throughs increases as well.

Free gifts not necessarily need to be in the form of e-books. You can also give free access to membership sites or videos. These free content serves two purposes: The first is providing valuable content to your subscribers and the second is to encourage them to share or direct them to relevant sources which could be either your affiliate links or sales pages.

Try and brainstorm a couple of free products that you can come up with and give it to your subscribers. They say that the amount of rewards you get is directly proportionate to the amount of value you provide. So let's start the ball rolling and start giving out more value to our subscribers!

Podcasting PLR For Profits

Here's a useful strategy. Have you tapped into the power of audio yet? Studies have shown that majority of people prefer to listen than read. So why not jump on the bandwagon by creating nifty products in audio format using PLR?

One good strategy is to do a Podcast of PLR product that you have. A Podcast is a more interesting product than the conventional e-book and with that you can charge your customers a fee to listen to it. To add more value to your podcast, try giving away master resell rights to it! Meaning, people who purchase a copy of your podcast can sell it to others and keep the profit for themselves. This encourages them to promote it and let the word of your services reach a wider audience.

When you give away Master Resell Rights (MRR) to a product, a smart thing to do would be to leave traces of information that lead to your website or business inside the product. That way the more others sell your product, the more coverage you will get.

Why not double the value by giving customers free download access to the word transcript of the podcast? That way they can listen to it when they feel like or go back and study the podcast in the text format! People love access to different file formats and if your business can be the one to provide for that, they'll love you for it.

Get access to over 8,000 PLR, RR and MRR digital products here by clicking the link below. http://Myplrbusiness.subscribemenow.com

Article Source: [Money Making Strategies With Private Label Rights (PLR) Products

Home Based Business Directory

By Lawrence M Linn 

Home-based-business

Home based businesses are becoming a popular way to earn a living from home, especially for stay at home moms or those who are unemployed and unable to find a job. Yet as the number of these businesses has increased, the number of fraud has also increased. There are a large number of businesses out there that are nothing more than a scheme to rip people off. By the same token, these deceptive practices aren't going to be listed in a good home business directory.

If you need to start a business at home, you may not know where to turn to find the business that meets your needs. One of the best ways to find the business for you is by looking at a home based business directory. These directories list the various home based businesses that you can choose from.

In such a directory, you won't find the lies that advertise that you can make $30k in the first month. You won't find the scams where you pay to get information that you can find anywhere. You won't find the scams where you're told you can earn $15 an hour working from home stuffing envelopes.

Instead, a good home based business directory should weed out the scams. To be sure that you're looking at a good home based business directory, you may still want to do some research on the directory. You'll want to maintain a level of skepticism, even if you're eager to get started earning your own income.
Don't throw caution to the wind, do your homework.

Even if you have a limited budget, a home based business directory should be able to help you. A good directory will list the businesses you can start on a budget. You will still need to sort through the directory for the business that meets your needs, but you'll know ahead of time if you can afford such a business.

Many home business directories offer a free listing of home businesses you can choose from. You may find that these free directories offer the information you need. Other times you may find that you get better information from a directory that charges a small fee to access their information. Though it will take some research there are valuable resources out there to help you start your business, and a home based business directory is an ideal place to start.

If you're looking for an honest, ethical and legitimate opportunity to generate a full time income from home, click here . For free training, free education and a free income generating web-site, visit today http://www.HomeBasedThatWorks.com.

Article Source: Home Based Business Directory

Make Money Online - Surprising Ways To Make Money Online

By Marc-Eddy Drouinaud Jr 

Have you ever thought as to how you can make money online?

Your answer to the question above could be in the affirmative or in the negative. But believe me, in neither case would you like to challenge me when I say that for sure, you would like to know someone who knows how to make money online. In fact, most of us would like to know many people around us are making money, big or small, through online sources.

Is it easy to make money online? What are the ways? How much money can I make? Can I become a millionaire overnight? Is it possible to be a successful home business owner? These are some of the questions which instantaneously come to mind when we think about this subject. We will try to look at the probable answers to some of the questions mentioned above.

At the outset, I would like to say that there is no easy money that can be made anywhere in this world. But I will add that there are endless financial possibilities that can be enjoyed by a home business owner through the endless ways to make money online. If I want to list all the ways to make money online here in this article, I run the following risks:

• I will either run out of words or
• I will run out of time or
• My patience will give way or
• By the time I finish writing, some new ways of building wealth online would have been found out.

So, I will just mention some of the popular and tried out ways in which you can build true income. These are:

1. Trade online in stocks and currencies.

2. Write and publish a Kindle eBook.

3. Sell your articles, stories and videos.

4. Review music, products or websites for money.

5. Start your own website and earn money through Affiliate marketing and Google AdSense.

6. Become an e-Tutor.

7. Sell your notes if you are a student.

8. Freelance in the field of your core competence or hobby.

9. Join the YouTube Partner Program by uploading videos.

10. Buy and sell domain names online.

I want to mention that there is no way known to me by which you can become a millionaire overnight. The amount of money you make will depend on the way chosen by you and the amount of time and effort put in to make it a successful venture.

For more ways to make money online and multiply your income, check out Revealed Here

Article Source: Make Money Online - Surprising Ways To Make Money Online

B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 2

By Steve M Herron 

B.B. King

BB King's guitar style may seem simple, yet upon analysis it discloses a sophisticated awareness of melody, harmony, and rhythm. He seems to always hit the right notes, phrases like no one else, and has a vibrato that is universally recognized. BB approaches the guitar as if it were another voice, not just as an instrument. He plays guitar as if he were singing through it. When he has to take a breath, his guitar does as well. He claims that his sound is not something that he learned, it is just the way he asserts himself as a person and as a guitarist.

Stylistically, what separates BB King from his peers is his firm rooting in the jazz as well as the blues idioms. One of BB's major influences was jazz guitarist Lonnie Johnson, who was one of the first guitarists to visualize the guitar as a single-line solo instrument. BB also listened extensively to Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt and to horn players such as Lester Young, Johnny Hodges and Bobby Hackett. His blues guitar influence comes primarily from T-Bone Walker. BB softened Walker's somewhat strident style, adding a vibrato that he developed while trying to copy the bottleneck slide guitar sound of his cousin Bukka White. The rest is pure BB King, which is a combination of elements that has produced one of the most distinctive blues guitarists ever!

BB draws from a large pallet of harmonic and melodic devices. Although he is primarily known as a single line player, he does play chords - specifically triads and double stops which he uses to punctuate his solos. Check out his chord intro to the song "Please Love Me" and his rhythm chord comping during the saxophone solo in the song "You Upset Me Baby". Perhaps the most identifiable feature of BB King's sound is his "Bee-Sting" vibrato. He does his vibrato completely from the wrist, as he shakes his whole hand rapidly and evenly. Even though this is a much imitated sound, only BB can make it "sing" the way he does. BB's knowledge of jazz harmony allows him to introduce harmonic concepts into his soloing that are more sophisticated than the typical pentatonic ideas used by most blues guitarists.

The most unique quality of BB King's style is his ability to combine jazzier elements with a rock solid blues sensibility. I was fortunate enough to hear BB King and his big band play live at the Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland back in 1969. The big band sounded incredible - a real wall of sound - and BB's guitar playing just "wailed" and filled the Civic Center with some of the most exciting blues guitar music I've ever heard. Fortunately, for aspiring blues guitarists there is a wealth of blues guitar tab books available as well as an instructional DVD course taught by BB King himself!



Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron helps people succeed at becoming better guitar players. His company ChordMelody.com features an enormous, unique selection of BB King himself.

Article Source:  B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 2

B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 1

By Steve M Herron

One of my favorite guitarists has always been blues guitar music legend BB King! He is arguably the most influential and certainly the most visible blues guitarist in history. Other famous guitar players such as Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons and Mike Bloomfield have all acknowledged their debt to BB King. And, BB King's playing today remains just as fresh, vibrant and alive as ever!



Riley King was born in Mississippi in 1925 to Albert and Nora King. His mother left her husband for another man when BB was 4 years old and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother also in Mississippi without objection from his father. Nora had 2 other husbands and BB was shuffled back and forth between them and his grandmother. His musical education began when he started singing in the Sanctified Church, whose preacher Archie Fair was his uncles' brother-in-law. Archie Fair strummed some gospel guitar songs and gave the curious youngster his first enticing taste of playing on the strings. BB's mother died in 1935 but fortunately not before she could call her 9 year old son to her side before passing.

Afterwards, BB went back to stay with his grandmother and attended the Baptist sponsored Elkhorn School where he continued strengthening his young voice in the gospel choir. When his grandmother died in 1940, the 14 year old tried tenant farming on her land until later that year when he left for the Delta to live with his father and extended family for the next 2 years. By the age of 15 he was already playing on street corners. He had discovered that he could make more money in tips in one day of playing guitar than he could for a whole week's work picking cotton! Soon he was doing singing commercials on Memphis radio stations and from that he moved on to getting his own show. It was at this time that he picked up the nickname "BB" which was short for "Blues Boy".

His popularity continued to grow and eventually he was signed to the RPM record label. His first hit "3 O'Clock Blues" went to Number 1 on the rhythm and blues charts and heralded the arrival of a blues guitar superstar. BB continued touring and recording throughout the fifties, but it wasn't until the sixties that his name became familiar to white audiences. In 1970 he won a grammy award for his monumental hit "The Thrill Is Gone". To this day, he continues to tour over 200 days a year and to record with his band and with other artists as diverse as Larry Carlton and U2. His numerous television and film appearances along with countless awards continue to affirm his stature as an all time blues guitar great. Fortunately, for aspiring blues guitarists there is a wealth of instructional blues guitar tab books as well as a DVD course taught by BB King himself!

Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron helps people succeed at becoming better guitar players. His company ChordMelody.com features an enormous, unique selection of [http://www.chordmelody.com/newpage8.htm]blues guitar tab as well as guitar books and instructional DVDs by BB King himself.

Article Source: [B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 1

B.B. King - Blues Guitar Music Legend Part 2

Cool Jazz Guitar Playing - Jim Hall Stood Above The Crowd!

By Steve M Herron

Jim-Hall

Jim Hall was born on December 4, 1930 in Buffalo, N.Y. and as a youngster was surrounded by music. His grandfather played the violin, his mom the piano, and his uncle the guitar. It was his uncle who convinced Hall to take up the guitar at the age of 10. His talent was soon apparent and although it was against union policies, he began to play live in local dance bands at age 13. Like many of the jazz guitar greats of the 1950s and 1960s, it was the recordings of Charlie Christian that first turned Hall's focus towards jazz.

Jim Hall's family relocated to Cleveland, Ohio in 1946. Having actually decided to make a profession in music he got accepted to and later graduated from The Cleveland Institute of Music. It was during this period of time that Hall became familiar with the gypsy jazz guitar virtuoso Django Reinhardt. Reinhardt's recordings influenced the subsequent development of his guitar style. Not pleased with the financial prospects of working as a guitar player in Cleveland, Jim chose to transfer to Los Angeles in 1955.

There he felt he could both earn money and still continue his musical studies at The University of California in Los Angeles. He was also able to study classical guitar, for a short while, with Vicente Gomez. In 1958 drummer Chico Hamilton was forming what was to be the very first of his numerous outstanding jazz quintets. John Graas, the French horn player, recommended Hall to Hamilton. Hall got the job with what ended up to be among the most successful and innovative jazz groups of the day. He stuck with Hamilton for one and a half years.

This association with Chico Hamilton was to be Hall's very first step up the ladder to the top of the jazz guitar tree. Hall received well-earned critical reviews for his part in Giuffre's trio from jazz audiences and critics all over the world. Now established globally as a jazz artist of the highest caliber, Hall was contracted to play with top singers consisting of Ella Fitzgerald and Yves Montand.

In 1960 Hall moved back to New York city. For a while he worked as a studio musician which included a stint with the band on the popular "Merv Griffin Show". Once more back at the top of his game as a jazz guitar player, the early 1970s and late 1960s saw Hall at his creative best. For many years since, Hall has made lots of exceptional recordings with diverse jazz artists. He has appeared in live performances and recorded with bassists Ron Carter and Red Mitchell, trumpeters Art Farmer and Chet Baker, pianists Bill Evans and George Shearing, saxophonists Paul Desmond and Ornette Coleman, in addition to many other top jazz artists.



Several of these recordings have some of the very best jazz guitar playing on record and certainly validate the title often bestowed upon Hall as "The Poet of Jazz". He likewise recorded with a quartet led by pianist Andre Previn backing classical violinist Itzhak Pearlman and also with The Kronos String Quartet. Jim Hall was awarded the prestigious JAZZPAR Prize for 1998. He accepted the honor which included a cash award of roughly $30,000. at the JAZZPAR Prize Gala Concert in Copenhagen, Denmark on April 5, 1998.

Jim Hall is certainly among the most inventive, prominent, and lyrical jazz guitarists in history. While Jim was initially associated with cool jazz and then with hard bop, he always had his own approach along with a very distinct guitar sound. A master of subtlety, he has over the years consistently created fresh concepts, used space effectively, and made every note he played count. Jim hall passed away on December 10, 2013 at the age of 83.

Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron is an expert on jazz guitar books. He has spent most of his adult life playing professionally at clubs and restaurants as well as teaching private students at his studio. Sign up now for his Free Chord Harmonizations Report and find out more about Jim Hall solos.

Article Source:  Cool Jazz Guitar Playing - Jim Hall Stood Above The Crowd!

Jazz Guitar Music Legend Charlie Christian Started It All!

By Steve M Herron 

Charlie-Christian

Charlie Christian was born on July 29, 1916 in Bonham, Texas but grew up in Oklahoma City. His dad was a singer/guitarist, his mom a pianist, and they played in a Dallas cinema when he was a youngster. His 2 bothers were also musicians. Christian began his musical career on the trumpet but due to a significant chest condition switched to the guitar at age 12. He also had some understanding of the bass and the piano. Following the family's relocation to Oklahoma City in 1921, Christian senior lost his sight. To make a living he ultimately ended up being a street artist accompanied by his three kids, Clarence on violin and mandolin, Edward on string bass, and Charlie on guitar.

Throughout the early 1930s, Charlie Christian played guitar in his brother Edward's band "The Jolly Jugglers". He first gained broader recognition for his obvious skill in 1937 when he signed up with The Anna Mae Winburn Orchestra. He then played in 1938 with The Alphonso Trent Sextet. Christian became captivated with the electric amplified guitar when he saw Eddie Durham, who played an early variation of the electric instrument. Christian chose to explore the electric amplified guitar. He soon mastered exactly what was then a brand-new instrument.

His reputation on the electric amplified guitar grew very swiftly and jazz enthusiasts came from everywhere to hear his new and pioneering guitar style. His amplified single note lines sounded sometimes like a tenor saxophone. Christian began to introduce numerous pioneering ideas into his jazz improvisations. He utilized augmented and diminished chords in a manner which in the not too remote future would change the world of jazz. His ideas were extremely individualistic and he was a great fan of Django Reinhardt's guitar approach. He enjoyed playing Reinhardt's improvised choruses, note-for-note, on numbers like "St. Louis Blues" and then include some of his own improvised choruses.

In 1939 while playing with The Leslie Sheffield Band he was heard by the influential jazz promoter, John Hammond. He had actually been encouraged by pianist May Lou Williams to travel to Oklahoma City to hear Charlie Christian. Hammond was so amazed he encouraged his brother-in-law, band leader Benny Goodman, to hear Christian. Goodman was originally reluctant to listen to the young guitar player but he eventually agreed to provide him an audition on August 16, 1939 in Los Angeles. It only took a couple of bars of Charlie Christian soloing on "Rose Room" for the fantastic clarinetist to recognize the young guitarist's remarkable ability. Christian was hired on the spot.

In the two years that followed Charlie Christian became a major influence, not only in The Benny Goodman Big Band and Sextet, but likewise on the history of jazz. After playing at night with the Goodman band, Christian would go on to play into the early hours of the morning at Minton's Jazz Club in Harlem. Here he played for hours on end, his creative improvisations straight up influencing other jazz musicians who visited the club including Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Clarke, Joe Guy, and others. A few of these historical jam sessions luckily were tape-recorded for posterity by Jerry Newman.



Tragically the late nights and Christian's love of the New York night life did not help his health. He had actually experienced poor health for a lot of his life. In the spring of 1940 he was checked in to a medical facility where the medical diagnosis revealed that he had consumption. Despite the medical professionals' warnings he failed to take proper care of his health. In July 1941 he suffered a major relapse and went into The Seaview Sanitarium on Staten Island. He died there in March of 1942.

Peabody Conservatory trained guitarist Steven Herron is an expert on jazz guitar instruction. He has spent most of his adult life playing professionally at clubs and restaurants as well as teaching private students at his studio. Sign up now for his Free Chord Harmonizations Report and find out more about Charlie Christian solos.

Article Source:  Jazz Guitar Music Legend Charlie Christian Started It All!