Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs are my favourite team in the NHL, they are not so good but I really like them any ways because I grew up watching them. 

You can check the schedule for up coming games; here is the link: http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/schedule.htm 

The leafs are in the Atlantic division in the eastern conference there are four

 divisions and two conferences. One of the players I like is Phil Kessel . I like him because he is a good team player and his eye is all ways on the puck looking for goals.  One of the goalies I like is Bernier, he stops all the pucks and stays sharp in the net. One of my favourite old  players is Johnny Bower he was a goalie for the leafs starting in 1960. He was there to help win the Stanley Cup, his nick name was Great Wall.

I am going to see three games this year.  I hope they win. The Leafs last Stanley Cup they won is 1967, that was 46 years ago. The Leafs play at the Air Canada Centre/ ACC down town Toronto. The Leafs first arena was called the Maple Leafs Gardens. The ACC can hold up to 18,800 people for a hockey game. Tickets can vary in price depending where you want to sit so look on the Leafs website to find out   http://mapleleafs.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=73041. 

I have a winter classic jersey, winter classic is an out door game that two teams get to play. It is always on New Year's Day. The Leafs have a mascot named Carlton he is a polar  bear. The Leafs have a farm team called the Toronto Marlies, this is where some players go before they go to the NHL. They take some players from the farm team to replace a player if they are not able to play in a NHL game. When the NHL first started there were 6 teams and the Leafs were one of the 6 teams. The Toronto Maple Leafs team first started in 1917 Eddie Livingstone was the man who started the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey. team. First they were called the Toronto Arenas, then the Toronto St Patrick's, then the big Toronto Maple Leafs that every one knows. 

If you did not know about the Leafs now, I hope you learned some things about them.

                                                          GO LEAFS GO!!!!!!!

Genres and there instruments

Rock bands use electric guitars. The electric guitar is used to make the music sound louder and sound better. The drums are used to keep and make the beat. If there were no drums, the song would not sound as good as if drums were in the band. The bass guitar helps to keep the singer and drummer in tune with each other. The bass can be a lead instrument sometimes. The singer is used to sing the song and put in the lyrics. Without the singer the song will not sound like it should. There is generally a singer in rock music. They are sometimes the star of the band.

Jazz music is a different kind of music, it is soft and light and it's got a swing to it. The saxophone was one of the very first instruments in jazz music to be played. The sax is held by a strap around the neck of the player. It depends on the jazz band to how many sax players are in the band. The upright bass and the double bass are the same as each other. The upright bass has a peg at the bottom so it can stand up easier. Some times jazz bands have a clarinet but not all. The trumpet is used to make the sound in the band more interesting.

Country music has lots of instruments. They have keyboards, acoustic guitar, drums, bass guitar and vocals. Country music has lots of different sounds to it. There are some that sound like heavy rock and some that sound like pop. Some times they have a banjo and a stand up bass and harmonica. Country music has a story to its lyrics. If you listen to country music, listen to the words. The singing voice has a twang to it. Check out the different instruments below.

Part 1 string instruments
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zqnzCq-95jg

Part 2 keyboard and drums
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p4zjlfruRGI

Country Music

Country music is a genre of American popular music.  The music was started in the southern United States in the 1920's . The term county music gained popularity in the 1940's in preference to the earlier term hillbilly music. 

Today country music describes many styles of music such as bluegrass country, southern rock, outlaw country, and country pop. Country is now the most listened to music. 

One of my favourite country singers is Kenny Rogers. His famous song, was released on November 15, 1978. He won a Grammy for his song in 1980 for the male country vocal performance. The song was at the top of the charts for a long time. Kenny Rogers performed "The Gambler" on an episode of "The Muppets"with one of the characters.

Another famous country artist is Johnny Cash. At birth his name was JR Cash. 

His songs are country, rock and roll, and gospel. Cash was known for his deep singing voice. One of his famous songs, "I Walk the Line", was released on May 1st, 1956. The song was written about marrying his wife and his devotion to her. The song spent 6 weeks at the top of the charts. 

Here is a link to "gone country" by Alan Jackson: 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yEPNgJ17kGQ

Beatle Mania

                                  

The Beatles where a hit back in 1960. The Beatles toured all over the world on tours like 

Helen Shapiro tour, World tour, European tour, U.S tour, the Liverpool tour, the 

Sermon tour and the Magical  mystery tour. The Beatles released more then 200 songs 

in their 10 years as a band. You could listen to there songs on the radio or on a 

record player back in the old days. Now you can listen to them on an iPod or a 

cd . Did you know that before the Beatles were a band, John, Paul and George were in 

a band called the Quarryman? Once the Beatles became a hit, they came out with t-

shirts, keychains, iPods and iPhone cases and hats too! 

Did you know Ringo Star is not his real name? His real name  is Richard Starkey. 

Ringo star is a very good drummer, He can play what the band wants 

him to play "like Let It "Be and "Twist and Shout". 

Paul McCartney played bass guitar, guitar, drums, and the keyboard and he was a 

singer song wrighter. After the Beatles broke up, Paul started his own solo career.

John Lennon played bass guitar, guitar, keyboard, harmonica and percussion. 

He also was a singer and song writer. He was shot outside of his home in New York. 

Gorge Harrison played guitar, sitar, keyboard, bass, and ukulele. He went solo

when the band broke up and then died in November 2001 when he was 51years old 

from cancer. 

On February 9th 2014, there was a 50th year anniversary to celebrate the Beatles very 

first concert ever. This celebration involved playing many of the Beatle's old songs on 

 Ed Sullivan Show! The show was seen by 73 million people in the U.S. 

Now that you know about the Beatles, you can listen to them all over the world. Don't 

stop believing in the Beatles! 

For a video on the 50th anniversary  of the Beatles, copy and paste the link below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJxvm5zbeBc

Jam School Guelph

  

I got into drumming in Gr 10 at College Heights High School Guelph.  Mr Curly introduced me to the drums, and then I just took it from there.Drums can cost between $200 and $1,000 , and there are two types of drum kits. One is the acoustic drum kit and the other is the electric drum kit.   The electric drum kit can make more sounds than an acoustic kit.  The best way to start playing drums Is to take lessons at a beginner level.  If you are are looking for a place to take lessons a good place is Jam School Guelph.   They charge $20 for 30 min of lessons or for 4 lessons a month it is $80.  Jam School is on 201 Alice St Guelph  or 930 Woodlawn Road West Guelph.  My drum teacher is John Vella.  He is very good and understanding what you can play like.   He would be good for beginners and advanced drummers too. To visit the school go to www.Jamschool.com