Our Best Premium Styles For Big Band, Jazz, & Swing At Yamaha Online Services!

Yamaha Premium Styles make playing Jazz and Big Band standards easier than ever. Depending on how you set the Style fingering on your Yamaha instrument, you can control the movement of your song with full chords, or a single finger. Using the single finger method, you can play basic root notes with your left hand, leaving your right hand free to play melodies with some of the amazing voices that are pre-programmed into every Premium Style, and conveniently accessed via the One Touch Setting buttons.

Style files can give the beginner and intermediate player the edge and confidence to learn faster! Jazz music tends to require a bit more music theory to understand and play, and with the ability to slow down, simplify, and practice with a full band, Yamaha Premium Styles are perfect for any student or performer of any skill level.

Take a look at this week's featured Premium Styles for Jazz, Big Band, and Swing music, or check out the entire catalog!

Organ Jazz Waltz
A nice mix of soft brushes and bright ride cymbal give this waltz its superior swing. With low organ pads, and a fat upright bass, the rhythm section is really cookin'! One touch settings include a couple of great organs, jazz guitar, and harmonica!


Jazz Quartet Fast
The drums in this Style are my favorite part. Classic, straight forward Jazz drums, that really explode in the 4th variation. Bass and guitar hold down the 8th notes, giving you the foundation to explore your melody with piano, organ, trumpet, or saxophone!


Big Band Standard
Harness the power of the big bands that backed up great singers like Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. Frank Sinatra, or Bobby Darin! A driving mid tempo swing with light string pads and brass section stabs give you the tools to recreate your favorite Big Band hits! Featured voices include trumpet, piano, and saxophone!


French Swing
Django Rheinhardt created a unique form of swing that was distinctive not only in instrumentation (prominently featuring guitar and violin, with no drummer) but also in the type of harmonies and melodies used in the songs. Rheinhardt's music is the inspiration for this style, featuring great violin and guitar figures, and the addition of some light drumming. Featured voices include jazz accordion, violin, clarinet, and vibraphone.


Acappella Swing
This style is a perfect accompaniment to use in creating your own a capella tracks. Using only human voices for harmony and finger snaps for percussion, this style recreates the sound of a barbershop quartet with amazing realism and expressiveness. Add your own voice to create new "a capella" songs!


Hot Big Band
Baritone Sax and some awesome handclaps catch the ear in the first variation of this style. As the style progresses, layers of piano, brass, and a strong back beat help you build to your big finish! One Touch Settings include a trumpet section, saxophone section, and a sweet trombone!


Big Band Foxtrot
From its American roots, the Foxtrot has grown to become one of the world’s most popular ballroom dances. Swing and big band music is typically used for dancing the Foxtrot and with this Style you get to lead your very own dance band! Featured voices include cocktail piano, clarinet, saxophone, and trumpet.


Piano Slow Shuffle
A versatile jazz style with a traditional piano, bass and drums arrangement. With soft, brushed drumming and stand-up bass, the sounds and rhythms in this style give you a real authentic jazz combo feel. You can keep it a trio by adding piano melody lines, or make it a quartet with horns or woodwind voices.


Big Band Train
The sound of American big band music is as popular now as it was back in the 1940’s. This upbeat Style has all the band members you would expect – drums, acoustic bass, jazz guitar, piano, saxes and brass – with a complimenting bank of One Touch Settings for you to play along.


Old Time Swing
Here's a lofty, mid-tempo Swing that makes a great entry point into the Big Band/Jazz world, as it's suitable for a variety of songs or original compositions. Featured voices include a big trumpet section, flute, saxophone, and Yamaha piano!


Yamaha Premium Styles are available exclusively from Yamaha MusicSoft and Internet Direct Connection.

~Drew

New Premium Voices For Tyros4: SA2 Baritone Saxophones & SA2 Female Vocals!!

We are extremely excited to announce the release of two new Premium Voice Packs for the Tyros4: The SA2 Baritone Saxophones and the SA2 Female Vocals!! Both new packs were created by the same team that develops the factory installed voices in the Tyros4, so you know that the quality is top notch! Each Premium Voice Pack contains 2 SA2 Premium Voices and 2 Registrations; and as a bonus- the SA2 Female Vocals also includes 1 new Style!

Check out the demonstration videos and in depth descriptions of the new Premium Voice Packs for the Tyros4 below!


SA2 Baritone Saxophones



The SA2 Baritone Saxophones deliver the most authentic and expressive sounds with Yamaha's Super Articulation 2 technology, giving Tyros4 users a bona fide Bari Sax Man at their fingertips. This expansion pack includes two amazing new Sax sounds: the SA2 Funk Baritone Saxophone voice has all the grit and growl you need to get that groovy Motown sound, and the SA2 Pop Baritone Saxophone features a smoother, breathier tone that is perfect for jazz standards and pop ballads.




SA2 Female Vocals



The SA2 Female Vocals offer two unique voices that range from operatic to soothing, and are perfect for a variety of classical and contemporary ballads. Yamaha's Super Articulation 2 technology adds breath and control to each voice that provides a more realistic sound. This expansion pack features 2 beautiful new voices: the SA2 Female Classic voice is full and strong, with variable vibrato and amazing vocal range, and the SA2 Female Ballad voice is sweet and mellow, with an equally impressive range, and softer, lighter vibrato, making it ideal for modern ballads.



Yamaha Premium Voices are available exclusively from Yamaha MusicSoft.

~Drew

Brand New MIDI Songs At Yamaha Online Services!

This week's new MIDI songs include a variety of classic hits from our friends in Denmark at Midi Spot, as well as some modern chart topping Yamaha MIDI songs! This release includes Rod Stewart's "Night and Day" and "Let's Fall In Love", Creedence Clearwater Revival's jangle pop classic "Lodi", Blues guitar legend Gary Moore's "Parisienne Walkways", and recent hits from Michael Buble, and Christina Aguilera!

Our catalog grows bigger and more diverse every week, but we're always open to suggestions. We create MIDI songs based on a few guidelines, including customer demand, general popularity of a song, and the ability to secure the appropriate licenses to create and distribute a song. If the song meets these requirements, we put it into production and release it! If you have a suggestion for MIDI songs we should be producing, send an email to our customer support team today!

Check out some samples of our new MIDI song releases below, or browse and preview our entire catalog!

My Girl
The Temptations


Beautiful
Christina Aguilera


Lodi
Creedence Clearwater Revival


Let's Fall In Love
Rod Stewart


Come Fly With Me
Michael Buble


These new MIDI songs are available at Yamaha Musicsoft and Internet Direct Connection.

~Drew

We Got Soul & Style, And Yamaha Premium Styles For Soul Music!

Soul music has a rich history, combining elements of rhythm and blues, and gospel music. It was first defined as "gospel-style music with secular lyrics". Groovy rhythms, big(ger) bands, hand claps, and crowd participation are all key elements of Soul music. Most of the biggest soul singers from the 1960's drew inspiration from the "hard gospel" vocal quartets of the 40's and 50's, and many consider Ray Charles to be the "inventor" of the genre.

In addition to Mr. Charles, other pioneers of Soul music include Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, and Solomon Burke, though there are too many influential artists and songwriters to list here. This week we've put together a short list of some of the best Yamaha Premium Styles for Soul music, to give you the tools you need to recreate the sound of some of the greatest songs ever written. Whether you're into deep classic soul, funk, R&B, Southern, Northern, Chicago, New Orleans, or Memphis Soul, you're bound to find something on this list that suits the mood. Like all Yamaha Premium Styles, these have been carefully programmed to meet the exacting standards of the Styles that are factory installed in your instrument!


Funky 70's

This Style was inspired by the funk classic "Play That Funky Music", and though it's a bit of a Soul music derivative, it still has some serious groove! Featured voices include rotary organ, growling saxophone, fuzzy lead guitar, and a big trumpet section!

Soul Pop

Soul Pop's first variation is sparse, with just a kick drum and high hat beat. When you move through the variations, you get a classic Soul 4 beat with some awesome voices to play your melody, including trumpet, organ, saxophone, and a warm lead guitar!


Classic R&B

A progressive but laid back groove is present in this style. The bass line is really groovy, and as the variations become more complex, organs and horn pads are added for extra texture. Featured voices include a chorus affected guitar, huge organ, and electric piano.


Groove R&B

Groove R&B has a mellow 16 beat rhythm, which evolves to include subtle rim shots, then ultimately breaking into a classic groove. The swelling string section pads add automatic dynamic to your performance. Featured voices include Spanish guitar, tremolo electric piano, trumpet, and a sweet synth patch.


Hand Jive

Another classic Soul gem! This one is perfect for songs like "Shake" by Otis Redding, or "Higher and Higher" by Jackie Wilson. I could even a Soul version of "Footloose" in this Style! Featured voices include big band trumpet, clean guitar, and a bright piano!

Detroit Ballad

Some of the biggest ballads of the 60s came out of Detroit and Motown records. Detroit put a distinctive soulful pop spin on ballads in songs like "My Girl", and "I Second That Emotion" that you can hear in this style. Using lots of backing vocals alongside prominent drums and horns, the Motown sound is unique but sounds great accompanying a wide variety of ballads.

Memphis Soul

Memphis Soul Music of the 1960's and 70's was defined by artists like Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, and Booker T. & The M.G.'s. This upbeat Style showcases the groovy bass and "in the pocket" drums that are the foundation of the Memphis Sound. With this Style's sultry organ and funky horn voices you'll have all the tools to make shimmering soul music!

60's Soul Shuffle

This style is like putting the world renowned Funk Brothers of Motown Records fame right at your fingertips. All the ingredients are here: deep grooving bass lines, solid back beat drums, bright guitars, and brass voices to really fill out your arrangement. Play all the classic soul shuffle tunes, from Jackie Wilson to the Temptations! If Soul is how you roll, then this style is essential!

60's Gospel Soul

Here we have a mid-tempo soul groove that starts off sparse in the first variation. The sound grows exponentially through each variation, adding piano, gospel vocals, and handclaps, while the drums switch from a snare hit on the 2nd and 4th beat to that classic 4 beat snare rhythm that was so popular in 1960's soul music. Featured voices include a vintage electric piano, organ, blues guitar, and a growling saxophone!

60's 4 Beat Soul

Think Temptations or the Four Tops, and you're really close with this style. Featuring the big Motown production style of the late 60's, this one is essential to any style file collection. Featured voices include electric guitar, harmonica, a string section and a brass section.

Yamaha Premium Styles are available exclusively from Yamaha MusicSoft and Internet Direct Connection.

~Drew

Holding On To Summer With Two New PianoSoft Collections From Yamaha!

In the United States, summer officially ends on September 22nd, but we're not quite ready to let it go. In protest of the end of our favorite season, we're releasing two amazing new PianoSoft collections exclusivley at Yamaha MusicSoft! "Heat Wave"- Sounds of Summer is exactly what it sounds like: A collection of outstanding songs about the season of sunshine!

In the same spirit of feeling warm and groovy, we've got a brand new PianoSoft Plus album devoted to the music of the 1960's in "Born To Be Wild"- 60's Gold. It's been a little while since we released new PianoSoft, and there's plenty more on the way! Stay tuned to this blog, and our facebook and twitter pages for the most up to date information about new releases, and don't forget to check out our entire catalog of PianoSoft collections!



"Heat Wave"- Sounds Of Summer
Jason Nyberg has done it again with an outstanding collection of songs about the summertime! This album contains 9 excellent performances of summer songs including "In The Summertime", "Sunshine Of Your Love", and "Suddenly Last Summer", all in Yamaha's PianoSoft Plus format!

In The Summertime


Sunshine Of Your Love


"Born To Be Wild"- 60's Gold
We love the music of the 1960's and fortunately for us: so does Joel Plimmer! He has arranged and performed 9 essential hits from the 1960's in the PianoSoft Plus format. This collection features The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", the Zombies classic "She's Not There", and of course the title track from Steppenwolf: "Born To Be Wild"!

Born To Be Wild


She's Not There


These PianoSoft Plus collections are available exclusively from Yamaha MusicSoft!

~Drew

Great New MIDI Songs At Yamaha Online Services!

This week we have a variety of chart topping songs to add to our ever expanding selection of Midi songs at Yamaha MusicSoft and Internet Direct Connection! We've got huge hits from Queen, Sheryl Crow, and Lady Gaga, in addition to selections from The Alan Parsons Project, and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Like all of our MIDI songs, these new have been expertly crafted to represent the origninal recording, but function with all of the innovative learning and performance features built into your Yamaha instrument! If you haven't already, you can pick up some great tips on how to use MIDI songs in our popular MIDI Workshop Video Series. Browse our catalog of MIDI songs and stay tuned for updates. We release new songs all the time!

Check out some of our favorite new MIDI song releases!

All I Wanna Do
Sheryl Crow



Fortunate Son
Creedence Clearwater Revival



Another One Bites The Dust
Queen



The Edge Of Glory
Lady Gaga



The Eye In The Sky
The Alan Parsons Project



Enjoy!

~Drew

New Premium Styles! 60's Gospel Soul & 70s 6-8 Country Ballad!

We're always talking about how Yamaha Premium Styles can be used to play many different songs, despite having been inspired by a specific song. This week's new Premium Styles are a screaming example of usability! Our expert Style programmers adhere to the core values of superior quality, effortless functionality, classic and contemporary inspiration, and the diversity that offers Premium Style users performance, composition, and practice opportunities that are second to none.

The latest additions to our Premium Style catalog are no exception to these ethics. 60's Gospel Soul and 70s 6-8 Country Ballad are two of my favorite Premium Styles to date, and I've been playing with them all morning. Though both are mellow to mid-tempo Styles, they are welcome additions to the R&B Soul and Country Style Genres, and have earned the prestigious title of "Essential Premium Styles" in my book.

Check out the demonstration videos and descriptions for our new Premium Styles below, and don't forget to browse our entire catalog!


60's Gospel Soul
Here we have a mid-tempo soul groove that starts off sparse in the first variation. The sound grows exponentially through each variation, adding piano, gospel vocals, and handclaps, while the drums switch from a snare hit on the 2nd and 4th beat to that classic 4 beat snare rhythm that was so popular in 1960's soul music. Featured voices include a vintage electric piano, organ, blues guitar, and a growling saxophone!



70's 6-8 Country Ballad
This Style was inspired by the hit song "Take It To The Limit" by the Eagles. The first variation is a mild 6-8 with crisp studio drums, warm piano and some lovely string section pads. As the Style progresses through the variations, you'll hear some slight rhythmic changes. This gives you some room to build your song's intensity over time, and play dynamically. Featured voices include harmonica, electric piano, a warm string section, and an awesome pedal steel!



Yamaha Premium Styles are available exclusively from Yamaha MusicSoft and Internet Direct Connection!

Have a great weekend!

~Drew

Les bonnes notes de la rentrée

Le mois de septembre est synonyme de rentrée. Il est temps pour les enfants de remplir leurs cartables et pour beaucoup d'entre vous de retrouver le chemin de la vie professionnelle. Vous avez sans doute profité de cet été pour vous reposer, vous détendre et vous amuser.
Fréquemment, durant la période estivale, fleurissent un peu partout en France bon nombre d'orchestres amateurs ou professionnels. Ceux-ci interprètent les plus grands tubes de ces dernières décennies à l'occasion de différentes fêtes ou bals. Ainsi, avez-vous pu peut être danser ou chanter sur des morceaux tels que la Lambada, la Macarena, ou les grands succès des années disco.

Mais la fin des vacances ne signifie pas pour autant qu'il faille cesser d'assouvir ses passions. Pour cela, si vous voulez vous replonger dans cette ambiance festive, nous vous proposons de découvrir une sélection de 10 styles disponibles en téléchargement depuis notre site www.Yamahamusicsoft.com. Vous pourrez alors interpréter tous ces morceaux sur votre instrument Yamaha avec un plaisir et un réalisme stupéfiants.

Chaque style fait l’objet d’une programmation extrêmement soignée. Il est réalisé par des spécialistes qui exploitent pleinement le potentiel offert par les instruments Yamaha. A l’aide de votre main gauche, vous piloterez facilement l’accompagnement à l’aide d’accords (à un doigt ou à plusieurs doigts), tout en ayant la possibilité de choisir parmi les différentes variations disponibles.
Vous pourrez par exemple commencer votre interprétation en utilisant l’une des trois introductions (INTRO 1, 2 et 3), poursuivre à l’aide des quatre variations proposées (MAIN A, B, C ET D), elles-mêmes agrémentées de différents breaks, pour enfin terminer par l’une des trois fins (ENDING 1, 2 et 3).

Pour une utilisation encore plus aisée, chacun de ces accompagnements est muni de quatre préréglages, qui configurent instantanément votre instrument avec des combinaisons de sonorités parfaitement adaptées au style choisi (ONE TOUCH SETTING)

Pour la création de chaque accompagnement, un grand succès a été utilisé comme référence par notre équipe de programmeurs. Cela n’empêche pas chaque style d’offrir une grande polyvalence permettant l’interprétation d’une multitude de morceaux.
Notre bibliothèque s’agrandit régulièrement, afin de vous apporter le choix le plus vaste possible.

Testez notre sélection de styles ci-dessous, ou accédez à notre catalogue complet en cliquant ici !

Rumba Dance

Ce style a été conçu à partir du fameux succès « Macarena », numéro 1 du top 50 pendant 7 semaines durant l’été 1996

Pop Mambo

Originaire de Cuba, le Mambo a fait son retour en force en 1999 grâce à une reprise du morceau Mambo No 5 de Pérez Prado interprétée par Lou Bega.

80s Pop

Bien que la fin des années 70 et le début des années 80 sonnent le glas du Disco, de grands succès comme Rivers of Babylon de Boney M (parfaitement adapté à ce style), continuent à affluer sur les ondes radio et dans les boites de nuit.

LaBamba Groove

Air traditionnel Mexicain, dont l’origine remonterait à la fin du 17ème siècle, La Bamba a connu un succès planétaire dans les années 50 dans une version rock ‘n’roll interprétée par Richie Valens. C’est cette dernière version qui a servi à l’élaboration de ce style.

Gloria's Disco

Grand tube de 1975, « Never can say goodbye » a permis à Gloria Gaynor de connaitre son premier vrai succès. Ce style, intemporel, ravira les amateurs de disco.

Barry Disco

C’est sur la base de «You Are The First, My Last, My Everything » de Barry White que ce style a été créé.

CCCP Ballad

Faisant partie des artistes ayant vendu le plus d’albums dans le monde, Elton John est l’un des plus grands compositeurs de musique pop. Vous retrouverez dans ce style, l’ambiance d’un de ses plus grands succès : « Nikita ».

Feel Good Funk

« I got you », titre mieux connu sous le nom de « I feel good » a marqué de son empreinte les années Funk. C’est aussi la chanson la plus connue de James Brown.

Lambada

Grand tube de l’été 1989, La Lambada est une danse qui provient du Brésil. Ce titre fait partie en France du top 10 des plus grosses ventes de tous les temps.

French Swing

C’est un style totalement différent qui vous est proposé ici, où l’ambiance jazzy évoque de grands artistes comme Stéphane Grappelli et Django Reinhardt.