Website Update

Happy Holidays (for some of you this still means Thanksgiving, for most it means Christmas and for those of you who like to hunt it means Deer Season) !

We wanted to let you know of a few changes that were added to Rockin With The Cross today.

 

 

 

 

• Link to Update This Song on song pages (under Song Info)
• Link to view the Previous Version of a song (under Song Info)
• New Font choices added in the dropdown on song pages (under Controls)
• Copy-n-Paste function (to copy the chord chart/tab to your clipboard)
• Print page now displays in your font/size choice

A couple notes about the new features …

Copy-n-Paste
The copy-n-paste feature on the song pages does require flash.  This feature has been tested in the major browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer).

Print Page
A bunch of you have requested the ability to print the songs out in the new font/layout.  Well, here it is.  Simply click the Print button on a song page.  NOTE:  if you don’t like the new layout and want to revert/use the old print page, simply change your font to “Courier New” under Controls.

Contact Us
While this is not a new “feature” we are requiring you to enter your name when emailing us from our Contact Us page.  This is very helpful for us to look up your information if you have changed email addresses and/or can’t remember your user id.

Because its the giving season …

I love when others’ share great deals with me, so I’m here to pass along a deal to you.  Free Christmas music!  If you have kids in your life (or are simply a big kid), then you love Veggie Tales.  Amazon is offering the Veggie Tales – Singing Christmas Tree album free now!

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Looking for Christmas Chords?

It’s that time of year again, and we have the Christmas songs you are looking for.  Of course if you’re looking for chords or tabs on the recent Family Force 5 or MxPx Christmas albums, you’ll likely have to send them in 🙂

History of Away In a Manger

The first two verses of “Away in a Manger” were originally published in a Lutheran Sunday school book in 1885. Two years later, James R. Murray published it as “Luther’s Cradle Hymn,” thus creating the misconception that Luther had written it. Although some attribute the words to Luther, they are usually considered American anonymous. Some credit the music to Murray; others think he merely harmonized an old German folk song. the words are frequently sung to the tune of the Scottish song “Flow Gently Sweet Afton.”

See Hillsong Chapel Live Tonight

Hillsong Chapel Live Stream Tonight at 7 PM CST

TONIGHT at 7 PM CST at WORSHIPTOGETHER.COM/LIVE — Worship Together hosts a conversation with Reuben Morgan, Ben Fielding and Annie Garratt live from Hillsong Church in Australia. They’ll be talking about songwriting, playing songs from the new Hillsong Chapel album and talking about the purpose behind these fresh new arrangements.

10 Guitar Practice Tips (ok, its really only 8)

Here is a list of 10 practice tips from GuitarAlliance.com:

1. It’s a good idea to practice at least a little every day. You should set aside some time each day to practice undisturbed, even if it’s only 10 or 15 minutes a day. You will still see marked improvement from day to day or week to week if you practice a little every day.
2. Balance your practice sessions out. Don’t just practice your chops, work on your brain power too. 9 out of 10 guitarists spend 6 months learning new things on the guitar and the next 10 years recycling the things they learned in the first 6 months that they began to play.
3. Spend part of your practice sessions working on your chops and part of your practice session learning new things and concepts  that can apply to your playing.
4. Don’t get frustrated! You may not see improvement overnight, but you will see improvement eventually. If you’re having problems learning to play something, don’t beat yourself up about it. You’ll get it if you keep at it from day to day.
5. Set both short and long term goals. You may want to keep a journal to list your goals and keep track of your progress towards those goals. An example of a short term goal may be to learn 5 basic chord patterns and their barred versions. An example of a long term goal may be to learn all the notes on the fretboard.
6. Try recording a practice session then go back a month or two later and listen to it. You’ll be amazed at the progress you’ve made if you’ve stuck with regular practice.
7. If you start to feel too much discomfort in your hands and/or fingers from practicing you may want to take a break or wait until the next day to continue. Over time the muscles in your hands will develop to the point where they won’t cramp as much, and your fingertips will develop hard calluses.
8. Concentrate on your weaknesses. Don’t spend most of your practice time on the areas that you would consider your strengths. Take the time to make your weaknesses strong, too.
9. Keep fresh material. At guitaralliance.com we can provide you with tons of material to keep your practice sessions fresh (if you’re not a member yet then now is a great time to join).
10. Remember: When working through the material don’t get ahead of yourself. If you come across something that you do not understand don’t skip it and go on to something else. Stop and click the support button or visit the forums so that you get the help you need to understand. Skipping material is like skipping chapters in a novel: you’ll be  scratching your head in confusion.

Here’s my #9 and #10 since theirs was really just advertisements for their training materials.

#9 – Practice with a metronome.  Playing in time is critical whether you are playing by yourself or with a band.  A metronome can also be useful when practicing scales & solos.  Start with a slow tempo and work your way up to full speed.  If you want your notes to be clean and articulate, work on your playing clarity at slower speeds and increase the tempo in increments until your can play all the notes cleanly at full speed.

#10- Play with other musicians.  You can learn something from everyone.  Typically, your guitar part is only one piece of the sonic puzzle.  Playing with other musicians forces you to listen to the other players.  Listen, listen, listen.  Learn to follow other players.  Are we speeding up? Are we lowering the overall volume? Learn to react to other players nuances and techniques.

In all of your time playing and practicing what important things have you learned?