Bloperty

Singer Lily Allen has been spotted wearing an engagement ring, reports say.

The 24-year-old singer was seen at a London restaurant with boyfriend Sam Cooper, according to ShowbizSpy.

A source said: “It seemed like they were celebrating something but Lily’s smile vanished when she saw the cameras.

“She looked determined not to have her picture taken with the ring on.

However, a spokesperson for the popstar refuted the rumours, saying: “She often wears a ring on that finger.”

Lily Allen has described her miscarriage as “the worst time of my life” and revealed she still has therapy to cope with her loss.

The 24-year-old singer, who is now dating builder Sam Cooper, became pregnant with her then boyfriend Chemical Brother Ed Simons two years ago.

Lily told Grazia magazine: “I couldn’t even compute the emotions going through my head, but I was having to put out a press release about my miscarriage… I had this public sympathy for about five days and then everyone was on my case again and I didn’t know what was happening to me.”

She continued: “I just didn’t deal with it at all. I didn’t even start beginning to deal with it until the baby’s due date. Then it just hit me like a house collapsing.

“The week before the due date, all I wanted to do was talk about my baby, but I also felt I shouldn’t. I was working non-stop and I had all this inside my head.

“I have therapy on and off but at that time it really helped me. Then I started to deal with it and move on. I still get sad. I still think. I don’t mark (what would have been) my baby’s birth but it’s always there. It changed a lot.”

La Roux has entered a war of words with young rapper Tinchy Stryder.

The In For The Kill singer- real name Elly Jackson- gave an interview to The Guardian last week where she criticised Tinchy’s music.

She said: “George Michael wrote Careless Whisper when he was 17. I didn’t see Tinchy Stryder writing a song like that when he was 17, but he still gets the same praise.”

In response Stryderman said on Twitter: “Why does La Roux care what sort of songs I did or didn’t write when I was 17..?”

It’s been one hell of a year for the flame-haired Brixtonite, Elly Jackson and her musical partner Ben Langmaid, whose debut album was only kept off the #1 spot by the King of Pop back in June. It’s currently notching up sales of 250k in addition to over 1.4 million combined single sales in the UK alone.

2009’s achievements have been duly noted as La Roux is nominated for Best Newcomer at the Q Awards 2009, a Breakthrough award at the MTV Woodies and Best New Act & Best Push Artist at this years EMS Awards in Berlin.

The summer has been a resounding success as the La Roux show rolled in and out of every major European festival leaving a barrage of fans and new converts in its wake.

Various friends of Tinchy have since weighed in on the debate and stuck up for the pint-sized UK rapper.

It seems La Roux is looking for some media attention.

In the same interview she called Take That “gaylords” and was incredulous when asked about a fellow song-writing electro popster, announcing “Of course Lady GaGa is not my thing.”

The limelight-shunning band find award dos uncomfortable and believe all the nominees should go home on an equal footings with the same accolade.

Despite being backed by bookies favourite Florence And The Machine, Scots rockers Glasvegas don’t want to win Tuesday’s Barclaycard Mercury Prize.

Frontman James Allen, 29, told me: “I keep hearing that Florence wants us to win but I like the idea of the band being up for the award however would prefer it everyone got the same thing.

“If it’s recognising what a band have done then I feel a wee bit uncomfortable.

“I was never in a band and writing songs to be a winner above other people – it’s so subjective.

“The beauty is in the ear of the beholder.

“If we win then there will be some people saying: ‘I f***ing hate Glasvegas; somebody else should have won it’.

“If you win does it mean you’re better?

“Maybe my mum thinks that but not everybody else.

“I know I shouldn’t think about it too much but I feel uncomfortable.”

Long before their self-titled debut disc even hit the shops there was a huge buzz about James and bandmates guitarist Rab Allen, bassist Paul Donoghue and drummer Caroline McKay.

While it’s no surprise critics and fans helped it top the charts, since then the four-piece have been careful not to sell-out and large it up like show-off popstars.

However they’d like to see The Invisible take home the trophy at the Grosvenor Hotel bash next week instead of themselves or 23-year-old Flo.

Rab said: “I want, and think, The Invisable will win – they are such sweet guys.

“I got the Speech Debelle album and thought it was mega too.”

James added: “I don’t want Florence to win. She says if she does then I’m going to kick her a***.

“I hope what I said makes sense and doesn’t sound like I don’t appreciate it.

“It’s just a person’s opinion and who’s to say if they’re right or wrong.”

Rab grinned: “It doesn’t matter the result because we’ve had so many f***ing good things happen to use this year.”

Top attitude but fellas, each nominee still gets a gong so make space on your mantle piece.

Despite initial annoyance from those outside at having to strain to hear the six-song set (although it’s a rare treat for those inside to hear just how raw and crystal clear Allan’s voice is when detached from squalling electric guitars) the familiarity of each track soon placates the crowd and has them singing along. ‘Geraldine’, ‘Flowers and Football Tops’ and ‘Daddy’s Gone’ were of course highlights, and a closing cover of ‘Be My Baby’ offered a final, special treat for those who had braved the pavement.

A chord chart is a navigation tool. It’s a way for the composer to chart out musical phrases and notate where chord changes occur.

It can be anywhere from 2-bars to 200 bars or more depending on how long the composition is or how many bars it takes to notate a musical idea.

For example, in the piece “Egrets,” we have an 8-bar phrase with chord changes on top. This is a chord chart. It tells the performer where the chord changes occur, what the melody is, and when to change chords. This is all that is necessary to create a full arrangement of the music.

We don’t need to write out every single note. We use the chord changes to create fresh arrangements of how we want the music to sound.

Notice that the first 2-bars of melody are written out. This was the initial idea. I then drew out 8-bars and finished by putting the chord changes on top. Now, whenever I want to play this little piece, I can play the initial melody and the whole thing comes together.

Of course, I could have written the whole thing out note for note, but this would have taken 30 times as long as just notating where the chords change.

Another benefit of this method is that the music is left elastic and fluid – that is, the aliveness of the music comes to you each and every time you play it. Why? Because each and every note is not written out. You can play it a little differently each time and each time the music will speak a little differently to you.

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

iPod users rarely have anything to complain about. One exception is the inability to copy iPod songs and video clips from an iPod back to another PC. Although iPod has no problem copying videos and music from your desktop or laptop to iPod with iTunes, the reverse is not allowed. If you don’t use iPod to Computer Software System, you cannot move your iPod information to another computer. This topic oftentimes occurs when users get a new PC or have to restart the operating system on their existing computer. Apple prohibits this action because it doesn’t want unauthorised sharing of bought videos and music from the iTunes shop. Notwithstanding, there are multiple reasonable scenarios that people want the ability to copy from iPod to PC. If a PC crashes and you need to reinstall the system files, you could need iPod to PC transfer software to recover your priceless data. Otherwise, the clean installation of iTunes will wipe your iPod, potentially costing you lots of dollars in deleted data. Yet another common time iPod owners require these types of software is when they get a new machine and need to transfer their existing database of iPod music on the new machine. Again, if you don’t have this type of program, you might potentially lose your worthful iPod music and video files. There are many software developers on the Web nowadays that offer software applications to reach this job. A quick visit to CNET or Tucows will show a bunch of alternatives. You can also just type the phrase ‘iPod to PC transfer software’ into your favorite search engine.

iPod owners don’t have much to complain about. One thing occasionally brough up is the missing funcionality to transfer iPod songs from an iPod back to a second Personal Computer. Though the iPod has no problem copying songs from your computer to iPod with iTunes, the contrary is disallowed. Without iPod Transfer Package, you will not be able to download your iPod content to another machine. This matter sometimes comes up when iPod owners get a new personal computer or have to reinstall the operating system on their existing machine. Apple forbids this action because it does not want unauthorised sharing of purchased songs from the iTunes shop. All The Same, there are many reasonable circumstances that people necessitate the power to transmit from iPod to machine. If a machine goes kaput and you have to reinstall the system files, you could need iPod to Computer transfer software to retrieve your priceless videos and music. Differently, the fresh installment of iTunes will clean out your iPod, possibly costing you hundreds of dollars in lost files. Another common time customers require these types of computer software is when they get a new PC and want to put their existing library of iPod data on the new machine. Once Again, without this type of software, you might possibly lose your valuable iPod files. There are many developers on the Web now that offer computer programs to fulfill this chore. A prompt visit to CNET or Tucows will bring out a handful of alternatives. You could also just key the phrase ‘iPod to PC transfer software’ into your favorite search engine.