Having played weddings in San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, Palm Springs area and throughout Southern California for 20 years I’ve learned so much. This post is a chance to share some of this info with you!
Here are ten tips to help you plan your wedding music to the fullest. Feel free to share this page with your wedding planners, friends and family.
-These tips are not in any particular order except #10 may be the most important!
-Not all these tips may apply to your specific plans but some of them definitely will.
If you have any questions I would be glad to help!
1) Ceremony Events.
Although all weddings are different most have some semblance of the following events requiring music; pre-music as guests are being seated, seating of parents, bridal party and couples recession. Often music is needed for an interlude; a prayer or sand/candle ceremony, etc.
One of the first things people ask me when they find out I play guitar for weddings is, “Do you get tired of playing, ‘Here Comes the Bride’?”
My answer is NO! I enjoy playing for all of my clients big day. Each wedding is different and has it’s own energy. It is important to make the atmosphere of the event special for each couple and their guests. Second, I really don’t play it as often as one might think.
To some the “Bridal Chorus,” Here Comes the Bride’s, real title, has become cliché or cartoon-ish due to having been placed in so much media over the years; movies, commercials, cartoons, etc. It also has the feel of ‘My parents wedding march’ to many of my clients.
The irony is that I have handfuls of clients who say NO WAY to the traditional marches and a handful of those who wouldn’t have it any other way. There is no right or wrong, it is each couples decision.
That said there are a few popular alternatives that have trended over the years. Some are short lived trendy and some have become the new traditional, like Pachelbel’s, “Canon in D.” Without doubt the Canon is the most popular piece I play for the Bridal procession. It is classy and timeless but has a more modern feel than the “Bridal Chorus.” “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring,” by J.S. Bach and Handel’s, “Harmonious Blacksmith,” are two other in demand classical pieces that I am often asked to play.
Then there are the non-traditional options, for those who want their wedding to display something uniquely them. I have played Metallica, Journey, Gypsy Kings, Enya, George Harrison, The Beatles to name a few. There are also trends that are born from mass media, like when the big wedding episode of “Friends,” the 90’s sitcom, used Eric Clapton’s, “Wonderful Tonight.” I played that one quite a bit back then, although I think that song always makes a great procession.
The idea of a piece becoming trendy is not really a new idea to these times. ‘Here Comes the Bride,’ as I mentioned, is really entitled, “Bridal Chorus,” and was adapted from Wagner’s opera, “Lohengrin.” It only became traditional due to its extended trendiness.
So there it is a post about Bridal March music. Hope this helps you pick your music whether you like traditional, semi-traditional or something unique. I am always glad to go over options and ideas with my clients to help them if they don’t already have a clear idea of the music they want.
This is an interesting idea that has been floating around the internet for a few weeks. The possibility of guitar great, Michael Schenker teaming up with vocalist Don Dokken on some sort of project.
Schenker a guitar legend has never really had a ‘great’ singer in his solo work. He has always had kind of wanna be rockers who were ‘good enough.’ If this did happen, Don Dokken would easily be the best vocalist to work with Schenker. He might also be the biggest diva. This is what leads me to believe it might not happen.
Schenker tours relentlessly, year round. He has turned down huge acts to do his own thing. Aerosmith, Ozzy and the Rolling Stones to name a few. His reasons for turning them down are that he needed to stay in his own skin and not join a media circus with which the aforementioned bands all are deeply intertwined. Don Dokken doesn’t seem like the best personality fit, but, he does not have the mega status of these other acts.
One thing for sure…I would want to hear the project.
Steve Miller is next on the list. October 5th , the Space Cowboy will turn 69.
From the time I was a little kid through high school, Steve Miller was one of my favorites! As a guitarist I think he is underrated and he has a great Rock n Roll voice. Couple that with the super cool synth tracks ie Fly Like an Eagle and a young rocker to be couldn’t resist. Music was like catnip for my developing internal music hard drive! I will always remember hearing him in the car driving around San Diego with my mom and at the beach blaring out of radios. Even back then when I was 7, 8 years old I couldn’t get enough music and Steve Miller was always on hand.
For some reason I think “Swingtown” was my all time favorite of his songs. It displays all the previously mentioned aspects; his voice, guitar riffs and the ambient synthesizers. Here it is…Enjoy!
Tonight’s practice session… I am re-working a couple old pieces “Recuerdos de la Alhambra” by Francisco Tarrega and “Scherzino Mexicano” by Manuel Ponce.
Two great pieces in the classical guitar repertoire.
Then, yes, I plan to mash the high strings and work on some scales and improvising!
This is great cause I dont often enough get a night to practice what I want. I’m usually working on music for a specific wedding or event.
It can’t be! It’s really not cool of all these rock stars to keep aging, because as they get older…I am one step behind them.
Anyway, October 2, Sting bassist and vocalist for the Police did just that…turned 61. I guess it beats the alternative.
I had the honor of seeing The Police live in 2008 when they passed through San Diego. I thought it would be a cool show to see and be able to say I saw the Police. I wasn’t expecting much more. However, I was totally blown away with how incredible they were live. Their sound was super clean and the band was tight musically. It definitely ranks high on the list of concerts I have attended.
Here is “Walking on the Moon” live from Japan on the same 2008 tour.
Most fans of the German rockers are familiar with hits like “Rock You Like A Hurricane,” “Big City Nights,” “Still Loving You” and “No One Like You.” The late 70’s to the 80’s, 90’s, 00’s…was when the band developed their signature heavy metal sound. There were however two other incarnations of the Scorpions. First with 16 year old guitar legend to be Michael Schenker. The second, featured guitarist Uli Jon Roth. Under Schenker for just one album, “Lonesome Crow,” the band had almost a psychedelic sound. The Roth era was somewhere in between this and their ultra-stylistic almost hair metal sound of the 80’s.
I don’t consider the Scorpions hair/glam metal for two reasons. They were heavy metal pioneers that all the crappy 80’s bands tried to emulate and moreover they wrote good music. Anyway, somewhere between being very young acid rockers and trend setting perfectors of the ‘Power Ballad’ mega-stars was the Uli Jon Roth years.
Heavy? Yes!…..Rockers? Totally! But what was their style?
The Scorps were very unique during this period. They were gaining in popularity, they were still under produced and very original. Roth is a great guitarist very spiritual and Hendrix-ish both terms that don’t always apply to heavy metal guitarists. But they were definitely heavy during these years.
The only way to really understand is to listen. Posted below is one of my favorite Roth era Scorpions songs, “Your Light.”
To me this song sums up the band in the early to mid 70’s. Some heavy-ness, some party feel, some hippie-ish feel and of course incredible guitar work. The song starts out heavy then immediately leads into to a funky dance vibe. But the song truly peaks on the two guitar solos. The first comes at 2:15 in the video. A slow Roth solo mostly reserved, with feeling and anthem-ish. The song then returns to the funky playful riff before the second solo. This is where Roth shows off a little more of his guitar acrobatics. It ends on a playful note as Roth solos into a fade out.
The Roth era Scorpions may be some of the truly under rated music in metal history. They were a little more free form in their songwriting than other bands and certainly then when they became a global commodity in the 80’s. Not always a good thing for massive consumption as most listeners seem to prefer produced cookie cutter bites. Most Scorpions fans have found their way back through the bands back catalog and found these gems. I strongly recommend you check these albums out as well especially if you are looking to uncover some truly quality and cool music.
Mike Slayen ~ Guitarist 