Our Latest Blog on Music & Instruments

Learn to Rock the Classics: the Sonata di Chitarra

Claire Cunningham By Claire Cunningham on Tue, 09/13/2016 - 10:13am EDT

In our new promotional video, popular bass guitarist and music educator Yonit Spiegelman shows guitar beginner Colin some basics by ably using a great tune -- a tune truly for the ages. 

Why Does Our Musical Alphabet Have Twelve Tones?

Leah Kruszewski By Leah Kruszewski on Fri, 09/02/2016 - 3:56pm EDT

One of my guitar students recently asked me if musical tones vary as much as the color palette does among cultures and languages. For example, all languages have words for the fundamental colors such as black, white, red, yellow, blue, and green; but vocabulary for more complex variations varies greatly. Some languages do not have words for colors like purple, pink, orange, or brown. Other languages have specific words for colors that we English-speakers would consider subtle variations. In Russian, the colors light blue and dark blue have completely distinct and unrelated words.

Pentatonic, Blues & Mixolydian Scales on Guitar

Rod Ferreira By Rod Ferreira on Mon, 08/29/2016 - 3:18pm EDT

When improvising a solo, beginner guitar players tend to pick one scale and go with it for the entire solo. While this strategy can be really cool, solos are often made more interesting by mixing together a variety of scales in order to achieve different sounds.
 
Let’s pick a chord as a jumping-off point: 

A7 (A C# E G)

Build Your Own Classical Guitar Warm-Up, Part 3: Scales

Leah Kruszewski By Leah Kruszewski on Mon, 08/29/2016 - 2:15pm EDT
build your own guitar warm up

You can break down the mechanics of classical guitar playing into three fundamental techniques: slurs, arpeggios, and scales. Spending time improving each of these mechanisms will make playing a lot easier and improve your sound. This is the third of a three-part series that will give you the ingredients you need to build a short warm-up routine. I will introduce several studies of varying difficulty, so choose the examples that best suit your playing level.  

Fundamental Aspects of Piano Technique

Joana Moreira By Joana Moreira on Mon, 08/22/2016 - 4:52pm EDT
Good hand position and posture for piano

Good technique is key to mastering any instrument. In addition to facilitating quicker movement around the instrument, proper technique also helps prevent injury (every musician’s worst nightmare!). This article explains three crucial aspects of piano technique which should be practiced by pianists of every skill level. Keeping these points in mind will help virtually any pianist both improve their facility at the keys and reduce their chances of strain or discomfort.

1. Relaxation

Benefits of Being a Diverse Musician

Dr. Elizabeth Turner By Dr. Elizabeth Turner on Mon, 08/15/2016 - 3:22pm EDT

We live in a world where young musicians have access to a wide assortment of instruments and a limitless variety of musical styles. Given the wealth of musical resources available to us, why limit ourselves to just one instrument or genre?
 

Understanding Relative Keys, Part 2

Rod Ferreira By Rod Ferreira on Mon, 08/01/2016 - 11:14am EDT

(Note: if your knowledge of music theory is not that great, this lesson might seem a little complicated. If this lesson seems over your head, I’d encourage you to book a lesson with your favorite guitar teacher and go over the basics. You might also want to look at my earlier blog post dealing with the fundamentals of music theory on guitar.)

Understanding Relative Keys, Part 1

Rod Ferreira By Rod Ferreira on Tue, 07/19/2016 - 9:47am EDT

As guitar players, we all should understand the basics of music theory. A working knowledge of music theory enables us to better communicate with other musicians and to explore different ideas on the instrument. This is the first of installment of a three-part series on basic music theory for guitarists.
 
Let’s start by talking about relative keys. Every major key has a relative minor key, which simply means that for every major key, there is a minor key with the SAME notes. That’s it! Easy, right? Let’s pick a scale to illustrate this idea:
 

Build Your Own Classical Guitar Warm-Up, Part 2: Arpeggios

Leah Kruszewski By Leah Kruszewski on Mon, 06/20/2016 - 4:35pm EDT
Build your own guitar warm up

You can break down the mechanics of classical guitar playing into three fundamental

Tips for Singing Background Vocals

Dr. Elizabeth Turner By Dr. Elizabeth Turner on Tue, 06/07/2016 - 4:40pm EDT

Performing background vocals is an essential part of any vocalist’s skill set. Whether performing live or recording in the studio, background vocalists can make or break a song. Many of today’s iconic singers (such as Phil Collins, Sheryl Crow, Luther Vandross and Cher) got their start as background singers.  Developing your skills as a background vocalist takes time and practice, but by following these four tips, you’ll be making progress in no time.
 
1) Create an effective background part
 

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