Back in high school, my senior project advisor told me, “there’s no such thing as a perfect performance.” And then immediately bust out an incredible drum solo. I’ve never forgotten that moment. I just assumed that being able to pull out a great solo on a whim meant he must be telling the truth. While that’s…
By Kathy Dickson If you have been a guitarist for any length of time, you’ve no doubt heard about scales and how you need to know them. But let’s face it, the sheer number of scales to learn can be overwhelming. They smack of theory and are boring to play, right? In truth, scales are…
If there’s one thing I’ve heard guitar students say over and over again, it’s that they love guitar and can’t wait to practice every single day of the week until they lose feeling in their fingers. But if there’s a second thing I’ve heard from guitar players, it’s that they feel trapped inside the patterns and…
Break out of standard and add rich, wistful tones to your shoegaze guitar tone using alternative guitar tunings! Explore Open D, C Wahine, and more!
As Oscar Peterson once said, “technique is something you use to make your ideas listenable.” Until you’ve built up a bit of pianistic muscle memory, trying to play with good technique can feel super awkward. If you’ve taken private lessons, you’ve probably rolled your eyes at a few reminders to relax your wrists and play…
Today we’re going to take a look at the guitar lead in on “Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” the third single off of Adele’s spectacular 2015 album, 25 (we also broke down her first single “Hello” on piano here). This is a great song and a fantastic riff, and it is a total blast…
We’ve covered so many bases in this guitar breakdown series, I don’t even know if we can keep calling it baseball! But to round back to home, let’s take a look at two more important factors in the overall sound we hear from our instruments — from all the way back in the accessories department at the music…
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Whether we are firing up the van for a coast-to-coast tour or showing up for our first open mic, we as performing musicians must hold ourselves to professional standards. Of course, we will still maintain our DIY-punk aesthetic onstage, and in our day to day lives. But when it comes to our bands, we take things…
