During a live gig, the relationship between the artist and audience is beyond that of simply performer and observer. Physically and emotionally, there’s little separation between both parties and a huge deal of direct interaction, both explicit and subliminal. Self-assurance is essential and, as with so much in life, confidence is the key. If a…
+ Welcome to Soundfly! We help curious musicians meet their goals with creative online courses. Whatever you want to learn, whenever you need to learn it. Subscribe now to start learning on the ’Fly. Memorizing music is invaluable in the eternal quest of learning and growth. From strengthening your ears to widening your understanding of compositional structure and recognizing patterns, there…
Welcome back to Fundamentals of Guitar Anatomy, my four-part series examining the literal ins and outs of your electric guitar. So far, we’ve covered wood types and body styles, and today I’d like to cover all the different kinds of pickups available at your disposal, how they work and how they create different tonal shapes. An…
By Claude Johnson “Sweep picking” is a technique where the guitarist plays single notes on consecutive strings with a “sweeping motion” of the pick. While simultaneously using the fret hand to produce a specific series of notes, usually an “arpeggio.” Both hands are essentially performing these motions in unison, to achieve the particular desired effect of…
+ Learn to create and arrange original, instrumental hip-hop music from sampling pioneer RJD2 himself in his new course on Soundfly, RJD2: From Samples to Songs. When we turn on the radio to any pop station, we hear sampling. When we utilize any MIDI instrument technology within our DAWs and hardware, we hear sampling. It’s everywhere, and it’s due…
Now that we’ve covered dynamic– and distortion-based effects, it’s time to start playing with the actual shape of your sound. From subtle EQ tweaks to dramatic filters, this is where we start really delving into reshaping and altering your tone. These effects can be used to add expression and character to your playing, as well…
Covers are wonderful in so many ways. If you are a new artist, learning to take on a cover song challenges you to learn new material, and offers exposure for your originals. If you are a seasoned artist, adding covers to your routine can help you grow and define yourself as a musician, and give…
Improvisation is a complex beast to tackle. You can’t go about the process by just “making it up.” If it seems to you like that’s all Miles Davis is doing when he plays, keep in mind that the best improvisers are the ones who manage to create an illusion of effortlessness, but actually put meticulous…
Welcome back to Fundamentals of Guitar Anatomy, my multi-part series examining the ins and outs of your electric guitar. In the last lecture, we talked about body styles, and that knowledge will help you to grasp this one, as we’re going to be talking about the different types of wood used for guitars and their effect. The…
Welcome to part 2 in How to Achieve the Perfect Country Twang! In part 1, you learned what the heck “vocal twang” is and how it differentiates from twang in a colloquial sense. Just to recap — vocal twang is a useful vocal technique. It has very little to do with the cat-like, nasal quality that we…
