The Basics of the Dorian Mode for Guitar
A lesson on how to use one of the most exciting and practical scale modes for soloing on the guitar in jazz, blues, rock, and fusion.
-
-
Blow Past Your Writer’s Block with Experimental Arranging
Every songwriter knows that painful moment: Staring at a blank page, unsure of what to write. But I believe it’s much worse to stare at a half-finished song. You desperately try to think of what to do next, yet still feel locked into the style, chords, and rhythms that you have already established. It can seem hopeless at times to continue a…
-
Stealing Arcade Fire’s Album Release Strategy: How to Sell 140,000 Albums in a Week
“We’re in an information overload… Just to be recognized you have to be more creative and do things in a way that people will talk about socially — online but also in the physical world. How do you become one of those things that people talk about?” – Scott Rodger (Arcade Fire’s manager) Your album…
-
Unintentionally Spooky, Creepy and Just Plain Weird Music Videos (Not for Halloween)
We know it’s Halloween, but we got kind of sick of ghosts, ghouls, and zombies, so here’s a list of videos that are creepy in other ways.
-
A Brief History of Songwriting Stars You’ve Probably Never Heard Of
We profile the great songwriting minds behind some of the greatest pop hits of the modern era. You might not know their names, but you know their work!
-
The String Section – A Brief Context
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNHZbbphp7k In this quirky video, courtesy of our popular Mainstage course, Orchestration for Strings, composer and arranger Ian Davis demystifies some of the historical context behind the modern day orchestra’s bowed string section, as well as its attributes and compositional strengths. Davis composed all of the compelling score music to this course himself, and you’ll hear…
-
Advice for the Indie Artist: 4 Things We Learned at CD Baby’s DIY Musician Conference
This past weekend, more than 1,000 musicians descended on the most haunted hotel in Chicago for CD Baby’s 2nd annual DIY Musician Conference. Over the course of three days, attendees heard from a wealth of speakers about opportunities and strategies for succeeding in the music world as an independent artist. It also included a jam…
-
Dreamy, Shoegaze Chord Patterns for Alternative Guitar Tunings
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!
-
Keep ‘Em Guessing: A Bizarre Holiday Gift List for the Special Musician in Your Life
If you’re still wondering what to wrap up inside a box this holiday season, maybe your list could use a bit of outside the box thinking. We can help with that! Here’s a list of our favorite bizarre musical gifts for the loved ones in your life who deserve something a bit special this year! (If you…
-
Everything You Didn’t Know You Needed to Know About Pedalboards
Pedals! Despite the wide range of effects they produce, individually, they’re typically pretty straightforward devices. But as soon as you begin to assemble a chain of pedals, complicating factors seem to mount up exponentially. The inconvenient reality is that the more complex the system of pedals, the more helpful it becomes to have some basic…
-
Let’s Get Weird: Crazy Pedals for Crazy Guitarists – Distortion
Distortion, or dirt, as us cool guys call it, is not only used in loud garage rock. In fact, it’s used in every genre of music under the sun. It’s that crunch on the guitar, that huge, fuzz sound, the broken amp effect. There are three major types of distortion: fuzz, overdrive, and distortion, as well…
-
Student Spotlight: Kevin Gundlach on Scoring “Space Desert Western” Game Music
In this edition of our Student Spotlight series, we chat with composer/sound designer Kevin G on his score to the game, Desert Moon of Karth.
-
A Primer on Tool’s Use of the Drop B Tuning
The Drop B tuning has primarily two different variations, both of which have been used almost entirely in the post-grunge rock of the early ‘90s. Pentagram guitarist Victor Griffin is credited with inventing the tuning, and he makes a point to tell players that the tuning sounds great when played “gingerly” as opposed to “heavily.” Yet today, we’re…
-
Song Kitchen: “Peg” by Steely Dan
Welcome to the latest edition of Song Kitchen! Well aren’t you in for a treat, because today we’re gonna be heading down to the City of Angels, the Big Orange, Tinseltown, that’s right — Los Angeles! This city is Americana through and through, home to some of the greatest music ever recorded. We’re here visiting the resident…
-
The Art of Being an Organized Guitarist
If you’ve ever wondered how to cross the line from being a good to a great guitarist, you’ve probably already identified some key factors to focus on — mastery of technique, the quality of your gear, and learning to adopt different performative styles. But I wouldn’t start with any of those — I would start with organization. I have studied the…
-
Is There Such a Thing as a “Single Instrument Virtue”?
+ 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. A few weeks ago, I was on tour with Chris Forsyth & the Solar Motel Band in support of the band Heron Oblivion. When I learned that…
-
How to Play Alternate Tunings on the Guitar: A New Free Series
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our latest free course series, “Alternate Tunings for the Creative Guitarist”! The first installment, new this week, explores the nearly endless creative possibilities of the Open D tuning. If you’ve ever played a guitar, you’re probably familiar with standard tuning. The six strings of the instrument are commonly tuned…
-
Brushy One-String’s Rich, Rhythmic Reggae Has Its Roots in the Blues
Brushy One-String is a Jamaican singer who has become somewhat of a YouTube superstar in the past few years; his songs are inspiring, his energy is magnetic and grand, and he plays a guitar with, you guessed it, only one string. He’s currently touring North America, and in past few years has been able to…
-
8 Music Crowdfunding Campaigns We’ve Got Our Eyes on and Why
It’s all about the story. Fundraising experts will say this time and time again: “People fund people, not ideas.” In other words, when asking for money, what tends to get through to your audience the most is having a compelling and personal story, and a drive to succeed, not necessarily a great business idea. When it…
-
10 Classic Songs in 5/4 and 5/8 Time
Writing and playing in irregular time signatures is tough, but here are ten great songs with grooves that sound effortless and infectious!
-
Kaki King Will ‘Never Go Back to a Pedalboard.’ Here’s Why
https://youtu.be/jHP-16QyYDw In the above video, featured in our free online course, Digital Pedalboards with Kaki King, our instructor, guitarist and composer Kaki King, shares her reasons for making the switch to a digital pedalboard, after years of touring around with a full rig of hardware. Here, she’s using Apple’s MainStage 3 software with a MIDI trigger…
-
The Cradle’s Paco Cathcart on Making ‘Momentous Music’
Welcome back to our interview series, Incorrect Music, curated by guitarist, singer, and composer Lora-Faye Åshuvud (of the band Arthur Moon). In this series, we present intimate conversations with artists who are striving to push the boundaries of their process and craft. Join our weekly email newsletter to get notified whenever we publish our latest interviews and articles! Brooklyn’s Paco…
-
How Successful Musicians Practice: Guitar, Bass, and Bows
Welcome to the second installment of How Successful Musicians Practice. If you’re just joining us now, take a minute to peruse the practice regimes of some seriously successful percussionists here. To recap, I see there being four kinds of practice goals a musician works towards over the course of their career: practicing to learn an instrument and gain…
-
Tone Timeline: Using Delay as a Secondary Instrument
When it comes to playing an instrument, especially in a live setting, there are hundreds of different sounds you can create through the use of effects pedals. One of the most popular and versatile effects is delay. Dozens of major brands have produced stompboxes with settings and delay variations such as analog, digital, tape, tap…
-
The Basics of the Minor Pentatonic Scale for Guitar
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…
