Making Music Magazine

What in the World is a Balalaika?

The balalaika is the quintessential Russian folk musical instrument, easily identifiable by its hollow, triangular body. The soundboard (top of the instrument) is made of a soft wood, usually spruce or evergreen, while the resonator (back) is built from multiple – three to nine – wooden sections, usually maple. Balalaika Family Members of the balalaika […]

A Music Therapist at Work

Music therapy is certainly one of those professions that can be considered a “calling.” Indeed, it is a field requiring the skill and training of a musician, combined with the clinical instincts of a medical professional, two very different sets of attributes. Tracy Wanamaker, MSEd, MT-BC, has some two decades of experience as both a […]

Music Therapy – Q&A with Julie Elwell

Q: How did you first get into music therapy? Julie: “I found out about music therapy back in high school band class when my teacher had us present a project featuring a music career other than performance or teaching. I found music therapy just searching through the internet and I immediately fell in love! I […]

An Introduction to Music Therapy

What in the world is a charango?

Award-Winning Indie Artist Talks Songwriting, How to Make Great Videos

Alto Key, an independent London-based artist who makes indie/alt-pop music, is a musician whose work has the power to uplift your spirits, punch you in the gut, and squeeze a tear from your heart. He is also delightfully and hilariously funny on his various social media channels, and boasts over 6.7 million likes and 375,000 […]

Pick the Winter 2021 Community Video Contest Winner!

We’ve chosen our favorites, now it’s your turn. Pick your favorite artist or group from our Winter 2021 Community Video Contest winners and decide who will get a special feature story and video interview on Making Music! Vote now through February 19. Scroll to the bottom of this post for the voting link. The artists […]

Community Video: Porsia Camille — Can’t Say the Same

Porsia Camille is a passionate singer and songwriter who started singing before speaking. She grew up in her dad’s home studio, where she was introduced to the writing and recording life. She spent years practicing her craft in school choir, as well as honor choirs as her favorite practice, singing classical and musical theatre. Her […]

Community Video: The Wilderness — If I Have to Die

Community Video: altre di B — Salgado

Tying It Together: Defining the Difference Between Ties and Slurs

The difference between tied notes and slurred notes in music can cause confusion—which is not surprising, since they are both noted the exact same way! Both slurs and ties are indicated with arc-shaped lines placed either above a grouping of notes (if the notes’ stems are pointing down) or below a grouping of notes (if the stems are pointing up).

9 Tips to Avoid A Hoarse Voice During the Holidays

The holiday season is a time for numerous music events, late nights, and celebrations. Here are 9 tips to avoid a hoarse voice during the holidays:

Music Sudoku for Kids

This 100% reproducible collection of Music Soduko for Kids has 64 Sudoku puzzles (18 four-square, 20 easy six-square and 28 medium six-square) and offers students a fun gateway into music learning. The symbols and characters used are drawn from a variety of music subject areas such as notes and dynamics, to letters representing instruments, composers […]

How to Read Music

The Process Einstein Used to Stimulate Creativity and Why it Worked

Multi-Purpose Beginning Band Tool

Take a Virtual Tour of the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum

Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum has been closed to the public for over a month. In an effort to continue reaching bluegrass fans all over the world, the Hall of Fame has produced a virtual tour led by Executive Director Chris Joslin. Within the Hall of […]

The NAMM Show 2020 Adventures

The NAMM Show 2020 was held January 16-19, 2020 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Here are some photos from our time at the show.

It’s Almost Time for The NAMM Show 2020…

It’s January, which means that it’s time to prepare for the annual NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Show—the world’s most comprehensive gathering of musical instruments, gear, and experts. The NAMM Show, held each January in Southern California, unites over 115,000 registrants from 130 countries. This is a conference where almost every music instrument or […]

Make Music Winter Returns Nationwide on December 21

Free Participatory Musical Parades Showcasing a Wide Variety of Genres and Styles to Kick Off Winter in Over 30 U.S. Cities Make Music Winter, a free, outdoor music-making celebration on the winter solstice, returns this year on Saturday, Dec. 21, with participatory musical parades and performances and events in more than 30 U.S. cities. The […]

Earth Celebration: 3 Days of Drumming

Earth Celebration is a huge drum festival hosted by the globetrotting drum group Kodo. This year’s festival will be held August 16-18 on Sado Island.

What goes into the creation of a music book?

May 18, 2021

Walk into any music store and you will almost certainly see, besides all the instruments and associated gear, a display of music books. Some might be instructional in nature while others may comprise collections of songs based upon a specific songwriter’s or band’s catalogue, or some other theme. Have you ever wondered what goes into […]

Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking

April 19, 2021

Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking provides a long-needed, practical, and engaging introduction to the craft of making—as well as creatively cannibalizing—electronic circuits for artistic purposes. With a sense of adventure and no prior knowledge, the reader can subvert the intentions designed into devices such as radios and toys to discover a new […]

Koda Electro Acoustic Irish Bouzouki i

April 22, 2021

Irish Bouzoukis are large relatives of the mandolin family, and are sometimes called octave mandolins or citterns. They evolved from the 1960s and 1970s Irish folk music revival, when Greek bouzoukis were used as background rhythm instruments and later adapted into a new instrument. The three main differences between the Irish bouzouki and Greek bouzouki […]

Harp Mandolin

April 17, 2021

The harp mandolin appeared in the early 1900s. This modern replica exploits the sympathetic vibrations gained with the four additional harp strings to give the mandolin sound a built-in echo chamber reverb effect. The harp strings can be plucked along with the mandolin, extending the range of the instrument. Tuned diatonically starting below the G […]

A Musical Interface of Light and Sound

April 15, 2021

The Tenori-On is a musical interface of light and sound. In testing an interface based on the tactility and lighting of a 16×16 grid of switches, Yamaha Designers sought to make playing a musical instrument an enjoyable experience for all. The 256 switches that make up the Interface are not reserved solely to output sound, […]

What in the world is a charango?

May 27, 2021

A guide to this small South American powerhouse If you were to take a mandolin, combine it with a ukulele and maybe toss in some oud or perhaps a bit balalaika, you might very well end up with a charango. So, what’s a charango? This diminutive, multi-stringed, multi-coursed, hollow-bodied axe offers up sweet sounds reminiscent […]