The John Lennon Songwriting Contest announces Power to the People, a weekly opportunity for songwriters to win home studio gear and instruments in these trying times, and qualify for entry in the annual contest with over $300,000 in cash awards and prizes, and the $20,000 Song of the Year. Songwriters can enter each week by Sunday at 11:59 […]
Ken Perlman is considered one of today’s top clawhammer players, known in particular for his skillful adaptations of Celtic, Appalachian, & Canadian fiddle tunes to the style. He has toured throughout most of the English-speaking world and in Western-Europe, both as a soloist and – for over…
If you’ve heard of Daniel Ho, it’s most likely from his recent concerts and recordings of Hawaiian music on ukulele
Pandemic-Inspired Musical Project Brings Together World-Class Percussion And Brass Musicians Just a few weeks ago, on Independence Day 2020, a group of world-class percussion and brass musicians released a new arrangement of a Revolutionary War-era fife-and-drum tune, “The Downfall of Paris.” While the project started as a fun musical project during quarantine, it ended up […]
A brief history of banjos The banjo derives from various African instruments that arrived here via the West Indies in slavery days. The original five-string banjo had no frets, the horizontal position markers that tell the player where to place his/her left hand fingers. There are reports of slaves playing banjos on Thomas Jefferson’s plantation, […]
Mike Meiers — songwriter, producer, and guitar coach — goes ukulele in his latest video for Making Music. Here, he talks about a variety of considerations for ukulele being utilized in a commercial music / sync licensing production scenario. Grab your ukulele and check out Mike’s video for specific explanations, examples, and tips!
Bluegrass traces its roots to British folk music and African American gospel and blues…
The Banjo Racketeers are a nine-piece band from the San Francisco Bay Area performing on various sizes of banjos. They are big fans of old 78 records and music from the ’20s and ’30s — and of Making Music magazine. “We’re a nine-piece banjo band from the San Francisco Bay Area, playing our fun hokey music […]
Mike Meiers brightens up a mix with a modern technique for recording banjo.
Fleck is perhaps the most well-known banjo player on the planet. He’s traveled to Africa to study the banjo’s origins, and championed the instrument’s evolution, playing everything from jazz fusion to classical.