“What music really comes down to, like a lot of things, is people. Whether you are playing a gig, producing a recording project or coordinating events, it’s all about the people. If you’re listening to my music at a gig we are having a connection. And especially, working in the studio, you are having some impact on this artist’s future. That means something. There’s always collaboration….
Category: Featured Article
Simeon Flick Is Boundless with a Guitar
With two brand new releases, Simeon Flick steps boldly into the new reality we all know as life right now. The first: Scarlotti’s Greatest Hits — a refreshing choice artistically, as it highlights the works of Domenico Scarlotti, who lived adventurously as a composer, integrating musical ideas from the street, so-to-speak, to be implemented into […]
Charlotte Adams on Limitless Guitar Learning
If you’ve tried learning guitar by working through random books and videos, or even working with a teacher who doesn’t take your unique needs into account, you’ve found that success doesn’t happen from a haphazard approach. It happens when you have strong intention and commitment…
Guitar and the Passion of Larry Mitchell
The gifted Grammy Award winning performer, producer, and engineer continues to amaze. Larry’s guitar textures demonstrate his abilities as a solo artist and as an ensemble player. Larry has had the opportunity to tour with Tracy Chapman, Billy Squier, Ric Ocasek, and Miguel Bosѐ. While on tour with Tracy Chapman, Larry performed for the late Nelson Mandela…
Playing Well with Dr. Kertz — Returning to Play After an Injury
In his newest video, Dr. Randy Kertz discusses how to return to playing your instrument after an injury. If you want to get back to playing without risking re-injury, this month’s column is for you. Dr. Kertz’s monthly column addresses how musicians can avoid injury, how they can identify things they may do to cause […]
Peter Sprague on Jazz Guitar, Surf, & Breaking Even
Another golden moment that stand’s out in Peter’s recall came in Washington D.C. playing with Chick and Al Jarreau. And then doing film work with Chick on the movie The Cat Chasers, starring Kelly McGillis. The band included Vinnie Callouta on drums, Chick, Pattittuci, Kujala. The trust he earned with Correa was such that Sprague became the one to organize Chick’s music in book form for publishing purposes.
Own Your Tone! A Practical Guide to Electric Guitar Tone
Guitar tone is the sound or timbre of the guitar which could mean the effects that are being used, what pickup selection is being used, is it played with a plectrum or fingerpicked, and many other factors. You could say that the sound difference between an acoustic guitar and electric guitar is due to the difference in tone. Or the difference between Kirk Hammett’s distorted guitars in Metallica and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits’s clean to lightly overdriven sound is due to differences in tone.
Christopher Dale Singing the Praises of Songwriting
2018 marked the release of Dale’s single, Smile, which he used to promote a campaign in support of the international children’s charity Smile Train, which has provided over a million new smiles to kids who required corrective, cleft-palate surgery. In 2020, C. Dale released the EP “Where The Road Turns To Sand”.
New Commissioning Program “Just Songs” Amplifies Voices of Emerging Songwriters
The program, which offers an incubation process, reflects YPC’s goal of continuing to provide choristers and alumni with resources and support as they establish their own successful careers. Just Songs (Unplugged) is a compilation of acoustic solo works, with lyrical themes centered around social issues, created by YPC alumni as an inspiration for the organization’s young choristers. This winter, the artists will work with YPC’s choral members, grades 3-10, to perform Just Songs (Amplified), a set of new choral arrangements of the original songs,
Jason Mraz Foundation to Award Grants to 25 US Non-Profits
Jason Mraz recently announced through a video on his site that his Foundation would award 25 grants of $2000 each to non-profits within the US that align themselves with the Foundation’s mission “to shine for inclusive arts education and the advancement of equality.” The announcement comes on the one-year anniversary of Shine, a live show […]