Though it may be hard to describe exactly why music has the power that it does, the ability to analyze chords helps to unravel the mystery. That’s because chords and chord progressions have a great deal to do with the character of music.
Category: How To
How to Boost Your Songwriting Creativity and Inspiration
Write first, think later. For songwriting, as well as any other kind of creative writing, I’m a firm believer in this simple motto.
Easy Classical Guitar Techniques for Beginners
Some invaluable advice and techniques for anyone interested in taking up classical guitar.
An Explanation of Clefs: Treble, Bass, Alto, Tenor
Four different clefs are used in music today; the most common are the treble and bass clefs, and the less common are the alto and tenor clefs.
Beginner Techniques for Percussive / Flamenco Guitar
If you’ve got an acoustic guitar—particularly a classical guitar with nylon strings—here are some beginner techniques for unleashing your guitar’s latent drum kit.
How to Play a Jazz Piano Solo with 3 Easy Blues Scales
How to improvise a jazz blues solo in the key of C, using 3 easy blues scales.
How to Recover from Mistakes During a Performance
In performance, mistakes can be debilitating if you let them be. But unless it causes a real train-wreck onstage, they are far from harmful.
Band Tips: How to Find Gigs
Where can we play? should be one of the first questions you answer as a band.
How to Use Modulation in a Song
Some of the most powerful moments in music occur when the song or piece shifts from one key to another, or modulates. A modulation usually takes the melody higher, and the trip to the new key can be as brief or extended as the composer chooses. It is a tricky technique that will take a lot of practice to master.
How to Develop A Better Sense of Pitch
This is probably why Autotune infuriates so many serious musicians: those variations in pitch aren’t mistakes in the performance; they are the performance. If you clean up those “errors” and quantize everything to the “correct” pitches, all you’re left with is dry, robotic music.