Music 1
Add Some Jazz Flair to Your Blues!
Add some extra spice to your standard blues jams! In our third lesson on the 12-bar blues, Justin leads you through jazz-flavored chords and progressions that’ll have you sounding like a cool cat in just minutes. Learn which chords to use, and when to use them with Justin’s jazzy take on the 12-bar blues progression. […]
Bridge The Gap: Bridge Writing Tips
When you listen to a song, you’re taken on a journey of ups, downs, twists, and turns. The bridge is a great place to make some of these twists and turns happen! This section is not necessary for every song, but it can help add narrative and/or color layers. Continuing in our songwriting series, we […]
Build Up and Erupt: How to Transition From Pre-Chorus to Chorus
In our previous post, we explored the inner workings of constructing verse lyrics and themes. But where do we go after we’ve nailed that first verse? Most often, we go to a pre-chorus and/or a chorus. Approaching writing these two sections can be overwhelming given the amount of possible options you have to work with. […]
It’s Your First Verse: Make It Pop!
Each part of a song has an important function. Whether it’s the chorus, the bridge, etc., each section serves a structural and artful purpose. However, the first verse has a unique job: setting the foundation of your song. In this post, we will discuss using a variety of lyrical devices to create an effective first verse to […]
Tributes to Eddie Van Halen, From Those Who Knew Him Best
The music world lost a legend this week with the passing of Eddie Van Halen. With such a giant figure in guitar now gone from us, we thought it best to remember Eddie with help from those who knew him best. Read on for a selection of tributes to Eddie given by his family, bandmates, […]
Save Our Stages: Help Your Favorite Local Venues Survive
UPDATE: The Save Our Stages campaign has proved a success! Funding for independent venues and promoters was added to the COVID-19 relief bill. NIVA is not done yet, however. Learn about what comes next and how you can help here. Original story below: While we’re all bummed out about spring and summer tour dates getting […]
Jaki Liebezeit and CAN: A Look at Krautrock’s Human Drum Machine
With the news of Jaki Liebezeit’s recent passing, what better time than now to take a look back at his influential body of work? Let’s begin where it began. “Communism, anarchism, nihilism” — those were the powerful words rumbling through Jaki’s head in 1968. Christening the band CAN — a move away from their original name Inner Space — […]
Leonard Cohen Dead at 82
If we know anything about these times, it’s that sacrifices — whether earned or unearned — are coming. Leonard Cohen’s whole life was one moved by sacrifice. He was the first of his generation of Polish-Jewish immigrants to look for a better life in Quebec, Canada. Born into a middle-class family in 1934, his upbringing […]
Flea’s Lesser-Known Grooves
Flea’s Signature Fender Jazz Bass came as quite the surprise to us at Summer NAMM this year, and we’re stoked it’s now available! Fender had previously created a custom shop version of Flea’s bass, but this is the first time a production model has been made for the masses. The Flea Signature Jazz Bass features […]
