What do all the letters, numbers, and symbols in chord symbols mean? How do we work out which notes to play? How are chords structured? What are chord symbols? If you’re a beginner guitarist, understanding complex chords can be quite challenging, but all chords are very simple when looked at […]
Why is it that classical guitar players need long nails? And how do they shape their nails in order to get the best possible sound? In this video, I explain why the finger movement in guitar playing requires us to have long nails and the importance of shaping and having […]
Is learning music theory important? Music theory the way that musicians communicated with one another. However, it is often the one element of music that musicians are least excited to learn. In this video, I consider the idea of music as language as mentioned in Victor Wooten’s book ‘The Music […]
Why is that even after you’ve learned all the notes to a piece of music, it still doesn’t sound like you want it to? Music is made up of many different elements such as rhythm, dynamics, phrasing and tempo, but most of the time we only focus on one of […]
Does it matter which direction note stems are pointing? There are reasons why notes might point either up or down, and in this music theory lesson, we’ll explore the idea behind note stem direction. We will look at both single-line melodies and also polyphonic music with multiple voices or parts. […]
How can musicians use mental practice to help their development when learning music? Mental practice is a hugely powerful tool used by some of the world’s greatest musicians. It involves focusing the mind on the precise details of the musical performance in order to recreate the full experience of performing […]
What is the best way to schedule your guitar practice routine? Do you struggle to find the time to practice your instrument? What is the best way to practice music? In this video, we explore how to make your guitar practice routine as simple as possible, by coming up with […]
For beginners studying music theory, one of the first questions they ask is, what is a time signature? How do time signatures work and why are they important? What are simple and compound time signatures? What do the top and bottom numbers mean? If you’re new to music theory and […]
In this video, we explore the ways that composers can change key, how it happens and why they might do it. An unprepared key change occurs when the music just jumps into a new key without any warning or preparation. A prepared key change is when the music modulates and […]
Can you guess the Pink Floyd song from these 1-second clips? This Pink Floyd quiz features 15 clips which are either 2 seconds, 1 second, or 1/2 second long. See how many songs you can guess right! I saw David Bennett’s original Beatles video and thought it would be such […]
