One of the single most important elements in a great-sounding, professional recording is the performance of the session musicians. There is a reason that the job of the session musician exists.
I’m going to begin this article by quoting from one of my earlier articles: Your career as a recording artist hinges on many things from the songs you choose to the musicianship on your records. But the single most important thing for your artist identity is your voice. Your ultimate goal as a vocalist is [...]
When I was 23, I went to Europe for the first time. It was a great adventure and many of the highlights took place in Greece, where I have returned several times in the intervening years. The morning I’m thinking of had to do with Socrates, the Greek philosopher. I had read The Meno by [...]
Last year we reviewed the book How To Write Songs on Guitar by Rikky Rooksby. It still stands up as one of my favorite books for inspiration and creativity. So I was very excited to see this book recently for a deal, which I subsequently purchased and started reading. Where How To Write Songs on [...]
Are you a family man (or woman)? Some will get up early in the morning, others will wait til the whole family goes to bed at night. Others will have a regular night and will spend the rest of the week capturing songwriting ideas. Maybe you’re not a family man but you DO have a [...]
Most of us have a love/hate relationship with holiday songs. Some of us tire of the constant drumming of holiday music no matter where we go – the post office, the grocery store, church, etc. On the other hand, there are some who love holiday songs because it reminds them of being kids and the [...]
I’ve held the belief that listening to and learning from musical styles that are different from your own, has always been beneficial. However, early in my musical career this wasn’t so apparent to me or some of my students. In fact, some of my students had the misconceived perception that going outside of their “strength” [...]
The question that I’m asked most often is: “How do you actually write your music?” The answer is, that Songwriting can be a harsh mistress, and you have to know how to approach her, to turn the mistress into a muse. Anybody can write a song. Many people can write good songs. But how do [...]
We are adapting this theory to the Musical realm in a practical way so that we (the artists) can more effectively write music and in turn have the audience recognize, understand, and appreciate our music much more.
At the time of this writing, there is an unfamiliar face at the top of the iTunes Albums list – a songstress named Sara Bareilles and her album “Little Voice”. Some have said she sounds reminiscent of Fiona Apple. The Wall Street Journal seemed to notice and did an article on her. The success point [...]
