Ben Johnston: Ruminations (with John Schneider)

Microfest Records, 2014Produced by John SchneiderAlbum Notes via Microfest Buy or listen to samples via Amazon:Ben Johnston: Ruminations I was very excited to receive this new release filled with excellent performances and…

Nigel North plays Fantasie by Albert de Rippe

Nigel North plays Fantasie by Albert de Rippe (Alberto da Ripa) (c. 1500–1551) via the Lute Society of America YouTube channel. Albert de Rippe was an Italian lutenist and composer who…

Articulation in Music

The other day I posted a video regarding articulation and phrasing with Graham Fitch and received a number of questions as to the exact meaning of articulation in music. The previous post…

Michael Kolk plays Round Midnight by Thelonious Monk

The spectacular Canadian guitarist Michael Kolk plays the Thelonious Monk classic Round Midnight, arranged by Roland Dyens. Recorded live in concert at Spirit of Life Lutheran Church, Vancouver BC, July 12,…

Phrasing in music: what is a musical phrase?

Let’s start with a definition from the Oxford’s Music Dictionary: phrase. Short section of music of a musical composition into which the music, whether vocal or instrumental, seems naturally to…

John Schneiderman Plays Tarantelle by Mertz

John Schneiderman plays Tarantelle by Hungarian guitarist and composer Johann Kaspar Mertz (1806-1856). Schneiderman is the real deal and certainly a multi-instrumentalist. Whether he’s on lute or guitar it’s always great…

Marko Topchii Plays Villa-Lobos Etude 7

Ukraine born guitarist Marko Topchii playing Etude No. 7 by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887–1959). Here Marko is playing the preliminary round at the 3rd Changsha International Guitar Competition 2014, Changsha,…

Lesson: Performance Anxiety in Music

As guitarist Scott Tennant states in his technique book “there’s no substitute for preparation.” That is true, you certainly don’t want to perform something you haven’t practiced well. The more you…

Dilbert on the ten thousand hour rule

Dilbert on the ten thousand hour rule. Works well for music!   Link/ Source: You can check out this Dilbert comic and more of Scott Adams here: www.dilbert.com

Matt Palmer Plays La Joia by Vicente Asencio

Matt Palmer playing Vicente Asencio’s La Joia, from Collectici Intim, on a 2002 Edmund Blochinger classical guitar at the Guitar Salon International showroom in Santa Monica, CA. I really like Palmer’s playing,…

Kaiser Schmidt Guitar Duo play Bach

Kaiser Schmidt Guitar Duo plays Sonata I (MVT1) Allegro Moderato BWV 525 by J. S. Bach (1685-1750). Nice arrangement and some very good ensemble skills displayed by this young duo.…