Showing titles in Instruction & Technique

Want to learn proven strategies that will help you sharpen your fingerstyle-guitar skills, practice more effectively, and silence the inner critic that can sabotage your performances? Playing the guitar requires a blend of intuition, intellect, and emotion, and the path to excellence can be a confusing one. In The Inner Game of Fingerstyle Guitar, master guitarist and worldwide performer Adam Rafferty delivers the information you need.

Ear training is one of the most rewarding skills you can develop, and it’s one that you can work on every day. Which makes total sense: Music is an aural experience, after all. Ear training helps you turn the music you hear into music you make on your guitar. This works for your own musical ideas, too: When you dream up a great riff or chord progression, you naturally want to sit down and play it right away. Ear training helps you do just that.

The songs in this Piano by Ear box set span centuries, and yet each one of them is as memorable as the next. From St. Dallán Forgaill to Lauren Daigle, this set of songs will give you a repertoire of church standards, in a variety of levels, that you will find yourself playing for the rest of your life. All songs are taught “by ear” without the use of video or print, so you can work on them anywhere, at any time.

How to Write a Song That Matters is an invaluable guide to writing music by a woman who knows how to do it and do it well: iconic singer-songwriter, Dar Williams. For years now, Williams has led songwriting retreats for musicians, from beginners to professionals, in which she elevates the process of songwriting over the assessment of the product. This book makes those intimate experiences accessible for songwriters across the globe, gifting them with the insight Williams has gleaned from her decades of experience.

This is the impassioned and exhilarating story of the composers who dared to challenge the conventional world of classical music in the twentieth century. Traversing the globe from Ethiopia and the Philippines to Mexico, Jerusalem, Russia and beyond, journalist, critic and BBC Radio 3 broadcaster Kate Molleson tells the stories of ten figures who altered the course of musical history, only to be side-lined and denied recognition during an era that systemically favoured certain sounds—and people—over others.

Music classes are often at the bottom of the academic priority list, undervalued and underfunded. This must change. By reviewing the latest research on music's cognitive, social, emotional, and cultural benefits, A Sound Investment provides conclusive evidence for the need to adequately fund music programs.

Traditionally, piano lessons can be very boring and require a fixed time. Then many books are either too complex or boring. This often leaves people frustrated and feeling like giving up. Instead of typical text-heavy books, this book explains the essentials in an easy-to-understand way that will establish a strong foundation on which to build your musical knowledge.

John Mauceri brings a lifetime of experience to bear in an unprecedented, hugely informative, consistently entertaining exploration of his profession, rich with anecdotes from decades of working alongside the greatest names of the music world. With candor and humor, Mauceri makes clear that conducting is itself a composition: of legacy and tradition, techniques handed down from master to apprentice - and more than a trace of ineffable magic.

The Vietnam War era produced several “anthems of angst”, and this one made the top of the list. This folk-rock hit made it to number four on the charts in 1971 and stayed in the hearts of Americans ever since. In this lesson you will learn the entire guitar part played by Edwards completely “by ear”. Bill Brown will demonstrate, and then explain in detail, every chord and strum without video, tab, or music. The lesson includes both demonstration and backing tracks to practice and perform with.

In this classic rock lesson, the student learns the rhythm and lead guitar parts. The song is fully demonstrated then taught incrementally using no music, tab, or video. This method allows mastery of the materials quickly and easily. Finally, the student is provided three backing tracks to utilize when performing. This is a level 1.5.

This mixed-bag bundle is designed for just having fun with the guitar. You will learn a very wide range of great guitar playing, from names like Gaffin, Winter, Holdsworth, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Fogerty just to name a few. This set also contains a wide range of levels, so you will be able to come back to it again and again as your guitar skills mature. And what could be more fun and cool than learning how to play “China Grove” and “Listen to the Music” by The Doobie Brothers?

Have you ever been at a party, a concert, or a wedding where someone pulled out the harmonica and led everyone in a great song? What fun! The harmonica has been around for centuries, providing lots of great music and enjoyment. One great thing about the harmonica that has made it so popular is that it is so easy to learn, and bring with you wherever you go. In this audiobook, How To Play Harmonica, you will learn what you need to know in order to teach yourself the harmonica.

The Art of Is contains breath-of-fresh-air thinking about how to cultivate the kind of game-changing creativity everyone seeks. Stephen Nachmanovitch shows exactly how the passion and immediacy of improvisation can be cultivated and how, in fact, we all improvise all the time - whether we are driving or deep in conversation.

There are few art forms as visceral and emotional as opera - and few that are as daunting for newcomers. A Mad Love offers a spirited and indispensable tour of opera's eclectic past and present, beginning with Monteverdi's L'Orfeo in 1607, generally considered the first successful opera, through classics like Carmen and La Boheme, and spanning to Brokeback Mountain and The Death of Klinghoffer in recent years.

In this “by ear” lesson, you will learn both the acoustic and electric guitar parts to this famous and woeful rock ballad by one of the greatest guitarists of the ’70s and ’80s. At the beginning of the lesson, there is a full demonstration of the song to listen to and practice with, followed by a detailed all-audio lesson on every lick of every section for both guitar parts. At the end of the lesson, there are three different versions of the backing tracks to play along with.

Gary Moore is one of the undisputed king of the electric blues and this song is definitely one of his best. You will learn all of the rhythm and lead guitar parts as they were recorded as well as a lesson on some additional improvising ideas for the extended section at the end. Included is a full demonstration track as well as performance tracks in three different configurations for you to practice and perform with!

If you aspire to sing without being bogged down by doubt and incessant mental chatter, this book is for you. Whether you're starting out, getting back from a break, or feeling stuck... this guide will help shift you out of the stiffness of the analytical mind into the fluidity of your intuitive singing ability.

Sound is alive in everything, and it is tuning humanity to a brighter future. Discover how plants create music and how space is a symphony of creation. Understand archeo-acoustics and how sound is used in sacred temples. Raise your vibration as you chant mantras composed of sacred names, thoughts, and expressions. Create harmony in your life as you embrace the world of musical experience and come in tune with your truest vibrational nature.

Using the five elements of nature as our guide, we will explore the techniques of intuitive sound healing and how to apply these in a practical way. Our body has a natural capacity to regenerate itself. With the right nurturing environments, rest and nutrition, our body repairs itself. The healing comes from within. All medicine, including sound, simply facilitates this process.

Positively 4th Street is a mesmerizing account of how four young people (Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Farina) gave rise to a modern-day bohemia and created the enduring sound and style of the 1960s.