ArtistWorks Blog

You tune up your mandolin, play a G chop or a simple melody, and something feels wrong. The strings fight back. Notes fret sharp up the neck. A clean pick stroke turns into a buzz. A lot of players assume that means they need more practice, or a better instrument, or tougher fingertips.

Sometimes the problem is simpler. The mandolin hasn’t been set up to play well.<...

Jazz guitar for beginners can look intimidating from the outside. The chord voicings have unfamiliar names. The standards seem to have a thousand changes per chorus. The recordings move at speeds that feel impossible to follow. The reality is that jazz guitar is built on a small set of fundamentals, and any guitar player with basic chord and scale knowledge can start learning...

Learning how to solo in a jam is one of the most exciting milestones in any musician’s journey, and one of the most intimidating. The moment everyone in the circle turns to look at you, the chord changes start moving, and you’re expected to say something musical, all at once. The good news is that great soloing starts somewhere much simpler than most players assume. As 2x Gra...

Learning how to find the key of a song is one of the most useful skills a musician can develop, regardless of which instrument you play. Once you can identify a song’s key, you’ll know which chords to expect, where to place your capo, what feels comfortable to sing, and how to fit in when you’re playing along with a recording, a friend, or a roomful of people at a community s...

Musical dynamics in a group is one of the most rewarding skills any musician can develop, and one of the most overlooked in early practice. It covers the moments when you choose to play softer to support a singer. It covers when to take the lead and when to step back. It covers the listening, the responding, and the quiet generosity that turns a roomful of people with instrum...