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The world of musical electronics has been graced with giants, and we have benefited from their contributions. For many of them, simply seeing the results of their inspiration has been [...]

THE ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN Editors' Choice Awards have become an institution. And there's a saying that 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.' But our slogan is, 'If it ain't broke-then [...]

THERE ARE a lot of compact audio interfaces on the market geared for project and live recording environments. Most of these consist of up to eight analog inputs and provide [...]

HOW MANY TECHNIQUES CAN YOU THINK OF THAT ARE NAMED AFTER actual guitar players? And no. I'm not talking about descriptions such as 'Van Halen-style tapping' or 'Wes Montgomery Octaves.' [...]

IF YOU WANT TO START A LONG, controversial, and irresolvable argument, assemble a group of guitarists and lob this one into their midst: 'What is the quintessential rock guitar?' Then [...]

IN THE LATE 1960s, ROCK BEGAN TO EVOLVE FROM SHORT POP SONGS BEST SUITED to the lo-fi bandwidth of AM radio and cheesy sounding 45's to higher-fidelity, stereo-ready FM, long-playing [...]

YOU CAN KEEP YOUR FLASHY TELE pickers, with all their hybrid pick-and-fingers workarounds (cheaters!), their feather-light strings (wimps!), and their glass -bright pickups (glitterati!). If you want to hear real [...]

LOTS OF AMERICAN GUITARISTS WHO take a patriotic view of their music like to trace the lineage of rock and roll from blues to country to rockabilly and finally to [...]

DESPITE WHAT LEGEND AND LORE MAY tell you, the blues did not originate in the Delta. It grew out of the African American experience in the early 20th Century, wherever [...]

ONE OF THE MOST SOPHISTICATED, all-inclusive, and truly mesmerizing guitar styles is chord melody. A hybrid of rhythmic accompaniment and lead playing, this approach finds the guitarist providing the melody, [...]

TEXAS JUST HAS ITS OWN WAY OF DOING things, from politics co barbecue to music. So when big band swing jazz swept through the country in the '30s and '40s, [...]

IF YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY PLAYING the blues, well, it's gonna be tough--your best bet may be to get yourself an electric guitar, land a steady gig with a [...]

Zakk Wylde never set out to be a metal god--despite the fact that with his flowing blond hair, full beard, and impressive physique he looks like Thor with a Les [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In beginning guitar, it's the right hand--the one that strums--that needs the most immediate attention. That's because it's the one that makes the sound and keeps the rhythm. […]

Why should electric guitarists have all the fun when it comes to digitally modeled sound? Isn't there just as much quest for variety, experimentation, and a spirit of technological adventurousness [...]

Byline: Jon Chappell Computer prices keep plunging, but you can save even more - while optimizing your computer for music in the process - by building your own. However, unlike [...]

In recent years, performing musicians have enjoyed many technological innovations that have made their lives easier. Manufacturers from all corners of the industry have developed products, from modeling amps to [...]

EVERY YEAR, Electronic Musician's esteemed panel of judges climbs into the corporate jet, arrives at our executive villa on Kona, and breaks out the no-limit credit cards for a month [...]

SUMMARY STRENGTHS: Great core sounds, useful orchestral combinations, striking effects; integrates well with ARIA Player, making good use of the EQ, ADSR, and filter controls. LIMITATIONS: None, especially considering the [...]

Only a small percentage of people, including the most talented students of music, are blessed with perfect pitch. So developing a good sense of relative pitch--knowing a note's identity based […]

I came away disappointed after reading two articles in June's Teaching Music: 1) The General Music Workshop, a profile of Nancy Parent's ideas for teaching rhythm, written by Jon Chappell, […]

To the untrained observer, those duck-like sounds coming from your brass players may suggest the students are just fooling around. Of course, you know better. The students are actually taking […]

Children who take lessons on standard band and orchestra instruments can start as early as the second grade. But if a student wants to play guitar, he often has to […]

An experienced music teacher who is not a reed player can still get pretty far in helping an ensemble of woodwinds. He can correct pitches, rhythms, intonation, posture, and can […]

Most beginning piano students can plunk out a right-hand melody on the piano. They usually have a good sense of how to strike the keys with vigor and to move […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Low brass could be the Rodney Dangerfield of the student ensemble: it doesn't get any respect. Actually, it's not respect that it doesn't get so much as plain […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The word posture often conjures up visions of walking stiffly erect with a book balanced atop one's head as the teacher commands, "Stop slouching!" Many people have memories […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The flute is one of the more accessible instruments for beginners and is a popular choice for many elementary and middle school students. It is relatively easy to […]

Fishman is a manufacturer whose reputation is built on the specialized task of amplifying acoustic instruments, from pickups to effects to amps to P.A. systems. The Loudbox family of amps [...]

All of us have the innate ability to create a melody, because we're born with the tools for humming, singing, and whistling. But chords--which can go together with a melody […]

You might think that counting rhythms is as easy as counting to 10 or reciting the ABCs. But Nancy Parent has found that when teaching younger children, you cannot take […]

Musical learning often goes hand in hand with other skills, such as reading, math, chess, and puzzle solving. We have all seen examples of it, and educators have been working […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Most music educators would agree that multicultural music is an important part of any curriculum. But just including it is not the end of the story. A proper […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Improvising has been around since the dawn of music. Most music in the world is improvised to some extent, and the idea of performing notes on the page […]