An instrument that fits in your pocket and makes a pleasant yet arguably hilarious ploinky-ploink sound is pretty hard to take seriously and much easier to just dismiss. If the mouth harp is your musical weapon of choice, no fame, glory, or fortune awaits; such is the life of the humble mouth harpist. Also known as a jaw harp or even a Jew’s harp, the mouth harp actually wields a secret power that’s at least 4,000 years old, and this power is able to slot seamlessly into contemporary music whether it’s noticed or not. Here, master of the mystical mouth harp, Danibal helps to explain how and why this wee and weird instrument is well worth your time.

Known for soundtracking countless B-movies in the fifties and leading the orchestra that played the original Star Trek theme tune, we’re going to take a look at one of the weirder, more sequestered instruments of the music-making world: the theremin. The theremin is also the oldest electronic musical instrument in existence, and what marks it out from the synthesizers that followed is not just that UFO-like whine, but the bizarre hands-off gesturing technique that’s used to play it. This is the only musical instrument you can play without even touching it.

If your band is busy laying roots across the country, playing every gig it can, whether in a fully set up venue or grubby backstreet pub, the idea of kitting yourselves out with a good PA system has probably come up already. But as soon as you’ve decided to take the leap, you’re faced with a whole new set of questions. Do you need active or passive speakers? Do you just need a little vocal setup or a complete PA system? What do you need to look for in your perfect mixer, your monitors, your microphones…? And so on. Not to worry, in this blog, we will lend a generous helping hand and set you up with the knowledge you need to make all the right decisions.

We all know what today’s youngsters are like. If it’s not bloated with colour and employs touchscreen technology, their attention disintegrates quickly. The concentration threshold of myriad children means they turn off faster than the kitchen light. They flutter from one entertainment to another without embracing the necessary hardship to master a new skill set. How can such uniformity be consoled? Well, you could encourage them to write songs. Guest blogger Steven Brooks explores the benefits.

Unfortunately, there comes a time when everything breaks, and the same is definitely true of music gear, whether it’s speakers, valve amplifiers, or your electric guitar or bass. In the worst case, you’ll need to get it fixed by a professional, but there are some smaller, more simple repairs that you can actually carry out yourself. With a voltmeter, a soldering iron and a little solder on your side, you can get more done than you might think.

Sharp outfits mean nothing if you’re not a sharp, tight band. Good timing is the essence of playing in a band, and if you don’t have it, then you risk sounding like a shambles. So, how do you hone your skills to make sure you’re hitting every beat and that you’re part of a super-tight band? We offer up fifteen exercises and some handy tips to help you get there.

Do you get irked whenever you hear a successful producer proclaim: “and I didn’t even know any music theory”? Say they’re telling the truth (usually, it’s far from the truth), so what? Not everyone is going to be a natural, and just think, how good would those same producers be if they had bothered to learn music theory. Right here, right now, Guestblogger Daddynervs tells us why every producer, even humble beat producers, should arm themselves with some good old fashioned music theory – and what music theory actually is.

While there’s plenty to learn when it comes to singing alone there’s just as much to learn when you start adding more voices to create harmonies. With just one extra voice, you can already sing awesome harmonies, so just imagine what happens when you start adding even more!

If you’ve already devoured our blog about Rhythm, Tempo & Measure and feel ready to dive in a little deeper, here’s everything you need to know about time signatures, bar lines and repeat signs. Whether you’re here to learn to read music or just want to get a better feel for timing, you’ll find useful information here.

If you’re about to put on your songwriting pants for the first time, it’s worth knowing that most songs consist of building blocks like the verse, chorus and bridge. In this blog, we’ll tell you all you need to know about how songs are structured and why.

By simply adding the right cymbals, any drum kit will sound entirely unique compared to other kits, and that’s exactly why drummers spend quite a bit of time and effort finding the perfect set of cymbals. The fact is that at some point, just like us mortals, cymbals will one day reach the end of their life. In this crash course on cymbal maintenance, I’ll let you in on a few secrets and show you how you can delay the inevitable.

The internet is already stacked with the ready-made chord arrangements of countless songs, but what if you can’t find the song you’re looking for? No problem. There are also apps that you can download and use to pick out the right chords for you. But… regularly figuring out the chords of a song is actually a far better idea. Why? Because it’s a great opportunity to train your ear. In this blog, we explain how it’s done and how to use lead sheets.