Let’s face it, being or becoming a good musician is tough. Theory, harmony, arranging, ear training, composing, history, sight-reading, instrument related technical skills, embouchure, stylistics, improvisation, ensemble playing… the list seems endless. One can spend several lifetimes and still not perfect all aspects of music. And I don’t believe that it is necessary to be [...]

Dear Musicians, Sight-reading, the ability to perform an unknown piece of music at first sight, is a skill that every musician should master. It is difficult enough as a complete musician to secure enough music jobs in a saturated job market and a lack of fundamental skills such as sight-reading would most definitely make matters [...]

Dear Musicians, With the apps you can install on your iPhone, you can turn your phone into a flashlight, a metronome, a piano, an ocarina and even a radio. Today I’ll talk about the latter. My favorite radio iPhone app is called “Tuner” by Nullriver. The app is not free and compared to some of [...]

Dear Musicians, I had the good fortune to work for Holland America last year on board the Eurodam on her maiden voyage and thought I’d give you a quick overview of what her amenities are like. The amenities available for free on this ship are considerable. There is a television with DVD/CD player in my [...]

Playing in time is one of the fundamental aspects of musical technique. When playing with others in a group, having a great sense of time is even more critical, especially if you are laying down the foundation of a band’s groove on the bass or the drums. Bands playing in certain genres with strict, regimented [...]