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What to do when the “Coronavirus” (or other disaster) cancels all of your gigs Mar 12, 2020

With the widespread concern and panic surrounding the SARS-CoV-2 virus, otherwise known as the “Coronavirus”, many musicians have had their gigs and tours, and therefore the work they rely on to make a living, canceled.

Instead of rehashing all of the harm the coronavirus is causing, you can choose...

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9 Lessons I learned from artists at GroundUP Music Festival 2020 (feat. Becca Stevens, Brian Blade, Camila Meza, and Wayne Krantz) groundup music festival lessons Feb 20, 2020

Last week, we had the opportunity to attend the GroundUP Music Festival in Miami and I put together the nine best lessons I learned from interviewing some of the artists, and from the masterclasses held throughout the festival. Quotes are lightly edited for ease of reading, and you can click the art...

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The 9 Essential Books for Jazz - Sent in from the JazzMemes Community Feb 13, 2020

We recently polled our #JazzMemesFamily on Instagram asking them what are their essential books for jazz. The question was left open to include instructional jazz books or books written on the topic of jazz and music. We collected the most popular responses that were sent in and categorized them int...

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Play for Someone You Love - A Lesson from Louis Armstrong Feb 07, 2020

How do you get over the fear of making a mistake on a performance?

How do you let go of all the things that are on your mind and bugging you when you need to perform?

Rich Matteson, best known as a jazz educator and euphonium player with the Dukes of Dixieland, posed these questions to Louis Armst...

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What the Navy SEALs can teach you about New Year's resolutions Dec 27, 2019

So, here’s the bad news: Your New Year’s resolutions suck. 

The good news is that it’s not totally your fault, and I’m going to show you how to take your vague resolutions and change them into easy-to-follow goals that you will actually accomplish.

I believe that if you want to get better, you sho...

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How to Train Your Ear Without Your Instrument article ear training practice Nov 04, 2019

Imagine you’re in a bookstore one Sunday afternoon and, for whatever reason, you happen to notice the music playing in the background.  Maybe it’s a classic rock song that you haven’t heard in awhile or a jazz standard; the genre doesn’t really matter. Can you listen to the song and know what the ch...

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Our "Artist of the Month" is Melissa Aldana! artist of the month melissa aldana take five Oct 15, 2019

Take Five

We asked Melissa Aldana your top five questions, here are her answers...

Q1: What's the best music gear or app purchase you've made recently?

Balance Action Saxophone, One of the best horns I have ever tried.

Also I really love my Matt Marantz Custom Mouthpiece / Da'ddario reeds and Si...

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"Take Five" Q&A with James Francies! james francies newsletter take five Aug 31, 2019

We asked James your top five questions, backstage after his recent Jacksonville show with Pat Metheny and Nate Smith. Check the video to hear his anwers!

 

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"Take Five" Q&A with J3P0! j3p0 newsletter take five Aug 31, 2019

Q1: What's the best music gear or app purchase you've made recently? 

I recently purchased a Minimoog Model D reissue. Holy smokes does that thing sound good! It’s like playing an acoustic instrument, or a Hammond B-3. I love creating the classic sounds on it that it’s known for, but it’s also fun ...

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"Take Five" Q&A with Danny Janklow! danny janklow newsletter take five Aug 31, 2019

Q1: What's the best music gear or app purchase you've made recently? 

The best gear I’ve gotten lately has been my new Yamaha 82z Bronze Artist model alto saxophone. It’s truly made my life better in all regards. I loved playing my Mark VI and was fortunate to grow a lot on a great vintage horn, bu...

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"Take Five" Q&A with Sirintip! newsletter sirintip take five Aug 31, 2019

Q1: What's the best music gear or app purchase you've made recently? 

I recently got this pedal from TC Helicon called the PerformVE and it has completely elevated my solo looping game. Now I can basically do everything I hear from reverb/delay to playing drum grooves and involving more complex har...

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"Take Five" Q&A with Cyrille Aimée! cyrille aimée newsletter take five Aug 31, 2019

Q1: What's the best music gear or app purchase you've made recently? 

My favorite toy is the BOSS RC 505, or "Rupert the Looper" as I like to call it.



Q2: What's your funniest or worst gig story? 
I guess just watch the video when I'll have one!


 

Q3: What's one concert you've attended that h...

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