Putting together a full samba band is no mean feat. The percussion involved covers an array of different drums and other instruments, from bigger bass-drum-style instruments to smaller percussive sound-effects – samba music is characterised by a rich percussive tapestry of counter-rhythms. In this blog, we attempt to summarise some of the essential samba beat-makers.

For any singer, there’s often a tension that lies between flawless technique and singing with real feeling. Is there a way to strike a perfect balance between the two? Guest blogger and professional gospel singer Heleen Spreeuwers takes a deep dive into the age-old singer’s dilemma, looking at how the performance pressure and perfectionism that’s involved in being a vocalist can clash with what probably moves most vocalists to sing in the first place: the ability to tell a story and to emote.

Guest blogger Iris Siemons is a songwriter and vocalist who recently released her debut EP, but becoming a self-sufficient full-time musician was a long journey, and during that journey, she picked up a few nuggets of wisdom and even founded a musical collective in her home town. Having spent years immersing herself in study, including a course in how to become an entrepreneur, Iris has finally come to a point where she can confidently answer the question: “How can I become a professional musician?” Here she offers five must-do’s for the pro-musician in training.

If you’re making music, you’re often going for a big sound, which is exactly why most songwriters tend to only perform with a full band backing them up. But some dare to take everything on themselves, building a one-person ‘one man band’ by playing multiple instruments at once or manipulating some kind of complex MIDI system that can sound just as big as a twenty-member-strong ensemble.

Ever wonder why your beats sound different from tracks dropped by other producers? If you’ve been feeling like your tracks lack a bit of oomph and energy, then it can be worth learning how to analyse other people’s work. After all, why struggle when you can simply borrow ideas, right? Remixes, tracks that feature samples, and songs with classic chord progressions are based on the same idea, so there’s nothing to feel bad about. Read on and allow Dutch guest-blogger and producer Daddynervs to explain how you can analyse a track and recognise the BPM, key, chords and structure.

If you’re still not on TikTok at this point, you’re definitely missing out. Thankfully, guest-blogger and social media expert Jim Kreeftenberg is here to give you six smart tips that can help you grow your online following.

Guest blogger Iris Siemons writes songs for both herself and for other artists and, for a long time, she just didn’t see the point in learning anything about music theory. Why learn to read notes when you can just record them and then listen back? Now that she’s a little older and a little wiser, her eyes have been opened to the beauty of music theory; how it can not only help you to become a better musician and how it can actually serve as a really helpful tool for your writing practice. Basically, music theory is about far more than just reading music.

Where there are humans, there are also mistakes, simply because making mistakes is exactly what makes us all human. Even seasoned musicians will, without fail, make at least one mid-gig mistake – whether they like it or not. The big difference between an experienced musician and one that’s still a little green isn’t necessarily the number of mistakes, but how they respond to them. As long you don’t panic or make weird faces, maintain your focus and control and keep listening to the rest of the band, you can still save the show. To make on-stage bloopers more bearable, here are four expert tips.

Guest blogger Rob Brummans (Mindru) reveals how he keeps the music production process interesting and, above all, how he keeps himself inspired.

When you think of the harmonica, you immediately think blues or – at a stretch – you might think jazz. But you’re unlikely to think funk and soul. The truth is the. harmonica can lend its unique sound to pretty much any genre. To illustrate just how flexible the pocket-sized wonder is, guest blogger Marlies lines up 10 funk and soul classics that feature plenty of harmonica.

Guest-blogger Guillaume de Lophem is a singer-songwriter and artist coach. He’s also a self-taught musician, which didn’t stop him from making an EP and working on a 12-track album that’s soon to be released. Guillaume is the living proof that you don’t need to be a professional musician to release music and offers six practical tips for budding songwriters.

While it can take days, weeks and even months to record, mix and master your self-penned songs, your work actually isn’t done when it’s finally ready for release. After all, you still need to make sure that people can find and listen to your music. Digital marketing expert Jamie is here to tell you how content marketing can help you achieve your goals.