Theory & Playing Technique

In this edition of our blog series on singing technique, we look at singing with vibrato. Pop singers tend to use vibrato much less than classical singers, but by using a little vibrato, you can add some real flavour to your vocals – just as long as you do it the right way and at the right moment.

If you want to hit those high notes with enough volume and do it without damaging your vocal cords, then there’s only one way to do it: belt and twang. While belting gives you the necessary volume, twanging stabilises everything – and is also a helpful technique at a lower volume and pitch.

In our series on vocal technique, the term compression has already popped up quite a few times. In this fourth instalment, we’re going to take a closer look at compression so you can learn to sing with and without it and enhance your sound.

Welcome to part two of our blog series on vocal technique. Today, we’re focusing on the breathing cycle. Controlling your breathing while you sing is absolutely essential, and proper breath support is a huge part of it. Read on and learn more!

Throughout the centuries, various different techniques have developed to help boost the volume and character of the human singing voice. But the technique that best fits your voice depends on the kind of sound you prefer. In the first edition of this blog series about vocal techniques, we dip into the history of singing.

The third edition of our blog series on vocal technique focuses on how to make your vocals flow. By maintaining dynamic breath support, your melodies and lyrics can sound flowing and open. Another important factor of this technique is ‘blending’, which has a lot to do with enunciation. Master blending and harness your breath support, and your vocals will flow like never before.

Playing percussion is an art, just like playing any other musical instrument and, if you’re the percussionist in a band, then you also need to learn how to work seamlessly with the drummer and other musicians. In this blog, you’ll find out what’s involved in being a percussionist, including the kind of attitude you need to have, and who the masters of the percussion craft are. Right here, the ultra-experienced, all-round percussionist Martin Verdonk tells all!

Practising any instrument can be a tedious process, especially when trying to find the extra time to do so. Many people believe that practice has to be hours a day to achieve any tangible results. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Guest blogger Evan Chapman shows how we can utilise 20 minutes a day to effectively practise drums.

Made it through our previous article on the CAGED system and want to learn more? Great! By the end of this one, you’ll have five major and five minor chord shapes at your disposal that you can move up and down the fretboard of your guitar.

Hans Zimmer is one of the most well-known film composers of our time. The Lion King, Gladiator and Pirates of the Caribbean are just three films that thank their extremely recognisable soundtracks to Zimmer who, believe it or not, actually tends to keep the core of his compositions very basic. In this article, I’ll show you how you can easily recognise Hans Zimmer’s style and apply it to your own productions or film score.

Strumming is something that every ukulele player is familiar with. Whether it’s the calypso strum, the split stroke or just a simple down-up-down-up, what could be more enjoyable than strumming away on your ukulele and singing a song? But, as our guest blogger Matthew Quilliam explores, many people neglect to consider the fact that how they strum can change depending on what finger (or something else) they are using…

Proper posture is incredibly important when you’re singing. In fact, aligning your body correctly is a basic requirement for singing well and freely. So what’s the right posture? And what do you do when you want to move around or play an instrument while you sing?