Using kid’s songs to practive improvisation By Mattie O’Boyle If you are just starting out in improvisation, I recommend playing easy, kid’s songs. Since they won’t challenge you technically on your instrument, you’ll really be able to focus on your phrasing and breathing life into the tune. And, hopefully, you’ll find that any tune that … Read more
Mixing styles to create your own personal sound By Mattie O’Boyle Today we are going to dive deeper into an improvisation technique that can help you express yourself; drawing on your own musical biography. I’ll be using a blues palette of sound as well as a country palette, but you can apply whatever sounds interest … Read more
Get Groovin’: Playing Bass Notes And Chords In The Melody App By Mattie O’Boyle In this week’s blog, we are going to check out a cool, easy way to practice adding bass notes into your chord playing. Playing bass lines and melodies in the bass really beefs up your chords and adds a layer of … Read more
Play The Music, Not The Melody, By Mattie O’Boyle Don’t play the melody, play the music In each case, to bring out the music, we have to go beyond the melody So many musicians focus on learning songs. And that’s fine, but let’s dig deeper. When you really look closely it’s not the song that … Read more
Playing music – it’s just like acting By Mattie O’Boyle Don’t play the notes, play the phrases In grade school, I was told to read in phrases, until I came to a punctuation mark. Here’s my definition of music: Music is the organization of sound and silence to produce certain emotional or physical effects in … Read more
Drones – Ostinatos By Mattie O’Boyle What’s the difference between hearing a melody played on a flute and hearing it on a bagpipe? The drones, of course! And you can hear drones in so many different styles of music from around the globe. I would venture to say, from their geographic ubiquity, that drones form … Read more
From Motown to Appalchia By Mattie O’Boyle What do Motown, Appalachian fiddle kicks offs and Blues Bass lines have in common? In this video blog we’ll dive deep into a short rhythmic phrase and follow it through a surprising journey across musical genres. At the same time, you´ll discover a technique that can help stimulate … Read more
Open Strings versus Closed Strings By Mattie O’Boyle This blog entry is key for string players If you play violin/fiddle, viola, cello, bass, guitar, banjo, mandolin or any other string instrument, you will need to make the choice of playing a the same note on an open string or a closed string. Is there a … Read more
