We've added a new 6 part lesson for the tune "Rawhide." Mike goes over the various rhythm and melody sections of the song and then expands on ideas for soloing and improvising over the tune. Find it in Additional Tunes & More area or just click on the picture to jump straight to it. 

This January, along with round-eared Disney goers, 1,533 exhibiting companies representing 5,010 brands also swarmed Anaheim, California. There were 96,129 registered visitors at NAMM and countless artists of every kind - from living room singer/songwriters to heavy metal superstars and even Stevie Wonder-ful himself.

Four floors were packed with music lovers and the ArtistWorks booth was right in the thick of it – we talked with resellers around the world about our awesome new credit-card-sized online lesson access cards (which can now be sold in-store, on or off-line) - and we had a blast.

You love to sing. You do whatever it takes to sound good. But it’s not always easy. You have your embarrassing moments. Sometimes your voice feels tight. Sometimes you get the note but not always with the best tone. Sometimes your voice cracks and you run out of air too soon. But you keep on going because you’re determined to do this wonderful, magical thing that for some possibly inexplicable reason you can’t imagine life without – the magic and the power of singing.

But could it ever feel easier?  Many singers tend to do a few specific things which actually make singing harder. Here are 3 “tricks of the trade” I’ve created that make singing easier no matter your style.

The new album from Jason Vieaux is now available. This diverse new collection of songs marks Jason Vieaux’s 20th anniversary as a performer and includes music of Spanish, South American, Mexican, Cuban, French, and American origin. Included on the album are showpieces by Barrios, Sagreras, Bustamante, Sainz De La Maza, Tárrega, as well as Jason's own arrangement of Duke Ellington’s In A Sentimental Mood. Play was recently chosen as an "Album of the Week" by WQXR, where they note Jason's "particular knack for accentuating the music's tangy chord changes."

"Azica Records, my management and publicity team, my fans and students from around the world, have brought wonderful energy and support around the creation of "PLAY", and so I celebrate its worldwide release with all of you." - Jason Vieaux

Click on the picture to order your copy of Play. Jason Vieaux is an ArtistWorks instructor, to learn more about Vieaux's online classical guitar school click here.

The new album from Jason Vieaux is now available. This diverse new collection of songs marks Jason Vieaux’s 20th anniversary as a performer and includes music of Spanish, South American, Mexican, Cuban, French, and American origin. Included on the album are showpieces by Barrios, Sagreras, Bustamante, Sainz De La Maza, Tárrega, as well as Jason's own arrangement of Duke Ellington’s In A Sentimental Mood. Play was recently chosen as an "Album of the Week" by WQXR, where they note Jason's "particular knack for accentuating the music's tangy chord changes."

"Azica Records, my management and publicity team, my fans and students from around the world, have brought wonderful energy and support around the creation of "PLAY", and so I celebrate its worldwide release with all of you." - Jason Vieaux

Click on the picture to order your copy of Play. Jason Vieaux is an ArtistWorks instructor, to learn more about Vieaux's online classical guitar school click here.

"He was so great that he actually wore a potato suit." - Justin BUA

To honor the anniversary of the death of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Justin BUA has recorded a new video talking about why he considers him one of the most "original, fantastic, magical artists" of all time. And it's not just the potato suit, here's some other qualities of Gustav Klimt that make him so good:

• Amazing ability to stylize
• Unique vision of reality
• Phenomenal draftsman 
• Originality + Stylization + Draftsmanship  = Great Artist
  

ArtistWorks is sorry to lose an enthusiastic member of the Howard Levy Harmonica School, Bernie Katz, who passed away on January 17th after struggling heroically with a long illness. Bernie's spirit and passion for playing will be missed. When asked to share his thoughts on Bernie, Howard had this to say:

"Bernie Katz was probably the most high spirited member of my harmonica school. He was the oldest when he joined, by far, but his spirit was indomitable. He was incredibly determined to pick up the harmonica and get good at it. He had played when he was much younger but he hadn't played in a while, and this was something that he really wanted to do and he was just so excited about doing it.

New AGU tune to his site for the tune "Body and Soul"  This is a multi-part lesson breaking down melody, chords, solo and performances of both with slow-motion isolations. Click on the picture or find it in AGU Tunes area. 

By Recreation Therapist Jim Carlson

California State Prison – Sacramento

Internationally acclaimed guitarists Tommy Emmanuel and Martin Taylor recently included California State Prison-Sacramento (CSP-SAC) as a concert venue on their six-week “The Colonel and the Governor” USA performance tour.

Howard Levy recorded this tribute to Pete Seeger while he was in our studio recording some new harmonica lessons for his students. Howard plays a bit of the tune "Living in the Country" on harmonica and talks about what Pete meant to him:

"He was just one of the greatest people there ever was… I first heard him live when I was about 12 years old - I was at summer camp in New York and we rode in the back of an open truck to a theater in Connecticut. Pete was just pulling up in a pickup truck - he had his banjo in the back and a canoe and we waved to him and he waved back to us. I remember that he was a real folk singer. He could get you to sing along without feeling self-conscious about it. He would sing high harmony parts and played with this true sense of joy, whatever he was doing this wonderful energy came through. I'm very, very sad to hear that he passed."

- Howard Levy