Vibrato is an effect used often to add expression to music of all kinds, and certainly for classical violin it's an essential technique to work on. 

Check out this awesome jazz bass duet between Marco Panascia (double bass) and Dario Deidda (electric bass). This was filmed in Rome back in 2010, thanks to No Treble for originally posting this! Find out more about their playing at www.marcopanascia.com. 

The highly anticipated Finale Perfomance from Sammy Shelor's "California Banjo Extravaganza" is now available! Find it in the Music+ area under "Performances & More." Happy New Year!

Last week we announced that the new album from Tony Trischka, "Great Big World," is now available for pre-ordering. You can also download a free song from the album through the form here, just enter your email and you'll get a link for an MP3 download of "Belated Wedding Hoedown/Angelina Baker." From all of us here at ArtistWorks, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Just in time for Christmas, we have another new lesson up in the "Additional Tunes and More." Click on the image to get to the lesson page, which includes:

• Solo Mandolin Performance
• Tremolo Melody Breakdown
• Chords Breakdown
• Solo Mandolin Breakdown
  

We've just put up Set 3 of the "California Banjo Extravaganza" series: The History of Sammy Shelor. You can find in the Music+ Area, or just click on the picture to get right to it. 

Jason Vieaux recently appeared on the All Strings Considered podcast, which is hosted by fellow classical guitarist Scott Wolf. Jason talks about his upcoming album, his own recording process, teaching classical guitar online here at ArtistWorks, working with other musicians, and much more. Find it on the podcast section of Scott Wolf's website, or click here for a direct link to the audio!

All the hardworking folks at ArtistWorks were in for a surprise at the annual ArtistWorks Holiday Party. Little did we know (except for the few involved in the planning), we were going to be treated to an appearance from Howard Levy, who suddenly appeared with harmonica in hand and ready to play! He broke into a festive medley of familar Holiday tunes, some of which you can hear in the video below. This was just recorded on the fly with an iPhone, but the music is beautiful. 

We've added a new lesson in the Additional Tunes & More area, the classic Holiday favorite "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". Mike breaks down a chord version, a chord & melody solo mandolin version, a bluegrass chop version, and ideas for soloing and improvising over it in various styles. Feel free to submit your own videos on this one too! 

The new album from Tony Trischka, Great Big World, is now available for pre-order on Amazon! We asked Tony some questions about this album in our recent interview, so we're very excited to see it all coming together. It won't officially be out until February 4th, but you can reserve your copy today. As a bonus for his students here, Tony will be recording a new lesson based on one of the new tunes. All the more reason to reserve your copy now! Click on the image to pre-order Great Big World from Amazon. 

"Here likeminded creative musicians (Steve Martin, Aoife O Donovan, Noam Pikelny, Larry Campbell, Abigail Washburn, Ramblin Jack Elliot, and many others) are brought together to receive Tony's clear mandate: inhabit a song and make it your own. Who else but Tony Trischka would dare to include a Single String Medley, just what it sounds like, and also have the imagination and verve to pull it off!"

- From the Amazon Review