Bryan Sutton is in the ArtistWorks studio this week recording new lessons for students of the Online Bluegrass Guitar School. We announced this in the Forum a while back and Bryan's students immediately jumped at the opportunity to suggest topics for the new lessons. Bryan has been taking everything into consideration and had a very productive first day recording on Monday recording many new guitar lessons which all look and sound fantastic. Click here for a little clip of him playing "Whiskey Before Breakfast" in the studio. 

There's so much to come, and we are as excited as you are to get it to you. Stay tuned!

Bryan Sutton is in the ArtistWorks studio this week recording new lessons for students of the Online Bluegrass Guitar School. We announced this in the Forum a while back and Bryan's students immediately jumped at the opportunity to suggest topics for the new lessons. Bryan has been taking everything into consideration and had a very productive first day recording on Monday recording many new guitar lessons which all look and sound fantastic. Click here for a little clip of him playing "Whiskey Before Breakfast" in the studio. 

There's so much to come, and we are as excited as you are to get it to you. Stay tuned!

Nathan East will be in Europe for a week of bass clinics starting on Monday, September 15th.

• September 15 - BIRMINGHAM UK
• September 16 -  BRIGHTON UK
• September 18 - COPENHAGEN Denmark
• September 19 - BERLIN Germany
• September 20 - TREPPENDORF Germany

For more details please visit the TC Electronic website. 

"The Bach Lute Suites are a never-ending source of musical inspiration, but they're also very challenging." - Jason Vieaux

In this advanced classical guitar lesson from his online school, Jason Vieaux goes over the courante section from Bach's "Lute Suite in E minor" (aka BWV 996). The courante (or corrente, coranto, or corrant depending on what language we're using) refers to third section of the piece and is characterized by triple meter dances from the Renaissance and the Baroque era.

Bach typically wrote in two styles, French and Italian, and would utilize different spellings to differentiate between the two countries. So for this case, we use the French spelling of courante for this characteristically French piece.

Reporter Tom Gorman of the Wall Street Journal has put together a fantastic piece about the online learning method at ArtistWorks. Focusing on our mandolin instructor Mike Marshall, the video breaks down how his students are learning mandolin online from his ArtistWorks curriculum. It's a really great synopsis of what it's like to learn an instrument online using the ArtistWorks platform.

"Our approach is very modern, but it's also very ancient. Traditionally and historically, the way people have learned music is they apprentice to a master." - David Butler, ArtistWorks Chairman

This year marked the first RockyGrass Bluegrass Festival since the massive flood that devastated the surrounding areas of Lyons, CO last year including the Planet Bluegrass Ranch where the annual event takes place. After an incredible restoration effort led by the Planet Bluegrass staff, the show went on as scheduled without missing a beat. We had the honor of being one of this year's sponsors and had a great time as we always do there, thanks to all who came out to see us at our booth! 

This year marked the first RockyGrass Bluegrass Festival since the massive flood that devastated the surrounding areas of Lyons, CO last year including the Planet Bluegrass Ranch where the annual event takes place. After an incredible restoration effort led by the Planet Bluegrass staff, the show went on as scheduled without missing a beat. We had the honor of being one of this year's sponsors and had a great time as we always do there, thanks to all who came out to see us at our booth! 

Bruce Gertz, bass professor at Berklee College of Music recently spoke with ArtistWorks instructor John Patitucci at a convention for the International Society of Bassists on the topic of jazz improvisation:

"With Wayne [Shorter] the idea is that we would compose in the moment. So it's free but, it assumes you're going to be sensitive and create together. The stuff that we do is tonal, melodic, and harmonic - it's not just anybody playing whatever… it's ear training on a very steep curve because you have to assimilate to whatever the next person is playing and try to make a contribution, in a communal way.

There are grooves that sometimes occur and things that are juxtaposed. It's really meant to be composition in real time. That's what Wayne's version of it is, and I love it.

The International Bluegrass Association has released their picks for the 2014 IBMA awards, and we are pleased to announce that three of our bluegrass teachers have been nominated!

In the Bass category, Missy Raines has been nominated for her 8th IBMA award. In the guitar category, Bryan Sutton has been nominated for his 7th IBMA award. Last but not least, Andy Hall has also been nominated which would mark his first award in the Dobro category (although he did win the award for Instrumental Album of the Year back in 2008 for his debut Sound of the Slide Guitar).

The event itself takes place in Raleigh, NC from September 30 to October 4, and includes the annual World of Bluegrass conference/show. If you've never been, it is definitely the place to be for bluegrass enthusists. If you are going, be sure to email us at media@artistworks.com, we always love hearing from you at events. 

Click here to see a full list of the 2014 IBMA nominees!

Paul Gilbert has released a new album on Shrapnel Records titled Stone Pushing Uphill Man. The album features 11 instrumental tracks, comprised of some of Paul's favorite vocal oriented songs. This is great news for anyone taking his online guitar lessons here since it features Paul's signature lead guitar as the main voice. Another plus for Europeans fans is that the album will also be released on vinyl. 

"Stone Pushing Uphill Man is the first big step to truly find my voice on the guitar. I wanted the inspiration of my favorite singers for such a big challenge, so I chose a lot of cover songs. I think the listeners will be amazed at what I’ve been able to do with the guitar. Besides the melodies, I’ve also created most of the production with guitars. If the song needed to have keyboards or strings… I found a way to make it happen with the guitar." - Paul Gilbert

Click on the picture to order the album from Amazon!

AW: How long have you been playing flute?

Arnold: I have been playing the flute for 7 years. I began in 7th grade because my friend played it and I thought it would be cool. Honestly, I never thought I was going to enjoy it as much as I have.

"Notes are a little like planets. They have gravity and they pull in different directions, especially in relation to each other." - Chuck Loeb+

Note: Chuck Loeb passed away in 2017. His lessons are still available through the ArtistWorks Jazz Guitar school with Chuck Loeb. If you would prefer to study Jazz Guitar with ArtistWorks Video Exchange Learning, check out lessons with Dave Stryker here. 

In this jazz guitar lesson from the Online Jazz Guitar School with Chuck Loeb, Chuck teaches us how to construct major and dominant arpeggios (notes played in sequence) and chords (notes played together).