Check out my latest Coffee Break called "Warming Up" - my thoughts on pre-performance warming up, and loosening up routines

I'm going to be in Italy for the next 2 weeks. I fly out to Milan tomorrow (Friday 26th August) and play at Festival Chitarra Menaggio on Lake Como on Saturday 27th. I've had a very busy touring schedule over the past few months so my wife and are taking a short vacation in Florence and Rome after I've played at the festival. I'll be back in the MTGA Studio on Wednesday 7th September to film more Coffee Breaks and responses, but will keep in touch on the site every couple of days.

I'm flying out to California on Sunday August 7th to play 3 solo concerts and film more MTGA videos at the ArtistWorks studio in Napa. My concerts are... 8th Santa Cruz - Kuumbwa 11th Oakland - Freight and Salvage 13th Carlsbad (near San Diego) - Museum of Making Music I always enjoy meeting MTGA students when I'm on the road, so please come along if you live near any of these gigs and say hi! For ticket details go to www.martintaylor.com

This weeks new Coffee Break, called "Anticipation and Hesitation", is all about shifting phrases. We've all heard Frank Sinatra holding back on phrasing the lyrics, and also suddenly singing a phrase slightly ahead of the beat, so how do we do that when we play solo guitar?.... check out this Coffee Break to find out.

This weeks Coffee Break is all about recording and the dreaded Red Light Syndrome. I hope these tips, which are based on my own experiences will help you chill out during the recording process so that you can enjoy creating music without getting uptight. These tips worked for me, and I'm sure they will work for you. So, check out "Recording - The Red Light Syndrome" in Coffee Breaks.

It is with a feeling of great sadness and loss that I learned the news that jazz guitarist and educator Charles Chapman has passed away at his home in Maine after a long illness. I was fortunate to know Charles and spend some time with him in Boston whenever I was playing concerts at Berklee School of Music where he was Professor of Guitar. I was also able to invite him to play at my guitar festival in Scotland on three occasions where I had the real pleasure of introducing Charles and his wife Donna to the delights of Scottish beer.

I came off the road a couple of weeks ago and am now back in my studio filming responses. I'm also currently filming a series of new Coffee Breaks. I've already posted the first of the series which is called "Thoughts on TAB and Notation" which I hope will clarify my approach to reading music and ear training.

Last Saturday Martin Taylor and Guy Barker performed their "Spirit of Django Orchestral Suite" with the Royal Northern College of Music Symphony Orchestra & Big Band to a capacity audience at the RNCM Theatre in Manchester, England. This is only the second time the piece has been performed in public, the debut concert was with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Guy Barker Big Band at the Guitar Festival of Great Britain in November 2010. Saturday's performance had an added educational element to it as the orchestra and big band was made up entirely of RNCM students who had be

This famous iconic photograph of the Hot Club of France was taken in the 1930's at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, England. I'm in Manchester at the moment rehearsing my "Spirit of Django Orchestral Suite" with the Royal Northern College of Music Orchestra and Big Band, and I'm staying in the hotel next to the Palace Theatre where this photo was taken. In the 1980's I played the Palace Theatre with Stephane Grappelli and I'm now here playing my "Django" orchestral suite here. It's quite a spooky interconnected experience!

I was really happy to play a concert this evening at the Glasgow International Jazz Festival in Scotland with MTGA student Andreas Varady. 13 year old Andreas is making quite a name for himself and was recently featured on the cover of Guitar Player magazine. We plan more concerts this year as well as recording a duo CD very soon. It's very inspiring and uplifting to hear a young guitarist playing with such maturity. If you haven't seen Andreas play yet then check out his "Donna Lee" on his profile pave AndreasV