Live Music

The Celtic drum, or bodhran, has been making music for hundreds of years. Held in the hand, this small instrument can be used to create a remarkable variety of different sounds and tones....

Playing musical instruments in public can make musicians anxious. However, through practice and hard work, a trumpet player can conquer his fears and turn stage fright into positive energy that...

Fake books are a common way of learning condensed versions of your favorite tunes. According to "Pop Song Piracy, Fake Books, and a Pre-history of Sampling" by Barry Kernfeld, a professor at Penn...

Slipknot is a heavy metal rock band from the United States. The band has been playing and touring for over 10 years. If you are a fan of the group you may be interested in attending a Slipknot...

It seems that some people just naturally have good rhythm, but a lot of us have to work at it. However, good rhythm, like everything else, is learned. Maybe some people automatically practice...

Many composers and musicians use the circle of fifths to create and practice music. The circle of fifths can be manipulated in both directions to produce chord and practice sequences on various...

As the young lady here clearly illustrates, you can't jam on your axe at the gig if you have to use two hands just to hold it up. Store-bought straps are expensive and dumb-looking. You need a...

Whether you are setting up a small coffeehouse gig or a stadium show, you must use the proper equipment for the number of attendees. Each audience member must be able to hear what the performer is...

Sound systems come in all shapes and sizes, as do churches. There are general rules for configuring a sound system to include amplifying speakers, singers, instruments and other media, but some...

Anyone that has worked with audio in a live sound venue knows that speaker cabinets can often be unwieldy. Time is often limited when setting up a sound reinforcement system, so consider anything...

You have a band and you've toured your local clubs. You've branched out and toured in your own state...maybe even regionally. But you long for more...you dream of a tour through smoke-filled...

Garth Brooks is finally coming out of retirement to perform, at a minimum, a concert in Las Vegas and hopefully more. Attending a Garth Brooks concert in Las Vegas could be a dream come true, but...

With the latest recession hitting musicians very hard in their pocketbooks, especially vocal accompanists, it is now much more important for those who already have vocal accompanying jobs to keep...

If you are a classically trained musician living in the Baltimore area, you may have dreamed of joining the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Of course, there are only a select number of seats with...

Often, a piano competition, especially the very big ones like the Van Cliburn or the Tschaikovsky competitions, is the route for some pianists to a concert career, especially if they win first...

The Djembe is an important instrument to the Bamana people of Mali, as they believe it brings everyone together. The djembe is a goblet-shaped hand drum that is a member of the membranophone...

Using this guide, discover how finding Christian chords, and learning to play worship guitar can be both fun and easy.

So you have your tickets to the sell-out concert of the summer... But seeing your favorite Rockstar or Band on stage just isn't enough. You don't want to look like a stalker, but you really want...

Having a sweet sixteen birthday bash or a wedding reception where you want a DJ or a live band? How about a festival in the park? Here's how to get your one time entertainment license so that the...

You no longer have to throw your computer out the window when Ticketmaster reports that your favorite artist's concert is already sold out. There are multiple ways you can get tickets to the...

When I was a kid, somebody told me (so naturally I believed) that most piano tuners were blind because piano tuning was one of the few skills taught in schools for the blind, so their graduates...

Nothing sets or destroys the mood of a festive event - be it a wedding, a dance night or a house party - faster than the music selection. This is why disc jockeys, the top dogs of trendy tunes,...

XLR cables, also known as balanced cables, are commonly used in professional audio and live sound applications. Because an XLR cable has a ground connector, they can be run for long distances...

Although every PA (personal address) system is entirely different, learning the basic rules of running sound will allow you to work with almost any system. This article will show you how to set up...

Every serious band needs to tour. If you're going to be professionals, you have to be ready to play often, to play far from home, and to play regardless of how well you feel or how much sleep you...

You should have bought those concert tickets the day they went on sale, but you didn't. Now the concert is weeks or even days away, and you can't find a ticket anywhere! Don't worry, you still...

The sound mixer comes in all shapes and sizes, from a little portable to a huge console. The applications may differ, but the concept is still the same. A mixer takes any number of audio signals...

The number 1 skill you must master as a new karaoke host is how to manage a rotation. Managing a rotation is the key to keeping the patrons happy and making them aware that there is an order to...

While everyone enjoys live music, the process of arranging concerts is rarely considered. Yet for any show, there is a complex layer of transactions occurring just beneath the surface. While there...

So how do you pave your own way to stardom? Most actors or singers who make it to the “Big Time” had to get their courage up and move to a place where what they wanted to do was happening. For...

Modulations strike a chord of fear (pardon the pun) in the hearts of pianists, but it really doesn't have to be that way. By the end of this article, you should be able to accomplish a modulation...

Can you play a musicial instrument? Do your friends play musicial instruments? Well you can start a band and start learning songs or even making your own.

As more club owners shift to cover bands, DJs and karaoke nights, the idea of busking--the popular term for the vigorous strumming of a guitar--begins to sound more attractive. The romantic image...

It is a dream of many to be a professional singer, crooning to an audience of thousands of adoring fans. With the talent, perseverance, time and motivation, it is also a reachable goal for many,...

As a DJ, there's really no right or wrong way to mix two tracks together. However, that doesn't mean that it's easy. Not only may it take hours to come up with a convincing mix, you will also have...

By now it's clear to many that the iPhone is an incredibly powerful tool. More than just a a smart phone, this gem is even smarter. Many third-party applications have been designed to work...

How to make more money playing a piano?! Part 15?! Yep, Still going! There's tons of ways to use a piano to earn some extra money! This installment: Putting on your own show!!!! Always wanted...

"Rocking the house" is hardly a term associated with coffeehouse crowds, yet it defines the basic task awaiting anybody trying to entertain--whether it's done with guitar or piano. For...

While there are more bands out there looking for gigs than there are gigs, it is not impossible to land your band some work. Performers in any genre must work hard to get where they are, and must...

I'm John Troxtel, concert tour designer and director. My recent clients include Chris Brown, Ice Cube, Little John, The World Poker Tour and Snoop Dogg. I'm here to give a little insight into...

The Christian music market has grown and expanded to where any style or type of music can now succeed within the industry. Whether you play rock, worship, emo-core, hardcore, folk, or even rap,...

It's easy to plan and host a party. However, when you want to add live entertainment to the event, you have to be aware of several different factors that will affect your ability to locate, book...

A piano master class is a special public piano lesson where the student performs the piece through for an audience while the teacher watches. Most of the time, the student has the piece memorized...

Want to jam like Dave or Trey? Are you bent on playing that guitar like you have the fretboard memorized and music theory is your native language? Would you like to feel the beat pulse through...

A bard's purpose in life is not merely to entertain or inform, but to inspire hope and courage in the face of certain failure and incite action in the face of probable death. From the gates of...

Whether it's the fame or the fortune, the dream of becoming a rock star seems to be a popular one. However, not everyone will have the talent to one day rock the stage on their guitar. That...

When it comes to generating mystique, does any figure loom larger in popular culture than the strutting, preening lead singer? Fewer jobs attract more envy--nobody else in the band will command as...

If you're a rock star or a garage band king, you can wow the audience when you play two keyboards. It's not an easy task, but a switch between keyboards while you play is a dynamic crowd pleaser....

As you progress deeper into the world of drumming and start exploring the many tools available to you, you will find that the rudimentary drum techniques begin to give way to more skilled...

As an interesting "hybrid" instrument, the melodica complements a lot of different genres of music with its woodwind sound. When using a melodica in a band, you should pay attention to how the...