How to Tune a Guitar – Step by Step Guide
Tuning a guitar is a core skill for any guitarist. It’s surprising then that some people make such a mess of it. In this article, …
Ged
Social Media Marketing for Musicians
I get it. You’re a musician and want to make music, and don’t have the time or inclination to mess about tweeting, posting, vlogging or …
Best Concert Ukulele – Product Round-up & Reviews
The concert ukulele was developed in the 1920s, as an ‘enhanced’ soprano ukulele, being a little larger and deeper in tone, generally of a higher …
Best Electronic Drum Set – Buyer’s Guide & Reviews
If you’re a drummer or thinking about becoming a drummer, you no doubt love the feel of an acoustic drum kit. That bounce, the responsiveness, …
Best Drum Heads – Buyer’s Guide & Reviews
One of the most overlooked keys to creating a powerfully driven sound is the choice of drum heads. Many drummers stick with the ones that …
Best Cymbals – Buyer’s Guide and Reviews
Cymbals are an integral part of a drum kit. Although they look fairly straight-forward, there’s more to them than meets the eye, and an incredible …
Best Telecaster – Reviews & Buyer’s Guide
Along with the Strat and Les Paul, the much loved ‘Tele’ has helped to forge modern guitar-based music. Leo Fender released the world’s first Telecaster …
What’s the Easiest Instrument to Learn? (For Adults & Children)
So, you want to learn how to play a musical instrument? Great idea. But which should you start with? Well, all instruments take time and commitment …
Read moreWhat’s the Easiest Instrument to Learn? (For Adults & Children)
Best Electric Guitar for Blues – Buyer’s Guide & Reviews
Electric guitars have been used in blues music since the 1940s. Muddy Waters bought his first electric in 1944 and quickly hit the clubs, asking …
Read moreBest Electric Guitar for Blues – Buyer’s Guide & Reviews
Best Humbucker Pickups – Buyer’s Guide & Reviews
Humbuckers are what gives us those warm, thick and rich sounds associated with blues, heavy rock, and even jazz. While jazz players favor them for …
Best Guitar Strap – For Maximum Comfort and Convenience
It may seem pretty unnecessary to consider which guitar strap you’ll be using before you play a gig or start learning guitar; however, the right …
Read moreBest Guitar Strap – For Maximum Comfort and Convenience
Best Practice Amp – Low Watt Amps For Home & Small Gigs
Playing gigs and jamming with mates is great fun, but practicing is where all the hard work happens. But here’s the thing: most guitar amps …
Read moreBest Practice Amp – Low Watt Amps For Home & Small Gigs
Best Distortion Pedal – Take Your Gain to the Next Level
Distortion is the bedrock of blues, rock, and heavy metal music. There are few sounds more iconic than the roar of a distorted guitar. But …
Read moreBest Distortion Pedal – Take Your Gain to the Next Level
Best Delay Pedals – Buying Guide and Reviews
Delay is one of the most common effects used in almost every genre of music and is one of those must-have effects pedals that every …
Best Overdrive Pedals – Buying Guide and Reviews
Overdrive is a staple part of any guitarist’s diet, and usually one of the first effects pedals the beginner guitarist buys. In contrast to distortion, …
Best Bass Compressor Pedal – For Balancing Out Your Sound
If you play bass guitar, you’ll know some techniques create louder sounds than others, e.g., if you use the slap and pop technique, you’ll be …
Read moreBest Bass Compressor Pedal – For Balancing Out Your Sound
Best Les Paul Copy – Get a Cool Guitar Without Breaking the Bank
Les Pauls are classic looking and hugely versatile guitars, used in lots of styles from metal to reggae. The guitar’s small shape makes it a breeze …
Read moreBest Les Paul Copy – Get a Cool Guitar Without Breaking the Bank
Best Compressor Pedals for Guitar – Buying Guide and Reviews
Compressor pedals are perhaps the most overlooked and underrated effects pedal for the guitar. Since they’re not as obvious as say, overdrive, they tend to …
Read moreBest Compressor Pedals for Guitar – Buying Guide and Reviews
Best Acoustic Guitar Preamp – For Superior Amplified Sound
Got an acoustic guitar with a built-in pickup? Wondering why it sounds awful when you plug it in? You know, unwanted noise, feedback, distortion? The …
Read moreBest Acoustic Guitar Preamp – For Superior Amplified Sound
Best Portable Drum Sets – Compact & Easy to Transport
If you’re a drummer, you’ll be familiar with the problem of getting your instrument back and forth between gigs, recording studios and rehearsal rooms. Even …
Read moreBest Portable Drum Sets – Compact & Easy to Transport
Best Noise Cancelling Machines – To Help with Relaxation, Focus or Sleeping
Struggling to concentrate, relax, or sleep due to noise? Have you ever considered a noise cancelling device? These devices help to block out unwanted, irritating …
Read moreBest Noise Cancelling Machines – To Help with Relaxation, Focus or Sleeping
Best Tube Amp – Buying Guide, Advice and Reviews for 2019
Tube (or ‘valve’) amps are famous for producing warm, fat tones as well as generating natural distortion. They’re also incredibly responsive – if you pick …
Read moreBest Tube Amp – Buying Guide, Advice and Reviews for 2019
Best Envelope Filter Pedals – For Turning on the Funk
Envelope filter pedals (often referred to as an ‘auto wah’) give you a wah sound without having to rock your foot back and forward on …
Read moreBest Envelope Filter Pedals – For Turning on the Funk
How to Write a Song – What the Experts Say & Songwriting Techniques
The songwriting process can be a long, drawn-out affair. The muse, as Bob Dylan said: “cannot be willed, only welcomed”. In this article, we’ll look at what …
Read moreHow to Write a Song – What the Experts Say & Songwriting Techniques
Best Midi Drum Pad Controllers – Buying Guide & Reviews
Midi drum controllers work just like midi keyboards, but instead of keys, you control it via pads which you hit with sticks or with your fingers. These …
Read moreBest Midi Drum Pad Controllers – Buying Guide & Reviews
Best Guitar Capo – Buying Guide and Reviews
If you’re here, you’re probably on the lookout for a new capo. Good move, they’re handy things to own. In this article, we guide you …
The Best Guitarist to Ever Live (According to the Experts)
Who is the guitarist that experts look up to for inspiration? Who’s the best guitarist? The answer, according to some the best guitarists to ever live, is Django …
Read moreThe Best Guitarist to Ever Live (According to the Experts)
Best Snare Drums – How to Choose the Right One for Your Style of Music
The snare is one of the most important components in your drum kit. Perhaps more so than with any other drum, it can change the …
Read moreBest Snare Drums – How to Choose the Right One for Your Style of Music
Best Guitar Chairs – For Longer, Comfier Sessions
You might not have given the type of chair you sit on while you play guitar much thought. Well, it turns out that it’s quite …
Best Drum Machine – For Studio, Home or Live Performance
A drum machine is a device for creating electronically generated rhythms. It got popular in the 1980s and to this present day is still used …
Read moreBest Drum Machine – For Studio, Home or Live Performance
Best Short Scale Electric Guitars – For Kids & Adults With Small Hands
The thing that makes a normal guitar a short scale guitar is the smaller distance between bridge and nut. It’s only a matter of an inch or …
Read moreBest Short Scale Electric Guitars – For Kids & Adults With Small Hands
Best Noise Gate Pedals – For Removing Hissing, Humming or Buzzing Noises
Frustrated your amplified guitar is accompanied by an unwanted hissing, humming or buzzing sound? Maybe you’re a high gain player and the sounds you need …
Read moreBest Noise Gate Pedals – For Removing Hissing, Humming or Buzzing Noises
Best Vocal Harmonizer Pedals – For Adding Epic Voice Effects
If you play electric guitar, it’s perfectly acceptable to add effects pedals. In fact, it’s expected that you do. With vocals, it’s less common to …
Read moreBest Vocal Harmonizer Pedals – For Adding Epic Voice Effects
6 Best Headphones for Guitar Amps – For Playing Whenever You Like
Electric guitars and amps are great, but they come with one major drawback: they’re incredibly loud. Turning up the volume is fine when you’re playing …
Read more6 Best Headphones for Guitar Amps – For Playing Whenever You Like
Guitar Practice Routine – Transform Your Playing With a Solid Workout
Guitarists tend to be creative types. The thought of following a practice routine makes them shudder. However, if I was to tell you that a solid …
Read moreGuitar Practice Routine – Transform Your Playing With a Solid Workout
How to Play with a Metronome
Before we dive in with some advice on how to play with a metronome, you might be wondering: why oh why do I need to …
Graham Coxon Guitar and Gear Guide
Graham Coxon has been hailed as one of the greatest British guitarists of the 90s. With his band Blur he became one of the driving …
George Harrison Guitar and Gear Guide
George Harrison didn’t quite get all the recognition he deserved during his lifetime. While McCartney and Lennon continue to gobble up most of the credit …
Johnny Marr Guitar and Gear Guide
Johnny Marr has been consistently voted one of the most influential and inspirational musicians and still remains to this day a highly successful guitarist. Throughout …
Jimmy Page Gear Guide
Guitarists don’t get more legendary than Jimmy Page. Universally regarded as one of the most beloved and influential guitarists of all time, Page was inducted …
Jeff Beck Guitar and Gear Guide
Grammy award-winning guitarist Jeff Beck never achieved the mainstream success of his contemporaries, but his most avid fans love him all the more for that. …
Jimi Hendrix Guitar and Gear Guide
Jimi Hendrix, despite being the most innovative guitarist of his day, had a fairly limited collection of equipment in his music career. There are a …
Campervan Adventures: Our Trip to Festival Django Reinhardt (aka Samois Sur Seine)
When it comes to gypsy jazz, there’s one undisputed home. That place is Samois sur Seine, the home and resting place of the man who …
Read moreCampervan Adventures: Our Trip to Festival Django Reinhardt (aka Samois Sur Seine)
Best Stratocaster – How to Choose the Right Strat for You
From its iconic double-horned shape to its ‘comfort contour body,’ the Stratocaster was and still is the most iconic of all electric guitars. No other …
Read moreBest Stratocaster – How to Choose the Right Strat for You
Best Chorus Pedals – Buyers Guide and Reviews
A chorus pedal is used to produce a full, shimmery, layered guitar tone. The best chorus pedals work by taking the guitar’s signal and modulating …
Best P90 Pickups – The Perfect Hybrid Pickup?
The best P90 pickup offers a fuller sound than traditional single coils and a brighter sound with more attack than a humbucker. Imagine a sound …
20 Campfire Guitar Songs to Play on Your Next Camping Trip
You’re sat around a campfire with your friends. Everyone is fed and watered, the kids (if you have them) are tucked up in bed, there’s …
Read more20 Campfire Guitar Songs to Play on Your Next Camping Trip
Best 88 Key Midi Controllers – Buying Guide & Reviews
88 key midi controllers offer the melodic range and playability of a full-sized piano keyboard. Although many music producers opt for smaller keyboards, full-size controllers …
Read moreBest 88 Key Midi Controllers – Buying Guide & Reviews
Best Digital Multitrack Recorders – Buying Guide & Reviews
Before computers and software-based music production came along, everyone had to make do with hardware-based solutions. The multitrack recorder has been around in one form …
Read moreBest Digital Multitrack Recorders – Buying Guide & Reviews
Best Akai MPC – Buyer’s Guide & Reviews
The influence of the Akai MPC on the development of electronic and hip hop music can’t be overstated. The ability to create percussion from any …
Best Drum Sets for Kids – Buying Guide and Reviews
Encouraging your kids to learn an instrument is always a great idea, and drums are relatively easy to pick up for children – they’re also …
Best Jazz Drum Sets – Buying Guide and Reviews
Jazz drum sets are a different beast to the standard kits you see. For a start, they tend to be smaller and often use wooden …
Best Volume Pedal – Buying Guide & Reviews
Imagine you’re playing a song that’s full of distorted or overdriven guitar, but you want to play certain parts louder than others. Or perhaps you’re playing …
Best Guitar Amp Attenuators – For Great Tone at Low Volume
It’s a known fact that tube (or ‘valve’) amps don’t sound their best at low volumes. They produce their best tone when they’re cranked, or …
Read moreBest Guitar Amp Attenuators – For Great Tone at Low Volume
Best Cajon Drums – Buying Guide and Reviews
The Cajon has been in use since the late 16th Century in Peruvian music, but more recently, they’re popping up all over the place in …
Best Guitar Pedalboards – Buyer’s Guide and Reviews
Even if you’re just a beginner guitarist, there’s no doubt that at some point along your musical journey, you’ll start using a couple of effects …
Read moreBest Guitar Pedalboards – Buyer’s Guide and Reviews
Best Pedalboard Power Supply – Buying Guide & Reviews
Although power supplies may seem like a relatively boring topic, in reality, they are a significant and essential part of your guitar’s effects rig. If …
Read moreBest Pedalboard Power Supply – Buying Guide & Reviews
Best Guitar Polish – Buying Guide & Reviews
We all love a brand new, sparkling, shiny guitar. The problem is that the look just doesn’t last. After a few weeks of playing, what …
Best Octave Pedals for Guitar – Buying Guide and Reviews
The octave was the first standalone effects pedals ever made. Whether it’s to give you a fuller tone (by doubling up on notes), beefing up a solo, …
Read moreBest Octave Pedals for Guitar – Buying Guide and Reviews
Best Plexi Pedals – Buyers Guide & Reviews
The sound of the Marshall amp has defined a generation (or two, or three) of music, and played an important role in defining Jimi Hendrix’s sound (among …
Guitar Amps: Understanding The Essentials
Guitar amps go hand in hand with electric guitars. Without one, the electric guitar is rendered sort of useless. But with one…well, that’s an entirely …
Best British Rock Bands and Artists
British artists have always held a special place in the world, so let’s take a look at twenty who changed left an indelible mark. The …
Easy Guitar Riffs for Beginners – 10 Simple Ones to Get You Started
So you’ve just got your first guitar and you’re eager to start shredding it up like your idols. Sadly, that’s not going to happen today. …
Read moreEasy Guitar Riffs for Beginners – 10 Simple Ones to Get You Started
Elliott Smith’s Guitars and Gear
In his short life (he died in 2003 at the age of 34) Elliott Smith made some truly great music – songs that will live …
25 Best Album Covers of All Time
You know that warm sound you get from listening to Vinyl. Lovely isn’t it. But the artwork that accompanied some of those best album covers was also amazing too. …
38 Easy Guitar Songs to Learn, Play and Enjoy
Do you want to know the secret to improving your guitar playing? It’s this: learn more songs. Think about it for a second. We all …
11 Positive Effects of Music on Health, Backed Up by Science
Have you ever noticed how the perfect song can change your mood from sour to rosy; your outlook from dire and depressed to happy and …
Read more11 Positive Effects of Music on Health, Backed Up by Science
8 Inspirational Music Quotes To Reinvigorate You!
As an aspiring musician it’s easy to get dispirited if your playing or music career isn’t going places. For a quick boost sometimes an inspirational …
12 Ways Music Makes You More Productive at Work
While sometimes it’s purely to block out irritating noises (or people), or other times just to give us a welcome burst of energy, listening to …
Best Oil for Guitar Fretboard – Buyer’s Guide & Reviews
The fretboard is the most sensitive part of the guitar (the ‘nerve centre’) and the most important area of the guitar to take care of. …
Read moreBest Oil for Guitar Fretboard – Buyer’s Guide & Reviews
Best Guitar String Cleaners – Buyer’s Guide and Reviews
What’s the best way of extending the life of your guitar strings? The answer is simple: Keep them clean. Wiping them down after each play …
Read moreBest Guitar String Cleaners – Buyer’s Guide and Reviews