Guitar

The Guitar and Its Many Colors

The Guitar and Its Many Colors

By Connor Ritchie

The guitar is a unique template for delivering music and has a resounding role in the canon of popular and classical music. This is common knowledge. However, how do we know that the guitar will stay relevant and stand the test of time? Even though it is one of the few polyphonic (multiple musical voices occurring simultaneously) solo instruments, it simply does not have the same level of command of many different voices that the piano does. So why is the guitar revered at all, if this is the case? There are many arguments to counter this question, but there is one that often does not get considered – the classical guitar is a master at manipulating tone color. The location and delivery of the stroke of a finger has such a large effect on the overall sound of the guitar that a player can immediately evoke a completely fresh and new atmosphere from just one shift of the hand.

The Importance of Exploring

The Importance of Exploring

y Alexis Rastovich

Since the day they start walking, it is always a struggle to keep children away from out-in-the-open pianos or making unnecessary noises from their little voice boxes. My question is, why do we restrain them from these instruments? In fact, why do we keep ourselves away from unknown instruments? Yes, it sometimes is inconvenient to listen to the sounds of imperfect harmony, but the active learning that occurs when exploring is vital to our ability to grow as a musician, and perhaps more importantly, to grow as a person.

Quality over Quantity

By Jesse Sullivan

My name is Jesse Sullivan and am a new member of the AWSOM team! I graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelors of Arts in Music. I learned a lot about performing and teaching music while in college and the biggest lesson I learned regarding teaching is Quality over Quantity.

Keeping Your Instrument In Top Shape

 

By Andrew White

We all know that keeping in great shape is important in so many areas, our physical health, our homes, our vehicles, our belongings, and definitely our musical instruments! Whatever instruments you play, it's not only important to know how to play the instrument but also how to maintain it. Let's take a look at a few ways we can best care for our instruments.