Blog/News

Sep 29
ArtistWorks

comparing classical guitar to rock

As guitarists, we explore new and different styles of music in an effort to satisfy our curiosity, utilize our creativity, and improve our technique in the process. In this blog we’ll compare the genres of rock and classical guitar in an effort to understand some of the foundational techniques that can inform our own playing.

Posted in classical, guitar, rock
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Aug 17
ArtistWorks

mitch, classical guitar studentMeet Mitch, who among other things, loves music.

He’s been a guitarist most of his life. He first began playing at age 8, but when he was 13 something happened which would change the course of his musical journey forever. His grandmother took him to see the legendary Andres Segovia perform in concert. After that, Mitch knew exactly what he wanted to play: classical guitar. 

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Aug 14
ArtistWorks

In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a new feature around town: Messaging. This comes as a special request from our online students to add more community features so we hope you enjoy communicating with each other! Messaging is going to open the doors for new conversations and connections with like minded ArtistWorks musicians around the world. Talk about the lessons, talk about the music, talk about whatever you want!

messagingPlease note: this is a still a “beta” version of Messaging. 

We’ll be rolling out another version with added features soon, but let us know how you like this one first. Please send any feedback or questions to our Customer Service Team and be sure to tell us your Operating System and browser please. You can also email any feedback to info@artistworks.com. Have fun!

How to Send a Message:

On the Dashboard and Community below the Shout area you can now see who’s online.

Click on the green Chat button next to someone’s name to send them a message. You can have multiple one to one Messages at the same time, and you can always minimize the windows if you just want to focus on one at a time.

You’ll see if you have any new messages near the top of the page with a little number telling you many unread there are. If you’d rather not be visible for other students to contact you, just choose the Invisible feature by clicking the Settings icon and choosing Privacy.

Now see who’s online and give Messaging a try!

Posted in announcements
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Jul 28
ArtistWorks

classical guitar quizzes

Good News: We just launched a new feature around here, Quizzes! These are going to test your knowledge about what's in the lessons, so if you've been spending a lot of time in the Learn channel you already have a huge advantage. You'll find multiple choice, True/False, questions with images and some audio questions too. So grab your guitar and get started!

There are two ways to access the self-assessment Quizzes:

1. From the lesson lists in the Learn channel, if there's a Quiz you'll see it appear at the bottom of the list. Just click on it to get started. 

2. Click on the "Quizzes" button from Learn area on the Lessons & Video Exchanges menu page. Click on it to open up the Quiz Progress Board.

 

classical guitar quizzes

Our goal with these optional quizzes is to help you self-assess your music and playing knowledge. You'll get a badge for successfully completing each quizz. Best of luck to you! 

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Jul 21
ArtistWorks

classical guitar players

One of the most intriguing aspects about classical guitar is that the style remains timeless. The great guitarists of the past continue to influence other musicians, artists, and beyond. That's one of the amazing things about music - it's a universal language that can cross cultures and bring people together. Studying the masters from the past can be such a rewarding experience; it serves as a bond, connecting you to the different players throughout time. 

Here's a brief look at four classical guitar players who are definitely worth studying. 

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Jun 28
ArtistWorks

classical guitar nails 1

Any classical guitarist can tell you from experience that busting up your fingernails is no fun. It’s usually not until the next day’s performance when the tenderness and soreness really takes effect. Not only is maintaining your nails good for your overall hygiene, it is essential for playing fingerstyle guitar.

Here’s a brief overview to help you keep your fingernails in great condition for playing classical guitar, as well as a few suggestions on how to protect them from harm.

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Jun 14
ArtistWorks

intro to music theory

We all play music, but not everyone understands the science behind it. With music theory, musicians have a shared language to discuss and articulate ideas with other musicians. Unfortunately, not everyone learned this in school growing up (it'd be nice). Even if you do seek it out later in life, it can be hard to find a qualified music theory teacher willing to dispense all this knowledge on you (especially for free).

Lucky for anyone learning online at ArtistWorks, we've already done the work for you. We found a verifiable expert, Mr. Jonathan Coopersmith, and got him to record a whole series of music theory lessons for everyone here.

He boiled it all down to the main ingredients and has it broken up into 2 main categories: Basic Music Theory and Advanced Music Theory. Did we mention you already have access to all this in the Learn area? Read on to take the tour! 

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May 30
ArtistWorks

classical guitar stretches

Do you fingers ever cramp up or hurt while playing guitar? You're not alone, especially if you play classical guitar. 

For many guitarists, avoiding finger cramps is a way of life. For classical players, the very nature of the instrument puts you at risk. Proper form requires extending your left hand fingers to their limits and rapidly plucking with your right hand. After awhile it can start to hurt a lot if you're not careful!

Here's some tools to help you minimize and hopefully avoid getting finger cramps as you're practicing all those classical guitar Sor studies in the curriculum here. If you take some time to incorporate these into your practice routine, it should help to at least alleviate the temporary pain and also it can prevent more serious injuries down the road.

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Apr 24
ArtistWorks

classical guitar vibrato 1

Jason Vieaux aptly describes vibrato as a classical guitarist to make the guitar sing. It's a key component of adding a lyrical element to a piece of music, so let's discuss some different ways to improve your technique. Soon your vibrato will have your guitar singing like a star. 

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Apr 19
ArtistWorks

Have you been looping lately?

Looping is a powerful feature on our video player you may not even be aware of until this moment. On all the videos in the Learn area you’ll see an icon that looks like the letter “i” in a circle (it’s next to button for tagging). Click on it to initiate your Looping Control Panel:

looping

Let’s say you’re watching a video and your teacher plays something interesting, but moves on before you have chance to figure out what it was. Just Loop it up! 

Posted in announcements, looping
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