Classical Campus Blog

Blog/News

May 30

MikeMarshall

Caterina and I are very excited about our new CD of duets for Mandolin and Mandocello.

We recorded the Fifteen Two Part Inventions, Four Organ duets and Three Canons from his "Art of the Fugue." What a joy to finally have this recording out and available.

I hope you all enjoy it!

Click here for the link on Amazon

Caterina and I are very excited about our new CD of duets for Mandolin and Mandocello.

We recorded the Fifteen Two Part Inventions, Four Organ duets and Three Canons from his "Art of the Fugue." What a joy to finally have this recording out and available.

I hope you all enjoy it!

Click here for the link on Amazon

Posted in classical, mandolin, mike marshall

0 comments

May 14

ArtistWorks on Periscope

ArtistWorks

Good news: we are starting to live stream recording sessions with our artists who come to our studio. Using the Periscope App, we'll be broadcasting live whenever we have a special guest in our recording studio to record new lessons.

If you follow us on Twitter @artistworks, you may have noticed a couple weeks back that we had Mike Block in recording cello lessons (be sure to get on the mailing list for updates). Mike is back this week to record more and today we're be streaming some of the material on bluegrass cello. Watch live on Periscope @artistworks or follow us on Twitter for the link!

These sessions are meant to be viewed live, but will be stored for 24 hours on our Periscope profile if you have the app. Anyone with the link can view the broadcasts live and see the behind the scenes action at our ArtistWorks headquarters in Napa, CA. Periscope has presented interesting possibilities for real time recording and we are excited to begin experimenting with some different uses. Hope to have some folks tuning in!

Posted in ArtistWorks, cello, double bass, mike block

0 comments

Apr 21

Jason Vieaux Discusses Classical Guitar Recordings

ArtistWorks

Jason Vieaux, fresh off his GRAMMY win, was in the ArtistWorks studio recently to record new Sor studies (among other things) for his online students. You can see a list of the new classical guitar lessons below, but while he was here we also took some time to discuss recordings from some of the 20th century's greatest classical guitarists. We showed Jason some records which we like to listen to in the office and recorded his natural reaction. You can clearly see how much this music means to Jason, and how influential many of these classical guitar recordings remain to this day.

Posted in classical guitar, guitar, jason vieaux

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Mar 30

The Grotrian Piano at NAMM

HughSung

We've all heard of Steinway and Yamaha pianos, but have you ever heard of a Grotrian? It so happens that this piano was favored by Clara Schumann and highly regarded by the likes of Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms! The Grotrian-Steinweg, or "Grotrian" for short, is well known in German and European circles, but still something of a "secret gem" in America. In this video, we interview Grotrian-Steinweg director Burkhardt Stein to discover what unique qualities this gorgeous piano brings to the discerning pianist.

Posted in Grotrian, Grotrian-Steinweg, hugh sung, Piano, piano tastings

0 comments

Feb 24

New Beginner Violin Lessons from Nathan Cole

ArtistWorks

beginner violin lessons - holding the bow

ArtistWorks is proud to announce that we have re-launched Nathan Cole's Online Classical Violin School with a focus on beginner violin lessons. Now everyone including beginners can learn how to play violin with a first chair violinist from the LA Philharmonic. Nathan's beginner-friendly approach embraces the idea that learning how to play violin should be fun and rewarding at every level - regardless of technical ability.

There's over 60 new lessons added to Nathan Cole's core curriculum, including many new fundamental violin basics and beginner violin songs. You don't need to know how to read music in order to follow along, Nathan's online lessons contain everything you need to learn how to play violin - and you can do it all on your own time, at your own pace.

Posted in classical, nathan cole, violin

0 comments

Feb 9

Guitar Instructor Wins GRAMMY

ArtistWorks

jason vieaux grammy

Congratulations to Jason Vieaux on winning a 2015 GRAMMY! We are very proud to announce our classical guitar instructor has just won a GRAMMY for Best Classical Instrumental Solo category for his album Play. This a great recognition for the outstanding guitar arrangments on the album and marks Jason's first GRAMMY. Historically there has only been 5 other classical guitarists to win this prestigious award, and Jason now joins an elite group which include Andrés Segovia, Laurindo Almeida, Julian Bream, David Russell, and Sharon Isbin. Click here for a full list of 2015 GRAMMY winners.

jason vieaux grammy

Congratulations to Jason Vieaux on winning a 2015 GRAMMY! We are very proud to announce our classical guitar instructor has just won a GRAMMY for Best Classical Instrumental Solo category for his album Play. This a great recognition for the outstanding guitar arrangments on the album and marks Jason's first GRAMMY. Historically there has only been 5 other classical guitarists to win this prestigious award, and Jason now joins an elite group which include Andrés Segovia, Laurindo Almeida, Julian Bream, David Russell, and Sharon Isbin. Click here for a full list of 2015 GRAMMY winners.

Posted in classical, guitar, jason vieaux

0 comments

Jan 16

The Importance of Violin Basics

ArtistWorks

How important are the basics of violin?

The basics are so named because they never stop being important! Every weakness in a person’s playing can be traced back to neglecting one or more basic principles or skills. Conversely, you can be sure that the strongest players have never lost sight of those basics, even though their playing style may have changed over the years.

How often do students forget to practice the basics?

It’s rare for me to come across anyone who is completely sound in all the basic skills of violin playing. So we all neglect the basics from time to time. Unless you’re playing many hours each day, while listening and watching carefully, some key skill is going to suffer. In fact, when I notice a problem in a passage that I’m playing, it’s likely because I’ve forgotten the importance of a basic skill.

Why do you think they forget it?

Posted in violin, violin basics, Violin Vibrato

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Dec 18

Online Piano Lessons with Hugh Sung are Now Available

AW

We are excited to announce that online piano lessons with Hugh Sung are now available! Learn more about the Online Popular Piano School at artistworks.com/piano.

"It's an incredible honor to be joining the roster of some of the best musicians in the world and sharing a common passion to make the very best music education available to students anywhere. One of my greatest thrills comes from helping people discover the amazing things they can do with music. ArtistWorks provides an unprecedented platform to make this possible. Through these beautifully filmed piano lessons and the personal attention I can give to each student through ArtistWorks' Video Exchange system, I can help people play beautiful music right from day one. We based these online piano lessons on songs that people want to play, without all the boring exercises or mind-numbing theory. Students learn just what they need to play their favorite songs in the shortest time possible, and we have tons of fun in the process!" - Hugh Sung

Posted in hugh sung, Piano

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Dec 11

Now Available: Blues Guitar Lessons with Keith Wyatt

AW

We are excited to announce that blues guitar lessons with Keith Wyatt are now available! Starting today, anyone around the world can learn blues guitar from Keith Wyatt (Musicians Institute, The Blasters). Keith's comprehensive blues guitar lessons take you from beginner to advanced and give you everything you need to know in order to master blues guitar.

The best part though, is that Keith's students will be able to send in practice videos directly through the site using ArtistWorks' Video Exchange® technology. Keith will personally review the student videos and record video responses with advice about what to practice next in order to progress their playing. All of the blues guitar students have access to Keith's Video Exchanges, so there's always something new to learn.

"We now welcome extraordinary blues guitar teacher Keith Wyatt to the ArtistWorks family. Keith created a definitive electric blues guitar curriculum, starting by teaching the earliest blues styles and culminating in the driving blues techniques of players like Stevie Ray Vaughn. It's all there, presented in a step-by-step method energized by ArtistWorks' Video Exchange learning approach. We welcome guitarists from around the world to take their blues to a higher level." - David Butler, ArtistWorks Co-Founder

To learn more and to check out free sample lessons, visit artistworks.com/blues

Posted in Blues, guitar, keith wyatt

0 comments

Dec 11

7 ArtistWorks Instructors Nominated for GRAMMYs

ArtistWorks

GRAMMYs We are thrilled to have seven ArtistWorks artists nominated for GRAMMYs this year! This is definitely a record for the most nominated in a single year, although many have won in the past. We're proud of all of them and so to honor these fine musicians, here’s a look at the different albums nominated from our artists this year.