Hot Music & Instruments How-Tos
How To: Do an alternate split stroke on the banjo uke
This video describes how to do a different rhythm to the standard split stroke for the banjo uke. Some people pick this up naturally, other need it to be pointed out-like the demonstrator, for example!
How To: Play Pirates of the Caribbean main theme on violin
If you're a violin player who's looking to play the main theme song of Pirates of the Caribbean then look no further. This simple video walks you through the song. You'll likely want or need to pause a few times as you work out the fingering, but hang in there and you'll get it. This song is a catchy little ditty you can whip out at any party or seafaring bash. Memories of Jack Sparrow will soon be floating through your head as you play this song. Now you can play Pirates of the Caribbean the...
How To: Play "Beyond the Sea (La Mer)" on the ukulele
Want to play Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea" on your ukulele? Learn how with this free video ukulele lesson from Ukulele Mike, which presents a complete breakdown of the song and its chords. Whether you play the ukulele or bass kazoo, there is no better way to improve your chops than by learning to play your favorite songs. Not only is it more fun and much easier than running drills or memorizing a chord book by wrote, it's obviously also a wonderful way to build your repertory of songs. For m...
How To: Adjust an electric guitar's intonation and action
First off, if you're new to electric guitars, here are some handy dandy definitions for you before you watch this video:
How To: Play the bass line to "Rain" by the Beatles
Want to know how to play the bass line to the Beatles' "Rain"? Learn how with this free video bass lesson. While this tutorial is best suited for intermediate players, bassists of all skill levels can play along given a little time and effort. For more information, and to get started playing this John Lennon song on your own electric bass, watch this how-to!
How To: Utilize the crossing over piano technique
Playing parts that require more than five fingers on the piano is one of the first challenges that beginning players must learn to overcome. This video by David from Piano Play It teaches us how to use the crossing over technique, in which one crosses their fingers over and under one another without moving the hand. This makes it much less challenging to play seven and eight finger melody and bass parts without leaving the hand out of position.
How To: Play "Are You Sleeping? (Frère Jacques)" on ukulele
Want to play "Frère Jacques" on the ukulele? Learn how with this free video ukulele lesson from Ukulele Mike. Whether you play the ukulele or bass kazoo, there is no better way to improve your chops than by learning to play your favorite songs. Not only is it more fun and much easier than running drills or memorizing a chord book by wrote, it's obviously also a wonderful way to build your repertory of songs. For more information, and to get started playing this famous French folk song on your...
How To: Play "Amazing Grace" on the ukulele
Want to play John Newton's "Amazing Grace" hymnal on the ukulele? Learn how with this free video ukulele lesson from Ukulele Mike. Whether you play the ukulele or bass kazoo, there is no better way to improve your chops than by learning to play your favorite songs. Not only is it more fun and much easier than running drills or memorizing a chord book by wrote, it's also a wonderful way to add to your repertory of songs. For more information, and to get started playing "Amazing Grace" on your ...
How To: Play "I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles
You can learn how to play "I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles on guitar. This song is a pretty simple song for guitar beginners and requires that you know how to play about four open chords. The Beatles are a very famous rock band who established their band in the 1960's. They released this song in 1964. This video is great to watch and follow along with. You can pause it whenever you need to and then resume. The guitarist also talks about strumming techniques and style.
How To: Master your song in Studio One
Come see how to master your own music tracks with software by Studio One! Just follow the step by step instructional video. Mastering is done from the project page, which is not available in Studio One Artist. If you want mastering features, please upgrade to Studio One Professional. How to Master a song using Studio One: Adjust song start and end markers: Click on Open Marker Track button. Click and drag start and end markers to the beginning and end of the song. Master a song in a new proje...
How To: Play "Nowhere Man" by The Beatles on guitar
In this instructional acoustic guitar video, Rob shows you how to play cool songs on your guitar. In this lesson, learn how to play the song "Nowhere Man" by the Beatles. This video is great for beginners and advanced guitar players. This is a great and easy song to perform. Learn all the basic chords by watching this guitar tutorial video. Play "Nowhere Man" by the Beatles and improve your guitar playing skills!
How To: Play famous Tori Amos riffs on the piano
Are you a fan of Tori Amos? This tutorial is designed to help you play famous riffs by Tori Amos on the piano or keyboard. This two part lesson demonstrates riffs from Silent All These Years, Precious Things, Pretty Good Year, A Sorta Fairytale, Cooling, iieee, Winter, Spark (extended), Cornflake Girl, Lust, Bliss, Take Me with You, and Space Dog.. This video will help you understand these riffs by Tori Amos and enables you to make them your own. This how to video is for intermediate to advan...
How To: Play "House of the Rising Sun" on acoustic guitar
Learning to play your favorite songs on your guitar is not only a wonderful way of passing the time–and impressing those whom you'd like to impress–, it can do wonders for your technique. In this song tutorial from Siggi Mertens' series of beginning guitar lessons, you'll learn how to play "House of the Rising Sun," a folk song perhaps most famously recorded by the Animals. While this video tutorial is geared towards beginners, it assumes at least some prior knowledge of guitar playing and it...
How To: Use the vocoder of the Motif XS with a microphone
This is an in depth tutorial on how to use the Motif XS vocoder. Subjects covered are: which microphone to use for vocoding, how to connect the mic, how to set up the parameters from utility mode and a short demo of the 4 basic vocoder voices from the Motif XS ROM.
How To: Play the fan stroke on the banjo uke
Play the fan stroke on the banjo uke. This is George Formby style.
How To: Play flute scales in D Major
In this series of videos, learn more about playing the flute in the key of D Major from our expert. Part 1 of 17 - How to Play flute scales in D Major.
How To: Sing and beatbox at the same time
This video is a demonstration of how to sing and beatbox Rahzel's "If Your Mother Only Knew." This video breaks down each word in the song and how it relates to the drum part. To do this you need to know how to hum and beatbox at the same time. Good luck!
How To: Strum "Hey There Delilah" on the ukulele
The ukulele is a beautiful and unique stringed instrument that is perfect for the traveling musician because it is so portable and relatively inexpensive. The ukelele is a version of a small guitar that originated in Hawaii. In this tutorial you will learn how to strum "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's on the ukulele. Once you get a hang of this beginner song you can impress your friends with this rendition of "Hey There Delilah" by the Plain White T's on your uke.
How To: Loudly whistle with one hand
How to loudly whistle with one hand
How To: Play the “Heart and Soul” Melody on the piano
Any dope can play “Heart and Soul.” Now you can be one of them. Use your pointer finger to hit the 2nd F key up from the middle C briskly three times, then hit it once more before moving down to play keys E, then D, then F three times, briskly. Then F once more, before bouncing down and playing keys E then D.
How To: Strengthen your 4th & 5th fingers with piano exercises
If you are looking to improve your piano technique then this how to video is the place to start. You will learn how to strengthen your fourth and fifth fingers with this easy piano exercise. The fourth and fifth fingers are often the weakest fingers when playing piano. You must learn to strengthen then so you can play piano better. This exercise also improves the extension between the ring finger and the pinky finger. This is a great exercise for beginner to advanced students. With this tutor...
How To: Play a Latin salsa style montuno on the piano
In this how to video, learn to play a Latin montuno on the piano or keyboard. A montuno it refers to the repeated part of the song, like a chorus/refrain in Salsa music. This salsa piano lesson is designed for the beginning pianist.
How To: Play rolled chords on the piano
This how to video talks about rolled chords on the piano or keyboard. A rolled chord is a sequence of notes played almost at the same time like strumming a chord on a guitar and very common to provide a harp-like effect on the piano. There are two main uses for rolled chords, one is for the sound effect it makes when played, and the other use is to join big chords that wouldn't be possible for the average person to play solid. This technique is commonly used in 20th century piano music. Watch...
How To: Play the 2Pac song "California Love" on keyboard and talkbox
"California Love" by 2Pac, Dr. Dre, and Roger Troutman is one of the best rap songs ever and brought Roger Troutman's incredible use of the talkbox to mainstream audiences. If you have a talkbox and a keyboard, check out this video to learn how to play this hip-hop classic on the best instruments to do so.
How To: Play the harmonica in the key of G
In this video from pazzmanmusic we learn how to play the harmonica in the key of G. Draw on the 1, blow on the 2 and blow on the 3. Then draw on the 3. A bit of a bend draw. Then walk it down by drawing on the 2 and then drawing on the 1. Then he goes on to play a riff where he blows on the 1 and 4 holes and covers the 2 and 3 with his tongue.
How To: Play the drum fill from "In the Air Tonight" on drums
Learn how to play the famous drum fill from Phil Collin's "In the Air Tonight" with this free drum lesson. This video guide presents a complete, step-by-step breakdown of fill. For more information, and to get started playing this popular Collins fill on your own drums, watch this tutorial.
How To: Set up a talkbox without a synth keyboard
Do you want to bust out your talkbox vocals really gorilla style? Hauling a synth keyboard and a talkbox around is a lot of baggage. Did you know, however, that you can set up a talkbox WITHOUT a synth keyboard? Watch this video to learn how to do it.
How To: Play "Elephant Gun" by Beirut on the accordion
This video is a great tutorial on how to play "Elephant Gun" by Beirut's Zach Condon. This song, from the Lon Gisland EP, is a great song for beginner accordion players.
How To: Disassemble an accordion
The reeds, cover pins, keys and the bass are a few of the parts you'll need to identify and disassemble on your accordion. Learn more in this free video series that will show you how to safely and easily remove the different parts of your accordion.
How To: Play the dizi, a Chinese bamboo flute
In this video, we learn how to play the dizi, a Chinese bamboo flute. First, fine the mouth hole where you place your mouth. After this, look to see the different finger holes that are on the side of the flute. At the end, you will see air vents that are not to be confused with the finger holes. To prepare the flute, you can twist it so the pitch is changed when you play it. Now, place your fingers along the finger holes and start to blow into the mouth opening. After you do this, you will be...
How To: Play "La Noyee" from "Amelie" on the accordion
This is a great video demonstrating how to play "La Noyee" by Yann Tiersen from the French film "Amelie". This tutorial breaks down the notes and chord progressions for the accordion.
How To: Tune an eight string ukulele
In this video, a man with an 8 string ukulele teaches you how to tune such a musical instrument, which is similar to tuning 4 strings of a guitar.
How To: Play the Dire Straits song "Romeo & Juliet" on guitar
Want to impress your friends by whipping out your guitar and strumming some of their favorite tunes the next time you are at a party? This guitar lesson teaches you how to play the Dire Straits song "Romeo & Juliet" using open G tuning(D-G-D-G-B-D) with a capo on the 3rd fret. Once you get a hang of these popular guitar chords and tunes, you can start incorporating them into your own songs. With this lesson and a bit of practice you will be able to play "Romeo & Juliet" by Dire Straits on the...
How To: Play the Naruto Shippuuden blue bird song on the piano
In this piano tutorial, you'll learn how to play the Naruto Shippuuden Blue Bird song on the piano. While this tutorial is best suited for intermediate or advanced piano players, players of all skill levels can play along. Watch this tutorial to get started playing the Naruto Shippuuden Blue Bird song!
How To: Play a D major scale on the violin and exercises
In this two part how to video you will learn the notes on the A string, the D major scale, and begin to learn how to use the violin bow. This lesson gives you some helpful exercises to improve your technique. With this the tips from this tutorial you can learn how to play the violin.
How To: Use an electric guitar and a MicroKorg vocoder to hear your voice on guitar
Many MicroKorg enthusiasts focus on it's synthesizer functions, but it's also a vocoder, and nowhere is that more apparent than in this video. It will teach you how to connect an electric guitar and a mic to your MicroKorg and use them together so that you can hear your voice on your guitar. It's very worth it.
How To: String or restring a ukulele with a tie bridge
In this clip, you'll learn how to string up a uke with a standard tie-style bridge. If you want to get really good at playing the ukulele, it stands to reason that your instrument will need strings on it. Happily, the Internet is awash in high-quality video lessons like this one from the folks at Hawaii Music Supply. For more information, including a step-by-step overview, watch this free video ukulele tutorial.
How To: Play "The Godfather Waltz" on the accordion
This is a tutorial on how to play the theme from "The Godfather" films, written by the prolific Nino Rota. The video breaks down the chords to play this brooding accordion classic.
How To: Play "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" by Elton John
Playing along with your favorite songs is an enjoyable, and highly effective, way of developing your playing technique. In this five-part keyboard tutorial, you'll learn how to play Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" on piano. While the lesson is geared toward players of an intermediate skill level, all players can follow along given adequate time and motivation. To get started playing "Don't Let the Sun Down on Me," press play!
How To: Play an easy 4-chord version of "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay
"Viva la Vida" continued the staggering string of hits from Coldplay in 2008, and is a really fun song to play on almost any instrument. In this video you'll learn how to play a cover of it on solo piano, which Chris Martin would certainly appreciate.