These days, it’s common knowledge—smoking isn’t good for you. In fact, it’s a hazard to your health. Not only is it expensive, but it also hurts your voice. Which is why it’s so surprising when I find out about singers who smoke. I mean, really. Singers who smoke are like models who like boxing as

When you think about it, building a song is fairly easy. We just repeat a few parts … and organize each section into a nice, logical order. Usually, our songs will have a couple of different melodies—like a verse and  chorus—that keep things moving forward. And together, these sections create a whole that is greater

When musicians write a song, they have to ask themselves a few questions. For example, does our song have a main melody? And if so, where do we repeat it? How many times? Do we need to add a second, contrasting melody, like a chorus? What about some buffer or break between the two melodies?

Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, Color Music is the smart, fast, and fun way to learn any instrument. Seriously, it’s like a roadmap into some strange, secret world, guiding you along … every step of the way. With color, sound is no longer invisible. Which means you can quickly learn how everything works. You

Say it with me, people: “Chords are totally easy to play.” That’s right … chords are really simple. Like everything else in music, they’re made of the same, old notes and intervals we already know and love. So there isn’t much to them. But let’s pause for a moment to think about one thing. And that is, what’s

Like I said … chords make music especially cool. They add weight to a song and provide support for the melody. By giving our ears something to listen to, chords just make life more interesting. At the same time, chords also create a little more work for our hands. And that’s because, on a keyboard, the

Let’s face it … making music is all about the hands. Sure, we’ve got to understand what we’re actually doing if we want to get really good. (Thank you, Color Music.) But it’s just as important to have nice, flexible fingers. After all, your hands are what connect your brain with your instrument. So if your hands ain’t

Okay, admit it. You crack your knuckles. I’m not saying you do it 86 times a day or anything. But sometimes you just can’t help it … right? Well I do—maybe only once or twice a day. But it sort of feels nice. Anyway, it’s got me feeling kind of guilty. Because I’ve always heard that

Besides maybe war, poverty, and disease, there’s nothing worse than forgetting the idea for a really great song. Seriously … it’s happened to me more than I’d like to admit. Sometimes, I would be out on a hike, or in the car—or anywhere, really—when I’d think of a cool lyric or melody. But by the time