Music

A man wearing glasses and a brown jacket who is Charlie Watts playing drums in a TV studio.
MUSIC

True musical virtuosos are minimalists who put roll before rock

Musicians like Muddy Waters and Charlie Watts played fewer notes than showoffs like Jeff Beck, but they were the right ones

by Mike Edison

Painting of a woman in a yellow dress and hat sitting with a guitar against a green background.
MUSIC

How to start making music

It’s never too late to play an instrument or learn to sing. Take the leap from listener to maker in the way that suits you

by Gayla M Mills

Photo of hands playing a piano keyboard, showing close-up of fingers and a ring on one finger against dark background.

Feel free to stop striving: learn to relish being an amateur

When I rekindled my relationship with the piano and tapped into my inner amateur, I discovered a quiet room of my own

by Xenia Hanusiak

Black and white photo of a person playing a piano with an ornate music stand.
MUSIC

How to listen to, and enjoy, classical music

Whether you’re a newbie or an aficionado, these ways to navigate and approach the genre will enrich your experience

by Lawrence Kramer

Photo of a man playing a violin in a columned, mosaic-tiled hall with people walking in the background.
MUSIC

Music is a philosophy, rich in ideas that language cannot say

Musical thinking offers a means for composing our lives and a philosophical foundation that embraces both sound and silence

by Xenia Hanusiak

Photo of shelves filled with vinyl record covers stacked vertically, showing a collection of diverse albums.
MUSIC

How to discover new music

In a musical rut? Whatever your age or existing tastes, you can find surprise and enjoyment beyond the streaming algorithms

by James Hadfield

Photo of a person with eyes closed, hands on cheeks, wearing a wristband and large hoop earrings in a dimly lit setting.
MUSIC

Can you ‘feel’ the music? You’re probably an empathetic person

People who are more empathic toward others are also more likely to have more feeling for the emotions communicated in music

by Benjamin Tabak & Zachary Wallmark

Photo of a person with a guitar leaning on a car in a forest with bright red foliage wearing a white shirt and hat.
MUSIC

Bob Dylan turned American folk traditions into modern prophecy

Bob Dylan’s ‘A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall’ is the first truly modernist folk song: it reworks tradition into a prophetic warning

by Timothy Hampton

A woman in a black swimsuit is submerged underwater, with her head down and hair floating gently around her.
DANCE

Exquisite subaquatic choreography stretches the limits of mind and body

Directed by Julie Gautier

Photo of a woman singing passionately into a microphone wearing a sparkling black and gold dress on a dark stage.
MUSIC

The jazz singer’s mind shows us how to improvise through life itself

Be more jazz: by letting go and embodying the present, you can learn to transform the mundane into the transcendent

by Melissa Forbes

Painting of two musicians standing by bare trees in a snowy landscape with two distant figures and a city skyline in the background.

Everyone is waiting, watching. What for remains captivatingly unclear

Directed by Michelle Kranot & Uri Kranot

Black-and-white photo of people watching two musicians on stage in a small, wallpapered room with a single light bulb hanging.
MUSIC

Faith, struggle and song intertwine in this classic film on Appalachian music

Directed by John Cohen

Two people wearing white jackets stand on a snowy landscape under an overcast sky, surrounded by snow-covered mounds.
MUSIC

Witness the cool musical game played by Inuit women for centuries

Directed by Eva Kaukai and Manon Chamberland

A dancer in a black dress and red sash dances in front of a guitarist seated on a chair, in a studio with mirrors and plants.
MUSIC

La vida flamenca – why art and daily life are inseparable for a flamenco guitarist

Directed by Pedro Kos and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee

Black and white photo of a man playing piano, with dark background and dramatic lighting.
MUSIC

What is it about musical hooks that makes them so catchy?

From hummable riffs to striking lyrics, the catchiest hooks tell us something about the limits of human attention and memory

by Tim Byron & Jadey O’Regan

Abstract painting of a person on a cliff under stormy skies with colourful clouds and rain, contrasted by vibrant red and yellow below.
MUSIC

A music video moulded in clay finds joy in nature amid life’s sorrows

Directed by Lynn Tomlinson