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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Everyone is waiting, watching. What for remains captivatingly unclear
Directed by Michelle Kranot & Uri Kranot
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
Faith, struggle and song intertwine in this classic film on Appalachian music
Directed by John Cohen
La vida flamenca – why art and daily life are inseparable for a flamenco guitarist
Directed by Pedro Kos and Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Bach’s piano music is intimate precision and Homeric epic in one
A hero on a journey; a circular movement; a melancholy of homecoming: why Bach is an epic poet in the Homeric tradition
by Dan Moller
A music video moulded in clay finds joy in nature amid life’s sorrows
Directed by Lynn Tomlinson
Scottish Gaelic songs send a message in a bottle across the oceans of time
Directed by Jamie Chambers
How to get hooked on opera
Aspects of opera can seem strange. But give it a try and you’ll soon find yourself absorbed in a truly magical experience
by Alexandra Wilson