Unfortunately for us guitar players, abrasion is a fact of life for most materials that guitar picks are made from. And that means your favorite pick’s character may change as you use it. In fact, you might not even like a pick fresh out of the bag, but at some sweet spot in between fresh and worn. Welcome to the struggle!
Read More
Remember when Billy Joel said the piano sounds like a carnival? That’s what it’s like being in the room with Olli Soikkeli and Cesar Garabini when they get their irrepressible energy flowing: Read More
Teemu is in town — wrapping up Wintersun’s Fall 2018 North American tour this Sunday at Irving Plaza in NYC (tickets here if you’re in the area!)
And on Monday, we’re hosting him at the Cracking the Code Studio for a live workshop and Q&A session.
Teemu is the lead guitarist of Finnish power metal band Wintersun. He’s well versed in weaving punishing rhythms and intricate dual-lead flights of fantasy into epic power metal soundscapes.
Our interview with Teemu is one of our most watched ever, and for good reason — Teemu is a rare combination of ferocious player and masterful teacher. Specifically, he’s watched a lot of our stuff, and has extensive experience teaching pickslanting mechanics to guitarists of all levels.
Here’s a good clip of his scary arpeggio playing:
We’re excited to catch up with Teemu and talk technique, teaching, and more. And we look forward to taking some viewer questions!
The event is free for everyone to watch, and will be live on YouTube.
If you have an account on the Cracking the Code Platform, you can tune in via our Live Studio and submit questions for Teemu once the event starts.
We’ll get an edited version uploaded to the site later, with clips and tablature for Masters in Mechanics members.
Tune in to watch the event live: Monday, Oct. 15th at 4pm ET / 8pm UTC
The amazing Olli Soikkeli fuses Gypsy picking with his own formidable pure alternate approach. And within that pure alternate approach he blends several different movements including pickslanting, and a blazing crosspicking motion he uses for the kind of torturous phrases that most of use grew up avoiding: Read More
Mark your calendar! We’ll be on air with Mika tomorrow afternoon, talking music and technique and answering viewer questions live.
It’s a free broadcast, and we’ll be streaming to YouTube — but to submit questions, you’ll need to log in to the Cracking the Code Platform and head to our Live Studio. Read More
We thought you’d enjoy some Frank Gambale this weekend! We’re still working on tablature for the 100+ examples we’ve pulled out of the conversation, and we should have that by the middle of next week or so. But the interview itself is ready to roll on the Cracking the Code platform, so we figured we’d turn it on for those who’d like to get a look at it now. You can find it right here: Read More
Our second interview with Andy Wood is a spectacular showcase of acoustic prowess, and a treat for aspiring multi-instrumentalists. Read More
If all goes well, we will be boarding a plane for Los Angeles tonight to meet with a duo of guitar awesomeness! Read More
The Cracking the Code Mike Stern interview is here! In this intimate chat, the genial jazz master shares a wealth of improvisational insights, delivered in an extemporaneous fashion as effortless his playing. Read More
