Mixolydian mode

Richard Barrett experiments with suspended and altered chords to bring a sense of suspense to your compositions

OVER THE LAST two columns, I’ve demonstrated a handful of what I consider to be essential “blues approved” licks that work well both as embellishments to rhythm parts or as phrases within a solo. Our

TODAY I'D LIKE to talk about downpicking — picking or strumming consecutive downstrokes — and why it can be so musically effective. This is something I learned from studying the riff-writing style of

Maurice Ravel has been an enduring part of my world, both as a performer and teacher. As a little girl I played the Mouvement de menuet from his Sonatine at a piano competition, which the renowned pia

I’VE COME FROM A VERY TECHNICAL BACKGROUND. When I started getting busier and time spent on artwork became much more precious, I began looking for ways to streamline the process without losing the pre

Richard Barrett is on a mission to make you a better blues player – with full audio examples and backing tracks