Folk-blues fingerpicking

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

The month’s best guitar music – a hand-picked selection of the finest fretwork on wax

Jan Smaczny is enthralled by Isabelle Faust’s unique approach to the demanding material of Bach’s little-known violin works JS Bach Sonatas for Violin and Continuo Isabelle Faust (violin); Kristin von

Patterns, says Clare Hammond. Learning a new piece, especially if you’re committing it to memory, and the clock is against you, is all about finding patterns. ‘If you can find patterns in a piece of m

Improvisation. For many pianists, the very word can feel intimidating. We see a jazz player fly across the keys and assume they are simply making it up. But improvisation is not a random act. It is ro

Trumpeter Alison Balsom has revealed that her recent appearance at the 2025 Last Night of the Proms was her final public performance. During an interview for BBC Radio 4’s This Cultural Life shortly b