Becoming a Singer: Lessons Learned
Singing is something every musician should consider a core part of developing their musicianship. Nick explains why studying with a teacher is often the best course.
Nick Long
Nick Long is a musician and BBC-trained broadcast engineer who's been learning new instruments and playing in bands since his early teens. His repertoire covers Indie, Soul, Country, Heavy Metal, Punk, Post Rock and everything in between!
He enjoys playing bass in various bands and gigging regularly. In his professional life, Nick has worked in radio since university and spent much of his career in the BBC, designing and building studio and production systems.
As a self-taught working musician he's repeatedly found himself hitting walls that can only be overcome with a bit of theory and ear training.
Posts by Nick Long
Learning to Sing: The First Lesson
Learning to sing can be daunting. Experienced musician Nick Long recently started learning and here he shares his top tips from his first few singing lessons.
Isn't it time you learned to sing?
Why would a capable musician playing in bands decide to learn to sing as well? Find out and discover if you should do the same in this revealing article.
Learning to play by ear was the answer when flaming fingers left me cold
Continuing our playing-by-ear series, we’re very pleased to welcome the first of our “home team”, Easy Ear Training author Nick Long, to share his experiences learning to play by ear. I decided I wanted an electric guitar aged 14 after seeing a video...
Listen Close: "Pagan Poetry" by Björk
Find out what makes “Pagan Poetry” by Björk such a special track, and how you can use it to improve your musical listening skills through ear training.
Open Your Ears to the Music of Björk
Few artists are as creatively experimental as Björk, which makes her music the ideal exploration ground when stretching and improving your musical ears.
Listen to Les, Part 3: Audio Effects
In this, the concluding part of our series on the genius Les Paul, we are going to be looking at his contribution to the world of effects. For a modern guitarist, effects pedals are an integral part of their sound. There are a dizzying array of boxes available to feed...
Listen to Les, Part 2: A Recording Revolution
Last time we talked about Les Paul’s role as the father of the electric guitar. Nobody can question the significance of his innovations there, but that was far from the limit of his contribution to modern music. Next up we’ll be learning about the part he...
Bass Tone: Bass Effects, Part 2
Learn all about audio effects for bass guitar, including modulation, octave, pitch shift, wah-wah, chorus and flanger/phaser. How to hear them and why to learn.
Listen to Les, Part 1: The Gibson "Les Paul"
Ask a guitarist to name five famous Les Paul players and you’ll probably get Slash, Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend and Joe Perry… and maybe Ace Frehley, or the late great Gary Moore. There’s plenty of players to choose from: a quick look at the Gibson website reveals...
Bass Tone: Bass Effects, Part 1
Learn all about audio effects ear training for bass guitar, including EQ, compression, limiters, distortion, overdrive and fuzz. Ear training for bass tone.
Bass Tone: All Amped Up
Find out about the impact your amplifier has on your bass guitar sound, and how you can train your ears and set up your amp to craft your perfect bass tone.
