Introduction Ken Donnell, a lifetime musician and master luthier, is the foremost authority on “close-mic” applications for stringed musical instruments. (The field of using “close-mics” involves placing miniature microphones directly on to, or inside of, an instrument for amplification or recording.)Ken holds the original patents in this field of audio engineering, and continues to manage […]
Read moreA series of articles beginning with Part 1. Introduction Veteran performer, Strings By Mail owner, and guitar teacher for 15 years at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, John Wunsch presents a series of articles on alleviating performance anxiety. Controlling Performance AnxietyPart 6: More on Creating Durable Memorization by John Wunsch (Originally published in Mel […]
Read moreA series of articles beginning with Part 1. Introduction Veteran performer, Strings By Mail owner, and guitar teacher for 15 years at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, John Wunsch presents a series of articles on alleviating performance anxiety. Controlling Performance AnxietyPart 5: Creating Durable Memorization by John Wunsch (Originally published in Mel Bay’s Guitar […]
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Introduction Veteran performer, Strings By Mail owner, and guitar teacher for 15 years at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, John Wunsch presents a series of articles on alleviating performance anxiety. A series of articles beginning with Part 1. Controlling Performance Anxiety, Part 4: Reducing the Likelihood of Anxiety by John Wunsch (Originally published in […]
Read more Introduction Veteran performer, Strings By Mail owner, and guitar teacher for 15 years at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, John Wunsch presents a series of articles on alleviating performance anxiety. A series of articles beginning with Part 1. Controlling Performance Anxiety, Part 3: Reasonable Expectations “Taking the Long View” by John Wunsch (Originally published […]
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Gifts for Players As much as we love people who play stringed instruments, we have to admit they can be a little — well — persnickety. This can make buying gifts for them about as easy as trying to cram a guitar into a ukulele case. Need Help? We’re here to help. We’ve put together […]
Read more Introduction With colleges and universities convening nationwide, October seems the appropriate time to begin a new instructional series for the Strings By Mail Articles page. Veteran performer, Strings By Mail owner, and guitar teacher for 15 years at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, John Wunsch presents a series of articles on alleviating performance anxiety. […]
Read moreMy Struggle & How I Triumphed: Learning and Remembering the Notes on the Guitar – without the Struggle  by Philip Glaser Editor’s note – Solid reading skills are the key to using the many fine available Etudes, these cards will jump start anyone’s efforts to establish excellent reading skills, as Philip’s story makes […]
Read moreGuitar Care and Maintenance – Strings By Mail Owning and playing a guitar can be all fun and games, but anything worth keeping should be well worth the effort of the upkeep. Temperature and Humidity The greatest enemy to your guitar, (beyond smashing it to bits or setting it on fire like Pete […]
Read moreBasics on Guitar String Intonation – Strings By Mail What does it mean when someone says the “intonation” on a guitar is off? What it means is that while a string will be in tune when it’s open, when it’s fretted it will be out of tune. The higher up the neck you go, […]
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