Music & Entertainment Blog

Good strumming is a core skill for every guitarist, especially the acoustic specialist. Most people start with simple strokes up and down, so its worth refining your methods as soon as possible: it's all too easy to slip into bad habits! One of the great things about the guitar is that you can make a good sound very quickly with very little knowledge of chords, and no interest in notation: strumming will allow you to get to grips with the songs you like, or make up your own. 

Image via jornalggn.com

Paco de Lucia, 'the master' to many, passed away yesterday, 26 February 2014. He was a gifted inspiration to many traditions and performed his salsa/jazz flavoured flamenco with immense style and grace. Even more accomplished than Jimi Hendrix, with greater passion than John McLaughlin and an excellence of technique rarely seen Paco de Lucia was probably the greatest guitar playing musician of the modern era. He was featured in our Illustrated Encyclopedia of Guitar Heroes (Flame Tree Publishing, 2008), with a version of the following entry:

Glastonbury 2014 was a success. It has an excellent reputation for consistently delivering a great event despite its significant (and growing) size. Though, if any year was going to be the undoing of the popular festival, 2014 was in with a shout. Last minute bookings seem to be somewhat inevitable, but the announcements of acts like Dolly Parton and Metallica certainly raised a few eyebrows. Rumours of desperation circulated the event's build-up, and though we may never know how truly pressed the event's organisers were to secure some big acts for the main stages, their choices, ultimately, seem to have been inspired. Yesterday we looked at Dolly Parton's performance: a favourite for many attendees who were initially unsure of what to expect, but who were ultimately thrilled with Parton's sheer warbling weirdness. However, today we're going to look at Metallica - the real champions of Glastonbury 2014.

The irrepressible Dolly Parton has been charming the music industry for decades, and she's still going strong. She has been one of the most talked about acts at Glastonbury this year, singing a string of classics such as 'Nine to Five' and 'Jolene'. The star has been accused of miming but her fans, including Stephen Fry, have stood up for her and say this is a ridiculous claim and that her performance on the Pyramid Stage was absolutely amazing. It was topped off with some important rock music news, when Parton's manager Donny Nozell and Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis were welcomed on stage to present her with a plaque to celebrate over 100 million album sales.

This year’s Glastonbury kicked off with big names like Arcade Fire, Lily Allen, Skrillex, MIA, Chvrches and a whole host of others, many of whom were making their Glasto debut. Since this festival is coming up on its 50th anniversary at the end of the decade, many acts weren’t so new to the whole drill: Kaiser Chiefs – who, despite having the headlining slot on the John Peel Stage on Friday, also opened the day with a surprise set on the Other Stage – played the iconic festival almost ten years ago and again in 2007.

With over 8,000 individual sound files Flame Tree Music operates a unique musical experience, online, in print and on the move, for the guitarist, keyboard player and musician.

Fresh off the heels of some of One Direction’s boys being caught smoking weed on camera, there’s still hope for at least one role model left in the band. Harry Styles has given up sex in favour of religion!

From a flying pig above Battersea Power Station to stunning light shows in concert, Pink Floyd have always aimed to impress visually. Passionate about their visual craft as well as their musical reputation, their career has encompassed varying artistic accomplishments from the poignant to the downright bizarre. 

With their music still listened to widely even today, Nirvana were pioneers of alternative rock music. Formed by their eloquent frontman Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic, Nirvana found huge success with their second album, Nevermind. Sadly, April 5th marked the 20th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death. This article takes a quick look back at Cobain's life and the legacy he left behind.