An illustration of a snare drum with a heart on it, two drum sticks in and X formation are behind the snare.

Best Drum Songs—According to Berklee Online Faculty

We polled members of the Drum Department at Berklee on the drum grooves they love the most. Some of the usual suspects are there—Ringo and Bonzo—but some of their choices may surprise you. Drumroll, please! …

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A picture of a heart inside the strings of an acoustic guitar, showcasing the love that Berklee Online instructors have for guitar.

Best Guitar Songs—According to Berklee Online Faculty

We polled members of the Guitar Department at Berklee on the guitar-based songs they love the most. Some of the usual suspects are there—Hendrix and Van Halen, etc.—but you may be surprised by some of the songs that strike a chord with your instructors, including some acoustic picks!

Cindy Blackman Santana photographed by Jimmy Bruch

Drummer Cindy Blackman Santana on Carlos, Lenny, and Visitations from Jazz Greats

Cindy Blackman became Lenny Kravitz’s drummer after a lifetime of jazz drumming. In this wide-ranging interview she discusses being visited by the spirits of the jazz greats she befriended during her time in New York City, and how she and husband Carlos Santana stay in harmony, onstage and off.

Person strumming an acoustic guitar

Guitar Techniques: Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, and Slides

Kim Perlak, chair of the Guitar department at Berklee College of Music, shares some key techniques that will add interest to your melodic improvisation on guitar.

Don Letts

Don Letts on the Culture Clash of Punk and Reggae and ‘There and Black Again’

Don Letts introduced punks in the 1970s UK scene to reggae, kind of. He was a good friend of Bob Marley, sort of. He is the embodiment of punk’s ethos of empowerment, freedom, and individuality, totally!

Butch Vig on Recording Drums, New Garbage Album, and Producing Nirvana

You know Butch Vig as the drummer and producer of Garbage, or the producer of mammoth 1990s recordings from Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. But there is a lot more to him than that. For one, he has been playing with most of the people he makes music with for nearly 40 years.

6 Original Blues Guitar Architects to Rediscover

The musical elements of blues are distinctly African in origin—the pentatonic scales, polyrhythms, use of microtones and pitch bends, and call and response phrase structure all originate from the African continent. Black History Month is the perfect time to get reacquainted with these architects of the blues guitar.

Acoustic blues guitar with a slide.

How to Play Acoustic Blues Guitar

Learn the history and techniques to start playing acoustic blues guitar with these four tips from Berklee Online guitar instructor Dan Bowden.

Lisa Loeb on the Ability to ‘Stay’ Working in an Ever-Changing Music Industry

Lisa Loeb discusses three decades in the music business, and how she was able to turn her initial success into a dozen different endeavors.

Soul Rebels on New Orleans, Collaborations, and Challenging What it Means to be a Brass Band

Lumar LeBlanc, Julian Gosin, and Marcus Hubbard, three generations of the New Orleans band Soul Rebels discuss hometown sounds, what it’s like to keep a band together for 30 years, and backing up the likes of Katy Perry, Nas, and Metallica.