A colorful illustration shows modulation through the concept of changing keys.

Modulation 101: Berklee Online Instructors on How to Leap into a Key Change

Modulation can inject a song with a jolt of interest, but it takes skill to make a key change work. Be advised, songwriters: Use modulation in moderation. And learn from these Berklee Online instructors, sharing their favorite songs to feature key changes.

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A man plays common chord progression on an acoustic guitar.

Common Chord Progressions and How to Make Them Your Own

Songwriting is an art form that requires creativity, imagination, and an understanding of music theory, but if we’re being honest, there’s also a degree of “fake it ‘til you make it.” And with that approach in mind, one technique you could try is to utilize classic chord progressions to write your own.

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 in a plaid shirt playing acoustic country guitar

4 New Berklee Online Courses Enrolling Now

Four brand new Berklee Online courses are dropping this April, and you can be the first to experience them. If you’re interested in guitar, voice, or learning FL Studio, then you’re in luck!

two mixing engineers in a music studio

Mixing Music: What is Sound Mixing?

Sound mixing is a combination of art and technology with the end goal of creating a new sonic reality. Learn the basics of mixing music, including its history, sound mixing techniques, and the various responsibilities of a mixing engineer.

Halloween costume ideas: a horse, stick of butter, and a priest

Halloween Costume Ideas Inspired by Song Titles

If you’re racking your brain for last-minute Halloween costume ideas this year, the staff at Berklee Online have got you covered with Halloween costumes inspired by song titles.

Zombies Singer Colin Blunstone on His Career ‘Odessey’ and the ‘Time of the Season’ for Playing Live Again

Colin Blunstone started singing with the Zombies at the age of 16. They broke up shortly after releasing their 1968 masterpiece, “Odessey and Oracle,” but reformed in 2000, and have been going strong ever since.

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.

Martha Reeves on Dancing in the Street, the Vandellas, and the Motown Sound

Summer’s here and the time is right for this interview with Martha Reeves, reflecting on the timeless appeal of “Dancing in the Street,” how the social movements of the 1960s compare to the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as her storied career with Motown.