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Humidity changes affect the wood WAY more than temperature changes affect the metal. Your body temperature makes little difference to the string temperature.

Body temperature DOES affect brass...

My wife of 46 years has always been supportive of my music and instrument purchases. It used to be that whenever she got a new horse or furniture, I got a new instrument, but that has gone by the...

I have a mandolin-banjo (maybe a Slingerland) that I use a lot. I play it at the local Irish session, where it is the perfect sound and volume. I also play it at the local mixed-genre jam, where it...

It doesn't matter if your finger slops over the fret behind it. The front of your finger (the part closest to the bridge) is all that matters.

I lightly brush the bridge with the heel of my hand. I have sanded off the sharp corners of almost every bridge I own.

Whether it has been refinished or not, the fretboard inlays are probably original. My 1906 F2 has the same (or very similar) inlays. I believe that they were a fancy option, not included in the "F2"...

You can pivot around any axis, but the most usual place (in the key of C) is to invert over the place in between Eb and E. So E becomes Eb, and F becomes D, and Gb becomes Db, etc. Negative harmony...

I have used this book on occasion to find different scales. It is more of a dictionary than a textbook.

Well, I played euphonium in high school and college and majored in percussion performance. After decades of orchestra and city bands, all of the percussion has been used in many concerts. In...

I have a vast instrument collection with no two of anything. The closest to two of something is a 1906 F2 and a bowlback (both are mandolins). Every thing else is really a different instrument:
...

When I was in college, a friend bought a metal string bass at an antique shop. Pretty poor sound, but it was weatherproof.

You can't have too much technique, but you can certainly USE too much technique, if that is your only goal.

I have one of those folding cardboard sun shields for my windshield. There is a warning along the bottom which reads, "Do not operate vehicle with shield in place".

I think that the "#" signs are a formatting problem. They are from a 14-year-old post from EdSherry, and are used randomly throughout the post.

Use lighter gauge strings than you usually do, to ease the tension.

The discussion about "Sweet Georgia Brown" wasn't really about what key to play it in, but whether the first chord is the key or not. In the key of G, the first chord is E(7). In the key of F, the...

Why is there a number/sharp sign in front of the G and D? It isn't being used as a sharp sign, because it is a g natural. Besides, if it was a sharp sign, it would be AFTER the G.

Slightly brushing the bridge is fine. Lightly touching the bass strings with the fleshy part below your thumb (unless you are playing those strings) helps mute those strings and keep them from...

I realized after I posted that it is "Stephan" Colbert, not "Steven".

This week, Steven Colbert (A Tonight Show) had Sturgill Simpson as his musical guest. He has a new album of bluegrass versions of his songs. I wasn't very impressed with Sturgill, but his band was...

The key of B (which is diatonic) cannot have a Bb, since you already use a B natural for the tonic. Phrygian dominant is not a diatonic scale, so does not follow the rule of not mixing sharps and...

This looks like it would dampen the vibrations just like your belly. How does it not mute the back of the instrument?

You can play any style of music on any type of mandolin. That said, there are certain tones that are generally thought of as more appropriate for certain styles. F-hole mandolins generally have more...

In the key of C, you will find Bb way more than Bb7.

You also find the secondary dominant, which is D or D7. Sometimes a string of secondary dominants: E - A - D - G - C, or E7 - A7 - D7 - G7 - C

Little Feat have a song on their Down on the Farm album called "Perfect Imperfection".