Diminished triads and 7th chords and the diminished scale are super useful. If you’re not sure what a diminished chord is, check the first video. Once you know what they are, move on to more advanced concepts and exercises with the following video.

Customizing a practice room for your instrument is key (pun intended). In addition to the suggestions below, there’s a link to a great article from Strings Magazine at the bottom. If you’re like me and can’t afford one of these ($5-15K) sound isolation booths, we do have some options. Read on. Cover windows. Windows convey…

This cracked me up.

Adrian Holovaty and friends doing some beautiful playing. Adrian co-created the wonderfully useful SoundSlice practice application, and spoke with me while I was researching practice for The Practice of Practice.

Warning: there are a couple eff-bombs in there.

A summary of Jon Acuff’s book, Finish.

In 2006 a high school English teacher asked students to write a famous author and ask for advice. Kurt Vonnegut was the only one to respond. Here’s his reply: “Dear Xavier High School, and Ms. Lockwood, and Messrs Perin, McFeely, Batten, Maurer and Congiusta:I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to…