Joe Bonamassa announces new album, Breakthrough – listen to the title-track now
Is this a new direction for Bonamassa or an expansion of his style? Breakthrough drops on 18 July
Artists
Joe Bonamassa announces new album, Breakthrough – listen to the title-track now
Is this a new direction for Bonamassa or an expansion of his style? Breakthrough drops on 18 July
“This was 100% a communication from the beyond": Sammy Hagar claims he wrote a new song with Eddie Van Halen in a dream
And he’s got Joe Satriani playing on it
Steven Wilson on the challenges and opportunities of mixing Pink Floyd At Pompeii
Wilson was in conversation with former Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason at a special BFI IMAX screening of Adrian Maben's recently restored and rereleased concert movie
“91% believe dynamic pricing should be outlawed”: The Music Fans Voice survey has released its results
The survey gave UK music fans the chance to help change government policy. Here’s what you said
Pere Ubu founder David Thomas has died after “a long illness”
Last album and memoir will be released posthumously
Linkin Park reveal secret weapon behind their From Zero guitar tone
Do you even have a nü-metal 2.0 pedalboard if it doesn’t have a Ball Buster?
“Nope, it’s real”: Jack Black and Keanu Reeves both confirmed for upcoming Weezer movie
Rivers Cuomo announces it at their Coachella appearance
Music Tech
MusicRadar deals of the week: Score £900 off a Gibson Les Paul Standard, £350 off the Adam Jones Epiphone Les Paul Custom and hundreds off Fender, Squier and EVH
We've uncovered the very best offers on a range of music-making gear from the likes of Gibson, Fender, Epiphone, Squier, and more
The obscure Andean instrument heard on The Last of Us' soundtrack is the star of Spitfire Audio's latest plugin
Ronroco by Gustavo Santaolalla captures the haunting sound of HBO's post-apocalyptic video game adaptation
Arturia’s V Collection gets a Roland JP-8000 emulation and lo-fi synth/sampler, along with five more instruments and a host of updates
V Collection 11 also features MiniBrute V, Synthx V and a redesigned SEM V, along with two new instruments in the Augmented series
"I was like, 'Wow'": Porter Robinson only recently discovered that Coldplay used to sound a bit like Radiohead
“I found tons of forum debates from 2004 from people saying, you know Radiohead fans being like, ‘Coldplay's trash’”
Why is Serena Williams being bombarded with microphones fired from confetti cannons?
In purely literal terms, this might be the biggest mic drop ever
How Yves Jarvis recorded his whole album in Audacity, the free and open-source audio editor
“I’ve always used Audacity to arrange and sequence my work from tape, but this time, I didn’t even use any hardware,” he says
Waves makes 7 plugins available for free, including convolution reverb, FM synth and tube saturator
Snag Lil Tube, IR Live, V-EQ3, V-Comp, GTR Solo, Flow Motion and AudioTrack for no charge with free future updates
Best digital pianos for beginners 2025: 8 beginner-friendly pianos handpicked by a professional piano and music gear reviewer
An expert look at the very best beginner digital pianos on the market from the likes of Yamaha, Casio, Korg, and Roland - including full reviews and video demos
Cherry Audio's new synth is Yellowjacket, a recreation of EDP’s trend-setting Wasp from 1978
You didn’t have to be a genius to see it coming, and you don’t need much cash to climb on board
GAK is gone: UK music store giant GAK just got bought by Gear4music for £2.4 million
However, its famous bright yellow store in Brighton will be closing its doors
Guitars
Joe Bonamassa announces new album, Breakthrough – listen to the title-track now
Is this a new direction for Bonamassa or an expansion of his style? Breakthrough drops on 18 July
"The Rehearsal is compact, does its one job well, and is easy to navigate without needing instructions": Walrus Audio Canvas Rehearsal review
Want a silent practice solution that lets you use your whole 'board? Read on...
“The EP635 delivers the unmistakable high-gain aggression and clarity that Engl fans love”: Engl packs its iconic Fireball head into a compact dual-channel stompbox with onboard noise gate and IR support
You wait months for two high-gain classic tube amps to be reimagined in pedal form then along come two in the same week
Steven Wilson on the challenges and opportunities of mixing Pink Floyd At Pompeii
Wilson was in conversation with former Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason at a special BFI IMAX screening of Adrian Maben's recently restored and rereleased concert movie
MusicRadar deals of the week: Score £900 off a Gibson Les Paul Standard, £350 off the Adam Jones Epiphone Les Paul Custom and hundreds off Fender, Squier and EVH
We've uncovered the very best offers on a range of music-making gear from the likes of Gibson, Fender, Epiphone, Squier, and more
Exquisite stompboxes, built to last a lifetime, meet Red Witch’s new Apothecary Series
The Apothecary Series includes fuzz, overdrive, phaser, chorus/vibrato and modulated delay, and designer Ben Fulton says they're so durable they might outlast us all
"An unholy amount of features in a standard-sized compact pedal": Mooer Prime Minimax M2 Intelligent Pedal review
Mooer updates its compact Prime series to offer even more tones in just as small a package
Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
Learn the guitar style of the most expressive and accomplished playing The Beatle would ever commit to tape
How to play guitar like David Gilmour: Bluesy diads, slides, quarter-tone blues curls and more
Tackle the expressive phrasing and minor pentatonic tricks of one of rock's finest guitarists, David Gilmour
30 essential acoustic guitar chords, with charts
Massively expand your musical vocabulary and songwriting options with these beautiful acoustic guitar chords
"You owe your guitar the chance to be its best": How to clean and polish your guitar frets a better way
We take a look at two different products that can help you get your frets gleaming and your guitar back to its best for smoother bends and clearer vibrato
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
Key techniques guitar players can learn from the Led Zeppelin legend
How learning and understanding chord symbols can prove a major benefit for sharing your musical ideas
Chord hieroglyphics can take several forms. We unravel the mysteries of one of the most symbolic and common examples
What are the best online guitar lessons in 2025? I review guitar gear for a living and these are my favourite lessons platforms
My pick of the best online guitar courses will get your playing up to speed from the comfort of your own home, whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced player
Latest Tuition
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
Learn the guitar style of the most expressive and accomplished playing The Beatle would ever commit to tape
Technically capable, but struggle to make your tunes sound musical? 5 simple music theory hacks to make your tracks stand out
Level up your music-making with these simple but effective tricks that can be easily used by those with zero knowledge of music theory
Play mono synth properly: the skills you need
How playing mono synths differs from standard keyboards
Fantastic (free) plugins and how to use them: Newfangled Audio Pendulate
This free mono synth plugin is creative, chaotic and fun to use. It’s time to go West (Coast)
"You owe your guitar the chance to be its best": How to clean and polish your guitar frets a better way
We take a look at two different products that can help you get your frets gleaming and your guitar back to its best for smoother bends and clearer vibrato
“If you don’t have an idea, go mow the lawn": Follow Neil Young’s lead to demolish those frustrating songwriting barriers
It’s true, sometimes working relentlessly on perfecting a song or track that you’re just not feeling can do more harm than good
“It’s tougher and faster than ever”: Jump aboard the modern hardgroove train and learn to build a club-ready beat
Putting together the elements you need to craft a beat that just won't let up
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
Key techniques guitar players can learn from the Led Zeppelin legend
Don't know where to start with virtual instruments? We're here to help
In today's world of music production, pretty much everything you can dream of will have a virtual counterpart. Let's explore
How learning and understanding chord symbols can prove a major benefit for sharing your musical ideas
Chord hieroglyphics can take several forms. We unravel the mysteries of one of the most symbolic and common examples
UA is giving away its 1176 plugin as a Valentine's gift – here's how to get it and use it!
Forget flowers, chocolates or champagne – give your loved one a free vintage compressor plugin instead! Better still, just get it for yourself…
Are all interpretations of songs correct? Kate Bush certainly thinks so
It’s easy to get precious about the true meaning of our creative endeavours, but how much authority do songwriters really have to own the definitive reading of their work?
How Aphex Twin fought the temptation to continually refine, and how we can learn from his example
It’s easy to carry on fiddling with our tracks, but as Richard D. James knows all too well, that urge to keep going can prove a problem
“Maybe I’ll write out five or six chords, then discipline myself to write something only with those chords involved”: Why David Bowie’s restrictive songwriting strategies provide a lesson for us all
Sometimes imposing rules can force us out of our creative comfort zones. It's a tactic David Bowie used to birth some of his most celebrated songs.
“It’s a favourite with jazz and funk players, but it's just at home in hits by artists such as Jessie Ware”: Expand your chordal colours with 9ths
Building an extension to a chord doesn’t require planning permission, but it might require a degree of design. We add 9ths to our extension palette
“If you're listening to amazing gear through terrible monitors, you've wasted your cash”: Why monitors are the most important part of your studio
Don't know where to begin with buying and using studio monitor speakers? Listen up
“The net result of this process is a progression which sounds smoother, calmer and more musical”: The value of adding chord inversions
If your chord progressions sound a little clunky, try approaching your harmony in an inverse way.
How to connect your audio interface to your computer – for both PC and Mac users
My guide to hooking up your audio interface to a laptop or computer, step-by-step
Latest reviews
"The Rehearsal is compact, does its one job well, and is easy to navigate without needing instructions": Walrus Audio Canvas Rehearsal review
Want a silent practice solution that lets you use your whole 'board? Read on...
"An unholy amount of features in a standard-sized compact pedal": Mooer Prime Minimax M2 Intelligent Pedal review
Mooer updates its compact Prime series to offer even more tones in just as small a package
“It’s honestly got me thinking hard about adding one to my own studio set up”: Two Notes Reload II review
A reactive load box from Two Notes that makes the case for keeping your tube amp and forgetting about switching to a modeller
“Delivers streamlined DAW integration with an excellent hammer action keyboard”: Arturia Keylab 88 Mk3 review
Can this latest piano action controller keyboard justify its hefty price tag? Let’s find out
“A synthesizer that is both easy to use and fun to play whilst maintaining a decent degree of programming depth and flexibility”: PWM Mantis review
PWM’s Mantis reunites a classic synth design with its legendary designer and gives it a contemporary twist
“It shows enough promise to become the controller to rule them all”: Melbourne Instruments Roto-Control review
A very cool and compact MIDI controller that could well become your best desktop friend
“A great quality 12-string that won’t break the bank”: Martin D-X2E Brazilian 12-String review
Heavenly 12-string chime, Martin dreadnought clout and serious change from a grand? We’re listening...
“Do you dare to ditch those ‘normal’ beats in favour of hands-on tweaking and extreme sounds? Of course, you do”: Sonicware CyDrums review
As many beats and blips as you need, and as much sound-design depth as you dare to dive into
"I really like Equinox – it’s a shame it's priced for the post-production market”: iZotope Equinox review
iZotope spin Exponential Audio tech into a top end reverb – it's great, but you'll want to try to get it at a sale price
"Yamaha has achieved an extraordinary level of immersiveness and realism, crafting an instrument that sounds closer to an acoustic piano and feels like one under your fingers": Yamaha Clavinova CLP-885 digital piano review
Yamaha is the undisputed king of digital pianos, and the Clavinova range is the jewel in their crown