It is the Sound that matters…
So many guitarists work on technique these days, and I am no exception. I mean, the mechanics of playing- flying up and down the fretboard at faster and faster speeds. It is a young (mostly male) thing, no different than the runner trying to be the fastest or the weightlifter going with a few more …
Looping Devices I Use
Many loopers available allow you to switch between loops, so you can make an entire song over pre-recorded verse/chorus patterns.
This isn’t the way I use loops though. While this idea might be fine for a 1 man band situation, or rehearsing ideas, it is the live manipulation of the loop which starts the creative process …
Fools Folly
This is an instrumental band I started several years ago, with a focus on improvisation. It was important to me that the improvisation not be based on blues or jazz, or on repeated chord progressions, like in a jam band. I wanted this to be different- with the focus on dynamics and intensity as well …
Generative Music Apps
I love Brian Eno’s concept of Generative Music. Music that repeats, but never the same way. In other words, we set it in motion and it randomly generates. It usually focuses on a few keys, but it is something I can listen to hours. It is kind of like looping, but the patterns never repeat …
Guitar Apps for Ipod/Iphone
For purely guitar-based apps on my iPod Touch, I use just a few.
Gibson’s Learn & Master Guitar
This includes a very accurate tuner and metronome, and it is free (a bonus for us muscians). The tuner is accurate to 100/cent, and the metronome has a tap tempo feature, which is really nice. I haven’t used the …
Some children make better students
It still amazes me about some parents who bring their children to lessons, that they haven’t fostered any type of appreciation for music themselves much less with their children. The children of these types of parents do not even know what a guitar sounds like, much less what it is capable of, or the rich …
Guitar Lessons
Embarking on a lifetime with music isn’t for everyone. It takes discipline. It means realizing you will never be satisfied where you are, and more concerned with where you aren’t. It means making time for practice and creativity in our busy lives.
And it is a lot of fun.
Guitar players have it easy. It isn’t like …
Not Every Student Learns the Same
Sometimes tried and true methods don’t work. Trying different approaches with students is a thing I like to do a lot. Sometimes you just have to find another way. Maybe someone learns differently. Maybe someone is too young to read, or too old to move their hands as precisely as they once could. Or maybe …
My Origins with Looping
Looping is just the repetition of small bits of sound, somehow manipulating that sound and then playing live music over top. The original version used magnetic tape actually taped together to form a loop. These days, it is done digitally, with loopers able to record up to several hours of material.
I originally got into looping …
