Vacation........Yes....

............will be back in a couple of weeks.....Greg :-)

For The Curious

Experience Music Forte's Gold Plan - RISK FREE!

Are you looking for a site to promote your music and yourself?MusicForte is now offerng a "free" membership to their "Gold" plan.The site is very friendly,well organized and Greg,the owner,is a veteran musician himself.They also offer a "Japan" plan,one that personally promotes your music in Japan...jazz!In addition the site offers others ways of promotion,through Mp3 downloads of your music,cd/album digital downloads and more.So check them out.The free offer is quite a good deal,coming from a very reputable indie site....
My page at Music Forte... http://www.musicforte.com/member/G
Have you been thinking about Music Forte's Gold Plan service, and wondering if it really works? If so, you're gonna LOVE this offer!

Jazz Great Oscar Peterson Dies at 82

TORONTO... Oscar Peterson, whose speedy fingers, propulsive swing and melodic inventiveness made him one of the world's best known and influential jazz pianists, has died. He was 82......http://www.ejazznews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=8949&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0
Personal websites...
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/4/2/index-e.html
http://oscarpeterson.com/news/

Most Hilarious Guitar Design Ever

Hilarious but not much to play with...2 strings only....humm.

Here's Stig Pedersen from Denmark's D-A-D (formerly known as Disneyland After Dark but don't let the Walt Disney Corporation hear you calling them that else their lawyer-dialling fingers get twitchy) wielding another one of his barking mad two-string basses.

8-year-old plays Stairway to Heaven Solo Outro

Check this little guy out,playing the solo to Stairway To Heaven!Wow...kids today have so many resources for learning to play,so...they are getting so much better,so much younger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuSihWz7LlQ&feature=related

Live Music Webcasting Starts Making Sense in 2008

Finally,some solutions to music webcasting.This is another hit on the big boys,first audio and now video...read on. A victory for the small guy though.
With ticket receipts soaring and online music more popular than ever, why is live concert webcasting -- which sits squarely at the intersection of these trends -- still lagging?
After showing early promise at the turn of the millennium, webcasters' path to success was slowed by three major roadblocks having to do with technology, audience and record labels.
The good news for music fans is that all three will likely give way in 2008.
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2007/12/listeningpost_1224
and...this is a beginning...http://www.synclive.com/

Works Of Art On A Strat...

Here are some cool hand painted Strats....check it out...
...her site.. http://www.pamelina.com/pamelina_001.htm

.....and more at.... http://www.modernguitars.com/pamelina/archives/2007/05/a_psychedelic_hello.html

Santa Fe Fat City Horns Recruited By Bette

The top notch horn section of Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns has been recruited by Bette Midler, and will be part of her orchestra when the legendary performer makes her debut at Caesar's Palace in 2008, replacing Celine Deon. The horn section is already in New York for rehearsals, but fear not for vacancy in the Santa Fe funk band. The second line of horns are just as fabulous and talented, and have kept the stature of the band in the "A" level of musicianship.
article page...
http://www.smoothvibes.com/movabletype/archives/000961.html
Santa Fe Fat City Horns site...
http://www.santafeandthefatcityhorns.com/

Singer Dan Fogelberg, 56, Dies of Cancer

Singer Dan Fogelberg, 56, Dies of Cancer
Dan Fogelberg, the singer and songwriter whose hits "Leader of the Band" and "Same Old Lang Syne" helped define the soft-rock era, died Sunday at his home in Maine after battling prostate cancer. He was 56.
http://www.mail.com/Article.aspx?articlepath=APNews/General%20Entertainment/20071217/Obit_Fogelberg_20071217.xml&cat=entertainment&subcat=&pageid=1

Dan Folgelberg site.. http://www.danfogelberg.com/

For The Curious

Study: Free Beats Fee for Radiohead's 'In Rainbows'

Of those who downloaded Radiohead's digital album, In Rainbows last month, about 62 percent walked away with the music without paying a cent, reported ComScore, an Internet research company.

This study is really sorta scary for all the signed musicians and bands out there and to say the least the record companies! Humm.............read on......

About 17 percent plunked down between a penny and $4, far below the $12 and $15 retail price of a CD. The next largest group (12 percent) was willing to pay between $8 and $12--the cost of most albums at Apple's iTunes is $9.99. They were followed by the 6 percent who paid between $4.01 and $8 and 4 percent coughed up between $12 and $20...
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9811013-7.html

The Ventures,Madonna, Mellencamp Newest to Rock Hall

The Ventures...want to learn surf guitar,listen to The Ventures...

CLEVELAND - The Material Girl is about to become a Hall of Famer.
The ever-evolving Madonna was announced as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee on Thursday along with John Mellencamp, The Ventures, Leonard Cohen and The Dave Clark Five.

Gibson "Robot" Guitar sells Out

Just an update on the Gibson "Robot" guitar.If you want more info on it,go below and read my earlier post,or click the link below.
The 'world's first guitar with robotic technology' went on sale in stores last Friday, December 7, 2007. Gibson unveiled the First Run Limited Edition Robot Guitar at select dealers (with only 10 Robot Guitars available per location), many selling out on the first day. A standard edition Robot will be available in 2008.
http://www.gibson.com/robotguitar/

The eStrap

Hi All,
I was just reading an article on a device/controller, for guitar that allows you to control effects like wah-wah,phase,chorus,delay and more.It,as the name implies,it clips to your strap.With movement you can control the ,say,amount of phase mix or say pan a chord from left to right.And all this can be done while moving around on stage...cooolll!I have always been at the mercy of the floor pedal!Think about it...to be able to leave your pedal and walk around the stage but have the wah wah effect still available to use,or any other effect!That is tremendous freedom for the guitarist.I see it as when the keyboard controller first came out.The keyboardist was free...free to go anywhere he liked while playing!Here is addtional info and a link...i'm going out and buy mine now!

Conceived by innovative guitar designer Ned Steinberger, the eStrapâ„¢ uses a tension sensor on the strap to control effects like wah, distortion, flange, pitch and volume. No longer tied to a cumbersome foot pedal, the guitarist is free to roam the stage and control his effects with intuitive movement, enhancing the musical experience for the player and audience alike.
Imagine playing a phase shifter that changes depth with chording motion. Imagine playing the final note of a solo, and having a delay sweep in to repeat it. Imagine playing chords with a flange effect only on beat three of every measure. The eStrap makes this possible and playable, without foot pedals.

The eStrap includes the guitar strap with integrated sensor and wireless transmitter, and a small receiver unit with classic wah circuitry built in. The expression pedal control jack can be used to control external effects, giving the eStrap unlimited access to the latest signal processing technology. Available from Atlantic Quality Design, the eStrap is priced at $280.00.

http://news.harmony-central.com/Newp/2007/Atlantic-Quality-Product-

Music Pioneer Ike Turner Dies at 76

It's unfortunate to hear about the death of Ike Turner.His song "Proud Mary" was one of the first songs i ever worked up on guitar.And his ex-wife,Tina Turner,turned his songs into a "in your face show time" performance,which i am sure Ike had a lot to do with her entertaining abilities...

Turner, Ike - Rock-and-Roll Hall of Famer...
Like many rock 'n' roll pioneers, Ike Turner wasn't a saint. But his many musical accomplishments deserve to outlive the memory of his character flaws.
Turner, who died Wednesday at 76 at his home in San Marcos, Calif., of unknown causes, had a recording career of more than a half-century that reached back to the dawn of rock 'n' roll. In fact, a 1951 record by the guitarist and bandleader, Rocket 88 (sung by and credited to Turner's saxophonist Jackie Brenston), is often earmarked as the first fusion of R&B and blues that could be termed rock.

In the late '50s, Turner led a band, the Kings of Rhythm, in St. Louis and hired Anna Mae Bullock as a singer. She became Tina Turner in name and wedlock, and their records from 1960 through the mid-'70s include countless classics that demonstrate Tina's awe-inspiring lung power and Ike's dry wit. A Fool in Love, It's Gonna Work Out Fine, Bold Soul Sister and Nutbush City Limits endure in R&B history, while their recasting of John Fogerty's Proud Mary became the definitive version.

Ike wrote many of their records, produced the bulk of them, and led the legendary Ike & Tina Turner Revue (including a rotating cast of backing singers known as The Ikettes), one of the top R&B touring aggregations of the '60s. They crisscrossed the country and eventually opened for the Rolling Stones on the British band's 1969 tour.
Thanks to Brian Austin Whitney for the above article
http://www.jpfolks.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=567153&page=0#Post567153

Practicing and Memorizing Tunes..Listen,Listen First

I recently came across this article on practicing and memorizing tunes..I feel it has a lot to say on the subject of learning a song and also suggest more than one way to approach learning songs.And,to me,the most important thing mentioned is...listen,listen and listen FIRST,before attempting to learn a song!So many newer students do not realize the importance of listening first before attempting to learn a tune.The highlights of this article are...(1)Listen a lot first (2)Listen to several versions of the tune (3)From the melody,get the chord changes (4)Play the song in different ways(melody only,chord only,solo style/chord melody) (5)Play song in different keys....Listen first,then play...Greg

Practicing and Memorizing Tunes (July 4, 2005)
Every guitar student I coach is encouraged to memorize a handful of standard tunes. I've found that most students will first go to a fakebook in attempting to learn a new tune. I'd like to suggest a more natural approach that makes memorizing tunes easier, is more thorough, and great fun at the same time.

Find as many quality recorded versions of the new tune you want to learn and put them on your Ipod, audiotape, etc. Listen as you go about your daily routine. Music services such as Rhapsody and Itunes are perfect for getting a hold of multiple versions of the song. Make sure that there are at least a couple of vocal versions of the tune and listen to those first so the lyrics can become embedded in your mind. The melody and the form of the tune will become familiar upon repeated listenings as well as common tempos and feels, arrangements etc. When Kenny Burrell first began to play, he seldom ever saw the sheet music to a standard. He heard the tunes on the radio repeatedly so that he could pick up his guitar and play the melody by ear away from the radio. Then he'd take his best guess at the chord changes. Most of the time he got it right but sometimes he made up his own changes that worked just as well. Some find this exercise easier than others but the more one can rely on their own ear and instincts the better. For a primer I recommend picking out simple tunes like children's songs since the melody is deeply ingrained. Try harmonizing the song in different ways.

Now it's time to sit with the guitar and sing the melody of the standard tune and find it on the fretboard. Then attempt to discern the chord changes. Sing the melody and try different chords with it or play it chord/melody style where the melody is the top note of the chord. Chances are you will be in a different key than the tune is usually played in. Other times you will be pleasantly surprised that you are in the standard key perhaps hearing it there naturally. Now open your fakebook and see how you did. I often consult more than one book in order to see what some common substitutions are for the tune and compare the written melody to what I've heard on the recordings. Often the student will transcribe their favorite version matching the phrasing and harmonies, which is a great practice.

It's a good idea to practice playing the tune in several ways: Melody only, chords only, simple block style chord/melody, and half note bass underneath the melody. Often in the course of a lesson I realize that the student cannot play the melody on its own having memorized a chord/ melody version. It's a good idea to be open to different ways of harmonizing the melody. Playing half note bass below a syncopated melody is crucial in understanding harmony and in developing the necessary independence needed to play solo guitar. Practice soloing over a pre-recorded rhythm track or to a metronome. Make sure that your initial solos are based closely on the melody. Paraphrasing the melody is a very useful skill and pre-dates the practice of soloing over the chord changes alone, typical of the bebop period.

Howard Alden suggests transposing the tune up or down a 4th or 5th in anticipation of playing it with a female vocalist. So if the tune is in the key of F try it also in Bb and C, common for vocalists. Get together with another musician weekly if possible and play these tunes from memory and transpose them! Another important concept I practice and teach is to play shell voicings, 3rds and 7ths, below the melody. Maintain a steady "four on the floor" rhythm with the shells like Freddie Greene or Errol Garner while you are playing the melody. Lenny Breau was the first guitarist to become famous for this technique. It requires a lot of hard work but as Lenny would tell you "through discipline comes freedom." Try more rhythmic comping beneath your melody and you will have created a nice, light yet full, texture by yourself or with a bassist by your side.

I find that approaching tunes in this manner develops many necessary skills and is a thorough, fun way to practice. Learning tunes can be of great assistance in learning composition so seek out the tunes that interest you the most as well as the ones that will keep you employed. Sometimes they go hand in hand! I've compiled a list of must-know standards that I'd be happy to send out to you as a Word document. Enjoy the summer and your practice time!

Steve Herberman
steve@reachmusicjazz.com

Suggested Readings For More Music Weapons

I have a few books that i feel should be required reading for every guitarist.Just like listening,music theory and song learning are all must do's to become an accomplished musician and master at your instrument,i also include reading on the list.I call all these my music weapons!Yes,you have to have an arsenal of weapons to become an accomplished player,and reading is one of them.
Three books come to mind,and they are...(1)"Mickey Baker"/Jazz books One and Two,(2)"Scales and Modes In The Beginning" and (3)"Chord Chemistry".
The Mickey Baker book 1 is a must have for beginning jazzers.It includes all the basic jazz chords,and more,needed to get you started in playing jazz on guitar.And also included are some basic scales needed to improvise over the chords.Book 2 of Mickey Baker is a continuation of book 1,just more detailed with additional chords and sca;es.At least get Book 1 and memorize it!The second book,"Chords and Scales In The Beginning",is a great book for scale and modes knowledge.And in addition,it will tell you what mode/scale will fit with a paricular chord progression.To me,it is the book to read and memorize for scales and modes and how they fit with chords and chord progressions,a great book...get it!!!This book is a music style neutral,the material can be applied to ALL styles of music.And the 3rd book is Ted Green's,"Chord Chemistry",it is one of the most comprehensive books on guitar chords and their voicings and positions on the neck,i have ever come across.Chord knowledge is a must,so get this book!
So many newer players lack knowledge of chords and chord progressions....humm.All want to be soloist!!!But guess what...FIRST and FIRST...you have to know what the chord progression/chord is!!!REMEMBER...the CHORD/CHORD PROGRESSION dictates what the melody or solo player CAN and CAN NOT play...peroid!!!
Also the "Berklee School Of Music" guitar books are great.
So,go and purchase these books and begin building your arsenal of music weapons.
Peace!...Greg

A Bug

Hi To All...sorry for no recent post,i have had a common bug/sick.Anyway,i am better now so lets get blogging!