Rolling Stones..100 Greatest Guitar Songs..List

This always spawns debates from guitarist around the world!I just look at the list as a general reference for good guitar oriented songs,the choice is really a personal one,yours!I checked the list and some artist i was not even familiar with!But for the most part, i had heard the songs and knew them well,too well probably!You know the drill...had listened,then learned,then performed the song a ziilion times at performances!If the song was a "bullet" ,the bands would learn it before it got really high on the charts,in preparation for the "request" of it!Yea,you somewhat,get a disliking to the songs you played so so many times in the past!And along with the list,it has video and audio for each song,cool!Anyway...the number one is..............
...http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/20947527
Joe Perry said to Rolling Stone..."If you want to play rock & roll," Joe Perry told Rolling Stone in 2004, "you have to start here." Recorded 50 years ago, on January 6th, 1958, at the Chess Records studio in Chicago, Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" was the first great record about the joys and rewards of playing rock & roll guitar. It also has the single greatest rock & roll intro: a thrilling blast of high twang driven by Berry's spearing notes, followed by a rhythm part that translates a boogie-woogie piano riff for the guitar. "He could play the guitar just like a-ringing a bell," Berry sings in the first verse — a perfect description of his sound and the reverberations still running through every style of rock guitar, from the Beatles and the Stones on down. "It was beautiful, effortless, and his timing was perfection," Keith Richards has said of Berry's playing. "He is rhythm man supreme." Berry wrote often about rock & roll and why it's good for you — "Roll Over Beethoven" in 1956, "Rock and Roll Music" in '57 — but never better than in "Johnny B. Goode," a true story about how playing music on a guitar can change your life forever.

Quick Music Fact

Knowledge Is Power...

For The Curious...

..To hear complete songs,please go to my MySpace page and use the player there...http://www.myspace.com/gguitar

Killer Chops TV and Truth In Shredding

(left to right...James Brown,The Ventures,Franks Zappa,Allan Holdsworth)
Hi....and hope all have a safe and happy Memorial weekend.
I have come across a great site for shredders,along with some great,great vintage videos in a number of styles,including...

* Bands-Electronic
* Bands-Funk
* Bands-Heavy
* Bands-Jazz
* Bands-Other
* Bands-Rock
* Bass Players
* Drummers
* Funny
* Guitar Players
* Instructional
* Keyboard Players
* Zeuhl-Progressive

...yep,that's right...wow,great vintage videos for musicians!From James Brown to Parliament to Jimi Hendrix to Sly and The Family Stone to Allan Holdsworth!It is awesome to see some of the original guitars and tube amps!
And the Shredders site has some great video also...enjoy and again,Have A Safe and Great Memorial.
...Killer Chops Site/videos...http//www.killerchops.tv...
...Truth In Shredding Site... http//truthinshredding.blogspot.com

Quick Music Fact....Silence and the Place

Lots of the time,it is what you don't play that makes it,and the place in time when you do play it...

If you don't know what to play, don't play anything. - Miles Davis

The 2008 Ponderosa Stomp

This event included a lot of blues,r&b and more!All know New Orleans is the "melting pot" for music,it has it all!I wish i could have been there,looks like a lot of Strats there,that tells me a little about the environment...blues and soul.I have always been into the ol school' r&b.The songs have such a good feel to them and always great vocals,much can be said about a back beat!Included here are some great pics also,i really enjoyed them.

...For those unable to attend this year's Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans, New York City-based photographer Joseph A. Rosen presents a gallery of images from the two-night event (April 28 and 29) that took place at the Big Easy's House of Blues and featured a wide variety of roots, rock, R&B and other genre legends.
....thanks to Modern Guitars Magazine and thanks to Joseph A.Rosen for the incredible pictures...

Jazz Guitar Class With Pat Metheny

the...String Pikasso Guitar

Here are some videos of a Pat Metheny master class....

Quick Music Fact....Passion

When you become passionate about something(music and the guitar),it doesn't feel like practice anymore...

Smartstrip...An Active Power Strip

Just came across this power strip article over in Harmony Central.I am calling it an "active" power strip,because when an electrical device is left on but is not being used,it is still using power....right.Well,this power strip senses that and,i guess,kills the connection or circuit flow so...voila,no current usage,meaning a lower electric bill and more so,helping the environment!I know,myself,i am notorious for leaving my computer on after laying down to sleep,or leaving my practice amp on all the time!Along with that,my cell phone charger and the many outboard gear i may be using.So check out the Smartstrip...

...If you have devices that stay on 24/7, even when they’re not being used, you’re not only spending money needlessly, you’re asking coal-burning power plants to produce energy that just gets wasted. That’s so non-green. And though it may be just a drop in the bucket financially for you, if you factor the cost by the U.S. population, the results are staggering. So set a good example and get a “smart strip”—a power strip that senses when devices are not being used and shuts down the electrical path to them completely.This prevents phantom current from seeping through and draining your bank account penny by penny (all of which goes to the utility company, of course). Typical current-sucking culprits include computer and audio monitors, cell phone chargers, USB hubs, printers, external hard drives, and other computer peripherals. The smart strip uses master and slave outlets. For a computer, you’d plug your CPU into the master and the peripherals into the slaves. When the strip realizes your computer is not being used (either because it’s powered down or in sleep mode), it automatically cuts the juice to the peripherals in the slave outlets. For one solution, check out the Smart Strip from Bits Limited

A Martin D18 Restoration,With The Help Of An Espresso Machine

I somehow ended up on a web page,go figure,and it was illustrating how a luthiar was getting the neck disconnected from the body of a 70 year old Martin D18!So you know,the owner had gone through great measures to verify the luthiar's credentials!The luthiars name is Marty Lanham,of Nashville.But,anyway,through reading about the job,it mentioned his technique of disconnecting the neck from the body.On most acoustic guitars,the joints and framing are held together by glue/hyde glue.So he was showing and explaining how he softened the glue up enough to be able to do it.The device he used was an old espresso coffee maker!He directed the steam from the espresso maker into the guitar cavity,which in turn heated the glue and softened it up!I have worked on guitars for a while now,on and off,and can tell you,a lot of the tools used in repair work are created and not bought,Yes,you can buy them(Stewart McDonald),but they are very expensive,and sometimes you have to "create" a tool to do the job!Thought you might like to know,just in case you have a 70 year old Martin just laying around,with say a settled neck that needs to be re-angled for better action!haha....
.... Uncle Pete’s Old Guitar with Master Craftsman Marty Lanham- A Martin Restoration in Progress: Part2...http://www.bluegrassjournal.com/2008/05/12/uncle-pete%E2%80%99s-old-guitar-with-master-craftsman-marty-lanham-a-martin-restoration-in-progress-part2/

It's a Strat..It's A Tele..It's John Cruz 61' Stratocaster

The Kelly Blue Book Of Guitars...Giveaway

Win the Blue Book of Electric Guitars from Modern Guitars

A big thanks to Modern Guitars...

Modern Guitars has soft cover copies of Zachary R. Fjestad's Blue Book of Electric Guitars (11th Edition) to give away to three lucky readers on June 6, 2008. The new edition has over 1,100 pages of information on over 1,000 electric guitars, manufacturers, trademarks and luthiers, identified and described with hundreds of B&W images.
The Blue Book of Electric Guitars (11th Edition) includes updated values of vintage electric guitars to suit the most avid collector or buyer.....

....giveaway...http://www.modernguitars.com/archives/004375.html
***An update on The Kelly Bluebook For Guitars is posted on 08/30/08
http://guitaranswers.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-isthe-kelley-blue-book-of-guitars.html

For The Curious

..To hear complete songs,please go to my MySpace page and use the player there...http://www.myspace.com/gguitar

Neil Young....New Spider Man

It appears that a new species of spider has been discovered here,right in my own backyard..sorta :-).And it has been given the name "Neil Young"....hum.How about "Southern Spider",instead..haha!

Iconic singer and songwriter Neil Young has had an honor bestowed upon him that is not received by many musicians -- his own spider.

Fender Jazzmaster and Elvis Costello

Fender recently added another artist guitar to their never ending list.It is Elvis Costello and the Jazzmaster guitar,it's the one with the 2 big pick ups!A bit of an ugly guitar to me,the big pick ups,the large bridge plate,and....major tuning problems come along with this guitar because of the bridge design(lock that bridge down!)!I guess it's deserving for an Elvis Costello/Fender,he is popular and actually traded a new Tele for his first/used Jazzmaster(video below).But hey...Elvis,try not to team up with Burt Bacharach anymore,stick to what you do...r&r/reggae/?...sorta!!!In all honesty though he seems a rather nice and sincere guy.

....Fender announces a new Elvis Costello Signature Jazzmaster guitar, honoring one of the most recognized Jazzmaster players in music history. The iconic electric guitar, produced in Fender's manufacturing headquarter in Corona, Calif. is a detailed replica of Costello's original instrument...

"Quick Music Fact"....Heart of Quality Recording...the Soundcard

The sound card in your computer is the major component deserving to be of the highest quality,when recording from music software onto your hard drive.Having all the latest and greatest music software is at a loss when using a cheapy sound card.

Phish Honored At The Jammy Awards...and More

The Jammy Awards were able to bring together the members of Phish for the first time since they broke up four years ago .Not only was it the highlight, it was also the peak for the seventh annual Jammys, which celebrates the best in improvisational music.It's hard to deny the Phish reunion as the awards show's best moment, despite a history of unique performances that included acts ranging from String Cheese Incident and members of The Dead to John Mayer and Buddy Guy. As Anastasio came the podium to speak, the crowd at the Theater at Madison Square Garden went from roaring cheers to silence.The four men haven't been onstage together since their last performance in Coventry, Vt., in 2004, which wrapped up a farewell tour and a 20-year run for Phish. Since then, each has been working on individual projects.

...Something i did not know was the longevity of the Phish band,twenty years,a fair amount of time to be together as a unit and up under each others noses!From personal experience,that eventually takes its tole on a band.It takes precedence even over the "fringe benefits "of being in a band,ala,traveling,gaining new aquantances :-),all expense paid vacations(cruise gigs,foreign travel,gourmet meals) and more!Hum.... i'm wondering why i quit gigging out....haha!
And speaking of...Warren Haynes appearance.I highly recommend to the younger and to the experienced guitarist,to go out and acquire some of Warrens music.He is one of the newer,per- se,guitarist in the Allman Brothers Band.A great blues guitarist and singer,His playing is intense and right on,and his vocals fits his playing and the songs like a "glove",great songs,great playing and vocals....rare these days!!!
Also John Mayer...he is worth a listen also.Although i prefer his original style over his newer blues style.I liked his ideas better on harmony,song writing and his vocal style then,more so than the blues style he is playing now.
...O.K....this wraps it up for another personalized music post....

"Quick Music Fact"...Don't Waste Your Time...

Ah...another "Quick Music Fact"post ...i am beginning to like this idea!And feel free to comment and let me know how you feel about the new "Quick Music Fact" idea...o.k.
Don't waste your time going to some other music/musicians blogs whom are not even players and who simply copy and paste,all the time,articles off the net.Get it here from a real musician,who is out in the real world of music and who has real life experiences in that world!

Practicing Guitar....and More...Part 2

Most importantly,find a good teacher!It is unwise to learn wrong or pick up bad habits,only to learn later down the road,you have to re-learn the correct way,So,do yourself a big favor and ask around first,about a good instructor in your area,and then sign up for lessons!
Ready for some more practice tips,sure you are.In the last post we basically talked about,first,to tune your guitar,buy an electronic tuner,they are cheap and most,if not all,have a built in mic also,for acoustics and classicals.
O.k....i also mentioned the metronome.It is also a critical piece of equipment to buy.I suggest just a basic,run on batteries model,or a wind up one.One that is small,that would fit into your guitar bag or case.
Now,if you read,start off practicing the piece slowly,then graduating to the suggested tempo.And if you play by ear,well,maybe try finding an accurate tab of the piece.There are so many tabs around and so many that are not accurate!Maybe practice the tab and also listen to the original song and compare the tab to what you hear is being played,i know,ear training!And speaking of quickly,once you learn your basic chords and scales,along with more advanced ones,your ears will begin to hear these same chords or melodies in songs you like and want to learn......cool huh!It is just a matter of getting your ears familiar with the chords and scales you learned and then being aware,by listening to the song,that the song contains some of these chords or melodies.That is why even before attempting to learn a new piece or song,it is critical to listen,listen and listen.And once you have practiced enough chords and scales enough times and learned enough songs,you will be able to listen to a song and already know what is basically being played....cool again!So practice,practice and practice.And the reward is a great one...being able to play an instrument,to express yourself and share it with the world.
Now on trouble spots,back off on your speed and start playing from a distance before the trouble spot and play through and beyond it.Again accuracy of playing the piece holds precedence over speed!For you speed freaks i suggest always playing slowly and clean and building from there.First,play the piece correctly and then increase your speed!And,man,can you really hear your mistakes better,with a clean sound.(Back-n-tha-day,i would play along with the song,note for note and that would be the way i learned a song,one note/chord/phrase at a time and keep building until i tied all the pieces together)That was after i had been playing a while though.Oh,and another thing,when learning new material...ALWAYS learn the rhythm FIRST,then the melody!So many young guitarist ONLY want to solo,but guess what,the melody has to follow the chords!And besides,it's always more fun being on a team(the rhythm section),than soloing all the time!
With the practicing of scales,for speed,you have to begin learning about alternate picking.You can go but so fast when picking every note in the same direction!So to increase your speed, alternate between a down pick then an up pick.Play the scales first note with a down pick then the next note an up pick.Then after a few times start with an up pick then go down.You have to ,in a way,have the fingering of the scale memorized first,before attempting alternate picking(for me,in a song, i might play the first note,that is on the down beat. with a down pick,and if the first note is on the up beat,then i will start with an up pick...try it).The same applies with chords.And there are accents that can be applied also,to give the melody or chord a phrasing or character or uniqueness.And in addition to that,the way you play or attack the note,ala,slides and bends or pull-offs and hammer- ons!All these can be incorporated into a solo or melody,along with accenting the chord being played on a different strum or in a different space in time.This can also be applied to practicing.It is good practice to try these things once you get the basics down,this builds individuality or your own style to your playing!I suggest you pick a favorite player and really,really listen to that player and learn his or hers style,by learning all their songs,and along the way you will develop your own style,sounds crazy,but you will!Only through trial and error and experimenting will you create your own style.....through practicing.
....and don't burn yourself out just hammering away at scales or chord shapes all the time...learn to play songs,that is the joyful part of....practicing!
...enough said for now :-)

Quick Music Facts/Post

I am going to try something new and use it on occasions.I am calling it "Quick Music Fact".It will just be a short post consisting of only a sentence or two and will be a short music related fact...so...here is the first.
When originally recording blues guitarist ,the engineer would actually go to the players location and do the recording there!It was much easier than having the player "come to the city" to do the recording.

Practicing Guitar

Hello Again,
First....tune your guitar.....now
Ready to practice,sure you are!Ah...the art of practicing.Practice is very important,it develops your chops,helps you to use all those weapons you've aquired,limbers you up,builds speed,and instills confidence,along with new material or weapons.You should start off with some scales,playing them slowly then build your speed.A simple major scale will suffice,and stretch your fingers from the knuckles,other words,if you are doing a 4 to 5 fret stretch,try stretching from your knuckles to achieve that little extra,to be able to gain the distance required.And play the scale down at the lower end of the fretboard(3rd fret or 5th fret),by the nut or the headstock.The fret distance is greater there than say at frets eight and up!And along with the major scale try a minor or chromatic also,some variation(stretches different muscles)!You can start off with a simple down/up picking order,and remember slow!The slow speed helps to stretch the muscles,we are still getting loosened up!In addition,play some chords,to help you get loosened up.Play some open string chords along with some bar chords and for you more advanced players,play some minor and Major 9's,they really stretch your fingers/knuckles out!(Mickey Bakers Book One has some great basic jazz chords in his book...a must have)
Once you are limbered up,begin to increase your speed,But,as always,clean and accurate is the goal!Now let me inject this,use a clear sound, not a fuzzed out distorted tone!A metronome is a good practice tool to have and it allows you to see your progress.With each tick play a note,while slowly increasing the speed of the metronome to the point where you begin to lose control or can't play with it,then back off and start again.And,a drum machine could also be used,with the same affect and a little more entertaining!But,with the metronome you can hear if the note you are playing is right on with the metronome.We are talking about trying to be dead on with the metronome!
OK....this is part one on practicing the guitar,i will include another blog shortly,say in the next 2 to 4 days.So remember......SLOW,to start off with.