Guitar Noise

Welcome to the latest issue of Guitar Noise News.

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In This Issue

• News and Announcements
• New Lessons and Articles
• Sunday Songwriters Sessions
• Guitar Tip
• Hot Forum Topic
• Thoughts and Feedback

News And Announcements

Greetings!

Welcome to Guitar Noise News!

It’s been a bit hectic this week. A lot of what I spent my time on, as well as a lot of what Paul worked on, will be making its way onto the Guitar Noise site starting next month. But I’m sure you’d rather read about this week…

New Lessons And Articles

While I’ve been swamped with work this week, I found that some of our Guitar Noise staffers have actually been talking with people! Perhaps we should call this the “week of the interview!” Here’s what’s new on the site since we chatted last Sunday:

A Conversation With Karl Groom
by A-J Charron

A-J managed to have a lengthy phone conversation with Threshold’s guitarist Karl Groom, and I think you’ll agree that it’s an incredibly interesting one.

A Few Words With Molly Pitcher
by Nick Torres

Meanwhile, Nick was talking in person with the musical duet Molly Pitcher, discussing the joys and frustrations of songwriting. Here’s the interview he had with them.

Sunday Songwriters Group

The Sunday Songwriters Group is a Guitar Noise exclusive. Conceived by Ryan Spencer and Nick Torres, the idea is to give songwriters a weekly exercise in order to help develop their lyric-writing skills.

It’s open to everyone. Got an itch to write? Jump on in! Even if you don’t write, you should feel free to critique. After all, you probably have experience listening to songs, no?

For more info, visit the SSG FAQ.

And now that you all know what’s going on…

SSG – Week 19

We’re going to take one last foray into the “music” aspect of the song this week, but, as you’ll see, things may be unresolved! What we’d like you to do is to incorporate a change of key into your song. You can use an old song of your own or come up with a whole new song (words and music) or simply just create the music for a new one.

There are all sorts of possibilities:

The “abrupt” approach – simply changing keys at a particular point, usually indicates dramatic change of intensity in last verse (think the Who and countless others)

The “abrupt and return” – same as the abrupt but then reverting back to the initial key (think Springsteen)

The “seamless” – where the listener isn’t necessarily aware that you have changed keys because you’ve used “pivot chords” and created good modulations.

For examples of these (and more) check out the Guitar Column, Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.

Have fun and, as Nick says, write well!

Guitar Tip

Dan Lasley found this great tip from Ken Juniper, who originally posted it on ActiveBass.com – it’s a great idea for those of you who are trying to learn the notes on the fretboard:

I have found a “half-way” point between the two as I struggle to learn to read notation. As I work out a new song or assignment, instead of writing “7″ on the bottom line I write “B” (as an example). This makes me think in terms of notes instead of strictly position. The consequence is I have learned the fretboard much faster and am “thinking” notes instead of just position. This has also me helped learn the scales and arpeggios faster. Try it and see if it works for you.

Hot Forum Topic

Beginners’ Q&A Forum

The countdown to one thousand registered users continues. This week I’d like to highlight the contribution of recent forum resident “Greybeard.” His post is called “For anyone as stupid as I am…” which is actually a link to a chart he’s created on chord formation. It’s truly a work of art and a must for anyone struggling with the concept.

Come and check it out for yourself on the Guitar Noise forums.

Thoughts and Feedback

It’s a crazy world out there. And I know you don’t need me to tell you that. I don’t want to get even more sentimental than I normally am, but sometimes it’s hard not to.

Here in Chicago, the week started out with news of a “stampede” in one of the city’s dance clubs. I just read this (Friday) morning of the rock show fire in Rhode Island. And Paul, living in Beijing, can tell you of more harrowing incidents from his corner of the world.

Every day on our forum pages, and through the emails I receive, I am reminded of how much of the world I am privileged to be a part of. People from almost everywhere, with all sorts of musical leanings, come together and share of themselves, their experiences and their dreams. I guess I just forget from time to time about the other realities of life. And, as I said, it’s a crazy world out there.

Anyways, I’d just like to wish you all a safe week and that I look forward to chatting with all of you next week. I look forward to hearing from you.

As always,

Peace

David