Guitar Noise

Welcome to the latest issue of Guitar Noise News.

In This Issue

• News and Announcements
• New Lessons and Articles
• Sunday Songwriters Sessions / Sunday Composers
• Reviews
• Thoughts and Feedback

News And Announcements

Greetings!

Welcome to Guitar Noise News!

Can you believe that tomorrow is the first of December? I swear that more and more my life resembles a couplet from Robbie Robertson’s What About Now:

Why do you want to save the best for last
We grow up so slowly and grow old so fast…

So, getting on with the “now,” let’s take a look at what’s new this week. We’re very fortunate to bring you two decidedly different song lessons, courtesy of two of our Forum members from Europe! So without further adieu:

New Lessons And Articles

The Birth Of A Chord Melody
by Graham Merry

Guitar Noise Forum Moderator Graham (you might be more familiar with his tag “Greybeard”) wrote me one day with a chord melody he’d created of “Auld Lang Syne.” When he went on to tell me it was the first time he’d tried something like this, I thought, “Great idea for an article” and he was kind enough to go through his whole process on paper. This is a great way for anyone to learn how to create his or her own chord melodies!

Love Is All Around
by Arjen Schippers

I don’t know how many Guitar Noise readers we have in Holland, but if they are all like Arjen (who goes by “Promedics” on the Forum pages), then I’d say we’re pretty well represented. He’s been kind enough to throw together a great song lesson on the REM cover version of this old classic.

Sunday Songwriters Group / Composers

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.

The Sunday Composers page is the newly created musical extension of the Sunday Songwriters Group. On this forum page the emphasis is on music writing rather than lyrics. Join us for exercises and discussion on the other half of “lyrics and music” on the Guitar Noise forums.

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

Sunday Songwriters Group – the Second Year!

Week 5

Fun with words this week! Write a song, any style, on any subject. What you want to do is to incorporate some unusual wordplay, such as “The New Clear War,” instead of “The Nuclear War.” Ideally, we’d like this in the title, but also make an effort to throw some in the verses…

You might want to check some of last year’s entries for more suggestions.

Good luck and good writing.

Reviews

Tim Callobre: The Beginning
This album contains 16 tracks. Six are played on the guitar and are covers of Villa-Lobos, Tarrega, Granado, Albéniz and Wyatt, while the 10 others are on piano and are all compositions.

Travis Nevels: Freestyle Guitar II
The album sure bears its title well, it is indeed Freestyle Guitar. Never overdone, not a show of technique and speed, but just good guitar, quite well played and, as I said before, good songs.

Thoughts and Feedback

I’m writing this very early on Wednesday morning (November 26th) and you may not know it, but I’m writing this is a state of euphoria. Actually, I’m in the state of Massachusetts. I decided to go and move a few things to the new house ahead of time and now I’m sitting here writing,

Instead of the usual cubicle walls that surround my computer at work, or the wood paneling of the little computer room in my basement in Chicago, I am looking out at mountainside of birch and pine trees. I can’t believe that this is going to be my home…

Which is why, I guess, I brought my twelve-string guitar along on this trip and intend to leave it here while I wrap things up in Chicago in December. To me, the twelve-string officially makes it home. I’ve sat around this morning playing, sometimes in earnest, sometimes just noodling.

Back in September of 1975, I arrived in Chicago not knowing anyone or anything about the place. I had come to go to college and, aside from some clothes, the only think I’d brought with me was my first guitar, also a twelve-string. That guitar helped make my first days at school a lot easier and I like to think it also helped me start a lot of friendships that I have to this day.

And now, some twenty-eight years later, another twelve-string and I are going to do it all over again. It’s funny, because part of me feels as apprehensive as I did back then when I was just eighteen.

But, when I think about it, I’ve also been doing this whole “start a new life” thing for a little over four years now with you, the readers of Guitar Noise. Every week, every day, I meet someone new and learn that the world is still a wonderfully interesting place.

Tomorrow, as I write, is Thanksgiving Day here in the United States. Like everyone, I’ve plenty to be thankful for. And as I write here among the trees and hills, I realize that everyday I have more to be thankful for.

When you read this on Sunday, I will be heading back to Chicago. But my twelve-string will be waiting for me here at home.

And I look forward to a lot of sharing with all of you. Next week, I’ll post the Winter Schedule of the Guitar Noise seminars and put out a few more ideas concerning them.

I hope you all have a grand week. Stay safe.

And, as always,

Peace

David