Newsletter Vol. 3 # 110 – March 15, 2010
Greetings,
Welcome to Volume 3, Issue #110 of Guitar Noise News!
In This Issue:
- Greetings, News and Announcements
- Topic of the Month
- Guitar Noise Featured Artist
- Exploring Guitar with Darrin Koltow
- Event Horizon
Emails? We Get Emails! - Random Thoughts
Greetings, News and Announcements
Hello and welcome to the March 15 issue of Guitar Noise News. This issue has to be a bit short and my apologies in advance for that. For whatever reason every deadline in the universe seems to be today, so I’m trying to finish up everything at the same time which means, of course, that nothing is getting completed.
Actually, quite a lot is getting done. As you read last time, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Rock Guitar” is now out in bookstores and online booksellers everywhere. And we’re celebrating the release by giving away fifteen copies of it between now and the end of May – five copies each month.
To enter this contest, you need to send me an email with the following information:
- your name
- your email address
- your mailing address (and it doesn’t matter where in the world you are)
- the title of your favorite article at Guitar Noise
- the name of your favorite rock guitarist
Please send only one email per person to me at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and put “CIG ROCK GUITAR” in the subject line.
Winners will be announced here and on the Forum pages on April 1, May 1 and June 1. The best of luck to you all!
And we’re not simply content to just have one contest – even as I’m putting on the finishing touches of the all new “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Guitar,” which will be out this fall (figure late October or November), we’re having a giveaway for this book, too, even though it’s not totally written yet!
We’re calling it “Complete Idiot’s Rock in the Free World,” and here’s how it works:
If you do buy a copy of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Rock Guitar,” take a picture of yourself with it someplace. You don’t have to have the Eiffel Tower or Mount Rushmore in the background, but be creative. Paul and I will select two photos a month, starting in August and running through all of 2011 and will send an autographed copy of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Guitar” to those whose pictures we select.
So please send your photos to me at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and be sure to include an email address where you can be reached, as well as a mailing address. And please put “Picture Book” in the subject line of the email. We’re looking forward to seeing where in the world the books end up! Best of luck to you on both contests!
Topic of the Month
With Saint Patrick’s Day two days away, we’re already getting into the mood by having our Guitar Noise topic of the month be “Celtic Music.” When you visit the home page, you’ll find a link to the Guitar Noise articles and lessons on Celtic music, including some great song lessons from Doug Sparling as well as an interesting Celtic arrangement of a Lynyrd Skynyrd song! Plus we’re due for a few new song lessons featuring some traditional tunes from the Emerald Isle in the upcoming weeks.
Guitar Noise Featured Artist
Even Gordon Sumner’s mother and kids call him “Sting” so I guess we will, too! Especially since he’s the Guitar Noise Featured Artist for the month of March, 2010! You can the bio about this Rock Hall of Fame and Songwriter’s Hall of Fame artist over at the Guitar Noise Artist Profiles page.
Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow
Tip for March 15 – Practicing Modes (Part 26)
Staying in one place is a sure sign of stagnation, both in life and making music. We’ve stayed in one place, fret V, as we worked through exercises for C phrygian. Now it’s time to move to different frets, starting with this three-note distillation of C phrygian, played in a run that spans most of the fretboard’s possible positions.
|-----------------|----12--------------|----------| |---------------8-|-11----11-8---------|----------| |-------------9---|------------9-------|----------| |---------5-8-----|--------------8-5---|----------| |-------7---------|------------------7-|----------| |-0-3-6-----------|--------------------|-6-3-0----|
Thanks for reading.
Copyright 2010 Darrin Koltow
In case you’ve never visited Maximum Musician, hurry on over to Darrin’s website. You can find it at and you can also read his past contributions to Guitar Noise here. And you can also read some of Darrin’s past Guitar Noise News posts over at the Guitar Noise Blog.
Event Horizon
Just as it’s important to support each other when it comes to CDs, it’s also important (probably more so) to support live music. Sometimes it’s about being there. Literally. As musicians, it’s always good to support each other simply by being at a gig if it’s at all possible.
One thing we at Guitar Noise would really like to do is to help promote your shows, whether it’s in a stadium or at a ten-seat coffee house. Not only is it a great way to help support each other, it’s also a terrific way to meet more musicians!
So please feel free to write me if you’ve got some gigs coming up. Remember that Guitar Noise News is sent out on the first and fifteenth of each month. Usually I will have it ready to be sent out a few days ahead of time, so plan accordingly. For instance, if you’ve got something coming up in the last two weeks of January (that is, after the fifteenth), then let me know by the tenth or the twelfth. If you’ve already got a show in August, 2010, let me know, too! It’s never too early to plan for things!
Maybe you’ll get to meet some of your Guitar Noise friends at upcoming holiday shows!
Send your gig dates to me at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and try to put “gig alert” in the subject header.
If you’re in the Cincinnati area, do your best to try to catch Joe Hempel, who’ll be playing his first show ever (in support of his first CD, no less!). He’ll be at the Borders Book Store at 5873 Deerfield Boulevard in Mason Ohio (phone – (513) 770-0440) on Saturday March 27th at 8 PM. If you can, stop by and say hello from me!
And if you can’t make the show, do check out his CD, which you can pick up on CD Baby (http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/hempel)
Emails? We Get Emails!
Although sometimes, they can be about all sorts of thing -
Hi David
Where’s Charley? When’s he coming back to do a newsletter?
Charley has been taking it easy most of the winter but I’m sure he might be persuaded to step in and write up an issue or two of Guitar Noise News. I think he was only kidding when he mentioned putting together a Facebook page called “If Charley gets 10,000 fans, he’ll take over writing Guitar Noise News forever…”
Random Thoughts
Much as I hate to do so, I’ve really got to put together some other stuff for the time being. But it’s all done this week except the recording and that’s getting done next week. It will be nice to sit back and relax a bit.
Until our next newsletter, play well and play often.
And, as always…
Peace
