Newsletter Vol. 3 # 26 – July 15, 2006

Greetings,

Welcome to Volume 3, Issue #26 of Guitar Noise News!

In This Issue:

  • News and Announcements
  • Guitar Noise Staff Picks
  • Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow
  • Buried Treasure Of The Internet
  • Event Horizon
  • Reviews
  • Off Site Sightings and Works In Progress
  • Random Thoughts

News And Announcements

Whether you’re in the middle of summer or the middle of winter, we warmly welcome you to the July 15, 2006 edition of Guitar Noise News.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that there’s a whole world out there beyond one’s computer screen. Sometimes, though, the physical world gets very physical, as witnessed by the various weather catastrophes and natural disasters of the past few years.

Dan Lasley, one of the “old guard” here at Guitar Noise, recently spent time in New Orleans’ Carrollton neighborhood, taking part in the restoration of two schools there. He and more than seventy other volunteers did a great job cleaning up the Johnson Elementary School and Priestly High School. You can find out more about his trip here.

And while not everyone may be able to give this much time and energy to assist in times of need, there is almost always something that can be done. You can often help others right in your own back yard, simply by being aware of the various efforts being made in your community. Even the “little things,” such as donations of non-perishable food or clothing or books to the proper charity can often make a difference to people in need.

I know that it’s more the norm to wait until the winter holidays to start talking about this sort of thing, but every day is a good day to be helpful.

Guitar Noise Staff Picks

When I moved from Chicago to Massachusetts, some two-and-a-half years ago now, I left much of my CD collection with my brother. We shared appreciation of many artists and I know that he listens to them more than I get the chance to do nowadays. But every now and then I get a hankering for a song or band or performer that I’ve not heard in a good while.

So I was very pleased that the last time I was in our local music shop to see Reintarnation, a compilation of songs from the first three albums of k. d. lang. It’s been a joy to rediscover her country past and also cool to hear the early seeds of the torch song direction she moved to shortly afterward. If you never heard her deceptively powerful voice, this is a great place to start.

Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow

The dom 7 sharp 9

Have you heard this sound before ?

|------|
|-6----|
|-5----|
|-4----|
|-5----|
|------|

You probably have if you’ve done any listening to rock or blues. It’s the dom 7 #9. Consider it a kind of sister chord to the dangerous dom 7 b9 we covered in recent issues. All “sister” means here is that this is another alteration to the natural nine of the dom 9 chord. The natural nine for the D7 chord is the note E.

Both flat nine (b9) and sharp nine (#9) are often found in the scales that we find the dom 7 #9 in. That does NOT mean we HAVE to put both b9 and #9 in the chord.

So what’s the big deal about the dom 7 #9? If you have a recording of Jimi Hendrix’s Purple Haze, have a listen to the intro. It’s a distinctive, pungent sound, which can work great for hardcore blues. Also, think of using it as a replacement for a simple minor chord:

Let’s try it in a wee little progression. First, try the progression without the dom 7 #9. Use your non-fretting fingers to grab the strings.

|-5-----------|------|------------|------------|
|-6-----------|-6-3--|------3--4--|-5--3--1----|
|-5--7--5--7--|-5-5--|-3--5-3-----|-3-----3----|
|-7--6--5-----|-7-4--|-3----3-----|-5-----2----|
|-8--8--7-----|-5----|------------|-3-----3----|
|----6--5-----|---4--|-3----3-----|------------|

Now play it with the dom 7#9

|-5-----------|------|------------|------------|
|-6-----------|-6-3--|------3--4--|-5--3--1----|
|-5--7--5--7--|-5-5--|-3--5-3-----|-3-----3----|
|-7--6--5-----|-4-4--|-3----3-----|-5-----2----|
|-8--8--7-----|-5----|------------|-3-----3----|
|----6--5-----|---4--|-3----3-----|------------|

The only change here is in the second measure. Pretty subtle. Maybe as a listener you wouldn’t notice the change, but you might feel something. As a player, though, you can hear a real change.

We’ll close out with another pattern dom 7 #9 pattern. It’s the one we just covered, but bumped up to put the melody note on string 1.

|-6----|
|-6----|
|-4----|
|-5----|
|------|
|------|

Thanks for reading.

Darrin Koltow

Buried Treasure Of The Internet

I know I must have mentioned this at some point this past year, but it certainly bears repeating. We’ve a lot of talented musicians and songwriters among the membership of Guitar Noise. Thanks to many Internet sites such as soundclick and myspace, you can check out music created by your fellow GN associates. A great place to start is Ken “Smokindog” Jarvis’ page dedicated to collaborations and “online jams” that’s he’s put together with other GN Forum members.

This really demonstrates the positive aspects of the online world. Be sure to take a look at the offerings constantly being put online by checking in on the “Hear Here” page of the Forums as well.

Event Horizon

Hap Hazard, band of Guitar Noise forum member Bish, seems to be playing everywhere in the Quad Cities area these days. They’ll be at the Rock Island County Fair on July 18 and at the Bettendorf (Iowa) JC’s on July 22. On August 1 and 3, they’ll be performing at the Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport, Iowa.

Dennis Corbind recently (or fairly recently) joined the band Late Calling, which sharing the bill with BooN Band and B.C. on Friday, July 21st at Stage 83, located at 10900 Archer Ave in Lemont, IL (phone: 630-257-9800). The music starts at 9 PM and for more info, go to Stage 83’s website.

The David Ray Band with Bob Bartlett plays every Wednesday at the Rustler’s SteakHouse in Porterville, CA from 6:00-9:30 outside on the deck during the summer.

And I’m pleased to announce that GN’s Vic Lewis will be taking part in the Newton Music Festival on the weekend of July 21, 22 and 23. It’s at Mesnes Park in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside. Check out the following site for details.

Finally, here’s an “early warning head’s up notice” that GN Forum member “millard” and his band, The Marsh Mellow Stone Band, will be playing at The Blue Cafe in Long Beach, California at 11PM on August 2 and at diPiazzas in Long Beach, California from 7PM-9PM on August 15. They do originals and some covers of late 60s/early 70s songs, sticking to the sort of cosmic and groovy side of things.

If you’re in the neighborhood of any of these shows, drop in and meet some of the people you’ve been chatting with online. And be sure to say that I say hello!

Reviews

Jordan Rudess: Prime Cuts
CD Review by Jimmy Caterine

Another wonderful compilation from Magna Carta’s “Prime Cuts” series – this CD spotlights the talent of keyboardist Jordan Rudess, known to many for his groundbreaking work with Dream Theater.

Off Site Sightings And Works In Progress

The “Fall 2006” issue of Play Guitar! Magazine hits the newsstands this week and you’ll find lessons by Tom Serb (Solo Flight – a step-by-step guide to get you started creating your own solos) and myself (Raise The Barre – a beginner’s tutorial on barre chords) among the many cool articles in this quarterly magazine. If you can’t find it at your local bookstore or music shop, visit their website and read the lessons online at Play Guitar Magazine.

As always, we truly appreciate your support of Guitar Noise staff in their “outside” writing ventures.

Random Thoughts

This issue of Guitar Noise News is a little on the short side – a mini-midsummer break, if you will. But next time out we’ll have a bushel of lessons and articles, emails and reviews for you. Plus some evidence that hard work does occasionally produce something besides sweat.

So until we chat again in a little over two weeks, stay safe and play well.

And, as always,

Peace