Guitar Noise

Greetings,

Welcome to Volume 3, Issue #30 of Guitar Noise News!

In This Issue:

• News and Announcements
• New Articles and Lessons
• Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow
• Event Horizon
• Reviews
• International Songwriting Contest
• Random Thoughts

News And Announcements

First off, this will be a fairly brief newsletter, as I know that Paul is going to be sending it out on the fly – he’s away from home and operating out of Internet Cafes and there’s no sense to make him spend all day inside! But even though it’s short, we’ve got a lot to tell you in this, the
September 15 edition of Guitar Noise News.

Last weekend, on September 10, we had our drawing for our giveaway for The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Bass Guitar. Congratulations go to:

• Jarge S. of Brampton, Ontario
• Jim A. of Fort Worth, Texas
• John R. of Cranbury, New Jersey
• Jonny S. of London, England
• Justin R. of Port Washington, Wisconsin
• Karin P. of Pittsfield, Massachusetts
• Lars K. of Oslo, Norway
• Tamzen L. of Toronto

I am also awaiting confirmation from two others who were chosen.

For those of you who didn’t win, we are having a second giveaway later this month and all of you who do not win on September 10 will be automatically entered into that giveaway. If you want more details on that, check it out on our “Contests” section of the Forum page.

Since it’s a mouthful to say The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Bass Guitar and it’s also a truly lousy acronym, I’ve taken to calling it “BOB,” short for “Book on Bass.” “BOB arrived in bookstores on September first and it’s also available through Amazon.com as well as many, many other online book services.

Some of you who’ve written about the contest have noted that you intend to buy the book regardless of the contest and my thanks for that. If you don’t win an autographed copy, please know that I’ll be more than happy to either autograph yours or send you a personal thank you note. Just drop me a line at the usual address: dhodgeguitar@aol.com and I’ll attend to it as soon as humanly possible.

Okay, let’s continue on with our abbreviated newsletter:

New Articles And Lessons

Are You Unique?
by Kole

Kole (Kyle Hicks) is a first time contributor to Guitar Noise as well as a student of Tom Hess, who’s certainly no stranger to these pages. In this article, Kole examines how one develops a unique sound, looking at ways that may help you create music that is different from other musicians.

Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow

The Major Chord With #11

We covered the major chord with a sharp 5 last time, and this time we’ll cover its “sister” chord, the #11. Where does the term #11 (pronounced “sharp eleven”) come from? Look at the notes in the G major scale. Yes, that’s not a typo: the G major, not the C major scale:

C D E F# G A B C D E F# …etc

Counting up from C to the *second* F#, you’ll see the F# is eleven. And since it has a # (sharp) after it, we get the name sharp 11 (#11). Making a major chord from this, we take every other note, starting with C:

C E G B D F#

That looks like a lot of notes for a chord, doesn’t it? We guitarists like 3 and 4 note chords, generally, as far as ease of playing goes. So we can eliminate some notes, being sure to hang onto the F#. We can play patterns like these:

|-2------|-5----|
|-5------|-5----|
|-4------|-5----|
|-2------|-4----|
|-3------|-3----|
|--------|------|

The second one is better for strumming. And it has the 13 added, yet another extended chord “color.”

Where to use major chords with a #11? Try them in place of unaltered major chords. They won’t sound right in every situation, but they could add a fresh change of pace from the usual 1 3 5 major.

Thanks for reading.

Darrin Koltow

For those of you who might like to know more about Darrin, let me direct you to his website, Maximum Musician and also to his page here at Guitar Noise.

And, as always, my thanks go to Darrin for all the work he does on the Internet. It’s truly an inspiration!

Event Horizon

Supporting Guitar Noise and the Guitar Noise community is not always about money or time. 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’d 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 July (that is, after the fifteenth), then let me know by the tenth or the twelfth. If you’ve already got a show in August, let me know, too! It’s never too early to plan for things!

Send your gig dates to me at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and try to put “gig alert” in the subject header.

I’m not doing a lot of gigging these days owing to my full schedule of teaching, but Joel Schick, a longtime Berkshire resident and songwriter has me providing backup for his show next Friday, September 22, at The Dreamaway Lodge in Beckett, Massachusetts. If you’re up for a great meal in the middle of nowhere, this might be your ticket! Show starts at eight.

Reviews

Reviews go up almost all the time here at Guitar Noise. But we also know that what we post is, pardon the cliché, the very tip of the iceberg. If you’d like to pass along a review of an album, concert, DVD (tutorial, concert or otherwise), book or even a guitar or guitar/music product, feel free to drop me a line and try to put “proposed review” in the subject.

For those of you who are always thinking about “giving back to the community,” this is certainly a fine way to do so.

International Songwriting Competition

International Songwriting Competition Now Accepting Entries For 2006 Enter Now For Your Chance To Win Up To $150,000 In Cash And Prizes

The International Songwriting Competition is now accepting entries for 2006. Over $150,000 (USD) in cash and merchandise will be awarded to the 2006 winners. ISC’s $25,000 cash Grand Prize is the largest cash Grand Prize in any songwriting competition (in addition to over $20,000 in other prizes awarded to the Grand Prize winner). One of the largest and most prestigious songwriting competitions in the world, ISC offers the perfect opportunity to gain exposure and media attention in the music industry. ISC welcomes original songs from musicians, artists, and songwriters at every level from amateur to professional. You may submit as many songs as desired in each category or enter the same song in more than one category. Enter your songs now to get the ISC Early Bird discount. Go to www.songwritingcompetition.com/entry.htm to enter your songs via mail or online.

ISC is unique because of its judges. Since its inception, ISC has been renowned for having the most prestigious judging panel of any competition in the world. Its judges include high-profile recording artists and respected music executives. In just the past month, ISC has added many new judges to the 2006 panel, including Frank Black (Pixies), Sean Paul, Tiësto (Producer/Remixer/DJ), Mona Scott-Young (President, Violator Records), Jerry Lee Lewis, and Betty Pino (DJ, WAMR Miami/Pioneer of Latin Radio). Stay tuned for announcements on more new judges. Entering ISC offers you the chance to have your music heard by these influential members of the music industry.

The complete 2006 ISC judging panel includes: Tom Waits; Rosanne Cash; Sean Paul; Tiësto (Producer/Remixer/DJ); Frank Black (Pixies); Charlie Walk (President, Epic Records); Monte Lipman (President, Universal Records); Steve Lillywhite (Senior VP of A&R, Columbia Records/Producer – credits include U2, The Rolling Stones, Dave Matthews Band, and Peter Gabriel); Robert Smith (The Cure); John Mayall; John Scofield; Amy Ray (Indigo Girls); Darryl McDaniels (Run DMC); Jerry Lee Lewis; MercyMe; Macy Gray; Charlie Musselwhite; Peter Hook (New Order); Jeff Stinco (Simple Plan); Mona Scott-Young (President, Violator Records); Alexandra Patsavas (Owner, The Chop Shop Music Supervision – credits include The OC, Grey’s Anatomy, Without A Trace, Carnivale, Rescue Me); Barbara Sedun (VP Creative, EMI Music Publishing Canada); Bruce Iglauer (Founder/President, Alligator Records); Cameron Strang (President, New West Records); Betty Pino (DJ, WAMR Miami/Pioneer of Latin Radio); Cory Robbins (Founder/President, Robbins Entertainment); Dan Storper (President, Putumayo World Music); Thomas Brooman (Co-Founder/Artistic Director, WOMAD); Danny Epstein (Music Supervisor, Sesame Street/Sesame Workshop); Tara Griggs-Magee (Executive VP of Gospel/Urban Music, Sony Records); Emily Wittmann (Vice-President, Nick Records); Leib Ostrow (CEO, Music For Little People); and more to be added…

Enter any of ISC’s 18 categories: Pop/Top 40, AAA (Adult Album Alternative), Rock, Country, Americana, R&B/Hip-Hop, Blues, Folk/Singer-Songwriter, Jazz, Gospel/Christian, Latin Music, Instrumental, Dance/Electronica, World Music, Children’s Music,Lyrics Only, Teen, and Performance Please visit www.songwritingcompetition.com for an entry form or more details.

Random Thoughts

The month of September has been a huge jumble thus far. Paul’s been away enjoying a bit of a vacation and the school year is off to its typical befuddled start. It’s busy and exciting and a lot of fun, although finding any kind of free time is close to impossible.

To top that all off, I got to spend a week in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, visiting friends. Part of the trip included a trip to neighboring Shepardstown, where I got to sit in on a weekly Thursday night jam at O’Hurley’s General Store. There were two hammered dulcimers, a mountain dulcimer, an acoustic bass, a piano, a cello, at least two violins, and a number of folks who flitted from one instrument to another including flute, tin whistle, piccolo, autoharp, banjo, mandolin and more. If you’re ever in the area, I highly recommend giving it a listen. There’s a seating area for those who don’t play and everyone has a terrific time.

I especially bring this up because it’s so heartening to read people posting about their first times playing with others. Many of the Guitar Noise community have started to venture forth and share their music – performing at open mics, forming bands, or simply getting together with friends and/or neighbors.

If you’ve not yet taken this step, imagine if you will the joy you get from playing. Now multiply that by, oh say a couple thousand or so… With autumn (or spring, depending on your particular hemisphere) coming on, it’s a good time to start making plans to get together with people for the holidays. Sharing your music with them is priceless and it also gives you so
much in return.

In the upcoming months, we’ll be highlighting some of our past articles on The Joy of Music.

But it’s also high time we added more to them. So if you’ve got a story to share, pass it along and we’ll get a new batch out there. Just send them to me at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and please put “Joy of Music” in the subject line.

Until our next newsletter, please stay safe and play well.

And, as always,

Peace