Guitar Noise

Greetings,

Welcome to Volume 3, Issue #31 of Guitar Noise News!

In This Issue:

• News and Announcements
• New Articles and Lessons
• Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow
• Tutorial Tips / Digging Through The Archives
• Event Horizon
• Reviews
• International Songwriting Contest
• Random Thoughts

News And Announcements

October has arrived, bringing with it the colors of both autumn and spring, depending (obviously) on whether you live above or below the equator.

Back on September 10, we had our first drawing for our giveaway for The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Bass Guitar and congratulations went 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

And at that time I hadn’t heard from Eric B. of Hertfordshire, England, so my belated congratulations to him as well. I’m still awaiting confirmation from one winner of that drawing and, hopefully, he’ll be back to me before much longer.

In the meantime, we held a second drawing this past week and congratulations go out to the following members of the Guitar Noise community:

• Anne Marie of Sheffield, England
• Ed of Parsippany, New Jersey
• Jim of Norman, Oklahoma
• Jim of Excelsior Springs, Missouri
• Kim of Tucson, Arizona
• Louis of Mobile, Alabama
• Paul of Paraparauma, New Zealand
• Rahul of Haryana, India
• Steve of Auckland, New Zealand
• Tim of Washington Court House, Ohio

My publicity copies of the book arrived earlier this week and all autographed copies will be sent in the next three days.

For those of you who didn’t win, we are having a one more giveaway later this year, probably in November. Keep an eye on our home page for details.

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. And you can find it in just about any bookstore you walk into. It should be in the “music” section.

As I mentioned last time, 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 do buy one, 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.

Now let’s see what’s new, shall we?

New Articles And Lessons

Songwriter Or Craftsman?
by Robert Walker

In his first article for Guitar Noise, German guitarist Robert Walker discusses some of the finer differences between being a songwriter and a craftsman and offers songwriters some tips on how to move to the next level of instrumental songwriting.

How To Develop Your Own Style – Part 1
(It’s all about you!)
by Tom Hess

Developing your own style starts with a bit of introspection, which leads to knowledge and then application. In his latest article, Tom Hess takes you throught the initial steps needed to help you on your way.

Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow

Tip: the minor 7 b5

This chord doesn’t get a lot of press, but it’s pretty useful. We’re going to look at the min7b5 chord. First, a pattern for it:

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

That’s the D min7b5. And here’s an arpeggio pattern for the same chord. Use this to solo:

|-------------4-8-|
|-----------6-----|
|-------5-7-------|
|-----6-----------|
|-5-8-------------|
|-----------------|

Where can we use the min7b5? Let’s look at three different uses: 1) replacing the dom 7, 2) replacing a tonic minor chord, and 3) in a minor ii V I progression.

Here’s an example of the first usage:

|------|------|------|
|--6-6-|-6--6-|-6----|
|--8-8-|-7--5-|-5----|
|--6-6-|-6--6-|-5----|
|--8-8-|-8--5-|-6----|
|------|-6----|------|

This progression is as follows: F minor 7 in bar 1, Bb7 and D min7b5 in bar 2, and Eb 6/9 in bar 3. In other words, a ii V I in Eb major.

Look at bar 2. We’re substituting the D min7b5 in place of the Bb7 here. The Bb7 was also included, so you can compare the similarity of sounds. Why do the Bb7 and D min7b5 sound alike? Look at the notes:

D min7b5: D F Ab C
Bb7: Bb D F Ab

Three notes in common definitely make for a similar sound. Next time: usage 2) replacing the tonic minor chord.

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.

Tutorial Tips / Digging Through The Archives

Howdy Dave!

I’ve really loved scouting through your web page and learning more and more about my guitar!

I have a brief question for you: What does ’sus’ mean?? Sustain what? And how do I figure out chords that are ’sus’ chords or that have a number associated with them (and what does that number indicate)?

Perhaps, not such a brief question after all?

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Hi and thanks for writing.

“Sus” actually stands for “suspended” and not “sustained.” In brief, major and minor chords are composed of the root, third and fifth note of the given scale. In suspended chords, the third is replaced by another note, usually the fourth (noted as “sus4″ ) or the second (“sus2′). If you’d like to read some more on the subject, you might want to start with this article: Building Additions (and Suspensions).

And don’t forget that there are literally hundreds of lessons here at Guitar Noise. On the theory page alone, you’re bound to find the answer to many a question.

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.

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.

In the meantime, here are the latest reviews to be posted on our site:

DC Slater: Decisions
CD Review by Jimmy Caterine

DC Slater is a former student of Berklee College of Music and participates in the SoundAid project to fight hunger. His latest mixes Grunge with a bit of Satch and Eddie Van Halen.

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

Last newsletter I mentioned two things:

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

And also that it’s long past time that 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.

Second, I noted that Paul had been away for a bit and that the beginning of the school year was off to a crazy start. Those of you who’ve been with us a while might have noticed something odd these past two years and that’s that we’ve not taken any “sabbaticals” from the site. There may be periods when there are fewer articles than others and last fall I was extremely fortunate enough to have Nick spell me here at Guitar Noise News while I fought bravely against the “Deadlines of Doom” and other forces of evil. But we’ve not taken whole weeks (or the occasional whole month) off in quite a while. It doesn’t seem that long ago that we’d do that at least once a year…

But one thing does happen when Paul is away, and that’s that I tend to try to work in articles that are more straight text than those that have music examples in them. Now that Paul’s back, we’ll be working ourselves silly putting out some of those lessons that have taken a back seat for a bit. So if it seems that there’s a lot more going on than usual, well, there is.

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

And, as always,

Peace