Guitar Noise

Greetings,

Welcome to Volume 3, Issue #41 of Guitar Noise News!

In This Issue:

• News and Announcements
• New Articles and Lessons
• Guitar Noise Staff Picks!
• Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow
• Tutorial Tips
• Digging Through The Archives
• Event Horizon
• Random Thoughts

News And Announcements

A funny thing happened…

Shortly after dashing off the last newsletter (for the dreaded Ides of March), Paul and I realized that there was a problem on my end with the music files for the Songs for Intermediates Lesson, “Time After Time.” Unfortunately, it ended involving rewriting the entire set of music examples in our software program. Fortunately, I managed to do it all in a weekend and send them off to Paul who posted the lesson online without a single additional hitch. That we know of, anyway…

So the upshot is that I finally got the lesson online and you won’t have to read about it anymore in the “New Articles and Lessons” section. After today, at least…

New Articles And Lessons

Time After Time
Songs for Intermediates #20
by David Hodge

There are seemingly limitless ways of playing any one song, so why should someone ever say “I can’t play a song?” Or worse, “I’m waiting for someone to show me how to play a song…” In this lesson, we’ll start out with a simple strumming arrangement, spice things up a bit with arpeggios, and then wind up with an arrangement that’s close to chord melody.

How To Read And Perform Music On The Guitar - Part 2
by Peter Simms

Learning to read music is easier than you might think. Peter Simms returns to Guitar Noise with a lesson on the notes found on the second (B) string, complete with some simple exercises to help you easily learn the notes.

Making Practice A Success
by Tom Hess

Far too often, our practice habits don’t help us to improve. Tom Hess explores a vital way of approaching your practice sessions, and it should help you improve your playing very quickly.

Guitar Noise Staff Picks!

I’d like to thank Mike, who goes by “PoRR” on the Guitar Noise Forums, for alerting me to a new CD by the Holmes Brothers, called State of Grace. It’s been getting a lot of play here at the house, and for good reason. Besides the usual outstanding blues and gospel turns that this outstanding trio have been know for, there are some wonderful guest appearances (Rosanne Cash, Joan Osborne and Levon Helm) and some truly inspired arrangements of covers, notably the Nick Lowe anthem, (What’s So Funny) About Peace Love and Understanding done with incredibly harmonies, as is Lyle Lovett’s If I Had A Boat (Lovett’s God Will I also gets a turn), a rollicking zydeco version of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Bad Moon Rising and a slick, slow gospel flavored rendition of Cheap’s I Want You To Want Me that will haunt you forever. If you’re a fan of this terrific group of musicians, you’ll definitely like this CD.

And Mike gets double kudos, because when I went in to buy this CD, the store finally had the new Dave Bromberg disc, Try Me One More Time in stock. More on that one next time.

Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow

Feeling stuck

Here’s a letter from a player who’s feeling a bit stuck.

Dear MaximumMusician.com:

I’ve been playing guitar off and on for several years, but I feel stuck; I keep playing the same chords to the same songs every time I play.

If you were me and could play only a few chords, what would you choose to learn? Riffs? Scales? Any guidance is appreciated.

Thanks!

R.

[Following is my response.]

Hi, R.

Thanks for your message. I understand the problem you’re going through. You’re bored with your playing. You’re looking for something fresh. There are lots of ways of finding this.

One thing to keep in mind is this: if you try to tackle something that has little meaning for you, all your effort will be for nothing. So, follow what you like most about playing.

Another idea: consider getting a book on beginning chord melody playing. This type of playing doesn’t require that you be the world’s greatest guitarist. In other words, with a little bit of input you get a lot of output.

Chord melody arrangements give you the complete song: chords plus melody. You said you were bored just playing chords. Chord melody shows you how the chords go along with the melody. It’s very satisfying for the hands and for the ears. And if anyone besides you happens to be listening, it’s satisfying for them, too.

Search on Google or the Hal Leonard sites for “Chord Melody.” Also, Volume 1 of William Leavitt’s Modern Method for Guitar has some very sweet chord melody etudes. And they’re short.

Chord melody arrangements are just one way of beating boredom. I think you also might like to learn some fingerpicking arrangements. Fingerpicking makes the guitar sound like several guitars. Lots of fun. Get a book showing you how Paul Simon played back in his Simon and Garfunkel days.

You might find learning licks fun, but in my experience they don’t satisfy for very long. Because they’re just part of a tune, not the whole thing.

Above all, learn songs: chords, melody. All parts. You mentioned that you are reading the play by ear series on MaximumMusician.com. If you enjoy this, you can expand on this reading by committing to learning a melody by ear every day. Learn a melody in all the major scale forms that you know. If you don’t play scales yet, don’t spend tons of time learning all the forms at once. Just learn a few strings of one form at a time, and then use what you’ve learned by playing simple melodies on it. Again, Leavitt’s Modern Method is good for this.

These are just a few ideas, R. Keep asking questions, and the answers will come, and your feet will get out of the mud.

Thanks for reading.

Darrin Koltow

Copyright © 2007 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

Hi David,

I’m having trouble with timing when I’m using TABS. When using “regular” music notation, I can see the measures (bars) in each line. Therefore I have no trouble playing the beats.

However, in tablature, the measures (bar lines) are not written. Only the chords are written above the words to the song. So, I do not know how many beats each chord should get. The space given to each chord does not always seem to be the right length.

If my question seems a little confusing, it is because I am confused. Any help you can give me will be appreciated.

Hello and thanks for writing. It’s easy to get confused with TABS and/or what I call “chord” sheets (which is what I believe you’re referring to in your second paragraph), so first off, don’t let it get to you.

Tablature, especially as done on the computer, is first and foremost geared towards those who already know a given song. You are correct in that there are usually no guidelines as to timing of the notes or chords, and that can make life very difficult if you’re not at least somewhat familiar with the song in question. If you’re not, then your best bet is to have an audio copy that you can listen to as you follow along with the tablature. That should help immensely.

Likewise, chord sheets (lines of lyrics that have the chords posted above the words - these are distinctly different from tablature even though more and more people use the terms interchangeably) can be even more of a problem. This is because the chord changes happen in specific rhythmic patterns and lyrics, as a rule, don’t usually fall nicely into the patterns. This is where you want to listen to a song and try to block out the singing. Listen for the chord changes and count them out so that you know how many beats each chord gets. More often than not, the chord changes come at fairly “regular” timings, like the first beat of a measure. Sometimes it gets tricky, but your ear should be able to pick these things up with a little practice.

I hope this helps. Please feel free to write me again if you’d like me to go into any of this in more detail.

Peace

Digging Through The Archives

If you have never taken a spin around the Guitar Noise site, you might simply think that there’s a forum and a song lesson section. But there’s so much more to find here on just about any subject you can think of. How about some articles to supplement your reading on Tom’s latest piece concerning practicing? Glad you asked! Take a look at the Practice Page.

Here you’ll find great tips and ideas from a variety of Guitar Noise contributing writers, from Tom to Len Collins to Graham (”Greybeard”) Merry, not to mention Jamie Andreas, Rob Gravelle, Mike Phillipov, Chris Standring, Mike Walsh, Jon Doucette and Logan Gabriel, just to name a few.

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 and try to put “gig alert” in the subject header.

This is truly last minute, and I apologize for that (I didn’t find out about it until March 28), but if you’re in Toronto, Canada, you can head on over to the 500 Keale Concert Hall today (April 1) to listen to the many bands participating in the HereandThere Benefit Concert. Forum member, Zacharias, whose band Savanah is performing, gives us the following details about the event:

Savanah will be participating in a charity concert in Toronto, Ontario Canada (along with many other musical talents) The up-coming HereandThere Benefit Concert is meant to address both local and international needs.

The entire proceeds will be divided amongst three helping organizations:

The Daily Bread Food Bank has committed to the event, to provide local support (the here). The Stephen Lewis Foundation will receive support to assist those in Africa with AIDS and for the second year we we will also be providing direct assistance to Guatemalan orphans (the there).

Scotiabank branches are taking donations from those who wish to attend the concert or otherwise support the hereandthere Benefit Foundation. Long & McQuade Music has committed to provide musical equipment and promotion. We welcome TEAC Canada, Staples, 5Hundred Keele and other sponsors once again this year.

A final note: No performer or promoter of this event will receive any financial gain from the event. All time is being donated to the cause. All proceeds will be donated to local and international relief.

Also make sure to check out Savanah’s myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/savanahband

April seems to be shaping up as a busy month for gigs. Tomorrow, April 2nd, you can catch Kathy Reichert, a frequent participant in the Sunday Songwriters Group here at the Guitar Noise Forums, at the Gallery Cabaret in Chicago (2020 North Oakley) from 7 ’til 9. She’ll be appearing with CJ and Fairly Unbalanced and it should be a great show. Especially if she does a number of her own songs.

Hopping across the Atlantic to the sunny Mediterranean, you can catch up with Tom Hess (whose latest lesson just came online this week - see “New Lessons and Articles” above) and HolyHell in Athens, Greece at the Peace and Friendship Stadium. HolyHell has been incredibly busy recording a new album and you can find out all about it, not to mention see photos and videos from the latest tours, at Tom’s website - www.tomhess.net

Later on this month, April 24, to be exact, you can see and hear the duo of Gustavo Assis-Brasil and Mauricio Zottarelli, with very special guest Hiroaki Honshuku on flute, playing at the Lily Pad, 1353 Cambridge Street - Inman Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Some of you might recall Gustavo as the writer of a tutorial book on Hybrid Picking. He’s a very talented guitarist and this is a great chance to see him perform. Show starts at 7:30 PM.

And the following weekend, I’ll be taking part in two shows: Friday, April 27at the Monterey General Store in Monterey, Massachusetts (7 - 9 PM) and Saturday, April 28 at the Silverbrook Café in Sandisfield, Massachusetts (starting around 8:30 PM). Both of these shows are unofficial warm-ups for the 2007 Riverside Jam, so I’m expecting quite a number of guest performers, many of them Guitar Noise regulars, to show up. I’ll give you a better idea of some of the expected guests next time out.

Random Thoughts

One of the things I didn’t take into account when Paul and I decided to change Guitar Noise News from a weekly newsletter over to its current twice-a-month format is that there would always be an “April Fools” issue. Back when things happened weekly, the first day of April rarely coincided with the date of a newsletter. But now it does every spring.

Last year I debated the idea of doing a true “April Fool” type of newsletter. There are pros and cons to this. Obviously, it can be a lot of fun. One year, we even put together an “April Fools” home page, complete with bogus articles and advertisements. I think my favorite was a picture of Dan Lasley, standing on a pier by the ocean, caching a bass guitar with a fishing rod (bass fishing, get it? Yes, I’m incredibly susceptible to bad puns, whether verbal or visual).

In some countries, April Fools jokes turn up in the most unlikely places. Two years ago, my girlfriend/partner was in South Africa on the first of April and the newspapers were full of stories that were, on second or third read, obviously April Fools pranks. Like the one about the country switching over its driving habits, changing from driving on the left side of the road to the right side (or was it the other way ’round?). Anyway, according to the paper, the government was worried that people may not make this adjustment overnight, so it decided it would be better to phase the new law in gradually. Heavy vehicles, such as trucks and buses, would begin driving on the right side of the road while passenger cars continued their usual driving on the left. As I said, obviously a joke. And hopefully one that didn’t lead to any mishaps…

But the more I’ve thought about it, the more it seems, with the guitar and the Internet and computers, that I wasn’t sure what would be taken as a joke and what would be considered outright serious. A lesson on how to “Play Like Jimi Hendrix in Three Minutes Guaranteed Even If You’ve Never Touched a Guitar Before In Your Life?” How about “Know How To Make Every Possible Chord Without Knowing Any Music Theory (in two minutes if you subscribe now)?” Guitars made from guns? A video of a two-week-old baby playing an Eric Clapton solo? How having the right hairstyle can make you a guitar god (or goddess)?

As a writer, but even more as a teacher (and even more as a guitarist), I have a very uneasy relationship with the computer. On the one hand, tutorial sites like Guitar Noise, not to mention all the other sites where you pay for information you can get at any public library or often by asking a friend, offer people all over the world the chance to play guitar. Anyone can get started on a lifelong adventure of making music and (hopefully) sharing that joy of music with others.

On the other hand, the computer is, by its nature, a solo instrument. Even though we have the act of communication, it is very one-sided and occasionally dangerously so. We’re led to believe, even more than generations brought up with television, that answers to anything can be had within heartbeats, that there’s a magic password that can make every problem we have with learning guitar (or even life itself) disappear. Some people forget - no, “forget” is the wrong word because a lot of people never learned it in the first place - that time spent reading about something is not the same as time spent practicing and learning in a practical manner.

So, as silly as this may sound, I’d like to encourage you all to do something daring in your guitar lives, not to mention your lives in general. One day a week, any day you like, have a “computer-free” day. Instead of logging on, log in some extra practice time. Or go see a concert. Or visit some friends and have a jam session. Or (gasp!) take a guitar lesson with a teacher!

Or even just get involved with your friends and family in something that doesn’t have anything to do with anything but being alive together.

Have some fun with real people.

And, later on, maybe the next time April rolls around, we can discuss whether or not this was truly an April Fools joke.

Until April 15 (and those of you in the United States - don’t forget to do your taxes!), play well. Play often. Stay safe.

And, as always,

Peace