Newsletter Vol. 2 # 106 – January 09, 2005
Welcome to the latest issue of Guitar Noise News.
In This Issue
- News and Announcements
- New Articles and Lessons
- Worth a Look
- Hot off the Press (Releases)
- Email of the Week
- Sunday Songwriter’s Group
- Reviews
- Thoughts and Feedback
News And Announcements
Greetings!
Welcome to Guitar Noise News!
And belated wishes for a Happy New Year to you all! Okay, I did offer those in our last newsletter, but since that was, what, two weeks ago, I figured it couldn’t hurt to offer them again!
Seriously though, while I hope that your New Year got off to a good start, it’s hard to imagine that 2005 will turn out to be wonderful for everyone. We here at Guitar Noise would like to extend our thoughts and hearts to all those affected by the tsunami that struck so much of the coastline along the Indian Ocean.
We’d also like to encourage all our readers to do what you can in regard to help and aid. Paul has placed a link with the Red Cross on our home page. This is not a case where you can do to little to bother. Everything and anything can be of help, whether it is time, money or even the donation of clothes and food. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you have too little to contribute, that you can’t make a difference.
New Articles And Lessons
Blues Solo Improvisation – A Basic Introduction
by Arjen Schippers
Arjen has an ambitious project for the New Year – a series of pieces on improvisation. This first lesson introduces the form of the twelve bar blues, the minor pentatonic scale and the blues scale. There are exercises and even some MIDI backing tracks that you can practice along with!
Untangling Chord Progressions
by Tom Serb
Tom tells me that one of his resolutions for 2005 is to write and contribute more articles to Guitar Noise. I think we’ll all agree that this is a terrific gift for our readers. In this lesson, Tom unravels some of the mysteries of chord progressions. We’ll learn about cadences, the natural harmonic series, chord extensions, secondary dominants and much more.
Worth A Look
Arjen’s article makes mention of one of my old song lessons, Before You Accuse Me, which is also a great introduction to the blues format. We also have a whole page at Guitar Noise devoted to articles about soloing and improvisation, and you can find it right here: soloing and improvisation.
Reading Scaling The Heights, not to mention many of the other lessons and articles on this page, will give you even more learning materials to have on hand while developing and improving your soloing and improvisational skills.
Meanwhile, Tom’s piece reminds me to tell you about our Theory Page.
You will probably find a piece like You Say You Want A Resolution or Five To One to be an excellent bit of supplemental reading to Tom’s lesson.
Hot Off The Press (Releases)
Last year, it seemed like I was getting a press release every other day. So I go and create a special section for them in our newsletter and guess what happened?
But this year, we seem to be getting some more, so I will continue to post these as they come up. Enjoy! Also, if you feel you’d like to contribute a review of a new band, old band or favorite performer, whether from a concert, CD or DVD, please drop me a line and we’ll do our best to get it online!
Suns of March Debuts in the International Music Scene
Montgomery, AL – November 9, 2004 – Suns of March is an alternative / southern / rock band based out of Montgomery, AL. Their release of their first CD Bulletproof Heart at the beginning of this year was immediately realized by the international music community and has continued to spread accordingly without any hesitation. With all of the musical choices available today, people seem to be hungry for groups that have held on to an ideal of writing and recording songs that convey the true heart of the artist. This is what Suns of March does so well without concession.
The Suns of March style has best been described as “a mesh of hard rock with a long-running vein of well-mined Western.” This alternative / southern / rock band from Montgomery, AL is really doing something different and making a unique contribution to the international music scene at the same time.
Suns of March use of the electric fiddle and slide guitar in their music is one of the distinguishing aspects of this bands individualistic identity. But more importantly than just writing great music, the group offers themes of hope and encouragement in their albums.
They have shared the stage with artists such as Brad Cotter, Diamond Rio, Edwin McCain, Joan Jett, Josh Todd (Buckcherry), Josh Turner, The Kicks, Lance Miller, Loverboy, and Matt Lindahl. They have also worked with the legendary producers Jeff Tomei (Matchbox 20, Smashing Pumpkins, Jerry Cantrell) and Rodney Mills (Pearl Jam, REM, Journey).
In addition to all of this, Suns of March also finished as a semi-finalist out of thousands of entries in the Independent Music World Series, the only contest the group has ever entered.
Referring to the bands first single, The Valdosta Times said, San Jose, a Suns of March song on the band’s CD, Bulletproof Heart, is a grinding mesh of Old West rock, like galloping through a desert with an electric guitar and a posse hot on the trail. Or think ‘Gunsmoke’s’ Matt Dillon carrying a Stratocaster instead of a six-shooter: That’s the gritty nature of this band’s beast.”
The Auburn University Plainsman described Suns of March as “a breakthrough Southern rock group, that melds alternative, classical and Southern-style genres.”
Upon seeing Suns of March perform with Diamond Rio, The Aumnibus said “A rock band with an electric fiddle and a mandolin! Blasphemy in the music world one might think; however, just listen to the group’s vocal and instrumental combinations and you will have the Suns of March experience.”
Jeff Tomei (Matchbox 20, Smashing Pumpkins, Jerry Cantrell) said of the groups first CD, “Bulletproof Heart mixes rock, country, pop and alternative to create a record full of great songs that are fun to listen to. It sounds like a band having fun making a record.”
In writing about Suns of March, Montgomery’s Journey Magazine said, “Suns of March have melded together a unique blend of vocals and instruments with an overall vision that makes this CD rare and special. I was impressed by how quickly I was singing along and feeling the passion behind the music – eventually not wanting the CD to end. As the word gets out on this project and Suns of March, their fan base will skyrocket.”
Finally, Blue Cat’s, one of the United States’ most esteemed live music venues in Knoxville, TN said of the group, “Suns of March is always a pleasure to work with…from the load in to enjoying a high energy fun show. They definitely know how to work the crowd and their fans are some of our best clientele. Every time I work with them I know it is going to be a success.”
Suns of March is still one of the newest groups out but has already been generating the type of recognition and hype you would expect from a seasoned, well-established group. They are breaking new ground and once the word is out regarding their musical integrity, uniqueness, and people’s ability to relate to their songs, many will come to know Suns of March as a permanent fixture to the international music scene.
Email Of The Week
Okay, one actual email and two forum posts. There are a lot of ways to reach me, not to mention any of the other writers and moderators of Guitar Noise. Feel free to write me directly at [email protected] or to send an “Instant Message” via our Forum page (I’m the one who goes by the clever name of “dhodge,” in case you didn’t know) or even just post a question on one of the appropriate forum. That way you can have access to a lot of advice and experience.
Here’s a sampling of questions/comments from the past two weeks:
I notice in the credits for the Maisy Mouse cartoon that there is a David Hodge that does the voice direction. Would that be you? Or is a coincidence?
I’ll have to say that it’s coincidence, especially as I have no idea who Maisy Mouse is! I’m also not the David Hodge who has (had?) a sports talk show (radio, I believe) in Canada.
There seems to be a small error in the Wish You Were Here beginners’ lesson?
The suggested fingering for the Em7 (see chord chart) indicates the middle fingering on the A string and the index on the D-sting but as also is described later on in the lesson the index finger stays on the same string for both G and Em7 and the middle finger is on the D-string.
This is a great song to play (study) by the way.
Thanks for catching that. On the chart, the index finger and middle finger should indeed be reversed, that is the index finger should be on the A string and the middle finger on the D string.
I just got a twelve string for Christmas. I know how to tune it in standard tuning but I just know there’s a lot of fun to be had with alternate tunings.
Anybody know good ones for a twelve string?
Two answers here because I’m pretty sure my first one is not what you had in mind. Be that as it may, the first answer is that you can do any alternate tuning that you’d use on a six-string guitar on a twelve string. Open G and D and DADGAD are especially nice as well as any that highlight finger picking patterns, such as CGDCGD.
But I suspect that you’re more interested in tunings where the octave strings of the twelve-string guitar are not tuned in octaves, but rather to something else. This is certainly something that can be done, but is extremely tricky to execute. Say that you tune your non-unison strings, the low E(sixth), A, D and G strings in fifths instead of octaves. So, high to low, you’re strings would be tuned like this:
1) E
2) E (same as string #1)
3) B
4) B (same as string #2)
5) G
6) D (one fifth higher than string #5 – same tone as 3rd fret, 2nd string)
7) D
8) A(one fifth higher than string #7 – same tone as 2nd fret, 5th string)
9) A
10) E (one fifth higher than string #9 – same tone as 2nd fret, 7th string)
11) E
12) B (one fifth higher than string #11 – same tone as 2nd fret,9th string)
Now unless you plan on only playing singe strings, you’ve got a lot to look out for. Playing an Em chord, for instance, would lead to the following Em9 voicing:
1) E
2) E
3) B
4) B
5) G
6) D
7) E
8) B
9) B
10) F#
11) E
12) B
While this will sound really nice, it may not be the sound that you’re looking for. Things get even more interesting as you go through the various chords you know. Take E major:
1) E
2) E
3) B
4) B
5) G#
6) D#
7) E
8) B
9) B
10) F#
11) E
12) B
Now unless you’re really adept at string muting, you’ve got an E maj9 on your hands here. Again, this may not be bad if that’s the sound you want, but it’s the sound you’re stuck with unless you’re very careful.
Now imagine if you were to tune to, let’s say thirds. Your Em chord now has the following notes:
1) E
2) E
3) B
4) B
5) G
6) B
7) E
8) G#
9) B
10) D#
11) E
12) G#
You can see that this is going to be very dissonant. And this is a simple chord! Ultimately you’d have to make a different tuning for each set of strings and even that would become so complicated that you’d have to wonder if it were worth it.
A lot of the signature sound of the twelve- string comes from the paired strings being struck together. Tuning these strings as octaves makes this easy as pie. What will help you get a lot of interesting sounds is not necessarily learning new tunings as much as learning new and interesting ways to form the chords you know. Might I suggest starting with an article like Multiple Personality Disorder, which you can find right here on our site?
By the way, a warm welcome to the ranks of twelve-string guitar players! I think you’re going to find your new instrument to be a challenge, yet very rewarding when it comes to expressing yourself musically.
Sunday Songwriters Group
Year Three, Week 10
Point of View (part 2): So, last week we considered the first person narrative. This week I want you to take last week’s song and rearrange it for a different point of view. I want you to consider the song in the third person (he, she, they etc). And, in case you were wondering, I do want you to choose somebody else’s submission. Stop groaning…
Good writing
Reviews
Steve Hackett / Once Above a Time
DVD Review by A-J Charron
A new DVD from Steve Hackett, his concert in Budapest, originally filmed for television. Kudos for a higher video quality and terrific camera angles! And then there’s the best thing about this DVD, the wonderful music…
Thoughts & Feedback
In the wake of last month’s tsunami, or any disaster whether natural or not, it’s human to think and experience very different and often conflicting thoughts and emotions. Feelings of shock and relief, anger and gratitude, resignation and a need to blame someone, can all exist at the same time and inside the same one person.
Perhaps some people, being musicians, are able to deal with that better than others. After all, music is often a seeming jumble of paradoxes. I wish I could say “all” instead of “some” but, musicians being people, there are more than enough of us who also have trouble seeing outside our own walls and borders. It’s also hard because having an objective and detached outlook (especially in any written format!) quite often comes across as being uncaring, when it’s rarely the case at all.
I bring this up because I get lots of emails from folks telling me “Thank you” for what I do here. Often these thanks you notes will include a statement along the lines of “I’d contribute something if I could” and I have to smile about that. For some reason we, as people, continue to think of it taking some kind of special super power in order to do some things. And I’ll be the first to tell you that I am not anything other than an ordinary person. So being singled out for thanks, while immensely gratifying, also embarrasses the daylights out of me!
We all have abilities and personalities that we were both born with and are developing as we grow, no matter who or how old we are. As I mentioned at the very beginning of this newsletter, it’s incredibly important not to underestimate how much help you can be to someone. And I’m not just talking about donating money or things like that, I’m talking about how you act and how you treat people everyday. It’s like those silly commercials where a simple act of kindness or just being polite makes everyone smile.
But the real importance is that as long as you believe that you’re incapable of being of help, then guess what? Imagine what this site would be like if no one thought himself or herself capable of giving advice or moderating a forum or even submitting a question. Imagine a world where no one feels confident enough to tell you how to make an E minor chord!
I think that a lot of people go through life hoping to be more than they are when the beauty of life is that who they are is, more often than not, pretty wonderful. Don’t be afraid to share. Don’t be afraid of giving too little. Be very afraid of what you could become by not taking part in life, by not giving at all.
I hope you all have a grand week. Stay safe.
And, as always,
Peace
David