Newsletter Vol. 3 # 2 – July 15, 2005
Greetings,
Welcome to Volume 3, Issue #2 of Guitar Noise News!
It’s July fifteenth and I hope you all had a pleasant Bastille Day yesterday!
In This Issue:
- News and Announcements
- New Articles and Lessons
- Top Choices – Guitar Noise Staff Picks!
- Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow
- Forum Findings
- Reviews
- Random Thoughts
News And Announcements
It will as no surprise to regular readers of Guitar Noise News, whichever volume you prefer, that we begin our very second issue of Volume Three with an apology. Like most of our ideas at Guitar Noise, this one’s going to have its growing pains! For all sorts of reasons that we’re still addressing as we speak, not everyone (read ‘darn few folks’) received the first issue that was supposed to be sent out on July 1. We’re still working on it and should have it all taken care of fairly shortly!
In the meantime, if you’d like to read a copy of that historic issue, you can find one online right here.
Because Guitar Noise was such a big part of June’s B. B. King CD contest, we’ve been asked to participate in more giveaways. So keep an eye out on our front page for all the latest details! Here are the contests currently going on:
We’re giving away 2 copies of Tony Iommi’s new solo album, Fused, which hits stores July 12th on Sanctuary Records. Joining the legendary Black Sabbath guitarist is former Deep Purple vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes and former John Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff, who has also played sessions with the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Rod Stewart, Alice Cooper, Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd and countless others. The trio will hit the road to promote Fused later this year after Black Sabbath finishes headlining the 10th anniversary Ozzfest tour.
Winners will be announced on July 25. Good luck.
Amos Lee CD Contest: An acoustic guitar artist influenced by soul and folk greats Amos has infused these two sounds to make one completely his own. His stripped down and poetic approach is pure and completely unique. Good Luck!!! Contest ends 8/15!!!
Last weekend I hosted the first ‘Guitar Noise Mini-Camp’ and six ‘campers’ from around the country (and Canada!) came to my home for three days of music and learning and fun. And when Paul asked me about posting some pictures, I realized that not one person had a camera on them. Talk about dedicated musicians!
My thanks to Ed, Gene, Glen, Karen, Marilyn and Phil for being brave enough to be the first! I will be spending a lot of follow-up time with them in order to work on improving how the camp can be run. This could turn into a regular event.
On the personal front, I’m pleased that Play Guitar! Magazine (published by the folks who produce Acoustic Guitar Magazine) features a new lesson from me in the latest issue (‘Fall 2005,’ which should be on newsstands sometime in the next two weeks). Play Guitar! is geared specifically for ‘beginning and developing guitarists’ and is a terrific learning source. My piece, ‘Chord Control’ features nine simple rhythm fills to spice up your open chord strumming. I hope that you get the chance to enjoy it.
And now let’s take a look at what’s new here at Guitar Noise, as well as learn a few things, shall we?
New Articles And Lessons
An Interview With Alan Garci-Torre
By A-J Charron
Alan Garci-Torre is a manufacturer of affordable classical concert guitars in France. With 40 years experience playing the instrument, Alan knows what he’s talking about when he talks about guitars. A Guitar Noise first – this interview is in both French and English!
Paul Kossoff – Shadowed By Greatness (Part 1)
By Will Tobin
Guitar Noise reader Will Tobin offers us a look at the band Free and its guitarist Paul Kossoff. Part one details the forming of the band in the late sixties and follows them to their breakup a few years later.
Top Choices: Guitar Noise Staff Picks
Tonight, Friday, July 15, I will be sitting at Club Helsinki in Great Barrington listening to the Holmes Brothers, whose October 22, 2004 concert (at the same venue) is reviewed here: The Holmes Brothers at Club Helsinki.
This will be the third time I’ve seen them here at Club Helsinki, a wonderfully small and intimate setting. Plus I saw them on numerous occasions while I lived in Chicago.
When music is stripped down to its most basic components, there’s something immediately compelling about it. That’s probably one of the reasons for the immense popularity of programs like ‘Storytellers’ and ‘Unplugged’ – the focus is on the songs and the music and not the performers.
The Holmes Brothers – Wendell Holmes on guitar, his older brother Sherman on bass and Popsy Dixon on drums – are the spirit of music in the flesh. The joy that they put into each performance, each song, is tangible.
Though they’ve been playing together since the early seventies (and playing in other bands since the late fifties), In The Spirit, their first recording as the Holmes Brothers, didn’t get recorded until 1990. Thankfully, they spent the nineties making up for lost time.
If you’re someone who likes to have a big picture, give a listen to Righteous, one of the Rounder Heritage Series. It will give you a nice overview of the band’s past. Then step right into the present with Speaking In Tongues or Simple Truths.
They play around at a lot of small clubs, here and in Europe as well. Keep an eye out for them and get a ticket. They can explain to you why music is so important to my life, to all our lives, a lot better than I ever will be able to.
Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow
Back to the Big Picture of making music: the viewpoint that gives you an understanding of how music works. The last installment talked about key centers: the all-important concept that drives Western music. And we looked at the three principal characters in this drama: the tonic, the subdominant and the dominant.
Please see the last newsletter for more background info, including what the tonic chords are. If you’re already lost, keep this in mind. The point that there are not bazillions of chords you need to know to make music, there are only three — tonic, dominant and subdominant. Discovering this for yourself is like having each dollar in your wallet turn into a $50. Okay, enough rehash.We’re into the subdominant. What is its function? Heck, what is it? The subdominant type of chord is the chord that says, “Not so fast, my pretties. I know you want to reach the mellow and restful tonic chord. But you have to get through me first. I have the same basic sound as the tonic, but when you hear me, you know you’re not ‘home’ yet. You’ve only arrived at a pit stop.”
Yes, the subdominant is kind of a friendly nemesis to the tonic chord. When you hear it, you hear the music wanting to move somewhere else. Let’s see this in action. Get out your guitar, and play these chords in this order: C, Am, Dm, G7, F. Strum each chord twice. What did you feel when you finished playing? Kind of unresolved, right? Like there needed to be something else. That’s because we ended this micro ditty on a subdominant chord, not a tonic chord.
Let’s get more specific. Which degrees of the major scale have the subdominant chords? Just two: the ii and the IV. (Nothing special about these Roman numerals. Using them is just an indicator that we’re talking about parts of the major scale, and not, say, the beats within a measure of music.)
The ii and the IV, when translated into an actual key, (C major in this example), yields these chords: Dm and F. For a quick sanity check, look at the subdominant chords in the key of F major: Gm and Bb.
Next important point is one already covered in the last tip: you can (often) swap one subdominant chord for another. So the next time you’re playing a tune in C major, and the tune calls for an F major chord, try playing a Dm (or Dm7) instead.
A bit of detail here: If it’s true we can swap these chords, they ought to sound fairly similar, correct? Let’s look at the notes in each: Dm: D F A. F major: F A C. Good: two notes in common out of three. Now, dig this: Dm7: D F A C, and F6: F A C D. Same notes. In one sense, they are the same chord. So you know they are interchangeable.
Next time we’ll look at the dominant.
Forum Findings
The Guitar Noise Forum is a far from stable place. Just when I think it’s going to settle down, up pops a new forum page! Since we last chatted we’ve added the Slide Guitar and Alternate Tuning forum.
As Ricochet, our newest Guitar Noise Moderator, says: “Y’all come on in and sit a spell. All things Slide and alternate tuning. Celtic, country, whatever. Get your fill of DADGAD, open G and whatever tickles your fancy.”
Next time you’re visiting the place, come in and take a look. Join in the discussion and teach as well as learn. And, as always, we look forward to seeing you on the Forum!
Event Horizon
Send your gig dates to me and try to put ‘gig alert’ in the subject header. Hey, you never know – Nick, A-J, myself, any one of Guitar Noise folks may pop up. More importantly, you’d be able to have a friend in the crowd!
Reviews
Elixir Strings
Product Review by A-J Charron
If you play guitar, someone has told you about Elixirs. If you don’t play guitar, then you might have bought a set to give as a gift at one point! A-J gives us his thoughts on Elixir Electric Guitar strings.
Amos Lee: Amos Lee
CD Review by David Hodge
Amos Lee’s debut CD boasts some great talent, but they all take back seat to his songs. If you’re in the mood for some mellow, thoughtful, playful, intricate and soulful music, put on this album!
Closing Thoughts
I have to admit that all the excitement of hosting the Guitar Noise Mini-Camp has me pretty exhausted! It was a wonderful time and I hope that everyone participating enjoyed his or herself as much as I did.
Remember that you don’t have to wait for the next newsletter just to have an excuse to drop by – new articles and reviews will be going up all the time. There will be some interesting surprises coming up in the next few weeks.
And speaking of the next newsletter, I guess I’ll be seeing you again in a little over two weeks, that is, August first.
Stay safe and we’ll chat again very soon.
And, as always,
Peace
David