In today’s age where the world is much smaller thanks to the Internet and the ease of creating commercially-available music is widespread thanks to home recording and MP3 distribution, it seems much harder for jazz guitarists to stand out and make a name for themselves. There are just so many out there, how can you keep track?

Washington, DC-based jazz guitarist Steve Herberman is, in my opinion, one of the few to rise above the white noise. His unique chord voicings and arrangements are beautiful to listen to and watch (I’ve seen him perform live several times) and his CDs will surely test the limits of your iPod’s battery longevity.

I am pleased to have had the opportunity to interview him and am grateful for the beautiful video chord melody of Body and Soul he did for Fretterverse.com, which you can see at the bottom of this page.

When did you first pick up the guitar?

I started playing guitar when I was around 12 years old. A brief, early stint with a Ukelele got me hooked on the idea of playing a guitar and I begged my parents for a guitar. My first was a Yamaha nylon string and then I pretty quickly got a Gibson Marauder electric we found at a guitar sale.

What inspired you to start playing?

I had a couple years of piano lessons and then a little bit of trombone in elementary school band, but when I picked up a guitar that was it! Sliding notes and bending was exciting, which I proceeded to do until my family had to ask me to turn down the little Fender Champ because they heard enough.

Who were your earliest influences?

The Beatles and The Eagles were my favorites when I first started playing guitar. Day Tripper was the 1^st song I learned by ear and then Smoke on the Water, oddly enough. Usually it would be the other way around. Ritchie Blackmore, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Joe Perry were my favorites when I was around 13 or so.

What prompted you to go the jazz direction?

I was in a band when I was about 15 doing Rush and Yes tunes and was loving the challenge. This band I was in wanted to win a battle of the bands and there was a vote to add a vocalist, as we were just a power trio playing instrumentals. I guess the drummer thought we had a better chance of winning with vocals. Once the vocalist got there he wanted to play pop tunes and I really had to get out of there! I was just starting to hear John McLaughlin and Jean Luc-Ponty and was getting very interested in fusion music. From fusion I was led to Thelonious Monk and Wes Montgomery. It was a language I didn’t understand but was enthralled with. It was mysterious and exciting and seemed to be the high point in terms of technique, theory and more importantly emotional content. I began reading all of the jazz bios I could find and subscribing to Downbeat and JazzTimes. I was an instant convert!

Do you still listen to other styles of music aside from jazz?

Absolutely, yes. I still like the Beatles and the early stuff I listened to as a kid along with classical music, brazilian, Motown, soul etc. I like any good music.

Who are your guitar influences?

Wes Montgomery, Kenny Burrell, Lenny Breau, George VanEps, Ted Greene for the jazz guitarists. The “art rock” guys like Steve Howe (Yes), Alex Lifeson (Rush), and David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) were also big influences. Classical guys like Julian Bream and Andres Segovia were important for me too.

How did you first start learning jazz? Did you take lessons or teach yourself?

I began learning jazz on my own from records and books and going to hear live jazz. Joe Pass was a huge early influence, as was Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis and Emily Remler. I got to hear these people live when I was a teenager and was very lucky to have done so!

What did you practice when you first started learning jazz?

Scales and arpeggios were the first things and then I just transcribed like a madman. We didn’t have many videos to watch so it was just by listening only. I also studies chord voicings. The Ted Greene books along with a book of Joe Pass chord solos were a huge help. Now they have tons of Pass chord solos in TAB but that book I had was all standard notation so I had to really work for it!

Why did you start playing the 7-string guitar?

Around 1993 I bought my 1^st 7-string. I had gone through most of George VanEps’ Harmonic Mechanism books with my 6 string. I wanted to extend those studies into the lower registers but couldn’t do so with the 6-string. I think VanEps seduced me into the 7-string with those books he wrote for the 6-string. His multi-line concepts fit so beautifully with the 7-string that I had to get one after working through his material. And listening to George is what really did it. I had to explore that type of playing and had to have the right kind of guitar to do it.

Do you tune in standard tuning or de-tune the low B string to A? If so, why?

Strings 1 to 6 are tuned in the standard guitar tuning. The low 7^th string I tune to ‘A’ so any standard guitar chord voicing with a bass note on the 5^th string can be dropped to the 7^th string and that note will remain on the same fret. This helps greatly with keeping the notes of the chord all in one comfortable position. It’s easier on the hand that way rather than tuning the bass note to a B and having to stretch farther to grab common chord voicings. Also Van Eps tuned his guitar with the 7^th string tuned down a perfect 5^th from the 6^th string. He used the same tuning as me and most other 7 string jazz guitarists but tuned all his strings down a whole step so he had a low G. He had to use a .100 bass string to get it that low.

I’m particularly impressed with your inner voice movement. Can you tell me how you approach this concept?

Basically I have a bass line in mind, say a half note-based bass line with a melody line on top. I like to improvise little melodies in between the bass and melody notes. Sometimes they are scales or arpeggios or combinations of the two. The challenge is in sustaining one or more of the outside notes while threading the line in between. That’s where those Van Eps books really paid off for me. I teach these concepts and others in my many video classes I do for Mike’s Masterclasses.

Let’s talk about your Mike’s Masterclass lessons. You have a lot of video lessons there. Can you tell us about what you have to offer and what your future lesson plans are?

I have 25 lessons to date covering everything from beginning chord solos to the most intricate Van Eps-type counterpoint. And many classes on comping and soloing as well as practice techniques and how to learn tunes. Some future lesson plans involve composition techniques, more on soloing concepts, melodic minor, whole tone and augmented scales usage and lots more. Students send me suggestions and I try my best to honor them.

What advice do you find yourself giving your students the most?

Listen. Go hear live music, transcribe and analyze and get your theory and reading down solid. Study with different people to get various points of view. And most important, practice every day!

Do you recommend transcribing solos?

Absolutely, yes. Miles Davis is a great place to start.

If you could jam with one guitarist (living or dead) who would it be and why?

Ed Bickert, because I’d pick his brain about his beautiful comping. He had the knack to always play the right thing behind people. He is still living but has retired from playing, unfortunately.

Do you have any new recordings coming up?

Currently I don’t but I’m in the process of thinking about what I might do next. It’s important for me to keep getting my music out there.

What do you like to do aside from playing music? Do you have any other hobbies?

I enjoy playing football and street hockey with my 9 year old son and going ice skating. I like to walk around outdoors too and do so every chance I get. Music can be such a sedentary thing I need to counteract all that sitting!