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Rock Standards Project – First Nominations

Monday, July 25, 2011

Back in January I proposed working on the Rock Standards Project. The ultimate goal is to create a list of 200 songs in the rock/metal genre that can be seen as a “must learn” list of songs to cure the inevitable breakdown of jam sessions and walk-on open mic gigs. Today, I’m putting forth the [...]

Five Reasons Why You Need to Know Some Fingerpicking

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

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With obvious exceptions, there seems to be a distinct separation between those who pick and those who don’t. Classical guitarists use their fingers exclusively, whereas most rock/metal guitarists pretty much only use picks. Jazz, country, and blues players seem to be the most versatile in their use of both styles to achieve the sound they [...]

Five Bands To Check Out

Thursday, August 5, 2010

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I’m totally stoked over the response from yesterday’s post. I’m almost afraid to write about anything today for fear of spoiling the success. Thanks again to everyone for reading and commenting; it really makes blogging worth the effort when people contribute. You folks are great! Today I wanted to talk about some new music I’ve [...]

Jam Track Friday

Friday, July 2, 2010

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In lieu of a traditional blog post where I wax philosophical on the musings of being a guitarist, I decided to spend my time today adding a bunch of jam tracks to the site that I’ve been meaning to do for a while. They are all on the Downloads page, and include ii-V-I progressions in [...]

What Does It Mean To Make Your Music “More Raw?”

Friday, June 25, 2010

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I was reading a news item somewhere this week where Joe Elliot – lead singer of the rock band Def Leppard – stated that he wants the new DL record to be “more raw.” I’ve heard this a million times in the past but never really paid much attention to it until now. I’m not [...]

Put Dynamics In Your Music

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

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I equate dynamics with emotions, or perhaps better stated, inflection. Just as much as you wouldn’t give a speech in a monotone voice (unless you’re Ben Stein) you probably shouldn’t make a musical statement in a monotone voice, either. In today’s technology-happy world, much of the loss of dynamics in music has to do with [...]

Upper Structure Triad Soloing

Monday, June 21, 2010

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Triads are cool. Without them, Bach probably would have been a hay baler or something to that effect. Without triads, I would probably be writing about air guitar or something mundane like the proper way to stuff your spandex before playing that 80′s high school reunion you got tapped to do. A triad, as you [...]

Why Does Rock Have No Standards?

Thursday, June 17, 2010

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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to a rock jam session and been bored out of my skull within ten minutes. First, everyone sets up and tunes, then they play with their gear to make sure it’s tweaked correctly, and then mass hysteria ensues as everyone simultaneously starts to play every lick [...]

Mike Ian: Puzzle Pieces

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

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Back in college, my friends and I came up with a nickname for musicians who were so good that we felt compelled to cut off one of their fingers to make it fair for the rest of us. We called these folks “nine-fingers.” When I met NJ-based musician Mike Ian, it took all of about [...]

Spice Up Your Pentatonics

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

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We all play them. We all play them all the time. We all play them all the time pretty much the same way as everyone else. Sure, you can bend the note longer, or change your vibrato somewhat, but for the most part we’re all pretty much riding the same animal. So what can we [...]