Practicing Blues Guitar
Sat, 11/12/2016 - 6:07pm
It’s obvious that you can’t get really good at anything without practicing, but when it comes to the question of how to practice things aren’t as clear. The fact is that there is no one-size-fits-all best approach to practicing, but whether you’re playing blues for recreation or to reach a professional level, here are some ideas that will help you get the most out of your efforts.
What is practicing?
Guitar players today tend to think of practicing in terms of technical exercises like scales and arpeggios, but traditionally, blues guitar players rarely if ever took that approach. Instead, they learned by copying more experienced players, whether a relative, a local performer, or from a record, and practiced by perfecting actual phrases and songs. The result is usually a narrowly-focused set of skills, but the blues tradition values style and personality over generic technique and what the great blues guitarists lack in terms of range they make up for in depth.
New 12 Part Interview & Jam with Paul Gilbert
Mon, 11/07/2016 - 6:11pm
Well then, we made it to the other side! Welcome... Now that the gang's all here be sure to check out an all new 12 Part ArtistWorks Session with Paul Gilbert! You can find it in the +Music tab which is located in the Learning Channel, or just click here to jump to Part 1.
Transcribing 101: Learning to Fish
Thu, 07/07/2016 - 2:44pm
Transcribing is the process of transferring recorded music onto your guitar and/or the written page by means of listening. If you have ever thought, “I wish I could play like…”, then transcribing is the next best thing to taking a private lesson with that player, but it’s not just about copying licks - transcribing is how you learn style, how musical patterns work, and how experienced musicians think.
In an era of pervasive on-line tabs and tutorials, transcribing may seem like a task ripe for outsourcing, but the fact is that blues has always been and remains an “ear thing.” Notes are only the beginning - blues is built on deep qualities like touch and swing, and your ears are the only means for accessing them. Learning to transcribe is one of the best investments that you can make in your musical development - to paraphrase the old adage, “learn to fish and you’ll eat for a lifetime.”
There are no real secrets to transcribing, but if you’re new to the process here are some tips to help you get started and overcome common hurdles.
Lick of the Month!
Fri, 06/17/2016 - 11:30am
Citizens of the Jazz Piano School! We're going to start a new feature here, Lick Of The Month, which will be a quick look at a nice chunk of music to add to your vocabulary, useable instantly! This month's lick is a classic blues run that's been part of jazz for a LONG TIME; great little riff that you can hear from hundreds of artists from Oscar Peterson to Earl Hines, Billy Preston to Billy Payne, in every genre of jazz, blues, R&B or rock music. Let's take a quick look!:
If you'd like to hear it and see a little demo, check this link:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2740603/LOTM1.mp4
Add it in there, and if you don't yet have the blues, or are not sure, come on over for some of my famous under-barbecued barbecued chicken, and you'll be playing like Dr. John in no time!
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