Tag Archives: guitar tip of the week
Music/Business Lesson From Bruce Hornsby
A few weeks ago, I had the immense pleasure of seeing Bruce Hornsby live for the first time. I have to admit, I wasn’t that excited at first. I was only familiar with Bruce’s work that went mainstream – songs like “Mandolin Rain” were what I thought represented the bulk of Bruce’s creative stylings…and his [...]
Guitar Tip of the Week – Chord Flavoring
I put this together to clarify some jumbled up comments I made on the Chordie.com forums yesterday, but thought others might be able to benefit, too: You Might Also Like…How to Structure a Productive Guitar Practice I Met BB King!Got Skibby? A Lesson In Humility…
Guitar Tip of the Week – Right Hand Strength
This video (shared by a member of the Chordie community), in addition to be inspiring and jaw-dropping to watch, should teach us something about right hand strength and right hand pressure. Listen for volume drop between the soloist’s picked notes and hammer ons. There isn’t much. Why? Because he isn’t overplaying with his right hand. [...]
Guitar Tip of the Week – More On Barre Chords
Barre Chords, Lesson 2: More Barre Chords! from sparkpig on Vimeo. You Might Also Like…Music/Business Lesson From Bruce HornsbyGuitar Tip of the Week – Chord FlavoringGuitar Tip of the Week – Right Hand Strength
Video Guitar Tip of the Week
I’m moving the GTOTW to video! Woo-haa! At any rate, our first edition focuses on barre chords, specifically on a new way to play them. I find this alternative much easier on my left hand. It also opens up a lot of filling options! Check it out: An Alternative to Barre Chords from sparkpig on [...]
Lessons via Hoff
I received some horrible news about 30 minutes ago. One of the most beloved members of my alma mater’s music faculty passed away. His name was Richard Hoffman, but everyone called him “Hoff.” I took a number of his classes and played in a few of his ensembles – he was the kind of guy [...]
Got Skibby? A Lesson In Humility…
I’ve met a lot of professional musicians who are arrogant asshats. Stan Skibby is not one of them. In addition to being a fan-freaking-tastic guitar player (very Hendrixy, much to my satisfaction), Stan Skibby is a downright awesome human being. I’ve had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Stan a few times, and his [...]
Greatness (and acknowledging weaknesses)
What makes a marketer/musician/businessman/individual truly “great?” This is the ongoing debate I’ve had with a friend of mine. He believes greatness (particularly in the political arena) is defined by being “the smartest person in the room.” I disagree. It’s not just about being the best, smartest, or fastest, or knowing the most notes, or helping [...]
Music Tip by Elton Dave from Mesa AZ
I’m still on the boat in Cabo so this is going to be a quick one – I met a new buddy on the boat. His name is Dave and he’s a music teacher in Mesa, AZ. We had a great time with terrible impersonations during a karaoke contest – he was the Elton John [...]
Guitar Tip of the Week-STOP F***ING SHREDDING! (and more)
A popular guitar forum that I frequent gets a lot of these types of questions: 1. How do I learn how to shred? 2. What scale is this (random notes that have nothing diatonically to do with one another)? 3. How can I make my sweep picking faster/better/whatever? 4. What chords are these (random, again [...]