Mode Lesson/Jam Track - C Phrygian

Here's a lesson I did a while ago on the Phrygian Mode...

And here's a Jam Track I did of the chord progression in the lesson...

Inside the Hey St. Jude Session

For those of you who aspire to do session work, here's a little view from the inside with some comments. I'd say this is a typical session, but every session is different, and some are very different. In this one we were hired to replace a karaoke track of the original tune that had already been sung over, by various artists, actors, athletes, and other, and edited. This posed some very unique and complex issues which the arranger and engineer handled flawlessly. I played bass, acoustic and electric guitar and even helped out with handclaps. here's my inside look...

Here's the final product...

Mode Lesson/Jam Track - C Dorian

Here's a lesson I did a while ago on the Dorian Mode...

And here's a Jam Track I did of the chord progression in the lesson...

Cool Tool - Resonator Guitar

The Gretsch Roundneck Bobtail Resonator guitar

Tour of Fender Factory - 1959

Pretty cool stuff this.

Mode Lesson/Jam Track - C Ionian

Here's a lesson I did a while ago on the Ionian (Major) Mode...

And here's a Jam Track I did of the chord progression in the lesson...

A Great Little Practice Amp

The Vox Pathfinder 15R

Solid state, but a sick tremolo and a real reverb tank. And power to spare. Could easily use it in the studio. Nice crunch sounds. My son just got one of these and I've been messing with it. I'm ordering one myself. I don't have anything with an eight inch speaker so it will definitely fill a gap. Super light too!

Only $120!!!! (!!!)

The High Strung Guitar

Revisit my most popular videos on Youtube...

Take Your Pick #2

In this video, the second of two, I talk about higher quality and unusual picks. 

Wegen Picks

Book Recommend

Years ago on a recommend from a friend I ordered up Mick Goodrick's Advancing Guitarist.

When it arrived I was expecting another book of scales and licks. But was at first disappointed at the lack of, um, scales and licks. This book was not like any other guitar book I'd ever seen. It wasn't another glossary of lines to develop your left and right hand chops. It was a book written to open your mind and thus your hands with lessons designed to get you out of the boxes we tend to climb into as we learn.

How often do you pick up your guitar, play a song or a solo, and think "I hate my playing" or "I wish I had some new ideas"? I know I have. Normal books would give you a bunch of licks (ideas) to memorize. But The Advancing Guitarist gives you new ways to think about how you play the guitar. It takes a minute for the light to turn on sometimes. But often it it's easy to see application in the concepts.

A lot of the book is dedicated to harmony and voicings. Probably the main takeaway for me.

On a related note check out my video on combinatorics...

Take Your Pick #1

There's a corny bumper sticker joke that goes - Every guy has his gal, but a guitarist has his pick. This is part one of a two part video series on the importance of the pick you choose. In this video I talk about "signal path" and six different gauges of Dunlop picks which are...

Dunlop Nylon 1.0mm
Dunlop Nylon .88mm
Dunlop Nylon .73mm
Dunlop Nylon .60mm
Dunlop Nylon .46mm
Dunlop Nylon .38mm

The Wrecking Crew - California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas

Another song from the Golden Era of the LA session scene.

Featuring Wrecking Crew mates Hal Blaine on drums, Joe Osborn on bass, pianist Larry Knechtal and acoustic guitars by P. F. Sloan who came up the picked intro. An important skill to have as a session musician is creativity. The ability to create a great part will make you very valuable.

See the union contract here.