2013: Fitter, Happier, Guitarier

Happy New Year, Everyone! In addition to resolutions to exercise more and eat healthier, I'm trying to set aside more time each week for structured guitar practice. Unfortunately, my school schedule kept me from committing to another class at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. Instead I will start by focusing on three sources for practice:

• Jody Fisher's Complete Jazz Guitar Method. I'm working through the Intermediate and Chord Melody books, but the "Complete" edition includes all four books in one: Beginner, Intermediate, Chord Melody, and Advanced. For $20, this is a steal!
• Jimmy Bruno's Guitar Institute series on Improv, Chord Studies, and Tune Analysis
• The Guitar of Chet Atkins DVD and book, taught by the Country Gentleman himself!

So far, all of this material has been great. If I can improve my jazz phrasing and learn some Chet-style fingerpicking (or thumb picking), 2013 will be a killer year for guitar growth despite my school commitments.

In the spirit of starting the year off with full disclosure, I have a confession to make. Despite waxing poetic about focusing on my instrument instead of gear, I have been an absolute gear junkie lately. Talking with my friend Jason the other day, I realized my problem is two-fold: (1) I live in Music City, and there are some fabulous guitar shops here. (2) When I'm stuck in the library or at my desk and can't make time to actually play, I find myself lurking sites like the Gear Page and watching an endless string of Youtube gear demos. But, there is a silver lining (and potential advice for others). 

Before buying new gear, I sold a few pedals I wasn't using (BBE Mind Bender, Keeley Compressor, Holy Grail Reverb). This started my "gear fund." Without touching my wallet or credit card, I used that cash to buy a few things on Craigslist at a low price. I flipped gear on eBay and recorded every transaction in Excel. This finally taught me to treat my gear as an investment instead of a cash sink. 

By then end of the summer, I had a  hand-painted JHS Klon Replica. This became my go-to, "irreplaceable" overdrive/boost. Or, it was at least, until I sold it a couple days ago, effectively trading it and $20 for a new Klon KTR!!! The JHS sounded great, and by most accounts it nails about 95% of the Klon Centaur sound. I'm hoping the KTR will be worth the extra 20 bucks, and I'll post my results when I receive it in a couple days. That being said, the hand-painted Replica looked great in its enclosure, and the KTR's  painted quote acknowledging the pedal's hype is annoying.

In closing, "do as I say and not as I do." If you find a setup that works for you, it might not be worth it to change just for the sake of change. If you're determined to get new gear, first look to see if you can do without some of what you have, and try to invest in gear that will increase or at least retain its value.

Using Mbox 2 with Snow Leopard

As of today, I don't hate Digidesign anymore.

 Ever since I upgraded to the MacBook Pro, I had been extremely frustrated that my Mbox2 with Pro Tools 7 wasn't compatible with my laptop. I tried using a Firewire 800/400 adapter to plug the Mbox to the MacBook Pro's firewire port, but the Mbox wouldn't power on (it only showed the blinking orange light). The consensus online and at Guitar Center (a.ka. Guitar Hell), was that I was SOL and that I needed Pro Tools 8 and new hardware. Since I'm doing mostly demos and recreational recording right now, I'm fine using GarageBand and don't need a newer version of Pro Tools. I was almost ready to sell the Mbox 2 and on craigslist and buy a new basic interface, but today I had a breakthrough. If you've had similar problems and frustrations, there is a standalone driver available here for Leopard and Snow Leopard:

http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/en_US/Download/en362883

Now I can at least successfully power up the Mbox, use it for recording in GarageBand, and power my monitors/headphones, etc. For those that need Pro Tools, to my knowledge, the Mbox 2 -> Firewire 800/400 adapter configuration can run Pro Tools 9. If you'd had similar problems using the Mbox 2 with Snow Leopard, I hope this gets you up and running!

A new lesson will be up soon, but I'm bogged down in schoolwork at the moment. However, I did want to take a minute to share this MacLife article with all you Garageband users out there. There are links to several free plug-ins, so why not take advantage of them? Free sound-shaping tools are never a bad deal!

http://www.maclife.com/article/gallery/8_free_plugins_garageband

How to Play Alabama Shakes' "Hold On"

Tonight, Alabama Shakes and others are playing a free concert in Nashville as part of the Live on the Green Series. To get the party started, here is a quick lesson on how to play their breakthrough anthem "Hold On." This video will cover the basics, and next time we'll explore the theory behind the patterns and how you can borrow the underlying concepts to develop your own style.


The Basics:

The song is in the Key of C. The intro/verse has a recurring pattern of playing the G and A notes (3rd and 5th frets) on the 6th string, then playing a different note of the C major arpeggio in each line.
The chord tones in order are E (7th fret, 5th string), C (3rd fret, 5th string), G (3rd fret, 6th string), C (3rd fret, 5th string). So, the whole pattern goes like this:

e|---------------------------------------------------|

B|--------------------------------------------------|

G|--------------------------------------------------|

D|--------------------------------------------------|

A|------7--------3----------------------3-3-3----|

E|-3-5-----3-5------3-5--3-----5---------5-|

For the chorus, each line uses a repetitive G-A-C triplet idea followed by a response phrase.

e|--------------------------------------|

B|-------------------------------------|

G|-------------------------------------|

D|--------10--------10---------------|

A|--10/12-----10/12-----10/12----|

E|--------------------------------------| REPEAT 2xs

Fill 1

e|----------------------------------------------|

B|---------------------------------------------|

G|--------------------------10--12-----------|

D|--------10--------10----12--14----------|

A|--10/12-----10/12-----------------------|

E|---------------------------------------------|

Fill 2

e|----------------------------------------------|

B|----------------------------------------------|

G|------------------------12--10---9---------|

D|--------10--------10----14--12---10-----|

A|--10/12-----10/12------------------------|

E|----------------------------------------------|

Fill 3 (same as Fill 1)

e|----------------------------------------------|

B|---------------------------------------------|

G|--------------------------10--12-----------|

D|--------10--------10----12--14----------|

A|--10/12-----10/12-----------------------|

E|---------------------------------------------|

Fill 4

e|-----------------------------------------------------------------|

B|--------------------------------------------13-13--13-12----|

G|-----------12------------------/12---14-14--14-12-12----|

D|---12*(14)------14*(12)---10---/14----------------14---|

A|----------------------------------------------------------------|

E|----------------------------------------------------------------|
         *bend&hold    *release bend

It’s Finally Summer!, or, How I Spent $100 on iTunes in a Single Day

After two weeks of exams and a short glimpse of summer, the write-competition took up another two weeks of my favorite month.   Now, I am finally ready to catch up sleep, exercise, and some sorely missed guitar playing.

Since I had limited playing time last month, I took advantage of Truefire.com’s free 30-day trial. They have a ton of good video lessons, , they’re very convenient, and even better when they’re free.

I’m also excited to check out Wes Montgomery/Grant Green class at the Nashville Jazz Workshop starting next week. Their course listing looks awesome, and I can’t wait to check out the workshop and meet some other local musicians. In the mean time, I’m trying to work off the rust by playing through some arpeggio studies and Wolf Marshall’s Best of Jazz Guitar book. 

Additionally, I finally spent the $100 iTunes gift card that came with my laptop. I did it in style, too, spending it all in one day! I picked up some new releases, but I also reacquired some albums I only had on CD or had even lost. It was like catching up with old friends, especially when some of the artists are in fact my friends!

Here are some of the highlights of the iTunes binge:

Cary Ann Hearst - "Dust and Bones"
When I moved back to Charleston after college, Cary Ann was playing with the Gun Street Girls. They were the first Charleston band to really blow me away when I got back in town. Cary Ann has an amazing stage presence, and Lee Barbour was a jazz pyrotechnician trying out his country chops at the time. In the following months I got to know Cary Ann and other musicians in Charleston's music scene, and I had an amazing time building these friendships and sharing the stage with many talented and kind musicians. This album takes me back to those times. Check out "Long Road," "1200 Miles," and "Dresden Snow." Heck, get the whole thing.

Beach House - "Bloom"
With album opener "Myth," Beach House pick up right where "Teen Dream" left off. The sound is quintessential Beach House, yet their growth is obvious. The best way I can describe their live show was like a "bizarro 80s prom," and this album retains that vibe. Makes me want to dust off the drum machine and play along.

My Bloody Valentine - "Loveless"
Classic album. I think it's probably the third time I've bought it. One CD copy was scratched beyond recognition, and I lost another. Why wasn't it on my computer? Well, problem solved now. If I lose this album again, I am really in trouble because I'd need a laptop too...This album is  genre-defining and launched about a gazillion shoegaze/noise-rock bands in its wake. Some people might not get it on the first listen, but after a few spins, Loveless=Timeless.

Wilco - "The Whole Love"
Given my devotion to this band, you may be surprised I was so late to pick this up. For their previous 3 releases, "late" would have been any time after release day. Well, I listened to it on NPR enough to memorize most of it before its official release, and I had a burnt copy as well. I saw the Deluxe version on iTunes (I'm a sucker for these things), and made a proper purchase. Hopeful my 10 bucks went toward another boutique guitar pedal for the Loft.

Alabama Shakes - "Boys & Girls"
This album pays immediate dividends. Guitarist Heath Fogg's style rang true with me, and the first time I heard "Hold On" while driving home, I could just picture those hammer-ons in my head. I hadn't been inspired to learn a whole album in one sitting like this since My Morning Jacket's "Evil Urges." Perhaps because the style felt similar to my own, I thought this was a manageable goal. Great stuff.

Lee Barbour - "Nonfiction"
Lee was the first Charleston-based guitarist to blow me away (see Cary Ann's blurb above). He continues to do so with this full-length album of jazz/rock greatness. After seeing several of these songs performed live over the years, it's great to get lost in this collection of recordings. Lee is a formidable guitarist, so look him up if you're in the Charleston area.

School's out for summer. I'm really looking forward to exploring the Nashville scene and getting back to having  quality guitar time. Here's another great video with Nels, this one is from the folks at Premier Guitar.

Record Store Day is My Jam

I should be doing more of this right now:

Instead, I'm taking a quick break to get ready for Record Store Day. I am pumped about my first RSD in Nashville!  Record Store Day and Earth Day make for an awesome weekend, and my sister-in-law is also here for a visit. The only thing raining on my parade is the impending doom of  Law School Exam Week(s). Ideally, I would do a city-wide RSD tour, but with limited recreational time I was torn between Grimey's and Third Man Records. I decided to go with Grimey's, and I hope the weather permits the big yard sale they have planned. I am justifying the study break as a necessary errand to get some tunes that will help me get through finals. Here's what's on my list:

Shuggie Otis - "Inspiration Information" 7" w/"Magic"

One of my favorite songs by one of my favorite artists. I have most of his discography on iTunes, but "Magic" is an unreleased track. The purple vinyl is also insanely cool. If you don't know about Shuggie, do yourself a favor and look him up. Son of legendary bluesman Johnny Otis, Shuggie's career was arguably hurt by the fact that he was a multi-instrumental prodigy (in Stevie Wonder's shadow). Despite his lack of much deserved fame, Shuggie put out some quality work and made an appearance recently on Mos Def's The New Danger. They are rereleasing the full-length Inspiration Information album for the first time in forever in the U.S., but I got the import from 52.5 a few years ago in Charleston. 

The Explorer's Club - Grand Hotel

These guys would rock even if they weren't my homies. Their new record sounds fantastic and it has been well received. Catch them in Washington, DC for Earth Day on the National Mall!

Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies

I'm not sure what's different about the "RSD Exclusive Release" version, but this is a great album and I'd like to pick up a vinyl copy.

There will be way too much music for my limited budget come Record Store Day. New music from M. Ward, Beach House, Blitzen Trapper, and the T-Rex Electric Warrior vinyl box set are all tempting. Even if you're not in Nashville, RSD has something to offer you. I'd like to give a shout out to Earshot Records, the newest record store to open in Charleston, SC. Check them if you are in Chucktown. It's great to support your local record store, and many stores will have free live music on Saturday. If you are in Nashville, I hope you take advantage of RSD and the wealth of our local record stores.  Maybe I'll see you at Grimey's. Just save the last Shuggie 7" for me!

_____________________
FYI, I don't get paid to promote or advertise for anyone. I'd rather recommend things that I find truly valuable and noteworthy. I hope to contribute more about my experiences playing music, living in Nashville, and attending law school. Your donations make it possible to keep this going without relying on advertising.