Forums Spotlight: Microtonality

The Jam Session Guitar Forum has a mammoth 6 page thread about microtonality or microtonal theory. To get you started on the concept here is an excerpt from wikipedia's entry on the subject:

"Microtonal music is music using microtones — intervals of less than an equally spaced semitone, or as Charles Ives put it, the "notes between the cracks" of the piano. A looser definition includes anything not in 12-tone equal temperament, while a stricter definition distinguishes between microtonal music (which can take 12-tone equal temperament as an audible basis), and xenharmonic music (which does not)."

Check out the post and learn more about playing microtones on a guitar.

Blog Roundup: Playing Tips and Colorful Guitars

- Play Like a Girl has a mini interview with guitarist Steve Lynch discussing his technique for tapping. You should also check out our lesson on guitar tapping.

- The IG Blog has an interesting post on preparing you body to play guitar. In our Warm Ups and Drills lesson we discuss several different stretching exercises for the arms and legs. They take it a step further and look at some back stretches and general posture ideas that could improve your playing.

- Guitar Noize takes a look at the new Killer Paint Series by Schenk Guitars. They certainly have an eye catching paint job.

Youtube: The Making of a Gibson Guitar

A short video on the making of a Gibson guitar by the Travel Channel's Made in America. The clip features interviews with Steve Earl, Dan Seals, Joe Diffie as well as a fantastic tour of the Nashville factory.

New Lesson: Jazz Guitar Licks

We have two new Jazz Guitar Lessons available.

Solo in G by Billy Wilkie is a Quicktime video lesson where you will learn how to play a complete jazz solo. This downloadable lesson covers how to play a 15 measure solo over a jazz blues progression in G. Billy will break down the solo measure by measure and discuss what is happening at different times. This lesson should add some more tricks to your bag as well as give you an idea of how to piece a solo together. Watch a sample clip from this lesson.

Also, we have More Benson Style Licks by Billy Wilkie is a Quicktime video lesson covering a variety of jazz guitar licks in the style of George Benson. In our first Benson style lesson we focused on his approach to playing bluesy licks. In this video Billy will cover George Benson's unique way of utilizing and manipulating chromaticism in his solo lines. We'll learn eight licks in the key of G minor and then practice them over a jam track. Watch sample clips from this lesson.

We're talking about practice

The IG Blog has a good post on practicing the guitar. It contains a link to an NPR interview with Glenn Kurtz who just wrote the book Practicing: A Musician’s Return to Music. In addition to the interview there also excerpts from the book with my favorite being:

“Alone in the practice room, I hold my instrument silently. Every day it is the same task, yet something new. I delve down, seeking what hides waiting in the notes, what lies dormant in myself that music brings to life. I close my eyes and listen for the unheard melody in what I’ve played a hundred times before, the unsuspected openings.”

Check out the post and be sure to read the comments as well. There is some good conversation going on over there. If you're looking for some specific drills to use while you practice, take a look at our set of guitar technique video lessons.

Guitar Pic of the Week: Cigar Box Guitar

The interesting and intriguing picture above is of a guitar made from a cigar box by Daddy Mojo. You can check out their site to learn more about cigar box guitars and even purchase some. You even get your choice of cigar boxes to use for your own custom guitar. Here's an excerpt from their site:

"Skeptics be warned: a Daddy Mojo Cigar Box Guitar is all you need for super fat authentic slide work. Tune it how you want -- we ship most of ours tuned in open G, but you can try E5 or open D for a great Delta Blues vibe or perhaps G6 or C6 for a more laid back Hawaiian feel. There are just loads of variations! Experiment! On a cigar box guitar your technique gets stripped down to a bare-bones simple approach for both chord and melody work, reminding us of the fat sounds of the olden days."

The guitars were originally built in poor rural parts of the country who didn't have access to the money or tools required to build a high quality guitar. To this day it remains a cottage industry that only a select few know about. For a cheaper selection of cigar box guitars and also a few instructional videos check out Blues Boy Jag's cigar box guitar site.

Ukulele

The Guitarz Blog linked to an article from The Independent on the resurgence of the ukulele. Here's a sample:

"Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes plays ukulele on "Cleanse Song", a track on his latest album Cassadaga, while Bill Drummond, the anti-hero of KLF, says he's so in love with his uke that he takes it to bed with him. The new ukulele brotherhood also apparently includes Pete Doherty, one of an unlikely trail of stars who frequent Duke of Uke, Britain's only dedicated ukulele shop, which does a roaring business in London's Spitalfields."

So I decided to look around the web myself and see what ukulele stuff was out there. The Uke.com was the most informative site I found. Most helpful is probably their chord charts section

I also ran across two ukulele blogs if you'll believe it. The first is the Uke Club, which features songs and even cartoons. The second, Ukulelia, finds everything ukulele related on the web.

And if you just want to enjoy some good uke playing check out the video below.

Blog Roundup

- It's attack of the Giant Flying V Guitar over at Music Thing. Do you think they keep strings for that in stock at Guitar Center?

- Guitar Wars has a review of the complete overhaul Fender has done to their website.

- Gotta Strat? Wanna leave the world of relative obscurity behind for the fast paced and glitzy lifestyle of internet semi-fame? Head over to Me and My Strat, where they will post a picture of you and you gorgeous stratocaster.

- The Guitar Channel has a review of Robben Ford's new album. If you're looking to learn some Robben Ford style riffs you should check out our Altered Blues Licks lesson.

- Guitar Stuff brought our attention to a fantastic lesson by flatpicking great Brad Davis on double down up picking. The video starts off with a somewhat cheesy interview but later moves on to some truly valuable instruction. Take a look and see what you think.

Jazz Guitar Greats

The Guitar Resource has a post on what he learned from Guitar Player Magazine this month. Mainly from an interview where Pat Martino discusses improvising, listening, and playing in the moment. If you're intrigued you can learn some Pat Martino style lines in our Classic Jazz Licks II lesson.

Also, while I was digging around on the Guitar Player website I found this article on the Top Ten George Benson Riffs of All Time. Unfortunately on their online article Guitar Player isn't allowed to include the tabs. However they do have lengthy explanations of each lick as well as time notation of when the lick occurs in the recordings. So you should be able to pieces everything together with a little work.

If you're looking to go ahead and have the tab smack dab in front of you... we have two Benson inspired lessons. Our first Classic Jazz Licks lesson featured licks inspired by George Benson and Joe Pass. Billy Wilkie also has a second lesson called More Joe Pass Style.

Ask a Teacher: 2-5-1 Progression

Phil: I'm working my way through some ideas based on your bebop scale video at Free Guitar Videos. Why is so much attention paid in jazz to the 2m7 - 57 change? I've read that it 70% of understanding jazz. How can that be?

Peter: The 2-5-1 chord progression is pretty important in jazz. You will find this progression in many jazz standards. I think saying that understanding it covers 70 percent of jazz is an overstatement but it is quite significant. The 2-5-1 progression is the way many jazz tunes establish a key-it is also quite often the way they change keys. Jazz soloists are constantly learning to play over these chords with lines and specific licks. You will find some of these on our site. The bigger concept is tension and release. In jazz tension is created over the 5 chord and released when it gets to the 1 chord. The 2 chord is really just an extension of the 5 chord. Jazz has particular ways of creating tension with it's chords and solos that make it different than most other genres. I can't go into the theory required as it would take several books to do so. Jazz players are still writing new ideas concerning this concept. Learn some 2-5-1 chord progressions, learn some 2-5-1 licks, and study some jazz standards so you can recognize one when you see it or hear it. You will also have to learn about altered chords and altered licks. If you don't know theory-you will need to. This is is a life long direction-you never will know it entirely.

If you have a question send it to petervogl@comcast.net or leave a comment below.

Gibson Guitar Serial Numbers

Own a Gibson guitar and want to learn more about it? Well Gibson has an article up on their site showing you what info you can and can't deduce about you guitar just from looking at the serial number.

For some basic serial number info on other guitar brands check out this site.