Ben Harper - “Both Sides of the Gun”
Ben Harper’s latest album, which is actually a double-album, titled “Both Sides of the Gun” will be available in stores on March 21. The track listings are:
Disc 1:
1. Morning Yearning
2. Waiting For You
3. Picture in a Frame
4. Never Leave Lonely Alone
5. Sweet Nothing Serenade
6. Reason To Mourn
7. More Than Sorry
8. Cryin’ Won’t Help You Now
9. Happy Everafter In Your Eyes
Disc 2:
1. Better Way
2. Both Sides of the Gun
3. Engraved Invitation
4. Black Rain
5. Gather ‘Round The Stone
6. Please Don’t Talk About Murder While I’m Eating
7. Get It Like You Like It
8. The Way You Found Me
9. Serve Your Soul
Harper also appears with Jack Johnson on the recent soundtrack to the film Curious George.
Johnny Hiland Interview
Modern Guitars Magazine has recently posted an interview with guitarist Johnny Hiland. Hiland has released a self-titled album on Steve Vai’s Favored Nations label and is working on a second album. The interview also covers information about Hiland’s new Paul Reed Smith signature guitar. In addition to playing the guitar, Hiland, who is legally blind, is a motivational speaker and an author who has recently finished writing a children’s book titled “Tuff the Special Bear.”
eJamming
eJamming is a new site where you can connect and jam with someone across the street or across the world. If you have a midi interface on your computer, then you can log in and jam with other musicians. The software even allows you to talk to the other musicians via full-duplex voice over IP (VoIP). There are regular jam sessions that you can join, or you can get together with a few friends and play. The service is $19.95/mo, but there’s a two week free trial. (via TechCrunch)
Martin Guitars = Crap?
Brad Kozak, on novelidea.com, recently wrote about going to a music store and seeing a Martin guitar, complete with laminated back and sides, which is a departure from Martin’s historically very high quality guitars. The NovelIdea blog is geared towards marketing and branding, so the post is targeted towards that audience. However, it’s an interesting argument. For example, Brad says:
What does this mean for your brand? It means that cutting corners and trading your brand’s value for a “quick-fix” mentality is sucide. Martin will never again be able to claim that they only make great instruments. They don’t.
I used to own a low-end Martin several years ago, but “low-end” Martin at the time meant the same as most other manufacturers high quality guitars. Will putting out laminate guitars ruin Martin’s brand? I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s sure to dilute the brand, at least somewhat. Read Brad’s full post here.
South By Southwest
The famous South by Southwest festival started this past weekend in Austin, TX. The interactive and film conferences have already started, and the music conference will start on Wednesday, March 15. You can view a schedule of the music conference here. Neil Young will be giving the keynote on Thursday, March 16. The SXSW festival looks like a great show, and I hope to one day actually get to go check it out. If you happen to be going this year, let us know how it is. If you’re not going, you can still check out some of the bands using the SXSW player available on the conference’s music page.
Review: Clapton’s Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument
Review: Clapton’s Guitar: Watching Wayne Henderson Build the Perfect Instrument 4.0 out of 5 stars
Clapton’s Guitar, by Allen St. John, is a book chronicling the making of two acoustic guitars, one for Eric Clapton and one for charity, both being made by master guitar player and guitar-builder Wayne Henderson. It’s clear that St. John admires Wayne, and this book details why.
I’d never heard of Wayne Henderson prior to reading this book, but St. John does a fantastic job of describing him and his talents of playing and building guitars. The book really makes you feel like you’re along for the ride as St. John records the process of making an acoustic guitar. Along the way, St. John takes a few side trips and speaks with other guitar makers to get even further insight into the guitar making process, as well as further insight into what makes Wayne’s guitars so great. St. John’s admiration of vintage Martin guitars is also evident, and he does a very good job of describing these beautiful instruments.
The fact that Wayne is building a guitar for Eric Clapton is really a footnote to the true story, that of the person and the process of Wayne Henderson. This book is really an engaging story about Wayne Henderson.
Conclusion
I found Clapton’s Guitar by Allen St. John to be an interesting look into the shop of a respected guitar builder while building a guitar for one of the most famous guitarists on the planet. If you’re a guitar player, a guitar builder, or someone who’s interested in reading about fine craftmanship, then I’d recommend picking up a copy of Clapton’s Guitar.
LAGQ Spin
The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (LAGQ) are scheduled to release their next album, Spin, later this month on March 28, 2006. This album was recorded prior to their recent year-long hiatus; they are back together now and will be touring behind this album beginning this month.
Additionally, Mel Bay has recently released a DVD of the quartet performing during their last tour. If you have a chance to catch LAGQ live in your city, I’d highly recommend seeing them. I saw them several years ago, and it was a great show. Andrew York, Scott Tennant, William Kanengiser and John Dearman are a great quartet.
Another side note: in contrast to most people I know who are programmers with music as a hobby, Andrew York is a musician with programming as a hobby. He created a software program called MindChimes, which is a “virtual windchimes” program that plays random windchime sounds to help you relax and concentrate while working on your computer.
Mel Bay’s Guitar Sessions
I recently noticed that Mel Bay Publications is offering a free online guitar magazine called Mel Bay’s Guitar Sessions. The magazine contains articles on many topics, including lessons covering a variety of musical styles, artist interviews, and guitar-making tips. I’ve looked over a few of the articles, and what I’ve seen so far is pretty good. Of course, they are drawing heavily, if not entirely, on authors and content from their publications, so if you’re a fan of Mel Bay books, then you’re likely to be a fan of Mel Bay’s Guitar Sessions.
Become an Expert
Creating Passionate Users is a weblog focused on helping software developers create better software user experiences. However, I found a recent post titled How to be an expert to be relevant to guitar players as well. In the post, Kathy Sierra makes the hypothesis that greatness is not so much a gift of talent as it is a matter of focus, dedication and a desire to improve:
Apparently God-given talent, natural “gifts”, and genetic predispositions just aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Or at least not in the way most of us always imagined. It turns out that rather than being naturally gifted at music or math or chess or whatever, a superior performer most likely has a gift for concentration, dedication, and a simple desire to keep getting better. In theory, again, anyone willing to do what’s required to keep getting better WILL get better.
I think this is very true. While it’s necessary to have some aptitude for whatever task you are attempting to perform, the great performers are often those people that spent countless hours refining their technique and constantly trying to improve. Kathy goes on to say that it isn’t necessarily that the great performers spend more time practicing; it’s that they spend more time practicing the things that they aren’t good at:
So it’s not just how long they practice, it’s how they practice. Basically, it comes down to something like this:
Most of us want to practice the things we’re already good at, and avoid the things we suck at. We stay average or intermediate amateurs forever.
Additionally, if you think you’re too old to become a master at playing the guitar, Kathy has a few words of advice for you, as well:
And if the neuroscientists are right, you can create new brain cells–by learning (and not being stuck in a dull cubicle)–at virtually any age. Think about it… if you’re 30 today, if you take up the guitar tomorrow, you’ll have been playing for TWENTY years by the time you’re 50. You’ll be kicking some serious guitar butt. And if you’re 50 today, there’s no reason you can’t be kicking guitar butt at 70. What are you waiting for?
Read the full “How to be an expert” article here.
Warming Up
As a follow up to my Perfect Practice post, I thought I’d talk a little about warming up. Warming up should be included in your practice routine.
It’s important to warm up prior to practicing or playing so that the muscles in your hands are loose. It’s possible to strain or damage the muscles in the hand if they’re not properly stretched prior to playing at full speed. Another advantage to warming up prior to playing is that you’re more likely to play accurately and with more ease if your hands are loose and stretched.
What should be included in a warm-up routine? I personally like to run through a few scales and licks; typically I’ll spend a few minutes running through a few chromatic scale sequences and then play some blues licks I’ve been playing for years. However, you might want to play a few chords as a way to stretch your hands. For instance, playing a G chord-D chord-C chord combination sequence provides several different fingerings and stretches.
When warming up, it’s important to focus on stretching the muscles in the hand and not necessarily playing the notes at full speed. Concentrate on technique, not speed.
In summary, a good practice routine consists of about 5-10 minutes of warming up prior to practicing or performing.
-
-
About
Welcome to my guitar blog! My name is Josh, and this site is my attempt to celebrate the guitar, its history, and its players. Read more...
-
Subscribe in a Reader
-
Subscribe by E-mail
-
Blogroll