Another guitar-related podcast I’ve recently discovered is the Premier Guitar podcast put out by Premier Guitar magazine. The podcast features many interviews and gear reviews. Recent interviewees include Jol Dantzig, Steve Carr, and Chapman Stick inventor Emmett Chapman.

I’m always on the lookout for guitar-related podcasts and thanks to GearTrap, I’ve recently discovered Six String Bliss. I’m currently listening to episode 105, although they’ve recently released episode 112.

My initial impression is that it’s a little slow-paced, but they cover guitar news, gear reviews, and interviews and make it fairly interesting. There are over 100 episodes, so there’s plenty of content to listen to. Hosts PT and Pipes have recently interviewed Ken Haas of Reverend Guitars, John 5, U.S. Music Corp’s Jody Dankberg, and Monte Montgomery. Take a listen!

What is your typical response when someone asks you whether you like a particular style of music that you don’t normally listen to? Most of us will say that we don’t like it and/or never listen to that style of music. I’d like to propose a different response. Instead of saying you don’t like it, ask the other person why they like it. Their response may provide some insight into the music that you hadn’t thought of before.

This is but an example of a larger issue that I’d like to address. Many musicians, even those who claim to be open minded about music, are actually fairly close minded. They only play rock music (or jazz music, or blues music, etc.), so they don’t listen to other types of music. I think there is something to be learned from all great musicians, regardless of the style of music they play. For example, I don’t listen to much country music, but I’m fortunate to live in a city with many great musicians who just happen to play country music. If I didn’t listen to any country music, I’d be missing out on some of the best musicians in the business.

The same is true of almost any style of music. Each musician phrases things differently based on the format in which they are playing. Consider an artist like John 5, who has managed to meld metal with country and somehow make it work for him. You may or may not like the resulting music, but you must admit that he is putting forth some interesting ideas and licks. He has taken many ideas traditionally used by country musicians and placed them in a metal context.

While I don’t listen to a lot of rap music, I can enjoy listening to guitarists who back up rap artists. It’s interesting to see how they hold back and complement the music rather than drive the music. This is very different from most of the music I listen to, which is primarily guitar driven.

You can pick out almost any style of music and find great musicians to learn from. I’m not suggesting that you go out of your way to listen to music you don’t like (although that’s not necessarily a bad idea), I’m just suggesting that maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss a style of music you’re not familiar with or you don’t like. Perhaps you’ll learn a lick that you hadn’t thought of or heard before. There’s a lot to learn when playing the guitar and I don’t think we should limit ourselves to one particular style of music.

Do you keep an open mind about music?

GuitarCardio.com, a site created by Brad Heintz, is a site that helps you increase your guitar stamina through a series of user-selectable exercises. Brad explains why he created the site:

Like most people who have to practice at something, I found that the practice & warm-up part of my routine got stale pretty quickly, and that I was just running through the same scales again and again, not really stretching my finger skills or my knowledge of music theory.

I’m also a software engineer. And like most software engineers, my first approach to a problem - any problem - is to try to write a solution.

Thus was born GuitarCardio.com, the practice tool that keeps my practice sessions and warm-ups fresh and challenging. I tell it what keys I want to work in, what scales I want to practice, and how hard I want the exercise to be, and I get a customized practice regimen on the spot. I’m pretty pleased with it - it’s done a tremendous job of scratching my particular itch, and I’ve put it on the web to see if it can’t maybe help someone else as well.

The GuitarCardio site provides a selection screen where you can select the key, scale-type, and difficulty level for the exercise. The resulting exercise is shown in tab with a finger diagram to help you along. Brad plans on adding things like additional scale types and modes, as well as site features like user profiles.

(via Guitar Pug)

The other day, I was browsing UkeleleHunt.com, a site devoted to the ukelele, and noticed the following video of a cover of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Lenny” by Jason Arimoto.

If you enjoyed the “Lenny” video, check out some of Jason’s other videos on his YouTube channel. There are some great videos of him playing covers of “Little Wing” and “Daughters,” as well as some original music.

MusicRadar.com is reporting that a collaborative album between Jimi Hendrix and Stephen Stills is being readied for release. The tracks that will compile the album were recorded in 1969 and 1970. There’s not a whole lot of details about the album, yet. New Hendrix tracks are always welcomed, though, so I’m looking forward to seeing what the resulting album will sound like.

(via Gibson Lifestyle)

* Photo courtesy Gibson Lifestyle.

Ira Glass, host of This American Life, gives some advice in this video about breaking through those times when you know the creative work you’re doing isn’t as good as you’d like. Some very good advice, such as producing a large volume of work, even if you know what you’re currently doing isn’t very good. Continuing to produce and work through those times will lead to better work in the future.

(via 43 Folders)

Over the past few years, there have been a number of new entries into the online video guitar lessons business. There’s nothing that compares to having a live, one-on-one teacher, but online videos can serve as a nice supplement, or, in some cases, a good alternative when no local teachers are accessible.

Infinite Guitar is one of the more recent entries in the online guitar video sites, launching this past March. Founded by Sean Conklin, Infinite Guitar currently provides video lessons by Conklin, Rick Graham, Richard Lundmark, Mike Edwin, Pavel Denisjuk, and Robert Mussatti. Lessons are divided up into Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced lessons, or you can access lessons by style. Many styles are covered, including Rock, Metal, Blues, Jazz, Classical, Funk, Fusion, and even Country. You can sample the site by signing up to get 10 free lessons and if you like what you see, site membership is available from $8.25 to $10.95 per month. Membership gives you access to all 587 lessons, as well as premium member forums and direct access to the instructors.

My first reaction when looking at the Infinite Guitar Web site is that it doesn’t look quite as polished as some of the other online video guitar lesson sites that launched several years ago. However, when looking for online guitar lessons, I’m more interested in the content than the presentation, so the lack of a more polished feel wasn’t all that much of a concern for me. That being said, the Infinite Guitar site looks professional and is easy to navigate. On to the content!

An online video guitar lesson site lives or dies by the quality of the lessons, and this is where Infinite Guitar does a very good job. The videos are high quality and well thought out. Lessons are shown in both full-speed and slow-speed versions allowing the viewer to hear how the music should sound in full speed and then work their way up to that. Close-up video is shot of the instructor’s hands during the lesson, so you really get to see what the instructors are showing you. Tablature is available for each lesson, which you can print out and refer to later.

In addition to teaching individual styles, Infinite Guitar offers lessons on Music Theory, including scales and chords. There is also a Chord Finder available on the site, which you can use to view and hear chord shapes.

Although the site boasts a number of different styles, there are currently more metal and rock lessons available than other styles. I believe that there is something to be learned from all styles of music, so I wasn’t bothered by the bias towards rock and metal. However, if you’re looking for a large number of classical guitar lessons, you might be somewhat disappointed in Infinite Guitar’s selection. Conklin did let me know that they are just getting started with the site, so expect many new lessons and instructors added to the site in the future.

Some of the lessons on the site are for songs written by the instructors. For example, Sean Conklin has a number of lessons featuring songs that he has written. Backing tracks are available for the songs, which you can use when learning the song. Currently, the backing tracks do not appear to be downloadable. I understand why Infinite Guitar might not want the backing tracks to be downloadable, but it would be nice to be able to refer to the backing tracks later, even if I were no longer a member. However, the fact that there are backing tracks available is a nice touch.

Overall, I was very impressed with the quality of both the videos and instruction available on Infinite Guitar. And, they are currently one of the cheapest online video guitar sites on the Internet, so you get a great value for the money. If you’re looking at online guitar video lessons, I recommend you take a look at Infinite Guitar and see if what they offer is what you’re looking for. Here’s a sampling of what Infinite Guitar offers:

John Mayer’s latest live 2CD/DVD combo “Where the Light Is” was released this week. This 2CD/DVD is a recording of Mayer’s charity concert he held on December 8, 2007 at L.A.’s Nokia Theatre. One of the more interesting aspects of the concert is that he played three distinct sets. First, he started off with an acoustic set, followed by a Trio set, and culminating in a set with his full touring band.

The acoustic set features Neon, Stop This Train, In Your Atmosphere, Daughters, and a cover of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’. This set was an intimate set with a small number of musicians, and sometimes just Mayer himself. This is a nice, relaxed set, which serves as a good introduction to the concert.

In between each set, the DVD shows some backstage footage of Mayer getting ready for the next set and discussing the last set. Additionally, there are some cut scenes to Mayer discussing life as a well-known musician and him preparing for the show.

The Trio set is the highlight of the concert for me. I really enjoy the sound that Mayer, Pino Palladino and Steve Jordan put together, and Mayer really lets loose more on the Trio than when playing with his full band. The set list for the Trio is Everyday I Have the Blues, Jimi Hendrix’s Wait Until Tomorrow, Who Did You Think I Was, Come When I Call, Good Love is On the Way, Out of My Mind, Vultures, and Hendrix’s Bold As Love. Mayer really digs into his Strat during these tunes, with Come When I Call being one of the highlights of the whole concert for me, although I greatly enjoyed each of the Trio songs. If you enjoyed Mayer’s work on his John Mayer Trio CD Try!, you’ll definitely enjoy this part of the concert.

The final set of the night was with Mayer’s full touring band. The set list for this part of the show included Waiting On The World To Change, Slow Dancing In a Burning Room, Why Georgia, The Heart of Life, I Don’t Need No Doctor, Gravity, I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You), Belief, and I’m Gonna Find Another You. Again, Mayer displays some great guitar chops on these songs. I was pleased to see that he doesn’t hold back too much when there are more players behind him, although he does allow his bandmates to shine, as well. The Heart of Life and I Don’t Need No Doctor were two of my favorite songs from this set.

I purchased the 2CD/DVD combo at Target, which has some exclusive features not found on the mainstream release. The features are 200 Guitars: The Collection, and a photo gallery from the night of the performance. I was reminded when watching the 200 Guitars feature that Mayer’s guitar tech is Rene Martinez. Martinez was Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar tech from 1985 until Vaughan’s untimely passing in 1990. Part of the 200 Guitars feature involved Mayer receiving the Fender Custom Shop “Lenny” tribute to Vaughan’s famous red Stratocaster. Martinez offers some comments about the original compared to the tribute as part of the 200 Guitars feature, which you can find on YouTube if you don’t get the Target version.

I’ve never seen Mayer perform live, so I can’t comment on how accurately “Where the Light Is” depicts a John Mayer concert. However, I can say that this is an excellent concert performance and a great way to see each of Mayer’s different styles together in one show. There’s some excellent guitar playing throughout the show, as well as some great music. I really enjoyed the whole show would highly recommend “Where the Light Is.” You can watch a trailer for the concert below:

ZZ Top has recently signed to American Recordings for their next album, which will be produced by Rick Rubin. Rubin’s been awfully busy lately producing Metallica’s next album, Jakob Dylan’s new album and now ZZ Top’s next album:

The veteran rock trio is planning to hit the studio with Rubin producing, for an album more in keeping with “La Grange”-era ZZ Top than its pop-friendly ’80s sound, according to manager Carl Stubner.

I’d love to see ZZ Top going back to the La Grange days. In other ZZ Top news, they have recently released a new live DVD titled Live From Texas 2007.