Showing posts with label Billy Gibbons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Billy Gibbons. Show all posts
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Hurricane Irene and “Sweet Baby Anita”:
Well what can I say, because of Hurricane Irene, I won’t be publishing anything new after this post this weekend. My time will be spent getting prepared for the storm; putting away lawn furniture and tools that can be tossed around, to and fro due to the rapid winds. We’ll also be packing up all the garbage that is in the outside garbage cans and putting it inside our garage with the lawn mower and other items that need to be under cover. Then we’ll be riding the storm through the weekend, hopefully without loosing all power.
I know I’ll be playing my guitars as long as there is power and hanging out with best friend and fiancé all weekend long after we’re thru Hurricane Proofing our home & property. Now, I have a surprise for her that I hope will make her feel more special than ever before. Just yesterday, I bought a barely used, (mint condition) PRS Starla Bigsby guitar from Nik Kosmas at the Guitar Center in Glen Burnie, MD. Of course when I told my better half about my newest purchase, she wasn’t real happy with me because I still have a Fender Stratocaster on hold that I’m paying for. another four weeks or two payments.
However as you know, all of us guitarists give our ax’s girls names; it’s a tradition. So, in honor of the lover of my life (no, not my Les Paul stupid . . . ) I named my newest guitar “Sweet Baby Anita” or just “Anita” for short. I really hope she knows how much she means to me and in turn, how much the guitar reminds me of her. Here are a couple of photos of “Anita”, I’m sure you’ll agree with me.
2011 PRS Starla Bigsby guitar w/ Santana Headstock, Neck & Fingerboard
My Better Half ”ANITA”, now she’s my real love !
Well, we have to get started on the hurricane preparation or else I’ll never be able to get to the Guitar Center to be able to pick-up “Sweet Baby Anita” tonight or tomorrow morning. I hope you all stay safe this weekend thru the storm and you don’t let Hurricane Irene nock you down. Actually, this is a very good time for all of us to cuddle together with our families and give them all big hugs and kisses to show them how much we love them. Didn't Billy Gibbons write a song about given’ me all your hugs and kisses too? Boy he was right for a Good Ole’ Southern Rocker wasn’t he?
Until after Irene;
Musician By Night
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Weekend Workout / Weeks 1,2 & 3 in Review;
As a standard practice, I’ll be publishing three weekend posts of New Lesson Plans followed by a 'One Week in Review' Post. Then I’ll start the whole process all over again. I'm not trying to push this lesson plan along in a rushed fashion because I believe every bit a time devoted to the Scales, Modes and Arpeggio’s will make each of us far better guitarists than we hoped we could be. Remember this too, always practice with the guitar through a clean channel, no distortion or effects should be used while working on your scales, etc. The key to becoming a top-notch lead guitarist is first to learn how to play your scales, note for note, using a clean sound so you can’t blur the notes into one another as what is done in some rock solos.
So let’s get started with Week One in review;
Week No. 1: The Major Scale (Ionian Mode) in Review;
This week I’m starting with the First Mode of the Major Scale: The Ionian Mode, working on the Standard, 3-Notes/String and the lmaj7 Arpeggio in all seven patterns. I’m using Guy’s Scales Modes and Arpeggios (see photo below) lesson plan which is very easy to follow but is also a complete comprehensive presentation that leverages a very similar grid structure in the context of scales that we’ll see in Guy’s Grids (see photo below) in a later post when we cover chords and chord patterns.
EXAMPLE: First Mode of the Major Scale
This is a quick view of what the typical instruction page looks like in this lesson plan. It is very easy to read and follow no matter what your skill level may be.
The 1st weekend I chose the intro to the ZZ Top song “La Grange”. That guitar intro is one of the most well known guitar pieces in Rock-n’-Roll history and I wanted to learn how to play it correctly, and I did. I also learned some of the guitar parts throughout the song, so that made me very happy.
I recommend you do the same; it was time well spent.
Week No. 2: The Blues Scale (Box’s 1-5) in Review:
I’ve often had questions regarding what are commonly called “the modes”. These refer to the Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian and Locrian modes of the traditional diatonic major scale. If this makes no sense to you, it probably doesn’t have to. Modes are actually very simply, and mostly on a guitar they tend to serve as nothing more than “boxes” for the diatonic scale.
As it turns out, if you combine the major and minor pentatonic scales, without the blue notes involved, you’ll get the notes in the mixolydian mode. The mixolydian mode is the mode you always want to use over 7th chords, which are the main chords in a blues song. So you’re already playing modes and didn’t even know it, if you’re familiar with the major modes listed above.
Once you add the blue notes to the pentatonic scales, thus turning them into “blues scales”, you’ve also added the blues notes to the mixolydian mode and there really isn’t any more to it. Sorry if you are disappointed.
You’ll sometimes see this scale called the “composite blues scale” on the internet. it’s nothing you don’t already know, just a name that has caught on through the web. And again, it’s just a mixolydian mode with the blue notes, which is just the major and minor blues scales (boxes 1 and 2) put together. Once again, nothing you don’t already know, right ?
Sunday, August 7th, 2011
Beyond Blues: The Composite Blues Scale
by Jeff McErlain
As we know, a standard blues progression is made up of three dominant-7th chords—the I, IV, and V. This month, we’re going to look at some cool ways to spice up the I chord. To make things easier, we’ll stick to the key of A, so our I chord will be A7. A quick and simple way to spice up that chord is by mixing two very familiar scales, the major and minor blues scales. If we were to look at the formula for this scale it would be root–b3–4–b5–5–b7.
What makes this scale very cool is the added b5 or “blue note.” The b5 adds some chromaticism to the scale, which it doesn’t have otherwise. A great sound is to really play up the chromaticism in a lick. I really love the rub and tension those notes can add to a line. If you haven’t spent some quality time with the blues scale, I suggest you do!
An A7 chord is spelled A–C#–E–G or root–3–5–b7. If we look at our minor blues scale we can see that it does not contain a very important note of the chord, the natural 3rd or C#. Although the scale sounds great, it does have some room to expand. A simple option to play over the A7 chord is the A major blues scale. This scale consists of A–B–C–C#–E–F# and its formula is root–2–b3–3–4–
6. This scale now includes the natural 3rd (C#).Fig. 1 is called the composite blues scale;
That’s a lot of notes to think about. Here we have A–B–C–C#–D–Eb–E–F#–G, or root–2–b3–3–4–b5–5–6–b7. That’s nine notes.
Before you get overloaded, let’s take a closer look at all the harmonic goodness going on inside here. First, we have a series of half-steps that go from B to E, and that’s where the fun lies as we can see in Fig. 2. We can use this same technique to create a classic-sounding blues turnaround, as shown in Fig. 3. To get a jazzier sound, I used all the half-steps found in this scale to create a classic bop lick with a bluesy twist as seen in Fig. 4.
As you can see, the composite blues scale has many exciting possibilities, and I have only scratched the surface here. The thing to remember—and the key to breaking this down—is that all you are doing is mixing the major and minor blues scales, nothing more! So if you are feeling overwhelmed at the many options and sounds, start with something as simple as adding one new note to your minor blues scale. The first note I’d suggest is the natural 3rd (C#), which will put you on the right track. Remember, we can use these licks on the I chord of the blues, but be careful of that C# against the IV chord (D7)—it can really clash. What to do? Just don’t play it.
Week No. 3: The Major or Dorian Scale in Review;
The Second Mode of the Major Scale: The Dorian Mode, still working on the Standard, 3-Notes/String and the imaj7 Arpeggio in all seven patterns. Remember, I’m using Guy’s Scales Modes and Arpeggios (see photo #1) lesson plan which is very easy to follow but is also a complete comprehensive presentation that leverages a very similar grid structure in the context of scales that we’ll see in Guy’s Grids (see photo #2) in a later post when we cover chords and chord patterns.
Photo #1 Photo #2
The Dorian Scale is outlined on Page 14 of Guy’s Scales, Modes & Arpeggios. I suggest you order the program so you have it to follow along with me; it is a fabulous lesson plan for us guitarists. Concentrate your efforts on the 3-Notes/String and the im7 Arpeggio’s. Play them over and over while you continue to play the Week One and Two Lesson Plan’s. I suggest you take one key and learn the Ionian Scale, then learn the Dorian Scale in the same key. Then practice tying both scales together and play them against a song recorded on CD.
I hope you follow along with me and keep working these scales. I know for a fact that learning the scales and identifying with the fingerboard are the two most important issues when training to become a professional guitarist. I’ll never stop practicing the major scales, of that I am sure.
Hope your Sunday evening is great and don’t forget to give your kids a hug. I have a few good post’s coming up that I’ve been working on so until next time.
Don’t be blue . . . . .
Musician By Night
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Tal Wilkenfeld, "the rising star of the bass guitar" :
Widely hailed as "the rising star of the bass guitar," Tal Wilkenfeld first picked up guitar at the age of 14, in her native Sydney, Australia. She soon realized her passion and decided to pursue music professionally in the United States. After six months of studying guitar in Los Angeles, Tal found her true calling, and switched to the bass. It didn't take long for the 17-year-old prodigy to get noticed; after playing bass for only a few months, famed luthier Roger Sadowsky heard her play and immediately offered her an endorsement with Sadowsky Guitars. Very quickly, Tal started performing as a sideman and bandleader, playing with the likes of Russell Ferrante, Kenwood Dennard, Hiram Bullock, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Leni Stern, Susan Tedeschi, and the Allman Brothers Band.
In May 2006, Tal recorded her first solo album, "Transformation." She was 20, and had been playing bass for only three years. As well as demonstrating her prowess on bass, Tal also composed, arranged, and produced the album. The CD, which was released in 2007, features guitar savant Wayne Krantz, Geoff Keezer, Keith Carlock and Seamus Blake.
It has been widely acclaimed by critics and music fans all over the world, with Bass Player magazine noting, "On her aptly-titled, vibrant debut, Wilkenfeld displays a writing depth and musical presence to complement the buzz about her dynamic-yet-discerning bass approach. Tal has a natural gift for writing in odd meters while retaining an indelible sense of melody and groove. Make no mistake, this lass is poised to soar."
On the heels of "Transformation," some big breaks came Tal's way. At just 21, she accompanied jazz giant Chick Corea on his tour of Australia. One month later, guitar legend Jeff Beck asked her to join him on a European Summer Tour.
“Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival 2007”
The Beck Tour culminated at Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival, where Jeff featured Tal with a blistering solo on "Cause We've Ended as Lovers." Many regard this as one of the highlights of the show. That track, along with "Big Block," are featured on the DVD "Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007."
"Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007."
Perhaps her remarkable musical gift is best summed up by Jeff Beck, who enthused, "What can I say about Tal Wilkenfeld? How does one describe an astonishing talent? The answer is, you don't. You listen, and watch, as 45,000 people did in Chicago at the Crossroads Festival 2007. I’ve witnessed some special moments in my time, but to see all those 'dyed-in-the-wool' blues fanatics and guitar freaks go berzzzzerk half way through her solo left me emotional, and that is an understatement. The word proud is barely adequate."
Four months later, Jeff asked Tal to perform with him on a series of shows in London, where they were joined by special guests Eric Clapton and Joss Stone. This concert was recorded and came out on CD in November 2008 as:
"Performing This Week...Live at Ronnie Scott's."
"Performing This Week...Live at Ronnie Scott's." All about Jazz adds: "There are plenty of bassists with staggering technique and chops, but few can make the instrument truly sing, as Wilkenfeld does on Beck's CD during an all-stops-out solo on Stevie Wonder's "'Cause We've Ended as Lovers."
On the same trip to England, Tal joined Herbie Hancock on a session with fellow jazz icon Wayne Shorter, which was filmed for the A&E TV series "Live from Abbey Road." Singer Corinne Bailey Rae and drummer Vinnie Colaiuta were also featured on the session.
Tal wrapped up 2007 via a pair of standing-room-only Greenwich Village gigs with Wayne Krantz. She also accompanied Wayne on gigs in L.A., and then embarked on a tour of Australia in the fall of '08, with Wayne and Keith Carlock--a reunion of the core band who appeared on "Transformation." At the conclusion of the tour, Wayne and Keith, along with John Beasley, backed Tal during her headlining set for Bass Player Live 2008. Elsewhere, in July 2008, Tal accompanied Jeff Beck at the Grammy's Tribute to George Martin concert in L.A. She was also invited by Warren Haynes to participate in his 20th Annual Christmas Jam, in Asheville, North Carolina. There, she performed with the Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule, Ivan Neville, and Robben Ford. As a final "star on the tree", Tal was voted "The Year's Most Exciting New Player" in Bass Player's 2008 Readers Choice Awards.
Fulfilling the title of her critically-hailed debut disc, Tal Wilkenfeld's transformation has been continuing at a dizzying pace. Early 2009 saw Tal in New York City where she was featured as a special guest on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" sitting in with "The Roots". She then went on to tour extensively with Jeff Beck in Australia, Japan, America, Europe, Canada and the UK. During the UK run, David Gilmour sat in with the group during a special performance at the Royal Albert Hall. One of the highlights of the year included playing with Jeff at his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, which featured Tal playing "Immigrant Song" with Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page. Jeff Beck Recalls: "When I was inducted, we were going to have Jimmy Page come on and play '(Beck's) Bolero'. But I didn't think it would be right for him to be playing rhythm guitar all the way through that one number. Then the phone rang and it was Tal Wilkenfeld, my then bass player. She was on the way down in the elevator and told me we should play 'Immigrant Song.' We were going on in ten minutes and had no time to rehearse. She said 'Oh, when you stop in the middle of 'Bolero', when the rhythm changes, we'll kick in to 'Immigrant Song'. "That's what I like - right on the hoof. Nobody knew, the lighting and sound guys didn't know, the organizers didn't know. I just grabbed the microphone and shouted, "Jimmy Paaaage!" and went straight into the song. I loved that. That's what you call dangerous, that's living on your reflexes."
July also found Tal in the studio, playing bass on a track for Herbie Hancock's upcoming CD. In October Tal reunited with Jeff at Madison Square Garden for the historic Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame's 25th Anniversary two night concert. Beck's searing set included guests Buddy Guy, Sting and Billy Gibbons.
Buddy Guy Jeff Beck
STING Billy Gibbons
February began with the exhilarating word that Jeff Beck had won a Grammy for the much acclaimed CD/DVD "Jeff Beck: Performing This Week...Live At Ronnie Scott's." In addition, Tal was featured on 4 tracks on Jeff's new album, "Emotion & Commotion", 
performs on the song "That Man"; and Lee Ritenours "Six String Theory", Featuring Tal on "68" with Steve Lukather, Neal Schon, and Slash; "In your Dreams" With Steve Lukather and Lee Ritenour; "Give Me One Reason" with Joe Bonamassa and Robert Cray; and Guthrie Govan's song "Fives" featuring a solo by Tal. On May 23rd she made a special appearance at the Baked Potato 40th anniversary show at the Ford Ampitheater with Steve Lukather's band.
Along with all the albums due out this summer, Tal will accompany Herbie Hancock on dates across US, Canada and Europe to support his new CD "The Imagine Project". This short tour will include two special shows at Carnegie Hall and The Hollywood Bowl to celebrate Herbie's 70th birthday.
While talking to the Ventura County Reporter about the upcoming tour, Herbie enthuses "I’ve also got Tal Wilkenfeld, an electric bass player from Australia; she’s been working with Jeff Beck. One of the most important qualities I look for in a musician is intuition. Absolutely. Vinnie Colaiuta has that. So does Tal Wilkenfeld, even though she’s still a budding musician. To me, she’s a derivative of Jaco Pastorius — she has the technique, the lyricism, and she plays flawlessly. But Jaco’s only one of her influences. I listen to her and I think: how can she only be 24?"
Tal Wilkenfeld is one special musician for being only 24 years old; I’m sure you’ll agree with me on that one. Starting off at age 14 with the guitar then switching over to the bass and now is one of the most desired musicians in the studio and on the concert tours. I can’t wait to get the opportunity to catch her perform LIVE along with Clapton, Beck or any one of a number of famous lead guitarists. Hopefully, she make it to the famous Blues Alley Jazz Club in Georgetown, Washington, DC someday soon.
Have a great weekend, I’ll be back with my “Weekend Workout” post tomorrow. I got side-tracked when I heard Tal perform on DVD at Ronnie Scott’s with Jeff Beck which inspired this post. As always, don’t forget to hug those kids of yours. Until tomorrow;
Bob . . . . . . . .
Saturday, July 30, 2011
A New Blog Feature // My Weekend Workout:
I’ve decided to start a new weekend feature here on the blog called; “My Weekend Workout”. I will share with you what scales, modes and arpeggios I’m working on along with what lesson plan I’m working from. I’ll also share with you all the other sources that I am using to concentrate my efforts on becoming a more accomplished, modern guitarist. Since I have a career that pays the bills and takes up most of my Monday thru Friday weekdays, I must realize that my time is limited to evenings and weekends for my music. I’m sure many of you are in the same position as I. So, I hope you follow along and comment as much as possible so I can learn from you as I hope you will from me.
Let’s get started;
Week No. 1: The Major Scale (Ionian Mode)
This week I’m starting with the First Mode of the Major Scale: The Ionian Mode, working on the Standard, 3-Notes/String and the lmaj7 Arpeggio in all seven patterns. I’m using Guy’s Scales Modes and Arpeggios (see photo #1) lesson plan which is very easy to follow but is also a complete comprehensive presentation that leverages a very similar grid structure in the context of scales that we’ll see in Guy’s Grids (see photo #2) in a later post when we cover chords and chord patterns.
Photo #1 Photo #2
EXAMPLE: First Mode of the Major Scale
This is a quick view of what the typical instruction page looks like in this lesson plan. It is very easy to read and follow no matter what your skill level may be.
Playing my Gibson Les Paul Standard as I practice the G major scale
I also like to locate one (1) lick or chord pattern to learn and depending on the difficulty level, I may only pick one (1) each month in lieu of one (1) per weekend. Remember, I can only stretch myself out so far because I am booked during the week from 6:30 AM until 6:30 PM and after that I only have so much time for practice. Of course I would love to be able to practice 10 hours a day like most professionals do or have done to get to be in the position they are in today. However, that isn’t the case for me right now so I have to be realistic and chose the right amount of homework for myself that I know I’ll be able to accomplish before the next session.
This weekend I chose the ever famous intro to the ZZ Top song “La Grange”. Boy if you ask anyone if they’ve ever heard it, they’ll laugh and say; “are you crazy.” That guitar intro is one of the most well known guitar pieces in Rock-n’-Roll history and I just have to learn how to play it correctly.
I’ve heard several guitarists destroy it in an attempt to play it like Billy Gibbons so I do not want to be one of those guitarists. I need to play it like Billy and only like Billy intended it to be played.
So, that’s the piece that I’m currently concentrating on. If anyone has any suggestions for me, please send them my way. I would really appreciate it. I have the basics rhythm and chord structure down with the simple bass note changes but I hear other note changes in the background that I don’t understand how he could be doing all by himself.
I feel that this is a good start to my weekly project that I hope gets you involved. As I said, I’m always open for suggestions and constructive criticism that’ll help my guitar playing or improve upon my blog. Have a great weekend; go outside and have fun in the sun with your children; they’re only young once. Also, remember to give them a hug !
Until next time;
Bob
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Shredding; Can I Play Like The Pros ?:
I’ve often wondered what shredding was until I started listening to Paul Gilbert. His rapid fire guitar licks just fascinated and intrigued me, to say the least. How does this man move his fingers that fast? I mimicked a lot of the 70’s & 80’s guitar licks from such rock legends as Jimmy Page, Billy Gibbons, Eric Clapton and many others but none of them could hold a candle to the speed of Paul Gilbert.
Billy Gibbons / ZZ Top Jimmy Page / Led Zeppelin
Eric Clapton Al DiMeola
Now I also follow Al DiMeola; the world renowned jazz fusion artist who’s speed on the neck is incredible. Coupled with his unique style where he mutes the strings even as he’s shredding. In fact, it’s hard to tell, but he is probably quicker than Paul; however Paul actually teaches the shredding guitar style that I’m currently interested in learning where Al concentrates on jazz format and scales.
Paul Gilbert
I plan to keep training each and every day; at least an hour a day to improve my overall guitar playing skills. I take an extra hour each day, when possible, to devote entirely to shredding exercises, scales and licks. I plan to follow Paul Gilbert’s Lesson Plan to start and we’ll see how far that takes me. Last night I was very happy with my progress after two days working on shredding a three (3) note lick or triplet that his lesson plan started with. Tonight I’ll do a review and move on to the four note lick if I can stay awake. It’s been a long, stressful day in my work world today. Tonight should be interesting !!!!
Hope you enjoyed this post and are looking forward to what’s coming up next. Take care and always remember to hug your kids and tell them that you love them !
Bob
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