Funky Fingerstyle Guitar
When I attended the High School for the Humanities in NYC I was in the graduating class of 1986.
At the time I was a 17 year old aspiring classical guitarist, practicing hard for my first year of college in the conservatory.
A few of my high school teachers were “guitar aficionados” and one in particular, “Mr. S”, encouraged me very much. I’ll never forget when he said “You’ll be the Pepe Romero of the year 2000!” This was incomprehensible to me.
I just had the pleasure of spending some time in my home studio recording a few solo tunes.
During the past few days I have experienced the range of emotions from elation to frustration, mainly with my own guitar playing.
I’d like to share some insights with you. The following applies to do-it-yourself home recordings as well as sessions where you go to a pro studio.
HI Gang!
For those of you who are tech junkies, I’d like to tell of my journey on “the other side.”
The following negative experience had a very profoundly positive effect on my music and concentration.
On March 7, 2013 I was robbed while on tour. My backpack with my laptop and many other personal items was suddenly gone.
2 hours before a concert I had to freeze bank accounts, close credit cards and change passwords to 15 websites in a flash, because like an idiot I had no master password on the machine. The stress was terrible!
Yet…the strangest thing happened about 10 days after the theft.
[Read more…] about How a Digital Diet Can Make You a Happier Person
I’m gonna give you some straight talk about practicing guitar and taking good care of your body and hands.
This is especially relevant today since so many people are self taught from videos and don’t have a real life teacher for feedback.
One of the favorite “myths” that fans and students hold in mind is that “great musicians practice 24 hours a day, to the exclusion of everything else and that’s why they are so good!”
People always ask me how “many hours a day I practice” and I see that they are living exactly this fantasy of “wow you are a dedicated artist who practices all the time!”
[Read more…] about 10 Tips for Healthy Guitar Practicing
I was thinking about something someone once told me.
“Pitch is Rhythm.”
Huh?
When I sing or play a note, it does not sound like a beat.
When I play a beat it does not sound like a note.
But in actuality – they are the same thing. Let’s take a look at this…
An “A 440” is simply a very fast rhythm. Scientifically speaking we are hearing a wave at 440 cycles per second.