Month: July 2020

Budget guitars: They need love, too!

You might start looking at budget guitars if you are just beginning to learn how to play or even just thinking about it. I hesitate to call them “cheap” guitars as those in the bottom price range have become quite good! Let’s explore this a little bit. There was a hilarious series of articles in […]

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How to learn music by ear: Missing opportunities?

You may be missing valuable opportunities to learn music by ear if you are using a tuner and if you are avoiding singing along with the notes you are playing.

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When to change your strings: A few hints

When do you change your strings? My older brother brought his guitar along when he visited my wife and I last year. When I picked it up to play it, the strings felt like they were a year old. He lives several states away; so, we don’t get to see each other often but he […]

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Learn to play guitar For Adults: How To Start

Many would like to learn to play guitar. Now that they are adults, the next question is how to start. What to do first and where to begin are all good questions that I would like to address here. Give you a little boost 😉 You might think, “Well, I will just grab a guitar […]

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Needs more cowbell? Getting the signature sound

My wife and I were walking down the street of our town and we approached a small music venue, Jaxon Edwin. It was obvious, the band was playing hard rock but the song was ending and I could not identify it. However, the next song started with car horns and then a bass playing a […]

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Dad Rock? Music for the rest of us!

Maybe I’m a little behind the curve, but I’ve been seeing the term “dad rock” more lately and decided to actually look into it. I thought the term came from a love of classic rock particularly with those of my generation. Then I saw a video from JHS Pedals where Josh uses the term with […]

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It’s all about the tone, man

I have a friend name Tony whose email address starts with: The Tone. He sings for The Shades of Blue Orchestra which is a local swing orchestra and he does have “the tone”. If you enjoy the classic vocals of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett, you will love this band. But we’re not […]

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Chord charts and lead sheets: A How To Guide

If you play with a church group or the occasional amateur band, you will use chord charts. Jazz bands use charts and The Real Book is a famous compendium of standard charts. My band, The Regeneration Jazz Band, draws from this volume regularly. Most chord charts are rather simple and created on the fly. I […]

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Let’s try a little fingerpicking

A fellow guitarist and I were talking the other day. I mentioned that my fingerpicking is a kind of pseudo classical style thing I developed early on in my playing. He could tell I was clearly dogging my technique and offered this encouragement: “Anything that gets the job done is acceptable.” Just because I did […]

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