In a bold departure from my usual video-of-the-month, this month’s video features a new product that is hitting the market today. If even a fraction of the hype is true, this should take the guitar playing market by storm.

As always, I have absolutely no affiliation with the product in question.

November’s Video-of-the-Month features a tune that I have just started working on.

I started guitar lessons a month ago (after not having formal lessons for over 30 years) and this is the second tune that my teacher gave me to work on. It’s a tough one! The thing that I like about this piece is that it is forcing me to use voicings that I would not typically use on my own. It also has some very cool counterpoint (bits that complement the melody and harmony).

Here is Stephen Kenyon playing his interpretation of the tune, which differs from the version that I am learning in the way that he approaches the grace notes.

If you would like to learn the piece, here is a free transcription.

And here is another video that better represents the version that I am learning:

Fernando Sor on Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernando_Sor

This month’s Video-of-the-Month is one that gives me hope for my future.

Andres Segovia, who pretty much single-handedly brought the modern guitar out of obscurity and put it centre-stage for classical music lovers all over the world, recorded this tune in his native Spain fairly late in his life. (He died in 1987 at the age of 94.)

While he is certainly not at his best in this video, his lifetime of virtuosity is in full view. As I understand it, he suffered from severe arthritis in his hands by this point in his career, and yet he was still able to keep his audiences enthralled.

I just hope that if I live that long, I’ll still be able to play for my own enjoyment – let alone someone else’s!

Wikipedia: Andres Segovia

Nope, that is not an advisory for the content of this post, it is the name of the band I’m in that is playing it’s first gig this Saturday.

We’re a five piece band made up of parents from my kid’s school – hence the name.

If you’re at the Uxbridge Fall Fair this Saturday, drop by the bandshell at 3:45 – we’ll be playing a 50 minute set. I’ll be the one playing bass.

Okay, so the extra-videos-of -the-month-during-the-summer thing didn’t work out quite like I’d planned. I was away all of July and August on an extended family road trip and I really thought that I would have more access to the internet than I did.

Anyways, here is September’s video-of-the-month, featuring Dylan Ryche playing “Toronto Sky” from his CD “Acoustic Fingerstyle Guitar”.

Dylan is an import to Canada from Melbourne, Australia – currently living in Toronto. One of the benefits of being a bit slow with this particular video-of-the-month is that I can now tell you that Dylan won the 2012 Canadian Fingerstyle Guitar Competition last month! Congratulations, Dylan!

Dylan’s Website: www.DylanRyche.com

Dylan’s YouTube Channel: www.YouTube.com/user/dylanryche

This quote was referred to in a discussion of great rhythm guitarists at GuitarsCanada.com:

“A lot of cats don’t work on their rhythm enough, and if you don’t have rhythm, you might as well take up needleoint, or something.”

– Prince in an interview with Guitar Player Magazine

As is my custom, I will be doubling up on videos-of-the-month for the summer months, when it is a bit harder to sit in front of a screen writing about playing guitar when I could be outside playing guitar. The second video-of-the-month for July features a young duo from Texas…

Fragile Balance consists of two young guitarists who met in high school two years ago, Nick Cooper and Cruz Lujan. So far, they have released two full length CDs and have shared a stage with the likes of Antoine Dufour and Michael Chapdelaine.

Here they are playing “Elements of Emotion”:

Once again, I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds for these talented young men…

Fragile Balance’s website: www.Fragile-Balance.com

Fragile Balance’s YouTube channel: www.YouTube.com/user/fragilebalanceband

Summer is here, so in keeping with past tradition I will start presenting two videos each month to try to offset my reluctance to sit at my computer writing new posts during the summer weather.

The first video-of-the-month for July features classical guitarist Maja Radovanlija. Following my post about the lack of female guitarists, Maja wrote me a note suggesting that, at least in the classical world, there are more female guitarists than many of us realize. She suggested that it may be that women just aren’t as aggressive at promoting themselves.

Here Maja plays “Lento from Jazz Sonata” by Dusan Bogdanovic:

Originally from Serbia, Maya is a faculty member at the University of Minnesota School of Music.

Maja’s Fandalism (a FaceBook affiliate) page: www.Fandalism.com/mayaradovanlia

Maja’s YouTube channel: www.YouTube.com/user/folkofolkas

Maja’s website was down at the time of writing, if it’s back up, it should be here: www.MajaRadovanlija.com

Rhythm

A while ago I wrote about attending a guitar workshop led by David Ross MacDonald at the Eaglewood Folk Festival. In that workshop he talked about how he used a sort of two step to embed various rhythms (i.e eighths, triplets, sixteenths, etc.) into his brain. You can also tap out rhythms in time with your metronome, or even use your left hand to tap out a steady beat while tapping out more complex rhythms with the right (or vice versa, if that’s how you’re wired).

Tempo

One of the biggest challenges for many musicians is starting at the right tempo. As it turns out, our brains have a remarkable capacity for reproducing the tempo of well known songs. For example, according to Daniel Levitin, in his book, “This Is Your Brain On Music”, we can use the following songs to find the following tempos:

“Hotel California”, by The Eagles – 75 beats per minute
“Back in Black”, by AC/DC – 96 bpm
“Walk This Way” by Aerosmith – 112 bpm
“Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson – 116 bpm

This is a technique that I have found to be very helpful.

Hopefully, you can use some of these ideas to improve your musicianship without building callouses.

Stay tuned for Part IV: Listening and Ear Training

Part I: Why?

Part II: Visualizing

You are hereby challenged to find the joy in small things, because life is short and love is large.

– GraceInSmallThings.com

Okay, it’s been a while – not since I found joy in the small things, but certainly since I posted about it. Here are five musical bits of joy from the last week or so:

1. A paying gig!

2. A non-paying gig for a good cause.

3. My kids working hard to prepare for an upcoming piano recital.

4. A somewhat regular jam with good friends that has turned into a band.

5. A rehearsal with the aforementioned band that went shockingly well!

More about Grace In Small Things