New Performance Videos!

This past Sunday I had some time to get another batch of four tunes recorded for YouTube. I've got quite a bit of variety going on with these videos. This time I've recorded Donald Fagen's classic post Steely Dan tune "I.G.Y.,"  a swing era standard, a 1960's Mose Allison tune, and even a classical piece by Schumann.

First off, here's "I.G.Y.:"

I've loved this tune for a long time, and just recently decided to get a swing/jazz arrangement together. The tune works very well as a jazz tune whether it has vocals or not. Its got some very nice chords, a great melody that fits nicely in my upper vocal range, and a fun, optimistic late 1950's perspective of what a perfect future would be like. I ended the tune with a reference to a familiar Steely Dan tune as well, which just kind of happened and stuck!

Next up is "Tangerine:"

This is an old jazz standard dating from the early 1940s.  I've been working on this one for a very long time. Getting both the chord melody at the beginning and the improvised choruses of this tune together were tough due to the constant chord movement. I think things came together pretty well in this recording. 

"Traumerei:"

 I came across this arrangement of the Schumann piece in Mel Bay's "Masters Of The Plectrum Guitar." This arrangement was done my Mel himself in the late 1950s. I like doing an arranged or classical piece every once in a while to break things up and give me a different type of challenge.

"I Don't Worry About A Thing:"

I've recorded this Mose Allison tune a few times, but not yet for this blog or my new YouTube channel. I love the humorous lyrics in this one, as I do in most of Mose's tunes. Being a basic blues its fun to just "let loose" on the improvised choruses. I look forward to doing a few more of his tunes in the near future.

Hope you enjoy!

The CAGED System And How It Changed The Way I Play Guitar

One of the strangest things I've realized about my guitar playing journey is how long it took for me to discover what the "CAGED" system is all about. CAGED is a way of organizing the guitar's entire fingerboard by basic chord shapes. The concept is not new by any means, although the catchy name is of fairly recent origin. In all the method books, lessons, and learning I've done on the guitar I never really knew what the concept was all about and how powerful it can be for a guitarist. I'm very glad I finally learned more about it!

I'll try to put it as simply as possible: CAGED refers to the five basic open position chord forms we all learned within the first month or so playing guitar. These five chord shapes also form the foundation of everything we can possibly play on the guitar. Chords, scales, arpeggios, and anything else you can play on a guitar are all connected to these five basic chord forms. Knowing how CAGED works can clarify so much about the way the fingerboard is laid out you'll be blown away. The crazy part is just how simple it is.

As a former piano player, I like to think of CAGED as the guitar's equivalent to the repeating layout of black and white keys on the piano keyboard. Like the layout of the piano's keys, CAGED provides a solid reference to where you are and what you have available to play under your fingers at any particular moment. The other great thing about CAGED is that the shapes occur up the fingerboard only in that order and reverse when going back down: DEGAC. For an example, the E shape always follows the G shape when ascending the fingerboard, and C always follows A when descending.

Here are the basic open chord forms for reference:

I've highlighted the roots in this chord diagram to show what I call the basic "root shapes" of each; this is what I'm really using with CAGED anyway, as it allows all the other types of chords such as minor, diminished, and augmented, to be used within this system.

Next is a diagram of all the CAGED shapes up the fingerboard where the roots are all C.  Remember, when we talk about CAGED we are not referring to the names of those chords. We are only using those names as references to the basic shapes the provide for us. Notice how all these shapes connect up and down the fingerboard. This is where the magic of CAGED becomes apparent. No longer are you boxed in to playing only things that lay across consecutive strings; you can now see how they relate up and down the fingerboard as well:

The way this works is so simple and yet so profound in the way it organizes everything for us. Its a great way to understand the fingerboard, and it seriously changes the way you look at the guitar from the time you see those patterns fall into place. Next time I post about CAGED, I'll show how it works more in depth with the things we actually use: chords, scales, and arpeggios.

Review: Grand Rapids Rotary North Disc Golf Course

This past weekend I finally got up north of town and played the Grand Rapids Rotary North Disc Golf Course in Belmont MI. I went with a friend who had played there before and had said it was one of the better local courses he had played. I definitely have to agree. It may be one of the best disc golf courses in the Grand Rapids area.

The 18 hole course is laid out on an former ball golf course. First pulling into the parking area shows this course to be mostly open, playing through and around many marshes. The course has a nice clean look and there is no trouble finding the first tee.

Being that this is an old ball golf course, the course has a professional feel to it, with a nice layout and a logical flow from hole to hole, and markers to show where to go next. The tee signs are fantastic here and are very professional looking. The tee pads, while just rubber mats for the time being, were surprisingly effective. Due to the many marshes on the course, you really have to strategize and plan each shot, an aspect I liked a lot. Each hole we played was well thought out and fun to play.

The course had a few minor issues. It was clear that even though we have been in a fairly dry weather spell, there was evidence of dried mud in certain areas, leading me to believe this course could flood quite a bit in the spring. There was also one hole out of commission, I believe number 13, due to poison ivy overgrowth around the basket. This messed up the flow trying to figure out where to go next. I've heard this has been an issue for some time now, and I hope they get this hole fixed or moved to another location soon.

Grand Rapids Rotary North is a great course. I can definitely see this being one of the courses used for the Masters Pro Worlds when it comes to Grand Rapids next summer. All that really needs to happen is getting that poison ivy cleaned up! With a great variety of shots, a great layout, and a generally well kept, neat look, this is truly a must play course, no matter your level of skill. I know I'll be back to play it again soon!

Practicing Guitar: How I Get My Routine Together

Reading through one of my favorite books, "Golf is not a Game of Perfect," as well as getting back out practicing my disc golf game after months off due to a broken leg had me thinking recently of another area of practice in my life- guitar. It can take so many years to develop a good, results producing practice routine that too many people dread practice and never really improve as players because of it. With all this practice and goal oriented thinking going on in my own mind, I thought I'd take some time to share with you my own guitar practice routine.

First of all, lets talk about routine and commitment. Practicing should become a habit after a while, and ideally it should become a habit that we enjoy doing. If you truly dislike what you are practicing, your practice time will be far less effective than it could be. For my own needs, one hour and 45 minutes to two hours a day is my perfect amount. I also usually take a day off during the week to take a little break from the routine and focus on other important things. Commitment to a practice routine is important, but obsession with it is obviously unhealthy. Consistency is the key here; find a routine that works and stick to it as often as possible. One half hour every day is better than six hours a day sporadically.

My practice session is split into two parts: "technique" and "tunes." I've done this for years, and it has a simplicity that I like. I generally do the "technique" session first; its the 45 minute to one hour section. This is where the "raw material" gets worked on and refined into things I can use for playing the tunes. "Tunes" is just that- the repertoire part of the equation, and the most important.

Technique

My "technique session" is also divided into three basic areas. I spend the first 10-15 minutes working on sight reading both notation and chord charts/ lead sheets. Though some might not need to worry about reading notation, I'd recommend at least working through chord charts. You never know what kind of situation you may find yourself in someday where you'll need to have at least the ability to read chord symbols, and reading notation opens doors that remain closed to those who can't.

The second part of my technique session is dedicated to transcribing whatever it is I'm working on at the moment; right now its the chords and solo as played by Steve Jordan on his recording of "It Happened in Monterrey." The premise here is that I am learning something by ear that intrigues me in order to further my own abilities and thinking on the guitar. I'm very old school about transcribing. I literally tape the tune from a record and play it back on a little Sony cassette recorder, working bit by bit to get the material I want to learn into my fingers and ears. There are many more technologically advanced methods to do this too, of course. Use what works for you. Transcribing is essential for improving as a player. Do it! We have to copy others who came before so we can take things to the next level. There's no sense re-inventing the wheel in music.

The last 25-30 minutes of my technique session is spent on, well, technique, plain and simple. I'll usually start off with some right hand picking exercises to gain and maintain picking speed. I generally find that tremolo picking, arpeggio picking, and single note scales work well for this.

Next I'll work on what I'm going to call "method" or "etude" material. This would be material that is designed to help further your technical abilities on the instrument. For example, right now I'm working on the six harmonized major scale forms from George Van Eps' "Method for Guitar." I think of this type of thing as a way to force us to think and play in new and better ways, rather than rest on our laurels, which is far too easy to do as a musician.

The final portion of my technique session usually involves working on chord forms, chord inversions, triads, chordal improvisation, scales, arpeggios, and related things. Many times if I'm not reviewing or expanding upon a concept, like say ways of improvising over a minor 7th chord form, I'll be working on getting missing or weak fundamentals together. Right now that means getting more familiar with the half diminished chord and related chord scales because I have been having trouble with that chord type when I'd run across it in tunes.

Tools of the trade...

Tunes

This is where it all comes together. I spend one hour on tunes every practice day, and for good reason. Tunes are what we play and do all that technique work for. When I perform, I'm playing tunes, not scales or chord forms!

I basically work on tunes on two levels. First, I learn the tune and get it to what I consider to be a good performance level, then I work on reviewing, expanding upon it, and generally improving on it. For the learning part, I try to learn the tune by ear from a classic recording or a recording I like. If a recording I like is not readily available, then learning it from the Real Book will have to do. First I'll learn the chords and structure of the tune, and when that's memorized, I'll get the melody together, either vocally or as a chord melody on the guitar. Next, I'll work on the improvisation, and when it's all up to a level I'm happy with, I move on to learning a new tune. The process can take weeks or months depending on the tune. The most important thing is that the tune is in my head. The same goes for the occasional classical or arranged piece I'll do: It's got to be memorized and feel easy to play.

Now I can make that tune my own. I take those tunes I know well and continue to expand upon them- trying new ideas in the improvised sections, playing different rhythm voicings, adding intros and endings, and various other little details. I'm never really done with a tune; there are always more possibilities, especially in jazz where improvisation is continually producing something different each time the tune is played. In a typical session I'll work on between three and six tunes, depending of course on how much work they all need. Sometimes it is only a matter of quickly reviewing a tune just to make sure I still know it!

Hopefully this outline of my own practice routine can be helpful to some of you out there who are still struggling to make something work. What it really comes down to in the end is having a goal in mind and knowing what is needed out of your practice time to achieve that goal. The goals and what it takes to achieve them will become more clear the further into your musical journey you are. You just have to be persistent and keep a positive outlook!

P.S. For Beginners:

Be prepared to spend a lot of your time becoming a jack of all trades. It's going to take a while before you have the skills to really delve deeply into what your passions are, and its tough to have a sharply focused routine until that time comes. Enjoy the journey and realize that with time and a good practice attitude you will get where you want to be, even if where that is changes over time!

Swing Guitar Album Review: "Here Comes Mr. Jordan"

One of my favorite swing guitar albums has to be Steve Jordan's "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." The album features only Steve on guitar and vocals accompanied by Billy Goodall on double bass. This stripped down instrumentation allows the listener to really hear what great swing rhythm guitar playing is all about without piano or horns to get in the way.

The tunes on this album are mostly swing era standards with a few more obscure tunes thrown into the mix. Steve also plays one solo guitar piece composed by himself. Everything is performed by Jordan and Goodall in a fun, relaxed, swinging way. Steve also sings on all but a few of the tunes, allowing us to hear him as a vocalist as well.

For guitarists, though, the real highlight of this record is hearing Steve strumming away on his Gibson L-5. Though Steve always had a sweet tone on recordings he did as a sideman, that gorgeous acoustic sound of his is on full display here, unencumbered by any instrument that could get into its sonic space. I have always thought Steve Jordan had the best tone I have ever heard come out of an acoustic archtop. He has a wonderful ability to coax out such a sweet yet punchy and powerful tone from his Gibsons. Its the kind of tone that could make any acoustic guitarist envy the tonal possibilities of a well played archtop.

The album also gives us a chance to hear Steve as a chordal guitar soloist. Nearly all of the tunes here feature a chorus of Steve soloing in his own unique way. The only way I can describe his soloing style is to say it sounds like a dedicated rhythm guitarist taking a rhythm guitar solo! His soloing style is not really like the more virtuoistic chordal soloists such as Van Eps, Kress, or Reuss. His solos mainly consist of the rhythm chord forms he has been using in other parts of the tune as well as upper register forms of those chords. Steve's soloing style does, however, have its own charms and is certainly worth transcribing and learning from for those who are interested. It is simply a different take on chordal soloing on the guitar.

This album should appeal to all fans of swing oriented jazz, not just guitarists. In place of the standard jazz group setting we usually hear these tunes performed in, the ears are greeted instead with a stripped back, fresh approach to tunes both familiar and unfamiliar. This unique and simplified instrumentation lets the songs themselves really shine through. If you like classic swing music and get the chance, pick up this album. Its really a nice change of pace!