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How To Warm Up For A Fingerstyle Session (Or Any Session, Really)

GUEST POST – The guitar has many warm-up methods that you can use before performing – either in the comfort of your own home or before a show. And with fingerstyle, this should include a combination of fretting and plucking hand exercises. This article will offer you some useful tips and drills to get your hands firing on all cylinders for a fingerstyle guitar session.

“As tempting as it can be to just sit down and dive into your favorite piece of music, warming up prepares your fingers and mind for a focused rehearsal session”

Jason Vieaux, professional classical guitarist [1]

[Note: If you’re Tommy Emmanuel, can strum 16the notes at 170bpm, and play 300 shows a year then, sure maybe you don’t need to warm up ; ) If you’re one of the rest of us, though, please read on!]

Single-String Exercises

WHY

Performing stretching patterns on a single string is great for getting the blood flowing in both of your hands. Since each hand plays a different role, it helps them get synchronized. Synchronicity will be helpful in the subsequent drills, where the patterns may have more musical application.

When your hands are in-sync with one another, this also allows you to increase speed. Speed is a by-product of familiar and efficient hand movements, not by moving your hands at a quicker pace – this usually creates tension in it and sloppier playing.

HOW

In single-string patterns, you can begin just by hitting a single or open note while your plucking hand alternates hitting the string with the index and middle finger. In fingerstyle guitar, these fingers would be known as I and M, in the PIMA finger system.

After this, you can slowly increase to two notes, then three. By progressively adding a couple more frets and pitches to the string, you get both hands moving and cooperating for the sole purpose of technique.

Walk Through Scales

Scales are the bread-and-butter of nearly all Western musical concepts. Without scales, there would be no key signatures, no chords, and therefore no arpeggios. A lot of musicians would be lost without an understanding of scales, and if you receive lessons from a trained musician, they will probably preach about the importance of knowing them.

“The practice of scales solves the greatest number of technical problems in the shortest amount of time.”

Andres Segovia

While music theory isn’t essential for warming up, performing some basic scale drills should be one of your first activities when picking up the guitar. You can play scales ascending, descending, and also out of sequence. Even if it’s out of order, a major scale is still a major scale because it includes the same notes.

Being able to play scales heavily utilizes the hand synchronicity skill mentioned in the previous section. However, instead of using one string, you must cross over multiple ones. Of course, there will also be more notes, and warming up with scales is useful for preparing you for your fingerstyle session in this regard.

Use a metronome and start playing your scales slowly, you can gradually increase the tempo until you are feeling comfortable. Starting out by playing at a lower speed encourages precision and good habits in the long run.

Strike A Chord (Or A Few)

Rhythm guitar is a crucial aspect of fingerstyle playing, even if you are playing by yourself. A song that is designed to be played solo will often have sections of chords and scalar sequences woven in between them. Since you’ll be warming up your scales, you shouldn’t neglect the chords either.

Choose your favorite chord sequence. The idea is to pick ones that you are familiar with because you have the muscle memory for these chords developed. Warming up should be intended to get your plucking hand acclimated to strumming and striking, and also to get your fretting hand adapted to making chord changes all at the same time.

You can start off with simple patterns and steadily increase the difficulty of the rhythms over the course of your warm-up. By working up to more challenging patterns, your brain will become more adjusted to counting time and feeling more complex rhythms.

Once again, make sure to use a metronome, so you keep your playing as solid and clean as possible. You don’t want to hit other strings and produce a sloppy sound accidentally. Having great timing is also just as crucial to sounding and performing well, and this should be reinforced in your drills.

Pluck Some Arpeggios

Arpeggios are a versatile tool that is used in all forms of guitar playing. The word translates to the word “harp-like.” Other than glissandos, harps are known for playing chords that are broken down into individual notes. Whether they are played fast or slow, they tend to sound beautiful no matter what, as long as they are precise.

The reason why arpeggios are so useful is that they have several different applications. To name a couple, you can play these on their own, to create a flowing sequence of sound, you can include these in between spaced-out chords to make things more melodic. Importantly, they can spark creativity. Many great riffs have been built off of arpeggios.

Like scales, it is encouraged that you warm-up arpeggios both ascending and descending. You can also switch up the arrangement of the notes, which will activate more finger independence.

People tend to only want to go P-I-M-A and go back down, but being able to mix it up and go P-M-I-A or A-M-P-I and so on and so forth adds a new dimension. This independence will also apply to the left hand.

Summary and Conclusion

Like many other activities, warming up on the guitar is essential to performing optimally and sounding great. A sprinter doesn’t start running before doing a set of drills and routines which activate his or her muscles. If he or she did, that could run the risk of injury.

While he is primarily known as an electric guitarist, Marty Friedman suggests that “warming up not only helps your technique, it also helps prevent injuries.” [2]. Your hands have many small parts that work together which can be strained and affected by tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

If you start playing the guitar “cold,” you most likely won’t sound your best right away, and you can hurt yourself. An effective fingerstyle routine that can prevent such issues should include:

1. single-string exercises
2. scales
3. chords
4. arpeggios

By focusing on these aspects, you will activate both the finger independence and synchronicity skills that are necessary for playing well. Make sure you have the correct posture as well since this can alter your hand placement.

This vital activity doesn’t need to be super time-consuming either. Typically, it should last from 10 to 15 minutes, but others may do it longer, especially if they have a big performance. For playing at home, this will usually suffice.

Even if you are playing at home, you should get into this essential habit and strive for peak performance at all times.

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About the Author

Vincent Reina

Vincent Reina began teaching piano lessons as a high school student, and has continued to do so ever since. He received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Purchase Conservatory. He then earned a Masters of Arts in Teaching Music from Manhattanville College. Today, Vincent is co-founder of Music To Your Home, a New York City based music school. He’s the proud winner of many significant piano competitions, including the Westminster Choir College Artistic Excellence in Piano Award.

The post How To Warm Up For A Fingerstyle Session (Or Any Session, Really) appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

The Best Way To String A Guitar, According To Tommy Emmanuel (AKA: An Unorthodox Theory on String Brands)

How To Easily, Automatically Transcribe Fingerstyle Guitar: ScoreCloud 4 Review

Getting Started with Blues Turnarounds

How Are Tommy Emmanuel’s “Fingerstyle Milestones” Video Lessons? (Hint: They’re Good…)

Tommy Emmanuel is widely known as an apex acoustic guitar player – the top of the game, the cream of the crop, the man with the plan from the street with the beat. But everyone knows that.

What I did not know was that he’s also a phenomenal teacher.

Backstory

I’ve learned some Tommy Emmanuel tunes over the years and loved his music. His style appeals to me. It’s complicated, but always melodic. Energetic, but not frenetic. And, importantly for me, it’s realistic. I love Antoine Dufour, but his tunings and arrangements are so intensely intricate that they seem a world away (…nevermind the fingernail maintenance required). Tommy, though, feels like he’s one of us.

In order to learn his songs and style in the past, I’ve looked to YouTube of course. And you can find some videos, posted from his workshops by cell phone-wielding, third row fans. And you can find relevant fingerpicking lessons, like Don Ross’s series on JamPlay (or now Mike Dawes’ lessons).

But, alas, the path forward always felt patched together and sketchy. The material on YouTube was not well-ordered, and the video is not meant for close analysis of the playing. And other fingerstyle video lessons often don’t discuss thumb pick technique (a core part of Tommy’s style).

Back to Today

And then I found out: Tommy has a series of lesson videos up on TrueFire.

A dream come true. A chance to get insight and guidance from the man, himself. No more trying to adapt general fingerstyle lessons to a thumb pick mindset. No more guessing at his method for thumb independence. This felt like a chance to go straight for the goal of playing some amazing Chet Atkins-style acoustic guitar.

So. I finally had some time go through them and the verdict is….

I am really, really impressed.

The guy is a great teacher. I know, I know, when you do a blog review, you always want to present both sides: pros and cons. Give an even representation of the product or service. But I have to admit that I feel very biased on this. The teaching series is exactly what I needed.

A Few Reasons I’m a Fan

His positivity is infectious. I don’t if it’s because he’s Australian, or because he’s naturally a chill guy, but he just makes you feel better about life. And guitar. He’s funny, upbeat, and comfortable in front of the camera.

His explanations are clear and concise. Sometimes guitar instructional material feels very wordy. Like they keep repeating themselves. Not Tommy. He’s great at describing the key issues concisely, and then moving on. I love the efficiency.

He’s an experience teacher. He’s talked to a LOT of guitar players and it shows. He knows the typical obstacles guitarists face and provides insight for how to move forward. There’s no untested theories here. Everything has stood the test of time.

The three angle video. Because Tommy’s playing is complex, it can be difficult to see what’s going on. The video series uses three angles so that you get a clear view of the picking hand, and two different angles of the fretting hand. And you need them. I found myself consistently re-watching sections in order to focus on another angle.

Practice exercises. Particularly in the first series, Tommy provides his own unique exercises for building your both picking and fretting skills. And these are focused on fingerstyle guitar proficiency.

And in the final analysis, the teaching is great because it’s perfectly on track with what I want to play. If you want to learn basketball, go watch LeBron James. If you want to learn Chet Atkins-based fingerstyle guitar, go watch Tommy Emmanuel.

Recommended Order

There are several video series’ that Tommy has recorded. If you are new to playing Tommy’s style, I recommend you start with the first Fingerstyle Milestones. If you’re already up to speed, you might jump to Certified Gems in order to focus immediately on learning specific songs.

CLICK HERE for Tommy Emmanuel’s Fingerstyle Milestones >>

 

CLICK HERE Tommy Emmanuel’s Fingerstyle Breakthroughs >>

 

CLICK HERE for Tommy Emmanuel’s Certified Gems >>

 

CLICK HERE for Tommy Emmanuel’s Certified Gems 2 >>

 

CLICK HERE for Little by Little Songbook >>

 

CLICK HERE for It’s Never Too Late Songbook >>

 

One More Suggestion

If you like the Truefire lessons, they also offer a monthly subscription for $19.99 where you get access to everything. If you plan on ripping through the Tommy Emmanuel material, it’s a much cheaper way to go.

Click here to sign up for a monthly TrueFire account.

 

Got some other Tommy Emmanuel resources we should know about? Put ’em in the comments below!

The post How Are Tommy Emmanuel’s “Fingerstyle Milestones” Video Lessons? (Hint: They’re Good…) appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

7 Popular Finger Picks to Clarify Your Fingerpicking

Finger picks brighten and clarify your fingerpicking. Using the flesh of your fingers to individually pick the strings usually creates a muted and muddy sound. But by attaching a plectrum to the end of each picking finger, each note is picked with added power and brightness – cutting through more clearly.

In classical guitar, guitarists often grow out their natural nails to achieve this type of power and clarity in their fingerstrokes. Or some use acrylic nails to extend and strengthen their nails.

For many players, though, long fingernails and acrylics are not a good day-to-day option. And, if you’re playing bluegrass, in particular, fingernails are not the traditional way to play guitar, banjo, or dobro.

For these players, finger picks are the best option.

There are a few types of fingerpicks – metal and nylon, traditional shape and some innovative designs. So here is a quick look at 7 popular finger picks that will clarify and brighten your fingerpicking.

(Thumb picks are usually used with finger picks, but have a different design. See this post for recommendations on thumb picks.)

 

1. Dunlop 33P.018 Nickel Silver Finger & Thumbpicks.018″

The Dunlop Nickel is the classic finger pick. If you’ve run into finger picks before, this probably what you picture.

These picks are metal, have a very bright sound, and can be molded easily to fit your finger size.

Note: At first glance, these picks look like you attach them as “claws” but they actually go the other way around. The curved metal pick should come up from the pad of your finger toward your nail, mirroring the curve of the flesh of your finger.

>> Buy from Amazon

 

2. Dunlop 9020TP Shell Plastic Finger & Thumbpicks

The Dunlop plastic finger picks have the traditional shape, but are made of plastic. This gives a warmer sound and some flexibility. The flexibility in the plastic (relative to the Dunlop Nickels) means that these feel a bit more “organic” and “natural”.

>> Buy from Amazon

 

3. National NP1-8B Thumb & Finger Pick Pack

The National finger picks are similar to the Dunlop Nickel in shape, and are made of stainless steel for that bright, crisp attack. It’s interesting to note, though, that National packages these with thumb picks made from ABS thermoplastic, which has a little warmer feel and sound. So you get brightness and punch from your fingers, and some softer warmth from you thumb (which is naturally stronger and louder).

>> Buy from Amazon

4. Fred Kelly Picks D7FF-L-3 Delrin Freedom Finger Pick

Right away, you can see this pick looks different. It goes over the whole finger like a sheath, a more comfortable fit. The Fred Kelly pick is made from Delrin, a strong material with still a softer tone.

>> Buy from Amazon

 

5. aLaska Pik Finger Picks

And these picks look even more different! The innovative design is aimed at classical guitarists. The pick comes over the top of the fingernail and the picking edge ends up sitting right below the fingernail. The picking attack can feel more natural with these, because the pick is oriented the way a normal finger nail is.

>> Buy from Amazon

 

6. Open Design, Metal Finger Picks

With a minimalist approach, these finger picks allow the flesh of your finger tips to work with a thin, metal picking edge. The stainless steel metal can be shaped a bit to fit your finger size and desired position.

>> Buy from Amazon

 

7. Ernie Ball Pickey Pickeys

The Ernie Ball model is similar to our first Dunlop Nickel – but it has a narrower plectrum. These are designed to be light, and yet still give that bright, clear attack. The narrower plectrum tip should also be tested by the player to see how attack and finger position are effected.

>> Buy from Amazon

 

A Note About Size & Fit

Some finger picks (like the Dunlop Nickels) are adjustable. Others come in sizes, typically Small, Medium, and Large. Read the Q&A sections in the Amazon listing. There’s helpful comments there from folks who have tried different sizes.

Also, a commonly recommended trick for plastic thumb and finger picks is to heat them in hot water and then put them on your thumb/finger to shape them. The hot water softens the material and makes it pliable.

 

Next Up:

Beginner’s Kit for Dobro Guitar

Read Article >>

Have some more recommendations? Let us know in the comments below!

The post 7 Popular Finger Picks to Clarify Your Fingerpicking appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 3

A series of posts designed to answer common questions about gypsy jazz guitar. From Studygypsyjazz.com’s head tutor, Harry Edwards.

• Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 1
• Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 2
• Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 3 

You may also want to start by reading Harry’s guest post, “An Introduction to Gypsy Jazz Guitar“.

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Q1: What are some of the best amplification options for gypsy jazz guitars?

A1: This is a great question, and an important one to address for any gypsy jazz guitarist looking to perform live.

The best sound is of course always an acoustic performance, but there are many gig scenarios (noisy/big rooms) where this simply won’t work.

There are a number of different amplification options you can utilize. Here are the three most common scenarios for live performance, and the best amplification solution I have found available for each situation.

1. Noisy venue/bar – For noisy gigs, I often find that a magnetic pickup, in combination with an acoustic guitar amplifier, works well, and presents minimal if any feedback. There are a number of options available; I use a Peche a la Mouche pickup through an AER compact 60 amp.

2. Concert style/stage performance (without sound technician) – For this type of performance, where you are performing for a listening audience, but are not working with an audio technician, I often opt for a clip on microphone in combination with an acoustic guitar amplifier; I use an Audio Technica Pro 70 in conjunction with an AER compact 60 amp.

3. Concert style/stage performance (with sound technician) – In an instance where you are performing on stage for a listening audience, and you have a sound technician working with you, your best option is to ask for your guitar to be mic’d up.

Have a discussion with the sound technician in advance of the gig so that they can bring a microphone suitable for acoustic guitar to the performance. The technician can then sort out any feedback issues arising from this method of amplification during your sound check.

Q2: What is the meaning of the word ‘Manouche’ when referring to Jazz Manouche?

A2: Gypsy jazz (also known as Jazz Manouche, gypsy swing or hot club jazz) is a style of jazz music generally accepted to have been started by the gypsy guitarist Jean “Django” Reinhardt in and around Paris in the 1930’s.

Because its origins are in France and Django was from the Manouche Roma clan (although his frequent accompanists, and later solo performers/band leaders the Ferret brothers were not Manouches but Gitan Roma) it is often called by the French name, “jazz manouche”, or alternatively, “manouche jazz”, even in English language sources. This term, along with “gypsy jazz,” is now commonly used when referring to this style of music.

Romani people in France, generally known in spoken French as “gitans”, “tsiganes” or “manouches”, are an ethnic group which originated in Northern India.
Romani people are typically classified into three groups:

• “Roms”, referring to Romani who come from territories from eastern Europe.
• “Manouches”, also known as “Sinté”, who often have familial ties in Germany and Italy.
• “Gitans”, who trace their familial ties to Romani people in Spain.

Q3: What are the different rhythm guitar styles found in Jazz Manouche?

A3:  Jazz Manouche has embraced and explored a lot of interesting sub-styles and rhythms since its inception in the early 20th Century.

Please find below a list of several common rhythms in this style. I’ll provide some examples of common tunes so you can follow up and have a listen:

• Swing rhythm – Minor Swing, Sweet Georgia Brown, Daphne
• Ballad rhythm – Danse Norvegienne, Anouman, Clair de Lune
• Waltz rhythm – Montagne Sainte Geneviève, Chez Jacquet, Choti
• Rumba rhythm – Caravan, Made In France
• Bolero Rhythm – Bolero, Troublant Bolero
• Groove Rhythm – Sunny, Isn’t She Lovely

 

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As you can see, this style of music explores a number of different and interesting rhythms! There are others too.

If you’d like to study gypsy jazz swing rhythm guitar, please consider checking out the online course Rhythm Guitar Fundamentals at Studygypsyjazz.com

All the best, I hope you found this month’s Q & A useful!

 

Harry Edwards (Head tutor @ Studygypsyjazz.com)

The post Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 3 appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 2

A series of posts designed to answer common questions about gypsy jazz guitar. From Studygypsyjazz.com’s head tutor, Harry Edwards.

• Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 1
• Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 2
• Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 3 

You may also want to start by reading Harry’s guest post, “An Introduction to Gypsy Jazz Guitar“.

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Q1: Why did Django Reinhardt only use two fingers of his left hand to play guitar?

A1: Django suffered severe burns during a caravan fire at a young age, which was an unfortunate accident caused by a bunch of highly flammable celluloid flowers catching fire.

The entire left side of his body was injured in the fire, including his left hand, which sustained severe damage to his pinky and ring fingers.

Contrary to popular belief, Django did not lose any of his fingers, however he did lose the ability to perform intricate tasks with the ring and pinky fingers of his left hand.

Django adapted to his injury, and utilised the index and middle fingers of his left hand to develop his unique horizontal lines on the guitar.

He did still use his ring finger on occasion, but not for lead playing. Rather, this finger was used in conjunction with the index and middle fingers to voice chords.

Django’s story is one of overcoming a severe injury and forging a truly unique style and guitar technique.

Q2: What brands/makes of gypsy jazz guitars do you own and use when you perform? How can I find different makers of gypsy jazz instruments?

A2: The guitar I am currently using for gypsy jazz live performances was made by the excellent luthier Oliver Marin, who lives and works in Granada, Spain.

I love this instrument. It is a longer-scale petite bouche guitar, with great projection and quality of tone across the neck. I’ve only had this guitar for roughly a year, so it is still developing, but it is shaping up to be a very reliable and fun to play guitar.

I also own and play a guitar by Lyon-based maker Antoine Prabel. I commissioned this instrument from Antoine whilst I was studying gypsy jazz in Paris in 2014.

The guitar is the warmest sounding instrument I’ve ever played. I especially love using it to perform and record my original compositions, which draw on gypsy jazz, but also modern jazz and classical music.

How can I find different makers of gypsy jazz instruments?

The best resource I’ve come across for finding makers of gypsy jazz instruments is this comprehensive luthier directory.

On this page, you can search for makers by country, allowing you the best chance to find a quality guitar builder whose instruments you can actually seek out and try.

Q3: What are some gypsy jazz standards that are often overlooked, but are great to play?

A3: There are heaps!

It is great to develop a repertoire of the more commonly played gypsy jazz standards, so that you can easily jam with other musicians, but don’t forget to explore some of the lesser-known tunes this genre has to offer. Django wrote a lot of music.

Here are just a few of my favourites:

• Anouman (D. Reinhardt) – Ballad
• Lentement Mademoiselle (D. Reinhardt) – Ballad
• Peche a la mouche (D. Reinhardt) – Up-tempo swing
• R Vingt Six (D. Reinhardt) – Med/up-tempo swing
• New York City (D. Reinhardt) – Up-tempo swing blues

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I hope you’ve found that all useful! Please visit Studygypsyjazz.com to explore this style further, and to find free lessons, backing tracks, and premium gypsy jazz courses!

Harry Edwards (Head tutor @ Studygypsyjazz.com)

The post Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 2 appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 1

A series of posts designed to answer common questions about gypsy jazz guitar. From Studygypsyjazz.com’s head tutor, Harry Edwards.

You may also want to start by reading Harry’s guest post, “An Introduction to Gypsy Jazz Guitar“.

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Q1: I’m familiar with Django Reinhardt, but who are some contemporary gypsy jazz guitar players I should check out?

A1: There are a number of great contemporary gypsy jazz guitar players. Many of these players are pushing the genre to new areas both in their playing and original compositions. Check out these guys on YouTube to get you started:

• Stochelo Rosenberg (Netherlands)
• Sebastien Giniaux (France)
• Adrien Moignard (France)
• Gonzalo Bergara (Argentina/U.S.A.)

Q2: What picks are most commonly used for playing gypsy jazz guitar?

A2: This can depend largely on the player and their approach to sound and technique. In my experience, there are two types of pick-builds that seem to be the most popular for achieving a strong gypsy jazz sound, both for rhythm and lead playing.

The first is to opt for a thicker pick, such as a Wegen 3.5mm. Django used picks at least this thick to achieve his sound, and using a thick pick can make the rest-stroke picking that is typical in gypsy jazz easier to execute. Contemporary players such as Tcha Limberger favour picks like this.

The second option, which has become popularised by the virtuoso Bireli Lagrene, is to use a thinner pick, namely a Dunlop 1.5mm or 2mm.

When using thinner picks however, most players opt to use the rounded edge of the pick, and to use this edge at an angle. This allows the pick to make more contact with the string during a stroke, and as such in a way emulates the contact of a thick pick.

Contemporary players who opt for this thinner and more modern pick-choice include Sebastien Giniaux, Adrien Moignard, and Gonzalo Bergara.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use these thinner picks to create a big gypsy jazz sound, please check out the courses at studygypsyjazz.com. Both our current courses begin with an explanation of how to effectively hold and attack with these types of picks.

 

Q3: What does a typical setlist of gypsy jazz standards look like? How can I balance the set to provide some nice variety for the audience?

A3: When putting together a setlist of gypsy jazz standards for a gig, it is always a good idea to take into account the choice and order of tunes to provide the best experience for your audience.

In gypsy jazz, there is quite a bit if sub-stylistic variety amongst different standards. When putting together a setlist, you can consider the following rhythmic variations when choosing the order of songs:

– Slow swing
– Medium Swing
– Fast Swing
– Ballad
– Bolero
– Gypsy Bossa
– Rhumba
– Waltz

Whilst you don’t need to include a song from each rhythmic category, it is nice to at least have a few that sit outside of straight swing, to provide some variety.

Here are some examples of 40-50 minute sets that take this into account, with a breakdown of the sub-style of each tune:

• Minor Swing (medium swing)
• J’attendrai (slow swing)
• Troublant Bolero (bolero)
• Avalon (fast swing)
• Nuages (ballad)
• Caravan (rhumba / swing)
• Blues en Mineur (slow/medium swing)
• Joseph Joseph (fast swing)
• Dark Eyes (medium/fast swing)
• It Had To Be You (slow/medium swing)
• Montaigne St Genevieve (waltz)
• Danse Norvegienne (ballad)
• Swing Gitan (medium/fast swing)
• For Sephora (bossa)
• What Is This Thing Called Love (medium swing)
• Cherokee (fast swing)

It’s also a good idea to have some extras up your sleeve, so make sure to write out a list of at least five tunes that you could play to extend your performance if need be.

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I hope you’ve found that all useful! Please visit Studygypsyjazz.com to explore this style further, and to find free lessons, backing tracks, and premium gypsy jazz courses!

Harry Edwards (Head tutor @ Studygypsyjazz.com)

 

The post Gypsy Jazz Guitar Q & A: Part 1 appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

3 Effects Pedals To Take Your Guitar Playing to the Next Level

GUEST POST – The vast amount of effects pedals on the market makes it extremely difficult for someone new to the electric guitar to choose the right ones for the right purpose.

So, let’s assume you’re looking to take your guitar playing to the next level. You want the confidence to play with others or even form a band. Experimenting with different sounds will help you get there in several ways:

1. Create your own distinct ways of playing a song, riff or solo.
2. Help you create innovative ways of writing a song, by experimenting with different “feels” and levels of intensity.
3. Also just messing around with different sounds is really fun! And, as I know from experience, you can easily spend hours (and hours) just mixing up various reverberations and other effects.

But to start with here are our some of my personal recommendations for great effects to get you started. Now, these may not ideal for everybody, but I hope my take on this will give you some valuable insight, and a great starting point to not only exploring the type of sound you really like but also having some fun learning as you go.

Overdrive Pedal

Think about how you can switch from a “clean” low volume sound to something that will really stand out whilst trying your best not to drown out the drummer and bass player (they get angry you know), or the backing track you may be playing along to.

Welcome to the overdrive pedal – whose purpose is twofold.

 

Firstly, to “boost” (increase) the volume of what you are playing. This can be used to great effect say when playing the chords that lead into the chorus of a song, so you can create a real build up to the overall sound. Also, it can be used to add some distortion as well. This is particularly useful playing a lead solo or a key riff within the song. Adding the overdrive gives extra bite and impact to your lead guitar playing.

In practice, most overdrive pedals allow you to do both, so the amount of volume or distortion you want can be easily controlled.

When playing live, I use the overdrive pedal for several songs, such as Sympathy for the Devil (Rolling Stones) when switching from the verse to the chorus. Also the main riff in Don’t Fear the Reaper (Blue Oyster Cult), and the lead guitar intro riff to Refugee by Tom Petty.

There are numerous other examples but have a listen to those parts mentioned above and you will see why the overdrive pedal is an essential pedal for electric guitar, and how it can be very effectively used in pretty much any song. The overdrive pedal that I use is the TC Electronic MojoMojo Overdrive Pedal. It’s simple, easy to use, and does the job just great.

 

Chorus Pedal

The next pedal I would consider to be really important and effective, is the Chorus Pedal.

Now, this is an extremely versatile pedal that can create a consistent sound that “fills out” your sound and can be used in a number of settings. The chorus pedal is a modulation effect that splits your signal into two parts and delays, creating sounds ranging from a subtle warble to a full “dreamy-type” sound. Either way, it will add to the texture of your playing.

Due to the great variances within the pedal, its versatility means you will never want to play without it! It is great for rhythm playing (especially funk and jazz) and also really adds depth when used in conjunction with an overdrive pedal. Sometimes it is not always obvious when a chorus-type effect is being used, but I use it when playing the rhythm part of Play That Funky Music.

Also, the intro to Hotel California (I believe the original uses Chorus, Flange, and Phase). Once you’ve got the feel for the Chorus effect, you might want to explore what the flange and phase effects can add to this to deliver an even richer and deeper sound or effect. Another great song for the Chorus effect is Long Train Running by The Doobie Brothers.

The Flanger and Phaser pedals tend to be less subtle, but I added both these to my armory once I had mastered the Chorus pedal. My personal recommendation for the Chorus pedal is the Boss CH-1 Super Chorus. It’s simple, robust and well made.

 

Wah Pedal

The third and final pedal in my starter setup, is the Wah pedal.

You’ve no doubt seen many guitarists use them, and once again they’re great fun and really add something special to your playing. However, they are not so easy to master and many other pedals – it’s not just a case of switching them on or off. The Wah pedal is something you have to continually control.

So it takes some getting used to. But it allows you to add emphasis to different parts of your playing, so each time you play easy guitar the song or solo, you can add an element of uniqueness to it. Using one of your feet to open and close the pedal to varying degrees, you alter the tone and frequencies of the guitar signal to create a distinctive sound.

It mimics a human voice as though you are saying “wah-wah”. These pedals are not necessarily easy to master but can be used across all styles of music and for both rhythm and lead parts.

If you have a list of some of these songs, you’ll start to hear and understand how they are using the Wah to add something special to the song and their sound.

• Jeff Beck – I Ain’t Superstitious
• Stevie Ray Vaughan – Telephone Song
• Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child of Mine.
• Steve Vai – “Bad Horsie”
• Blind Faith / Presence of the Lord.
• George Harrison – “Wah – Wah”
• Cream – White Room
• J J Cale – Call the Doctor
• And a whole array of Jimi Hendrix numbers

Used in conjunction with our other two pedal recommendations is also a must. Mastering a wah pedal will encourage you to learn great songs like those listed above, and keep you motivated to play more and improve as you work towards your own guitar playing goals. However, you have to bear in mind that, unlike “standard effects” that have more exact settings you can pre-set, the wah pedal is of a more manual nature as it is you, the guitarist, who operates the effect yourself.

Similarly, the best wah pedal for you might not be what other people claim is the best, because every guitarist has different needs and will decide to operate it differently. Before you decide on which pedal to buy, make sure you have done some research, read a few reviews, and maybe tried a few out. The most important thing is for you to be comfortable with the feel, usability, and sound.

Different Wah pedals are good at creating different sounds or tones.

As a simple guide it’s worth you taking a look at the following Wah pedals and try them out if possible, so you can see which suits your style of music and playing. You may want to go for one that will give you more of a classic tone, or one that’s unique and edgy, or maybe one that you simply plug in and play with minimal options.

• Classic Tone: Dunlop Original Crybaby (This is Wah that I use)
• Budget: Behringer Hellbabe. This offers a good array of tone-sculpting options
• Modern: Morley VAI-2 Steve Vai Bad Horsie 2 Contour Wah – Set to Steve Vai’s specifications, it is a great wah.
• Flexibility: Ibanez WD7 Weeping Demon wah – Many different functions that go above and beyond the norm

 

Conclusion

Once you have your initial effects rig set up and ready to go, it is important to be able to understand how you will be using each pedal and become familiar with all its functions and the different tones you can achieve. This may also involve tweaking your amp to assist with this, as every different model of the amp will produce different sounds, to more or less of a degree. For example, you will probably have to increase the distortion level on your overdrive pedal if you use a transistor amp, as opposed to a Marshall stack.

So try them all out and use them in conjunction with each other. As a general rule when you first start with effects pedals we all go a bit overboard creating weird and wonderful sounds, but with more practice and experience you’ll realize the most effective use of pedals is when they are used subtly. But to start with, just get plugged in and I’m sure you’ll have a blast.

 

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Author Bio:

As a well respected player, teacher and coach, Andy Partridge is the lead instructor for Guitar Coach Magazine. Andy’s gentle step by step approach, and detailed note by note lessons, will give you the confidence, reassurance and motivation you need to really achieve your guitar playing goals sooner than you thought possible. His relaxed and engaging teaching style (complete with sometimes questionable jokes) make learning easier, faster, and so much more fun.

The post 3 Effects Pedals To Take Your Guitar Playing to the Next Level appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

Furch Guitars Lets You Build Your Dream Guitar Using 160 Data Points

You no longer have to be a stadium-headlining artist to have your own custom guitar. Furch Guitars (Furch), a world-leading manufacturer of acoustic guitars, has changed the game. Furch now offers each guitarist the chance to be their own guitar builder, creating exactly the acoustic guitar they desire.

Choose from up to 160 different features, mixing and matching to your own specific needs.

The customized guitar then carries the brand RAINBOW.

How It Works

For the new modifiable RAINBOW guitar series, Furch has prepared a high-grade “basic version”: a) the cover of the sitka cage, and b) the bottom and the sack of Indian rosewood. Both of these materials belong to the so-called master grade version, which means that it applies to selected top quality wood.

On top of this basic model template, the customer can complement additional design variants. Choose from more than 160 different features including, for example:

• the shape of the guitar’s body
• the number of strings
• materials
• decorations
• lacquering
• mechanics for tuning and
• tuning sound

With these combination of available adjustments, you can build over 25,000 different guitar models.

 

Background

“The interest in customized guitars has constantly increased over the past ten years. Already last year, guitars consisted of a higher degree of ordered adjustments, six per cent of which were output and this year we expect an even higher figure.

Our new series of RAINBOW guitars is a response to the growing demand for so-called customodeller, which offers customers the greatest freedom in the construction of their dream guitars. Guitarists will no longer be bound to the standard models in our range, but will be able to design the guitar basically right from the start,” says Petr Furch, CEO of Furch Guitars.

Although each model of the RAINBOW guitars is largely unique, the quality craftsmanship remains the same.  This means that the high quality wood and unique production technology are always the foundation.  Guitar models all build on the Furch process: how the lid and bottom are customized, the unique UV lacquer with an extremely thin and resilient texture, Furch’s revolutionary neck design, and the CNR System, which prolongs the stability of the neck by up to 90%.

The combination of the highest quality materials and leading manufacturing techniques makes the RAINBOW models not only looks good but, above all, perform with Furch guitar’s characteristic high quality sound.

Price and Availability

The RAINBOW series guitars can only be ordered by authorized dealers, the list of them is available at www.furch.cz/eu-en/retailers.

The color series of acoustic guitars In addition to the RAINBOW models, the customer can choose from seven different standard colors RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO and VIOLET.

The new color models combine an elegant look further underlined with a number of detailed features, with high-quality sound and a range of unique production techniques. The individual “color series” differ in particular with the combinations of the materials used, the type of surface treatment and the way they are decorated.

The highest standard of guitars, RED, combines the exclusive material, the capability of the lid and the bottom, distinctive and untraditional details, and the unique high-gloss finish finish Full-Pore High-Gloss Finish.

The standard series VIOLET also offers a semi-massive instrument with the Open-Pore Finish finish and significantly more dimmed decorations. More information about the new Acoustic Furch Guitars is available on the updated website www.furchguitars.com.

Prices range from 793 € – 2,895 € depending on series.

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Furch Guitars

The Furch Guitars (Furch) company was founded in 1981 and has gradually become one of the leading manufacturers in the world of acoustic guitars and basses.

The manufacturing and company headquarters are located in Velké Němčice near Brno.

Furch has successfully combined a long-standing knowledge in the field of manual guitar production with state-of-the-art manufacturing processes, technologies, as well as their own inventions. This allows them to deliver first-class instruments with outstanding acoustic and material parameters.

Furch delivers its instruments with a three-year guarantee to 32 countries in five continents, has over 60 highly qualified instrument makers and produces over 7,000 guitars annually, as used by, among others, Suzanne Vega, Per Gessle, Glen Hansard, David Koller, Vlasta Redl, Zdeněk Bína or Thom Artway.

Further information can be found on the web site www.furchguitars.com.

The post Furch Guitars Lets You Build Your Dream Guitar Using 160 Data Points appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

Best Fingerstyle Guitar Under $1,000

Looking for an acoustic guitar made for fingerstyle guitar?  Maybe even the best fingerstyle guitar possible? It’s exciting, inspiring, …aaand it can seem financially daunting.

For example…

• Do you want to play the Maton Custom Shop TE Personal 2017 Natural that Tommy Emmanuel plays? Well, that’ll be $6,250 (used)
• What about the Greenfield G4 Fanned Fret Manchinga that Andy McKee plays? Hmm, that’ll set you back $14,500 or more (if you can even get one).
• Even Sungha Jung’s Grand Concert Signature Model by Lakewood Guitars seems like a steal at $3,000!

But What If You Could Only Spend $1,000?

What acoustic guitar would you buy?

After all, this is a more realistic budget range for many guitarists. Which brand and which model would give you the best ‘bang for your buck’? We’re looking for exceptional sound, playability, features tailored for fingerstyle guitar, and, of course, some good-looking craftsmanship.

$1,000 may still feel a bit high, especially for beginners and young players.  But for the sake of argument (and round numbers), let’s use this as a cut-off point to separate the A-list from the Available-list. (And, for the record, conversations in the forums seem to support that this is a reasonable cut-off price.)

First we’ll take a look at what features make the best fingerstyle guitar.  Then we’ll look at several popular options. Finally we’ll recommend the top models.

What Makes a Great Fingerstyle Guitar?

When we’re talking about fingerstyle guitar, we’re referring to the avante-garde acoustic style popularized by folks like Michael Hedges, Igor Presnyakov, and Phil Keaggy.

In terms of exact style, we include:

• Chet Atkins thumb-pickers like Tommy Emmanuel
• Acrylic-nail sporting virtuosos like Don Ross, and
• Good ol’ fingers-on-strings players like Adam Rafferty.

When we look at the guitars they play, what do they have in common?

Smaller body

This is for two reasons: even sound and easy playability. The traditional dreadnought body-style acoustic guitar is often big sounding, and bass-heavy. For fingerstyle, though, you want even expression of all the strings.

Also, big dreadnought bodies are hard to get your arms around. They’re great for strumming away in open positions like Johnny Cash, but more difficult for the agile dynamics of someone like Ed Sheerhan.

Cutaway

The cutaway provides easier access to the strings above the 12th fret. Electric guitarists routinely use this part of the guitar neck. Many acoustic guitar models, however, ignore this because this is not where the acoustic usually sounds best.

For fingerstyle, though, you want to be able to access this for a number of reasons, including: harmonics, solos, and breadth of arrangement.

Easier action

“Action” refers to the height and tension of the strings over the fretboard. These details, of course, affect how hard you have to press to make the notes sound and how easy it is to switch positions. So, for example, we’re not looking for a Gibson Jumbo with fat strings and a big bottom end.  We want to be able to finger the fretboard easily.

Note: expensive fingerstyle-oriented guitar typically have some additional features, things like a forward scratchguard for percussive use, and picking arm cut-outs for extra comfort. We won’t be seeing those in are sub-$1,000 search, though…

 

The Best Fingerstyle Guitars: A Few Options

 

Taylor 214ce

This latest edition of Taylor’s cutaway Grand Auditorium 214ce features an aesthetic update to feature attractive layered Hawaiian koa back and sides. Under the hood, upgraded internal bracing dials up the guitar’s sonic horsepower to give the solid Sitka spruce top more dynamic range. Clean appointments include white binding, Italian acrylic dot inlays, a faux tortoise shell pickguard, an ebony peghead overlay, and satin-finish back and sides with a glossy top. Together with the onboard Taylor ES2 pickup and signature Taylor playability, this guitar delivers pro-grade stage appeal in every way.

View Price/Availability on Amazon >>

Epiphone Masterbilt EF500R

The Epiphone EF-500R is one of the new classics in our Masterbilt Collection. The Masterbilt Collection was first issued in the early 1930s and marked Epiphone’s arrival as one of the main acoustic designers and builders of the era. Timeless designs and innovation remains their mission today and this is in evidence on the Epiphone EF-500R, which features the classic “orchestra” body shape with a Solid Sitka Spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides and a mahogany “V” style neck perfect for fingerpicking.

View Price/Availability on Amazon >>

 

Breedlove Solo Concert

The trademark Breedlove concert sound combines the warm, rich overtones created by red cedar, the Breedlove Bridge Truss and East Indian rosewood back and sides. The connection player feels with their instrument is enhanced with the Side Monitor Soundhole, bringing the music directly to your ears. The Solo Concert is also available in a left handed model (LH) and with the option of a 1.75 inch nut width.

View on Price/Availability Amazon >>

 

Yamaha A Series A3M

Designed to be the ideal performance acoustic guitar, the Yamaha A-Series is crafted from the ground up to be perfectly suited to life on the road. With natural, dynamic plugged-in tone and stage-ready simplicity from the new SRT2 pickup system; played-in comfort out of the box thanks to hand-rolled fingerboard edges on a straight taper neck; a custom designed scalloped bracing pattern for a powerful, expressive acoustic tone and Yamaha’s legendary road-ready construction.

View Price/Availability on Amazon >>

 

Fender Paramount PM-3 Standard

U.S.-designed Paramount series acoustic instruments are finely crafted and specially voiced to bring music to life. Each all-solid guitar offers many legacy design elements of classic ’60s models, including checkerboard purfling and rosette, pickguard shape and abalone and mother-of-pearl “Concert Tone” fingerboard inlays. Even with this art deco look, Paramount instruments still retain their footing in modern design. All-new Fender- and Fishman®-designed PM preamp systems are specifically voiced for each body shape in the series, ensuring complete tonal control and variation.

View Price/Availability on Amazon >>

Drum Rolll….The Top Recommended Guitar Is:

Taylor 214ce

First, I should say: all these guitar are great options.  Particular qualities of one of these guitars may appeal to you so, by all means, go for that! With that being said…

My own experience would lead me to favor the Taylor 214ce as the best fingerstyle guitar under $1,000.

Taylor’s guitars have long had a history of fine craftsmanship and consistent quality across the years. This gives me confidence that you (or I) could pick up any of these model guitars and experience a great playing guitar.

The 214ce checks all the boxes on our list regarding body size, cutaway, and playable action.

Also, Taylors have a clarity that seems to compliment the complexity of fingerstyle guitar. For straight-ahead strumming, I would favor something more mellow and warm, like a Martin. But in fingerstyle guitar, I want each string to sing out and have it’s own voice. Taylor’s guitars are good at this.

Bottom line: This is a fine guitar that squeaks in under the $1,000 price tag.

View Price/Availability on Amazon >>

 

Have other recommendations on the best fingerstyle guitar under $1k?

We’d love to hear them!  Add them in the comments below.

The post Best Fingerstyle Guitar Under $1,000 appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

What Is Digital Signal Processing (DSP)? And What Does It Mean For Music?

Digital Signal Processing, or “DSP”, is often referred to as a “feature” of modern audio equipment and music gear. Why is that important? Well, two reasons. One, it tells you how they’re handling the audio signal – and the potential trade-offs which that implies. And, two, hopefully they give you confidence in how well they’re using DSP – after all, better processing equals better results.

So What is DSP? Particularly In Audio Processing?

DSP stands for Digital Signal Processing. This term is used for digital encoding of “live” signals such as audio, video, temperature, pressure, position, etc. Digital signal processing allows these live signals to be stored, manipulated, edited, replayed, and transferred much more efficiently and accurately than by using strictly analog methods. For example, think how easy it is to edit video files in iMovie (or even on your phone!) vs cutting and re-attaching film like in the old cutting room.

Sound is naturally an analog phenomenon.  Sound is a function of physical waves traveling through a medium – air or water, or even a hard surface (like putting your ear to a train track to hear the train coming).

Microphones convert this physical sound wave into an analog electronic signal. They do this by use of a small, sensitive diaphragm that vibrates when hit by audio waves. The vibrations of the diaphragm generate a very small, uinque, electronic signal. This signal is music.  Like all electrical signals, it is a flowing sine wave, moving between zero or negative voltage and some other voltage. The rate, frequency, depth, and tiny aberrations of this signal are what make this electronic signal sound uniquely like your voice, or your guitar, or your violin.

Note: Electric guitar pickups function differently. These pickups take advantage of Faraday’s discovery that moving a metal rod through a magnetic field (or a magnetic field over a metal rod.  As Einstein famously pondered… is there any difference?) produces an electric current.  It turns out that when an guitar string (a metal rod) vibrates in the magnetic field of a guitar pickup, a unique electric signal is also produced. The rate, frequency, depth, and tiny aberrations of this signal are what make it sound uniquely like your Telecaster or Les Paul.

The Ups and Downs of Analog

Analog transmission of audio signals require that power amplification and receiver sensitivity each be addressed so that the signal is communicated efficiently. This is because microphones, guitar pickups, and general audio equipment do not put out a strong enough electrical signal to drive a speaker system (such as a guitar amp).  So an electronic amplifier magnifies the signal. The amplified signal is necessary in order to drive the speaker cone to vibrate strongly enough to be heard.

Processing electronic signals like this have both advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages

• An analog signal transmitted this way has the highest fidelity. That is why electric guitars through traditional amps are still the “go to” for recording great guitar sounds.
• Lower system complexity. This may be arguable (especially among guitarists who have “blown” a tube on a traditional amp), but analog signals are inherently easier to deal with. Software menus, storage devices, encoding errors, OS updates…none of this affects a classic Marshall tube amp, for example.

Disadvantages

• Analog signals do not transmit easily over long distances. Amplifiers are required to continually boosted.
• Analog signals are not easily stored. Wax cylinders, vinyl records, and magnetic tape have all been used to store analog music over the years. The process of recording and retrieving the information is generally cumbersome.
• Analog storage tends to degrade over the years.
• Manipulating or editing analog audio files is difficult.  They must be played in “real time”, with effects or edits applied during playback, and re-recorded to create the new version. There are, of course, advanced methods for this process, but all are time consuming.

How DSP Handles Audio

Digital Signal Processing converts analog audio signals to a digital stream of binary bits. This digital stream can be transmitted, stored, and modified much more efficiently – with higher speed and quality.

A helpful illustration from the brilliant folks at www.analog.com.

Digital Signal Processing is generally divided into three parts: audio-to-digital conversion (ADC), digital-to-audio (DAC) conversion, and a distinct ‘digital signal processer’ (typically a single microchip).

1. Audio-to-Digital conversion (ADC) takes incoming analog signals and converts it to a series of binary data points.  In goes electric guitar cable, out comes a string of 1’s and 0’s.
2. Digital-to-Audio Conversion (DAC) takes the binary data that comprise the music signal (stored as a file), converts to analog, and outputs an analog electronic signal.  In goes 1’s and 0’s, out comes the electric guitar signal again.
3. A Digital Signal Processor actually performs several functions. This processor includes Program Memory, Data Memory, a Compute Engine, and Input/Output functions.  For our purposes, we can simply say that this is the part of the DSP technology that manipulates the file. If you want to open or close the file, if software wants to access the file, or if you want to transfer it to a hard drive, or perform any of the many the functions that we routinely perform on a computer – the digital signal processor is the part that accepts and processes these commands.

Why is DSP Better?

DSP is ubiquitous in modern audio equipment.  This is because it provides several advantages over traditional analog signal processing, with only minor tradeoffs.

Advantages

• Digital storage is better in many ways – cheaper, longer-lasting, easy to transfer, easy to duplicate, instantly accessible.
• Faster, more accurate processing than analog. No need to re-play files in ‘real-time’, and all data is edited directly without the variability of intermediary playback and re-recording equipment.
• Signals can be transmitted quickly and more efficiently from one place to another, even in real-time performance situations.
• Signals may also be enhanced or manipulated to improve their quality or provide information that is not sensed by humans.

Disadvantages

• You lose some data. Like audiophiles who prefer vinyl over mp3’s because there’s more audio “information” in the physical vinyl groove. Since DSP’s convert audio files into binary number representations, some audio fidelity can be lost in the process (the amount of loss can be minimal, depending on your file type and settings).
• Many recording enthusiasts like the idiosyncracies introduced by analog recording and editing equipment. The unique sounds, glitches, and “feel” are all part of the desired sound.

Conclusion

Digital Signal Processing has become the standard for audio processing. While audiophiles and recording enthusiasts may prefer analog methods in many (or even all) situations, the market shows that the vast majority of people prefer the ease and efficiency of DSP for playing, recording, and listening to music.

 

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References:

http://www.analog.com/en/design-center/landing-pages/001/beginners-guide-to-dsp.html

http://www.powersoft-audio.com/en/technologies/dsp-technology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_signal_processing

https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/digital-signal-processing-DSP

The post What Is Digital Signal Processing (DSP)? And What Does It Mean For Music? appeared first on The Guitar Journal.

Learn to Play Jazz Music in New York City This Summer

The New York Jazz Workshop®, one of NYC’s premier jazz music institutions, is holding their 10th Annual Music Intensive Series in July and August with a wide range of 1-4-day intensives for all instrumentalists and vocalists. The 2018 series will offer 16 different music programs for adults (age 17 and up) led by an impressive faculty of world-class musicians and educators.

Guitar-Related Sessions:

The Guitar Intensive on Aug. 16-19 with Kenny Wessel and Vic Juris is the first of two guitar-specific programs. The 4-day program cover topics such as chord voicing, improvisation, modal chord positions and much more. Don’t miss this chance to learn from two of the world’s leading jazz guitar voices.

Learn more about the Guitar Intensives >>

Three-time GRAMMY-nominated trombonist-composer-arranger Alan Ferber shares his wisdom this summer during three exciting intensives. In the Composition Intensive on Aug. 20 participants will gain new insights into the roles of melody, harmony, improvisation, and form and learn how to incorporate these concepts to their own compositions.

Ferber will be also teaching the Counterpoint and Arranging Intensives on Aug. 21 and 22. Counterpoint, a basic compositional aspect, is essential for deeper understanding of arranging and composition. The Aug. 22 Arranging Intensive will focus on big and small band writing, reharmonization and orchestration. Consider signing up for the Composition intensive, the Counterpoint intensive and the Arranging intensive as a package (for a 10% discount!).

Full Itinerary:

• July 19-23 with the Brazilian Music Intensive
• West African/Djembe Intensive with Michael Markus on July 23
• West African Grooves with Yacouba Sissoko on July 24
• Bata Intensive with David Ambrosio on July 25
• The Jazz Improvisation Intensive on July 26-29
• The Piano/Keyboard Intensive on July 30-Aug. 1
• Beginner’s Vocal Intensive on Aug. 2-5.
• Intermediate Vocal Intensive on Aug. 6-8
• Aug. 9-12 brings forth the Vocal Intensive for Intermediate/Advanced
• The All About Drums Intensive on Aug. 13-15
• Guitar Intensive on Aug. 16-19
• Composition Intensive on Aug. 20
• Counterpoint and Arranging Intensives on Aug. 21 and 22

Learn More about the Summer Intensives >>

 

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