Hey there! In this lesson we’re going to be looking at emulating the tones and sounds of other instruments on the guitar, focusing on 3 instruments from the Far East, the Pipa, the Koto and the Shackuhachi (Japanese Flute). Being brought up on a diet of old Kung Fu movies and Manga, the distinctive music of the Orient has always been of great interest to me Continue reading »
As drummers our most important task is to keep the tempo steady and make it feel good while tastefully and musically leading our band through the song. We are laying down the roadway along with our Bassist in order to give the melody a solid foundation. I see it as a pyramid with Drums and Bass on the bottom, Guitars, Keyboards, Horns and whatever you have as the higher pitched melodic instruments next, and finally the melody line itself as the capstone. Continue reading »
The band Radiohead recently (2007) offered music for free on the Internet. This initiates an entirely new view of recorded music. Not in the obvious sense. Such a move is one towards the gradual dematerialization of society. It won’t be long before it happens. And it will still cost to consume over the Internet. But the object is leaving for good. The earth’s resources are dwindling and there is no reason to make what can be translated into a form that can be sold electronically. Continue reading »
Every guitarist wants to have the best tone. In fact we all work so hard on perfecting our technique and our style that sometimes the most important part of the equasion is forgotten. Your guitar of course. Continue reading »
If you look at my last article, “superimposing arpeggios” you’ll read how it is possible to superimpose a different arpeggio of a chord from the same parent scale over the chord that you are improvising on. In this lesson I am going to take it one step further and combine it with another of my previous articles “Jazz Up Your Blues Progressions”, in which I describe how to add a jazz flavor to your blues progressions by adding different chord substitutions throughout the sequence. Continue reading »
When playing over a particular chord how many different arpeggios would you consider using? Over any chord you can superimpose a large number of different arpeggios which can give you greater harmonic choices. In this lesson I am going to look at one approach of doing this. By having a parent scale in mind (ie playing in a specific key) whether it’s for one chord, a chord sequence or for a whole piece of music, I’m going to show how to determine all the different arpeggios that are available to play over each chord in that key. Continue reading »
Kumoi Joshi is an exotic sounding Japanese pentatonic scale comprising of the intervals R b2 4 5 and b6. This scale can be used to spice up your solos with a fresh sound and as it is similar to Phrygian can be used to great effect in modern metal. Continue reading »
Some basic skills in arranging jazz standards for solo playing are a great addition to a jazz guitarist’s abilities for several reasons:
1. With a large enough rep or enough skill to arrange tunes on the fly you can stop splitting up the money from all those “music to be ignored by gigs” that we all love so much. Continue reading »
Robert Johnson was born in Hazelhurst, Mississippi on May 8, 1911 and died in Greenwood, Mississippi on August 16, 1938. During those 27 years he recorded 29 songs that influenced modern blues and paved the way for the future of blues-based rock.
Continue reading »
Let’s get one thing straight before I get loads of complaints. Singers ARE musicians. We do a very good job at being musicians. The title is a bit pedantic, but I am trying to make a point here. I think it is about time that those of you who are not singers, need to understand our “ways”. Yes I know some of us throw tantrums, lash expensive mic’s to the floor, kick speakers, and walk out of rehearsals in disgust-never to be seen again, or in the nearest bar drowning our sorrows and saluting Freddy Mecury, et al: “why can’t I sing like them?”. Continue reading »
Here’s a nice little diagram I compiled that shows all the notes of the fretboard, as well as what they look like on the staff. Enjoy! Continue reading »
When we think of great bass players we only mention the players of the male persuasion. There are many great female bassist who have carved their path into music history. With this interview I like introduce one of those female greats.
Ladies and gentlemen ………. Madame Double Z Continue reading »
As a guitar player and guitar teacher I meet a lot of people who always wanted to play jazz but thought it was too difficult so they never give it a go. This lesson is kind of aimed at those players who want to jazz up their blues playing without too much stress. It’s not designed as quick-fix but will get you sounding much more jazzy in just a few simple steps. Continue reading »
Well by the time you start reading this 2nd part you guys should be ‘purring’ freely in the vocal region to carry on with more basic vocal technique. Continue reading »
How many of you guitarists out there can play in any key, any scale in any position on the neck? I would lay a bet that there are more that can’t than can. This lesson will put you on the right path to breaking out of those comfortable boxes and shapes that you have probably become used to. Continue reading »
In celebration of UK rock band Muse selling out the new Wembley Stadium in June, I’m going to be looking at the playing style of singer/guitarist Matt Bellamy, paying to particular attention to the band’s “Showbiz” and “Origin of Symmetry” era.
After forming in Teignmouth Devon in 1994 Muse have managed to become one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, although many would have thought their mind blowing headlining set at Glastonbury 2004 would have been the peak of their career, Muse have once again raised the bar for what it means to be the ultimate live band. Continue reading »
Many years ago I was sitting in a motel room with my good friend and Bassist Peter Amazing watching a band play on TV while waiting to go onstage ourselves. The drummer on the tube was playing “open handed” style. That is, he was not crossing his right hand over his left to play the hi-hat with his right hand. Instead he was playing the hi-hat notes with his left hand and hitting the back beat with his right. Continue reading »
Research paper on “The Healing aspects of Micro-tones of musical, astrological and psychical vibrations” connected through the universal principle of Spiral of fifths. Continue reading »
Hello there,
It’s Nick Andrew (the Mad Scotsman) here with the first in a series of lessons in clichĂ© busting musical ideas for the bold axe men and axe women out there, looking for something more than the latest licks. Continue reading »
Intellectual Musician’s own Sean Gill has done an excellent job drawing up some promotional posters for the site. They are found below in both image (.jpg) and printable (.pdf) format. Continue reading »
Hey there! In this lesson we’re going to be looking at emulating the tones and sounds of other instruments on the guitar, focusing on 3 instruments from the Far East, the Pipa, the Koto and the Shackuhachi (Japanese Flute). Being brought up on a diet of old Kung Fu movies and Manga, the distinctive music of the Orient has always been of great interest to me Continue reading »
As drummers our most important task is to keep the tempo steady and make it feel good while tastefully and musically leading our band through the song. We are laying down the roadway along with our Bassist in order to give the melody a solid foundation. I see it as a pyramid with Drums and Bass on the bottom, Guitars, Keyboards, Horns and whatever you have as the higher pitched melodic instruments next, and finally the melody line itself as the capstone. Continue reading »
The band Radiohead recently (2007) offered music for free on the Internet. This initiates an entirely new view of recorded music. Not in the obvious sense. Such a move is one towards the gradual dematerialization of society. It won’t be long before it happens. And it will still cost to consume over the Internet. But the object is leaving for good. The earth’s resources are dwindling and there is no reason to make what can be translated into a form that can be sold electronically. Continue reading »
Every guitarist wants to have the best tone. In fact we all work so hard on perfecting our technique and our style that sometimes the most important part of the equasion is forgotten. Your guitar of course. Continue reading »
If you look at my last article, “superimposing arpeggios” you’ll read how it is possible to superimpose a different arpeggio of a chord from the same parent scale over the chord that you are improvising on. In this lesson I am going to take it one step further and combine it with another of my previous articles “Jazz Up Your Blues Progressions”, in which I describe how to add a jazz flavor to your blues progressions by adding different chord substitutions throughout the sequence. Continue reading »
When playing over a particular chord how many different arpeggios would you consider using? Over any chord you can superimpose a large number of different arpeggios which can give you greater harmonic choices. In this lesson I am going to look at one approach of doing this. By having a parent scale in mind (ie playing in a specific key) whether it’s for one chord, a chord sequence or for a whole piece of music, I’m going to show how to determine all the different arpeggios that are available to play over each chord in that key. Continue reading »
Kumoi Joshi is an exotic sounding Japanese pentatonic scale comprising of the intervals R b2 4 5 and b6. This scale can be used to spice up your solos with a fresh sound and as it is similar to Phrygian can be used to great effect in modern metal. Continue reading »
Some basic skills in arranging jazz standards for solo playing are a great addition to a jazz guitarist’s abilities for several reasons:
1. With a large enough rep or enough skill to arrange tunes on the fly you can stop splitting up the money from all those “music to be ignored by gigs” that we all love so much. Continue reading »
Robert Johnson was born in Hazelhurst, Mississippi on May 8, 1911 and died in Greenwood, Mississippi on August 16, 1938. During those 27 years he recorded 29 songs that influenced modern blues and paved the way for the future of blues-based rock.
Continue reading »
Let’s get one thing straight before I get loads of complaints. Singers ARE musicians. We do a very good job at being musicians. The title is a bit pedantic, but I am trying to make a point here. I think it is about time that those of you who are not singers, need to understand our “ways”. Yes I know some of us throw tantrums, lash expensive mic’s to the floor, kick speakers, and walk out of rehearsals in disgust-never to be seen again, or in the nearest bar drowning our sorrows and saluting Freddy Mecury, et al: “why can’t I sing like them?”. Continue reading »
Here’s a nice little diagram I compiled that shows all the notes of the fretboard, as well as what they look like on the staff. Enjoy! Continue reading »
When we think of great bass players we only mention the players of the male persuasion. There are many great female bassist who have carved their path into music history. With this interview I like introduce one of those female greats.
Ladies and gentlemen ………. Madame Double Z Continue reading »
As a guitar player and guitar teacher I meet a lot of people who always wanted to play jazz but thought it was too difficult so they never give it a go. This lesson is kind of aimed at those players who want to jazz up their blues playing without too much stress. It’s not designed as quick-fix but will get you sounding much more jazzy in just a few simple steps. Continue reading »
Well by the time you start reading this 2nd part you guys should be ‘purring’ freely in the vocal region to carry on with more basic vocal technique. Continue reading »
How many of you guitarists out there can play in any key, any scale in any position on the neck? I would lay a bet that there are more that can’t than can. This lesson will put you on the right path to breaking out of those comfortable boxes and shapes that you have probably become used to. Continue reading »
In celebration of UK rock band Muse selling out the new Wembley Stadium in June, I’m going to be looking at the playing style of singer/guitarist Matt Bellamy, paying to particular attention to the band’s “Showbiz” and “Origin of Symmetry” era.
After forming in Teignmouth Devon in 1994 Muse have managed to become one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, although many would have thought their mind blowing headlining set at Glastonbury 2004 would have been the peak of their career, Muse have once again raised the bar for what it means to be the ultimate live band. Continue reading »
Many years ago I was sitting in a motel room with my good friend and Bassist Peter Amazing watching a band play on TV while waiting to go onstage ourselves. The drummer on the tube was playing “open handed” style. That is, he was not crossing his right hand over his left to play the hi-hat with his right hand. Instead he was playing the hi-hat notes with his left hand and hitting the back beat with his right. Continue reading »
Research paper on “The Healing aspects of Micro-tones of musical, astrological and psychical vibrations” connected through the universal principle of Spiral of fifths. Continue reading »
Hello there,
It’s Nick Andrew (the Mad Scotsman) here with the first in a series of lessons in clichĂ© busting musical ideas for the bold axe men and axe women out there, looking for something more than the latest licks. Continue reading »
Intellectual Musician’s own Sean Gill has done an excellent job drawing up some promotional posters for the site. They are found below in both image (.jpg) and printable (.pdf) format. Continue reading »
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