"Studies have shown that American children who learn to read by the third grade are less likely to end up in prison, drop out of school, or take drugs. Adults who read literature on a regular basis are nearly three times as likely to attend a performing arts event, almost four times as likely to visit an art museum, more than two-and-a-half times as likely to do volunteer or charity work, and over one-and-a-half times as likely to participate in sporting activities." -- Wikipedia.org
Nobody laugh, but I've been going through an instructional DVD of late called "50 Licks - Jazz Style" featuring Bruce Buckingham. Bruce is a guy in his mid-40s who showed up the day of the videoshoot wearing a purple t-shirt w/ a hoodie (open/unzipped). "Slouch" was the vibecode.
Bruce? Couldn't you have dressed-up a little for your big day?
But then the guy starts playing these wicked lines, and you think, "Ok. If you can play like that, you can wear whatever you want."
I played guitar in our high school's jazz ensemble for four years, and that entire time, I was searching for a certain sound. I never found it.
Until this DVD. And so far? The key has been to augment the 5th of your scale when playing over the V (<--- Roman Numeral) chord. That's it. What's taken me years to try and discover on my own was illuminated for me by Bruce in a matter of 10 seconds.
I got so excited that I almost called up my old jazz instructor - Mr. Kelso (possibly the singlemost important influence on me as a musician) - to tell him that I'd finally learned how to play bebop lines on guitar. _____________________
Does this mean that The Elms have a jazz record in their future?
Probably not.
I've been going through another DVD on Slide Guitar too though, and that's actually something a little more readily incorporatable... incorporative... incorpa... ahem. Somethin'. _____________________
I meet w/ a group of kids here in Seymour once a week to help further them along on guitar. I wouldn't call it a Masterclass or anything, but they're definitely fun, and this is my way of giving back to the Music Community.
Tonight, one of my kids said he wanted to learn how to play the solo on "Holy Diver."
First, I had to ask who the artist was. ("Ronnie James Dio.") Then I had to look it up on YouTube, because I'd never heard the song. We transcribed the solo, and he walked out ready to conquer the world. But me? I had to bite my lip and then some, because the video I was watching was absolutely hilarious in that not-meaning-to-be-hilarious sort of way.
I remember, growing up, having several adults around me doing their all to protect me from METAL, not because it sucked, but because it was evil. Years later, especially after watching the video for "Holy Diver" tonight, I wonder how in the world anybody could ever call this music evil. It's so kitschy that it's harmless.
My favorite part is the 3:12 mark. What is meant to be a scary druid-like/demonic character comes off a lot more like Orko (anybody watch He-Man as a kid?)
I'll stop talking so you can see for yourself. Lemme know what you think.
