Many times in a musician’s development (for me this happened a lot in college) they are required to learn a standard very quickly. In certain cases this is a requirement of a class and other times it is actually during the gig. Below I have outlined the approach that works best for me to learn new material.

As a guitarist, the difficult part to internalizing a tune has always been the voicings more so than the melody. Considering the seemingly infinite number of variations on extensions and inversions for each chord, it is easy to fall into a rut and rely on several stock voicings.  A good friend of mine, Jody Fisher recommends the following method for working on the changes to a tune.

• Divide the guitar into 7 regions as follows
  • Top 4 strings
  • Middle 4 strings
  • Bottom 4 strings
  • Frets 1 through 4
  • Frets 5 through 8
  • Frets 9 through 12

This allows you to break the fretboard up into more manageable pieces and gain a better understanding of how the mechanics of the guitar work.

For each region, you would find as many voicings of a particular chord as you can taking into consideration both alterations and extensions.

Take the following progression for example:

Gm7 / C7 / Fmaj7/ Bbm7/ Eb7/Abmaj7/ Fm7/Bb7//

If this was the first time I am working with this method, I would take the Gm7 chord and work through as many inversions, extensions and alterations as I could in each region.  Once I felt comfortable with being able to grab a Gm7 voicing anywhere I happen to be on the fretboard, I would repeat the process with the C7 chord.

As you can see, this isn’t something that you can accomplish quickly.  Once I have the first two chords worked out, I would practice going from Gm7 to C7 in each region.  Slowly but surely the process is repeated with each chord of the progression.

By the time you get through the first A section of a tune, the harmony is so internalized that hearing the melody in your head becomes easier.

To work this method over an entire tune could take several months, but as with many things the more you do it, the easier it becomes and the less time it takes for each tune.

Check out Jody’s book The Total Jazz Guitarist to see this method written out with detailed examples.

What are the most effective ways you have found to learn changes?

National Guitar Workshop Announces 2009 Season with Special Guests Buddy Guy, Paul Gilbert, Jimmy Herring, Jimmie Vaughan and Pat Metheny

The National Guitar Workshop is proud to announce our 2009 season. This year we will be presenting week long workshops across the country and featuring guest artists such as Paul Gilbert, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Herring, Pat Metheny, Jimmie Vaughan, and many more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Litchfield, CT—Februrary 12, 2009 – The National Guitar Workshop is excited to announce the curriculum and guest artists for the 2009 season. This year’s program will feature Paul Gilbert, Buddy Guy, Pat Metheny, Jimmy Herring, Oteil Burbridge, Pat Martino, Robben Ford, David Wilcox, Robert Lee Castleman, Brent Mason, Stu Hamm, Peppino D”Agostino, Ed Gerhard, Andrew York and John 5. Courses will be offered in rock, blues, jazz, country, classical, music technology, songwriting, and guitar exploration.

Check out www.guitarworkshop.com for more information.

NGW features locations nation-wide with campuses in New York, Austin, Washington DC, Chicago, and Los Angeles. Each location offers a wide variety of courses, all taught by world renowned musicians.

In association with Performing Songwriter Magazine, NGW is proud to present the Songwriting Summit featuring David Wilcox and Robert Lee Castleman. In addition, the workshop is offering a seminar on Country Guitar featuring Brent Mason, and a special Modern Acoustic seminar with Ed Gerhard and Peppino D’Agostino.

Events are happening across the country for rock players. The New York campus will hold two Rock Summits featuring Paul Gilbert and very special guest to be announced, while the LA Rock Summit will include a clinic by world renowned shred virtuoso John-5. Also at our LA Rock Summit we are happy to announce that bassist Stu Hamm will be an Artist in Residence during the summit.

The Jam Summit, taking place at our New York campus will feature both Jimmy Herring (Widespread Panic) and Oteil Burbridge (Allman Brothers Band) giving a special clinic on improvisation and presenting their unique take on the Jam scene.

Taking place in Austin, Chicago, and Connecticut are three Blues Summits, which will include appearances by some of the most influential bluest guitarists in the world. NGW is pleased to have Buddy Guy making a rare clinic appearance in Chicago. Jimmie Vaughan will be giving a clinic on his unique style in Austin, and the New York campus will feature the legendary blues guitarist Robben Ford.

The National Guitar Workshop is very excited to present Pat Metheny at the Jazz Summit in New York. This will be a rare chance to be a part of an intimate workshop with one of the most respected jazz guitarists in history. A great addition to the McLean, VA campus will be the appearance of one of the fathers of modern jazz guitar, Pat Martino, who will be a featured guest in the Giants of Jazz guitar seminar.

Our curriculum has also expanded to also include classes on Pro Tools, Ableton Live and Desktop Music Production. These music technology classes are powered by Apple®.

For a complete list of dates, locations, guest artists and classes offered please check out our website

www.guitarworkshop.com

If you are interested in connecting with other musicians and learning more about National Guitar Workshop from a student’s perspective, you can join our free community site

http://guitarworkshopcommunity.com

About National Guitar Workshop:

The National Guitar Workshop is celebrating over25 years of providing high quality music education to students of all ages. The curriculum is wide ranging with courses in Rock, Blues, Jazz, Acoustic, Songwriting, Music Technology and Classical. NGW offers expert instruction for guitarists, bassists, drummers, keyboardists and vocalists.

One of my favorite moments from last summer.  I am so glad someone taped it.

We have Paul Gilbert coming back again for our Rock Summit in August.  I wonder if he will serenade another NGW faculty member?

Also, if you haven’t checked out Terry Syrek.  Shame on you.

I have been using Twitter for several months now (I am @guitarworkshop) and have made some great connections through it.  Inspired by Darren Rowse‘s TwiTip blog, here are my 10 favorite guitar-related Twitter users (in no particular order) is a comprehensive list of Twitter users who are way into guitar.

@premierguitar – Premier Guitar is one of the very publications that are actually growing.  Mostly gear based, but some great educational content as well.

@guitarnoize – Guitar Noize is one of the most read guitar blogs around.  It is a daily read for me.

@iheartguitar – Peter does a great job with his guitar blog from Austraila.  With a name like that, I can’t leave it off this list.

@johnhorneguitar – John is one of our teachers and he has a great guitar blog.  He is relatively new to Twitter, so make him feel welcome.

@madstratter – Another great gutiar centric blog from upstate NY.

@cameronmizell – Cameron is one of the bloggers at MusicanWages.com.  It is a hugely informatve website that is highly recommended.

@guitarkadia – Emon writes a great guitar blog at guitarkadia.  Thankfully he uses his Twitter stream for more than just new blog posts.

@guitarplayerzen – One of the most original guitar blogs on the internet.

@Vurnt22 – Vernon Reid from Living Color.  Enough said.

@amymantis – Amy writes a great blog about her experiences as a freshman at Berklee.

@JasonHeath – A great blogger on all things Bass.

@stuartweber – A classical guitarist from Montana.

@chrisguitarguy – Another classical guitarist studying at Austin Peay.

@flameboy – French guitarist who runs guitarwink.com.

@Slidetone – Blogs at www.slidetone.net

@taylorguitarspr – Taylor Guitars Offical Twitter

@ajp71555 – Blogs at http://pentatonic-minor.blogspot.com/

@guitarlifestyle – Blogs at www.guitarlifestyle.com

@trebleahead

@markalandooley

@bassred

@TheRockHouse

@middlebrook

@tjputerboy

@paulrpotts – Blogs at GeekVersusGuitar

@LorenClaypool

@gr8WhiteSavage

@MartyWilliamson- Guitarist from the great Chicago band Hello Dave

@TeachWombat

@TheRustyBadger – Russell North, Artist Relations for Fender UK

@johnpearman

@jjeaton

@stuscrace

@sirdharo

I am moving this list to it’s own page here.

So mostly due to deadlines at work and post NAMM craziness, I have been absent.

Matt Warnock, a guitar professor at Western Illinois University recently interviewed me for the MusicEdMagic Website.  You can read it here.

Also, we have announced some of our guest artists for our campuses this summer.

National Guitar Workshop’s 2009 Guest Artist Roster (more to come)

Chicago, IL – Blues Guitar Summit July 12-17 with special guest Buddy Guy

Austin, TX – Blues Guitar Summit July 19-24 with special guest Jimmie Vaughan

Purchase, NY

July 19-24 Rock Summit with special guest TBA

July 26-31

Jazz Summit with Pat Metheny

Jam Summit with Jimmy Herring and Oteil Burbridge

August 2-7 Rock Summit with Paul Gilbert

August 9-14

Blues Summit with Robben Ford

Songwriting Summit with David Wilcox and Robert Lee Castleman

(I have a cool job)