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10 Essential Guitar DVDs Part One

Feb 19 2010 Published by Jason Shadrick under Guitar, Guitar Lessons, Video

When I first started playing guitar my family couldn’t afford lessons right away so I relied on the monthly magazines for most of my early instruction. Then one day a friend of mine loaned me a VHS tape of John Petrucci’s Rock Discipline.

It was over.

It might be hard to believe, but I was quite the rocker in my youth. I wasn’t at all familiar with Petrucci, or Dream Theater but I had never seen anyone play guitar that fast and was able to explain it that clearly. Since then I have seen a few really great DVD’s and a LOT that weren’t so great. Below I have listed my top 10 all-time desert island instructional videos. I encourage you to check one out that maybe you think you wouldn’t be into. Netflix has a lot of these on hand and also check out your local library for hidden gems among the copies of “Gone With the Wind” and “Howard the Duck.”

In no particular order:

John Petrucci: Rock Discipline

Even though this earns a spot on this list for sentimental reasons, the information that John gives is incredibly solid. He covers many topics that guitar teachers everyday go over and over with students. In later years I viewed this from a purely technical standpoint since my musical tastes were changing. If you need to really get some technique together, this one is for you.

Pete Huttlinger: A Guitarist’s Guide to Better Practicing

It is a constant and never-ending journey to make your practice time more efficient. Going through 6 years of music school really helped me, but that isn’t for everyone. You can tell Pete spent a considerable amount of time practicing and thinking of how to improve his methods. In this video he talks about everything from making arrangements to working with a metronome and even some killer right hand fingerstyle techniques. I make all of my students watch this to not only see what is possible but to see how a world-class guitarist keeps on pushing to be the best.

Danny Gatton: Strictly Rhythm Guitar

There are very few guitar players who I could sit and watch play rhythm guitar all night. Danny Gatton is one of them. He has a complete mastery of his instrument that few musicians ever attain. Throughout this video his guitar sounds like a B-3, a fire truck and at times a hurricane plugged into a Twin set to stun. Even for the sheer “Wow” factor, you should have this around.

Eric Johnson: The Fine Art of Guitar

I first heard of EJ when I saw the video of the G3 tour he was on with Satriani and Vai. Eric’s music was infinitely more interesting to me at the time than the other two guys, so I saved up my allowance and bought this (at the time) two VHS set. It was amazing to see the facility Eric had and his playing really internalized the sound of the Pentatonic scale in my ear. The biggest thing I remember taking away from this was that I needed to be WAY more accurate with my bending.

Jim Hall

As one of my earliest and most important jazz guitar influences, Jim Hall’s music spent a lot of time in my CD player. This DVD has him playing some trio pieces and then taking them apart. I have been lucky enough to see Jim give a masterclass and this is an important document of how a legendary musician thinks about music.

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Kirby Kelly Wins Guitar Center’s King Of The Blues

Nov 16 2009 Published by Jason Shadrick under Guitar, Video

Kirby Kelly has been involved with NGW for quite a while. Recently, he entered the Guitar Center King of The Blues Competition and made it all the way to the finals. A good friend, Pauline France (@paulinepr) was there covering the event for iHeartGuitar and texted me the news that Kirby had walked away with it all.

I couldn’t think of a more deserving musician than Kirby. As you can tell by the video above, he is a pretty bad ass guitar player. Surely, this will bring Kirby some more well deserved attention.

He deserves it.

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Interview With National Guitar Workshop Founder Dave Smolover

Oct 26 2009 Published by Jason Shadrick under NGW, Video

I have been involved with NGW since 2004 when I worked as a Traveling Residential Advisor in order to fulfill an internship requirement for my Music Business Degree.

This past spring, we made some promo videos featuring our alumni and faculty. Personally, my favorite videos were the ones with Dave Smolover. Dave began the National Guitar Workshop in 1984 and since then has branched out to DayJams, National Guitar Workshop Publications and WorkshopLive.

Below are the three parts of the interview we filmed. Even with working with him for as long as I have, there was some new information. Please take a minute and check them out.

Part Two:

Part Three:

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Bill Frisell at Infinity Hall

Sep 11 2009 Published by Jason Shadrick under Guitar, Video

Last night I went to a great venue in Norfolk, Connecticut called Infinity Hall to see one guitarist that I have yet to see live.

Bill Frisell. He was just coming off of his annual two week stand with Paul Motian and Joe Lovano at the Village Vanguard. Bill’s trio included Rudy Royston on Drums and Eyvind Kang on Viola. Despite the unusual instrumentation,

the music seemed to work in this situation.

The preshow music right before the trio came on was a collection of bird calls from nature. As they came on the music developed in a free nature with them playing along with the birds before going into more solid time. Both sets were really great with the standouts being “Misterioso” by Monk and a great take on “Blue Yodel” by Hank Williams.

Bill solo playing “Shenendoah”

Two Masters. Jim Hall and Bill Frisell.

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7 Questions with Steve Vai

Sep 03 2009 Published by Jason Shadrick under 7 Questions, Video

Of course, Steve Vai hardly needs an introduction. As one of the leading guitar virtousos of his generation he has achieved a legendary place in mainstream guitar culture. We were lucky enough to have Steve as a guest this past summer at NGW and the feedback I heard from the students was amazing.

I am very lucky and thankful to have Steve participate in this project.

Steve is preparing to release his newest live DVD/CD entitled “Where the Wild Things Are “. Here is a short preview of the video:

Describe your first experience playing music.

I walked up to a little spinet organ and played the theme song for the horror flick with Bette Davis called “Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte”. The movie sacred me to death and the melody haunted me until I plucked it out and then I thought…”Hmmm, that’s not so scary”. I think I was 4 years old.

What has been your most significant musical experience?

The most significant musical experience I ever had was in astral projection dreams when I was younger. I’m not sure if that’s even a correct terminology for them. They started as long back as I can remember and would happen once every 4 years or so. The most profound one, and the last one, happened when I was around 22 years old and it lasted for as long as 4-5 seconds.

The sound I hear during these episodes is impossible to describe. It rages far beyond the dynamics and frequencies of the ability of the physical ears to hear. It has an intensity and weight to it that dwarfs your own being. It’s like a 10,000 piece orchestra of all different instruments, all playing different notes and rhythms, all tuned differently, but in perfect harmonious and melodic exhalation. It’s all encompassing and comes from all sides. It actually emanates from within and not from anyplace outside.

It permeates everything. The waking from it is akin to slamming the pavement of a 100 story jump. I awake to feel the limitations, (prison) of the physical body and the congested cloudiness of my own cognizant awareness.

The finest music ever created in this world is like a toilet compared to this celestial orchestra. There is no way to capture and reproduce it. In the world I am left grappling for melodic scabs of it’s magnificence, only to feel that my finest work is a feeble attempt at capturing even a glimmer of this glorious inner music. I’m ashamed at my explanation but then again, I did say it was impossible to explain.

I know I’m not the only one that has had this experience.

I believe this sound resonates within the core of every living thing.