JasonShadrick

The reason I am a musician is because of the Dave Matthews Band.  Period.

In August of 1995 I had just returned from a backpacking trip in New Mexico when I received tickets to see Dave for my 14th birthday.  My best friend and I saw them at Palmer Auditorium in Davenport Iowa.  It was one of the first times I was allowed to go to a concert by myself.

At the time DMB were becoming more well known due to their two hit singles “What Would You Say” and “Ants Marching”.  The main reason I went is because I heard they were pretty cool from some of my friends.

Here is the set list from that night:

Seek Up

Proudest Monkey>

Satellite

Two Step

The Best of What’s Around

#41 >

Dancing Nancies >

Warehouse

Rhyme and Reason

Lover Lay Down

What Would You Say

Recently

All Along The Watchtower

Ants Marching

E: Little Thing (Tease) >

Typical Situation

Tripping Billies

I distinctly remember hearing “All Along the Watchtower” and thinking “So that is who wrote that song.’”  I was completely clueless, but I couldn’t believe the energy that a great band could put out. 

From that moment on I wanted to play guitar. 

Since then I have seen Dave in various formats (both with the band and solo) in most of the big Midwest venues.  Each and every time it brings me back to that incredibly hot and sweaty gymnasium in August of ‘95. 

Yesterday I listened to their new album “Big Whiskey and the GrooGroux King”. It is the first album since the death of Saxophonist LeRoi Moore last August.  From the first listen it strikes me as one of the best (if not the  best) DMB studio album of all time.

Next week I am taking my wife to see them for the first time.  She has never seen them before.  I don’t have any doubt that she will enjoy the concert, as far as deciding to quit everything and play guitar, maybe not.

But you never know.

If you have a favorite Dave Matthews Band concert experience, I would love to hear it.

There has been a lot of talk lately about how much value the #followfriday hashtag on Twitter has been.  Does it really make you check out someone solely on the mention of their name?

I thought of instead of just referring people to my Twitter Guitar Directory, I could write a short post each Friday about a few people on Twitter who I enjoy reading about.

Sometimes 140 characters just isn’t enough.

@fretbase – One of my favorite guitar blogs.  Fretbase is a somewhat under the radar discovery for me.  Not only do they have a great news feature of the site, but they have a fairly extensive database of artists and songs with links to what gear they play and where you can download the songs (iTunes or Amazon).

@sixstringlounge – Six String Lounge is a blog/community started by Mark Lee, who is the guitarist in Third Day.  SSL is an amazingly deep site with articles on guitar heroes, lessons and much more.  The video lessons for beginning guitarists are very well done and a great place to start.

@matthewwarnock – Dr. Matthew Warnock is a great jazz guitarist currently residing in Illinois.  On his website, he has many great resources including a great list of free PDF chord melody arrangements.  Matt also contributes to quite a few publications including Just Jazz Guitar, Modern Guitars and MusicEdMagic.

Here is Grant’s Transcribed Solo

Grant Green is one of my biggest influences.  I first heard about him from my guitar teacher in college, who didn’t care for him too much.  I then was a casual listener until I became friends with Corey Christiansen.  Corey is the closest to a GG scholar that I have ever met.  He has literally written the book on Grant’s playing style.

This solo on “Cool Blues” was one I transcribed in college for a blues improvisation class.  It is a great example of Grant’s style in a medium blues setting.  I am a firm believer that nobody could touch Grant when it came to playing over a blues.

I also isolated some of Grant’s key phrases and wrote those out below

Grant Green Licks

Finally, one of my favorite (and only) videos of Grant.  Here is his playing with Kenny Burrell and Barney Kessell.  I love both Kenny and Barney’s playing, but on this tune neither one can touch Grant.

Grant Green Video

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.