GUITAR COACH MAGAZINE : Issue 002

The FREE Interactive Guitar Magazine ISSUE 002 Beginners Bootcamp Blues Riffs & Licks Special Coaching Sessions Songs, Riffs, Guitars & Gizmos Licks & Solos Skills & Techniques

Blues Road Warrior Eugene Hideaway Bridges Play JJ Cale, Robert Cray, & Blues Brothers Step by step video lessons Plus guitar news, features, profiles & cool new Apps. MAGAZINE

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www.guitarcoachmag.com Issue 002

Contents Features

Note from the Editor 5 Eugene on the road...page 35 Guitarist Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges, a native What’s Hot & What’s Not! 6 of New Orleans, with seven albums to his credit and three recent nominations from the The Blues Debate 11 Blues Foundation... The Blues: Then & Now 13 Chord of the Month 18 Nils Lofgren Interview; Part 2 25 Guitar Top 10s 29 Quick Survey 39 Songwriting & Detuning 52 FAQs 54 Dillon teaches The Blues...page 20 Lesson Videos, Tutorials and Tips Jimmy Dillon is an accomplished and award- winning musician, singer, songsmith and Beginners Bootcamp 7 teacher with an impressive record. .. Relax and get into the correct postion to play. Plus an introduction to Fingerstyle playing

Coaching Session 15 A great fun session, developing your improv skills, with our cool Blues backing track

Skills & Techniques 22 The string muting, bass note picking strum. The eJamming revolution...page 49 It’s got something for everyone! New technology that allows musicians to jam and collaborate anytime, anywhere... Guitars & Gizmos 28 Guitar Makers, plus the latest guitar Apps and tech stuff

Riffs, Licks & Solos 40 From The Blues Brothers to Clapton - a series a classic Blues riffs and licks Editor’s note Guitar Coach Magazine 5

Hi and welcome to our Blues insprired issue...

In this second issue of Guitar Coach magazine, we’ve gone for a Blues flavour with some of our features, articles and Coaching sessions. New this month, we’ve also got a survey for you. This is your oppor- tunity to get the content you want every month. It only takes 30 seconds to complete the survey, so don’t miss this great opportu- nity to help shape Guitar Coach magazine to suit you!

Also keep your questions coming for our FAQs. Contributors

And finally keep submitting those ratings and reviews, as they are Many thanks to our contributors: what will help us to grow our subscriber numbers and enable us to continue to publish Guitar Coach free of charge. Eugene Hideaway Bridges Jimmy Dillon So, have fun, and do let me know what you think about the maga- The eJamming team Nick Benjamin zine. Just email me at [email protected] Rikky Rooksby Harrison Marsh

And to our writing team: Jonathan Howkins Bob Cianci Editor, Guitar Coach magazine Graham Land Ben Vine Tom Rosier

And our special thanks to: Andy Partridge of BandJammer

Cover shot: Alyn Coates

Keeping it Free!

We hope you enjoy this issue of Guitar Coach All you have to do is either tell your guitar play- magazine and we look forward to bringing you ing friends about it, ‘Like’ us on Facebook, or much more great free stuff in the next issue. maybe Tweet about us :) But we need your help :) You help is much appreciated, thank you. In order for us to continue to produce this magazine free of charge, we need to get the word out to as many people as possible - and to do this we need your help. News Guitar Coach Magazine 6 What’s Hot and What’s Not this month! By Tom Rosier

What’s Hot... Wes Scantlin, lead singer of Puddle of Mudd, could face jail time after a drunken encounter on a flight because the crew allegedly refused to serve the singer alcohol.

Green Day release 3 new tracks from their up coming trilogy of Albums, Uno, Dos and Tre, the first of which is due for release later this month. An eBay auction to support the Randy Blythe (Lamb Of God) Legal Fund for his recent manslaughter charge includes guitars and basses from Slash, Megadeth, Gwar and Five Finger Death Punch. A 13-year-old girl's dream came true Wednesday at the Minnesota State Fair when she got to meet Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx after the glam-rocker saw her anti-bullying video on YouTube.

Prog Magazine holds its first ever award ceremony in London.

What’s Not... Eddie van Halen narrowly avoids death after tri- alling a diet containing too much cayenne pepper and nearly had his “stomach explode”. A new scientific study has noted that pop music, over the last five decades, has gotten more depressing.

A deadly spider which hid in one of Noel Gallagher’s guitar cases prompted an emergency quarantine while experts tried to catch the insect at Jersey Live Festival. An LA store owner and music producer has received hate mail after releasing an album of "new" music from notorious imprisoned serial murderer, Charles Manson. Guns N' Roses have hosted a new auction that includes their old clothes dryer for $110.

Metallica frontman James Hetfield says there are too many rock bands, but the best will survive and keep the genre alive. Guitar Coach Magazine 7 Beginners Bootcamp

– Guitar basics; Hand positions – Introduction to Fingerstyle Boot Camp Guitar Coach Magazine 8 Playing Basics: Hand positions by Harrison Marsh

Any seasoned, acoustic guitarist will tell you about the perils of tendonitis and RSI, but it's not just the professionals that can suffer. The best way to avoid these issues is to get a correct and comfortable technique right from the start. There are a few rules with hand position that apply for both hands; firstly if it doesn't feel comfortable don't do it! New idea's may feel unfamiliar but avoid huge changing between chords smoother. A similar ap- stretches or extreme wrist angles, becasue you proach can be applied to the right hand. will almost always find that there is a more com- A good starting point for the left hand is to as- fortable way of doing things such as changing sume a "one finger per fret" hand position, i.e if the fingering of that chord. your index finger is playing the first fret, your lit- Secondly, just like any exercise, warm up and warn tle finger should be hovering over the fourth. down, ten minutes of scales or simple familiar ex- With your right hand, experiment to find your ercises at a slow tempo before you start will in- own comfortable hand position but avoid strain crease your stamina, muscle memory and avoid on the wrist and try and keep your hand loose. It any strains making playing uncomfortable. can be tempting to tense up but not only will this Though some famously heavy handed players be uncomfortable, your playing will not sound as may disagree, keep everything light. Firstly hitting smooth as you want it to. the strings harder puts more strain on your hands Finally, a few words on how acoustic guitars work. and wrists and is unnecessary, and secondly one Strum an open chord, and whilst this chord is tell tell sign of an experienced player is a good un- ringing out place your hand flat against the body derstanding and use of dynamics. It's one of the just behind the bridge. You should notice that the beautiful things about guitar, and by playing sound has changed slightly, becoming slightly quite lightly, there's room to increase volume and more muffled. The top of an acoustic guitar vi- attack when you want a passage to sound more brates as you play as the sound waves flow dynamic. through it. If your hand or wrist is contact with Try this, hold a chord as you normally would and the top of the guitar you are going to deaden the keep strumming it. Now without lifting your fin- guitar slightly. It's also going to limit your playing. gers from the strings, gradually decrease the pres- You will notice in the video that my hand is hover- sure your using in your left hand until you start to ing over the strings and each finger is resting on get a buzzing sound. Now the amount of pressure the string it's about to play, or just over the string you were using on that last strum before the buzz that is ringing out. Lightly touching the string is the minimum amount needed to play that with your right hand finger will stop any note chord. Is it lighter than you normally hold the gui- ringing and in turn stop notes ringing into each tar? Thought so! Keeping this in mind makes other, making everything much clearer. Boot Camp Guitar Coach Magazine 9 Fingerstyle: Introduction by Harrison Marsh

Welcome to this introduction to finger style acoustic guitar; a playing style that has found it's way into every genre of music.

Whether it be as an accompanist or solo player, friend with your favourite finger patterns becom- finger picking is a dynamic technique without ing automatic; just don't get stuck in the same limitation. few patterns!

Above, and in the video, I have laid out some sim- The rolling arpeggio exercise uses the conven- ple exercises reminiscent of how I got into the tional way of showing which fingers to use as fol- style, over ten years ago. lows PIMA. P= Thumb, I = Index , M = middle, A = ring These exercises are designed to be fluid, giving you a chance to put your own mark on them. Mixing pinching, strumming and rolling tech- Once you can play them to a standard you are niques will give your playing rhythmic variety and happy with, take the same right hand patterns depth. and apply them to any chord sequence you like, or Experimentation is key to having fun and getting start mixing up the order your finger pluck the the most out of finger style guitar. Try growing strings in. your right hand finger nails out for a little more clarity and attack. It will take some time to find the right hand posi- tion that’s most comfortable for you and to build Finally, to understand more about this technique, dexterity, particularly in your ring finger, which like many others, you have to study the great play- isn't used to doing anything. ers of the style, whether it be classic blues players or modern acoustic soloists. Repetition and time spent with the instrument is key here. Muscle memory will be your biggest Have fun. Boot Camp Guitar Coach Magazine 10

Fingerstyle Exercises The Debate Guitar Coach Magazine 11

The Blues: love it or hate it?

"Metal's based on complicated chord structures For the Blues and classical influences" I hear you cry. Well could they recreate that sound without distorted gui- The Blues is a fundamental part of every tars pioneered by early blues artists such as piece of music you listen to. All of them. And Chuck Berry on "Maybellene" and multi-track I'm going to prove it to you. recording which was innovated by blues legend Les Paul? I'll help you out - the answer is no. First of all, let's start at the obvious. The Beatles would have got nowhere without emulating their Oh and, by the way, if you hate blues because it all blues influences and bringing them to the main- sounds like Status Quo then I have no time for stream. Don't deny it, it's the truth. And the Beat- you. You shouldn't have even been listening to les had a tiny influence on popular music, Status Quo in the first place. What's wrong with wouldn't you say? Also they covered Chuck Berry you? Anyone who uses Status Quo to back up songs. I can almost rest my case there... their argument is an idiot.

Yes, 12-bar can be repetitive and, dare I say it, bor- ing, but the chord structure is a key part of every style of popular music that has arisen since. You may not like Chuck Berry, but it's artists like that which shaped the music you listen to every day, from metal through to punk and back out to clas- sic rock and prog. Against the Blues The rock ‘n’ roll movement changed music forever. You can’t escape it. Just like you can't escape Lady So, the blues may be the ‘godfather’ of popu- GaGa on mainstream radio, or that terrible "Fri- lar music today, and yeah sure, without the day" song being played in offices around the blues we would not have rock ‘n’ roll, pop, world EVERY FRIDAY. Even if it is "as a joke". Even punk and metal cementing its status as the these diabolical excuses for songwriting stem backbone of the industry for generations of from the basics. Three or four chords, basic struc- listeners, but the fact that it could even be ture and a hook. blamed for a tiny influence on Miley Cyrus is Punk music is simple, raw and influential. Three reason enough to hate it, surely?! words you would also use to describe the blues. Now, for any abuse I give the blues there will al- Because it is the blues. Three chords based around ways be those who argue that the blue’s has in- a pentatonic scale? Definitely blues. The Debate Guitar Coach Magazine 12 The Blues: love it or hate it? fluenced everything, from distorted guitar to har- Now the fact that one artist is in this list twice is monic arrangements, but just because something almost pathetic. My point is: listen to the intro of influenced something else does not give it any each of these songs. Each are blues artists (apart worthy notoriety. Apollo 1 influenced Apollo 11, from maybe the Beach Boys’, who are in that diffi- but I would hardly consider Apollo 1 a success, cult 1960’s rock/pop/blues era, but for the sake of would you?! my argument they are blues), so already a similar Have you heard THAT new country-blues song?! sound is expected, but the same intro?! They’ve Of course you have!!! We all have!!! A million not even tried to make them sound different. times, by a million different artists who all have Lazy! The blues is lazy! If I were to take Queen’s the same southern-American vocal tone and 12- Don’t Stop Me Now solo and use it in my song bar blues arrangement. This is what I truly hate would that be OK?! No, it wouldn’t! I’d never get about the blues: the repetitiveness… repetitive- away with it, because it’s not my solo, and be- ness… repetitiveness. It’s like pulling teeth, but cause it is already well established as a part of a the teeth are being pulled by a man who’s hair is very popular song. But, then again, I would not a little too long, jeans a little too tight and belly is have the audacity to attempt such a feat of pure, hanging over said jeans a little too much. Now I unadulterated plagiarism. And like I said, the fact know that all popular music today is repetitive, that Chuck Berry is in here twice effectively copy- and all music has to have a sense of repetition so ing himself is shocking. Calling him a musician or that it is simply not just noise, but the blues… the blues just takes repetitiveness to a whole new songwriter would be a crime. This surely makes level. I have even gone to the effort of using the him a lyricist with an endless backing track at words repetitiveness and repetitive to such an ex- best. Maybe they have the blues because they’re cessive extent to give you the same sense of not very creative?! repetitive hatred that I hear each time the sound Now everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I of the blues worms its way into my poor unsus- could well be a misinformed cretin (which I’m pecting ears. not), but if the only positive aspect of a genre is Below I have made a list of a few songs to help that when you go to a Status Quo concert and put my next point across a little better. Please miss your favourite song when buying a beer you have a listen to the following: can catch it again (another 4 times) later in the Chuck Berry – Johnny B Goode set, you’re certainly not onto a winner in my eyes. The Beach Boys – Fun, Fun, Fun Join the debate and let us know what YOU think! Louis Jordon – Ain’t That Just Like a Woman Chuck Berry – Roll Over Beethoven So, what do you think? We’ve all got our opinions, so let’s share them! Click either the Facebook or Twitter icons and have your say :)

Tap here for FaceBook Tap here for Twitter Blues; Now & Then Guitar Coach Magazine 13

Blues Locations: Then and Now

For this month's Blues edition of Guitar Seattle – Played host to a huge Big Band scene in Coach Magazine we decided to take a look at the 1940's, have since spawned Nirvana and some of the famous locations and cities that Death Cab for Cutie. birthed the Blues, and what music they're fa- mous for now. Great Britain – The U.K. first got to know Blues as a result of records being brought in through the Memphis – Let's start with Tennessee. Memphis dockyards and trade ships. Hitting it's peak in the goes hand in hand with the Blues, from the very 1960's and 70's with the likes of the Rolling first Blues sheet music. “The Memphis Blues” was Stones, Led Zeppelin and Eric Clapton. It's good to written down by W.C. Handy in 1912 and it has see the genre is alive and well today with acts been the cradle for all blues music since. Some such as Seasick Steve and the Jim Jones Revue. icons include B.B King and the entire call list of Detroit – With a strong blues scene in the 40's Sun Records. Today it is widely known as the birth- and 50's led by the bars and clubs of Hastings place of Justin Timberlake. Street, it spawned the influence on R'n'B which Chicago – Became the birth place of the modern led to Motown Records. Today, Detroit's son Jack day electric blues from 1948. Now it is the driving White brings blues into the 21st Century with his force behind America's heavy metal scene. bands the White Stripes and the Raconteurs. Montreux Jazz Festival started in 1967 for the Los Angeles - L.A. had a thriving blues commu- likes of Ella Fitzgerald. Gary Moore, Eric Clapton nity in the 30's and 40's. It has since exploded into and Deep Purple, who wrote “Smoke On The a variety of genres, influenced by film, punk, metal Water” there in 1971. Now it plays host to Queens and hip hop. Los Angeles has produced a fine array of the Stone Age and even Wyclef Jean in 2009. of bands ranging from The Doors, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns 'n' Roses and Sublime - to name but New York - New York Blues was a type of blues a few. music heavily influenced by jazz. It made New York a centre for folk rock music from the likes of Bob Dylan, new wave punk from the Ramones and the Velvet Underground. Guitar Coach Magazine 14

Join me for a Special Webinar: “The Magic Of Improvisation”

To register, just tap the button below Register Here: It’s FREE! Guitar Coach Magazine 15 Coaching session

– Blues Improvisation Coaching Guitar Coach Magazine 16

Your 20 Minute Coaching Session Improvisation: Open minor pentatonic

This month, Andy is going to introduce you to the art of improvisation. This particular session introduces you to the E minor pentatonic scale in the open position.

This particular session introduces you to the E There is also a downloadable backing track for minor pentatonic scale in the open position i.e. you to jam along with, so you can experiment using the open strings wherever possible, and with playing notes over the top, at your own pace. demonstrates the notes you can use to enable you to begin your improvisation journey. A level of Next month, we will be using the same backing scale knowledge is essential when learning how track to show you some techniques and lick sug- to improvise. gestions you can use, that will enable you to start building up your improvisation tool kit. We have had bucket loads of requests on this topic, which is why we have decided to produce a Hope you enjoy. whole series of improvisation lessons, starting with this overview.

The notes of the Em Pentatonic

Images from Guitar Toolkit (click an image for details on this App) Coaching Guitar Coach Magazine 17 Improvisation: Blues Riff

Improv session

Your Backing Track “The Magic Of Improvisation” Enjoy this Free teaching Webinar with Andy Partridge of BandJammer.

Free Webinar: Register Here!

The backing track chords: Emaj, Amaj and Bmaj Images from Guitar Toolkit (click an image for details on this App) Guitar Chords Guitar Coach Magazine 18 Chord of the Month: D9 It’s strage isn’t it? A few days ago we were thinking what weird, perhaps complex, unusual chord should feature for this month.

Should it have a long name? Should you have to The 9th shape that we will focus our efforts on is use 4 fingers and a thumb to be able play it? shown below: The notes that make up the chord Could we find one that had featured in some far are: out wacky seventies progressive rock album? A string – D Well – no. Because this issue of Guitar Coach is fo- cusing on the blues our minds turned immedi- D string - F# ately towards a 9th chord. D9 in fact. Mainly G string – C because the key of D is one of the easier blues keys to master and therefore quite common for B string – E those of us who are starting out on our guitar Top E string - A journey. It also has an interesting shape when played in the open position. We will not be going When played using this shape, the root note is al- into the theory aspect of 9ths, but we will be ways on the A string – in this case the D (root more than happy to answer any questions if you note) is on the 5th fret. You can therefore move want to use the FAQ section of the magazine. this shape anywhere on the fretboard to form other 9ths. 9th chords are known as extended chords (as are 6ths, 11ths and 13ths) and are commonly used When the chord is played this way it exudes a throughout the funk, jazz and blues genres. Al- mellow blues sound and is commonly used at the though we are concentrating on D9, the inver- end of a phrase within a song by sliding down sions of the chord can be applied to all 9th chords from the fret above. For example, the 6th fret by moving the chord shape up and down the fret- (Eb9) to the D9 chord. board by understanding where the root note is fretted. To illustrate this, we have used the D9 chord in one of the riffs in this month’s issue. You can see this illustrated and watch, listen and learn the intro to Sugar Mama by Nine Below.

The D9 Chord 2 Similarly, many a song has been known to end using this sequence. The Doors’ Roadhouse Blues uses the F9 to E9 slide down to finish off their masterpiece and it is a great way to end a song 3 that has been bursting with energy throughout. The slide down brings an apt calmness and final- ity to proceedings without cutting off everything

4 with an immediate stop. Whoever first thought of this is a genius.

X If you are playing a standard 12 bar in the key of D

5 usng the major chords D…A…G try substituting these majors for 9ths and you will achieve a to- tally different feel that is less edgy and feels more rounded and moody. Especially if you slow the 6 tempo down. Guitar Chords Guitar Coach Magazine 19

Chord of the Month: D9

Also try this chord sequence G7-C9-D9. Either in Below Zero riff lesson – so have a listen and you that order or as part of a slow 12 bar blues, each will see exactly what we mean. for a count of 4 i.e. G7 G7 G7 G7 C9 C9 G7 G7 D9 C9 G7 D9 (Letting the last chord ring and then re- Of course, as mentioned earlier in this article, peat) The extra texture the 9th chords give the other genres of music also make use of the 9th sequence is very noticeable when compared to chord played in the position of the 1st chord dia- the G7. gram. To “get to know” your D9 chord it is impor- tant to use it in context with other chords. The other great sound you can achieve with this Examples you may like to check out are Shining shape can be achieved by plucking the A string, Start by Earth Wind and Fire (C9, D9 and E9), followed by the D, G and B strings and then re- Wheels by The Foo Fighters (D9, A, F#M, E) and turning back to the A string in reverse order. last but not least, James Joseph Brown’s classic, Andy teaches this as an aside after The Nine Living in America (Bm, Am7 and D9).

Here are some other ways of playing a D9. The images are courtesy of Guitar Toolkit. Check Tap here to check out out Issue 1 of Guitar Coach for the full review of Guitar Toolkit this great App. Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 20 Jimmy Dillon: musician, songwriter, teacher by Graham Land

“Have fun with it” – The SF, California professional guitarist shares his wisdom or learning, becoming inspired and staying motivated

Background & Theory San Francisco Bay area guitarist Jimmy Dillon is an accomplished and award-winning musician, singer, songsmith and teacher with an impressive record. Jimmy backed up the likes of Bruce Spring- steen, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt, among many others before em- barking on a solo career and recording 4 CDs to date. A quick listen to just a small sampling of his repertoire reveals an eclectic mix of blues, rock, country and Latin styles. Just a glance at his homepage makes it clear that this guy is one ac- tive musician who continues to play a constant stream of solo and group gigs. Jimmy is also a passionate guitar teacher with a series of DVD lessons for acoustic, electric, blues and slide guitar. He spends his summers teaching Influences and Favourites kids how to play rock and roll at Blue Star Music Camps in Michigan and San Francisco and gives Among his favourite guitarists, Jimmy lists iconic online lessons as well. names like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Mark Knopfler, Keith Richards (“Keef Jimmy offers the following advice to aspiring gui- Riffhard”), John Mayer and Pete Townsend, plus a tarists who are struggling to learn: slough of other guitarists both well known and “Don't struggle too much. Have fun with it. Get well... perhaps a bit esoteric to the casual guitar with some better players and listen as much as player or guitar music fan: David Lindley, Derek Trucks, Buddy Miller, Harry Manx, Richard Thomp- you play. Remember the 4 T's – Touch,Tone, Time son and slide guitarists Sonny Landreth, Ry Cooder and Taste. Play with finesse, passion and melodic and Leo Kottke. sense. Don't worry too much about speed, scales, shred[ing]. Rather, make it count. Be a good He's also equally forthcoming about his preferred rhythm player. 'Lead guitar' is so overdone.” instruments: “Clapton Strat with acoustic Baggs [pickup] in We couldn't agree more. bridge. It does everything well. Martin OMC – And for budding guitarists who may be seeking workhorse, always reliable, great tone and playa- motivation, Jimmy recommends going to see live bility. National Style O – super funky blues ma- musicians for inspiration and mixing up what chine. Veillette Gryphon mini 12-string – beautiful styles of music they expose themselves to. He be- for extra chimey stuff. James Trussart Silver Mag- lieves this will help those learning guitar to nolia – great for electric slide. 1920s Chicago par- “cross-pollinate” and “get out of the box.” lor guitar – incredible tone.” Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 21

Jimmy Dillon: musician, songwriter, teacher

About Jimmy Dillon's Rockin' the Blues Deluxe DVD When teaching, Jimmy likes to keep things re- course laxed. “For me the journey is always changing….If I stay loose and free with it things go well. Not too With his latest instructional DVD, Jimmy shares rigid or pedantic.” A guitar teacher of 10 years, his his secrets for playing the blues, from inventive favourite part of teaching is when the student ex- chords, picking patterns, licks and tricks to open periences a breakthrough. “I like when there is an tunings, “internal melodies” and slide guitar tech- 'ah ha' moment and the student gets [it]. Often I niques – all professional, yet “easy to use”. The learn as much as the student!” He adds, “My wish Rockin' the Blues Deluxe course has been de- is to pass on what I've learned as a lifetime pro signed to suit advanced beginner guitarists as musician to aspiring players everywhere.” well as intermediate to advanced players who You can visit Jimmy Dillon's homepage jimmydil- would like to lean more blues or incorporate it lon.com for more information and to buy his into playing other music styles. music or DVDs. If you've got Spotify you can check Jimmy sees blues guitar as the foundation for out some of his solo CDs there as well as his work rock guitar. with San Francisco Music Club. “I wanted to illustrate how the blues is the roots Jimmy also recom- and the rest is the fruits. If you can get soulful mends online guitar and gritty with the blues, your rock will be better community www.gui- for it. Consider Clapton, Keith [Richards], Jimmy tarists.net for its “great Page, Hendrix, [Jeff] Beck etc. – they were all blues vibe”. informed.” Teaching Style The course consists of three one-hour DVDs, each containing 3-4 chapters. Jimmy uses his own songs as a platform to demonstrate blues tech- niques and styles. He believes that DVDs are a great teaching tool because they can be care- fully crafted in order to make them just right. The student benefits from this care and the fact that he/she can revisit the lessons again and again.

Tap here for Rockin The Blues Guitar Coach Magazine 22 Skills & Techniques

– Blues strumming: Johnny Cash Skills & Techniques Guitar Coach Magazine 23 Skills: String Muting, Picking and Strumming Folsom Prison Blues

Learning to strum is one of the first hurdles beginners will need to overcome. It can prove to be a frustration of many a guitarist , so it is always beneficial to keep such lessons interesting by learning patterns to specific songs. This particular strumming pattern is relatively easy to play, employs a couple of interesting techniques and, most of all is lively and fun!

Folsom Prison Blues is an archetypal Johnny Cash sound. This creates a percussive-type sound which rhythm and is there to hear on many of his classic gives the pattern a level of distinctiveness. Not recordings. It is a simple down, down up pattern playing all the notes of a chord is a common tech- played at a relatively high tempo, although not all the strings are always played and, to emphasise nique employed by rhythm guitarists and it is the rhythm, you can employ a softening tech- worth trying this out for other patterns. Want to nique with your left hand so the notes do not see more? Have a look at the video. Skills & Techniques Guitar Coach Magazine 24

Skills: String Muting, Picking and Strumming

Addition Here’s the detail on how to play the ending to the strumming session :)

The Chords Chord digrams are taken from the Guitar Toolkit App. Click on one of the images for more details of this App.

E major A major B7 Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 25 Nils Lofgren: Part 2 of our interview By Bob Cianci

Springsteen sideman/solo artist expounds further on his teaching/playing theories and more One-on-One vs. Online Teaching: As we learned in Part I of this article, Nils Lof- gren’s online guitar school has been a solid suc- cess for the diminutive guitarist, best known as a sideman with Neil Young, and Bruce Spring- steen’s E Street Band, as well as a solo artist of considerable merit. When asked to compare learning guitar face-to-face with a teacher versus online, Lofgren had this to say. “Sitting down one-on-one with somebody, which I have done, is nice, and it’s a great way to share, as opposed to not sharing. Sometimes when you’re with a teacher, he dictates the flow, and sometimes he’s going too fast for you. The nice thing about the online lessons, once it’s down- loaded, and I encourage people to do this is, find a Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 26

Nils Lofgren: Part 2 of our interview

play for the biggest audiences of his career. Since then, he has played a supporting role in the band, but the sometimes-spontaneous Springsteen oc- casionally throws a curve ball, like the night he gave Lofgren an unexpected extended solo on “Because The Night,” something we discussed in Part I of this article. “I started working on a solo for that song in my room at night, and sure enough, for the next forty shows, I never got to play the solo again! After the tour ended, we did some charity Christmas shows in New Jersey and Bruce asked me what I wanted to play. I did one of my songs, ‘Shine Silently,” and when Bruce asked me what I wanted to do for a second song, I said, ‘I want to play ‘Because The Night’ and play the solo on it!’ So, then I got to play this long piece I worked on. For the next tour, years later, I got to play the solo every night, crafting it, refining it, and experi- menting. Some of it is tough for my hands, but every guitarist has some kind of physical limita- tions.” Out of curiosity, I went to Lofgren’s website and watched a clip of the aforementioned solo, and was suitably impressed with the sheer physicality lick you like, then shut me off! Work on that, and and artistry of Lofgren’s technique, as he em- that may be the rest of your day. You don’t need to ployed extreme bends, deft harmonics, fast-fin- turn me back on. Just silence the teacher and re- gered triplets and straight ahead shredding. ally get into that one little lick. Always being a very animated stage presence, Nils capped off his solo with a forward somersault “Find things that engage and excite you. I’m a big and spins. Trust me, it’s impressive. fan of American football and basketball, and there are guitars all over the house. I learned a long Fab Gear: time ago, if the guitars are in a closet or off in my Lofgren has always favored Fender guitars, al- studio, I won’t pick one up. But I have them though he’s been known to pick up a vintage ’52 around among the furniture, and will pick them Les Paul Goldtop, a Telecaster, and a Rickenbacker up to play while I’m watching sports on TV.” on occasion. His main axe is a ’61 pre-CBS Strato- Playing With Bruce: caster-he has another as a spare-with replace- ment pickups and the finish stripped to natural Lofgren admittedly went through a self-described wood. With Bruce, Nils straps on Fender Jazzmas- “blue period” in the ‘80’s, and jumped at the op- ters with heavy gauge 13-56 strings, and also uses portunity to join the New Jersey rocker’s E Street a Gretsch Black Penguin or Black Falcon on occa- band, just after Born In The USA was released. sion. He uses and endorses Takamine acoustics, That album skyrocketed Springsteen to the top of and also treasures an old Martin given to him by the charts internationally, and allowed Lofgren to Neil Young years ago. Lofgren uses Fender amps Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 27

Nils Lofgren: Part 2 of our interview on the road exclusively; currently two Twin Re- verbs, although he has also used Vibro Kings and Super Reverbs. The new Album Present & Future: The new album, Old School, covers a variety of topics including desperation, self-doubt, true Nils Lofgren is a proactive exponent of self mar- love, departed friends, holding on to your keting. His website, www.nilslofgren.com, is a dreams and the world gone mad... along with a treasure trove of information that lists all his ac- tribute to the late, great Ray Charles. tivities, as well as everything the guitarist offers "These songs reflect characters with some for sale, including recordings, online teaching radical feelings and beliefs," states Lofgren. courses and various merchandise. A new project "They're definitely thought-provoking." Lofgren is excited about these days is, Blind Date Jam, a concept that sprang up over the years "Old School has many different types of songs based upon very casual and informal downtime and feels... some rough, bluesy tracks to haunt- jams among musicians. Lofgren realized that us ing acoustic songs," continues Lofgren. "There's average folk never get to hear some of this often- some interesting and controversial characters in these songs and I look forward to everyone's re- times memorable and spontaneous music. The action." concept was to plan nothing in advance. Bring your instrument, and whatever happens “hap- The album is available directly from his web site pens,” as they say. The first edition of Blind Date www.nilslofgren.com Jam is available for sale on Nils’ website, as one might expect, and features Lofgren jamming with pedal steel guitarist Mike Smith. The music is highly inspired and quite moving. From a 2009 interview written by this author and published in Premier Guitar, Lofgren summed it all up. “If you find yourself challenged, frustrated and pushing yourself to learn to play, don’t forget to enjoy the gift of music. It has to be fun, too. I find myself consciously separating myself from all the hard work simply to enjoy playing music, and I do it on a regular basis.” by Bob Cianci.

Tap Here To Visit www.NilsLofgren.com Guitar Coach Magazine 28 Guitars & Gizmos

– Guitar Top 10’s; Covers – Guitar Apps; Garage Band – Nick Benjamin, Luthier Guitar Top 10’s Guitar Coach Magazine 29 Top 10 covers: that are (debatably) better than the original! by Ben Vine

Me First and The Gimme Gimmes – Hello contributed massively to song choices on the http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI0d-kOxb4A whole of the American IV: The Man Comes Around album. The track, which was one of the Starting this list we have an explosive punk cover final releases before Cash died in 2003, received of “Hello” by Lionel Richie. Me First and The huge critical acclaim and is now seen as one of Gimme Gimmes are a punk cover superband with his best recordings. Trent Reznor himself, al- members from NOFX, Lagwagon and Foo Fighters, though at first wary of the idea of Johnny Cash and approach the track with the same tongue in covering the song, described himself as “deeply cheek ferocity that has earned them a huge cult moved” when he first heard it. following. The guitar solo that comes out of nowhere and three part harmonies at the end de- White Stripes - I Just Don't Know What To Do serve special mentions. With Myself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVN_h7zO54k Jack White is famous for his blues and soul influ- ences, with his other projects such as The Racon- teurs and The Dead Weather bringing dirty delta blues back to the forefront of the music scene. However, The White Stripes are also well known for their country, soul and blues influence. Their cover of Dolly Parton's “Jolene”, which is regularly played in their live sets, almost made it onto this list. However the Burt Bacharach/Dusty Spring- field classic “I Just Don't Know What To Do With The Specials – A Message To You, Rudy Myself” holds it's own on a great album that in- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cntvEDbagAw cludes the classic “Seven Nation Army”. The Specials debut album opened with this cover of Dandy Livingstone's rocksteady hit, and the single went straight into the UK top ten. The heavy influence of ska and reggae on the British punk scene was highlighted by the two tone movement and The Specials led the way with di- rect covers of reggae bands such as Toots and the Maytals and Prince Buster also featuring on the same album. “A Message To You, Rudy” was the most prolific and is undoubtably more well known than the original.

Johnny Cash – Hurt Children Of Bodom – Oops I Did It Again http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmVAWKfJ4Go http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGtXlBbWeB4 Trent Reznor's song “Hurt” is widely believed to be Children Of Bodom are a finnish death metal about self harm and society, but in 2005 the Nine band. Covering Britney Spears. I think these two Inch Nails track was propelled to new heights as sentences are more than enough to allow them a it was covered by the legendary Johnny Cash. The place in this list. cover was chosen by producer Rick Rubin who Guitar Top 10’s Guitar Coach Magazine 30

Top 10 covers: that are (debatably) better than the original!

The Beatles – Twist and Shout Nirvana – Where Did You Sleep Last Night http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgd46QiHz4I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcXYz0gtJeM “Twist and Shout” was originally a release for R&B In 1993 Nirvana visited MTV's studio to record an band the Top Notes, but the production of the unplugged episode with all their well known hits. song by Phil Spector was despised by the song's However they ended the set with an American writer Bert Berns. As way of revenge, Berns pro- Folk song called "In The Pines". Rebranded as duced the second version by the Isley Brothers. "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", the track is pos- Only a year later The Beatles recorded their ver- sibly the single most amazing vocal performance sion for their UK debut album Please, Please Me. Kurt Cobain ever gave. Recorded just five months Their version made it into the US single charts before he died, it is seen by many as his final per- twice, both in 1964 and 1986, off the back of the formance, with the screamed final verse sending film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Surprisingly this shivers down the spines of the most hardened makes it the longest running US Top 40 hit for rockers to this day. The Beatles with a total of 23 weeks. John Lennon's voice deserves a special mention as one of the finest early rock vocal performances. Alien Ant Farm – Smooth Criminal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDl9ZMfj6aE In 2001 Alien Ant Farm burst onto the scene with their cover of the Michael Jackson classic “Smooth Criminal”. They quickly left the scene again after failing to make their second album gain any attention, but they left us with this ex- plosive pop punk cover. The driving guitars, finger tapped solo and intermittent Jacksonesque shouts, this track is definitely a legacy they can be proud of. Even if there's nothing else. And there Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower isn't. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AuxJH2Mj30 Muse – Feeling Good We considered not including this song as it’s so http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOEZMjuoIEY common on "greatest covers" lists. However, when the original artist admits its better than “Feeling Good”, originally made famous by Nina their own and changes the way they play the Simone, was covered by Muse in 2001. The neo- song from that day onwards, it's hard to ignore it. prog band made the song their own using their It's also hard to forget exactly what Hendrix did classical music influences to form the track into a with the song, as its so well known now. He took masterpiece. Now probably played more often the original, rehashed it, changed the way it was than any other version on the song in film, TV and sung, added ridiculous guitar solos and then on radio, a true testament to how a cover version shoved what was left through a psychedelic can be done just right. wormhole. What comes out the other side is a dif- ferent song and a brave interpretation for a fan so enamoured with Dylan, he used to keep one of his guitar songbooks in his gig bag at all times. Guitar Apps Guitar Coach Magazine 31 App of the Month: GarageBand by Tom Rosier

Now I don’t think that the in- GarageBand is multi-track recording GarageBand’. This feature allows clusion of this app is a surprise software which will allow you to record you to pick from a multitude of to anyone, and it may even be you guitar playing to create songs instruments and place them an app that you have used in within an XY axis of volume and the past. complexity, which edits the vol- Tap here to check ume and complexity (obviously) But I certainly think that it is im- of the samples selected. This can portant enough in the iOS envi- out this App allow you to create a backing ronment to deserve a mention, track for your audio in a matter and a quick scan over some of of seconds. Great for when an the features you may not be aware of. idea comes to you quickly and you want some- In basic terms, GarageBand is a DAW (or digital thing to back it up to give you an idea of what the audio workstation), a program for recording live finished article could sound like, and has high audio and MIDI data into a program for mixing, enough quality audio samples to actually be the but the latest update for GarageBand is a multi- finished article if you so wanted. tude of products rolled into one, but for the pur- It then has the Smart Guitar feature, which allows pose of this review I will try and place emphasis you to pick from the following styles of guitar on the guitar-specific features. (Acoustic, Classic Clean, Hard Rock or Roots Rock Firstly, as stated above, GarageBand is multi-track guitar), which are all loosely emulated versions of recording software which will allow you to record everyone’s favourite guitar tones. This feature is you guitar playing to create songs, which is not actually very cool. Using the iPad’s touch screen only beneficial for song writing, but also tracking you can play the notes of your chosen chord verti- your process as you learn guitar. The quality of the cally, ensuring that you’re always in tune. This can audio input is surprisingly high and the depth also be recorded into the multi-track recording into which you can edit your audio is pleasing to section of the App, meaning you can layer up your say the least. parts and really get your track sounding the way you want it. Now not all of us have the opportunity to play with a band, or indeed the time. GarageBand has The Guitar Amp is probably the most interesting a fantastic feature that is aptly named ‘Magic addition the GarageBand app. It’s a truly brilliant Guitar Apps Guitar Coach Magazine 32

App of the Month: Guitar Toolkit idea. 20+ guitar amp emulations in the palm of piece of recording software that will do you noth- your hand. You will require hardware like the Am- ing but favours, and the flow of the app is splen- plitube iRig or Alesis iO Dock to take advantage of did. For $4.99 I can’t really see where you can go this, but when connected the sound possibilities wrong on this one! are endless. There is no other way you could even comprehend having an amp collection like this in your house, and the emulations really are of very Garage Band is not only a great tool - it’s also great good quality for what they are, and each with fun creating new sound setups with a range of amps dedicated controls to get your sound just right. and effects pedals. You even have an output using both of these de- vices, so if you really did want to, you could use these amps as an input into different recording software. Not strictly necessary, but very handy if you wanted to take your recordings to the next level in terms of audio quality. Along with these features, the GarageBand App also comes with a chromatic guitar tuner, which is always handy and means that you don’t have to leave the app to go to another tuning app that you may have installed. Not a great tuner, but not a bad one either. It does the job! A nice little touch within the app, is that once a mixdown of the track is complete, you can share it amongst your friends on a multitude of social media platforms. So you can show your friends how much you’re improving and rub your abilities in their face a little. Again, not a completely nec- essary feature, but a nice touch nonetheless. The last feature I am going to look at in Garage- Band (though there are many more I could go over) is the Jam Session feature. Brilliant idea. It is a little bit of a shame that it works over Bluetooth Value for money: instead of wi-fi, but a step in the right direction for sure. The Jam Session feature lets you jam Functionality: with someone using the app via Bluetooth, mean- Ease of use: ing that you can be playing and recording sepa- rate instruments and work on arrangements of Looks: songs together, and the beauty of it is that you Total: can have up to four people in the session at any one time. Overall this app has come on leaps and bounds since its first version, and at present it really is Tap Here For Details Of Garage Band ahead of the curve in terms of iPad recording. Combined with the iRig or iO Dock you also have a Guitar Maker Guitar Coach Magazine 33 Engineer and artist: acoustic guitar maker Nick Benjamin

Luthier Nick Benjamin is, in many ways, a true tradi- musicians (his mother was a flautist), Nick built tional artisan when it comes to making handmade, his first guitar, a classical model, in 1990 at the custom and individual guitars. age of 17 in his bedroom at his parents' house. After honing his skills on more classical as well as The label “limited edition” falls far short of de- electric guitars, he moved on to steel stringed scribing what is produced in Nick's small, one- models, using what he had learned under the man workshop in an old brewery in the town of tutelage of two local guitar makers. Lewes, southeast England. For those beginning guitar making, Nick explains Armed with an engineering degree, Nick ap- that the traditional Spanish construction style proaches guitar making like an engineer, as well can be an ideal starting point, due to its efficient as a musician and craftsman: “I think of myself as style requiring few tools. The progression to mod- an engineer […] but the sound is an artistic ern methods of guitar construction generally in- choice.” Customers should find this combination volves the adoption of many specialist tools and assuring. He further explains that both “accuracy fixtures: the steel-string guitar, in particular, re- and quality is what I'm looking for in the way I'm quiring additional neck reinforcing inserts which building.” necessitate at least some use of power tools. According to Nick's homepage, the historic town Making six guitars at once, Nick finds, is the per- of Lewes “is unusual in the world of guitar mak- fect method. “when I make six guitars they're all ing in that a small 'community' of makers exists different, but I do each process on all six at once. I here; each working separately but supporting one actually find this improves the quality of the in- another and sharing ideas.” Nick averages around struments.” one guitar per month (though he makes six at once – you do the math!) and to date has only And who exactly is buying Benjamin guitars? made about 130 instruments. Each of them Nick's customers are mostly keen amateur play- unique. ers in search of a different guitar with a unique Coming from a family of designers, engineers and sound, as well as professional guitarists who de- Guitar Maker Guitar Coach Magazine 34

Engineer and artist: acoustic guitar maker Nick Benjamin

Photos:

The Benjamin JOM77 with unique scoop design.

Newton Faulkner on stage at Glastonberry playing his Benjamin.

pend on simple, work-ready instruments of very tional woods for guitar making, “a symptom of high quality. Though authentic and traditional, deforestation and the overuse of resources,” ac- the modern acoustic guitar needs to be able to be cording to Nick. But these “newer” woods can be played anywhere from the living room to the extremely close to traditional timbers in terms of arena stage, so Benjamin guitars are designed sound and colour, as well as offer some great and built to be extremely compatible with ampli- qualities of their own. American black walnut and fication so that they sound great plugged in or cocobolo rosewood are some of Nick's favourite fully acoustic. Besides standard steel string mod- additions to his arsenal of tropical rosewoods, els, Nick offers baritones, twelve strings, Terz ebonies and spruces. Sustainability, if you'll par- (smaller, higher tuned), nylon string guitars, Vene- don the obvious pun, is key to the future of tian cutaway and the signature “Benjamin Scoop” acoustic guitar making. cutaway models, among others. Properties of the wood are crucial. An average Why choose a unique, handmade guitar? acoustic guitar will have a soundboard made of a soft wood like spruce or cedar, which are light and Nick is not trying to reach an exclusive or elite strong timbers. The main body – the back and market, but instead offers a personal experience sides – should be strong and dense, providing to his customers. Acquiring a Benjamin guitar is weight and strength, making rosewood, ma- like going on a journey. There is the element of hogany and walnut ideal woods. Different the unknown – not in terms of quality, but of pre- weights of wood can be used to create different cise characteristics. There is the anticipation, sounds, ranging from deep and dark to light and choosing the woods, model and decoration airy. The neck of the guitar needs to be strong and schemes, interacting with the maker – and that's is usually mahogany due to its strength, stability, just the pleasure of the process. At the end the sound and the fact that it's easy to carve, customer gets a beautiful guitar. “It's a double whereas the bridges and fingerboard have to be sort of pleasure, if you like,” Nick explains. In an hard and are therefore usually ebony or some- age of mass production and uniformity, he firmly times rosewood. believes that a musical instrument is something that can still be very personal. Keep in mind when buying a custom ordered, unique handmade acoustic steel stringed Ben- And what makes a guitar unique? The main dif- jamin guitar you are paying for something spe- ferences lie in the choice of wood, instrument cial, personal and worth the wait. Nick's prices size, shape, features, etc., but all of Nick's guitars sound like a Benjamin. start at £4,000 (the cost of materials plus a month's skilled labour and workshop rental). Some notes about wood use: Fancy taking a journey? Luthiers are now being forced to use non tradi- http://www.benjaminguitars.co.uk/ Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 35 Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges: Blues Road Warrior

“Let the blues be blues. Get to understand it. Take time to learn before you try to change what ain’t broken.” Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 36 Blues Road Warrior

Rising blues star credits father for education & inspiration Guitarist Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges, a na- tive of New Orleans, with seven albums to his credit and three recent nominations from the Blues Foundation, lives the life of a no- madic musician, traveling throughout the United States, Europe and Australia, spread- ing the blues gospel far and wide. The 49- year old son of bluesman Hideaway Slim, is distantly related to Tina Turner, formerly known as Anna Mae Bullock. “I got my guitar skills form the Bridges, and my voice from the Bullocks,” says Eugene.

“I remember when I was two years old singing gonna’ practice?’ myself to sleep to the sound of things my daddy I said to him, “I know how to play my guitar.” He would play. The riffs he played were always in my said, OK, play your guitar, now play something dif- head, so one day, I took my plastic spade and put ferent, and on and on like that. Real soon, I run elastic bands on it. My dad saw that, so he set me out of things to play! down and placed his guitar in my hands and started to show me a honky-tonk riff, and that “He said, ‘See. You don’t know it all. Take that gui- was my start. I looked within myself to find other tar and put it away. Don’t touch it until I tell you.’ I sounds that were in my head. had the ‘Big Head’ at seven years old! If he didn’t stop me, I would have been walking around today “Daddy showed me the Jimmy Reed riff and what thinking I am the greatest! Daddy was teaching you call the 1-4-5 card in blues. We called it your me that I knew something and it was good, even 1st, 2nd and 3rd change and the open E tuned gui- great, but I did not know it all. He was teaching tar, and that was the end of my guitar class! I was me to always learn, always keep looking, keep two, about to turn three when I played back up paying attention, as there’s so much to learn, but for him. Along the way, you see things and do only if you open your mind.” things that are a real good teacher in life. I always played what was inside me that was needing to The elder Bridges continued to use his common come out. I was blessed with this music, and you sense technique to educate his son in positive can’t learn this from a school or a teacher. Some- ways. one cannot teach to you. It is in you, or it is not. “Daddy would teach me to listen to the sounds. “Daddy led by talking to me about life. To be a Let the guitar talk to you and to the people. I used good leader, you must learn how to follow and my guitar to say what life was saying to me, to hear what the song is saying to you, what the hear what the singer was saying, and finding a singer is trying to say, and play that together. way to accompany that. You have to find it your- When I was seven, daddy says to me, ‘Are you self and earn it yourself.” Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 37 Blues Road Warrior

The Church Influence: time keeper, how the bass holds a dedicated groove, how guitar, horns and keys work together, Like the vast majority of African-American musi- each doing his own job to make that sound full cians, Eugene’s father was influenced by the and real.” gospel music and sermons he heard in church. His family belonged to the First Church of God in Today’s Blues Scene: Christ in New Orleans, and Bridges senior found The life of a traveling blues musician has never inspiration in the guitar playing and singing of been easy and it’s no different today, as the blues Reverend Utah Smith. has a tendency to exist in hills and valleys of pop- “Daddy played like Elder Smith, and I played just ularity. Many would say it is way down in the val- like daddy. Names like B.B. King, Jimmy Reed, T- ley right now, with other types of music taking Bone Walker and Lightnin’ Hopkins was all just precedent. names to me as a boy. Daddy would play the “A popularity contest is the first thing that records and learn from them, and when I heard comes to me, and that is why I have to let the daddy play, it was full of these guys, but putting music speak for itself. I will only play for the himself into it. This is how people say I sound like ones who want the real music and not the B.B. King when I never played a B.B. King song. games. I am so sick of the haves and have-nots “B.B. King was the guy that had a way of teaching game. What you put in is what you get out. If a without even knowing he was teaching. B.B. set a gimmick is what the people want, then there’s way of having many people on one stage working a lot to go and see, but if my music is some- together. I would not only see the forest, but the thing that speaks to you in any way, I will only tree and all the parts; how the drummer is the play where my music is welcomed.” Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 38 Blues Road Warrior

Eugene’s latest album: Rock And A Hard Place

Many blues players have complained that getting work is harder and harder and drawing crowds has gotten tougher over the last several years. “In the USA? I wouldn’t know. (Bridges spends most of his time playing out of the USA-author). I hear some of the bands talk about people and having money troubles is a big reason, but I was signed on a record label when I went to France in 1995, and agents have me working all over the place. “Blues and hip-hop is all the same. Between the 1950’s and 2012, the beats have changed, but if you write down the stories to a blues song and words to a hip-hop song, you’ll see they are say- ing the same thing. You can’t just drop in and sing the blues or hip-hop and get away with it. You have to live it to understand it, be a part of it, and then, you must have something to say once you get in the door.” The Blues Evolves: Lots of critics talk about the blues evolving, but Eugene has other ideas. “Blues is what it is. It doesn’t need to evolve. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it or listen to it. You can’t take an old Ford truck and turn it into some- thing shiny and flash it out and make it fit what you think someone wants to do with it. Let the blues be blues. Get to understand it. Take time to learn before you try to change what ain’t broken.” Get Details Of The Album Here By Bob Cianci. Photos by Alwyn Coates Our Survey Guitar Coach Magazine 39 You decide what’s in the next issue of Guitar Coach magazine...

In the next 30 seconds you have the opportunity to shape Guitar Coach magazine the way you want it. Do you want more interviews, product reviews, or just more Coachings Sessions, Riffs and Licks? We need to know. And now’s your chance to get more of just what you want in every issue of Guitar Coach magazine. Simply tap the button below to go to our survey page. There’s just 4 simple questions. It’ll take less than 30 seconds to complete - honest!

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– Blues Brothers, Sweet Home Chicago – Robert Cray, Phone Booth – JJ Cale, Call Me The Breeze – 9 Below Zero, Sweet Mama Riffs, Licks & Solos Guitar Coach Magazine 41 Blues Brothers: Sweet Home Chicago

Written by Robert Johnson and released in August 1937, this song has been recorded by countless artists.

The intro to the song has also had many ver- The sound. sions, but Andy has chosen to teach the one released by The Blues Brothers, with the gui- I believe this is one riff that sounds great clean and bereft of effects. But, like all these things, do tar being played by the late, great Steve what you want with it once you’ve mastered all Cropper. the small parts and can put your own stamp on The Riff. it. Its greatness is not its simplicity, more the way the double stops, vibrato and pauses effortlessly link into one another, making it immediately memorable. It can be employed as a generic riff to countless other 12 bar blues songs and so will help you enormously when jamming with others. Just make sure you play it in the right key!!!! Riffs, Licks & Solos Guitar Coach Magazine 42 Blues Brothers: Sweet Home Chicago Riffs, Licks & Solos Guitar Coach Magazine 43 Robert Cray: Phone Booth

Now this isn’t a riff, it is the beginning of Robert Cray’s beautifully played solo from his hit Phone Booth

Why Choose This? The Sound Andy really wanted to bring you something differ- I’d keep it as clean as possible, perhaps with some ent and, in just a couple of bars, you can make out gain control. If you have a strat, you’re halfway the distinct Robert Cray soloing style. This partic- there already. If not, experiment away!!! ular solo is played over the A minor pentatonic scale but has a unique feel all of its own, using pauses and vibrato amongst the “clipped” way some of the notes are played. It is something new to learn and takes you off the main highway to, hopefully, experience and learn something slightly diverse, but bluesy all the same. Difficulty Probably the most challenging of this month’s riff videos. But it will show you what you can do with a basic scale – even though it is only a taster to the complete solo Riffs, Licks & Solos Guitar Coach Magazine 44 Robert Cray: Phone Booth Riffs, Licks & Solos Guitar Coach Magazine 45 JJ Cale: Call Me The Breeze

Why J.J.Cale? As you have probably gathered, Andy is a massive J.J.Cale fan, which has prompted him to give you a brief insight into the type of riff he plays in between lines when he is not singing. Known for his great touch, feel and timing, J.J. Cale manages to project an almost laziness to his playing whilst still making it have passion, often with jazzy overtones. Many a guitarist can reproduce the notes, but not in the same way that characterizes his style.

What will this riff give me? How will it help my playing? This one small riff is played after the first line of It is in the key of F# but, like most blues patterns, the first verse has been sung and variations of it is easily transposed to other keys. As far as this the same “set of notes” all played with a different riff is concerned, learn it with the video and then emphasis occur throughout the song. What is play along with the whole song, adding your own important is the way he emphasizes gaps, plays variations by using the same notes but playing notes when you least expect them and most of less or more of them, adding in pauses and, of all, when he chooses not to play at all. course, in a different order. This really is a fun thing to do and will develop your jamming and ability to improvise. Riffs, Licks & Solos Guitar Coach Magazine 46 JJ Cale: Call Me The Breeze

Meolody Line tab

Lead Lick tab Riffs, Licks & Solos Guitar Coach Magazine 47 9 Below Zero: Sugar Mama

Who recorded it? Nine Below Zero are an English Blues band who were at their height in popularity in the early 1980s but continue gigging to this day, having built up a cult following throughout Europe.

Sugar Mama is a departure from their normally learn the structure of the riff and remembering hi-energy style, but is an introductory riff that the the changes. Once you have learned it, use it as a majority of us would consider pure blues. warm up before you start playing – whether that be at a gig or in the comfort of your own home – The Riff because it won’t stretch your fingers too much, This is a particularly great riff to learn if you are but will definitely get the blood flowing through apt at both singing and playing – especially on your veins. your own. It can easily be transposed to any key Sound and is full of simple hammer ons, pull off and slides. The end of the riff ends with a sliding For gigging, give your guitar a tiny bit of gain, dis- chord (Eb9 to D9) again, a classic blues “move” tortion and reverb, to try and imitate the sound of and rolls effortlessly into the verse. Dennis Greaves’ 1976 Burgundy Gibson ES 335cr. Clean, but with a growly overtone!!! The techniques used in the riff itself are not too difficult to master; the key here is being able to Riffs, Licks & Solos Guitar Coach Magazine 48 9 Below Zero: Sugar Mama Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 49 eJamming: The Premier Online Community For Musical Collaboration

New technology allows musicians to jam and collaborate anytime, anywhere.

At the expense of showing my age, this writer scribers logging in from around the globe. It never dreamed of jamming with other musicians sounds like the other player is in the room with thousands of miles away when I started playing you.” music in the late 1960’s. There was no Internet, of course, and the only way to make music was to Who Uses eJamming? sit in the same room with other players. Well, it’s We asked Alan who eJamming is for and how it a new day with new technology that allows any- can benefit different users, and he responded one with basic computer skills and equipment to that ejamming is for, “musicians looking to jam play music in real time with others thousands of with old friends and band mates, or to meet new miles away: very hip and definitely cutting-edge. musicians they can play with. It’s for bands to re- eJamming is the brainchild of music business en- hearse, create, play and record together rather trepreneur Gail Kantor, a former backup singer for than lugging their gear to a rehearsal space, al- Bette Midler, producer, manager and professional though it’s never meant to supplant a live re- fundraiser, and Alan Jay Glueckman, a screen- hearsal. eJamming is for musicians looking to writer, lyricist, producer and director, with credits form new bands by meeting musicians and audi- in movies, records, television, theatre and the In- tioning them live, for teachers and students to ternet. These two, along with technology and en- work together online, and to provide a place for tertainment professional Bill Redman, launched a students to practice together in a virtual practice prototype of eJamming in 2007, and were first studio.” recognized within the technology industry in But why not just use Skype to jam together? 2009. But it wasn’t until 2010 that they con- quered the problem of “lag time,” with the intro- “People have told me they’re not happy using duction of what they refer to as 3.0 software, Skype because of the way it feels. It’s very delayed, featuring 16 bit 44.1 kHz live audio streaming. whereas, eJamming eliminates the latency or lag With this cutting edge technology in place, eJam- time issue. There are other technologies that pur- ming has become, in the words of Alan Glueck- port to offer online jamming, but none offer the man, “The premier online community for musical real time, high quality audio and lowest latency collaboration, from writing, to recording, to live experience that eJamming offers, because we’re jam sessions, with musician members/sub- “peer to peer,” rather than server mediated, which Feature Guitar Coach Magazine 50 eJamming: The Premier Online Community For Musical Collaboration means eJamming has half the latency of server- bridged the gap on both accounts. Each time we based systems. And we offer the same high qual- get together to write online, we are just amazed ity audio as CDs.” that we finally have this tool. We write and re- hearse probably three to four times as often as Getting Started with eJamming we did before we found eJamming.” Simply go to www.ejamming.com/learn-more Andy Brasher chimed in, “As a writing/touring and sign up. Once your email is verified, then musician, balancing home life and work life can download and install the software. After receiving be a challenge. Especially if you’re like me, and a “Welcome to eJamming” email, you will receive you live in one state and most of your musical ac- information on how to set up eJamming, as well complices live in another. Dustin and I have been as a link to tech support, www.ejammingtech- making music together, writing and recording support.com, which contains detailed informa- since 2007. Until we discovered eJamming, get- tion and how to perform tasks such as ting together consisted of taking turns driving unblocking ports, allowing eJamming through two hundred miles and spending a few days your firewall, and configuring the audio signal away from home. This could be very taxing. Now stream through your computer. The eJamming that we’re on eJamming, we can write, play, or support website contains pictures and step-by- record at a moment’s notice without having to step instructions how to do everything necessary dedicate gas money and a couple hours on the to get started. The cost is only $9.95 per month road in order to create together. We are able to after a 30-day free trial, $24.95 for three months, work more often and from the comfort of our or only $89.95 per year. It obviously pays to go for own homes. The control panel is super easy to the long haul. use, and the setup was simple. With tech sup- And Musicians Said… port’s help, we were up and running that day. “ Dustin Bogue of the group Brasher/Bogue is a And Now, Get Ready For… loyal eJamming participant. It won’t be long before the company offers eJam- “Playing guitar is in a lot of ways a lot like having ming STUDiiO ®, which will integrate live video sex…Granted, it’s fun even if you’re flying solo, but along with audio, and ejamming TEACH ® for stu- it doesn’t compare to doing it with other people! dents and teachers, featuring enlarged video, no- tation, plus other teaching tools. And finally, “A musician at any level will readily tell you, play- eJamming JAMCASTLE ®, where musicians any- ing guitar is a lot more fun when you are accom- where in the world can use eJamming STUDiiO ® panied by another picker. You can share songs, as a live performance capture device and stream theories, chords, licks, stories, ideas, etc, with each those performances live to smartphones, Surface other. That is how we grow. It isn’t always easy to tablets, computers and iPads, for fan access every- get together with other players, and a lot of peo- where in the world, 24/7. All these developments ple don’t have a large circle of friends to call on if are on the verge of reality, according to Alan they have the urge to jam. Quite simply, eJam- Gleuckman. ming makes it possible. Stay tuned… “The day I found eJamming, I knew it was going to change things for us in a big way. Since Andy (Brasher) and I first started writing and perform- By Bob Cianci ing together, our two biggest obstacles have been time and distance: not enough time and too Try eJamming Now! many miles between us. eJamming has literally Advertisement Guitar Coach Magazine 51 Play great songs: Jam with a live Band!

Ask any professional guitarist about what is the easiest, quickest and most fun way to develop your guitar skills, and you can guarantee that they’ll say, it’s to play with others. However it’s not always that easy to get a band together in your home, when it suits you. With BandJammer, the band are always ready and waiting with some great songs for you to have some fun with. But BandJammer offers way more than just songs; – Beginner guitar basics – Cool Classic Riffs – Strumming & Rhythm Sessions – Essential Skills, Tricks & Techniques – Great Solos – Blues and Improvisation. No more lonely practice sessions. No drowning in heavy theory. No boring exercise routines. Just a whole lot of fun! Minimum effort. Maximum results. BandJammer includes over 1,180 step BandJammer provides a clear and structured learning experience, to minimise your time com- by step videos... mitment, but maximise your results. • Detailed. practical and fun lessons. Start Be Impressive! playing great Songs and cool Riffs now! • Simply the highest quality multi-camera This is guaranteed! Whether it’s through being videos on the internet able to jam songs with friends, impressing your family with some cool riffs, or just soloing and im- • Nowhere else can you Jam with a live band provising by yourself with the jam sessions. You’re right in your own home guaranteed to have fun – and be impressive! • Fast online streaming or download – the From Simple Techniques To Awesome Solos… choice is yours The BandJammer experience is more than just • From guitar basics to Jamming with the Band learning songs, it’s about developing a whole in just a few weeks! range of guitar abilities. You’ll be learning from scratch, including chord and strumming basics, • Plus a full 60 day, no questions asked, Money through to how songs are structured, the dynam- Back Guarantee! ics of bands, playing in different keys and tunings, playing solos and improvising your own solos…and much more! Tap Here For Full Details Altered Tuning Guitar Coach Magazine 52 Altered States

Rikky Rooksby talks about the opportunities a little re-tuning can offer songwriters.

Think of songs such as Led Zeppelin ‘Kashmir’, The Rolling Stones ‘Honky Tonk Women’, Joni Mitchell ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, Bad Company ‘Can’t Get Enough’, Stephen Stills ‘Love The One You’re With’, The Beatles ‘Dear Pru- dence’, Coldplay ‘Yellow’, Nick Drake ‘River Man’, Bob Dylan ‘Mr Tambourine Man’, Neil Young ‘Cinnamon Girl’, and Crosby Stills Nash and Young ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’. What do these songs have in common? All were composed and inspired by a guitar that was not in standard tuning.

Altered tunings are now an accepted method for minor, B minor and F# minor – enough of the creating great new guitar music. Up to the 60s basic chord shapes have open strings to produce a they were largely the province of folk and blues pleasingly resonant sound for little physical effort. guitarists, but the spread of musical influences In addition, it is easier to have a key change in a from folk protest songs and electric blues into song written in EADGBE. chart pop and counter-culture rock in that decade However, going beyond the familiarity of stan- took them into the musical mainstream. By the dard tuning opens some exciting musical doors. end of the 60s headliners such as Bob Dylan, The Songwriters can find much inspiration in al- Who, The Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell, CSN&Y tered tunings. This is chiefly because perhaps were writing and recording songs with them. the majority of songwriters who compose on When Richie Havens walked out on stage at the guitar do so by finding emotionally-charged Woodstock Festival, on August 15 1969, to face a chord changes. Altered tunings provide these quarter of a million people, he did so – amazingly by the bucket-load. - with a guitar in altered tuning. Since those days, An altered tuning defamiliarises the fretboard. altered tunings have been utilized by acoustic and With the turn of a peg or two it removes – either electric players alike in many popular genres such partially or completely – the standard shapes and as folk, college radio rock, indie, hard rock, grunge, patterns which a songwriter can find through New Age guitar and many more. habit and which, at times, fail to inspire through It is true that thousands of great songs have been being over-familiar. An altered tuning has the po- written by guitarists in standard tuning. As a tun- tential to make commonplace chord sequences ing, EADGBE is an excellent, musical compromise exciting again because they sound different when that provides readily playable chords for most voiced in new shapes. It can also offer a song- keys and chord types. In some keys – notably C, G, writer the chance to broaden the harmony of his D and A, and their relative minors A minor, E or her songs through bringing in other chord Song writing Guitar Coach Magazine 53

Altered States types in effective shapes. Even the simplicity of an For a songwriter’s in-depth study of altered tun- open major tuning, where a single finger barre ings (complete with a selective chord dictionary) creates a major chord, makes simple major see my book How To Write Songs in Altered Guitar changes sound new. Tuning For a songwriter, fiddling with the tuning is as much about the generating of inspiration through defamiliarization as it is about the al- tered tuning even being audible in the final song. The objection, ‘But you could have done that in standard tuning’ can be countered with, ‘Yes, I could have but I didn’t until the idea came to me. And it didn’t appear until I re-tuned the guitar’. If you have only played in EADGBE retuning the guitar and finding familiar shapes no longer work can be daunting. An easy method for dipping your toe in the waters of altered tuning is the single- string change. Re-tuning a single string can be enough to ‘refresh’ ordinary chords and the sound of the guitar. Try ‘drop D’, where string 6 is de- tuned by a tone from E to D, or ‘top drop D’ where string 1 goes down by a tone.

How To Write Songs In Altered Tunings

Rikky Rooksby is the author of Backbeat’s series for songwriters which comprises the best-selling How to Write Songs on Guitar, In- side Classic Rock Tracks, Riffs, The Songwriting Sourcebook, Chord Master, Melody, How to Write Songs on Keyboards, Lyrics, Arrang- ing Songs and How to Write Songs in Altered Tunings. Visit his webpage at www.rikkyrooksby.com FAQs Guitar Coach Magazine 54 FAQs

Here’s a short selection of the most popular questions sent in by you this month. Please keep those questions coming and I’ll try and cover as many as possible in the next issue.

I totally appreciate the frustra- the hit the string above so you Question: After taking a 2 year tions you are experiencing and, can make some adjustments. break from playing the guitar (be- as far as string bending is con- cause I became frustrated) I immedi- cerned, there really is no substi- Such as: If your nail is toughing ately came up against my old enemy, tution for practice. Having said the string above (apart from the string bend. When I bend and or that, here are a few tips I have keeping them short) you will bend and release a string I keep hit- picked up over the years which I probably be fretting the string with your left hand too close to ting the string above with my finger hope will help. the nail. If your finger is touch- or finger nail. Have you any tips to First of all, make sure you are ing the string above causing it help stop this happening? fretting the note correctly. In to sound when you release the other words, you can hear the bend your will be bend your pre-bend note clearly and you fretting finger needs to be are playing it with the tip of nearer the tip. Once you have your finger. This will ensure you the fretting finger in the correct do not have to adjust your fin- position you will contact the ger position on the string or, in- string above but it will not deed, apply unnecessary sound – well most of the time additional pressure to keep the anyway. You should then be able note sounding. This will cause to bend the strings a full step an immediate bend fail. without any unwanted noises and hindrance. Next try bending the string up just one step (one semi tone) or Apart from that, just keep prac- even less very slowly. Whilst ticing so you refine your tech- doing this, look at where your nique until string bending finger or nail is starting to hit becomes second nature.

Well, quite simply if the strings changed. You will probably be Question: Guys, I love your maga- have a dull color, sound dead, having too much fun and con- zine and, as a beginner, have one ques- muted, become discoloured or centrating on learning to think tion for you, which I am sure will be are hard to tune, then it's time too much about the sound. easy to answer. How do I know when to change them. You will only With experience you will know it’s time to change my strings? realize just how dead they have when that time has come. The become until you here the timeframes often depend on brightness and clarity of a new your own body make up and set when you replace them. As a how much you sweat or what beginner it is especially hard to chemicals are released from know when you should change your hands and fingers. strings as you will not tend to notice the dulling of the tone Continued over page... i.e. not realize the sound has Ask Andy Guitar Coach Magazine 55

FAQs

Guitarists who sweat more, All I know is that I change mine spend hours upon hours playing after every gig due to excessive or fret the strings aggressively moisture being expelled from or with excessive force will all my body causing the sound have to change strings more quality to “die” immediately often. after I have finished playing.

In order to fully understand the ple, E to F# or E to D. Question: Although I haven’t been answer you need to have a basic playing the guitar long I have a contin- knowledge of note intervals i.e. A similar method is used when ued thirst for knowledge. What does it what notes exist. These are Ab, you tune down a half or full mean when it says to tune down or A, Bb, B, C, Db, D, Eb, E, F, F# (or step. Standard tuning is E-A-D- move your fretting finger a 1/2 step Gb) and G. If you play one of G-B-E. When tuned down a half or a full step? these notes and move to one of step, it is tuned to Eb-Ab-Db-Gb- the notes next to it in the se- Bb-Eb. Each string is tuned a quence, you travel half a step. half step lower. When tuned For example, E to Eb or E to F. down a full step, it is tuned to This also equates to moving one D-G-C-F-A-D. Different ways of fret; so every time you move tuning a guitar is a completely from one fret to an adjacent fret you travel a half step. If you separate topic, but I daresay move two frets, you travel a full your thirst for knowledge will step and this is the equivalent require this explaining as well of playing a note that is 2 steps at some time!!!! Good stuff – away in the sequence, for exam- keep up your interest.

Well, this sort of follows on whole step to G, then a whole Question: Although I do not want to from the last question, in so step to A, then a whole step to learn too much theory, many tutors be- much as you need to have some B, then a half step back to C lieve it is essential you learn your knowledge of the notes and in- (only a half step between B & C scales. I definitely think it would help, tervals. as well). especially when I progress enough to Let’s start by looking at the C So the notes in the C scale are: C learn solos. To get me going and, in major scale. The first note will D E F G A B C. The example the simplest terms possible, please always be a C (this is known as above is executed on the A could you tell me the basic difference the root note) and follows the string to make it easy to follow, between a major and minor scale? following pattern. but you would normally use dif- ferent strings to play a scale. Starting on the C note (say on the 3rd fret of the A string) you Continued over page... go up a whole step (2 frets) to D then another whole step to E, then a half step to F (only a half step between E & F), then a FAQs Guitar Coach Magazine 56

FAQs

One suggestion is shown (C minor) you would flatten (re- below: duce the note by one fret) the 3rd, 6th, and 7th notes in the C - 3rd fret A string scale, giving: D – Open D string C D Eb F G Ab Bb C E – 2nd fret D string Hopefully this has helped you F – 3rd fret D string understand the difference be- tween a major and minor scale. G – Open G string You should now have enough A – 2nd fret G string knowledge to learn any major scale and convert it to a minor B – Open B string scale and be able to start learn- ing and improvising some solos. C – 1st fret B string. Look forward to hearing how To get the natural minor scale you progress.

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With many thanks to: Eugene Hideaway Bridges, Jimmy Dillon, Nick Benjamin, The eJamming team, and Rikky Rooksby Articles written by Bob Cianci, Graham Land, Ben Vine, Tom Rosier, Harrison Marsh and Andy Partridge Special thanks to; BandJammer www.bandjammer.com for video contributions