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November 28th, 2016

11/28/2016

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For the last few months I’ve avoided discussing current events in this space even though I’ve been sorely tempted. So please indulge me, just this once. This will be the one and only time I (mostly) divert from purely music related posts. Promise!
 
I made a mistake last night that I regret. I was with close friends, people I care about deeply and treasure in my life. Although we are pretty much on the same page when it comes to politics when the discussion turned personal and we began speaking about how the current political climate affects our very lives I couldn’t keep my frustration in check. My friend’s two children have spouses from other countries and they are trying their best to expose their children to positive attitudes about race, gender and equality, all things that are vitally important. The husband of my friend’s daughter was recently confronted with outright bigotry for the first time since he moved here from his native Cayman Islands. It was disturbing, to say the least and I felt their pain and anger. My friends went on to describe how one of their grandchildren attends a school that is attended by a widely diverse student population and both they and their son and daughter-in-law are thrilled with how much diversity is celebrated and demonstrated there.
 
But here’s where I lost my cool. I listened for a while (as I have before, for what it’s worth) but something was missing form my friend’s adulation of “celebrating diversity.” And that was a core value:  No matter how much we embrace diversity, in the end, we are all Americans.
 
What does that mean, exactly? Many things, now more than ever and I’ve given this a lot of thought throughout the months leading up to the recent election.
 
I guess I couldn’t help myself and exclaimed (too loudly) that if we lose sight of that in celebration of our differences there is a very real danger that we will lose sight of who we are as a whole. My friend countered that this celebration of diversity is nothing new, think about the old Italian American and Portuguese American and Irish American Clubs of our parent’s generation, he said. They celebrated their heritage, and they still do today. But wait, I said. In all those clubs you would surely find American flags on display, and meetings almost always started with the Pledge. This may sound a bit out of date in our modern, melded, connected and somewhat smug world, even a bit corny, but the take-away was that no matter how many times they called each other paisano or padre they knew that they might not have the freedom to do that if not for core belief in their country or the sacrifices of those who came before. I wondered aloud (again, too loudly) if the diverse student population of my friend’s grandchildren’s school happened to have a flag in their school or if the Pledge was part of their daily curriculum. Perhaps they do and I am totally off base. I have not been there so I cannot say.
 
Before I go any further I want to state categorically that I deplore people who wrap the flag around themselves as they practice racism, prejudice, misogyny, intolerance and hatred. The perversion of American values and beliefs must cease if we are to survive. Let’s not forget that we are ALL immigrants (although I know Native Americans have been here much longer than Europeans) and it wasn’t so long ago that the very people who are demonstrating such disgusting intolerance today probably had grandparents or great-grandparents who faced similar hatred.
 
So how does any of this relate to music? For me anyway, certain songs can sometimes sum up the way I feel about many things. In this case it is Paul Simon’s masterpiece, “An American Tune.” The last verse says it all.
 
“We come in a ship they called Mayflower,
We come on a ship that sailed the moon.
We come in ages’ most uncertain hours, and sing an American tune.
And it’s alright, oh it’s alright, you can be forever blessed.
Tomorrow’s gonna be another day and I’m trying to get some rest,
That’s all, I’m trying to get some rest.”
 
Peace & good music,
Gene


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What I've been teaching lately....

11/10/2016

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Now that I’ve retired from my “real” job, i.e., working for someone else and getting a regular pay check (!) I’ve had lots more time to search out new music for myself and my students. This has been tons of fun and I’ve found some great stuff, both new artists and songs and older material that I didn’t know existed. My main source of musical information is radio station WUMB out of the University of Massachusetts in Boston. If you are not within their broadcast range they also do live streaming and I highly recommend them, their play lists are varied and always interesting. So here are a few of the songs and artists I’ve been playing and teaching over the last few months. Do an internet search for their material on You Tube if you’d like to know more about them.

Chris Smither. I’ve been aware of him for decades, ever since Bonnie Raitt covered his great blues tune “Love Me Like A Man”, which I’ve used with students for years. He is an icon of acoustic blues-based music and is highly respected throughout the acoustic music world. Lately I’ve been teaching “Leave the Light On” and “Train Home.” Both are classic Smither originals that feature his solid bluesy finger style playing and witty lyrics. His deep baritone voice, which has mellowed like a fine Kentucky bourbon over the years suits me fine too, although I don’t claim to have the depth of worldly experience you hear in everything he sings. I also use the arrangement of  his “Song for Susan”  found of the great tribute album Link in Chain by various artists all doing songs written by Chris. This arrangement by Mark Ereli and Jeffrey Foucault is fantastic. You will find some great artists doing interpretations of Chris Smither’s songs on this album and I highly recommend it.

Norah Jones. I know, I know…. “Snorah Jones”….. Yes, she is mellow to the point of boredom according to some but I love her arrangement of the jazz standard “The Nearness of You” and the recent song “Carry On”, which is closer to country than jazz. Both of those I have arranged for acoustic guitar, as I have with her best known tune, “Don’t Know Why” - that one works great for demonstrating bossa nova style.

Aoife O’Donovan. A while back I began teaching her “Oh, Mama” from the PBS Transatlantic Sessions Best of Folk recording. Recently I began teaching her recent “Red & White & Blue & Gold” and although a bit challenging to sing - the phrasing is kind of push/pull with the chord changes - it is a gorgeous song. And oh, that voice! I am certain she has a long and bright future in acoustic music.

Eva Cassidy. I continue to be amazed that Eva’s music is not more well known. Perhaps this is because she tragically died from melanoma at a very young age some years ago, before the current folk/acoustic music boom. She could to it all: folk, country, blues, soul, and jazz. I firmly believe that if she had lived longer she would be considered one of the absolute greats in acoustic music. Recently I worked out some very accurate and not too challenging arrangements of her covers of “Fields of Gold” and the Gordon Lightfoot classic “Early Morning Rain” and my students seem to love them. Part of the reason I use these arrangements is to show my students that absolute replication of original recordings is not necessary or even desirable, sometimes. Eva put her own stamp on those songs (and many others) and in my opinion, the result surpasses the originals.

Steve Earle. After watching him play “Love’s Gonna Blow My Way” on You Tube (an episode of the Public Radio’s Tiny Desk Concerts - GREAT stuff there!!) I knew I had to learn and teach that one. Just a fun, old-timey bluesy song with great lyrics and cool finger picked guitar. I don’t give this one to all my students, just those who like blues and are up to the challenge of some very fast finger picking and fast chord changes. It’s worth knowing though if you’re into that style. I know I am!

Wood Brothers. The song “Luckiest Man” has become a standard with many guitarist/singers in the modern acoustic guitar world. The combination of a fairly basic guitar part and wry lyrics make this one almost a must-play in acoustic jam sessions. Although I don’t use these others with students - “Honey Jar” and “When I Was Young” - I love listening to them and always turn up the volume probably higher than I should when I do. Always gets me jumping and keeps a grin on my face. I LOVE those guys!!!

Joan Shelley. Another great singer/songwriter I discovered via the Little Desk Concerts. I use her tune “Not Over By Half” with many of my students, a lilting, bittersweet song in 3/4 that is just beautiful. Joan’s voice is gorgeous in its simplicity and honesty. Check her out.

So you see, I’ve been doing my homework! One of my greatest joys in teaching and playing guitar is turning students on to music they may not have heard. This is fairly labor-intensive at times; I spend many hours each week searching out new stuff and then learning and arranging it in such a way that it will both rewarding and at least a bit challenging for my students. The bonus for me personally is my repertoire has expanded a lot in the last couple of years. Now if I could just find a bass player around here with the same interests….or a good female singer….

Are you out there?

Peace & good music,
Gene


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You just can't avoid 'em....

11/3/2016

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It’s been quite a while since I talked about one of the most challenging aspects of playing the guitar so I thought I’d address it again: the dreaded barre chord!
 
Rather than just going into a do-this/do-that kind of discussion I thought I’d approach this from the perspective of observation. That is, what I see my students endure and what can be reasonably expected.
 
What are barre chords, really? It is the act of laying your index finger across all or part of the neck while other fingers fret notes above it (toward the body of the guitar). What you are doing is the job the nut on your guitar does – in the opposite direction. The nut is pressing UP to divide multiple strings at a specific point; when we barre we are pressing DOWN to accomplish the same thing. That in itself is difficult enough, but arching and separating the other fingers above the barre is where the frustration really starts.
 
The single biggest problem I see with students is a reluctance to abandon what I call their “comfort zone.” When a player advances beyond the raw beginner stage of playing basic 1st position chords they naturally find a thumb and wrist angle and position that works for most of the time. Assuming the wrist and thumb angle is correct (hint: with open 1st position chords ALWAYS try to keep the pad/tip of thumb parallel to your 2nd or middle finger, which forces your wrist into the correct position) and the fingers are properly arched the act of radically repositioning the wrist and thumb for a barre chord is always trouble.
 
I stress how important it is to DROP the wrist and forearm and position the pad of the thumb centered behind the neck directly beneath the barring finger. This is not easy! Abandoning that comfort zone and dropping the forearm is a big move compared to just about anything else we do with our fretting hand on the guitar. Why is this so important? Because quite simply, there is no other way to straighten the barring finger across the neck. A curved barring finger will absolutely not work. I often tell my students that if I can see the pad of their thumb when they try to barre a chord I don’t even need to hear it; I know it isn’t going to work.
 
And here’s where things get really awkward and tough. Many times I find students assuming that the barring finger should be flat, with the fleshy bottom of the finger doing the work. But this is not the case. And what I’m going to say now totally goes against what the human hand was designed to do: As much as possible – while still keeping the other fingers upright – you must turn the barring finger slightly on its side! Yikes! This is because the side of the finger is a harder surface than the fleshy bottom and firmer contact will be made on the neck. Doing this without the other fingers collapsing toward the barring finger and staying upright is perhaps the biggest challenge a guitarist will face when they first attempt barre chords.
 
How about position relative to the frets? You obviously don’t want the barring finger to overlap the fret, which will muffle and kill the vibration of the strings. But you must be as close as possible – without overlapping. This will help a bit with the challenge of arching the other fingers. And don’t waste valuable practice time trying to get a clear sound all the way across the neck with the barring finger, be sure to complete the chord. Remember that the other fingers are ABOVE the barre, so what goes on behind them is irrelevant. Only the notes in the chord that are produced by the barre are what is important.
 
Compounding things further are two things. There is a reason most electric guitars use thinner strings and have narrower and shallower necks than acoustic guitars – because much of the music played on an electric guitar uses many, many barre chords. So why don’t we just use lighter strings on an acoustic guitar? Well, we could, and some players do, but the lighter (thinner) the gauge of string, the weaker the sound on an acoustic guitar.
 
Also, many of the most fundamental barre chords used by beginner and intermediate level acoustic guitarists are way back in 1st, 2nd or 3rd position. Having to reach out toward the head of the guitar and still maintain the fundamentals described above makes the whole process that much more difficult. Plus, when playing some of the most common 1st and 2nd position barre chords such as F Major, Bb Major and B minor you are also fighting against that upward pressure from the nut. Sooner or later most players discover that barre chords farther up the neck are actually easier to play because they don’t have to reach as far, the frets are closer together, and the strings are easier to press down when you’re not battling the influence of the nut.
 
So let’s assume you’ve gotten to the point that at least occasionally you get a reasonable sound from those common barre chords in 1st and 2nd position. Another thing I see with just about every student is real trouble coming OUT of the barre chord and back to “regular” chords. They will often stop at those points and this can be truly frustrating. But remember – just as you had to abandon your comfort zone to get into the barre chord, you must return to it very quickly to avoid stopping and breaking the beat. This again means a radical repositioning of the hand, wrist and arm.
 
The take-away here is to stay loose! I have said this before but it bears repeating. If you can get to the point that barre chords are a minor PIA rather than a point of panic and despair, you absolutely will get them. I wish I could tell you how long that will take but there are just too many variables, some of which are width of fingers (surprisingly, women often succeed with barre chords sooner than men as they usually have thinner fingers that find those “sweet spots” sooner than men with thick, wide fingers); overall strength, understanding of the minutia that must be addressed to succeed, and most of all, determination.
 
So why the heck to we have to play barre chords at all? I can tell you that occasionally I will get a new student who is somewhat experienced and has managed to avoid them for a very long time. But the reality is that playing barre chords opens up the whole neck and some songs require barre chords that just cannot be “fudged” with a 1st position (read: easy!) chord.
 
All guitarists dislike barre chords. There are songs that I play that include challenging barre chords that I always launch into having no solid idea just what will happen. But I go for it anyway, and you should too! What will happen is that over time as your hand gets stronger and you consistently position your hand correctly your percentage of success with the darned things will increase.
 
Promise!
 
Peace & good music,
Gene
 
 

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