The Intro to “The Duel” from Crossroads

This is my arrangement and transcription from a baroque inspired, classical styled guitar piece from the motion picture, Crossroads. This is not exactly like the movie, but it is fairly close. This is used primarily as a stretching exercise once I’ve been warmup up a while.

If you’re new to sweep picking and hybrid picking, this may be very challenging to play. The best thing to do is set the metronome to 50 or 60 beats per minute and work up the speed slowly. Make sure that you can master it at a slower speed before you challenge your to really high speeds. I warm up usually around 90 beats per minute. If you can get this to 110 beats a minute, it sounds beautiful, but it is a serious challenge. Have fun!

Click on the words below for the PDF:

The Intro to “The Duel” from Crossroads Transcription

Musician’s Institute Press: Classical and Fingerstyle Guitar Techniques

David Oakes’ Classical and Fingerstyle Guitar Techniques is a book written specifically for the development of rudimentary mechanics of classical guitar. David Oakes is a superb guitarist and great author. His level of detail and writing in general are a credit to his knowledge on the subject combined with his teaching ability. Oakes (as of the writing of his book) is an veteran instructor at Musician’s Institute in Hollywood, CA and a part-time instructor at the Studio Jazz Guitar department of Thornton School of Music (The University of Southern California).

Without blitzing you with a myriad of guitar terminology, the thesis of this book could be succincty summarized as emphasizing posture, proper picking mechanics and execution. You will learn the staple topics of this genre such as the free stroke, rest stroke and the ability to play arpeggios forwards and backwards. Working through the material efficiently depends on the reader’s aptitude of developing fingerpicking mechanics. Although that sounds obvious, putting into words the aptitutde needed to do so isn’t quite that easy to do. Some people, in the beginning stages of learning this genre, seem to learn this technique intuitively and/or quicker compared to others. Oakes includes musical arrangements within his teaching method and in doing so allows the reader to learn his method in a more practical fashion.

At the risk of being discouraging, I feel it is important for you to understand how potentially difficult the content in his book may be. Because of the subject matter, this isn’t a typical guitar methodology that you would ordinarily find in books of this nature. To clarify what I mean, many guitar methods to a certain degree can be “navigated” with shortcuts of experience. However, assuming that you don’t have some classical guitar or fingerpicking experience as a prerequisite , then you may find this a bit challenging. Challenging isn’t bad, but it has to stay within a reasonable comfort zone. Oakes provides the reader with ample opportunities to work the technique as a soloist, but plainly stated, rudimentary classical guitar technique takes time to do it properly. This material contains specific technical requirements, so it is teaching that you cannot bargain with. Therefore, you will either end up learning to work through exactly what is taught in this book or you will develop your own way and the need for this book is a moot point. Again, this is one of those rare topics in guitar education that not only has a curve to it, but also a tried and true method to it’s execution. This is not always the case with books of such a technically, complex nature. However, Oakes has clearly considered the challenge of developing these rudimentary techniques, and he uses the arrangements as a reward for diligence. Allow me to balance these remarks by stating that anyone can learn this on some level, whether you actually will is your choice.

Classical guitar is generally difficult to play because of the complexities of the genre’s compositional nature, combine that with the fingerboard limitation and it makes for an ambitious endeavor. The genre may represent a path that many choose to learn with genuine interest, only to later discover that the investment of time and energy required to navigate it well may be too much. For this reason, I think there is an opportunity to devote a chapter about applying some of this technique to the folk or pop genres. That doesn’t appear in this book in an obvious way, but such a chapter devoted to some wider application of the material would have been beneficial. It never hurts to give the reader some area of application, especially while he or she is in the learning process by trial and error. Keep in mind that you can always play simpler arrangements of beloved baroque compositions. If you desire to play recreationally and you’re intersted in some arrangements from you favorite music store or internet retailer, hey great, there is nothing wrong with that at all! I believe that this book will sufficient education with good mechanics. However, it has always been my observation that books written for topical subjects such as this, must not be written in a way that permits the material to back itself into a corner. Only an individual can make that call, but it is wise to minimize that possibility during the editing process. Diligence with this book will make the investment a surefire success.

After careful consideration about who would benefit the most from this book, I believe this to be a good book for someone who has enough guitar experience so that their hand coordination doesn’t resemble a fawn learning to walk. In fact, if you’re a complete beginner, I would strongly advise skimming the book before you buy. If you are not satisfied with your fingerstyle technique, and perhaps you would like to augment the effectiveness of your mechanics, you may want to consider this book. The material requires diligence, but the rewards are worth the effort. Overall the book is excellent in every fashion; writing, diagrams and application. The subject matter is a bit difficult to play and there really is no way to sugar coat that fact, but Oakes does everything he claims in his book and does it well.

Blues Scales: One Scale and Three Different Sets of Harmony

If you are starting off in guitar and you have studied some harmony, here is a tool that most of my guitar students find useful. The PDF shows a transcribed A Blues scale in 5th position. In GIT terminology, it is referred to as Pattern 4, but I prefer to think of it in a solfege context. There’s nothing wrong to think of these fingerings in terms of a fingerboard system, but to me, the solfege terms make tonalities easier to think of in terms of harmonic systems.

The overall lesson is that the transcribed blues scale (which is common) within the PDF file will fit over three, distinct harmonics systems that are popular in Western contemporary music. As you play and think about music, over time you will discover that it is the chord changes influencing the sound of the scale and not vice-versa.

Here are the three tonalities:

1. I7-IV7-V7: Blues Harmony (A7 – D7 – E7) – Sound: Traditional Blues

2. i-iv-v: Minor Blues Harmony (Am – Dm – Em or Am7 – Dm7 – Em7) – Sound: Minor Blues/Jazz/Smooth Jazz

3. I-IV-V: Relative Major Blues Harmony (Cmaj – Fmaj – G maj/G7) – Southern Rock/Country

Click on the bold lettering below for the PDF download and let me know if you have any questions.

The Blues Scale and Three Harmonic Systems

Berklee Press: Making Music Make Money

Make Music Make Money by Eric Beall is a systematic and organized view of the complex world of publishing in the music business. Beall writes from a lot of experience in dealing with artists, labels, and other publishers. He is candid and makes no bones about organization, gameplan, and experience. Eric is a Berklee College of Music graduate with experience as a writer/producing (a musician). After moving to New York City, he began writing songs and was signed to Zomba Label Group to which to later became the Creative Director for. After 15 years of experience, he later got into the publishing side of the music business. Eric is clear about income streams, where the money comes from, how it is divided and where it goes as well as other mechanical topics. In short, Eric’s experience will serve as an experienced guide into a complex business. This book is very highly recommended.

Musician’s Institute Press: Going Pro

If you have ever considered carving a living as a professional performing and recording musician, then you simply must read Going Pro by Kenny Kerner. However, there is something that you should keep in mind prior to buying this book. People have made a good living in music by combining teaching at the college level, performing, and arranging, but this book is not written for that kind of music career. This is written for people who aspire to be recording artists on a major record label or big independent label. After going through a few pages, you will realize that Going Pro is written from experience and hard knocks.

What I am about to do is not the norm in my reviews, but I think it is important to understand exactly who wrote this book and his experience. Kenny Kerner, as of the writing of the book, has produced eighteen gold and platinum records for artist such as Kiss, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Jose Feliciano and Badfinger. Kermer has co-written hundreds of songs which have published on albums and film. He has been an editor and journalist for many big name trade publications and has experience as a publicist. His clients include Jay Leno, Michael J. Fox and Body by Jake of fitness fame. In short, the man thoroughly understands the entertainment industry. Kerner does not mince words in the book. He comes across as a straight shooter about how tough the recording industry is whether it is pleasant to read about or not. His objective is to make you as shrewd as possible. Here are the topics by chapter covered within his book:

1. Bands
2. Personal Managers
3. Music Attorneys
4. Business Managers & Booking Agents
5. Record Companies
6. A&R
7. Publishing
8. Songwriting
9. Demos & Press Kits
10. Self-Promotion
11. Meeting & Greeting

Overall, the book is of good quality and relevant to today’s issues in the entertainment industry. Kerner’s sections on dealing with people are sheer experience. Particularly about the kind of people whom you should avoid as much as possible. In fact, his experience with people in the narrative is unquestionably the strength of this book. Kerner effectively details the relationships closest to you as the artist. He particularly details the business responsibility of band mates and clarifies an ideal model of what each band member should do in their dual role as business people and musicians. He effectively describes the power of the record labels (recording companies.) It becomes quite clear as you read that you are not likely to beat these companies at their own game; Their mammoth size and resources of these companies are quite intimidating. However, every musician and singer who aspire for stardom should understand whom they are dealing with. Kerner provides examples of bands that have made bad deals (not necessarily with record labels) in order for the reader to learn from their misfortune.

One of the highlights in Going Pro deal with what being “signed” really means. According to Kerner, it means absolutely nothing for most bands. “Being signed” is a catch-phrase in popular music circles among musicians equivalent to the lottery or the Holy Grail depending on whom you speak with. Kerner is quick to point out that being signed is in a lot of ways the beginning and not the point of success. He advises the reader on useful information such as the types of contracts to sign and to avoid altogether. He offers a little detail on why to sign certain contracts that amount to retaining ownership of original music in case a music label does nothing with your material. Some sections of the narrative may come across as negative, but I believe him to be doing the reader a favor. He admits that this can be a profitable career, yet at the same time, he is a realist. He is not afraid to tell the reader about how tough a profession this is; how cruel people can be; and how statistically improbable it is for the average band to make it.

If there is one weakness, the information on copyrighting and setting up a music publishing company is underdeveloped. He gives a lot of good general information, but the book is sorely missing specifics in certain topics. Yet in fairness, that is the kind of information that would probably vary from state to state. i.e. state revenue regulation, business name copyrighting procedure, etc. In addition, Kerner does not really clarify the negotiating options (to consider) of retaining rights of your music when signing contracts. This is something you should consider before purchasing this book. However, I do not think that it is enough of a problem that you should avoid the book altogether. I cannot honestly say that this book will answer every question, however, there are really a number of good and well written topics that only someone with his kind of experience can offer. I think you will find this book, shocking, informative and very helpful in many subjects. It’s hard to say as technology marches forward how much of this is relevant some of the administrative tasks are because of the internet, but it’s a least checking out in the library if you have that option or if you can pick up a used copy.

Musician’s Institute Press: Ethnic Rhythms for Guitar

Ethnic Rhythms for Electric Guitar is a book that is both an excellent resource book and challenge simultaneously. Author and guitarist Jean Marc Belkadi provides you with an impressive collection of rhythms arranged for solo guitar. I purchased this book because it would provide pre-transcribed rhythms which are useful tools for composing. I must add that after over thirty years of playing every genre of American music, going through formal music education, writing guitar curriculum for years and being a active composer, I seldom run into things where I feel like a fish out of water. This book put me in that very spot and I must admit that I loved every minute of the struggle of learning something new.

The sections within this book include:

1. Bulgarian Rhythms
2. Romanian Rhythms
3. Spanish Rhythms
4. French Rhythms
5. Celtic Rhythms
6. Moroccan Rhythms
7. Algerian Rhythms
8. Tunisian Rhythms
9. Sierra Leone Rhythms
10. Rhythms of Mali
11. Guinean Rhythms
12. Rhythms of the Congo
13. Rhythms of Zimbabwe
14. Brazilian Rhythms
15. Rhythms of Argentina
16. Colombian Rhythms
17. Jamaican Rhythms
18. Cuban Rhythms
19. Russian Rhythms
20. Vietnamese Rhythms
21. Indian Rhythms (Far East not Native American)
22. Pakistani Rhythms
23. Saudi Arabian Rhythms.
24. Iraqi Rhythms
25. Turkish Rhythms
26. Syrian Rhythms
27. Egyptian Rhythms

There are numerous rhythms provided here that can be used instinctively or methodically (or on some level of both) in your songwriting. That being said, I believe familiarity with some of the music literature represented by the rhythms in the book to be beneficial. Keep in mind, that like a topic such as modes of the major scale, these rhythms are going to have a varying degrees of usefulness. In the Western world, we can be underexposed to world music on many levels, simply because we are accustomed to music from our hemisphere and its dominant marketing. In fact, because of these dominant marketing resources, it seems that other cultures adapt to what we in the Western world have produced in the last 150 years or so. For instance, all forms of jazz enjoy popularity abroad particularly in Europe and the Asian countries.

Because of this, we lack a big picture of world music represented by the rhythmic ideas within this book and its indigenous music. Again, that isn’t the case with all rhythms in this book. For instance, there are a number of Afro-Cuban rhythms and Brazilian rhythms which are found in bossa nova styles which are staples in American jazz. For rhythms with less exposure, it would have been beneficial to provide the guitar parts in the context of an arrangement, However, the material is strictly solo guitar in scope. It is not a stretch to state that the presence of multi odd-meter rhythms found in the arrangements will be a challenge for some listeners who are on a steady diet of American mainstream popular music. Remember, some rhythms will be easier to apply than others, and some of what is transcribed is difficult to play regardless of experience level. However, whether you play solely instrumental music or perhaps are looking to drop that killer rhythm in your rock song, there are rhythm chops that can be used many ways. If you’re looking to add that exotic feel, then you should definitely check this book out even though this book can be challenging.

Musician’s Institute Press: Latin Guitar

If you have ever decided to learn jazz guitar, undoubtedly you have discovered some of the Latin influenced jazz standards, or Latin/Salsa (a widely defined term) standards. Some of the terminology, feel, and performance expectations of these rhythms can be very complex and challenging, however I have a book for you. Latin Guitar by MI Press is an excellent resource book on Brazilian and Afro-Cuban Rhythms for the guitar. I would be hard pressed to call this the best book on the subject, but it educates efficiently and makes a good resource.

GIT instructor Bruce Buckingham walks the guitarist through what seems like a maze of Latin rhythms in eight chapters. At the beginning of each chapter, Buckingham offers a brief description of each rhythm within the section; a little of its history, and influence to date. Each section contains a description of the type of rhythm; standard notation and tab; and a CD with musical examples that support his teaching. I find loading all of the tracks on a media player easier to access and work though tougher examples. Here are the sections in the book divided into two major parts:

Part I: Brazilian Rhythms
1. Bossa Nova – The One-Bar Pattern
2. Bossa Nova – Two-Bar Patterns and Beyond
3. Samba
4. Variations – Partido Alto, Baiao, and 3/4 Bossa Nova

Part II: Afro-Cuban Rhythms
5. Bolero
6. Cha Cha
7. Mambo
8. Nanigo 6/8

Before you go any further, I want to be upfront about some of the skill required to navigate this book confidently. It is my opinion that you have to have some level of fingerpicking ability or this book will sit in the corner of your room. The ability to play some basic 9th chords, 13th chords, and altered dominant chords is helpful. The ability to read rhythms at any level is helpful, even if you cannot sight read them. And a basic understanding of jazz harmony doesn’t hurt. Some of the chord voicings are not on consecutive strings which is why fingerpicking ability or hybrid picking (a combination of pick and fingers) is a must. Bossa nova rhythms reproduce a rhythm that sounds like two independent and syncopated parts: a rhythm and bass part. Because the bass line alternates a perfect 4th apart, usually between two adjacent strings, it can be very challenging to play with a pick alone. It can be played, but the chances of created an authentic sound are greatly reduced.

The chords in Buckingham’s exercises are notated in guitar tablature, and reinforced with chord grids which I think expedites the learning process. His arrangements within the exercises are quite beautiful. With a lot of practice, you will be able to navigate through the chord changes within this book pretty well. I didn’t find material within the book to be extremely challenging, but that’s going to depend on your fingerpicking ability and exposure to this kind of music. If this entire genre is new to you, a few pieces can be tough because your are playing two syncopated parts at once and the chord changes can come at you pretty quicky.

In the bossa nova sections you will find yourself playing through a lot of II-V-I (in major and minor) progressions and secondary dominants (altered and unaltered). This is a good example of where familiarity with jazz harmony and knowing how to improvise over altered dominant chords makes the music that much more fun to play. In fact, this is interesting way of challenging yourself in terms of improvisation over Buckingham’s changes, but it requires that you know a bit of the fingerboard and that you understand how to analyze jazz harmony a bit.

There is an interesting dichotomy represented by some of the rhythms in the book. With the Afro-Cuban rhythms, some of the rhythms may not be useful in the traditional jazz sense. When you listen to music from the great Cuban All-Star players such as Tito Puente, much (for the most part) of that music really never had guitar parts written for genre. Of course that’s generally speaking because there are exceptions in this kind of music. I have played in Latin jazz bands where there just aren’t any guitar parts within the arrangement, which is liberating and frustrating at the same time. In those cases I have always had three goals: scratching out rhythmic sounds percussion style (like the clave), chord comping in the rhythms, and maybe stealing a flute or vibe melody part or two. At the very least, being familiar with the rhythms gave my a comfort zone since the Latin music role is very different than the jazz role for any instrument. This is a pragmatic example of how the Afro-Cuban section of this book can at least give you a little footing.

The only other tid bit I would have added is demonstrating some examples of Latin rhythms for non-Latin standards. In other words, it is not uncommon for a jazz band leader to want to do a jazz standard in a Latin style rhythm (usually bossa nova), this book offers a dimension of resource perhaps not entirely intended within the scope of its content. It would have been nice if Buckingham would have provided some standard titles or artists that have composed using these rhythms. Tid bits like that always make a good book just that much better. If you are just starting out in jazz guitar or Latin music, and you have recently discovered the compositions of artists like Antonio Carlos Jobim or Tito Puente, I think that you will get much mechanical help in replicating Latin rhythms authentically from this book.

Musician’s Institute Press: Guitar Fretboard Workout

A super book designed to teach the guitarist the entire fingerboard by utilizing the CAGED system. The CAGED system is a fingerboard system based on five scale shapes (fingerings) that are imposed over open chord shapes (in barred form). These patterns interlock across the fingerboard, in a little over one octave (12 positions horizontally). The book teaches this system to establish major and minor key fingerings, in which altered minor scales and non-diatonic scales like the blues scale have a reference point. Essentially, the book is establishing a primer for the Western Music System.

Although knowing the entire fingerboard sounds exciting, this book represents an investment of a lot of memorizing which requires sheer repetition. It’s best to use this book in conjunction with real music, a good harmony book and even recorded music. Once the student understanding how major and relative minor keys are found on the fingerboard, the other aspects of harmony, including modes and even chord structures become apparent with further study. This is a great book by a great guitar instructor.

Musician’s Institute Press: Texas Blues Guitar

In the world of music publishing, there is not a shortage of method books in the area of blues guitar. However, what is missing are books that get to the heart of replicating the great sounds of the blues like a seasoned veteran. Texas Blues Guitar by Texas native Robert Calva is outstanding! It is a super guide of teaching and isolating areas of the fingerboard where the great Texas blues players have made a living over the decades. As the title implies, this book specifically articulates the sound of the Texas blues guitar popularized by Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert Collins, Johnny Winter. If you have played the guitar for at least a year or above, I think this book is for you. This book is simply THE standard of what all formats should be like. Here is the layout:

1. The first section isolates areas of the five CAGED blues scale shapes where the soloing is done. Calva’s transcription provides focus, this is the difference between this and other books of this subject. This is a can’t lose section; If you know the five blues scale shape fingerings, this teaching will provide areas of focus. If you don’t know them the five scale shapes, you have just been saved a lot of tedious learning.

2. Robert then guides you through twenty-four of the most common blues licks in Texas blues genre compiled by Calva’s expertise, research, and analysis of the source material; the actual music in this case. Everything from phrasing, to the how strings are bent are transcribed. The book includes a CD of his examples in case that you are not a strong notation reader. These licks will work with any type of blues, but they have the Texas blues style signature to them. You can literally string phrase upon phrase from Calva’s list and sound like a veteran Texas blues player since these are ideas are constantly recycled in this genre. Twenty-four licks may not sound like a lot, but this gives the player many possible combinations to solo with by mixing and matching and ultimately becomes a great go to template.

3. Robert teaches specifically with four types of Texas blues rhythms:

a. The Blues Shuffle
b. The Slow Blues
c. The Latin Blues
d. The Straight Blues

Each style come with two important components. The first component is two sets of rhythmic backing tracks per style that slightly vary from each other where you can apply the twenty-four licks in conjunction with other blues phrases (the Straight Blues has three sets). The second component is the same backing track that includes Robert using the twenty-four licks with other phrases to create an extended Texas blues style solo. In Robert’s solo, he demonstrates the use of licks the way the great Texas blues players have recorded and performed over the years. The goal should be to learn his solo note-for-note, analyze how the phrases are crafted together and tear them apart by phrase and learn to rebuild another solo. Once memorized, each musical phrase becomes like a piece of a puzzle that can be shifted around during blues improvisation. That being stated, keep in mind that living with this kind of music is important too. Exposing yourself to the source material will greatly help you develop the nuances of the genre’s single-note technique with authenticity. With practice, you will be able to articulate the sounds of Texas blues like a pro. If you are a jazz player like me, cut back a bit on the bends and vibrato and use the phrases with your jazz and bebop phrasing, it works great.

All sets of music are fully transcribed in standard notation and tab for rhythm and lead use. The book includes a discography of Calva’s recommended listening. Some of the artists in the discography are not in the traditional Texas blues genre like B.B. King, however King’s sound creates the Uptown blues style that is intermixed with the traditional Texas blues tonality. If you want to learn the Texas styled blues on the guitar and you only had the choice of one book, this would have to be it.

Musician’s Institute Press: Harmony & Theory

Harmony and Theory: A Comprehensive Source for All Musicians is a study of harmony in the western music system, but with a direct emphasis at musicians who play popular music genres. As a formally educated musician who has seen his fair share of figured bass and Bach chorales, I cannot deny that studying music from the 17th century to the present is beneficial, but it isn’t life or death. Keith Wyatt and Carl Schroeder pen an absolute gem of a book covering crucial topics learned during the first two years of music school, and they have done so quite well. Because the book focuses on the contemporary musician, the book could easily be construed as somehow less, but that is far from the truth.

I am old enough to remember when college level harmony texts didn’t come with a CD’s that reinforced with musical examples or the curriculum. Unfortunately this book falls into that very glaring mistake. I can understand the performance rights licensing nightmare associated with trying to use copyrighted music as source material to augment musical teaching. However, who’s to say that you couldn’t record some original musical examples to help the reader. If there is one need for revision, it is solely this. Aside from that, gapping the terminology used by classical, jazz and pop theorists would have been a good move too. This is a required book for all of my guitar students, I think this book will impress you. I recommend it.