Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Rootless

[4/15/13 show notes from Guitar Technique Tutor Podcast Episode 101]



So how were your last few weeks? Longtime listeners and readers are probably wondering, “Episode 101? Did I miss Episode 100?” Over what I thought was going to be a 2 week break from podcasting, which cascaded into 3 because I was so sick, I finally modified the web site and blog, so that the audio files for all shows are on blog pages (found at the top of the blog home page, rather than having pages and pages of show notes and audio files on the web site. Now, just the current show’s show notes are on the web site podcast page and on the blog. All other 2013 shows and show notes are on the blog and all 2010 - 2012 shows are available as sound archives only on the blog. 

As I was posting the podcast archives, I found 2 Episode 088s. One was just a PSA and the other was recorded the following week. So, what’s a podcaster to do? Of course, this week should be Episode 100, but that episode should be accompanied by some celebration and special things. Having been sick for the past couple weeks, I don’t have anything out of the ordinary for this episode, so if I count the PSA as an official podcast, this IS Episode 101, so roll with it. Sometime I’ll surprise you with something special in a random episode. 

If you go back to listen to archived shows, I didn’t begin podcasting with the software or hardware that I have now, so you will surely hear variation in the sound and quality of different shows.

I was laid low with a nasty bronchial something and cold. I have a student to thank for it. In the past week I have had a call from a father of a 5 year old, seeking guitar lessons. He said in his message that he read what was on the web site but that he still wants to discuss it. I have not yet called him back but I will. Please, if you are listening, unless you are teaching your own child and you’re equipped to do so, don’t seek guitar lessons for a 5 year old. I know Suzuki offers a course for wee ones but in my opinion, it does more harm than good, when it comes to guitar. If you have a musically inclined 5 year old, you would do well to have an electronic keyboard for them and perhaps some laid back lessons for them - or if they are curious and will explore the keyboard of their own accord, even better. The Baby Einstein parents are zealous for their kids to be fully developed by the time they’re out of 1st grade. Some things are better left to the more mature coordination and mental development of an older child. About 9 is the right age for most children. A little younger if they exhibit some particular characteristics. Some boys are better waiting until 10 or later.

As I record we’re in recovery day 167 since SuperStorm Sandy. The boardwalk in one of the shore towns that was destroyed in the storm, reopened a week or 2 ago. I was heartened to see news reports of people making it a point to go there and patronize the businesses. Cleanup is still ongoing. Thank you to everyone who is working to clean up our beaches, helping families, patronizing businesses that have been able to reopen, contributed time, talent, thoughts, prayers or cold hard cash to the relief effort. It’s going take a long time. If you’d like to make any contributions:   Sandy NJ Relief.

All my guitars have fresh-ish DRs on them. It like harmonic convergence! I love new strings. Is this where I mention that before I got sick, I burned the thumb of my left hand - I won’t go into details - so that was miserable. Then, after I felt better, my way way way overdue spring cleaning finally needed to be done. It never fails that when I do heavy fall and spring cleaning I break nails, and generally abuse my hands. It was no different this time. I have bandaids on both hands: the middle finger of my right hand and the base of my left index finger. I look like I’ve been through a war but my apartment’s clean and I have fresh strings on my guitars.

Tomorrow night is the Mahwah Museum gallery talk by Dr Charles Carerras, “The Genius of Les Paul.” I would go, even though I have heard the talk in the past, but Danielle had to reschedule her lesson and it will conflict with the talk. If you’re in the NY metro area, especially, northern NJ, you should call the museum at 201.512.0099 and reserve a spot if there are any left. It’s extremely informative and Dr Carerras and Les’s long time friend Jim Wysocki give a compelling presentation about a man who profoundly influenced 20th century culture.

If the gallery talk doesn’t fit your schedule, you just have a few months to visit the Les Paul in Mahwah exhibit at the Mahwah Museum in Mahwah, NJ. Visitors are welcomed 1-5 on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. After June the exhibit will shrink to a small permanent installment, unless something develops to keep it in its present, expansive state. 

By the end of June, the Les Paul in Mahwah: a Tribute exhibit will end in its current form. You shouldn't miss it if you will be anywhere in the NY metro area for recreation or business. Hours are 1 - 5 Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. 

Lou Pallo, the Les Paul Trio and several jazz luminaries have created a terrific homage to the genius guitar player and inventor. Check out, Thank You, Les.





This week there is 1 student in the Spotlight, the Question of the Week is What’s up with these 9 chords? News is about a 130th anniversary guitar from our friends at Gretsch and Take Note is about Coachella - it’s finally here. Are you there?

Here are 4 descriptions of genuine Raptor™ “R” Series guitar picks with which  I wholeheartedly agree:

"Tools for the Creative”
From the moment you pick up the Raptor™ "R" Series it's obvious a great deal of thought has gone into its design and from the second you touch a string you can both feel and hear the difference between a Raptor and other picks you’ve tried.

“Beautiful and Tactile”
Genuine “R”  Series Raptors™ have three carefully sculpted picking tips. They’ve been created using the same sophisticated design and modeling techniques employed to produce formula one racing cars and the result of this design effort means they’ve been able to take the humble pick to a completely new level of performance.

“Absolutely Amazing”
Each picking tip forms complex curves designed to glide effortlessly over your guitars strings. Raptors produce clean tones with almost imperceptible attack that range from that of the brightest thinnest pick through to the warm rich tones normally associated with much thicker picks.

"The Pursuit of Excellence”
All genuine “R” Series Raptor™ picks are subject to very strict quality control procedures. Each "R" Series plectrum is precision molded from high grade Acrylic, then individually printed and inspected to ensure it meets their high standards prior to leaving their UK based factory.





Genuine Raptor™ “R”Series guitar picks are available at RaptorPicksUSA.com. Free Raptors with a purchase of 4 or more is just another way of “spreading the excellence, one guitarist at a time.”
Raptor™ picks are a registered design. All rights are owned by Black Carbon.


In the warm glow of the Student Spotlight is Bridget. She’s there by herself, even though last week she was on spring break and didn’t have her lesson.  She has been very consistent and embracing all the challenges  first year players encounter, and one by one she overcomes. Very nice work, Bridget. 

This week's question is about 9 chords.  It came from 2 students and is, “What’s up with these 9 chords? Are the diagrams wrong? 

It’s no secret that I’m partial to the 9 chord that contains all 5 of its notes.  If you haven’t played 9 chords and you’d like to hear this little gem, choose a fret from the  2nd or higher, with your 3rd finger bar the E, B and G string.  on the D string, use your 1st finger to hold the note a half step lower than the bar, and with your 2nd finger, hold the A string note that is at the same fret as the bar.




I love the sound of all 5 tones. That version of the chord sounds like the substitute for the dominant 7 chord, that it is. But this poor little - well, robust, actually, 9 chord is out in the cold all by itself.  The common 9s are still derived from their corresponding dominant 7 chords but in those common forms, the root of the dominant 7 chord is raised a whole step, which gives you the 9.  Yes, the root is no longer in those chords.  So, except for my fave robust version of the 9 chord, a C9, for example, DOES NOT CONTAIN a C.  I find this quirk  rather detestable. For my musical taste, I’d rather sacrifice the 5, just as happens in some dominant 7 chords.  So, to be a masterful 9 chord user - especially if you’re going to use it as a substitute for the dominant 7, you need to know where the root or roots of your dominant 7 chord are and raise it a whole step.  I recommend practicing your movable dominant 7s and their corresponding 9 chords.  Really look at what’s happening and understand the chord’s construction. It’s a good exercise.

If you have  a question that you would like me to address on the podcast, please submit it to me..  If I use your question, I will be glad to send you a Guitar Technique Tutor Podcast pick. 


In the news this week is the Gretsch G6128T-DCM Duo Jet, and the G6128T-LTV  130th Anniversary Jr. Model.

The Gretsch Professional Collection now includes the striking new G6128T-DCM Duo Jet, which features a double-cutaway chambered mahogany body finished in black and a three-ply arched maple top finished in Dark Cherry Metallic with single-ply binding.

The one-piece mahogany neck has a single-ply bound headstock with pearloid Gretsch logo, 12"-radius ebony fingerboard with 22 medium jumbo frets and pearloid Neo-Classic™ "thumbnail" inlays, a bone nut and a zero fret. Other features include dual High Sensitive Filter’Tron™ pickups, "G" Arrow control knobs and chrome hardware, Adjusto-Matic™ bridge with pinned ebony base and Bigsby® B3C tailpiece, Grover® Sta


The MSRP on this beauty is  $3200
There is a lefty version of this same guitar - maybe more like a lefty guitar in this collection, the G6128T-LTV, and its MSRP is $5100.  I didn’t compare the specs very carefully so I can’t say if the premium price is just due to the lefty build or if there is a considerable difference in materials. I suspect it's a combination of both.


Beautiful axes if you like and can afford them.
My Take Note topic this week is Coachella for those who can’t and didn’t go.
So, the countdown to Coachella’s first weekend has past and this coming weekend will be the follow up to the first weekend of the festival.  And for those of you who have listened to my comments to Anya, a former student, about Coachella over the past several shows: no, she didn’t go, but last week, she went to England instead.  She’ll have more chances to attend the music festival in the desert another time.  The offer of a trip to England was a one time opportunity and with good reason, she accepted it.  Anya, I hope you have gotten over your jet lag and had a great week on the other side of the pond.
As for Coachella 2013, the web site has the lineup for this week’s performances, tickets, travel, lodging, maps and links to videos from last weekend. There’s an official Coachella app for Apple and Adroid, too.
It’s a cool party in the hot desert.  Enjoy if you go, and if you don’t, you can hear and see a lot of the acts.

I hope I made a sufficiently persuasive case for this podcast being Episode 101.
My DRs are pretty and melodious and for now, I’m happy. Get your 5 year old a keyboard or if a disinterested 3rd party tells you in no uncertain terms that you have baby Mozart and you have a luthier who will measure and build a tunable, perfectly scaled guitar for your 5 year old’s size, get them a keyboard and allow them to intuitively learn about music. Save the guitar for a few years hence. Tuesday night at 7:30 you can hear the gallery talk, “The Genius of Les Paul,” at the Mahwah Museum in Mahwah, NJ.
Nice playing, Bridget. You go girl. When all the spring breakers return, I hope you’ll have some company.  Other than my groovy, robust 9 chord form, they are a bit anemic and lack their roots.  The gorgeous, champagne taste Gretsch 130th anniversary G6118T-LTV  130th Anniversary Jr. in both righty and lefty models are now available.  The Collector’s series does not contain many double cutaways. Get your fill of Coachella, if you didn’t or can’t go with videos and an app.
If you’d like to further assist SuperStorm Sandy victims, Sandy NJ Relief Fund will put 100% of your contribution to excellent use.  The recovery here is going to take years.
Don’t forget the Les Paul in Mahwah exhibit at the Mahwah Museum in Mahwah, NJ which is open Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and the marvelous tribute to Les Paul by Lou Pallo, the trio and other musical friends, called Thank You, Les. 
If you’re not comfortable, your guitar isn’t either, so don’t leave your guitar in a cold car or basement, or a hot car or attic. Humidify if your guitar lives in an environment in which there is less than 40% humidity.
You can follow me on Twitter, where I'm GuitarTechnique. I'm not a tweeting maniac, I tweet to update anyone following me and retweet what I think is interesting. On my home page, the podcast page of my web site and here,  on the Guitar Technique Tutor blog, which now contains all 2013 show notes and audio archives going back to the first, low sound quality episode, you'll find links to subscribe to the show notes by email or a reader. It’s best to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.
If you're seeking expert competent guitar instruction in the Bergen and Rockland County towns in which I teach, such as Airmont, Allendale, Fair Lawn, Franklin Lakes, Glen Rock, Hawthorne, HoHoKus, Hillburn, Mahwah, Midland Park, Montebello,  Montvale, Oakland, Oradell, Paramus, Park Ridge, the hamlet of Ramapo, Ramsey, Ridgewood, River Edge, Saddle River, Suffern, Tallman, Teaneck, Tuxedo, Tuxedo Park,  Upper Saddle River,  Viola, Waldwick, Washington Township, Westwood, Woodcliff Lake or Wyckoff please contact me. For lesson inquires, calling is best and my number is on the web site. If we can coordinate our schedules and you're a good candidate to learn to play the guitar, perhaps we can work together.

Practice, have a great  week, practice  and until next time, I'm  D A Arlaus, doing my part to spread the excellence, one guitarist at a time. 




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