Playing the Guitar

“Get More Inspiration With Composition”

Jordan Warford here, Editorial Manager for Guitar Tips.

Thanks for tuning in this week as we dive into a new aspect of music that we haven’t really touched on before! We will be covering the do’s and do not’s of writing music and how you can expand your musical creativity.

In this edition:

If you’re sick and tired of listening to other peoples’ music, we have the solution for you… write your own! We’ll be taking some time to help you build the proper foundation when it comes to song writing by showing you some tricks of the trade. We also have some sweet scales for you to work on this week.

We have a great feedback booth this week, where we will be show casing some of the great comments you send us each week.

The internet is a great resource for guitarists and is what keeps us in business. Through your travels over the world wide web, you’ve probably come across a guy by the name of Andrew Koblick. We will give you the scoop on his site and what he has to offer you. You won’t want to miss out on it!

To top off all of that, we have our regular gear review brought to you by Guitar Trader. They offer some awesome equipment that can certainly give you the leading edge with you playing.

Let’s get right to it!

A Formula For Writing A Great Song

Where to get started.

When you started to play guitar, you naturally gravitated to playing the music of your favorite guitarist. We all thought we were really cool and sounded really good until we were thrown in the middle of our school cafeteria or workplace only to discover that every second, guitarists already knew what you were playing and where you were going with it next.

That gets old really fast. After all, your main goal in most cases is to connect with your audience and how could you possibly do that when everyone is playing the same thing? The truth is that many people will disconnect when they hear you play “Stairway To Heaven” the same way every other person has done it before you.

Then we need to ask the question, “If it sounds old when I play it, why am I still so moved by the song when Eric Clapton plays it?” The reason is because he wrote it. That song is a piece of him and no one could ever emulate that connection. Making his song something that you personalized will truly add to that piece of music.

There are steps to doing this, just as there are steps when writing a full song. The key problem that I’ve seen surface in musicians is the writer’s block syndrome. I have fell into that trap many times and felt as if I was playing the same thing over and over again. Training your brain to think outside the box involves some new concepts that we’ll be covering further on into the newsletter.

However, we need to start somewhere. For me, that starting point evolves around scales. Some writers prefer starting with chords and that’s perfectly fine. Not unlike improvisation (which is a very big part of composition,) there is no set way to start writing a song.

The tips I’m about to give you are just a guideline and some rules are just meant to be broken. Let your creativity take you somewhere where you haven’t been before and try something new. If you do something completely different than myself, that’s great! This is the method I use and teach but by no means is it set in stone and the only way to write a “Correct” song.

As you will soon find out, I like to compose songs much like any construction worker would build a house: Starting from the ground up.

To start, let’s take an everyday C Major scale:

…There are no sharps, no flats and is definitely a great starting point, no matter how boring it may look to you now.

After running through it a couple of times and getting familiar with the fingerings, we can start to analyze the things that are in this scale. You can look at them as your tools. You have an arpeggio that you can use, harmonics, a great location on the fretboard and a nice sound that can be mellow or in your face loud.

Let’s take part of that scale and transform it into a lick. Perhaps you are looking for something a little more light… A nice start to a solo before you climax into the best part. Take a look at the high E string and your B and G string. All of the notes are centrally located, which means you can really speed them up or slow them down depending on what you want to do.

Using the techniques we learned from previous lessons, we can incorporate hammer on’s and slides quite easily into something that’s really close together. This is building the foundation to your piece of music. After some improv, I came up with this:

What we have is clearly derived from the C Major scale, but has an added twist with hammer on’s and a sharp, staccato (short) attack on the notes. You may notice that the location of the notes, the techniques used and the repeat bars show that there is a pattern, or formula to this lick. It’s the blueprint that will map out the rest of your music for you (yes I know that the blueprint normally comes before the foundation when building a house, so just work with me here!)

Maintaining the idea of the song throughout the entire piece is important. You don’t want to sound disorganized but you do want to come off looking polished and professional.

All too often we will come up with a riff but that’s about as far as it goes. For every riff you write, there are a hundred songs that could be written from it and that’s no exaggeration! Take note of the style of that riff. For the one above, you can tell there’s a balanced mix of speed and attack. It’s fast yet it doesn’t feel rushed. You can go with that and take a look at the rest of the notes you have in your tool box.

We could take the above riff and add this to it:

We kept the flavor that we were going for and simply used the area around that scale. We use a lot of the same notes, which is perfect. The key to creating a great arrangement is to keep it simple yet make it sound complicated. Changing the sounds of the same note by using different rhythmic techniques and volume intensities will leave you with something that is relatively easy to play yet creative and colorful. Take a look at this video to insure that you are using the proper fingers:

…The reason I bring up fingerings is because they lead you to the next part of the song, literally. For instance, the first riff we covered has all of the notes close by and our fingers hardly had to move. This allows our fingers to do the walking, while our brain can focus on rhythmic patterns and keeping the general idea of the song. This is another tool that we can utilize and believe me when I say every tool is essential when you’re writing a song.

What to do with all of those riffs lying around…

Now the real fun starts. We know the basic concept of putting a song together. It needs a foundation, which includes the following:

It also needs a blueprint with the following attributes:

If we were building a house, the next step would be to get some walls up. This is where all of those riffs you have hanging around can come in handy. Pretend that those riffs are the walls. You already have your foundation and your blue print, so you know the direction you are headed in, you just need to find out how to nail them together.

The nails are transposition. I highly doubt all the riffs you have composed are in the same key, however, transposition isn’t something that we can fit into this newsletter, so we’re going to focus our next edition on this very topic. For now, try to use the riffs you have that are in the same key.

You can use riffs that are in different keys if you wish, but it gets a little more complicated with connecting them together. I will show you how to do a key change in a song in just a few moments but key changes in the middle of a riff will have to wait for another day.

Now would also be a good time to use riffs from your favorite guitarists and make it into your own masterpiece!

Creating a connection between the riffs to make them one could almost be looked at as the floor. A good connection between two riffs holds things down tight and is seamless. To place a connection between two different riffs (in the same key), look for connecting notes. If you can’t read music or don’t know which notes are what on your fretboard, look for places on your fretbaord where the two riffs overlap.

These connections, or transitions, are what will give you a professional appearance. They can be really slow, really fast or set at a normal tempo (speed.)

Now you see it coming together pretty quickly. What once was something that seemed kind of large now seems pretty easy when broken down. The only problem we have is the length of our song. We have the riff but now we need to top it off and put it all together. What we need now is a roof.

This roof comes in the form of a guideline, what musicians call “Musical form.” This is the guideline that almost every musician uses, so I suggest you listen up. In a song, there are the following parts:

The most normal and basic of musical forms follows the pattern of having an introduction, where you grab the audience’s interest, which follows into a verse, which expresses a musical thought and then into the heart of the song which is the chorus. Then you will normally follow back to a new verse, which is different from your first verse.

The chorus will always be the same. The verses will always change and you can have as many of them as you want, so long as you follow the pattern of verse: chorus: verse: chorus, etc. Once again, we come back to a repeated pattern. This pattern actually makes it easier for us as guitarists when we’re writing a lengthy instrumental.

Other things you can incorporate into your composition to make it snazzy are things like a bridge, which is introduced around 2/3 of the way through the song and eliminates the chance of your song getting boring. It should be as unique and as different as possible while trying to maintain the style without sounding out of key. Us musicians keep it simple, envision the bridge as a physical bridge that walks you from land (the chorus) to a small island (the verse.)

There’s even something called a pre-chorus. The pre-chorus is designed to sound like the chorus but normally will do something different than any other part of a song. For example, this is used quite a bit in techno music to tease the dancer before building into the chorus. It’s longer than the bridge and usually has a lot more going on, which is why it’s under a different name.

Basically, I look at all of this information like this:

Suppose I have just finished putting a bunch of riffs together. I have a neat little lick that last around 10 seconds. It’s flashy and impressive, something that grabs people’s attention, so I’ll use it as my introduction. I have yet another riff but this one is about 20-25 seconds.

It’s not the most dazzling one I have but it’s cool and great to listen to, I’ll use that as a verse. If I have a pretty intense riff, that lasts roughly 30-35 seconds then I will use it as my chorus. I also have a little doodle that I enjoy and it’s in the right key, so why not make it my bridge? I go and incorporate another verse from my library of licks in that key.

Now I want to blow my audience away! I decide to use an amazing riff that’s in a different key. So how do I get to the point where I can do that key change? Simple, just do a pre-chorus and build up an intense anticipation. Use some accidentals (notes that aren’t in the key you currently are in but sound good) and move on up to the key change in the Chorus.

Notice how I said up, not down? This is because you always want to build your song up, just like a house. Changing the key down just takes away and you tend to loose that intensity. I’ve yet to see a key change down for a chorus pulled off nicely. If you think you can, email me with your recording!

Some musicians think pre-choruses are for pop or R&B. I disagree for the above reason, they can be a great tool for changing the key of a song.

Lyrics:

Well my friends, we have come to the point where some of you may actually want to include lyrics. This unfortunately, is not my specialty… I actually think my neighbor’s dog could do a better job than me! That applies to singing as well so don’t expect any lessons on either of these subjects. So far, everything I have written about has pertained to instrumental music (music without lyrics.) You can use the same musical form as mentioned above, the problem is that writing lyrics are much different than writing music on a guitar.

I have done some research to find someone who could actually teach this to you for free and came up with a pretty cool site. Click here to check it out. I hope this helps you out and that I see your song on the top 10 billboard charts!

Putting It All Together

Now that we have a pretty good idea of how to string together a song, it’s a good idea to get inspiration. When writing music in specific keys, we sometimes forget about all of the exotic scales out there that we can utilize to get a great solo. So instead of writing a song, I’m going to give you some scales that you can use to write your own songs.

Hope you have fun and get the musical juices flowing!

G diminished {whole-staff}

G#/Ab Locrian

Eb jazz melodic minor:

B pentatonic major:

F blues scale {with major third and flatted fifth}:

Gear Review

Have you ever seen a piece of gear that every musician around you seems to have but you’re not quite sure why? Perhaps you’ve been admiring a top of the line guitar that you plan on working towards getting but aren’t sure if it’s something that fits your style of taste… let alone budget. In this segment we will take a look at those questions by reviewing some pretty popular gear and see if it’s worth the 60 hours you worked for it.

Boss TU-2 Pedal Tuner

In previous editions we have taken a look at some of the products Boss offers (the GT6 pedal for example). You may also remember me telling you that I prefer individual stomp boxes and the TU-2 is one of the reasons why. I can’t stress to you how incredible this tool is when placed with your arsenal of effect pedals. You may be thinking “Hey dude, it’s just a tuner.” In the world of playing performance guitar… there’s no such thing as “Just a tuner.”

The TU-2 is a top of the line tuner built from ridged metal that will last you a lifetime. Not only is it durable but it’s extremely accurate. Let’s say you needed to tune down to drop D of maybe even down a halfstep during a show that you’re playing, you simply turn the tuner on, which cuts out any noise from tuning that may go to the speakers or amps and allows you to tune quickly and precicely the exact tuning you need. Let’s put it this way: the TU-2 is battle tested and came out on top with many of your favourite guitarist’s wish lists.

Click here if you would like to check it out.

Fender US Tele Spruce Top Chambered Ash RW Cherry Sunburst

In 1951, Leo Fender introduced the Broadcaster, which would eventually be renamed the Telecaster® guitar. It was the first solid-body electric Spanish-style guitar that would ever get the chance to see the production line and be shipped around the world. {Source: Fender.com}

If you’re looking for a guitar that is stage ready and a perfect match for almost any style, I really suggest you put this guitar on your shopping list of things to do. This guitar is one of the most versitile guitars around and it can kick out rock, blues, country, funk and raggae with the best of them! It has amazing pickups, which have become knowns as the “Lipstick pickups.”

These pickups are single coil. While they may not sound like a beefed up Les Paul, it doesn’t need to. It has it’s own character and handles both clean and distorted tones very well. I used to dislike this guitar because I felt that it had to much of a high end, meaning that it was a little too twangy for my tastes. However, with some adjustments and the right settings (not to mention amp) you can really push it out on this baby.

A few weeks ago, I saw yet another Tele® in action and I must say I was impressed by its response on stage and how much it added to the music. Is this guitar for everyone? No. That’s a decision that you need to make for yourself but for anyone looking for a professional quality instrument, it’s worth the $1000.

Normally I wouldn’t review an instrument like this due to the fact that many of us just can’t afford to go and blow that kind of money on an instrument with school, work or kids. The reason I did review it is simply because if nothing else, you know what’s available to you when the opportunity arises for you to go and get a new guitar. No one said it would be easy or that you wouldn’t have to work for it!

When all is said and done, you can’t go wrong with a Tele®. It’s got that hot sound that can be totally manipulated to the tone that you personally prefer.

Click here to check it out!

Feedback Booth

Every week many of you take the time to send off an email to us with your comments and ideas. It’s always a pleasure to hear back from our subscribers and I would like to extend my personal thanks to all of you who put in so much effort! In the future, I will be working on new ideas and directions for this newsletter as we continually evolve and your thoughts are vital.

One of our favorite ways of showing our appreciation to our subscribers who mail us is by featuring them on the site. This week we have some questions and comments to share.

John Robert Hostutler writes to us with this question:

“I am sure that this Bruno has some fine guitar tips. By the way what happened to the guitar licks. Have you stopped sending them? I could use some more of them. Thank you.”

John was one of many who emailed us with this question. The answer is no, we have not stopped sending them and will continue to send you the hottest tips and tricks for as long as this site is running. However, playing guitar involves a lot more than just music to practice and sometimes it’s healthy to put down the guitar for a few moments and analyze what you are doing and where you are headed… Our last newsletter was a perfect example of one of those times.

Sue writes to us with this question:

“Hi Jordan, thanks for the tips on how to land a record deal. However, it mentions a demo, which my band has but we want to protect our material and need it copyrighted. How do we go about it and register our band name too? I live in the UK. Thanks!”

Great question! We will be looking into doing an article of this nature in the future. Until that point in time, I encourage all of you to try a Google search and see what’s out there on the world wide web. There are some amazing sites that are specific to every Country’s laws. If you’re in a tight situation, there’s always your local Yellow Pages and you can get in contact with a lawer or similar music business.

Chathura Kodagoda has a few suggestions that she sent along to us:

“Hi, I would like to congratulate you on the newsletter and what you have done with it. But I have a few suggestions. Just a quick line, If you formulate a 3 month basic guitar course and publish it with the newsletter and show us what tips we can use and what not to and cycle that every 3 months while getting feed back and monitoring it and improving, you will get much more traffic for your web site. Thanks, Chathura. Sri Lanka”

A wonderful compliment was sent to us from Bob:

“WOW! The “new” newsletter is awesome! I’ve never seen a video newsletter before. There is a lot of info on here I found useful. I hope you market this into your membership offer because it should increase subscribers! Best wishes. Bob / Nashville USA”

Conclusion

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from teaching guitar, it’s that musical composition is a vital tool that compresses all the talents of a guitarist into one package. Not only does it serve as a way to entertain people but it also soothes and relaxes your mind. It’s a perfect outlet for the daily frustrations and joys of life.

I hope you walk away from your computer encouraged and ready to take on the next challenge that awaits you. Like everything else with music, it takes time and practice to write good material but it can be done. Thinking outside of the box involves you taking the time to step out of it. Look at scales and chords and don’t be afraid to hop around your fretbaord and have fun.

Remember, for every scale you do, there are many other places on the fretboard that you can play it.

I would like to thank everyone who sent in their band’s press package in response to my call for help in our last edition… Great stuff! If you have something unique that you would like to share with your fellow subscribers, please don’t hesitate to send it along.

Until next time, keep on picking!

“How To Land A Record Deal: Plus, An Exclusive Interview With Jimmy Bruno”

Jordan Warford here, Editorial Manager for Guitar Tips.

Picture this: You’re backstage preparing for the biggest show of your life. Your guitar tech passes you your favorite custom guitar and wishes you the best of luck. You meet up with the rest of your band mates and get into a huddle and share your excitement together.

Then, your manager comes over and yells, “Show time.” You all walk to the back of the stage and try to remember where all of the pyrotechnics placed the explosives so you don’t end up standing on one. You start to run towards the stage and the thousands upon thousands of fans that await you.

If that’s your dream, it all starts with one thing that musicians like to call a record deal. Getting your band or yourself known isn’t particularly easy sometimes but it does start with getting your music out there. The music business is one of the hardest yet most rewarding careers you could choose to go into.

There are many steps and procedures to go through and we’re here to tell you about it. We can’t cover everything but we can give you the big picture. To illustrate the life of a professional musician, we had an exclusive interview with one of the best: Jimmy Bruno. He’s known as the Yngwie Malmsteen of the Jazz world (Guitar World Magazine) and has extensive experience with recording. With that in mind, let’s see what else is in this week’s newsletter.

In this edition:

Learn how to ride the rollercoaster life of a musician without having to use a doggy bag. We’ll show you the general outline of record companies and how to get in contact with the right people.

We are totally excited to have an exclusive interview with Jimmy Bruno that will bring you new insight into the world of a professional musician. Jimmy Bruno has recorded many albums and is known as one of the best jazz musicians around. A week before I contacted him I just finished reading a Guitar One Magazine where he was the featured instructor, pretty cool stuff! Hear his insightful thoughts on recording as well as the jazz world.

If you’ve wanted to dig deeper into the theory behind the music, we have a great site for you to check out.

We also have a great feedback booth this week where you can see what your fellow subscribers are thinking.

Lets get right to it!

Living Life On The Edge

Do you have what it takes?

Looking back to our childhoods, we have all dreamt of becoming a world famous guitarist and selling millions of records at some point in our lives. However, when we were old enough to understand that it wasn’t as simple as we originally thought, many of us gave up.

It’s true, record companies aren’t particularly nice and they do tend to hurt people’s feelings. It’s a dog eat dog world out there and sometimes it’s not what you know rather who you know. Don’t lose all hope yet, there are plenty of little tricks that will help you out and get you where you need to be.

It takes time, perseverance, and a lot of talent to get into the music business as a career but it’s been done time and time again. Having the right attitude can be half the battle sometimes, so we’re going to set you straight before we begin… Hold on tight!

Where to get started:

When you put together a band, or start playing an instrument for that matter, you don’t practice in your garage or living room for two years and then go to a record label, get signed and head out on tour in five months. What you need to do is practice in your garage or living room for two years, while getting a reputation in your community.

The smaller stuff is where you lay your foundation and it can determine your future success. Once you have your act down, head out into your local community. Play wherever you can get access to. Local charity fundraisers, battle of the bands, clubs, bars, dances, and coffee houses are all great places to start.

If you live in a bigger city where there are tonnes of bands around every corner, collaborate with them and see if some of the more experienced bands would be interested in letting you open up a show for them.

If you live in a more rural setting, take the initiative and see if you can get permission to set up in a public place like a parking lot or local park where you will be noticed. Play your set a couple of times through and enjoy yourself. Then start to look for organizations that need musical entertainment and offer to do it for free. This builds a strong relationship between you, that organization and the owners of the venue in which you will be playing.

After you do a couple of freebies and get noticed, it’s time to look at getting some financial reward. Don’t get too excited, you’re not living the life of the rich and famous yet. You’re going to need this money to invest in the process.

Packaging you or your band:

When you really start to get a strong local fan base, they’re going to want to hear your music more and more. This would be a good time to rent a recording studio and record a demo CD. A demo CD has roughly 3 songs on it and is used for promotional purposes. It’s a great tool to feed your hungry fans with your music as well as show record executives what you’re all about.

Costs will vary depending on the company. If you’re into recording, you could probably do a pretty decent job if you have the proper equipment and the right mics but unfortunately most of us don’t. Budget roughly $600-1000 to do the job right and get something that you’ll be extremely happy with. The budget should also allow for approximately 30-50 CDs to be duplicated.

I have found a great service offered through MusiciansFriend that I feel you can’t pass up for the price! Check out this amazing deal here.

The cost of the CDs lowers if you buy in bulk. What tends to be expensive is the packaging and you may want to do this yourself by buying inexpensive slips or jewel cases. Remember, you will be selling some of these, which will cover part of the cost.

The next step for your band will be getting a manager. Your purpose is to entertain and worry about building a repertoire, not having to book gigs. A good manager will take over the task of finding you great places to play, looking into getting a hold of the right record labels, as well as building your reputation.

As with everything else in the music business, managers cost money too. Their commission will vary from person to person. The more successful bands they have under their belt, the more they tend to charge. In these cases, you’re going to want to go with the manager who has the best track record and the most successful bands. Reputation and character is everything when it comes to your manager’s track resume.

Getting a manager can be tricky. In many cases, they will come to you. If they don’t, you can always ask musical institutions in your area or consult the phone books for agencies that will hook you up with the right person.

Many bands decide to go out on their own without a manager because money is too tight… which is understandable. Some of them have done quite well and made it big. However, you need to be cautious because record labels are more likely to respond and at least take a look at you if they see that someone is managing your band. Basically, it can be seen as a sign of professionalism.

Press Kit: Hopefully by this point, you have received some cool press attention from your local paper or news station. You’ll want to document this because you’re going to want to add that to your press kit. This is what you will finally end up sending to record labels (more on that later.)

Press not only proves what you have been up to but also shows that you can get attention on your own, without fancy marketing. This is vital for a record company who really doesn’t want to spend more money than necessary convincing people to check out your music.

While we’re on the topic of press kits, now would be a good time to tell you what you should include in this package. This is essentially your chance to shine. Here’s a list of the best things to include:

• Your demo CD with approximately 3 songs. Do not send a tape! Some reps will listen to tapes but some choose not to. You do not want to take that chance.

…Now that you have your package all ready to go, who on earth do you send it to? That brings us to our next section.

Putting It All Together

A&R Reps:

Now comes the time where you contact a record label. You will want to research which labels you send your press kit to. If you’re a hardcore rock band, you won’t want to be going to a label that is primarily known for producing pop acts. The people in charge of finding the talent and getting them the record deal are called A&R reps.

A&R is an acronym for ” Artist and Repertoire.” They will review your package and see if there’s potential. These reps work hard for their money and end up receiving thousands of packages each year. What that means is that it doesn’t take much for your package to get rejected so be picky.

The general consensus amongst A&R reps is that you won’t go to them, they’ll go to you. I still advise that you send the kit along. Even feel free to call their office and follow up a few months later if you haven’t heard anything by that point in time. If there’s new developments in your career, let them know. If your playing a gig that’s close to their location, then send them passes to get in and see you play.

The key is to hit labels that are interested in your type of music and try to send off a kit to a number of different labels.

To find out who’s the local A&R rep in your area, you will want to tap into a registry. Click here to see one of the best. There is a fee but it’s worth it, trust me. I have had a look at what they offer and it is one of the best. It gives detailed contact information that is up to date and is exactly what the hopeful rock star needs.

You may be lucky enough to have a manager who knows the right people. If that’s the case your best bet is to try that person because there is already a relationship between the rep and your manager so it will increase your chances of getting them to take a serious look.

The Deal:

Hopefully after all of this hard work you are offered a contract. This is where an art turns into a science. I highly advise that you hire an entertainment attorney to accompany your band to your meetings with the record executives. The contracts are quite lengthy and complex but the bottom line is that you don’t want to get ripped off. If the deal isn’t right for you, then don’t take it.

You may be thinking “But Jordan, this is my only chance!” Never fear, this is the point where you go to the competition. Money can be a complicated thing in the record business so you want to make sure that you get your fair share. If you write original material you also run the risk of losing the rights to that song as well. Like mentioned before, it truly does differ from company to company but the bottom line is to protect yourself.

An Interview With Jimmy Bruno

Picture Courtesy of www.jimmybruno.com.

I remember how I loved to listen to anyone who played blues or jazz when I was a kid… especially on sax. Then my tastes started to gravitate towards jazz guitar and the entire culture behind it. Naturally, when I really started to dig into jazz one name continued to pop up in my studies: Jimmy Bruno.

Jimmy Bruno has seen and experienced so many incredible things yet he remains a humble musician who still believes there are many doors that he has left to open. He has been recognized by Guitar World as one of the best in his field and it would be hard for anyone to disagree. He has recorded a mind boggling number of albums over his career and has worked with some of the world’s best musicians.

His explosive riffs and eruption of theretical knowledge give him a sound that is unsurpassed in the jazz world. When all of that highly tuned and refined talent is coupled with the amazing tone produced from his custom Sadowsky archtop, named after him, he is unstoppable.

When I started to research his career, I was amazed to see how he finds a balance in his life. When he’s not touring, in the recording studio, teaching from his home or teaching improvisation at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, you can find him at home with his family.

It doesn’t matter what genre of music you play, there is a lesson to be learned from Jimmy Bruno. For me, that lesson was one of knowing what your fretboard has to offer you and taking advantage of the space provided.

We hope you enjoy this interview and take something away from it that inspires you to practice harder and fulfill a thirst for musical knowledge.

The Interview

GT: I read in numerous places that when growing up, your family had quite a musical impact on you. What was life like living in that environment and how does this affect your music today?

JB: “Well, I mean I was lucky because there was always jazz music in my house. That’s what I thought all music was like. I think it made me a better player for sure.”

So it gave you more opportunities?

“Ooh yeah. I had plenty of opportunities.”

GT: What other musical influences, if any, have you had over recent years?

JB: “Well the usual guitar players that were typical of growing up. Johnny Smith was a big influence and Hank Garland really influenced me as well. Then it moved to Saxophone players and piano players since I was 16.”

GT: Do you listen to other musical genres or do you prefer to stick to jazz?

JB: “Well you know, I do music like almost 24 hours a day. So I listen to a lot of music. If it’s work related, then I’m always listing to mostly my stuff really or sometimes another guitar player. If I think of music for enjoyment, it’s classical music . I like that, I like the oldies, I like Willy Nelson a lot and Bonny Rates. Somebody that I just discovered was Susan Tideshi. I mean she’s not new but she is new to me. Other styles of music.”

GT: How do you feel about the different directions jazz is taking in today’s society? They’re so many different styles of jazz from improv to classical. What’s your opinion on them? Do you like them or prefer the jazz standards?

JB: “Well I think there’s some really good new directions going on. I don’t think all of them are real good. I think a lot of it has to do with commercialism and making money. It’s pretty obvious when jazz musicians try to do that. I don’t think that that’s a good trend. However, I know people need to eat and stuff like that and make a living.

The good side is that they’re exposing more people to jazz and the downside is that it’s not giving them quality. I don’t cast any judgments on that. I choose not to do that but anybody who is doing that and making a good living has my respect and admiration because a lot them are good musicians and good players and they choose to this and that’s fine.”

GT: You have extensive experience as a recording artist. What challenges do you personally face while in the recording studio?

JB: “The recording studio is really a difficult environment. Even a live recording is too because it’s always in the back of your mind that this is permanent and you kind of have to make that go away. It’s really hard to resist the temptation to go back and fix everything because with today’s technology, you can. With me, I find that if I do that it kind of makes me sound a little sterile. I’ve always enjoyed the recordings from the 60’s where they’re not perfect. You can hear somebody breathing or making sounds and not every line that they play is perfect… I’m kind of partial to that.

I do appreciate the people that record the other way and really polish it up. I mean, some of that is really pretty good so long as you don’t do it too much and take away from the music. What is too much and what is too little? I don’t really know. That’s a big one and the other one is sound. You always want to try and get it to sound the way it sounds to you in your own head. Which is really difficult because you have a producer, there’s an engineer; there’s the microphone, the amplifier that you choose and the board that it’s going through. They shape the final sounds so you’re never going to get what’s in your head, it’s just impossible but you can get real close.

It’s funny because sometimes I’ll talk to another player and I’ll mention “Wow, you really have a good guitar sound on that CD, I really like it” to which the player will respond “Ahh, I hated it!” The one that I hated the most was my guitar sound on the CD burning. I love the music; I think it’s some of the best playing I’ve done. In those days my playing over the top kind of but it was only the second CD but I hated the sound of the guitar and I get lots of compliments on how good the guitar sounds. It’s one of those things I don’t understand.

On the other hand I like the sound on The Live at Birdland records, both of them and midnight blue, the solo guitar came out pretty close. The other thing in the Studio is that there’s no audience. That’s a big one because I thoroughly believe that art needs an audience for it to be art. There has to be somebody on the other end of this. Then when someone listens to the CD you have an audience.”

GT: So you don’t know what direction it’s going in or if you feel that it’s not the right sound you’re looking for.

JB: “You definitely get something from an audience that is lacking in the studio.”

GT: Where can you discover the most about your instrument? Is it self-taught or amongst other people?

JB: “A little bit of both I think. Playing with a lot of good musicians and developing your ear. Getting away from the academia is also important.”

GT: Your speed and technical prowess is unsurpassed in the world of jazz. How did you bring yourself to this level of playing without getting stuck on a plateau?

JB: “Well when I was a kid, like I said my Father was a guitar player, so he was always playing out of violin books and there was always a lot of violinists at my house from the Philly orchestra and classical musicians. So I didn’t really start out playing jazz. I was like 10 or 8 years old and from that point until the time I was 16 I was studying a lot of these books and listening to what these players were saying.

I thought that everybody had technique. A violinist that has no technique can’t work. Classical musicians have phenomenal technique and so I just thought that was what I had to do to become a musician. It had nothing to do with Jazz.”

GT: Do you get nervous before playing in front of large audiences?

JB: “No, it’s a bit of an adrenaline rush but not nervous. I mean it’s exciting to do that!”

GT:Many of our subscribers’ dream of having a professional career as a musician, what advice would you like to pass on to them?

JB: “Never give up! Become as good a musician as you possibly can and find your own voice. Don’t copy anyone and be sincere in your music. Don’t talk yourself into wealth and thinking, “This way, I’ll make more money” because you have to be sincere and really believe in the music that you’re playing. Otherwise, I think audiences can tell and you certainly can tell — so you have to be true to yourself. Otherwise you won’t be happy.”

GT: When did you make the decision that jazz was what you were going to do with your life?

JB: “I think when I was 16 I did and then I got tired of starving. After 22 I moved to Vegas and became a commercial sideman musician, then I went LA and did that for a while. Then when I was 35 I wasn’t playing much jazz and I was pretty unhappy and yet at the same time making a decent living. So I decided to quit music because as far as I was concerned that was about as far as I could go being a “Professional Musician.” I kind of quit for a while and decided that if I I’m going to play it would be jazz. When I started before it was to play jazz and give that a shot and I was lucky enough that it worked out!”

GT:Do you play any other guitars such as strats or acoustics?

JB: “Sure, oh yeah! I did when I was a sideman and I played everything. I played other guitars, banjos, mandolins… The whole thing. “

GT: What does your practice routine look like?

JB: “Well I don’t have a daily practice routine any more. I’m playing and working all the time so if I get the chance to practice I usually will try to write something. When I was learning I would practice scales, arpeggios, interval studies, board studies, learning tunes, transposing tunes into a different piece or trying to learn tunes off of a CD or in those days a record rather than the real book. I think that’s a bad crutch and it’s misused.

What happens is that we have a lot of young musicians who don’t ever develop an ear fro learning a song by themselves. They just do it by the real book and they never heard the lyrics or the recordings. The upside is that if you can play already and if you already have an ear it’s not bad to look something up now and then but I always refer to the record.”

GT: Looking through your site and previous written articles, it’s evident that you are a talented and patient teacher. So was teaching and putting lessons up on your site something you fell into or something that you chose to do?

JB: “I always like to teach because you get a lot of questions about music and what you think about when you’re playing. I remember when I had those same questions too and it was really frustrating not to get a really good answer. You meet some older musicians and they say “Well, you just hear it.” That’s great but what if you can’t just hear it? They say “Practice your scales” and that’s great too because you need to practice scales to be able to play your instrument. I don’t think you need to put a specific scale over a specific chord.

Somehow it’s gotten to that point and all of that is helpful and true information but it’s only helpful after the fact. It’s a great tool and a good education chance to analyze something but I don’t think it’s the best way to go about creating music. That has to come from someplace else. It can’t be intellectual.”

GT: I’ve noticed that you like to teach improv. How do you bring out the tips and tricks when teaching a student something that can’t really be taught?

JB: ” First you need to make sure that they can play the guitar to some degree. They don’t have to be a virtuoso but it can’t be “Put your finger here.” The first thing I do is limit someone’s area on the guitar where they can play. One spot and they have to stay there and learn the sounds in that one spot with specific fingers.

Then, I’ll get them to play different lines and different melodies without any chord changes and then I can correct, well not correct the melody but sometimes improve it and give them different examples of how they can make their lines better. At the same time start changing those sounds with the spot on the fingerboard and then add the harmony. The progression not the isolated chord as I don’t think that tells you very much.”

Well that raps up our interview with Jimmy Bruno. From all of the staff here at Guitar Tips, I would like to personally thank Mr. Bruno for taking the time out of his hectic schedule to answer some of my questions. We wish you the best and look forward to seeing what you come up with next. Keep on being you!

Feedback Booth

We always love to hear back from our subscribers and like I always say, we can’t do what we do without your feedback. After our last newsletter, which included our first ever comprehensive guide, many of you took the time to share your likes and dislikes. Here’s a sample of our most recent emails:

José writes to us with this encouraging email:

“Hello Jordan, I find very useful your Guitar Tips Newsletters and I have particularly appreciated this one on Rhythm Skills and related Video Clips. I wish you will follow on this way. Congratulations. José Greco”

Don sent along this really inspiring email, many thanks:

Hello Jordan, I just received the latest newsletter. You really did an outstanding job. I played rhythm guitar for several years many years ago. Now I am “re-educating” myself after about 45 years of vacation. Your newsletters have been very helpful. However, this latest one is even more jam packed with solid information. I have been amazed at how quickly my memory and ability is returning. Thanks for your input. It is really very valuable. Well worth the subscription. Have a good day! Don

Dave had some real frustrations that he wanted to tell me about:

“G’day there! A little negative feedback on the newsletter. Firstly the video. Not everyone has broadband or cable or unlimited download available. I for one am still on a dial up connection with a limited download for the 4 people in the house that use the internet. How about presenting the newsletter in a way that has smaller video files that can be selected to be downloaded rather than have them automatically downloaded.

Secondly, considering this is essentially an Aussie site how come there is so much US involvement. For example, all the gear offered is from a US retailer and most if not all of the feedback and comments appear to come from US subscribers. How about a little Aussie stuff??? Regards, Dave”

We truly do apologize for this inconvenience. As a direct result of this problem, we will be restricting our use of video to a maximum of 4 videos per newsletter and use recordings instead. The rhythm article is really out of the ordinary when it comes to size and was a special edition. We will continue to look for better and faster alternatives that every subscriber can benefit from.

Here’s a number of really great emails that I would like to share with you:

“Hey you guys! The new newsletter is awesome! The video recordings really help. You can see what you’re playing but in the same time hear what it should sound like. Keep it up, Carla Flavia”

“Your new videos in the newsletter are great. They have helped me more than anything I have attempted to improve my ability to learn how to play the guitar. Thanks, Bill Hayes”

“I just wanted to say thanks….some hard work has gone into your site and it shows….just when I think I’m going to throw my guitar out the window I sit back take a deep breath and read your tips… it helps and I’m still playing. I found taking a break from it for a few days helps alot. Thanks again, Elvi - Toronto Canada”

“Hi Jordan Warford, I have been receiving your Guitar Tips Free Newsletter for the past several months. Every article has helped me to improved my guitar playing skills. Even though all I want to do is play for myself and maybe my family, guitar playing makes me relax. I want to thank you for letting us have this for free. Steve Givens”

Conclusion

This has been a real treat. It’s not too often you get to chat with guys like Jimmy Bruno and talk about recording contracts. No, I admit, there wasn’t any music or flashy video for you this week but something has to be said for taking the time to reflect and dream towards the future.

Whether you’ve really gotten a lot out of the article and are currently looking towards getting a record deal or you just enjoyed the read on Jimmy Bruno, it probably made you think “Gee, I wonder if I could do that.” I’m here to tell you that you can even though the process is very complicated and we’ve just scratched the outline on recording contracts, at least you now know what direction to head in.

Unfortunately, we did not have our Guitar Tips Feature Band section this month due to lack of entries! Email me information on your bands. Be sure to include the following information:

If I feel you’re onto something, I will ask you for more information. If not, I’ll file your package and contact you when I think the time is right. Remember, only one band per month can be shown. I feel it’s necessary to put this out there as I’m having some trouble getting people to participate. You do not have to be a professional, I like to show bands from all over the world and at all skill levels.

Once again, a huge thank you to Jimmy Bruno and to you for tuning in. Truly looking forward to the future!

Until next time, keep on picking!