http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d2peo1VYBE

I don’t mean to be too harsh, but I’m a child of the eighties. I dont mean the hairband synth-pop lame-ass shitty music eighties. I mean the real eighties which no one gave any attention to in the eighties.There really was a great amount of kick ass rock and roll going on then, but you couldn’t hear it on the radio.

Here is an example of one of my favorite bands…great songs, great guitars, just great. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to THE REPLACEMENTS!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eMGwbzvruQ

Income tax deduction
What a hell of a function

OK so the video quality is not so good. But listen through that, dammit! I mean that was 1987! There were no hand held digital camcorders.

Maybe this will help you understand:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MThfdTEkkOo

Maybe you had to be there. I was. I saw those guys in ’85 in a small bar called Peabody’s Downunder in Cleveland Ohio. It was loud as hell and they were fucking brilliant.

What’s my point? Here’s my point: Green Day, Nirvana etc..OK, look at their influences. There are a lot of bands that are pretty much forgotten that paved the way for the big fucking famous motherfuckers. Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXbPlFgSfao

Seriously, would there have been a Green Day if the Descendants had never existed?

How about this:

I went to see the Zero Boys when I was 18 in Cincinnati in 1982. I have to say that night changed my life. Opening was an awesome band from Anderson Indiana called The Repellents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU5DbGGoWso

OK, once again maybe you had to be there. Well, I was there and it meant something.

In the early 90′s when punk hit big it was kind of sick. It was like all the weenie-assed motherfuckers got into your lunch. It was like having your diary copied and spread across MTV. It was like throwing up in the cafeteria at lunch, and 10 minutes later everyone else puking too, just to be cool. I mean it sucked.

I do like Nirvana though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIZtCC62G_0

But doesn’t all go back to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1Tb3DT-mjA

Or this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbLRf0j80wU

Yeah…that’s what I’m talking about!

And let’s not leave the girls out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMDn6V7ZLhE

I do like girls, and bad-ass girls with guitars, well I’m speechless.

Everyone is standing on someones shoulders. If you wanna rock you gotta know where it came from.

Now, what the fuck are you going to do with your guitar?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4BYMvVvMg0

That’s some pretty awesome guitar playing don’t ya think? I wonder what the bandana is all about. Is it some sort of code I’m not hip to?

Anyway, this is sure to make you smile and get out your guitar and practice. And maybe it’ll get you looking for some new friends. You know the kind that you can play music with.

This tune is Jerry’s Breakdown by Jerry Reed. Here is a fantastic version played by Jerry himself along with Chet Atkins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni8KBhnebwE

Now that is some fine guitar playing!

First is the “I just want to rock, dude. I don’t need to know all that technical stuff.”

My answer: Well, the truth is that if you aspire to mediocrity you don’t need to know theory. But if you want to be good you want to understand everything there is to know about the music you are trying to play.

Understanding how the notes work together, how they each play a particular role in a melody, how they work together to form chords and keys and chord progressions, will be instrumental in learning the music of others, in composing your own music, and is absolutely essential when it comes to improvisation.

The second excuse is the “I’m afraid it will ruin my style” argument.

My answer: That is absolutely ludicrous. Music theory is information; it is a system of understanding how music is constructed. In what other endeavor can having more information that directly pertains to what you are trying to do decrease your mastery?

If you actually have a style, an understanding of music theory will help you identify and develop that style.

Understand that I am not talking about learning to read music. Learning to read is a good idea, it will help you to be a better musician, and it is a skill that might get you some good paying gigs that otherwise would go to a more qualified musician. But a basic understanding of music theory is possible without reading one note of written music.

The problem is that most theory books are geared toward those who are studying formal classical music in a college setting. But there are a few good books and other resources available for the average guitar player.

On of the best books I’ve found is Music Theory For Guitar, by my friend, Marc, who also writes the 100 Blues Licks blog.

What I like about it is that it’s practical. You don’t have to read to understand music, or to understand this book. He cuts out all the theoretical stuff you don’t need to know, and makes everyting applicable to what you do as a guitar player.

He also throws in a great book about playing lead guitar that ties back to the music theory book, and all of this for only $10!

Seriously, this package will save you years of lessons and lots of money.

So if you are trying to improve your guitar skills you can’t go wrong with Music Theory For Guitar.

I wonder if he practised the crap out of this so he could do it in a prearranged order. He’d probably miss a couple riff if he didn’t

Anyway, I thought this was pretty cool. Do you recognize every song?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNq94ZaZ0Yk

A great thing about it being just me and a guitar is that I don’t have to worry about what the bass player or drummer is doing, I can call any tune I want, and if I feel like taking a break I don’t have to work it out with the band leader.

When Eric Clapton pulls out his acoustic guitar to play some sweet blues he has a few thousand people in front of him to please. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oei5PTADpPM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxwS7SfTjKk

There are blues jams nights in every city where you can just show up and get some experience, meet other like-minded musicians, and just have a lot of fun.  You don’t have a band? No problem! Just hit a jam and get up there and play the blues!

Every guitar player should have at least a few blues licks in their bag of tricks, at least a few of the standard licks.  And as you practice the blues and get more experience you will develop you own licks, and hopefully your own style.

For a start check out these cool blues licks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmriY2FZKYY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx4cRw6TIIg

Well heres a couple of guys that worked it out without thumbs, or fingers or even elbows.  Check ‘em out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX2f35ZjbMc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiDoYIflqAY

Now don’t you think you should stop feeling sorry for yourself, get out your guitar and practice?

To tell you the truth it really gets on my nerves. I mean any somewhat motivated kid, with the proper instruction, can do what most of these kids do. The difference between most of these “child prodigies” and any other reasonably talented kid (with the right instruction) is overzealous parents.

I’m not trying to say anything negative about the kids. On the contrary, I think it’s great that the kids are working hard to master the guitar. My beef is with the adults.

A few years ago I had a 9 year old student that learned some Satriani licks from tab with his previous teacher. He played them sloppy and with no feeling, but he was hitting all the right notes. He had no idea what the notes were, and absolutely no sense of phrasing, but hell, the kid was 9.

The kids father thought that this kid was going to be the next Eddie Van Halen. And though he himself knew absolutely nothing about music or what it takes to play the guitar, he insisted on telling me what I should be teaching the kid. He sat in on the lessons and kept interrupting. He never let me do my job.

Needless to say, this was unacceptable and I we agreed that maybe he should find another teacher. It was a shame because I could have really helped that kid.

I did see them again about a year ago. The kid is a teenager now and still playing entirely off tabs. It’s a shame really.

I’m telling you all of this to give you a peek into my psyche. These are the things that go through my head when someone tells me about some kid on the internet or on TV who can really play guitar. All of this is what went through my head when a family member shot me an email about Lucciano Pizzichini.

Now, take a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TChp3L1kZ4o

This time I gotta admit it…this kid can play guitar!