Photo by trublueboy The question came up on a forum “Whats wrong with playing just for the sake of playing” and as I was typing a rather long-winded response, it became obvious that this was really something requiring a blog post. There’s certainly nothing wrong with

Transcription: Stephane Wrembel “Bistro Fada” I’ve been home all weekend with a cold so last night I watched Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris” (highly recommended movie by the way!).  All through the movie they used this wonderful Gypsy guitar piece

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity. ” ~ Charles Mingus ~ Three Note Symphony: Yaron Herman at TEDxHelvetia Last semester I had some of my private students improvising on Miles Davis’ tune &

I was reading some posts on an internet guitar forum the other day and somebody posed this seemingly simple question: “I have a question for all of the experienced guitarists on this site. What is a great technique and exercise to build up your hands and your finger strength?

Transcribing is one of the best ways to improve your jazz playing, but so many guitar students seem to think that it’s beyond their ability.  In my experience, this is simply not true.  As long as you have decent pitch recognition and can hear melodies (can you sing “Happy

The Challenge Most guitarists seem to have an inordinate amount of trouble when it comes to sight-reading standard notation.  Considering that many guitarists are self-taught, this is totally understandable.  But at the same time, if one wants to be a fully functional musician, the ab

When jazz musicians talk about “Rhythm Changes” they’re referring to songs that use the basic chord changes and structure of George Gershwin’s tune “I’ve Got Rhythm.”  Next to the Blues, Rhythm Changes is one of the most commonly played song f

I’m often asked “how long” it takes to learn to play jazz. The reality is, you can start playing jazz today if you want to, but to “learn” it will take your whole life.  Jazz is a process not a product.  I’m still learning and don’t plan to st

Someone asked me this question awhile ago and since it’s something that we’ve all probably thought about, I’d like to share my response with you. I really believe that we ALL have our own voice from day one.  But many people either don’t acknowledge their own v

While many guitarists often tend to get stuck on using the first Pentatonic they learned (usually the Minor 11th variant which from the note C would be spelled C Eb F G B, there are actually many different pentatonics and the easiest way to think of them is as 9th chord arpeggios: C69