I’ve been using Altoids tins to create “pick packs” that hold a selection of my favorite picks. I’m planning on putting one in each of my guitar cases and in my laptop bag. Each tin holds an identical selection of color-coded guitar picks:

2 Dunlop Jazz III [black]
2 Fender Heavy [premium celluloid blue moto]
2 Fender Medium [premium celluloid abelone]
2 Fender Thin [premium celluloid red moto]
1 Golden Gate Thumbpick

The colors make it easy to see the gauge of pick you’re looking for. In addition, there is enough room in the tin to hold a Planet Waves NS capo or a Shubb Capo and a few strips of 400 grit sandpaper for smoothing rough nails.

It’s a little nerdy but it’s utilitarian.

How To Play The Music of The Jackson Five is Adam Rafferty’s newest instructional DVD for fingerstyle players. Included are four of Adam’s signature arrangements: “I’ll Be There”, “I Want You Back”, “Never Can Say Goodbye”, and “ABC.” The DVD/booklet includes full standard notation and tablature and sells for $34.97 at www.adamrafferty.com. Running time is 1 hour and 58 minutes.

This release is a natural follow-up to Adam’s previous instructional DVD, How to Play the Music of Stevie Wonder [Review]. It follows virtually the same format and offers the same high quality playing and instruction. Adam begins the video by offering up some valuable strategies for how to go about tackling new and difficult pieces including: warming-up, playing slowly, focusing on one piece at a time and engaging in positive self talk while you practice. Adam points out that although immediate results are not usually apparent, after a good practice session your mind will continue to process the music while you are doing other activities. I’ve found this to be true in my own experience, but I’ve never heard anyone else express it before.

After the introduction, each song is shown as a complete performance followed by an instruction segment lasting about 25 minutes. You could basically consider the package as a series of four in-depth half-hour lessons that you can review at your leisure. Quite a value when you think of it that way! Here’s some of what I said about the Stevie Wonder video. All of it holds true for this video as well:

“Adam is comfortable in front of the camera and is obviously used to breaking down information into short, easily understood phrases. There is enough detail given to the specialized guitar techniques used that you can’t misinterpret how to recreate them. Once enough explanation has been given, short sections of the tune are demonstrated at a slow enough tempo that intermediate-level players should be able to start playing along with only a little practice. Adam ends most instructional segments with some performance notes and often points out places where he has slightly changed elements of the original songs in order to make them groove harder and sound more at home on the guitar. The booklet that accompanies the DVD contains very detailed scores in standard notation and tablature. Left-hand fingerings are included for every note and occasional right-hand fingerings are indicated as well.”

The attention to detail given to the right- and left-hand fingerings here is something rarely seen outside of classical circles. Adam takes his time explaining each arrangement and gives specific demonstrations that compliment the written music perfectly. He has clearly put a lot of time into not only the arrangements themselves, but the way in which he chooses to execute and teach them. It’s meticulous but never tedious. Adam’s skills as a performer and arranger have obviously developed since the last video too. The songs in the Jackson Five video are funkier and a bit more technically advanced than the Stevie Wonder portfolio and the collection seems to have a few common elements that are evident throughout. Luscious chords and deep grooves abound. Percussive slaps and funky muted lines are used liberally as well as cool percussion breakdown in “ABC” which will definitely turn some heads.

The only thing that I found a bit confusing at first was the way in which the songs that use a capo were notated in the tablature staff. Most publishers tend to notate the capo location as the nut and notate all other frets in relation to the capo. Instead, the tab here shows the actual fret number where the capo is positioned and indicates all of the fretted notes in their actual location as well. The choice to notate the songs this way actually makes a lot of sense – especially as you will be moving all around the neck – but it may throw some folks for a loop until they get used to reading the TAB in this format.

I absolutely loved watching and working with the Jackson Five DVD. Any fingerstyle guitarist willing to spend time practicing will surely be rewarded with some uplifting new repertoire and gain some new insights as well. I can’t wait to hear what Adam does next. Whatever it is, I hope that he will continue to share his knowledge and arrangements with like-minded guitarists.

Visit www.adamrafferty.com to find out more about Adam or check out his YouTube channel to enjoy more of his music.

If you’d like to hear all of the arrangements that are available on the new DVD follow this link: http://krunchd.com/raffertyj5tunes. You can scroll through the videos using the arrows in the upper right corner of the screen. Below is a short trailer for the DVD.

How to Make a Million Dollars Playing the Guitar by classical guitarist Douglas Niedt is a new book offering entrepreneurial advice for musicians. The book is 365 pages in length and can be purchased from www.milliondollarguitarist.com for $19.95.
The title sounds a little too good to be true doesn’t it? Normally, it would be easy to discount a book with a title like this, but knowing that Douglas Niedt was the author I was excited to read it and confident that it would offer substantive information that musicians could use in their careers.

The first thing to understand is what this book is not. Niedt does not promise to make you a better guitarist, a famous musician, or even a millionaire (one who has a net worth of one million dollars or more) in his book. What he will do is make you think long and hard about whether you wish make the commitment to become an entrepreneurial musician, and offer lots of good advice on how to begin and grow your business so that you can make a million dollars or more over the course of your career.

Niedt covers a lot of ground, but most of the book can be divided two distinct concepts: entrepreneurial thinking and understanding common business practices. These two concepts are seamlessly woven together throughout with the earlier chapters generally discussing entrepreneurial thinking and later chapters relating more specific information about business practices that apply to musicians.

Throughout the book, the author reflects on his own life as a student, performer, teacher, and businessperson. He also incorporates many anecdotes that illustrate typical challenges that have been overcome successfully by famous musicians and businesspeople throughout history.

“Do you really want to do this? Do you have what it takes?” asks an early chapter. A short survey will help young people who may have big dreams but no realistic idea of what it means to be a musician to put things into perspective. After each survey question, there are reality checks that will encourage the reader to reflect on their attitudes and expectations about a career in music and whether or not they possess the drive and self-discipline to succeed. I find that Niedt strikes just the right balance here. He is careful not to discourage the reader but is very realistic about the sacrifices that must be made in order to make a living playing music.

The first two sections of the book include several essays on topics such as: keeping a positive attitude, setting goals, evaluating oneself, choosing an educational path, how to get along with other people, and more. These chapters are definitely motivational, but also make good business sense for anyone who wants to be self-employed and stay optimistic in the face of adversity. This section also includes two of my favorite chapters: “Talent is Not the Answer” and “You’re a Failure – Congratulations!”

As the book proceeds, more in-depth information about what it takes to be a self-employed musician is explored. Advice is given on virtually all aspects of setting up a business as a sole proprietorship or LLC, recording your own CDs, building a website that will help you sell your music, knowing what to charge for shipping, maintaining a database, understanding tax laws and much more. The chapter on maintaining a database was particularly a good one for me as I am always trying to find a better way to organize my records of students and business contacts electronically.

Most of the business information passed on in the book I already know. I’ve learned it along the way from colleagues, teachers, tax and financial advisers, and friends. Some things I found out through my own research. Almost all of it was learned after college as I struggled to establish myself as a teacher and musician. I can only imagine how much easier my path may have been with a book like this one to guide me.

Douglas Niedt has written a book that every young person aspiring to a career in music should read. I will definitely be recommending it to many of my students and their parents. It paints a very clear and realistic picture of what the career of a professional musician looks like. If you are starting a career in music or know someone who is, this is required reading.

Finally, if you are not a guitarist, you’ll still want to buy the book. Doug may be targeting guitarists with his title, but the book is not about playing the guitar, it’s about being an entrepreneurial musician. All of the information inside is equally applicable to pianists, saxophonists, trombonists, etc. I’m guessing it will take a trombonist a little longer to reach the million-dollar mark, but that’s another story.

Doug has several videos related to his book on YouTube. Here’s a sample:

50 Blues Guitar Licks You Must Know by Jeff McErlain is a new offering from TrueFire.com designed for intermediate to advanced blues guitarists wanting to spice up their vocabulary with some of the tastiest and most traditional phrases in the idiom. The course is available in a variety of formats with prices starting at $19.00.from truefire.com.

Working through the 50 Blues Licks course is a bit like a attending wine-tasting with an expert sommelier. Instructor Jeff McErlain’s hand-picked repertoire of phrases challenges you to break out of that good old minor pentatonic box using techniques such as: tremolo picking, double-stops, sixths, octaves, chromaticism, and diminished lines, and more. It includes not only solo ideas, but grooves, turnarounds, and tasty comping ideas. Although there are some slick licks included, these licks are generally not the flashy technique-oriented phrases but richly expressive musical concepts that will lend a sense of depth and sophistication to your playing.

As Jeff demonstrates each lick he takes time calls attention to the specific nuances that really make the music happen. Details on specifically how to bend, slide, or vibrato are not left to chance. I appreciated this attention to detail, especially as it relates to quarter-step bends. I find that those little in-between bends are often difficult for students to dial in, but usually get glossed over by instructional materials. Here, Jeff does a great job of highlighting exactly when they occur and what they should sound like.

Jeff will often relate a bit of history on how a lick has been used over the years. For example, the very first lick is based on Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ Stone” blues. It’s a groovy riff to be sure, but Jeff reminds us that this riff has been recycled several times to become the basis for “Catfish Blues” and “Voodoo Chile” by Hendrix, “Still Alive and Well” by Johnny Winter, and even a section of “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath. This really gives a sense of the blues as a living music that continues to evolve. I also think it also gives guitarists permission to start creating their own music using the motif as a springboard.

Continue reading 'Review: 50 Blues Guitar Licks You Must Know'