tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69533146602260421932024-02-07T03:34:33.715+01:00Mathias Lang's Guitar BlogMathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.comBlogger64125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-56445834548918137542017-11-05T12:31:00.000+01:002017-11-08T13:21:55.774+01:00Bandcoaching Eindhoven en omgeving<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIV6HU9qHU6UWa8PHEFNlk7qMmTAO3HfR0gc5C2kAPYeqqpjVHQbDvJj7eJxNZ8psnNQpCtCqcwMamS7Fenj5uYn3P3vevFPvWgvRPSJUykswe4vtvId7QQ1PCCFs8OBYK1oIZmvkm0XI/s1600/Rijen_22sept2017_8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIV6HU9qHU6UWa8PHEFNlk7qMmTAO3HfR0gc5C2kAPYeqqpjVHQbDvJj7eJxNZ8psnNQpCtCqcwMamS7Fenj5uYn3P3vevFPvWgvRPSJUykswe4vtvId7QQ1PCCFs8OBYK1oIZmvkm0XI/s320/Rijen_22sept2017_8.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Ik ben weer begonnen met bandcoaching! Ik heb dat jaren geleden regematig gedaan en heb daar altijd veel plezier aan gehad. Toen werd het te druk met privé-lessen en met andere projecten, maar nu wil ik weer meer tijd maken voor het coachen van zowel beginnende bands als ook van bands met ervaring.<br />
<br />
Het is belangrijk om te realiseren dat een paar goede muzikanten bij elkaar nog lang geen goede band zijn. Daar is veel meer voor nodig. En daar wil ik jullie graag mee helpen door objectieve feedback en constructieve kritiek.<br />
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Mijn bandcoaching gebeurt in de repetitieruimte van de band, waar we onder meer naar de volgende punten kijken:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>timing en groove</li>
<li>dynamiek</li>
<li>arrangement</li>
<li>samenspel</li>
<li>performance</li>
<li>sound</li>
<li>songwriting</li>
</ul>
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Ik verzin dan vaak passende oefeningen die niet alleen bestaan uit het (goed) spelen van het repertoire, maar die specifiek gericht zijn op de uitdagingen van de band. Meestal gaat het daar om ritmische oefeningen, het effectieve begeleiden van een solist, of om een vorm van samenspel waar iedereen (nog meer) rekening houdt met de partijen van de andere muzikanten.<br />
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Als je geïnteresseerd bent in een vrijblijvende afspraak, neem dan contact met mij op:<br />
mathiasguitar@gmail.comMathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-13781832078634931122017-08-28T12:29:00.001+02:002017-08-28T12:35:27.607+02:00Collins Live Experience @ 't Boerke in RijenFinally another show coming up! We've added quite a few new songs to our setlist, so come and enjoy two hours of music by Phil Collins and Genesis!<br />
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<b>When:</b> Friday 22 September 2017<br />
<b>Where:</b> 't Boerke, Hoofdstraat 72, Rijen<br />
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Doors open at 20:00.<br />
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Tickets via <a href="http://collinsliveexperience.com/">http://collinsliveexperience.com/</a><br />
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<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-91365154871413405362017-07-11T15:33:00.000+02:002017-07-17T11:25:17.681+02:00Collins Live Experience @ Keymusic Eindhoven Sound & Light Show<a href="http://www.keymusic.com/nl/muziekwinkels/eindhoven/" target="_blank">Keymusic Eindhoven</a> invited us to perform at their Sound & Light Show. Of course, we gladly agreed because we obviously love playing shows, and, beyond that, it was an opportunity to use their latest sound and light equipment.<br />
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This video of our version of 'Mama' by Genesis gives an impression of our show at Keymusic. The video and sound quality isn't great (because it's just a recording from a mobile phone) but the vibe is right and we had a blast playing that song. I hope you can feel it too :)<br />
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Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-20121259138722860932017-07-01T16:48:00.003+02:002017-07-01T16:49:08.799+02:00Leerlingenconcert: voor het eerst in Heeze!Sinds begin van het jaar hebben we onze lespraktijk in Heeze, en nu is het zo ver: het eerste leerlingenconcert in Heeze!!! Zangleerlingen van Iris Wiesner en gitaarleerlingen van Mathias Lang join forces en treden gezamenlijk op.<br />
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<b>Wanneer:</b> zondag 2 juli van 15:00 tot 18:00<br />
<b>Waar:</b> <a href="https://www.tperron.nl/" target="_blank">'t Perron</a>, Schoolstraat 48, Heeze<br />
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Het wordt een gezellige middag in het restaurant van 't Perron met alle stijlen, van jazz tot pop/rock, en zelfs klassieke gitaarstukken worden ten gehore gebracht. Kom gezellig langs en geniet van de muziek!!!<br />
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<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-69028286745528360642017-04-10T09:36:00.001+02:002017-04-10T09:37:27.187+02:00Fusion ProjectSome time ago I met up with old friends of mine from Vienna (Austria) to work on a fusion track that we used to play at live shows many years ago, but we never made a decent recording. So we decided to finally record that piece after all those years and that's the result. Enjoy!<br />
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keys - Maalo<br />
drums - Richard Hal<br />
bass - Georg Berner<br />
guitar - Mathias LangMathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-17021104453280765252017-03-29T21:42:00.002+02:002017-07-11T18:45:06.259+02:00Impressions from the latest shows with the Collins Live ExperienceI'd like to share with you some impressions from recent shows I played with the <a href="http://collinsliveexperience.com/" target="_blank">Collins Live Experience</a>. I feel like the band is growing together and we're having good fun on stage. Have a look at some recent video material:<br />
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<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-75031098774036897342016-11-02T14:11:00.001+01:002017-07-11T15:34:05.380+02:00First show with the Collins Live Experience: looking backAs announced previously, last Saturday I played the first live show with the <a href="http://collinsliveexperience.com/" target="_blank">Collins Live Experience</a>. We are a 12-piece band including horns and backing vocals, and it was a pleasure to hear and see everybody perform at their best. We were lucky to work with the guys from <a href="http://www.millenniumsound.nl/" target="_blank">MilleniumSound</a>, who provided their sound and lighting equipment. They reserved the whole afternoon to work on the light show and to get the best possible sound for the audience and for us on stage. So we basically had one more final rehearsal on stage, while they optimized their settings. This left us with a very good feeling, and we could enjoy our dinner before the show in a relaxed and confident atmosphere.<br />
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When we finally hit the stage everything went as smoothly as during rehearsals, with the additional energy that you get from a great audience and from the live sound and light show. We played our 90-minute set as if we had been playing it for months, and all of us were very pleased with the result. I'm grateful to everybody who worked hard to make this such a rewarding evening!<br />
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So we can't wait to play our next show on 12 November in <a href="http://www.podium10.nl/" target="_blank">Podium 10</a> in Bladel (NL). Join us for another great evening with music from Phil Collins and Genesis!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All photos in this post <span style="font-size: 12.8px;">©</span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"> by Martijn van Dijck</span></td></tr>
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<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-27080017731996912522016-10-25T15:31:00.002+02:002017-07-11T15:34:05.377+02:00First Live Show - The Collins Live Experience: Saturday 29 October 2016Hi everybody,<br />
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I'd like to announce the first live show I'll be playing with the <a href="http://collinsliveexperience.com/" target="_blank">Collins Live Experience</a>:<br />
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<b>When:</b> Saturday 29 October 2016, starting at 9:00 pm<br />
<b>Where:</b> Gemeenschapshuis de Schans, Schoolstraat 1, Westerbeek (NL)<br />
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Free entrance!<br />
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We spent the last few months looking for the right people to make the band complete, and we've rehearsed a 90-minute set of Phil Collins and Genesis songs. I'm really pleased with the result and I'm looking forward to a great evening. Join us and enjoy a 90 minute live show with songs by Phil Collins and Genesis!<br />
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<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-31670481241781149972016-07-15T11:31:00.000+02:002016-07-15T11:31:54.043+02:00Student concert Saturday 16 July 2016Hi guys,<br />
<br />
the end of the school year is approaching quickly, and of course we'll have another student concert!<br />
<br />
<b>When:</b> Saturday 16 July, starting at 19:30<br />
<b>Where:</b> <a href="http://www.kraaijenbalder.nl/" target="_blank">Café Kraaij en Balder</a>, Strijpsestraat 79, Eindhoven<br />
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It will be another great evening full of guitar music of all styles!<br />
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I also invited several special guests:<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/xEllenorx" target="_blank">Ellenor</a>: voice and guitar, original songs</li>
<li>Jos and Wynand's Cowboy Blues: guitar-duo, rough semi-acoustic blues</li>
<li>Sander Borgers: voice and guitar, original songs</li>
</ul>
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Join us for another cozy and inspiring evening!</div>
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<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0Strijpsestraat 79, 5616 GL Eindhoven, Netherlands51.4396502 5.458135699999957125.917615700000002 -35.850458300000042 76.9616847 46.766729699999956tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-73956915249308150032016-07-01T11:08:00.003+02:002016-07-08T09:37:33.237+02:00Start recording!I've been preaching this to my students, but I realize that I haven't yet written about it: <b>recording yourself</b>! Nowadays it has become so easy to do that, and I can promise you that it is a valuable tool that helps you to become a better player!<br />
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But let's go slow; so why should you record yourself at all?<br />
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There are <i>many</i> reasons. I'll try to convince you giving you the ones I find most important:<br />
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If you play or practice by yourself you need to focus on a lot of things (what is my right hand doing? what is my left hand doing? how do I sound? how is my timing? etc.), but you can't listen as carefully as you can when you lean back and listen to a recording. Listening to a recording of yourself can be very confronting: suddenly you hear that annoying string that keeps on ringing after that bend; or you hear that your chords are always slightly before the beat, which may sound a bit hectic; maybe it turns out that you're not locked in with the drums at all; is the sound right for the song? You see, there are so many things that are important and that you often can't really judge well <i>while playing.</i><br />
<br />
When listening to their recorded solos, many players realize that they keep on repeating the same phrases over and over again; that their timing isn't the way they thought it was; or that their solo could really need more pauses to make it more interesting.<br />
<br />
A similar thing is true for rhythm playing. Experienced players feel when they're locked in with drums and bass, but even they might be wrong sometimes and find out that they want to do the take one more time after listening back to the recording.<br />
<br />
The bad news is that for most players, recording themselves will reveal shortcomings of their technique, their timing, etc. The good news is, now you know about it and you can finally do something about it. And hey, after all that's the only way to improve!<br />
<br />
I hope that by now you agree that recording yourself does have advantages. Of course it's much more fun (and also more helpful) to be able to make a backing track over which you can try your licks or your rhythm vamps. Or there is that terribly difficult break that you've been trying to play with your band, but there's always someone losing the beat. In the latter case you can just program and/or record that break and practice it at home. And at the next rehearsal you'll be fine, and you can even tell who's the one that needs your backing track to practice at home!<br />
<br />
What you need to do all that is a computer, one of the many commercial or free/open <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_audio_workstation#Commercial_DAWs" target="_blank">DAW software packages</a>, and an audio interface. Simple USB audio interfaces with one or two inputs have become quite cheap, and most of them come with a limited version of some commercial DAW software. So if you have a computer, it is enough to buy a simple audio interface (including the software), and you can start recording and making your own backing tracks.<br />
<br />
Apart from becoming a better player (we all want that, don't we?), recording yourself also has a great advantage in finding a band, or finding jobs as a musician. You can present yourself on the internet and people can check you out. If you make some youtube videos, it's easy to get in touch with other players around the world, and often this is the way new projects start. If you don't want to film yourself (think about why), you can still upload audio files on soundcloud to present yourself and get in touch with others.<br />
<br />
Finally, if you've reached a certain level, you can also earn money if you're able to produce high-quality recordings at home. And you don't need a lot of expensive equipment for that. When other people ask me to play some guitar tracks on their songs, more often than actually going to a studio, I'd have them send me a recording of the song, I'd record some guitar tracks at home, and send my tracks back so they can put them in their mix.<br />
<br />
Enough said, get yourself a USB audio interface with some DAW software and ... <b>start recording!</b>Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-24108179824944595482016-01-12T10:51:00.001+01:002018-04-27T19:31:28.436+02:00Book review: 3 Shape Fretboard by Gareth EvansGareth asked me to review his latest book <a href="http://www.guitar-book.com/guitar-scales-book" target="_blank">3 Shape Fretboard</a>, which I gladly did because I'm always interested in new educational guitar books, not least because I spend quite a bit of my time teaching students. The book is about learning to play and understand scales on the guitar. The emphasis is on <i>understanding</i> as opposed to just memorizing dots on the fretboard. You learn to think in intervals and to immediately see these intervals on the guitar. You'll go through all important scales, like the major scale and its modes, harmonic and melodic minor scales, and pentatonic scales. All scale shapes are reduced to three basic shapes that you will manage to find very quickly everywhere on the fretboard, no matter what scale or key you're in. It takes some effort but working through that book will give an immense boost to your scale and fretboard knowledge.<br />
<br />
If you want to know more about the book and what I think of it, please read my <a href="http://www.guitar-book.com/reviews/" target="_blank">complete review</a> on Gareth's site (scroll down to "3 Shape Fretboard" and click on my name).Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-47930991469454429302015-10-17T21:51:00.000+02:002015-10-17T21:51:38.436+02:00Duo Irida @ Dutch Design WeekMUSIC & JAILFOOD<br />
<br />
Duo Irida (Irida - vocals & Mathias Lang - guitar) play at the <a href="http://www.ddw.nl/en/" target="_blank">Dutch Design Week</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>When:</b> every day from 17th to 21st of October 2015, between 15:00 to 17:00 (approx.)<br />
<b>Where: </b>Hallenweg 9, Eindhoven (NL)<br />
<br />
Enjoy our music with some fine <a href="http://www.ddw.nl/en/event/128" target="_blank">jail food</a>!Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-40359654238220483982015-09-23T12:25:00.000+02:002015-10-11T20:12:56.857+02:00How To Spice Up Your Blues SolosHi guys,<br />
<br />
I wrote an article on how to make your blues solos more interesting by adding notes outside the blues scale. The article got published on <a href="https://www.guitartricks.com/" target="_blank">GuitarTricks.com</a>. Here's the link:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.guitartricks.com/blog/Spice-Up-Your-Blues-Playing" target="_blank">Spice Up Your Blues Playing</a><br />
<br />
Enjoy reading!Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-53599832609908911702015-09-22T14:14:00.000+02:002015-09-22T16:03:57.907+02:00Duo Concert: Irida and Scuff Jack @ Stage Music Café EindhovenHi everybody, I'd like to announce a concert:<br />
<br />
<b>Irida</b> & <b>Scuff Jack</b> @ <a href="http://www.stagemusiccafe.com/" target="_blank">Stage Music Café</a>, Stratumseind 25, Eindhoven<br />
EASY Sunday, 27 September 2015<br />
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<b>19:30</b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/tonnie.ector" target="_blank"> Scuff Jack</a>: Singer-songwriter with guitar and scuff-board!<br />
<b>20:30</b> <a href="http://iridamusic.com/" target="_blank">Irida:</a> semi-acoustic R'n'B from Austria!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Irida - vocals</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Shidhi Bouwman - backing vocals</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Rebecca Lydia - backing vocals</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Huseyin Demir - backing vocals</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Peter Huber - trumpet </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Mathias Lang - guitars</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Bob Willemstein - bass</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Marco Toro - percussion</span><br />
<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-1867506006443392142015-09-16T11:54:00.003+02:002015-09-20T16:52:57.641+02:00Melodic Theme Guitar ContestHi guys,<br />
<br />
I entered a <a href="https://youtu.be/FL_malEVqbc" target="_blank">guitar contest by David Wallimann</a>. It's about coming up with a good and catchy melody over the backing track provided by David. It's not so much the competitive element that attracts me to such contests, but the fact that they are always good for meeting fellow guitarists. It's very interesting to see and hear how others approach such a task, and it's also good to get feedback on your own work. Please check out <a href="http://www.mathiaslang.com/2013/08/a-few-thoughts-about-entering-guitar.html" target="_blank">this post of mine</a> for more deeply philosophical thoughts about guitar contests ;)<br />
<br />
I thought it might be interesting to share with you how I come up with ideas for what to play. I work the same way when I do studio jobs for other people. So I get a mix-down of the song I'm supposed to play on, sometimes accompanied by a lead sheet showing the song's structure and the chords. Then I would just listen a few times, but without consciously concentrating on the music, more like listening to background music. I keep on doing this until some phrases and ideas pop up in my head. Sometimes this goes quickly, other times I need to listen a lot of times. But for me it's important to just "let it happen" without trying hard to find something. This will usually give results that I'm more satisfied with. After filling up my head with ideas I start playing along with my guitar to see how I can realize those ideas. I will discard some, come up with new ones, and as soon as I think that I got something good I start recording. This will definitely not be the final take. At that point I'm just collecting ideas for listening back and choosing. I would usually record 3 to 10 takes, and the higher the number of the take, the more similar the takes become, that's at least the normal development. Depending on how much time I have, I would listen back and then just sleep over it, listen back the next day, record a few more takes, and ultimately decide which one will be the final take. Of course, sometimes I would combine several takes, if I only like certain parts of the different takes. I don't do this, however, when I record videos (such as for the guitar contest), because with the video I prefer a single take. In that case there are always things that could be improved, but it's also healthy to give up perfectionism in certain situations. Of course, for expensive studio productions you get paid to be a perfectionist!<br />
<br />
Anyway, here's my entry. Enjoy!<br />
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<b>UPDATE</b>: Sebbe, one of my students, also entered the contest. Check out his version!<br />
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<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-53724164961343601012015-07-22T17:49:00.004+02:002016-05-01T12:32:37.442+02:00Donna LeeHi guys,<br />
<br />
I'd like to share with you my transcription of the theme of Donna Lee by Miles Davis. I know it has been transcribed a zillion times and you can also find it in the Real Book, BUT there are two reasons why I still did it:<br />
<ol>
<li>There are some errors in the Real Book</li>
<li>The fingerings for guitar are tricky, and it's very important how and where you play it to make it swing</li>
</ol>
<br />
I based my transcription on the 1947 recording of the Charlie Parker Quintet.<br />
<br />
So, why on earth would anybody want to learn that song from almost 70 years ago? Well, first it's a great technical work-out. It's not easy to play the piece at the original tempo (around 220 bpm) and make it sound good at the same time! Second, it teaches you a lot of great bebop licks that you can use for your own improvisations. But in order to be able to re-use those licks, you must try to understand over which chords / chord progressions they are used. So try to find the II-V-I's and all other characteristic progressions that also pop up in many other tunes, and see what Miles Davis and Charlie Parker came up with.<br />
<br />
As usual, start slow, and always listen how it's supposed to sound, because the notation doesn't show everything. I recommend you take the original recording, slow it down, and play along until you nail it, then increase the tempo, etc. Anyway, here's the tabs, have fun!<br />
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You can also find a pdf-version in <a href="http://www.mathiaslang.com/p/test.html" target="_blank">Tabs&Sheet Music</a>.Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-70395249088543788382015-07-13T14:16:00.001+02:002015-07-13T14:21:01.320+02:00Neal Morse + Mike Portnoy in the Effenaar Saturday 18 July<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Mike Portnoy is one of my favorite drummers, and he comes to Eindhoven next Saturday! I guess I can't miss that. I've last seen him in Cologne with the Winery Dogs, this time he comes with Neal Morse. They'll be playing in the <a href="http://www.effenaar.nl/" target="_blank">Effenaar</a>. See you there?Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-3461538885075522372015-06-09T13:42:00.000+02:002015-06-09T13:43:12.170+02:00Student Concert Sunday 21 JuneI happily announce another concert of my students!<br />
<br />
<b>When:</b> Sunday 21 June 2015, starting at 16:00<br />
<b>Where:</b> <a href="http://kraaijenbalder.nl/" target="_blank">Café Kraaij en Balder</a>, Strijpsestraat 79, Eindhoven<br />
<br />
As usual there will be a very mixed program, ranging from guitar solo pieces to pop/rock songs played by a group of students. And we also have two female singers supporting us! After the student concert there will be more music with some special guests joining in. Hope to see you all there!Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-4429209141996746772015-05-30T18:32:00.002+02:002015-05-30T18:36:23.334+02:00Tracking for new Fusion ProjectI'm happy to announce that I've got together with two old friends of mine (<a href="http://mairegen.at/maalo/index.htm" target="_blank">Maalo</a> and <a href="http://www.artyshock.com/hal/" target="_blank">Richard Hal</a>) to record some fusion tracks. We've played together as a live band many many years ago, but now we live in different countries, so we're getting back together as a virtual band. Everybody is recording in their own (home) studio, and we're sending tracks (and videos) back and forth.<br />
<br />
We just started with a bloody difficult piece that we used to play as an intro to our show, but we never recorded it. I needed to sit down and figure it out again, because it's been ages since I last played it. Anyway, below you can see me tracking, just with the drum track, more will be added later. Hope to be able to show you more of our stuff in the near future!<br />
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<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-33735389544613650802014-11-20T18:58:00.002+01:002014-11-20T18:59:27.604+01:00Student Feature: SebbeIn this post I'd like to feature one of my students, Sebbe, who has improved so much over the past few years, and who started making youtube videos of arrangements that we worked on together. This video shows him play an original guitar arrangement of a piece called 'Having Lived' (you can listen to the original piano arrangment following <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBaIvvU4xLw" target="_blank">this link</a>):<br />
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<br />
<br />
Check out <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/ItsTheSebbe" target="_blank">Sebbe's Youtube Channel</a> to see more of his great playing. Here I want to include one more of my favorites, Sebbe's version of Guthrie Govan's "Wonderful Slippery Thing":<br />
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Enjoy!Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-27489670887629561462014-11-09T22:15:00.002+01:002016-03-23T19:01:33.222+01:00Avoid NotesI remember discussing avoid notes with students and other musicians, and very often it turned out that there were many misunderstandings about this concept. Let me first give a definition of the term <i>avoid note</i> from one of my favorite Jazz theory book <i>The Chord Scale Theory and Jazz Harmony</i> by Barrie Nettles and Richard Graf:<br />
<br />
<b>Avoid notes:</b> <i>The pitch or pitches of a chord scale which are not used harmonically because they will destabilize the sound of the chord.</i><br />
<br />
This already clears up the first misunderstanding that avoid notes should be avoided altogether. That's not the case, they are used <i>melodically</i>, e.g. as passing tones or neighboring tones. When playing a solo melody, avoid notes can (and probably should) be used, but they will usually not be used as target notes which are held out for a relatively long time. They will normally occur as short notes between chord tones or tensions.<br />
<br />
The remaining question is: how do you know which notes in a certain scale are avoid notes? The (simplified) answer is: avoid notes are notes that are not part of the chord and that are a half step above a chord tone. The classic example is the fourth scale tone of a major scale. E.g. over a C major chord with the major scale as chord scale, the note F would be an avoid note because it is a half step above the third of the chord (the E). Note that there is no other avoid note in the major scale. I should add that this definition of avoid notes is less accurate than the definition given above. I will provide some counterexamples below.<br />
<br />
It is important to realize that whether a note is an avoid note or not is not purely a property of the scale but also of the chord it is played over. Using the example from above, the F in C major is an avoid note when played of a C major chord. However, if you play a C major scale over a Csus4 chord (C-F-G), then the F is a chord tone and therefore certainly no avoid note.<br />
<br />
Looking at modes as chord scales over seventh chords made up of scale degrees 1, 3, 5, and 7, it turns out that there a some modes without any avoid notes, some others with 1 avoid note, and one with 2 avoid notes (the numbers below are the scale degrees of the avoid notes):<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>ionian (over maj7): 4</li>
<li>dorian (over m7): none</li>
<li>phrygian (over m7): 2, 6</li>
<li>lydian (over maj7): none</li>
<li>mixolydian (over dom7): 4</li>
<li>aeolian (over m7): 6</li>
<li>locrian (over m7b5): 2</li>
</ul>
<br />
From the above list, phrygian has most avoid notes (2), and dorian and lydian have no avoid notes (in all cases interpreted as chord scales over the given seventh chords). Note that if dorian were played over a minor 6 chord, its seventh scale degree would be an avoid note. So, again, whether a note in a scale is an avoid note or not also depends on the chord over which the scale is played. <br />
<br />
Finally, it's important to understand that all these definitions which may appear to be rules are just the result of observing how composers and musicians have used certain scales over certain chords (in certain styles). So if it ever happens that your ears are in disagreement with the above 'rules' then trust your ears. Nowadays we are much more accustomed to certain dissonances than listeners were several centuries ago, and how notes are perceived in a certain context changes over time. The most famous exception to the 'avoid note rule' is the b9 tension of dominant seventh chords. The b9 is a half step above the root of the chord, but there are many situations where it can definitely be used harmonically with a dominant seventh chord. Another typical example which sounds especially nice on the guitar is the chord that result when you shift up an open C chord by two frets:<br />
<br />
X 5 4 0 3 0 (from low to high strings)<br />
<br />
This is a D chord (no 5th) with an added 9 and an added 4. The 4 (the open G string) is actually an avoid note (because it's a half step above the chord tone F# on the D string) but due to the voicing this chord does sound good in certain contexts.<br />
<br />
In sum, it's good to understand what an avoid note is, but after having grabbed the concept, it's even more important to understand that there are no strict rules, just conventions, and that avoid notes can always be used melodically, and that in certain situations they can even be used harmonically.Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-26714436708408436502014-02-18T22:18:00.002+01:002014-02-19T11:30:43.413+01:00Mike Stern Trademark Fusion LickHi guys,<br />
<br />
I've transcribed a lick played by Mike Stern in the song 'Jean-Pierre' recorded at a live show in Umeå in 1996. You can hear the original lick here: <a href="http://youtu.be/ICZHgTh5pi8?t=2m2s" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/ICZHgTh5pi8?t=2m2s</a><br />
When I first heard it, I thought this is exactly what is so typical of Mike Stern's fusion playing: a lot of chromaticism and outside notes in a relentless sixteenth rhythm, resolving into some bluesy phrase. By the way, the lick is in A. There is just a bass groove being played in the background, but the implied harmony is A7/#9.<br />
<br />
Here you can see me play along with Mike Stern and then playing the same lick slowly:<br />
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<br />
And here's the transcription:<br />
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Have fun!<br />
<br />Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-83086966574084581702014-01-14T15:24:00.001+01:002014-02-02T21:14:39.711+01:00II-V-I progressions using Generic Modality Compression (GMC)In my <a href="http://www.mathiaslang.com/2014/01/book-review-creative-chordal-harmony.html" target="_blank">previous post</a> I wrote about the concept of Generic Modality Compression (GMC) as described in the book <i>Creative Chordal Harmony for Guitar</i> by Mick Goodrick and Tim Miller. The wealth of material in this book may seem overwhelming because for each scale there are 10 combinations of three-part chords, and for each chord there are six voicings (you can read <a href="http://www.mathiaslang.com/2014/01/book-review-creative-chordal-harmony.html" target="_blank">my review</a> of the book if you don't know what I'm talking about).<br />
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So I thought about a way to practice some useful GMC chord voicings and their combination by concentrating on only three scales and one type of three-part chord in close voicing: I chose the dorian, altered, and the lydian scale, and I only use chords in fourths (called <i>sus4</i> in the book, which is confusing because in many cases they aren't what we'd usually call a sus4 chord). The chords in fourths I simply chose because I like their sound. And I chose those three scales because they can be used to play II-V-I progressions in a major key. There are also other scales I could have chosen for playing II-V-I progressions, but the other important reason why I chose exactly those scales is the fact that they contain no avoid notes. In the book on GMC the problem of avoid notes is not discussed. In my review I wrote about this issue, so you can read some background information there. Anyway, by choosing chord scales without avoid notes we won't get into trouble.<br />
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So how did I come up with the II-V-I progressions? First, I wrote down all close GMC voicings (in fourths) for each of the three scales. I chose C major as the key, so we get D dorian, G altered, and C lydian. You can find the voicings on the left sheet below. I wrote them out for the string combinations d-g-b and g-b-e. Of course you can choose other strings too, but remember, we wanted to keep things manageable for a start. Then I combined some of the voicings to get II-V-I progressions. There are many combinations, but I wrote down six examples to get you started. You can find these examples on the other sheet below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgVQ755pOOXn72MEfQ2QJSQjcn1T6d3_M5ZG0Y3SjaXegBDIHOKOQ8iZEaLtjyvrnfXzhS1UHa-v0B_nUSD0FYlhssg0wdYqhDILFidnN5sAnjTcb1TvhNPDo_biFCxATyVC-l3XvtXY/s1600/GMC_251_scales.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgVQ755pOOXn72MEfQ2QJSQjcn1T6d3_M5ZG0Y3SjaXegBDIHOKOQ8iZEaLtjyvrnfXzhS1UHa-v0B_nUSD0FYlhssg0wdYqhDILFidnN5sAnjTcb1TvhNPDo_biFCxATyVC-l3XvtXY/s1600/GMC_251_scales.gif" height="200" width="141" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3YbjAzVo_v3LneQ36o0VidBquGfOGX6vB4KvKFeZ_d2Sy1f7oLwHPgaEkaId50sbsNDB_Z1QHGhuAr65QzhXn2A2qkcpfDYy9sFFjZyG-9ThQ3yRCXTJrzmzlTU8BTEeC8P7oAAvkjo/s1600/GMC_251_examples.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3YbjAzVo_v3LneQ36o0VidBquGfOGX6vB4KvKFeZ_d2Sy1f7oLwHPgaEkaId50sbsNDB_Z1QHGhuAr65QzhXn2A2qkcpfDYy9sFFjZyG-9ThQ3yRCXTJrzmzlTU8BTEeC8P7oAAvkjo/s1600/GMC_251_examples.png" height="200" width="141" /></a></div>
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And this is me playing the six II-V-I examples:<br />
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Enjoy those strange sounds and do something useful with them!Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-70968581065028866432014-01-07T12:43:00.000+01:002015-10-25T11:17:35.401+01:00Book review: Creative Chordal Harmony for Guitar by Mick Goodrick and Tim MillerAs I've mentioned in my previous post, I read the new book by Mick Goodrick and Tim Miller: <i>Creative Chordal Harmony for Guitar</i>. In this book the authors introduce their concept of Generic Modality Compression (GMC). Since this term is not really self-explanatory (at least not for me), I was curious what it is all about.<br />
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There are actually only about 10 pages to read, the remaining pages (about 80) are examples in standard notation (no tabs). So, I've read everything, actually twice to make sure I didn't miss anything, I've looked at all the examples, and I've played through many of them. Let me first summarize what I think this book is about, and what you can find in those 90+ pages.<br />
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The basic concept is very simple and can be explained very easily. Take a heptatonic (7-note) scale and remove the root ("compression"). Now you're left with six notes. Divide these six notes into two groups of three. If you try (or if you know basic combinatorics), you'll see that there are 10 possible ways to do that. Now you have 10 pairs of three notes. Each pair, when combined, gives you all six notes of the "compressed" scale (i.e., all notes except the root). These 10 pairs of three notes can be played as three-part chords, or they can be played linearly as melodies (in any permutation, of course). That's what Generic Modality Compression is about.<br />
So, what can you do with it? The idea is that instead of playing complete four-part or five-part-chords, you choose a chord-scale for the chord you want to play, apply the process described above, and then you play the above mentioned three-part chords (either harmonically or melodically). This will hopefully lead you to new voicings and will open up new sounds that you might not have discovered otherwise.<br />
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Let me give you an example to show you how it works in practice. If G7 is the chord over which you want to play, first choose an appropriate scale, e.g. G-mixolydian: g-a-b-c-d-e-f. If we remove the root we're left with six notes: a-b-c-d-e-f. Now we get the following 10 three-note pairs:<br />
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a-b-c * d-e-f<br />
a-b-d * c-e-f<br />
a-b-e * c-d-f<br />
a-b-f * c-d-e <br />
a-c-d * b-e-f<br />
a-c-e * b-d-f<br />
a-c-f * b-d-e<br />
b-c-d * a-e-f<br />
b-c-e * a-d-f<br />
b-c-f * a-d-e<br />
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Each pair contains all six notes, i.e. each pair completely represents the scale apart from the root note G. You can play each of the above groups of 3 pitches as three-part chords. Note that you can use inversions and open voicings, i.e. the three-part chord a-d-f (second inversion of a D minor triad) can (and should) also be played as (from low to high)<br />
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d-f-a<br />
f-a-d<br />
f-d-a<br />
a-f-d<br />
d-a-f<br />
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In this way you'll get tons of three-part chords (and six voicings for each chord) to create new and unexpected sounds (and to keep you busy for a while).<br />
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Those 80 pages of the book in standard notation just contain all possible pairs of three-part chords and their inversions (close and open voicings), first for the mode C ionian (C major). After that the principle is applied to the jazz standard <i>Stella By Starlight</i>. For each chord in that tune, a chord scale is chosen, and the corresponding 3-part-chords are listed. You can listen to the examples on the CD, and there are also play-along tracks for you to practice. Later in the book, there are also examples for the melodic use of this concept ("Arpeggio Permuations"). This is very simple, just take the 3-part-chords from the previous pages and arrange the notes linearly, i.e. play them one after the other.<br />
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OK, that's what this book is about and what you can expect to find in it. Now I would like to make a few critical remarks. First of all, the whole GMC concept as introduced in the book is based on reducing a 7-note scale to a 6-note scale by removing the root. The motivation for removing the root appears to be the 'fact' that the root is played by the bass player, so the guitarist shouldn't bother to play it. Well, especially in a jazz context, you won't find a bass player just playing the root. Maybe the bass will play the root on the first beat of the bar (or maybe not), but anything can happen after that. If also the accompanying instruments are to be given some freedom - as is normally the case in improvised music - then all instruments are responsible for establishing the sound of the mode/chord at any given time. For this reason I think the motivation for removing the root from any 7-note scale is a bit weak. There are great sounding chords/voicings including the root (in a high register), so why not use them?<br />
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I feel that there's another problem with GMC: there is no mention of how to treat <a href="http://www.mathiaslang.com/2014/11/avoid-notes.html" target="_blank"><i>avoid notes</i></a>. Avoid notes are notes in a scale which are not (traditionally) available as tensions for the related chord. E.g., if we choose C ionian (C major) as a chord scale for a Cmaj7 chord, the note F is considered an avoid note, i.e. a note which cannot be added as a tensions to the Cmaj7 chord. Consequently, if a Cmaj7 chord should be outlined using GMC, all 3-part-chords containing the note F should be avoided. But this is not done and not even mentioned in the book. Instead, all 3-part-chords containing a C are avoided, yet this is not always necessary, depending on the chord voicings played by the other instruments.<br />
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I understand that GMC restricts itself to three-part chords, but this fact is not discussed in the book. I think that 4-part chords do sound great on the guitar, and just because six notes (i.e., the compressed scale) can so beautifully be split in two groups of three notes should be no reason to leave out great sounding 4-part voicings.<br />
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Finally, while browsing through the book I got the feeling that there are too many redundant examples. E.g., all the permutations of melodic possibilities of three-part chords. I think it is obvious how to take apart a three-part chord and play its three notes linearly, in any desired sequence. The authors spend many pages on writing out all those possibilities. I would have preferred a few more pages of discussion and motivation, e.g. addressing the issues I've mentioned above (avoid notes, etc.).<br />
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On the bright side, the accompanying CD sounds great and inspires you to play through some of the examples yourself. While doing so, you will definitely discover some chord voicings which you haven't played before. What I also found inspiring was that the book showed me one more possibility to learn a tune: by figuring out all possible (three-part) voicings of the appropriate chord scales for the chord progression of the tune. This is quite some work, but it will give you a lot of freedom while playing through the changes, either harmonically or melodically. And finally, I found the book a great reading exercise. Since there are no tabs you have to read everything from standard notation. And since many of the chords are no standard triads, (sight) reading them can be quite challenging. So despite having a few critical remarks on the book's concept and its presentation, I got quite some inspiration out of it, and I discovered yet another way to study a tune.<br />
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Here a short summary:<br />
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<i>Plus:</i><br />
- nice CD, some great and surprising sounds<br />
- shows you a very thorough method to study a tune<br />
- good reading exercise<br />
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<i>Minus:</i><br />
- no mention of avoid notes<br />
- completely disregarding the root is not sufficiently motivated<br />
- too many pages of redundant examples, at the expense of room for discussing and motivating the concept more thoroughly<br />
- artificial restriction to three-part chords<br />
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Also check my post on <a href="http://www.mathiaslang.com/2014/01/ii-v-i-progressions-using-generic.html" target="_blank">II-V-I progressions using GMC</a>. Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6953314660226042193.post-6809176227674195032014-01-05T17:51:00.000+01:002014-02-02T21:14:39.700+01:00Happy 2014! And some news ...I wish you all a great and successful New Year!<br />
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I've just returned from a trip to Austria, where I was asked to join some of my friends to play a concert at the New Year's party on the main square of Linz. It was great fun to play with people I already played with 20 years ago, and it was also great to share the stage with Johannes Forstreiter, a young Austrian drummer I hadn't met before.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3-HujF-CbexwNTkF_US06LuCgysb60wPxHIM3foLVNzsBx_cKcns33aBk1p6X5J0V2aOPdZr8zM94chxoOCDa4NyqzcFKOsKKoqiXCV8EGqnCmaaUAd7UKYsIBmxPiZVFjHu4X-FD7c/s1600/linz20132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3-HujF-CbexwNTkF_US06LuCgysb60wPxHIM3foLVNzsBx_cKcns33aBk1p6X5J0V2aOPdZr8zM94chxoOCDa4NyqzcFKOsKKoqiXCV8EGqnCmaaUAd7UKYsIBmxPiZVFjHu4X-FD7c/s1600/linz20132.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left to right: Hannes, Maalo, me, Irida, Alexandra Regenfelder</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Here a photo from the soundcheck, you can see that I felt pretty cold ...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZusUip5AtGh6eJumX210bdKsbKIvTcW4_xEFj_JIvBgVGpG6oHJEFSz2qOHL7kxAak9joSRg7f6YatXLSwsdZQqIPtHJs8payv2J1nLZLgril9iAxgBFVkks8OtD7SwkwpbMsJ3R7SE/s1600/linz20131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ZusUip5AtGh6eJumX210bdKsbKIvTcW4_xEFj_JIvBgVGpG6oHJEFSz2qOHL7kxAak9joSRg7f6YatXLSwsdZQqIPtHJs8payv2J1nLZLgril9iAxgBFVkks8OtD7SwkwpbMsJ3R7SE/s1600/linz20131.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Freezing during soundcheck on the main square of Linz on New Year's Eve. </td></tr>
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The concert went really well, even though there was no rehearsal. We just had a few skype sessions to agree on song forms, keys, and solos. I wish it was always that easy ...!<br />
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Let me also tell you what I'm currently working on. Apart from some preparations for concerts starting in February, I'm working on two things right now: I've transcribed a solo by Oz Noy and I'm currently learning to play it. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time for this, but as soon as I feel comfortable with it, I'll record a video and I'll share the transcription with you. The other thing I did was that I finally got myself the latest book by Mick Goodrick and Tim Miller: Creative Chordal Harmony for Guitar. Everybody has been talking about their concept of "Generic Modality Compression (GMC)", and since I'm into music theory and advanced harmony I thought I should also understand what they are doing. Mick Goodrick is an accomplished guitarist and guitar teacher. He has published many books, the most famous of which is probably The Advancing Guitarist, a book I've read (and enjoyed) many years ago. To be honest, I didn't know Tim Miller, but I've checked out some of his youtube videos, and it's obvious that he's a great player from whom we can learn a lot. I'm still playing through the examples in the book, but I'll soon post a book review on this blog. So check back soon!Mathias Langhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07316687770897586643noreply@blogger.com0