Legendary bassist Dave Holland is now in his fifth decade as a jazz performer. His solo work and his ensemble leadership are equally extraordinary. Holland first became a familiar name as a member of Miles Davis’ group.
January 23, 2010 marks the 100th birthday of the late Django Reinhardt. Most jazz guitarists are aware of his music and his life story.
This latest DVD release from Longtail Distribution promises to take the viewer “behind the scenes to get a backstage look at what it takes to present the legendary band Rush during their 2008 Snakes & Arrows Concert Tour.
To open the lesson I have transcribed an example of a “practical” use for the tapping techniques discussed thus far. Here for your delight is my version of “Flight of the Bumblebee” using multiple finger tapping. Have fun with this example before moving on to the second sets of examples, “Bumblefoot.”
For his latest release with Telarc Records, bluesman Otis Taylor has enlisted an all-star cast of jazz musicians. Pentatonic Wars and Love Songs features Taylor on vocals, acoustic guitar, and banjo, Jason Moran on piano, Ron Miles on cornet, Tarus Mateen on bass, and Nasheet Waits on drums. Aside from this core of musicians, Taylor has incorporated a slew of various instruments not commonly associated with blues music including African drums, violin, and cello. Otis’s daughter Cassie Taylor also provides vocals and bass on multiple tracks.
Allan Holdsworth has long been known as one of the most exciting and technically facile jazz-fusion guitarists in the world.
Croatian guitarist Ivan Mihaljević officially hits the international guitar scene with the release of his CD Sandcastle. Joined by band mates Majkl Jagunic (bass) and Craig Devine (drums), Sandcastle is a solid collection of guitar rock that will send many guitarists back to the woodshed to reprioritize their practicing.
In this instalment I’ll present the five shapes required for the most extreme uses of the pentatonic scale. The lesson will provide you with the techniques you need to create long, flowing pentatonic lines in a fluid, legato fashion.
This article is intended to be an extension of the ideas we looked at in the two-hand tapping article (see link below), but also to help you use the techniques you already know in a more creative manner. Bidexteral tapping is a term I credit to Derryl Gabel for creating. It’s a technique, which as the name suggests, involves using fingers on both hands to execute fluid tapping ideas. You can find tapping of this nature a lot in the work of Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and in the chorus to “Sevens” by Guthrie Govan, to name a few examples.
Australian guitar aficianado, Tommy Emmanuel, must be one of the hardest working and most likable musicians on the planet. His touring schedule of over 300 concerts a year, strikes awe in many of his fellow musicians and his infectious personality brightens up even the most dismal of days.
