Guitarist, Composer, Instructor
I have a had a blast sharing some different styles of guitar based holiday music with everyone over the past week. Hopefully, you all found at least one new piece out of the bunch. I did! The Jimi Hendrix medley is a new one to me. This last one is performed by legendary classical guitarist, […]
Continue reading "A Guitar Christmas, John Williams, Villancico de Navidad"
The biggest question regarding this song is the title. Berry sings, “Run Run Rudolph ,” but the title is actually Run Rudolph Run, go figure. Even the video clip shared below is titled incorrectly. Anyhow it is one of the great, fun Christmas tunes around. Enjoy!
Continue reading "A Guitar Christmas, Chuck Berry, Run Rudolph Run"
Do you listen to Joe Pass? If yes, pass GO and collect $200. If not you better catch up on some listening! Listen to how many different ways he treats the melody throughout the piece, true mastery, ENJOY! Note: The video below was accidentally embedded but a great one as well so I will leave […]
Continue reading "A Guitar Christmas, Joe Pass, Santa Claus is Coming to Town"
This is a new one to me. I am sure tired and true Hendrix fans have already heard this one, but, I never even knew it existed. You know when you got to a Christmas party and the host has a holiday playlist where every song sounds like Frank Sinatra? Nothing against Frank I am […]
Continue reading "A Guitar Christmas, Jimi Hendrix, Silent Night/Little Drummer Boy/Auld Lang Syne"
Ho Ho Hoey! Gary made a name for himself with his Ho Ho Hoey Christmas recordings. I have to say I had mixed feelings on Mr. Hoey in his early days. As great a player as he is, he never truly inspired me the way Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai and other players did. I […]
Continue reading "A Guitar Christmas, Gary Hoey, Deck the Halls"
This is one of my favorite Xmas songs to break out and listen to each December. I love the big band rockabilly treatment Setzer gives to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite with just enough guitar in there to make it rock. Even if you think you are not familiar with the Nutcracker you will definitely recognize most […]
Continue reading "A Guitar Christmas, Brian Setzer, Nutcracker Suite"
For those of you who don’t know about Al Di Meola, you are missing out especially if you are a guitar aficionado. Di Meola’s style is a blending of Latin influences with jazz fusion. He is known for blistering solo work and has collaborated with a wide variety of musicians. These partnerships range from rock/metal […]
Continue reading "A Guitar Christmas- Al Di Meola, Carol of the Bells"
The first concert I ever went to was Ozzy Osbourne, January 4, 1982 at the San Diego Sports Arena. I remember it like it was yesterday. The only bummer about this show was that it was right after Christmas vacation from school. Since I was counting down the days until the show I was in […]
Continue reading "Randy Rhoads, 31 Years Gone, Still Influencing Guitarists!"
Well it’s definitely that time already in the music teaching biz! If you are like me, you know it is way too early for Christmas music, at least for listening. However, with student performances and CD recording projects coming up SOON it has been my experience that the day after Halloween needs to be the […]
Continue reading "It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year…"
Man, do I remember spring thirty years ago. I could not wait for the new Van Halen record to come out. I had just recently become a fan a few years late to the Van Halen party because I was so young. The upside, however, was that I became completely immersed into a life changing […]
Mike Slayen ~ Guitarist 