When you are done with your practice session…put in 5 more minutes. These extra five minutes often turn into much more and can become very inspired. This might have something to do with the fact that you have done your regimented practice and are now playing for your own fulfillment on the instrument. Also it takes time for your brain and muscles to coordinate the way you want. It is no different than a workout. Those first 10 minutes of exercise can be rough before you hit your stride with endorphins being released, etc. Musicians and athletes both use the terms being locked in or being in the zone.
There have been countless times I was not having a great session and been ready to call it a day when I decided to add an extra 5. Some of my most productive sessions have come out of this practice. I’ve written some of my best compositions and infused strong musicality when I have gotten into ‘the zone.’
Give it a try…if nothing else, you get an extra 5 minutes of practice!
Note to parents of guitar students: This may or may not work with young kids. Even if they love to play their guitar they are often driven to fill their duty i.e., a 20 minute practice session and can get frustrated over extending the time. Of course you know your kids and how they work best.
San Diego is a great town for flamenco guitar. It’s proximity to Mexico, it’s rich Spanish Mission history, Spanish style architecture throughout the community and warm Mediterranean type climate make it a perfect match for the Iberian music.
As a guitarist, I play weddings and events throughout the region and flamenco truly pairs perfectly with our Latin infused city. Both traditional and nova styles of flamenco blend flawlessly with outdoor venues along the Pacific coast, Balboa Park and in so many of the great Mexican restaurants in San Diego.
Another amazing feature of San Diego is the ‘World Famous San Diego Zoo’
Flamingo Guitar by Bernie Lehmann
What an amazing place this is, a must see if you’ve never been. Here you will find beautiful weather and animals ranging from polar bears to pandas and every type of animal in-between including flamingos.
Herein lies a play on words not easily detected by the uninitiated. I am often asked if I can play flamingo guitar?? Do they want me to stand on one leg? Eat shrimp? Wear pink? Well so far this has never been the case…although I like shrimp and my daughter would love for me to wear an all pink outfit…
Nope, I just take it in stride and assume they have made the ever popular inadvertent mistake of transposing the words Flamenco and Flamingo and their true intention is Flamenco!! So far I haven’t been wrong and shown up to a flamenco guitar event where I was expected to wear pink, although sometimes they do serve shrimp.
However you pronounce it flamenco is an incredible form of music from Spain with Middle Eastern influences. It is a music rich in tradition that has been passed on from generation to generation. Great masters of the traditional style include Sabicas and Montoya to Paco de Lucia still with all the great technique in a more contemporary style. Then there is the modern flamenco ‘nova’ style with artists like the Gypsy Kings, Ottmar Liebert and Strunz & Farah bringing flamenco to even more listeners throughout the world. Make sure you give a listen to all the styles below
Remember to ask FLAMENCO for guitar music and FLAMINGO for the zoo!!! Either way San Diego is your city!
Well, it is a little late in the game but you can still cast a vote for the finale.
“Dream On” is facing “Sweet Emotion” for title of best Aerosmith song.
Dream On is obviously Aerosmith’s pinnacle epic type song and is a great tune with great lyrics and Joe Perry’s signature guitar licks. Sweet Emotion is one of their best rockin’ tunes. Again with great lyrics, guitar riffs and solos.
One could argue their most Iconic song is Walk This Way. Everything about this song is stand out. It is a seriously groovin’ rock song. Joey Kramer’s opening drum riff is as recognizable as any drum line ever and the guitar riff occupies a spot as one of the greatest of all time. Steven Tyler was rapping before rapping was rapping…leading to their triumphant resurgence in the 80’s when the boys from Boston teamed up with Run DMC to remake their 70’s classic.
Although there are lots of great songs to choose from their late 80’s to modern day output I think the best Aerosmith song has to come from the 70’s when they were changing the world.
I have always heard that Michael Schenker turned down a stint with Ozzy Osbourne but it appears there were several other suitors who he gave the cold shoulder, as well.
I have been a Michael Schenker fan for 30 years plus. He has been one of my biggest influences.
Michael is one of those elite guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Stevie Ray Vaughan etc. Axemen of different styles that absolutely command their guitars. Guitarists that are known for spending incredible amounts of hours developing their craft to the point where every note displays their musical bidding.
Michael Schenker is very much a man on path. He is a man who has had to face many demons including substance abuse. One thing that you have to admire is that he has always seemed to know his path or perhaps where is path shouldn’t lie.
For that reason he has turned down some of the worlds biggest bands such as the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake and I am sure countless others that have sought his 6 string, Flying V services. Of Ozzy and the Rolling Stones I have heard him say he would be dead if he joined their ranks. Amazing insights from a man who has seemed to have troubles controlling his life the way he does his guitar.
Obviously he chose wisely. Schenker has been tirelessly recording and touring the world over the years. He has a huge cult following around the world from fans who have known him as a founding member of the Scorpions, bringing the band UFO to new heights and as a solo artist.
Click here to hear/see one of Michael Schenker’s great instrumental compositions, “Into the Arena”
This has always been one of my favorite Satriani songs. It has a super cool groove as you might guess from the title but also a lot of complex shredding and interesting compositional things going on, as well.
‘Shredding’-wise, he displays all kinds of guitar pyrotechnics. If you check out the video you will see/hear melodies with flying up the neck harmonics, acrobatic hammer-on arpeggios, right hand tapping and he even makes use of his right hand as a capo while his left hand is pulling and hammering arpeggios.
Compositionally, it is a great tune, as well. There is a simple groove which the song is based upon and interesting and well articulated melodies. The groove is at times interrupted with the aforementioned arpeggios. Satriani interjects some foreign sounds too using the harmonic minor scale that changes the bluesy riff into more of an Egyptian heavy metal soundscape. The highpoint of the composition comes towards the end when he overlaps two different arpeggio sections over each other creating the song’s climax.
Unfortunately, live he can’t quite duplicate this overlapping.
I included the link to the studio version, as well, which better represents all aspects discussed. However, I thought it would be more interesting to see everything going on live.
Listen for some of these items. Actively listening to music can make you aware of things you might’ve never heard before.
Here is the studio version. Listen for the overlapping arpeggios sections at 4:25.
One of my favorites by flamenco guitar master Paco de Lucia. Unfortunately not the best sound/video quality but if you are looking for some inspiration this song will get you going!
A note on setting up a good practicing atmosphere.
Tonight I’ve been working on a few things: practicing music, writing music, setting up my website, working some blog ideas, browsing the internet, researching some music.
Believe it or not I have been getting a lot of quality production in ALL these areas. Herein lies the function of my dysfunction-I get bored easy. When I get bored my mind wanders and I get sidetracked. However, if I set myself up in a good chair for playing guitar, a computer nearby, my phone nearby, the TV on etc,. when my mind wanders it locks onto another project I need to focus on.
Even as a kid I remember doing this. I would have my stereo cranking down the hall, cuz I wanted to hear music, the TV on to keep my mind busy, some homework cause I had to and a guitar in my hand because I wanted to. Hearing the music would give me inspiration, watching TV would give my mind a break and playing guitar was my active focus and the homework got done as I’d take breathers from practicing. I remember this driving my parents nuts sorry mom & dad!
Of course I would never recommend that my students play in front of the TV. Well actually I have recommended it at times for students to keep them focused as it does for me. In all seriousness there are times that complete and utter focus is needed. When I was getting ready for my college recitals there were times I practiced up to 10 hours a day. Most of this time was spent in quiet solitude, focused without all the ‘distractions.’
So a note to my student’s parents perhaps knowing your child’s work and focus habits you can decide the best environment for your kids to practice. Does your child function better in a quiet room or with a few slight distractions, such as, TV on, siblings playing in the same room, you and your spouse conversing???? Maybe mute the TV during commercials over the course of an evening and let them practice in intervals. Sometimes sending your child to their room for a perfectly quiet, focused practice could be sentencing them to a boring solitary experience and never be afraid to comment, ask a few questions and praise your kids as they are working on their new skills. A more social experience may be what they need rather than a solitary ‘ideal’ working area. Then as their interest and skills grow they can develop their own ‘best’ habits.
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 wash of guitar music, getting all four of their albums at one time. From that moment on I knew exactly what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I wanted to play guitar and pass the power of music on to others. Those first four Van Halen albums, “Van Halen,” “Van Halen II,” “Women and Children First” and “Fair Warning” shaped my formative teen years. Eddie’s guitar playing and image changed how I dressed, friends I hung out with guitar equipment I bought, etc. He even married one of my biggest crushes, Valerie Bertinelli. There was nothing not to like about him in a guitar and music loving kid’s eyes.
Back to Spring of ’82 and my long wait. I would listen to 101.5 KGB a local rock station religiously waiting for a first chance to hear some new music from Eddie and the boys. I even used to call the DJs and ask when it was coming or if they knew what the cover art looked like.
Late one night I remember lying in bed listening to the radio and hearing these amazing guitar riffs. I jumped up wondering if this was it. Is it? I kept listening. It sounded a little dark and Van Halen even though they were heavy was always known to be on the happier party side of the rock/Heavy Metal vibe. Maybe it was new Black Sabbath? Didn’t take long that I realized my wait would have to endure just like the kid on “A Christmas Story,” wanting his BB gun. I did find another cool guitarist though. The song I had thought might be the new VH was called “End of the World,” by Gary Moore, a great guitarist who unfortunately passed away last year.
Finally on this day April 14, 1982 it arrived! I made my mom drive me to the local Tower Records and scored “Diver Down,” on vinyl!
I know this album is ranked as a substandard Van Halen offering to some. Even though it was kind of thrown together with a handful of cover tunes there are some great originals, as well. Eddie was at the height of his cool choppy guitar riff composition style on songs like, “Hang ‘Em High,”“Little Guitars,” and “The Full Bug.”“Cathedrals,” was a ‘loudly’ soft spoken guitar solo in which the guitarist traded a pick for left hand hammering and his volume knob to produce sound. The Van Halen brother’s dad, a musician, even sat in with his boys, a clarinet solo on “Big Bad Will (Is Sweet William Now).”
By summer’s end I wore out that record and every 60 minute cassette tape I dubbed it to by listening over and over! Good times!
To this day with the bands latest release this past February “A Different Kind of Truth,” I have made it a tradition to get every one of their albums the day of its release. Gone are the vinyl albums with lots of cool artwork and photos and soon CDs will join their demise. The next release I might just have to download. Although that depends on the quality of compressed audio at that time, a topic for another day.
In the words of Roy and Dale Evans Rogers and from “Diver Down,” David Lee Roth…
Mike Slayen ~ Guitarist 