Ukulele, Guitar, and Music Notation Software

I cleaned out one of my music folders today.  The one that I use primarily for beginner uke workshops.  I recycled about two pounds of paper.  I feel bad about the waste, but it's kind of what happens when you are a uke instructor.  People constantly "give" you more and more music.  Most of which is either not good for what you are doing or has a lot of errors.

The plus side is that now the folder is clean again and only contains what I use to teach.  The next step is a further redesign of the course (which I've already sketched out).  This will put me in front of the computer making lead sheets and chord diagrams along with writing out exercises and organizing things that way.

Just as an FYI, I thought it would be good to describe what I use for all this mess.  The unfortunate thing is that most software for music is expensive.  I would love to own a copy of Sibelius or another high end notation software, but I'd also like to pay off debt, feed my family, and put gas in my car.  I have cobbled together a modest collection of software that does about 90% of what I want.

Neck Diagrams

This is a great software that isn't crazy expensive.  It does a few things like designing page layouts and helping to create books of music work.  What it excels at (and is about the only good thing out there for) is making neck diagrams and charts.  The biggest downside is that it has no notation or tabbing ability.  But, you can easily import images of tab and notation and organize it on the page.

Noteflight.com

Noteflight.com is such an awesome community notation website.  It is a very powerful tool for creating notation music charts.  Lots of variables to make layout look good.  It is limited in some of the layout and that there is no ukulele tablature nor is there any chord diagrams.  But, you can sign up for a free version to get you started or pay a monthly fee for unlimited access.



Guitar Pro 6

This is probably the best compromise between the need for chord diagrams in a score, music notation, tablature, and multiple instruments.  It's extremely powerful and rather easy to use compared to some of the other notation softwares out there.  And it doesn't break the bank by comparison.  Sure, it's limited (just like everything is).  The biggest negatives are in text size of lyrics and the slash notation not being available in the standard notation (minor pet peeve of mine).  Overall, though, it's great.

Things I Would Like

If there are any developers out there that want to make a musician happy, here are a few things that lack in most software that I really wish I had:

• Ability to take notation with chords and lyrics and create a lyrics and chords only lead sheet.  I think this is a feature in some software, but it is very lacking in most.
• Drag and drop stuff around.  Let me tell you where I want to put that chord diagram!!!
• Line by line exporting.  It would make it so much easier to write a music book if I could just export a line at a time to a small image file.
• Fully customizable tablature.  Some do this, most limit to guitar and/or bass.  Even when you have customization in some, it's limited to some "standard" tunings.
• Capo ability.  We all use them, let me notate it.

There are more out there, but for the most part, this is what I use.  Add in the occasional use of word processing software and image software and that makes up the majority of my creative music suite.  And I got all of mine for much less than the $500 price tag of the big notation softwares.

Should You Learn to Read and Write Music?

Go out to a guitar or ukulele forum right now and post this question.  Wait about an hour and look at the responses...  I'm betting that you have just started a forum war.  Half with say you should, while the other will say you shouldn't.  Both opinions will likely not answer the question for you.  And, at the end of the day, you will still struggle with the question in your own head.

So, here's my take:

I've never met a musician who learned to read and write music who said it was a waste of time.  This is true of all instrumentalists: guitar, ukulele, piano, trumpet, accordion, etc.  It has always been a rewarding pursuit.

That said, to be proficient at it, you will have a lot of work ahead of you.

Why it's a good idea:

Basically, it boils down to communication.  If you cannot effectively communicate your musical ideas to other musicians (or to your future self), then you are setting your music up to fail.  reading and writing music is how we communicate "off instrument".  Words don't work for us.

Think about it like music is a foreign language, like Italian. You can listen to tapes and learn to speak the Italian, but as soon as you are reading the menu at a cafe in Venice you are going to be at a loss because you never learned how to read those words properly.  Sure, you might stumble through it, but there will be a loss in translation.

Music is no different.  You can listen and learn how to play a tune, but as soon as you are trying to get your point across to other musicians off instrument, you're lost.

Amateur vs. Professional

Obviously, in the guitar and ukulele world (and many other fretted instruments) there is clearly no emphasis on reading music efficiently.  We are only really expected to read chord symbols and lyrics off of a chord sheet and that's about it.  And that is totally fine.  There is NOTHING wrong with being an amateur musician.  Keep it simple and keep it fun.  That's the point!

But, if you are a budding professional musician, then you need to dedicate yourself to understanding the craft.  Sure, you can play "All the Things You Are" with a beautifully crafted chord melody and bass line.  However, can you communicate what you are doing so the rest of your band can understand where to come in?

Maybe you intend on being a soloist your entire musical career... That's fine too.  Nothing wrong with that.  But, as many musicians will agree, your future self is very forgetful.  Having a way to document how you did something makes remembering it later as easy as reading.

In the long term, learning to read and write music is a great skill.  If you only get into it a little as an amateur musician, that's fine.  But, as you work your way towards being a musician of professional quality, it is essential that you can communicate with other musicians.

~Danny

P.S.:  There is another reason you should learn to read music: money.  There are literally thousands of musicians out there that are trying to get noticed.  Being able to read off of a piece of sheet music will get you noticed.  Getting noticed gets you hired!  I've had a few jobs that came to me because I could read and the other guy couldn't (these were musicals).  It is worth it!

Guitar vs. Ukulele: Personal Reflection

A week ago I spent Wednesday through Sunday at my first national music event: The Folk Alliance International Winter Music Camp and Conference.  I can't tell you how much of a blast I had.  Not only did I learn a ton, but I felt like a very respected member of the teaching staff for the camp.  Tons of friendships and contacts were made, and a new step in my career was made.

Over the last week since then I have had two out of three gigs and tons of time trying to absorb the many notes that I took that week and made since.  I've already logged something close to thirty (that's 30) hours this week in music between playing, practicing, and writing.  In all of this, I have also been reflecting a lot.

In particular, I've been reflecting on my time spent on guitar vs. my time spent on ukulele.

Honestly, I love both instruments, but as a musician I am constantly forced to do two things very well:  Play my instrument and create an image.

I can play both guitar and ukulele well, but ukulele comes much more naturally to me.  It seems like everything from rhythm to melodies lay out in a much more logical way.  Which is crazy, I know, given how similar the instruments are.

As for image... Well, let me just say that one of my favorite gigs, Headrush, talks more about my ukulele music than about my guitar.  Even my mom likes my ukulele more than my guitar.

I don't want you to get the idea that I'm giving up guitar for ukulele.  Far from it.  My work at my church alone will keep me playing guitar quite a bit every week.  Add in the musicals I do and the fact that I just really like playing jazz guitar, and I'll be keeping up with it.

But, as my forte performance instrument... I've decided to finish the Koolaide and go full on with ukulele.  I'll be focusing more time on that instrument and working more and more on the arrangements for my gigs.  I'll also be doing some recording and notation which I will share with my blog here.  The end goal: Building my brand as a ukulele player.

~Danny

Finger Nails

Most guitar and ukulele musicians realize that nail care is a part of being a good musician.  However, very few of us play often enough to need to think beyond just keeping yourself well groomed.  I know of a several musicians that keep a nail care kit that has a clipper and a file in their case or gig bag.

But what happens when you play a lot?

Well, by a lot I mean two or more hours a day, every day.  That is close to what I average.  Some days, it seems more like I will get a four hour day in.  This can be rough on your nails.

The way I strum ukuleles is by using the top of my index finger for down strums (and the pad for up). Even on nylon strings this can wear down a finger nail quickly.  In addition, I noticed recently that when I play guitar, I tend to graze that same nail across the top of the strings even when I am using a pick!

It is because of this that I started asking the wonderful ladies in my life about nail care.  Guys, you won't believe the amount of good info the ladies have on nail care.  It's kind of impressive!  After this "research", I've come up with a few habits that guitarists and ukuleleists should have when it comes to nail care:

The 4 Nail Care Habits of Effective Musicians

1. 1. Moisturize - You'd be surprised how much just keeping your hands well moisturized will help with your nail health.  
2. 2. Vitamin E - Using a nail specific vitamin E application will keep the nail bed healthy and strong.
3. 3. Trim Them Often - Everyone's nails grow at different speeds.  If you are like me, you should plan on trimming them weekly, not just when the "need it".
4. 4. Hard as Nails - Lastly, when you find out that you have a nail that gets worn more than the others, use a product called Sally Hansen Hard as Nails with Nylon. It will keep them hard and won't wear off near as much as the nail itself.

Other Tips

A lot of players use the press on type of acrylic nails.  Everything I have read about them makes me cringe.  The talk is that your nail will eventually get a fungus and fall off.  I'm guessing you don't want that.

If you really need the longer finger nails for picking (and some do), my advice is to go to a salon and tell them you are a guitarist/ukuleleist and that you need only one hand (or so many fingers) done with gels.  Gels will last a while.  Once you are used to them, you can probably invest in the equipment (lamp, applicator, etc) to do them at home.

Of course, all of this is for your right (picking) hand.  For your left hand, the best thing is to keep them short and clean.  I've had students before who had longer finger nails and liked getting them done up.  Hell, Dolly Parton performed with strangely long nails!  But, you aren't Dolly Parton.  Odds are, if you have longer nails, they are getting in the way.  Make the sacrifice and cut 'em down.  You'll thank me later.

~Danny

Swing Guitar - Part Nine

The Soloing primer

As an additional appendix to the swing guitar workshop, I wanted to provide students with the bare bones approach to soloing so they would have a jumping off point.  That being said, the truth is sort of grim:  There is no easy method to soloing.  Every method I have ever seen or studied takes time and effort to master.  That said, when I got started in soloing (which wasn't long ago) I found a few things pushed me ahead further than others.  Here are a few of those techniques.

First and foremost, I can't recommend enough that you learn the melody (also referred to as the head) to any song you are soloing over.  The melody is full of every element that will make a solo sound good and should NOT be overlooked as a starting place.  In fact, in many styles of music (i.e.: bluegrass, swing) playing the "head" of the song perfectly is considered to be the best solo you could possibly do.

In order to get the dexterity up and muscle memory to really make learning melodies easy and then creating solos, the best place I know to start is the major scale and its modes.  Now, I'm not going to advocate that you spend hours and hours trying to remember and play each of the modes by name.  However, I do advocate learning to see the major scale in five positions on the neck.  This is how I approach it and it has done me a ton of good.

Basically, we are playing the major scale and extending it across the finger board both up and down as far as we can while staying within a given position.  Each of the positions is named for the degree of the scale which they start on.  So, for shape 5, we start on G since G is the 5th degree of the C major scale.

After you have mastered the five positions, a good next step is to work through arpeggios within those shapes.  Arpeggios are another lesson altogether so we won't get too much into it here.  But, they are incredibly useful as a soloing tool since they will basically outline the chord changes in a tune as you play!

But don't stop there!  As you go, you should look for other scales to build solos from as well.  Scales like minor and major pentatonics, harmonic minors, whole tones, and blues scales just to name a few.  With each new scale, try to play solos using only those scales and really work it up in the woodshed.

Another key part of soloing is building speed.  The best way I know to do this is to go slow and use a metronome.  Remember that guitar playing is just like any other physical activity in that we have to build up muscle memory in order to sort of automate ourselves.  By practicing things slowly and accurately, you will build up that muscle memory so that when you speed things up, you will be more accurate and sound better.

Lastly, just a couple of notes on practicing.  We live in a very fortunate age as musicians because we have access to some awesome practice tools that our predecessors didn't.  Namely, computers and all the great things they do.  I use an iPad when I practice and it has helped a lot.  That said, you don't necessarily need one.  But, assuming you have computer access since you are reading this, I would say you need to have the following:

- Tuner
   * Either a clip on or something on your computer/iPad/iPhone
- Metronome
   * I use one on my iPhone/iPad
   * Small units can be gotten fro $20 at most music shops
   * There are numerous free online metronomes
- Recording software
   * I use Soundcloud and DAW
   * You could also use a digital recorder or a micro cassette recorder
- Backing track software
   * I use iReal Pro and it is amazing for the price.
   * There is also Band in a Box, but it is pricier.
   * I have also found one or two free online backing track makers that are useful.

The biggest need on that list (outside of a tuner of course) is something that you can use as a play along.  Whether you are typing in chord changes that the computer plays back (iReal Pro, Band in a Box, etc) or recording yourself using a digital recorder (or Soundcloud, DAW, etc), having some way to play over changes (chord progressions) is a must.  Once you get a certain shape or scale memorized enough that you can play it fairly regularly, then start trying to play that scale up against a play along backing track.  This way, you can start to hear how the notes line up with the chords.

~Danny

Swing Guitar: Part Six

Simple Moving Bass Notes

Six Foot One is a good example of a tune that we can use the simple concept of alternating bass notes.  As in many forms of music, bass lines can be very simple in Swing (they can also be very complicated walking bass styles). 

Alternating bass usually refers to alternating between the root (or tonic) note of a chord and the fifth as the bass of the chord.  To create the alternating bass style we are going to use a couple of chord shapes that we have already seen together.

If you don't remember the chords to Six Foot One, here is a refresher.

Now, let's look at how we alternate those bass lines.




And the video...

Notice how the alternating bass line moves the rhythm of the song.  This is really useful technique for adding that sort of moving or driving sound to your playing.

A word of caution, though...  When playing with a bass player, this sort of movement can really get in the way of the overall sound.  It's important to let the bass player be a bass player.  Just like it is important for them to let you be a guitar player!

That said, in ensembles where there is not a bass player, and especially when you are playing solo or accompanying a soloist, this method is really useful.  Just to play around with it, try not using a pick and just using your fingers!!!

~Danny

Swing Guitar: Part Five

This is part five of my Swing Guitar Workshop which I will be teaching at the Folk Alliance Winter Music Camp this coming February.  Make sure to visit their website and get signed up for the camp.  There will be tons of great classes from local and national musicians on all types of music.

Six Foot One, Tons of Fun

Again, we need to change names around.  I'm betting you know the tune. It's FIVE times as fun as a FOOTball game played by TWO leprechauns.

Hehe...

This tune makes a great teaching platform from the Circle of Fifths because it basically follows the circle in a dominant cycle.  Plus, after we learn the regular tune, we will come back to this and look at it with some fun bass note stuff in another lesson.

made with iRealb

 Just in case you didn't know, the symbol "N.C." in the last two measures of the B section mean "No Chord".  Basically, after you play the G7, there is a break there.  When I play solo, sometimes I will mute all the strings and strum (or scratch as I call it) to the bit to keep time.

Take a look at this handout I'm using for the class for an explanation of the chord shapes that I will be using.

Now, here is the example via SoundCloud:



Take a look at this and play around with it. We will get some variations into the tune in a future lesson.  In the mean time, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

~Danny

Swing Guitar: Part Four

This is the fourth installment of my series on Swing Guitar comping.  As I've mentioned before, this is my prep work for an upcoming workshop that I will be teaching for the Folk Alliance's winter conference.  Check them out for more information. I hope to see you there!

This lesson will focus on a tool that musicians of every level and genre use: The Circle of Fifths.

I talked a little in previous lessons about how this was used in terms of dominant cycles.  This will be just a brief explanation of how to use the Circle of Fifths as a comping tool and as a reference tool.  There are so many different uses of the Circle that I won't be able to cover all of them here, but I do hope to give you a good working explanation as well as how to use it in Swing Guitar.

What's a Fifth

When we say a fifth, we are talking about an interval between two notes.  In this case, a root (or tonic) note and the fifth degree (or note) on a scale.

To find that fifth, we count the root as one and work our way up the scale.  In the key of C, the fifth note is G.  To build our circle, we keep doing this until we come back to C natural.  In all, there are twelve notes (just like there are twelve positions on a clock; weird!).


The Circle

As a cool little mathematical (read: magic) result, by moving through the twelve notes around in fifths, when we reverse it, we are working in fourths!  Notice that "F" is the fourth degree of the C major scale.

Minor chords

As a reference, many people who use the Circle tend to group the relative minors of each key/chord with the majors already listed.  To find a relative minor, we simply count up six notes on the major scale.  Notice that would be "A" on the C major scale so we use Am.

Below is the circle with the relative minors written in for you.

Dominant Cycle Exercises


Learning to use the Circle as a practice tool can making learning new chords shapes, progressions, scales, arpeggios, licks, or any other melodic or rhythmic device a lot more fun.   Here are some ideas on how to use dominant cycles for practice:

Scales
- Choose a scale such as a mode of the major scale
- Use one fingering to play the scale in C
- Move a fifth to play the scale in G
- Keep moving in fifths around the circle
- Do the same as above moving in fourths

Chord Progressions
- Pick a progression in C keeping chords within two or three frets
- Move a fifth to G and play it again
- Keep moving until you have gone around the circle
- Do this again moving in fourths

Chord Shapes
- Pick a chord shape you are trying to master
- Play the C version of the shape
- Move a fifth to G and play it again
- Keep moving until you have gone around the circle
- Do this again moving in fourths

Again, working in dominant cycles in a great way to learn the relationships of different chords and notes.  And by playing though exercises using the circle, you will inevitably learn the fretboard as well.

Backcycling

Last but not least, I wanted to share something that makes the circle really useful in jazz.  Backcycling is  method of following the chords of a particular key backwards.  Let's look at the C major scale notes again and then harmonize them.

C - D - E - F - G - A - B

Now Harmonized (make them chords)

Cmaj7 - Dm7 - Em7 - Fmaj7 - G7 - Am7 - Bm7b5

Now, let's put them in order with the circle.  Note that the if we look at C and move around the circle in fifths until we run out of notes on the C major scale, we end with B.  So, that is where we will start.

Bm7b5 - Em7 - Am7 - Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7 - Fmaj7

Now let's look at the numbers for those chords:

vii - iii - vi - ii - V - I - IV

Here is a look at it with all that on the circle.

 

Notice the ii - V - I in there???  In fact, some tunes you will see this cycle work through from start to finish!  This means that if you can master this harmonization of the circle in all keys you have the bare bones to learn a lot of the jazz and swing repertoire that is out there!

Take a look at all this and have fun with it.  If you have any questions, feel free to post them and I'll do my best to help explain!

~Danny

Swing Guitar: Part Three

This week is the third part of my series on swing guitar comping.  We will be learning our first tune!

Before we get started, there is a bit of confusion to alleviate.  Copyrights are difficult.  Getting your own stuff copyrighted and then knowing how not to infringe on the copyrights of others.  It can get really confusing!  Without getting too technical, the copyright on music here in the U.S. lasts as long as 120 years.  This means, the only music that you can count on being public domain is something that was written 1893 or before (it's 2013 today).  Since most swing music came out of the 20s and 30s, it presents a problem.

Like the tune "Bye Bye Blackbird" which I want to use for this lesson.  Written in 1926, it won't be public domain until 2046.  So, since guitarists are so clever, those of us not wanting to tempt fate will either use the chord progression (always a derivative) and use a clever pseudonym.  For our use, I'm calling this piece that I just wrote "Goodbye, Dark Grey Bird". (I'm hilarious!)

Moving On...

First, the chord chart (and an explanation):

Created Using iRealB

For the most part this isn't just totally hard to understand.  But, there is some symbology that may need to be interpreted. (In the final outline of this class for the conference, I'll probably have already covered it...)

First, the chord symbols are a bit different.  Here is the guide:
G^7 => Gmaj7*
A-7 => Am7

These are very common jazz chord notations.  Get used to seeing them because they are used a lot in swing repertoire.

Also, you see the "%" symbol being used in a measure with no chords.  This symbol means to repeat the previous measure the same way it was played.  Again, just a common short hand that we use.

A couple of other things to point:  This song is a variation on what is know as AABA song form.  It doesn't follow it strictly, but it does follow the sense of that form.  Song forms are similar to rhyme form only in regards to melody and harmony.  Think of it as a "Verse, Verse, Chorus, Verse" form which is common in rock and folk styles.

A key difference in the AABA form of this song from others like it is that usually the A sections are the same (give or take a turnaround or ending).  That's just a good thing to note here.

Now, let's look at the chords we are using:

As I said in the previous lesson, some of our chords do not have a root or tonic note in them.  This is alright as many times we play with a bass player and we can rely on him/her to play that note.  Even solo, we can still play this chord in context and it sounds real good!

How to Practice Tunes

I'm going to assume that you are a beginner level player.  If you aren't, then learning tunes should be easy and you can skip ahead if you like.

The best way I know to practice a tune is to break it up into sections.  For this tune, we have already stated that it is an AABA form. So, take the first A section a few times and play through the chords out of rhythm.  Just strum them to get the movement under you fingers. 

If there are any chords you are having trouble fingering, then go back and forth to them from others until the movement is easy and natural.  This may take some time, but you should concentrate on building that muscle memory.

After you have one section, move to the next doing the same thing until you can easily change chords without much space between.

Now, it is time to start up your rhythm again.  Remember the four-to-the-bar rhythm?  Use that!  Set yourself an easy pace, say 80bpm or so at first.  Play through it making sure to stay at that pace. (USE A METRONOME!)  Once you can go through it easily, up the it by five or ten bpm and keep practicing until you can play it faster than you need to live.

Here is an example of what it should sound like:

Goodbye Dark Grey Bird (Soundcloud)

When you follow that link, notice that Soundcloud does a spectrum thingy (technical jargon) to display a visual of the sound.  In a straight four-to-the-bar comp style, that looks like spikes or fence posts evenly spaced. This was an unintended side effect of recording it on Soundcloud.

Melody

In the workshop, there won't be much talk about working melody and solos, but I figure I should at least give you something. 

My tune doesn't have a melody line listed, but I'm betting you could use the melody to Bye Bye Blackbird here if you wanted.

The first step to soloing is not scales. At least not in swing.  Later, those can be really cool.  In swing, the first step is being able to play the melody in time.  Once you can do that, you can build solos off of the melody using scales, arpeggios, or any other melodic device you want.  But first, LEARN the MELODY!

That's all for this week, let me know if you have any questions!


Foot notes
* The delta symbol is hard for me to type. I can't quite get it.  For now, assume that '^' is the same as a delta triangle.
** Because we rarely play the verses in swing, the A sections are actually choruses and the B is the bridge.

Swing Guitar: Part Two

This is the second in a series of posts about beginning swing guitar comping.  This is also the basic outline of what is to come for a workshop at the Folk Alliance winter music camp here in Kansas City.  If you haven't already, make sure to check the Folk Alliance out and get registered for the camp.  It will be extremely worth it!

In the last post, we talked about our first set of chords.  These were a minor seven, dominant seven, major seven, and sixth chord.  In this lesson, we are going to look at the same chord qualities, only in a different fingering.

Here is the handout of this part of the lesson:

Again, memorize these shapes.  They are extremely useful.

Along with the new chords (top line), I'm also discussing the four possible inversions of the chord and the fact that the root is not always present or on the 6th string.

Inversions are an extremely important part of swing and jazz guitar.  In this genre, we don't learn on shape for every occurrence of a particular chord (like in rock you might always play G the same way).  Instead, we learn certain arrangements of chords and their inversions that we can mover around the neck of the guitar.

Inversions just means a different order of the same notes of the chord.  In the type of chords that we are looking at here, Drop 3 chords, we keep a bass note on the 6th string and play two more chord tones on strings 4 and 3. There are many other chord groups out there that use different arrangements of the strings.

For these chords, since we are using four notes (root, third, fifth, seventh) there are four different inversions.  On the handout, I show you each of the inversions which are used for each of the beginning bass notes (again: root, third, fifth, seventh).

So, why have the inversions at all?  There are really two reasons.  First, we can use inversions to keep chord close together.  This is a technique called voice leading, but can also just be thought of as economy (meaning, not having to move really far for a chord).  Second, when we get to a point of wanting to move a bass line around, knowing your inversions is the first step.

Practice

As I said last lesson, the best way to practice any new progression or new set of chords like this is to use the fifths.  I called it using the Circle of Fifths last time.  More formally, this is known as dominant cycles.  (Moving either in fourths or fifths.)

I don't want to glaze over dominant cycles (especially since it will lead us to one of our tunes in this series), so I will leave a better explanation for another day.

In the mean time, I went a step beyond this week.  Here is a Noteflight document of the chords played using a dominant cycle in four to the bar comping.

ii-V-I Dominant Cycles Drop 3 #2

Okay, if you have any questions on the lesson or any input, please let me know. I'd love to hear from you!

~Danny

Swing Guitar Comping Part One

I got a cool surprise last week when the Folk Alliance asked me to teach a couple of swing guitar workshops.  They are holding their conference and Winter Camp in February of this coming year and, lucky for me, like to use local musicians for teaching whenever possible.  After some showing off on my part at their store in the River Market here in balmy Kansas City, I got an email the other day asking if I would teach to which I obviously said: Yes!

Now, I'm needing to work through the workshop and create all the handouts and tunes info.  So, guess what, viewers.  I'm using you to experiment on!

Both of the workshops will be on beginner swing guitar technique, mostly rhythm (the biggest part of swing is the rhythm).  That said, basic prerequisites will apply:  Guitarists need to be familiar with basic 12 bar blues progressions, be able to play most bar chords, and understand the very basics of the major scale.

Okay, now that we are all on the same page, here we go with the first set of chords from the handout:

Take a look at that and memorize those chords shapes in the second line.  When I play swing guitar, this is my bread and butter.  It's used more often that you'd think.

I did a lot of explaining on the sheet, but there are a few extra little things you should hear to make this really make sense.

First, swing guitar usually exists in a four to the bar rhythm.  So, instead of a more complicated rock rhythm where we would use various sets of quarter notes and eighth notes. we use instead four quarter note strums for each bar.  The strums should be short and not really connected.  Think more like the hit of a snare drum rather than the hit of a cymbal.  The snare is short, the cymbal rings.  We want short.

Also, note that you are not using large six note voicings.  These smaller three note voicings are create a much tighter tone.  The strings "x's" on the chord shape should be muted with your fingers so they do not ring.  However, you do want a little bit of the percussive sound from the pick hitting the string itself.

Here is a short video of what I'm talking about in the four to the bar and muting the strings.

As for practicing, do this progressions in as many keys as you can.  I listed out the notes of the bottom two strings for you, but you should really memorize this so that you can quickly reference it in your head as you play.

Here is a good order for practicing the progression (I'm using the circle of fifths as a guide):

Am7 - D7 - Gmaj7 - G6
Em7 - A7 - Dmaj7 - D6
Bm7 - E7 - Amaj7 - A6
F#m7 - B7 - Emaj7 - E6 <-- This is best done at the twelfth fret
C#m7 - F#7 - Bmaj7 - B6
Abm7 - Db7 - Gbmaj7 - Gb6
Ebm7 - Ab7 - Dbmaj7 - Db6
Bbm7 - Eb7 - Abmaj7 - Ab6
Fm7 - Bb7 - Ebmaj7 - Eb6
Cm7 - F7 - Bbmaj7 - Bb6
Gm7 - C7 - Fmaj7 - F6
Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7 - C6

As I noted above, when you get low enough on the fretboard that the shapes used require open strings, jump up an octave (12 frets) and work the shapes there.  This will actually make it easier to play in this style.

If you have any questions on this lesson, make sure to either email me or post a comment.  I'd be happy to answer anything you got.  Also, look for the next part of this series of lessons to be coming soon.

~Danny

P.S.: This occurred to me while recording the video.  We go from the Maj7 to the 6th chord during the four bars of comping as a way of keeping the movement going.  There is a more complicated explanation I could give, but this will due for now.

Warming Up

Recently, a guitarist I admire a lot put me in my place.  Not in a bad way, but he reminded me that I need to follow my own advice and not be big headed about what fundamentals I should be working on.  He did this with one of the easiest technique building exercises out there.  One that I had been prescribing to students for years.

I'm going to refer to it the same way he does:

The Warm Up

Simply put, the Warm Up is an exercise that is mostly non-diatonic (so it doesn't follow a regular scale) and is more about developing good left and right hand technique and less about music theory.  In fact, I'm pretty sure we can ignore music theory for a minute on this one.

We will start at the lowest string (E for guitar, G for ukulele*) with our index finger. Number off your fingers from index to pinky as one two three four.  This should correspond to the first four frets of the instrument.  So, first finger, first fret and so on. Now play the tab below:

Notice that we are moving ascending chromatically up each string four notes regardless of any music relation.

The point here is not to make music, although you can do it in a rhythmic way.  The point is to develop our left hand fingers' touch and the tone we get on the instrument.  Also, we can either pick or finger pick the strings and work on our right hand technique as well.

Now, once we have done this up to this point, we need to move back down the strings again. Before we do this, we slide up one one fret. Then, play your way down in the following fashion:

Dave: Wait, why don't you descend chromatically on each string as you come back down.

That was actually a question I got.  Like how I did that?

You can do that if you want.  But, by following the pattern above, you are breaking your fingers up from thinking going-down-a-string-is-always-descending.

Now, once you have gotten to the highest point you are comfortable playing (something like twelve or fifteen frets; maybe ten if you are on a soprano ukulele) we need to come back down the neck.  We'll do this in a similar fashion, only this time we will descend on each string. So, it will look like this:

This time, we are descending.  As you guess it, we will work our way back up the strings again in a descending chromatic manner.

The Good Part

So, this is a good exercise and I encourage you to do it slowly and thoughtfully at first trying to get your fingers doing things right rather than fast.  Once you can work your way up and down without any mistakes, you then want to get out our good friend Mr. Metronome.

The examples I have for you above are in eighth notes.  Playing at a slow speed, say 60 bpm to start, work through the exercise up and down without stopping.  Once you can do this in time at whatever speed you started at, move up a few clicks (like say 63 in our example) and try it there.

The goal with developing speed is starting slow.  You need time working something slowly to get the muscles in your hands working together and using their memory (muscle memory) first before you can speed up.

Bonus

Four bonus for today:

1) After going up and down, take a moment to stretch out the muscles in your fingers and hands.  Think like you are a soccer player.  You would end up with a major injury if you walked out of your locker room and started playing a game without a warmup and stretch.

2) Do this every day to build it up.  You don't always have to start slow.  You will know where to start as you get more proficient, but always start at a slower speed than you are wanting to work up to.

3) To work on your swing rhythm, try using the metronome as if it is only clicking on beats 2 and 4.  So if you are wanting to go 100 bpm, you need to set it at 50 bpm.  Then count 1, click, 3, click to get yourself moving. This will be hard and suck at first, but it will payoff loads later.

4) Finally, the patterns of up and down that I gave you above are a starting point.  You can, if you feel up to it, work on alternating fingers in inventive ways.  For instance, instead of 1, 2, 3, 4 try 1, 3, 2, 4 going up and then 4, 2, 3, 1 going down.  Mix it up and make those fingers start to think for themselves!

* Yes, I know that re-entrant tuning that would not be the highest string.  Let's imagine that you have a low G tuning for a minute.  Also, ignore the possibility that you own a baritone uke.

How to Buy a Guitar

I've been spending a lot of time at my favorite guitar shop lately, Guitar Syndicate, and I have come to the conclusion that there are a bunch of people out there who play guitar who need help.  They need help figuring out how to buy a guitar.  The guitar buying experience is extremely personal and exciting, but when you make a mistake doing it, you can end up with an instrument that is just no fun.

For beginners, I would say that the best thing to do when buying your first guitar is to talk to your instructor and have them help.  Most of us (instructors) are happy to help.  Have your instructor not only help you pick one off the wall, but play it too in order to really hear what the guitar is capable of.


If this is not your first guitar and you aren't a beginner, then here are a few steps to walk through that I'm sure will help.

First: Budget accordingly

Know how much you are going to be able to spend before your drool dries on the first one you picked off the wall.  This includes not just how much cash you have in your pocket and how much you may be getting on a trade, but also three other very important factors:

1. Case or Gig Bag (if not included)
2. New Strings (almost every guitar will need them)
3. Setup (by a pro)

Also, realize that retailers are not there to be nice, they are there to make a profit.  There may be some room for wheeling and dealing, but you shouldn't expect to get a 20% discount because you are a self proclaimed master of negotiations.

On the same token, if you are trading in a guitar, don't expect to get every penny you put into back.  In fact, take the total that you have spent on it (minus strings and maintenance), and divide that by half.  That is about the only reasonable expectation.  (Lastly on trading in or selling: know everything you can about what you have.)

Second: Know what you need

Notice the word "need".  It isn't spelled w-a-n-t.  Six months from now, where is this instrument going to be in your toolbox (so to speak)?  Are you needing acoustic or electric?  If acoustic, does it need a pickup?  If electric, what kind: solid, semi-hollow, or hollow body?  What sort of tone are you looking for?

It might seem silly, but write this stuff down on a piece of paper and take it with you to the shop.  Keep yourself on track with what you are expecting to get out of this.  Take a pen with you to jot down notes in case that may change a bit as you shop.

Third: Talk to the salesperson

At most shops, the salesperson is going to be a great ally in finding what is right for you.  Don't treat them or think of them as a used car salesmen.  Tell them what your budget is and what you are looking for.  They spend all day with that inventory and likely played everything on the wall as it came into the store.  They know that stock way better than you do!

Fourth: Try it out

This is where most guitarist start to fall off a bit. Not because they don't play around with what they want, but because they don't play to test, they just play to play.  Every function that this guitar has should be examined.  Check the neck, frets, tuners, pickups, bridge, tailpiece, body, etc.  Are there any visible places where some tech work is needed?

Plug it in and play clean at every possible tone and volume setting.  This is very important.  Don't plug it into an amp, max out the amp's lead or crunch settings and start wailing away.  You won't hear the guitar, you will just hear the amp.  Play it clean first for a good long time on more than one amp, then play with the dirtier tone settings.

Also, if you are adding this to an existing rig, bring in your amp and toys.  Try it out through your stuff to make sure it sounds good.

Five: Sleep on it

The worst thing about buying anything is the emotional part.  We can get super excited about stuff and not think it through.  Once you have played with the guitar and put it through it's paces, take a step back.  Go home and wait a night then come back the next day.

There is no need to be overly urgent here.  Guitar shops don't turn out that many sales every day and you shouldn't be afraid that someone else will get it.  Sure, that is possible, but if it happens then just take the hit and move on (that guitar wasn't good for you anyway).

This part of the buying process is why I try to not bring cash (or cards) with me when I'm shopping.  Shop one day, buy another is always a good strategy.

Six: Second opinion

Another good reason for waiting a day is to bring someone else with you to check it out.  Maybe it is a band mate or a fellow guitarist or your spouse.  It doesn't matter who as long as they are willing to be honest about how they think the guitar sounds.  Maybe you can't pull off a pink guitar and you need your best friend to call you out on that!

Finally

It may feel like this is a lot to consider when going out shopping for your next axe, but remember that you will likely be making at a minimum of a year's investment in this thing. Or perhaps longer.  Plus, whether you are spending $300 or $3000 that may be a large chunk of change to you.  Make sure you know you are getting what you need and want out of that.

In the end, with a little patience and wisdom, you could be getting more than a guitar.  You could be getting a good friend.

~Danny

Top 10 Things Every Guitarist Should Master

Ten things every guitarist should master

 1. Anatomy

This may not seem really important, but it is. You need to know how to do many things like communicate to guitar techs when there is a problem. Also, this goes further into buying the right strings, self maintenance, and even being able to finesse the right sound out of your instrument.  Also, knowing what guitar will produce what sound, what pickups sound better for one style over another, what bracing patterns in acoustic guitars do, etc. Don't neglect this area of playing guitar.

 2. Notation

Any method that is used to convey how to play a certain bit of music on your instrument is important to understand. There are many who will tell you to only learn tablature; that it is all you will need. But they are wrong. You need to understand all of the following:

- Tablature
 - Chord Blocks
- Neck Diagrams
- Music Notation

The last one is more important than many give it credit. Though it is true oat guitarists can have long, wealthy careers without learning this, you need to learn it. Music for every other instrument is written this way and you need to be able to communicate with them. Plus, in a studio setting, the player that can read music will be more valuable than one who doesn't.

3. Tuning

Again, it may seem simple, but you need to master this. Whether it is using a tuner or using your ear, tuning is very very very important!  The best musicians in the world have what is called perfect pitch and can tune any instrument completely by er.

4. The CAGED System

These are your basic go to chords for most styles and you must have them under your fingers. Know the shapes for major, seventh, major seventh, minor, and minor seventh at least. But, you should venture out into the sixth, augmented, and diminished chords as well. Along with the chord shapes is learning the scale shapes that the chords are built on.

5. The Major Scale

 Almost our entire music theory system is based off of the major scale. Most guitarists can't play one shape of the major scale much less build chords or licks from it. Mastering this scale and it's many shapes and modes will open a world of possibilities to you.

6. Chord Theory

Once you have the major scale figured up, the next thing is learning how chords are created. Knowing this and having a firm grasp of it on the fretboard will make playing music and creating your own arrangements much easier.

7. Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales

These have been the go to scales for soloists in many styles for years. Mastering these scales and their shapes will get you soloing. Also, many tunes use a pentatonic scale within the melody which will give you a leg up when learning that tune.

8.  Building Bass Lines

As a soloist, you will find yourself needing to play a duel role often when playing for yourself or comping for another soloist. Bass lines will help create a dynamic accompaniment. And, it will set you aside from other guitarists.

9. Sight Reading

 Being able to play chords, melody, and a basic accompaniment with little or no run throughs on the music.  This is another skill that will need to constantly be refined and practiced.

10. Listening

We often forget about this very necessary skill.  I'm not talking about listening just to your playing or your band mates, but to every bit of music you can. Developing an ear for a lot of styles and what other professionals have already done will go a long way towards your mastery of guitar.

Music Lesson 2: Tones, Semi-Tones, and the Major Scale

Now that we have a basic understanding of the Chromatic Scale, lets take a look at note relationships and the Major Scale.

Tones and Semi-Tones

As we move our way up the Chromatic Scale and back down we are moving in a specific order between the notes.  Now, every time you move from one note to another you are moving in what is called an Interval.  The term Interval is just a fancy name used to describe the relationship between two notes.  For this lesson, we are going to focus on two types of Intervals.

The most basic of these Intervals is called a Semi-Tone.  On our Chromatic Scale, we are moving one Semi-Tone at a time (or half step as we called it before) as we move up and down the scale.

Notice, as we discussed in the previous lesson, that as you move up or down the Chromatic Scale you are also moving one fret at a time (this applies to guitars, ukuleles, and any other fretted instruments* such as mandolin).

Now lets double the Semi-Tone.  When you add two halves, you get a whole, right?  (I hope you know this already...)  Well, when we do two half-steps, it becomes a whole step or one step. And when we do two Semi-Tones, we get a Tone.

As we move up or down the neck of our instrument(s), this means we are moving two frets each time.  So, let's try to move from C to C up the neck only in Tones.

Do you see what happened there?  In six steps we got to our next C.  Also, we ended up with a bunch of sharps (or flats depending on if you go up or down).  We haven't really discussed keys yet, but a general rule is that the key of C has no flats or sharps in it.  It's all natural!

The Major Scale

So, we need to make our way from C to C (up and then back again) while doing two things: not hitting any sharps or flats, and using each natural note in the scale.  When we do this, we get the following:

Now, let's compare this to the Chromatic Scale we learned in the previous lesson.

Notice how we skip all of the sharps/flats and move in a specific order.  Let's look at this in relation to Tones and Semi-Tones.

This formula of T, T, S, T, T, T, S is what we call the Major Scale Formula.  Moving in this manner is also called Diatonic.  For now, just think of Diatonic as meaning alphabetical.  Using this formula, you can now start on any note and find any scale!!!

Now, let's relate this to our fret boards.  Here is the C Major Scale on the ukulele and the guitar.

And here is the same scale with us jumping to different strings when we can.

One of the great things about fretted instruments is that you can move things around very easily from one note to another just by shifting to another fret.  With our Major Scale, we need only start at another spot and use the same pattern to generate new Major Scales.  In future lessons, I will show some of the many different scale patterns or fingerings that exist.  These will come in handy.  For now, try to find different ways of fingering different Major Scales up and down the neck.

Note:  For ukuleles, major scale patterns can be a little restrictive in regards to the different ways you can finger them.  This is because most ukuleles are tuned in reintrant tuning and your primary strings for the pattern will be limited to three strings (the C, E, and A strings).  If you are using linear tuning (also known as low G tuning), then it will be easier to come up with multiple Root to Root scale patterns since you now have four strings to work with.  I'll try to shed some light on this in the later lesson.

~DB


* Some exceptions of this include mountain dulcimer.  There are others in more exotic music styles that do not follow this rule.  However, in general, this is true for fretted instruments.

Music Lesson 1: Chormatic Scale

So, for lesson one I'm going to start out at the bottom of music theory: The Chromatic Scale.  This scale encompasses all the notes in one big shot, but at the same time illustrates a lot of the relationships between the notes.

It is important to understand that everything you learn in music builds off of what you learned before.  Sometimes things don't need a specific order, but most things do.  The further you get out of order, the harder a concept will be.

For this lesson, we are going to use the root and key of C.  Roots and keys will be described in much more detail in later lessons.  For now, just understand that the key of C is the easiest for us to work with.

The chromatic scale uses every note between the root note (in this case, C) and it's octave (or the next time that note comes up in the scale).  So if we start at C, we work this way:

C

C#

D

D#

E

F

F#

G

G#

A

A#

B

C

This pattern is constant regardless of what root note you start with.  As we move from one note to another, each move is down by a half step.  The half step is the shortest distance between two notes*.  As an additional example, here is the chromatic scale for the Key of E (wheel use it later on the guitar):

E

F

F#

G

G#

A

A#

B

C

C#

D

D#

E

As you can see, we are also only using sharps (#) as we go up the scale.  It is also acceptable to use flats (b) instead of sharps.  However, we typically use sharps when we ascend (go up) the scale and flats when we descend (go back down).  Here is the same scale (in C) going down with flats:

C

B

Bb

A

Ab

G

Gb

F

E

Eb

D

Db

C

As you may notice, where there was a C# going up, we now have a Db.  That's because the sharp (#) makes the indicated note a half step higher and the flat (b) makes it a half step lower.  Since D comes after C, a Db is the same as a C#.

There is another thing to take note of with this scale.  Notice how the scale moves between E and F and also B and C.  Normally, on the scale, if move from one note to another, you would use a sharp (going up) or a flat (coming down) to go that half step between.  Well, there is not half step between E and F or B and C.

So, here is what you need to remember about this lesson:

• Chromatic scales move one half step at a time from root to root (an octave).
• When we move up, we sharpen the pitch so we use sharps (#).
• When we move down, we flatten the pitch so we uses flats (b).
• A Bb and an A# are the same pitch (as are other flat/sharp neighbors).

The practical side



Now we need to take this knowledge to the fretboard.  For ukuleles, we will use the C chromatic scale, for guitars we will use the E chromatic scale.

Notice as you work your way up and down the fretboard chromatically, you are also only moving one fret at a time.  This is because on fretted instruments (this includes the guitar) each fret represents one half step.

Now lets look at switching to a different strings instead of staying on one.

This is a good illustration of how tuning your ukulele or guitar to itself works.  As you can see, the notes blend themselves into the next string.

Finally, here are both fretboards laid out up to the twelfth fret with all of the notes.  Try to start at one note and work your way up and down the fretboard doing a full chromatic scale.

Now that you have a good understanding of the chromatic scale, we will move on to the next part of music which is tones and semitones.  We'll use this scale to do so, so make sure you know how it works before moving on.

~DB

* When I talk about music, I talk about western music (as opposed to Eastern or African or Tribal music).  In this case, there are some instances in other forms of music that use steps that we would call quarter or even smaller.  But for our purposes, we assume that a half step is the smallest.

Guitar and Ukulele Tuning

Tuning your instrument is one of the first skills you should master when learning how to play.  If you are lucky, you'll pick an instrument like piano that has to be tuned by a professional and therefore gets you off the hook of learning.  But, you probably aren't that lucky since you are here to learn.

I'm putting guitar and ukulele in the same lesson for one simple reason:  They share a lot in how you tune.  I say that for those who start on one instrument and then move to the other.  Many a guitarist has picked up a ukulele, felt completely baffled, and put it back down usually muttering some immature notion such as "those are cute toys."  (If you say that, I will unfriend you.)

Lets start with guitar.  Standard guitar tuning is E A D G B E (from low to high).  You can use an acronym to  remember the tuning if you would like.  I like the one "Elephants And Donkeys Grow Big Ears".  Now, for tuning, we always want to start at the lowest note (fattest string) and work our way up. (This is because the bass supports the rest of the music.)  See below for more info on how to get that first note tuned.

Now, once you have that first note tuned, you can use the guitar to tune itself.  This is a very useful method for not only quick tuning between songs, but also for developing you ear to hear different tones.  First, count up five frets from the nut on the low E string and strum that note. This will be the note A that you should tune the next string to.  You can count up this way to get the notes for the next few strings too.  But, once you get to tuning the B string, you need to count up only four (not five) to do this.  For the last string, count up five from the not on B string.  Here's a diagram:

Ukulele

Ukulele is only a little different.  We can still use the same idea to tune it to itself, we are just going to use different pitches.  Now, at this point, it is important to point out something that usually throws a few people off.  The ukulele has several different options when tuning.  The standard tuning is what we call C6 tuning.  However, even the standard has two flavors: linear and re-entrant.

Linear tuning means that we tune all of the strings in order from low to high.

Re-entrant tuning means that we start with a higher string, then go down to a lower string and proceed up the scale. Five string banjo also uses this type of tuning.  This tuning also gives ukuleles the characteristic "My Dog Has Fleas" sound.

Whether lenear or Re-entrant, the order of notes is the same in C6 tuning (which we will refer to as standard tuning).  The notes are G C E A.  The G string is the one which we either tune low (linear) or high (re-entrant).

Since re-entrant is the most common tuning, I will show you how to do "self-tuning" in that style.  First, we want to tune our lowest string which will be not the G, but the C string (again, see below for tips on getting that note tuned).  Then, we count up 4 frets to get the note for the next string which is E.

Now we will regress to tuning the G string (which we skipped).  Count up 3 frets from the nut on the E string will give us the G we are looking for.  Once you have that in tune, count up the E string two more (a total of 5 from the nut) and you have your A for the A string.

Here is a diagram:

Tuners

Seventy years ago, there weren't many options for tuning an instrument. You usually found a piano or other instrument that you could tune to.  If you were the typical upper middle class home, you'd just use the piano.  If you were in poverty, you did your best to tune it by ear.  Now-a-days, though, there are tons of options for tuning your instrument.

A Guitar Pitch Pipe

The first is still old school, but I highly recommend it for reasons of training your ears.  A pitch pipe as they are called can be bought for whatever instrument you are tuning or even a chromatic one with several pitches.  You simply blow on the desired pitch and tune the instrument by ear.  Most came with multiple pitches so you didn't have to tune the instrument against itself.  Aside from needing to tune by ear, the downside is that if the pitch pipe was out of tune, your instrument was out of tune.

There are also several websites that have "online" pitch pipes.  This can be a good option if you have speakers and often play in front of your monitor.

Snark Clip On Tuner

In our electronic age, the best method is the electronic tuner.  Twenty years ago, electronic tuners were still in their adolescence and relied on a poorly constructed microphones to pick up the sound your instrument made.  They progressed to plug in ones for electrified instruments, but those got expensive quick.  As digital electronics got better and better, the clip on tuners have hit the scene and changed the way we tune.

Clip on tuners can run from $10 up to $250 depending on who made them and if the come with any other functions or extras.  My experience is that a $20 or $30 tuner will last a lifetime if not abused and get you as in tune as you need. 

However, if you play an electrified instrument two options outside of the clip on are a tuner that you can plug in to the output cable or an on-board tuner.  The "in-line" tuners are great if you are already using effects petals.  It makes tuning pretty simple and can even help by "turning off" your instrument.  The on-board tuners are tuners added directly to your instruments on-board electronics.  They aren't available to every instrument, but are a wise upgrade if you are buying a new instrument from the factory.

So, that's all I have to say on tuning in this lesson.  As I mentioned before, mastering tuning is a critical step to mastering any instrument.  I highly recommend you learn not only how to use electronic gadgets, but also how to tune by ear.  The better you can recognize that you are in tune by ear, the easier it will be to know you are out of tune.

Collectors

A few days ago before a lesson I was standing at the uke wall in Guitar Syndicate plucking away and tuning up the ukes like I tend to do.  Eventually, and older fella walked over and commented that he had about that many ukes at home himself.

"Oh," I said, "Have you even considered joining our ukulele club?"

"No, I don't really play them that much," he retorted.

Since I was a lot younger I've noticed that there are tons of instruments wasting away in collections all over the world.  Now, museum pieces and items beyond repair aside, I have always felt a little guilty about this.  Instruments have a purpose, and that is to make music.  So many of these instruments haven't seen the light of day or felt the touch of a musicians capable hands because they are in such collections.

I'm not exempt from this crime.  I have at a small collection of wind instruments that get brought out on rare occasions that I just don't seem to be able to part with.  Sentimental as my feelings are (one is my trombone that was my best friend in high school, and the other is my dad's coronet he played in high school), it would be nice if they got played once in a while.

So it is that I find myself talking more frequently to collectors as I spend more time at the local shop.  They always have a story on the guitar they let go, and can play a few Eagles or Hendrix licks better than even the most astute starving artist.  And they keep the guitar shops and manufacturers in business.

That's right, we the penniless musicians owe them a lot.  For every rare archtop or Les Paul they keep out of our hands they encourage a hundred more inexpensive models to be produced, bought, sold, and re-sold used to slip into the market.  If not for them, we would not have such wonderful guitar lines such as the Ibanez Artcores or countless Strat and Tele copies.

So, I keep talking to them.  I pick their brain as they tend to also be the heralds of much guitar (and ukulele) history.  And, occasionally, I work on that invite back to their museum/garage where their little studio is full of 30 guitars and 12 ukuleles.

~DB