Posts Related to: Genres

People sometimes ask me to describe what the jazz guitar style is. Jazz is usually (but not always) played on hollow-body electric guitars; it uses a large repertoire of chords and voicings; numerous scales and arpeggios; octaves; improvisation over complex chord progressions; the “swing” feel in rhythm; the Bossa, the Samba, the Jazz Waltz; rubato ballads. These are …

Note from LRG: Chuck recently found out that a recording session he did in 1970 subsequently became a cult LP. From the British site Phonica: “A group of singers and musicians known as the Deirdre Wilson Tabac released their first and only LP in 1970, and this is the first 7-inch release of the song ‘I Can’t Keep from …

Note from LRG: This is a condensed version of a post that first appeared in AllAboutJazz.com.
Traditionally, the smoke filled jazz club seemed part of the “charm” of the venue. I seriously doubt, however, whether that holds the same allure as it once did. I find the club/restaurant jazz scene to be extremely disruptive to the …

The wonderful thing about playing music is that – as you get older – you often get better. Although playing music is physical, the greatest demands are mental: your patience, endurance, creativity, and emotions are constantly challenged.
At 74, Ramsey Lewis is one of those artists that was not only great way back when, but he keeps getting better. I was …

I am sometimes asked: What exactly is jazz? How do I know if certain music is jazz or not? 
 Jazz is an American born improvisational form of music. Its characteristics are the sophisticated use of chords and chord progressions; more scales and different types of scales compared to Rock, Blues and Country; the influence of modality; and the …

Timbre. It rhymes with “amber,” not “limber.” So, if you cut down a tree, don’t yell “timbre!” (or don’t yell it too loudly…). Timbre is actually a critical element of music, so let’s look at it. Timbre is the French term for tone quality or tone color. The word goes back to a Middle Greek word for kettledrum called tymbanon. To …

I’ve found that it’s best to learn one musical style at a time (blues, classical, jazz, etc.). Every genre has traits and performance practices that other genres don’t have, so you need to know the difference. Why?
A client who hires you to play country music doesn’t want to hear you accidentally adding licks from other styles …

I saw a wonderful little documentary last week called “Herb and Dorothy” at a local theater. The film was about the lives of a long-married couple who built one of the most important contemporary art collections in history. And they did it on a librarian’s salary. Starting in the 1960s, Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy …

This past Christmas I received a gift of a James Taylor DVD called “One Man Band.” This recent recording was filmed at the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in July 2007. In this performance, JT goes back to his roots – a guitar, a voice, and an audience. Watch a portion of the DVD here (this contains …

Frequently, and justifiably, thoughtful people bemoan the way “classical music” left its audience behind in the 20th century. This post was, in fact, spurred by just such a comment on one of my previous posts.
This person and others with similar complaints are referring to the gulf between composer and listener caused by waves of abstract and dissonant …