The Jamorama team is totally dedicated to your guitar playing education. In fact it’s our purpose for being so we tend to take it rather seriously. We know we are not perfect so won’t get it right all the time. But we also know that with your help, we can become the best guitar lessons online.
To do this we need to listen; listen and find out if you are getting what you need from us; listen and learn what we need to change.
We’d like to ask your permission for one of our team members to give you a call. The call can be as long or as short as you like – we only have a few questions (8 to be precise) and there’s no silly 1-10 scales of measurement, just real people who genuinely want to give you the best guitar lessons in the world.
If you would be so kind to give us permission to give you a call please follow the link below and enter your phone number and a suggested time for us to call you.
In a world of increasing homogeneity and gratuitous eulogising of the mediocre by the media simply for what appears to be the sake of having something to talk about, it’s a rare sight to behold aberrations to the normal especially in the form of unique and uncompromising talent.
When the marketing machine itself seems to become more a part of the product it promotes than the product itself, when the inherent qualitites of individuality have been crushed under the weight of commercialism and when all the corners have been knocked off, rounded down and filed into a useless dust by the “machine” then what is there left of real, intrinsic value?
Luckily some artists are born with a respect for their art and instrument and a no holds barred approach to quality control,
When it comes to modern acoustic fingerstyle guitar Paul Ubana Jones is one of the highly regarded champions, perhaps even a pioneer, of a unique and highly expressive, soulful approach to acoustic guitar that he effortlessly combines with song.
Paul fuses a bold approach to tunings, percussive harmonics, and melody with a highly fluid picking technique and soulful intensity to deliver a wonderful mixture of an almost funky, Hendrixy and blues-rock approach to the bass end of the groove with European flavoured folk and progressive classical motifs, leads, lines, hybrid arpeggios, blues picking styles and more. It`s a very modern and expressive mix of technique, soul and talent.
Born in London and playing guitar by the age of 11, Paul graduated from a London music college, where he studied guitar and cello, and began to forge the solo acoustic style that he has stuck to and developed over the years.
In the late eighties Paul and his family moved to New Zealand, which is still their permanent home. He has continued to perform internationally, to growing acclaim. Concert performances include opening for the likes of Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Taj Mahal, Keb Mo’, Tuck and Patti, and Crowded House.
Understandably Paul’s “off the hook” skills aren’t something that’ll come to you overnight, unless you’re friends with the devil, but, to compliment the awesome Blind Blake style fingerpicking lesson from Jim Bruce, Paul’s approach to fusion expands upon an already eloquent vocabulary.
So, here is Paul discussing one of his clawhammer thumb picking patterns.
Whilst this may be out of your playing depth technically Paul describes some helpful techniques in approaching fingerpicking such as focusing upon a relaxed hand and extracting and concentrating upon the the rhythm of the left hand – it`s well worth spending some time in trying to apply Paul’s advice to your own picking practice regime.
With the explosion of the internet and the vast cornucopia of you tube videos, tablature sites and other resources available online it’s easy to forget that one of the key skills for any musician is the ability to listen. Before the internet came along most of us learnt from records – through attempts to emulate or approximate the playing of artists we enjoyed listening to. Not from the internet but through learning songs from records and playing along with them.
Eric Clapton, no fool when it comes selecting his musical sources, has consistently reiterated that he listened and learnt his trade from artists such as Freddie, B.B. and Albert King for example. He didn’t use tabs – he learned by listening. Nuances come across in listening: listening cannot be written down; and while tablature can be a fast shortcut to playing a piece of music there is an invaluable experiential quality to be gained from using your ears.
Because listening is exactly what you`ll be doing when you’re playing along with a group or in the studio it’s a very highly valuable exercise for any guitarist. The particular qualities of any high calibre guitarist cannot be expressed in tablature form. What makes a guitarist exceptional is the combination of technique, timing, phrasing and tonal quality that they bring to their playing – facets that your ear alone can pick up.
It takes a long time but its worth taking the time to train your ear through replicating the sounds that you hear on records. To begin with you`ll struggle and find it difficult, but over time the process will become easier.
Being an imitator is the first step along the road to becoming a creator but there are ways of imitation. Looking up the tab on the internet is the fast easy way, but if you really want to develop then use your ears as well. Remember though the sound you`re really looking to find is the sound of yourself.
Remember if you have purchased Jamorama you’ll also have the GUITEARIT ear training software specifically designed for guitarists and it’s a great place to start training your ear in preparation for rocking out to your favourite songs and records. Groovy.
Hey! It’s time for a swim and we’re jumping in at the deep end so grab your water wings…
Today we’re going to have a look at a couple of Jimi Hendrix techniques courtesy of Song Pond tv that combine slides with hammer ons and pull offs. That might actually sound complicated but in fact is a simple and approachable way to build a much more “lyrical” and expressive approach to simple chord shapes. I’m also going to take this opportunity to introduce you to some basic aspects of music theory.
In this lesson Ben shows you how to play these techniques on top of the ROOT FIVE chord but you can take the basic idea anywhere you want and experiment with different chord shapes.
The reason this chord is called a root five is because it contains only the ROOT note and a note a FIFTH interval above it. To build a MAJOR CHORD we take the FIRST, the THIRD and the FIFTH notes of the D Major SCALE – in this context we would use a D an F# and a A to build a Dmajor chord.
In today’s example we are breaking down a D major chord (D F# A) and removing the third - the F# to play a DIAD, a two note chord. The chord will be made up of only D and A, the 1st and 5th therefore making it neither major nor minor but modal.
Here is a diagram to help explain that relationship.
Roman Numerals are conventionally used to identify each chord within any given key; so starting with a D we also play the fifth, an A. If this is beginning to sound a little like rocket science rather than music DONT PANIC; all will become clear in due time. For the moment, study the diagram and try to understand how the interrelationships between the scale, the chords and the fretted notes work. If it seems a little complex and confusing DONT PANIC; it’s just a small step forward on the route to greater understanding and don’t put yourself under any pressure!
On Hendrix’ second sophomore album Axis:Bold as Love Jimi takes the compositional skills first illuminated on Wind Cries Mary into a new dimension with an increasing emphasis upon lyricism over the acid soaked rock of his first release. Songs such as Castles made of Sand, the exceptional title cut, Bold as Love and the inspirational love song Little Wing bear testament to this progression away from rock simplicity towards lyrical complexity.
“Little Wing” is played using the unique chord/melody guitar style that Hendrix developed during his early career in rhythm and blues bands with Little Richard, Curtis Knight and the Isley brothers. In this style, the guitar sounds as though it is playing two parts. This is done by simultaneously playing complementary notes, often parts of chords, to create a melodic effect. The beginning of these techniques are shown here below, by Ben.
I would just like to add that if you would like to play the sliding, legato Hendrix chord you can even drop a note and simply play it this way – it resonates just a little bit more!
This is the chord heard at the end of Castles Made of Sand! GROOVY!
If you`re interested in working your way through Jimi Hendrix’ classic song Little Wing, which perfectly embodies and encapsulates the full breadth of this style and approach to lyricism then have a look at our SONG POND site.
Are you sick of Eric, Jimmy and Joe getting in your way when it comes to your solos? Well, show them who’s boss with the JAMVOX an integrated monitor and software system that extracts the guitar from any MP3 and plugs you into the mix of their favorite bands.
JamVOX gives guitarists instant access to dozens of legendary amps and effects all in one easy to use “drag and drop” software interface. Revolutionary Guitar XTracktion (GXT) technology lets you remove the guitar part of your favorite song with the push of a button.
19 famous guitar amps and 54 effect units ranging from vintage to modern are provided as software.
Easy-to-use “drag and drop” interface enables guitarists to create their “dream guitar rig” without any advanced knowledge of amps or effects. Sound famous fast!
A music player feature with convenient functions for jam sessions or practice.
Import music files to jam along with from your favorite CDs, music library or MP3 player.
A dedicated USB monitor speaker is included, and there’s no need for complex wiring or specialized knowledge of computer music.
Two guitar play-along CDs containing 28 famous rock classics.
You can loop the playback, use the Tempo Change function to slow down the playback speed without affecting the pitch, and you can even use these functions while using GXT to extract the guitar part, making it much easier to learn rapid phrases by ear, or to practice difficult phrases. The Pitch Change function lets you change the pitch without affecting the tempo of the song, allowing you to correct slight discrepancies in pitch between your guitar and the song, or to play along with songs that use a dropped tuning.
A full complement of effect processors is also included in the JamVOX Software. From a wide assortment of distortion-type effects, standard effects such as wah and compressor, and more unusual effects such as ring modulator and acoustic simulator, there is a total of 18 pedal-type effect units. There are also 12 modulation-type effects such as chorus, flanger, tremolo, filter, and rotary; 11 delay-type effects including some that model analog circuitry such as tape echoes, multi-head delays, and BBD as well as reverse; 12 reverb effects covering all types; giving you a total of 54 different high-quality effect units including noise reduction. By dragging and dropping them, you can freely connect up to six effects in any desired order: two pedal-type effects, one modulation, one delay, one reverb, and noise reduction.
Wow, that’s fresh! Head on over to JAMVOX to find out more!
