Guitar

Thanks to everyone who joined Paul in the Chatroom on Tuesday, we students tuning in from at least 7 different countries. Here's a little screenshot, shout out to Brazil, England, Ireland, USA, Finland, Norway, & Germany! Hope to see even more of you next time! 

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As the father of modern classical guitar, Andrés Segovia is without question one of the greatest guitarists of all time. If you have ever studied classical guitar, chances are that you've not only heard of him, but you've also studied his techniques whether you realize it or not. Segovia's contributions to the genre have to helped multiple generations of students learn how to play classical guitar, among them being our own classical guitar teacher Jason Vieaux.

In this video from his classical guitar lessons at his online guitar school, Jason goes over some the guitar scales which are commonly known as the "Segovia Scales", due to the fact that Segovia himself published these in a book he titled Diatonic Major And Minor Scales (1980).

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Hey all,

Just got back to Sweden. I received the info that I've been voted nr 4 among on GuitarWorlds chart "Top Ten Hot Male Guitarist" compiled by GuitarGirl. It's always an honor to be on the charts even if this list might not just be based on musical accomplishments lol :)

Anyway, there are some familiar faces in the top ten and I was happy to notice that I ended up one slot higher than John Mayer :)

http://www.guitarworld.com/guitar-girl-d-top-10-hot-male-guitarists-2013-edition#slide-6

Regards A

Greetings, we got a new video up in Martin's Coffee Breaks section: it's an in-depth look at guitar setup. They get into adjusting the truss rod and action on your guitar without damaging it, as well as other useful tips on guitar setup. 

This was filmed in at luthier Jim Cunninham's workshop in Annapolis, Maryland who has worked on Martin's guitars in the past. Click on the image to jump right in!

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We're proud to welcome aboard jazz guitarist Sean Connolly, who is the latest recipient of the Martin Taylor Guitar Academy Scholarship. Sean started playing guitar when he was 12 and soon was sharing the stage with world renowned guitarists including Martin Taylor.  A student of guitarist Jerry Topinka, Sean is also part of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's "Jazz for Teens" program. Check out the video of Sean playing below, he's pretty amazing. Congrats on the scholarship Sean, and welcome to ArtistWorks! Here's what Martin had to say:

"I'm really happy to have just awarded a Martin Taylor Guitar Academy Scholarship to a young jazz guitarist from New Jersey called Sean Connolly. The last guitarist to receive an MTGA Scholarship was Andreas Varady. Andreas was recently signed to the Quincy Jones Agency and is now enjoying a successful career touring the world. I'm sure Sean is also destined for great things in the future." - Martin Taylor 

Premier Guitar has published their awesomely in-depth recap of the 2013 Great Guitar Escape, which featured Paul Gilbert and an all-star lineup of top notch guitarists. Events like this used to be the only way to get hands-on instruction from the best players, but now it's just icing on the cake for anyone that's been studying online with Paul here! It's not the same thing of course, and there's nothing like standing in front of your guitar heroes and letting them how much you've learned from them. The Great Guitar Escape provides that opportunity and beyond that it looks like everyone has the time of their lives there. Click on the picture to read all about it! 

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Greetings, we've just added something new to the Advanced area of the jazz guitar lessons: it's a Part 1 of "Playing In A Trio Situation" - click on the picture below to jump right in and stay tuned for more parts coming soon!

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In this sample video from Martin Taylor's online guitar lessons we'll get into a topic that Martin also mentions in his guitar lesson about tuning: harmonics.  Martin talks in-depth here about playing harmonics and also covers sound waves, arpeggios, and how to combine natural and false harmonics.  

Harmonics come from basic physics by modifying sound waves.  Plucking a guitar string naturally oscillates at not one, but several frequencies (which are known as partials).  Since the guitar string is long and thin, many of the partials are multiples of the frequencies which are called harmonics.  These sounds made by long, thin oscillators are considered musically pleasing and are also fun to play.  So let’s get started! 

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One, two, three, four...it's time to rock n' roll!  Paul Gilbert is very excited to have discovered a new guitar lick and he's going to show it to you in this special bonus guitar lesson about Chromatic Riffs!  It sounds great and Paul takes you through how to play the lick with style and ease. This easy to follow guitar lesson is sure to get your foot stomping and will have you playing guitar like a rockstar in no time.  

Don't forget about that foot stomping.  It's a very rhythm important technique that Paul stresses throughout all his guitar lessons and it really helps to keep you playing guitar in time and on beat.  It also forces you to really feel the music you're playing, so keep on stomping! 

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