June 23, 2011
June 14, 2011
2-Year Old Playing Guitar Amazingly Well…
We've had a 13-year old that plays bass like Jaco Pastorius and a 9-year old that improvises over Stella by Starlight, but this beats everything: now there's a 2-year old playing guitar! Have a look at this toddler playing along with a Black Keys tape, freaky!
Luckily for us and the freaky baby this is fake, it’s a commercial for a new video game called “Rocksmith”. The game play is like Guitar Hero, but this game lets you plug any guitar into a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 so you don’t have to use a toy guitar.
What do you think about games like this?
May 2, 2011
The Results of Guitar Education in North Korea
Cute and all and their timing ain’t too bad either. I wonder what kind of childhood they have though, they must have been practicing a lot… These smiles don’t seem to be very genuine either, little robots.
March 3, 2011
Serge Gainsbourg Plays Jazz
I know Serge Gainsbourg as a pop star, but apparently he started his career playing jazz. His jazz album is called Du Jazz Dans Le Ravin (Jazz in the Ravine) and is not bad.
Here’s a video I found on Youtube. It’s not from this album, but a recording from 1964, broadcasted on Belgium television. Serge Gainsbourg is on the piano in a trio with guitar and bass, playing All The Things You Are. Serge plays the theme and a chorus of improvisation, while Elek Bacsik plays four-to-the-bar accompaniment (which disturbes the piano chords a lot of times).
Serge Bacsik is actually a cousin of Django Reinhardt. He is from Romani descent, but worked and lived in the US (he played in Las Vegas a lot).
February 2, 2011
The Power of the Pentatonic Scale
The great Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale:
Related Lesson:
Did you know you can do a lot more with the pentatonic scale than the obvious bluesy things you usually do with it? Discover more here: Uses of the Pentatonic Scale in Jazz
February 1, 2011
Bossa Nova Classic: The Trooper (Iron Maiden)
Iron Maiden is a bossa nova band from London, formed in 1975. They contributed a number of songs to the standard jazz repertoire, including this classic, The Trooper:
Related guitar lesson: