Joe Strummer

Joe Strummer

Great Guitarists, , ,

Joe Strummer was born on 21st August 1952, and passed away at the age of 50. He was a British musician and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the influential punk rock band The Clash. Joe was naturally left-handed but played guitar right-handed. His guitar style blended punk energy with reggae, rock, and folk influences, shaping the band’s distinctive sound. Strummer’s career spanned beyond The Clash, encompassing solo work and collaborations. He left an indelible mark on music, recognised for his passionate performances and his role in shaping punk’s cultural and political impact. His signature guitar was a 1966 Fender Telecaster. Listen to him on the classic songs Rock the Casbah, and London Calling.

Joe Strummer

Joe Strummer [by Masao Nakagami, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons]

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown

Great Guitarists

Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown was born in Louisiana in 1924 and died at age 81 on September 10, 2005 in Texas.

He had an original electric blues guitar style and was a big influence on Frank Zappa, Guitar Slim, Albert Collins and many others.

He got an early break when he sat in for an unwell T-Bone Walker at a nightclub in Houston.

Brown toured Europe many times during the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1983 he received a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album (Alright Again!)

Brown was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1999.

Timeless, his last record was released in 2004 – a year before his death.

 

Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown

Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown

Kay Guitars

Elmore James

Great Guitarists,

Elmore James (born Elmore Brooks) was born in Mississippi on January 27, 1917. He died at age 45 in Chicago.

James was heavily influenced by legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. James’ most famous song, Dust My Broom, was written by Johnson.

James often played Kay acoustic guitars with pickups installed. He has been dubbed by some as “King of the Slide Guitar” – and listening to the opening bars of Dust My Broom, one can see why. James also had other hit songs including, The Sky Is Crying, and My Bleeding Heart.

James was an inspiration for many later electric blues guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, George Thorogood, and Roy Buchanan.

 

Kay Guitars

Kay Guitars

{Rock’n_Roll_guitars.jpg: Ben Paulosderivative work: Kay Swing Master K673, K672 & Truetone Jazz King (Kay Speed Demon K573).png: Guitarpop (talk)derivative work: Clusternote [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons}

Robin Trower

Robin Trower

Great Guitarists, , , ,

Robin Trower was born on 9th March 1945, just at the close of World War II, in South East London.

He was guitarist in the band Procol Harum from 1967 to 1971 and recorded with them on their first five albums. He later performed and recorded with Jack Bruce (from Cream),  Bryan Ferry and iconic bands such as Jethro Tull.

Robin’s style is mainly blues-rock-heavy rock and he uses a classic set-up of Fender Strat with Marshall amps. His musicality was heavily influenced by James Brown. His sound is clearly influenced by Jimi Hendrix.

Listen to / watch this great solo during a live performance of the song “Too Rolling Stoned” in 1975:

Robin continues to record and tour.

Robin Trower

Robin Trower [ By Sardognunu (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons ]

The Secret to Learning Fast Songs, Riffs, Licks, Runs and Lead Breaks

Gear, Learning

You know the feeling: you are learning a new song and you get to a passage that’s just too fast for you to get it down. Or you want to learn a great lead break or lick from your favourite guitarist but it’s going too fast for you to pick out all the notes.

If only you could slow it down so you could hear every note and get the timing and phrasing right.

Don’t despair! These days there is a technical solution which can help with just about anything – and it’s technology to the rescue for us here as well.

There is software readily available which will slow down a song or part of a song – without changing the original pitch. So there are two effects:
1. slow the music down to a rate where you can hear – and play along to – all the notes; and
2. keep the music in its original pitch (not sounding like Darth Vader or the Chipmunks!) – this is very important

One such software program is called Audacity. I learned about this software when I was doing my guitar training at Berklee College of Music.

You can download Audacity here. Amazingly – it’s free!

Once you’ve installed the program it’s very simple to use. Just import an mp3 file of the music you want to learn (File – Import – Audio). Then select Effect – Change Tempo and choose how much you want to slow the music down by. Select Play and your piece will play at the reduced speed (and at the original pitch)!

Learning to play tunes all the way through is a great way to progress rapidly on the guitar. Don’t let a fast passage slow you down – slow down the passage with a tool like Audacity and really get that piece under your fingers.