CMusicBlog

Wow, it is hard to believe I took off writing for so long.  Our summers tend to be very time consuming, I guess time just flew by.

 

So, jumping back into it - got some new things I think are worthy of your attention.

 

Snap Jack cables.  Very cool.  Snap Jack cables are high quality cables that have end that 'break' off when too much stress is put on it.  The benefit is that the cord disconnects itself if you step hard on it instead of potentially breaking your guitar or the cord itself.  When this happens the signal goes dead so no annoying 'hummmmm'.  The connection is made through strong neodyminium magnets so reconnecting is super fast and they won't disconnect with regular stress.  As a person who had a 1963 Epiphone Coronet wrecked from someone stepping on the cord and ripping out the jack and the ...

When I was a kid, my parents didn't much care for my musical tastes.  This was the case with most of my generation I think.  Parents who grew up with Sinatra or Porter Wagoner didn't much care for Black Sabbath or Kiss.  The crazy sounds Hendrix was coaxing out of his guitar didn't jive with the Elvis or Benny Goodman crowd.  I think it is pretty cool to see parents and kids sharing more of their music today.  It isn't unusual to see a 12 year old come in for lessons to learn some Led Zepplin, nor is it odd to see a parent going to see Avenge Sevenfold with his kid and enjoying it. 

 

I also see so many students reaching outside of the expected demographic and getting into different styles than their peers.  If you judge music by what is offered by the mainstream sources you'd ...

Play a ukulele!  We just got a shipment of Makai Ukes in a few days ago and let me tell you, we can't keep our hands off of them.  They just beg to be picked up and noodled with.  It doesn't take much to get music out of a ukulele.  Every time I walk past one, I pick it up, strum a couple one finger chords and move on.

 

Ukes can be had for relatively little money, but be careful, some aren't much more than toys and tend not to play well or in tune.  The Makai UK 55 and PK 55 sells for $59 and plays like a dream and sounds great. 

I remember a time when I was much younger when we'd get some old fogey in the store putting down the rock music of the day.

 

"It's just screaming and distortion"

 

I was reflecting on this on my drive to and from the post office while listening to the band Chrome.  Helios Creed, the guitarist for Chrome, uses quite a lot of distortion and other effects.  During the live set I was listening to he changed the tone of the distortion frequently, from bright and edgey to throaty, on the verge of serious feedback and all points between often in the same song.  I had to chuckle over the thought that using distortion was a sort of talent hider, a substitute for actual ability.  As most rock players know distortion has many faces and is the heart and soul of many guitarists.  If your ears are tuned to ...