On Practicing Guitar

Sitting In With T.J. Hogarty on Halloween Night

October 31, 2015 – On Halloween night, I sat in with my friend T.J. Hogarty’s combo at Cassidy’s, a friendly Irish Pub on 55^th Street in Midtown. In contrast to the hijinks that take place in New York City during this spooky and celebratory holiday, the scene was casual, with a small but supportive crowd on hand digging some blues, American songbook and rock and roll numbers. On hand that night were T.J., above left, Spring Brooks, center, and Mike Burman on bass, right.

T.J. is an excellent guitarist who runs various jam sessions, plays a lot of gigs around town and also does sound for clubs on occasion. He actually influenced me in a big way a number of years ago, and it’s an interesting story.

I was playing a gig at Desmond’s with my band, and T.J. appeared on the bill with the Fountain of Blues. Eventually he left that group, and I came in to play guitar for them when they couldn’t find someone good enough or dedicated enough to replace him. One of the first things they asked me was if I could play “The Stumble,” by Freddy King, a demanding instrumental that had showcased T.J. I picked it up but had to keep working on it for over a year before I was really comfortable with it. I guess I have to thank T.J. for that because I consider it both an accomplishment and something that I will be shedding and enjoying for a long time to come.

Hopefully I’ll get to sit in again at Cassidy’s sometime soon because it was a really nice hit. I got to sing “Sad To Be Lonesome,” by Sonny Boy Williamson, “Going Down To Mainstreet,” by Muddy, and my own “Door To Door Blues,” which got a big hand. How cool is that? Thanks T.J.!

A Tribute To Gram Parsons

 

A friend of mine who is a terrific bass player, all around musician and Harley rider told me he was learning pedal steel. Ron “King Bee” Raymond then asked me, ‘would I like to form a band?’ I thought, ‘Well, I have exactly one country number in my repertoire.’ It was “Dark End of the Street,” the famous cheating number written by Dan Penn and Chips Moman for soul singer Leroy Carr. I first heard the song on the Flying Burrito Bros album, The Gilded Palace of Sin, Gram Parsons most celebrated LP. But there were plenty of other great songs waiting in the wings, to my surprise.

I had just finished a well-researched bio, Twenty Thousand Roads – The Ballad of Gram Parsons and his Cosmic American Music, by David Meyer. And country was on my mind, having recently returned from my first trip to Nashville. It suddenly dawned on me – it was the perfect time to form a Gram Parsons tribute band!

Gram Parsons was introduced to me in a watershed, twentieth anniversary issue of Rolling Stone Magazine, The 100 Best Albums of the Last Twenty Years. I found a review of Sweetheart of the Rodeo by The Byrds, on which Gram was enlisted to provide a new direction to the then floundering superstars.  I was working at J&R Music World at the time – buying experimental, electronic and Greek music. I grabbed Palace and Sweetheart for my collection, and eventually started buying the country records for the store.

We have a little show coming up, playing at an open mic night at the old Brownies space at Avenue A at 10^th street, now called HiFi Bar, on Sunday, November 8th. The address is 169 Avenue A, between 10^th and 11^th Streets in the East Village. We go on at 7:30. Hope to see you there! 

Wild Horse Tavern - Sunday October 18th at 10pm

We'll be playing at the Wild Horse Tavern this Sunday, October 18th at 10pm. The joint is located at 1629 Second Ave between 84th and 85th streets. We're performing as a trio, with myself on Guitar/Vocals, Dave Gerstein on Bass, and Christof Knoche on Harmonica. We've been playing a lot of varied material, with new songs every show. This time out, we'll be playing "That'll Never Happen No More," originally made famous by Blind Blake, shown above. I got hipped to this song by Hot Tuna, and although I learned the basics long ago, I never played it live.

I recently bit the bullet and copped Jorma's right hand technique. I had been playing it sort of classical style, right hand wise, with the right hand floating freely above the strings. After finally wising up to the fact that John Hurt and most others including Jorma brace their right hand via the pinky or pinky/ring fingers, I started experimenting. I finally went whole hog and decided to use the full compliment of fingerpicks, ie a plastic thumbpick and two metal fingerpicks. I'm bracing with my right hand pinky and I can also do some palm muting from this position, as well.

I found that adjusting the metal picks, ie putting them further up on the fingers, made them easier to control. Also, I found that using a different thumbpick than I had been using for more Texas style, 'dead bass' thumb work made it much easier. The pick that I had been using had a big curve that stuck out over the top of the thumb, and it was catching on the A string  when I would reach in for bass notes on the D string, for example. What a revelation to get it right because it was like murder doing it wrong! Playing it on the Tele. Wish me luck!

Easy Guitar - Shine On You Crazy Diamond By Pink Floyd

 

The most memorable theme from Pink Floyd’s profound concept album, Wish You Were Here, makes a practical exercise for beginning guitarists. This lick enters the soundscape of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond" at 3:55, and it’s hard to imagine the rest of the work without it. It sounds simple, it sounds great, but what is it? Theorists have trouble classifying these four notes, but it’s not hard to play, and you can learn an important technical skill by doing so.

You need to be able to read guitar tab. In short, a six line (see example below) staff is used, with the six lines representing the six strings of the guitar. Line number one represents the high E string and is closest to the ceiling. Line two represents the B string, and so on. Yes, this is kind of upside down, as the low E string of the guitar is actually closest to the ceiling as far as the guitar in your hands is concerned. You’ll get used to it. The numbers represent the frets, with 0 for open, 1 for the first fret, and so on.

Place your third (ring) finger on the fourth string (D) at the eighth fret and hold down that note. Place your first (index) finger on the second string (B) at the sixth fret. The other two notes of the four note figure are played open, ie they are not fretted by the left hand. Now, play the four notes in order as shown in the tab by picking the following strings with your right hand: D string, B string, G string, E string. Be careful not to unintentionally mute the open strings (G & E). This is the important skill that is required to play this piece. It will probably be necessary to move the left hand fingers around a bit, no more than a millimeter or so, to get all the notes to ring clearly.

You should here a spooky, modernistic, and highly melodic sequence of notes that sort of maybe forms some kind of chord. The notes themselves are Bb, F, G and E. Most importantly, all the notes must ring clearly and sustain for a few seconds after you have picked them. If it’s impossible to get all four notes to ring at once, try for as long as you can and then come back to it in a couple of hours or the next day. You will be pleasantly surprised that it has become possible or at least easier and better. Before too long, you will get it. Stay with it! 

Wish You Were Here is one of my favorite albums. Its themes of loss, alienation, and music business machinations are universal, but its greatest achievement is the fabulous sound. David Gilmour's guitar plays a huge role throughout the record, with soulful bluesy solos, acoustic strumming and picking (the title cut), and coloristic flourishes wherever they are needed. There are also superb applications of modulation effects, such as phase shifting and flanging ("Have A Cigar"). By learning the guitar theme described above, you can be a part of it, which is the antithesis of alienation, isn’t it?