Smooth Jazz Guitar: my blog

I will lay out here a simple program which if followed exactly will have you improvising like the greats in a very short time!1) Take a solo of one of your favorite players on any instrument. Learn the solo exactly (spend time on this, even if it takes you weeks.) Spend a little time each day moving ahead a bar at a time. Do it in short spans of time, say 10-15 minutes and then totally withdraw from it the rest of the day, but do this daily. Continue until you have the whole solo down (write it out if you are able to).2) Now analyze the tune in its entirety. Learn every chord change and really do a thorough study of the logic of the progression and the melody. Learn the lyrics if it has any. Work out all the scales involved with the chords and completely analyze the solo you just learned against this data.3) Now comes the fun part. With what you've learned from having done (1) and (2) above, start soloing on the tune. Use a metronome and start at a slow tempo and really say something. Gradually [...]

Well, as the title states, why do it? I, after all, am the man known for volume. I like to shred on guitar, whether it be hair parting blues licks through my Mesa Boogie amp, or blistering post bop lines at nose bleed tempos, to the point of one disgruntled club owner asking me if I had something wrong with my hearing and my cheeky reply of ehhh?, as I formed an ear trumpet with my hand around my ear. So why go through the process of making a cd on the mellower side, one that is soothing rather than one that starts forest fires? Well, I’ll tell you. This is an age of noise and volume, from the din of auto traffic, to the BLUUUUUUU! of the triple dipple sized woofers in the cars you occasionally pass at a stop sign that crack your eyeglasses and teeth. This noise is not only present in sound but in our everyday living and the rip roaring chaos of today’s world with the ever presence of war, famine and crime. There is noise on a sonic and spiritual level present everywhere. So, [...]

Hi!Now that I have you in here, here goes: I've been playing guitar now for 43.5 years and I've amassed a lot of information on guitar playing, jazz, rock, blues, technique, music theory, various other styles, arranging, composition, improvisation, etc,etc,etc.....So, let me help you out! Send me the questions that you've always wondered about in any category regarding music, and I'll put in thru the old noggin and see what I can come up with for you, or if I don't know the answer I'll make up something very convincing sounding! ( this last comment is a joke of course!)So, get them questions flowing and see if you can stump the band, namely, me!Best, Greg Smithguitarist

I base my improvisational approach on the famous saying by Charlie Parker, " First really learn your instrument. Then, forget all that sh-t and just play!"I take that to heart. I have worked for hours on end, year after year to really learn every note on the guitar neck. Technique wise I mainly have stressed alternate picking, but I also incorporate a good deal of slides, hammer-ons/pulloffs and sweep picking. I dont put alot of attention on technique anymore other than to warm my fingers and hands up.I listen to all kinds of music, especially but not limited to jazz players. I listen to harmony and progressions, attempting to work out the logic of them, as well as the lines played through these harmonies. I try to analyze the rhythmic ideas of the melodic lines as I listen. Somrtimes I dont do any of this, I just sit back and let the music affect me emotionally and spiritually.When I solo, I kind of just reach for a melodic idea and it usually just pops out at me to shape how I want. [...]

So, another blog entry from yours truly-hot off the press. So, why do you play music? I'm serious, I want to know. Write me and let me know your inner most feelings on the subject.
 
As for me, I can state without reservation that when I don't play I feel like half a person.There is a completeness that I feel when the ideas are coursing thru me and out my fingers onto the strings that nothing else in life comes close to. Thereare definite sensations involved but it is not just a body sensation, its more a sensation I experience as a spiritual being. Its a feeling of instantaneous creation such as the same creation that goes into making the world around you. When I'm really plugged into it and soloing on a high level, its like there is no space separating me from the members of the audience listening and we are all one in the overall creation in progress.
Yeah!! Fun stuff to talk about! So let me hear some of your feelings on the subject.
Best, Greg