Interviews

Fireside Chat: Larry Carlton

It stands as no reminder that a guitar is made of wood, glue and metal. It is not a living thing. But when the 18-time Grammy nominated legend of guitar, Larry Carlton picks up his iconic Gibson ES-335, it certainly seems alive. In fact, it seems magical.

I saw it first hand a few years ago. Sitting three feet away from him, Larry picked up his guitar and played a single note. For the following three minutes and thirty-two seconds our raging planet was at peace. Not a single shot was fired, not a last breath was exhaled and not a belly shuddered with hunger. I wish that happened when I played the guitar.

Being able to suspend your disbelief through music is just one part of Larry Carlton’s magic, and it’s also what has made him one of the most recorded and celebrated guitarists of all time. Whether you believe it is Larry Carlton or his beloved guitar that holds the magic, to hear him play you cannot deny there is something bigger involved. That’s why I asked him to share some insight and to talk about his new 335 Improv course for this month’s featured chat by the fire. - Charlie Doom

1. First off, if you weren’t a musician, what would you be and why?
I hope the questions get easier than that, because as you probably know I started playing the guitar when I was so young; I was 6 years old when I started taking guitar lessons. It’It’s all I’ve ever done. I never had another kind of job – even in high school – I always played guitar. There was never a consideration of what I might be if I weren’t a musician. So honestly, I have no answer for that!

2. Honestly, how many hours a day do you practice?
Wow, this is really going to be truthful isn’t it? That’s a tough question because I hate answering it “honestly,” but I don’t have a practice regimen and I never have – at least since I was in my 20’s doing session work. I really feel guilty about that because I know I could improve my chops if I took more time to practice. But I tour and play the guitar over 150 days a year and so that really helps keep my chops up pretty good. And I’m always listening and thinking about things that I know are not as strong in my playing as I would like them to be, and I try to work on those when playing live. I do notice improvement every year in my playing, but it’s without a practice routine. Please do not follow in my footsteps regarding that.

3. What are you listening to lately?
I just returned from a five week tour in Europe and found myself listening to a lot of Joe Pass from the early 60’s in my hotel room. He always inspired me with how melodic his solos were and just how much chops he had (I don’t have those kind of chops at all!). I get inspired listening to how cleanly Joe could play his solos and how much sense they made. So, yeah, I’d say I’ve been listening to Joe lately.

4. How would you describe the music business today?
Obviously, the music business has changed in many major ways. One example is how the music business used to be run and motivated by radio airplay. You would make a record, if the program directors liked the song, they would play it. If the audience liked the song and it became a hit, or even somewhat of a hit, you would go on tour to promote the album. Today Radio has very little to do with most artists’ careers today. It’s mostly live gigs that promote an artist and their music. Today I advise younger artists to promote their CDs by going out and doing as many live gigs as possible to build their following and promote their music.

5. Stranded on a desert island, which guitar would you take?
I would take a very small bodied acoustic guitar with me, as I would probably not be playing a lot of lead guitar. But with a small acoustic guitar, I could explore more beautiful guitar voicings and maybe even experiment with alternate guitar tunings. I also love the sound of piano voicings when they’re played on the guitar, but they’re very difficult to voice on the fretboard and so we’re very limited to which ones we can play that will sound as tightly clustered as they do on the piano. I’d spend a lot of time on the island working out voicings!

6. Let’s talk about what’s going on with you right now, your new course, and what’s next?
I am very excited about the new TrueFire course, 335 Improv, which is the deepest I’ve ever gone into the subject of improvisation and I’m very happy with the way the course presents my approach. I also have a live DVD with my trio in the can, which I’m really excited about because we had a great show that night and I think friends and fans will really enjoy it. We also have another DVD filmed in HD featuring myself and my good buddy Robben Ford playing acoustic guitar “unplugged” in Paris.

Questions submitted to TrueFire via Facebook, Twitter, and our Forum.

7. What was it about the 335 that called to you? – Hutch82
When I first started getting calls in 1969 for recording sessions, I was carrying at least three different guitars to the session – a Tele for country music, a Les Paul for rock n’ roll and pop oriented things and my ES-175 for more jazz or legitimate guitar playing for the sessions. I never knew what they were going to ask me to do. Truthfully, picking the ES-335 as my main guitar was just a practical decision at that time. I’m a very versatile player and I needed a guitar that was likewise versatile to cover all of the bags that I was working on at the time. The 335 fit the bill perfectly for me!

8. Any advice for session musicians? – Leedelta
Put your ego away! When you go into a recording session – be a servant. You’re there to help someone make their music. The session isn’t really about what you think, although you want to give all you can as far as your ideas are concerned, but it’s up to the producer and the artist to decide how they want their song to be presented to the world. So be humble and be a servant.

9. For the tune “Room 335″, what did you come up with first; the chords or the main riff? – jimiclaptoncarl
The chords came from a track I played on for Steely Dan called “Peg” – those chords are the first four chords of “Peg” pretty much. I really liked the sound of them and when the time came to record a new album that sequence of chords came back to me. I wrote the melody on top of that sequence. Then I changed the bridge so it wouldn’t sound like “Peg,” but I do consider those opening chords to be inspired by Steely Dan.

10. How is it different recording in a studio for an album vs. playing live for an album? – 19Echo19
This can be a very short answer because it’s the honest truth – I’ve never worked out a solo in my life. For a record or a live performance it’s always improvised and that’s the part of making music that I probably enjoy the most, the improvisational part.

Visit Larry Carlton online at www.larrycarlton.com for news and updates or watch tons of performances, interviews and lessons on Mr. 335 TV. Below is a clip from Larry’s brand new guitar course, 335 Improv

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Guitar Lessons

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March 20th 2012

7 Secrets to Learning Jazz Guitar

By Bruce Arnold

To learn more from the professor of jazz, Bruce Arnold, check out his TrueFire courses: Total Modal and Jazz Guitar for Beginners.

The celebrated jazz guitarist and director of the New York University Summer Guitar Intensive offers his tips for starting out. He cautions that there are no shortcuts when it comes to learning jazz guitar, but here are 7 essential building blocks.

1. Absorb by transcription

Learning any style of music requires you listen to it and maybe transcribe some melodies and/or solos. Many people don’t know where to start with jazz, so I would recommend starting with something easy like Miles Davis’s solo on “Someday My Prince will Come” or maybe “So What.” You don’t need to do the whole solo but at least learn 8 measures or so. That will help you to develop the right “feel” when you play jazz. For guitarists, I would also listen to someone like Wes Montgomery particularly for how he plays chords. Check out:

The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes MontgomeryMost of the tracks in this album are considered to be the best examples of Wes Montgomery’s two distinguishing techniques ‘thumb picking’ and the use of octaves. The album is considered by many fans and critics to be the pinnacle of Montgomery’s recorded studio work.

Boss GuitarWes Montgomery recorded Boss Guitar at age 38, just five years before his death. While the records that followed would give him some radio hits (and lose him some fans), this 1963 session was a time when he really could make the bold claim of the album’s title.

2. You can’t learn only in your head

Get your body involved because your mind and body are acting in concert. With any new style you need to apply the information you are studying. For jazz you need to learn new scales, arpeggios and chords. As you learn each new chord, arpeggio and scale you need to play it within a musical situation. I’d recommend using chord vamps to play the scales and arpeggios over. Your ear and your dexterity will improve, and you will find that you are retaining the information more easily. Be sure to check out TrueFire’s jazz guitar lessons as well.

3. Develop your musical social skills

You can only go so far learning jazz in isolation. Jazz is a social, improvisatory art form, and you need to interact with other musicians to develop your sensitivity and understand the dynamics of working correctly in a jazz setting. It’s always about communication, whether it’s with your fellow players or the audience.

4. Hear it properly

Jazz has evolved from a fairly simple form to a high art that the greatest musicians have contributed to. It contains much more sophisticated melodies and harmonies than most popular music. You need to develop you ear so you can hear these harmonies. I would start with these two books to develop the right way to hear.

Ear Training: One Note Complete
This Ear Training method has been developed to teach the student how to hear the way musical sounds are organized within a key, teaching you to instantly recognize which notes other musicians are playing, what key a chord progression is in, and what the notes in a given melody are. This book is a required text at New York University and Princeton University.

Contextual Ear Training
This book presents an approach that can be practiced anywhere that you can listen with a CD or MP3 player so you can practice no matter how busy your schedule may be. Contextual Ear Training contains four CDs that help to focus in on this technique in a structured way.

5. Get literate

Jazz music also has a lot more complicated rhythms and it is common that when playing with jazz musicians you will be required to read music. So you need to learn many of these rhythms and learn to read too. I’ve created a whole series of books to help develop your rhythm and help you master sight reading. I would start with the book Rhythm Primer if you are a total beginner, or if you are a little more advanced start with, Rhythms Volume One and Rhythms Volume Two.

6. Get MORE literate

If you want to compose and play with the big boys, learn some music theory to help you understand jazz chord progressions and scales. Remember jazz music is played in every key. It’s not like guitar based rock which is mostly in keys like C, D, G, E, A. In order to function well in a jazz environment you must develop your music theory skills. Here are two books that are great for helping you bridge that gap

Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volume One
Music Theory Workbook for Guitar Volume Two

7. Be patient

It takes many years to develop the skills needed to play jazz guitar and if you are a guitar player it’s even tougher. Even though the guitar is thought of as a “folk” instrument, it is in reality a formidable and flexible vehicle which requires a lot more work to master than most other instruments. So set up a practice schedule for yourself, set realistic goals, and you will see the fruits of your labor.

To learn more from the professor of jazz, Bruce Arnold, check out his TrueFire courses: Total Modal and Jazz Guitar for Beginners. Bruce has also written more than 60 music instruction books and is the director of Guitar Studies at New York University and Princeton University as well as the creator of the New York University Summer Guitar Intensive. He has taught at the New England Conservatory, Dartmouth College, Berklee College of Music, New School University, and City College of New York. You can visit Bruce online and learn more at BruceArnold.com.

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Guitar Lessons

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April 28th 2011

Demystifying the Art of Django Gypsy Jazz Guitar

by Andy Ellis & John Jorgenson

John Jorgenson has a highly eclectic résumé. The masses know him as the lion-haired guitarist in Elton John’s band, but he’s also a session cat who tracks guitar, mandolin, pedal steel, and saxophone for the likes of Barbra Streisand, Marty Stuart, Bob Seger, and Bonnie Raitt. Loyal fans know that Jorgenson cofounded the Hellecasters with fellow twangers Will Ray and Jerry Donahue. And some will remember Jorgenson from his days in the Desert Rose Band—an outfit that scored numerous Top Ten country hits.

But years before he embarked on any of these musical adventures, Jorgenson was playing Gypsy jazz on a Selmer 6-string in the L.A.-based Rhythm Brothers. For more than two decades, he has continued to hone his Django Reinhardt-inspired chops, and, in the process, earned a rep in Europe as one of the few Americans who can truly wail on a manouche guitar.

Modern Gypsy-jazz guitars, or guitare manouche (named in honor of Django Reinhardt and the Manouche Gypsies of Belgium and Northern France), stem from an instrument designed by classical guitarist and inventor Mario Maccaferri. From 1932 to 1934, Maccaferri built instruments for Selmer, a woodwind manufacturer based in Paris. “The original Selmer Maccaferri guitars had a 12-fret neck, a D-shaped soundhole, and an interior resonating chamber,” says Jorgenson. “Later, when Maccaferri and Selmer parted ways, Selmer switched to a 14-fret neck, removed the chamber, and changed the soundhole to an oval shape. Django played that model until his death in 1952.”

Read on for the Gypsy jazz guitar lesson with Power Tab, charts, audio, and text…

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Guitar Lessons

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January 18th 2011

Learning How to Play Jazz Guitar: Scales

by Bruce Arnold

.Learning how to play jazz guitar is no cakewalk but then again that is what attracts most of us to the style to begin with. Jazz guitar is indeed challenging, however, it is also extremely rewarding because the form allows you the ultimate freedom of expression as a musician. But before you can exercise that freedom, you have to put your time in listening to jazz and learning the requisite theory, chords, rhythms and vocabulary.

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Interviews

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October 19th 2010

3 Questions with Duane Allman

Excerpts from an interview originally published in Guitar Player Magazine. Check out “Secrets From The Masters” for a full compilation of interviews with 40 great guitar players.

Do you like the idea that rock sometimes talks about the times?
Sure, man. Yeah! It’s a like a newspaper for people that can’t read. Rock and roll will tell you right where everything’s at. It’s just something to move your feet, man, and move your heart and make you feel good inside–forget about all the bullshit that’s going on for awhile and fill up some of the dead space.

You said before that you thought blues and jazz are the same thing.
Yeah, it really is, man. It’s just that as human feelings become more complex, as the world gets a little bit more divided and intelligent, complexity is the only difference between blues and jazz. It’s all the portrayal of the feelings and the soul in a medium other than words. You can either complain and say, “Oh man, I really feel bad,” or you can put you sadness into a musical context and make it desirable. Nobody wants to hear anybody bellyache, but everybody want to hear him play the blues. You can say the same thing, but make it to where it’s a little less offensive to your fellow man by playing it with music.

Develop your talent, and leave the world with something. Records are really gifts from people. To think that an artist would love you enough to share his music with anyone is a beautiful thing. That’s fascinated me ever since I piled up my motorcycle. Miles Davis does the best job, to me, of portraying in the innermost, subtlest, softest feelings in the human psyche. He does it beautifully. He’s a fascinating talent, man, a marvelous, marvelous man and a great entertainer. And John Coltrane, probably one of the finest most accomplished players, took his music farther than anybody I believe I ever heard.

You mentioned “entertainer.” It’s all a matter of the communication, rather than a guy standing over here making other people feel differently.
It’s sort of like a different means of communication, man. Sometimes you can have things to say, but you can find no words for them–and I’m sure everybody gets caught in that position–or there’s a feeling inside you that there are no words to explain. You can say “heartbreak” or “jubilation,” but you can also set it up in music to make people actually feel it without ever saying anything about it. That’s the grace of music; that’s the blessing. You know, there’s a lot of different forms of communication, but that’s one of the absolute purest ones, man. You can’t hurt anybody with music. You can maybe offend somebody with songs and words, but you can’t offend anybody with music–it’s just all good. There’s nothing at all that could ever be bad about music, about playing it. It’s a wonderful thing, man. It’s a grace.