Tharthur1
Verified buyer
12/21/24
Great player.
Jim Campilongo is one of my favorite players. I’m stoked to be able to buy a class from him.
Sonic Tele
An interactive video master class from Jim Campilongo.
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About this course
If you own a Telecaster, you’re already downloading James Campilongo’s new Sonic Tele course and are now only reading this description to calm your fervor.
Big fans of James Campilongo’s guitar genius, won’t even bother to read this. They’re now staring at the progress bar on their desktops, willing it to go faster, the door to their practice rooms locked for the duration in anticipation.
There’s extraordinary reactivity whenever one is exposed to James Campilongo. If you’re a music critic, you’ll write very nice things about James Campilongo. If you’re a music aficionado, you’ll tell all your friends about James Campilongo. If you're a musician, you’ll want to share the stage or studio with James Campilongo. And if you’re a guitarist, you’ll want to learn anything and everything you can from James Campilongo. That's where we come in…
TrueFire is thrilled to welcome James to the family because he is also a passionate, articulate and celebrated educator who takes great joy in passing on not only what he’s learned from his own mentors, but is also generous enough to share many of his own highly unique moves and creative approaches.
You'll certainly learn many signature Campilongo guitaristics but Sonic Tele is not just about that. James wanted to also provide students with a full palette of techniques and approaches that they can apply immediately in their own playing.
"I’ll show you a variety of unique playing styles, which I hope will inspire and help you become a more versatile, more expressive guitarist. While the course does focus on exploiting some of the unique tonal characteristics associated with Tele-style guitars, most of the exercises, techniques and etudes will still sound great on any guitar!"
James organized Sonic Tele into two sections. In the first section, James presents 10 key concepts and techniques that he himself draws on frequently in his own playing and which he also believes will have the greatest impact on your own creativity and expressive abilities: Right Hand Technique, Bending Techniques, Behind the Nut Bending, Using the Tuning Pegs, Steel Guitar Chords, Using Harmonics, Tone and Volume Swells, Bending The Neck, Improvisational Approach and Sonic Quality.
In the second section, James guides you through an engaging and thoroughly revealing series of Performance Studies where you'll apply the key learnings from the first section over rhythm tracks (pulled from his albums with the Electric Trio and the Ten Gallon Cats): Country Train, Twister, Slow Tic Toc, Blues for Roy, B Flat Blues, Nang Nang, C to G7 Moves, Jim's Blues, Finger Puppet Mayhem, Awful Pretty, Pretty Awful and Tony Mason Jam. Everything is tabbed and notated, plus you'll get all of the rhythm tracks to work with on your own.
James will first perform the study over a rhythm track and then break it down for you in detail, demonstrating many additional concepts and techniques along the way. James will show you applications for whole tone, diminished and open string ideas; Chet Atkins and Les Paul inspired rhythm and lead lines; playing over changes; Juliani classical exercises for the right hand; pull offs and chicken pickin’; superimposing jazz chords over a progression; harmonic overtones; bends of varying degrees; contrary motion licks; diminished phrases; triple stops; open string phrases; and sweep picking applications.
Hopefully, you’re not still reading this description because whatever your level, whether or not you play a Tele, and whether or not you play country, blues or jazz guitar — James Campilongo’s Sonic Tele will trigger extraordinary reactivity on your fretboard. Click it…
“One of the most innovative, creative, and interesting guitarists of our time.” - TONEQUEST
“Campilongo is one of those New York secrets. A master of the electric guitar, he weaves in spaghetti western picks, blues chords and jazz refs into his haunting tunes.” - NEW YORK POST
“I saw the baddest Telecaster player on the planet last night, his name is James Campilongo. He had that plank talking and squawking, from a whispered melody to an oncoming train.” - PUREMUSIC
“To say Campilongo is a unique guitar player is like saying James Brown is funky. His playing is totally original and keeps growing. And the beautiful thing is that he seems to be getting more and more unique.” - VINTAGE GUITAR
“Campilongo is a man of many moods, and a guitarist who can express them all.” - SAN FRANCISCO MAGAZINE
"Campilongo, this dude is a gunslinger. Wrenching his Tele, scratching out Hank Garland and Speedy West licks with total ease and beauty, ripping out a version of Harlem Nocturne (with the late Danny Gatton looking down and smiling, no doubt) and rolling out every Roy Nichols/Don Rich/Grady Martin lick ever recorded. I was totally won over! I didn't pick up my own guitar for a week.” - BAM Magazine
“His supple moves can keep an audience enthralled - meaning their asses wiggle and their minds jiggle. Few connect the dots between jazz and twang like this guy.” - VILLAGE VOICE
Big fans of James Campilongo’s guitar genius, won’t even bother to read this. They’re now staring at the progress bar on their desktops, willing it to go faster, the door to their practice rooms locked for the duration in anticipation.
There’s extraordinary reactivity whenever one is exposed to James Campilongo. If you’re a music critic, you’ll write very nice things about James Campilongo. If you’re a music aficionado, you’ll tell all your friends about James Campilongo. If you're a musician, you’ll want to share the stage or studio with James Campilongo. And if you’re a guitarist, you’ll want to learn anything and everything you can from James Campilongo. That's where we come in…
TrueFire is thrilled to welcome James to the family because he is also a passionate, articulate and celebrated educator who takes great joy in passing on not only what he’s learned from his own mentors, but is also generous enough to share many of his own highly unique moves and creative approaches.
You'll certainly learn many signature Campilongo guitaristics but Sonic Tele is not just about that. James wanted to also provide students with a full palette of techniques and approaches that they can apply immediately in their own playing.
"I’ll show you a variety of unique playing styles, which I hope will inspire and help you become a more versatile, more expressive guitarist. While the course does focus on exploiting some of the unique tonal characteristics associated with Tele-style guitars, most of the exercises, techniques and etudes will still sound great on any guitar!"
"If asked to pick that one desert island TrueFire course this would be it. Jim is a great hang, he is fun to listen to and this is the one of the most honest courses I've seen. This is a great course ... Jim just opens up and shows you how to play some of his best stuff ... a grand buffet to feast on ... unlike anything you're used to." - Paul Lubson, TrueFire StudentHighly recommend to anyone interested the least in the country/blues/jazz melting pot that draws on a great tradition starting with Chet passing thru Buchannon and Gatton and so finely refined and executed by Jim.
James organized Sonic Tele into two sections. In the first section, James presents 10 key concepts and techniques that he himself draws on frequently in his own playing and which he also believes will have the greatest impact on your own creativity and expressive abilities: Right Hand Technique, Bending Techniques, Behind the Nut Bending, Using the Tuning Pegs, Steel Guitar Chords, Using Harmonics, Tone and Volume Swells, Bending The Neck, Improvisational Approach and Sonic Quality.
In the second section, James guides you through an engaging and thoroughly revealing series of Performance Studies where you'll apply the key learnings from the first section over rhythm tracks (pulled from his albums with the Electric Trio and the Ten Gallon Cats): Country Train, Twister, Slow Tic Toc, Blues for Roy, B Flat Blues, Nang Nang, C to G7 Moves, Jim's Blues, Finger Puppet Mayhem, Awful Pretty, Pretty Awful and Tony Mason Jam. Everything is tabbed and notated, plus you'll get all of the rhythm tracks to work with on your own.
James will first perform the study over a rhythm track and then break it down for you in detail, demonstrating many additional concepts and techniques along the way. James will show you applications for whole tone, diminished and open string ideas; Chet Atkins and Les Paul inspired rhythm and lead lines; playing over changes; Juliani classical exercises for the right hand; pull offs and chicken pickin’; superimposing jazz chords over a progression; harmonic overtones; bends of varying degrees; contrary motion licks; diminished phrases; triple stops; open string phrases; and sweep picking applications.
Hopefully, you’re not still reading this description because whatever your level, whether or not you play a Tele, and whether or not you play country, blues or jazz guitar — James Campilongo’s Sonic Tele will trigger extraordinary reactivity on your fretboard. Click it…
"This is a great course ... This is a wealth of great information at a really reasonable price. Jim's conversational style is great to. It's really fun to have him explain where he got some of his ideas from and how he's personally translating his exposure to electric guitar into his own style. Listening to him explain these things really makes this course stand out, and helps a guitarist like me figure out how I might translate my listening to guitar into my own style." - Andy Alpharatz, TrueFire Student
Press Quotes About Jim Campilongo
“An American treasure.” - BILLBOARD“One of the most innovative, creative, and interesting guitarists of our time.” - TONEQUEST
“Campilongo is one of those New York secrets. A master of the electric guitar, he weaves in spaghetti western picks, blues chords and jazz refs into his haunting tunes.” - NEW YORK POST
“I saw the baddest Telecaster player on the planet last night, his name is James Campilongo. He had that plank talking and squawking, from a whispered melody to an oncoming train.” - PUREMUSIC
“To say Campilongo is a unique guitar player is like saying James Brown is funky. His playing is totally original and keeps growing. And the beautiful thing is that he seems to be getting more and more unique.” - VINTAGE GUITAR
“Campilongo is a man of many moods, and a guitarist who can express them all.” - SAN FRANCISCO MAGAZINE
"Campilongo, this dude is a gunslinger. Wrenching his Tele, scratching out Hank Garland and Speedy West licks with total ease and beauty, ripping out a version of Harlem Nocturne (with the late Danny Gatton looking down and smiling, no doubt) and rolling out every Roy Nichols/Don Rich/Grady Martin lick ever recorded. I was totally won over! I didn't pick up my own guitar for a week.” - BAM Magazine
“His supple moves can keep an audience enthralled - meaning their asses wiggle and their minds jiggle. Few connect the dots between jazz and twang like this guy.” - VILLAGE VOICE
What you'll learn
- Master jazz chord voicings with specific upper voices
- Apply voice retention technique to a 12-bar blues progression
- Learn to apply whole tone scales for jazz sounds
- Develop Miles Davis-inspired trumpet phrasing on guitar
- Develop awareness of how rhythm playing supports soloists
Release date: 07/18/2014 • 3h 15m runtime
Sample lessons
Right Hand Technique
Concept 1
Behind the Nut Bending
Concept 3
Country Train
Overview
Country Train
Performance
What's included
67 lessons • 21 charts • 14 Jam Tracks
Sonic Tele
Welcome to Sonic Tele! Jim Campilongo here... I’ve come up with a course to show you a fun overview of unique playing stylesthat are intended to inspire you and help you become a better, more expressive guitarist. While the course does focus on exploiting some of the unique tonal characteristics associated with Tele style guitars, most of the exercises, techniques, and songs will still sound great on just about any guitar. There is plenty of information that any level of player should enjoy!
I’ve broken this course into two sections. The first section of the lesson focuses on essential techniques . We start with right hand techniques (picking hand) and from there will move on to bending notes, behind the nut bending, de-tuning techniques employing the tuning pegs musically, steel guitar techniques, harmonics, tone and volume swells, and neck bending. We will also discuss improvisation ideas.
I highly recommend that the student spend some time becoming familiar with the concepts presented in the first section of the lesson as many of these techniques will create the foundation upon which the following lessons in section two are built. Plus, a good understanding and eventual mastery of these essential concepts will help your playing in general.
In the second section of the lesson we are going to start with Country Train wherein we will explore some behind the nut bending and other fun techniques I'm known for. Then we’ll move on to Twister, a great lick filled Jerry Reed inspired number that provides a great hybrid picking workout. My original, the bluesy "Slow Tic Toc" will function as a vehicle volume swells and slapping harmonics. Then we will take some of the concepts even further during Blues for Roy.
We then take a right turn into an extensive workout during B Flat Blues that should help you “break out of the box”. I love this approach because I've seen it help so many students over my long teaching career. On Nang Nang we will look at superimposing jazz chords over a progression.
Additionally, we will look at some “pretty” sounding guitar lines in C to G7 - whole tone, diminished and open string ideas, all made fun and easy. We then return to the blues- exploring during Jim’s Blues.
Next in "Fingerpuppet Jam"we get our "band in a box" Miles Davis - by de-tuning our low string a serious octave while playing "Tribute to Jack Johnson inspired #9 chords. During Awful Pretty, Pretty Awful we will learn some Chet Atkin and Les Paul inspired rhythm and lead lines. Last but not least, will explore even more playing over changes during the Tony Mason jam.
This course will provide some great insight into playing guitar for players of all levels. We will learn some hot licks along the way and we will tackle some great challenges while having a blast. I was very excited to put this course together and am proud of the information presented herein. I am confident that this course will help to improve your technique, expand your musical repertoire, give you some great licks and songs to play, and will ultimately open you up to a greater ability for creative expression, while having fun along the way. Alright then, lets get started!
I’ve broken this course into two sections. The first section of the lesson focuses on essential techniques . We start with right hand techniques (picking hand) and from there will move on to bending notes, behind the nut bending, de-tuning techniques employing the tuning pegs musically, steel guitar techniques, harmonics, tone and volume swells, and neck bending. We will also discuss improvisation ideas.
I highly recommend that the student spend some time becoming familiar with the concepts presented in the first section of the lesson as many of these techniques will create the foundation upon which the following lessons in section two are built. Plus, a good understanding and eventual mastery of these essential concepts will help your playing in general.
In the second section of the lesson we are going to start with Country Train wherein we will explore some behind the nut bending and other fun techniques I'm known for. Then we’ll move on to Twister, a great lick filled Jerry Reed inspired number that provides a great hybrid picking workout. My original, the bluesy "Slow Tic Toc" will function as a vehicle volume swells and slapping harmonics. Then we will take some of the concepts even further during Blues for Roy.
We then take a right turn into an extensive workout during B Flat Blues that should help you “break out of the box”. I love this approach because I've seen it help so many students over my long teaching career. On Nang Nang we will look at superimposing jazz chords over a progression.
Additionally, we will look at some “pretty” sounding guitar lines in C to G7 - whole tone, diminished and open string ideas, all made fun and easy. We then return to the blues- exploring during Jim’s Blues.
Next in "Fingerpuppet Jam"we get our "band in a box" Miles Davis - by de-tuning our low string a serious octave while playing "Tribute to Jack Johnson inspired #9 chords. During Awful Pretty, Pretty Awful we will learn some Chet Atkin and Les Paul inspired rhythm and lead lines. Last but not least, will explore even more playing over changes during the Tony Mason jam.
This course will provide some great insight into playing guitar for players of all levels. We will learn some hot licks along the way and we will tackle some great challenges while having a blast. I was very excited to put this course together and am proud of the information presented herein. I am confident that this course will help to improve your technique, expand your musical repertoire, give you some great licks and songs to play, and will ultimately open you up to a greater ability for creative expression, while having fun along the way. Alright then, lets get started!
Essential Concepts
This first section of the course will focus on giving you a broad "big picture" overview of the concepts and techniques that I like and think sound good. We'll dig deeper into the application of these ideas in the second section, but for now, I want to first make you aware of some of the ways I use these techniques to create my sound.
Right Hand Technique
One aspect of my playing that I am often asked about is my right hand technique. Here is some insight into the evolution of my playing in this regard including a few Juliani classical excercises for the right hand that should help with overall dexterity and control. These techniques are readily transferable to chicken picken and other techniques that we will touch on throughout this course.
Bending Techniques
One of the great expressive aspects about the guitar is the ability to bend notes. Some of my favorite approaches include bending a note up to a pitch, then releasing the note as well as triad bending (in the steel guitar style). We will cover these approaches in more detail later in this course.
Behind the Nut Bending
One of my favorite techniques is behind the nut bending. Here are a few examples including bending two notes at once and bending harmonics.
Using the Tuning Pegs
Another favorite technique is de-tuning by using the tuning pegs. This tends to be a people pleaser and is always a lot of fun to play once you get it down. Remember that in order to get a solid "turn" on the peg that you should try to line the peg up to the 3:00 position when you are tuning your guitar. Also, don't forget to use graphite on the nut to facilitate an easier and smoother turn.
Steel Guitar Chords
Here we will briefly touch on another favorite technique that shows the expressive nature of the guitar when you utilize pure voicing.
+ 60 more lessons
Reviews
25 results
foggywim
Verified buyer
12/25/23
Stupendo corso🎸🎸🎸🎸👍👍👍
Norlo
02/03/22
Jim Campilongo, a telemaster
Jim is a great musician and also a great teacher. He is super creative and unique... His tunes and lines are very fun to learn and play. More courses with Jim Campilongo please.
335soun
Verified buyer
01/27/22
JIm Tele Master
I have a lot of all Jim Campilongo's CDs. He has always struck me as a very original guitar player. It has always inspired me to play Telecasters, thanks to Jim Campilongo I realized how many good things a telecaster can do. Jim is a very talented musician with great harmonic and technical preparation, but very humble and pleasant. The lessons are thoroughly explained in simple terms. Thanks jim and thanks Truefire for this opportunity to study with a brilliant guitarist but unknown to many people.
sixfix79
Verified buyer
01/17/22
Toploader at the top of his game
I always love to see how someone approaches the telecaster and this is another way to look at it in a different way. Very well explained and you feel like you may be able to with practice get some of these wonderful ideas under your fingers . I highly recommend another one of Truefires great instructors
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