Hey folks, a lot going on here at ActiveMelody headquarters (my basement).  As many of you know I’ve had membership to the site be completely free up until this point and it was my full intent to keep it that way, making the majority of the lessons free (while occasionally making a premium lesson to offset some of the costs).  Well, the good news is that the site continues to grow and has definitely blown away my expectations in terms of general interest.  The downside is that my monthly bandwidth costs continue to rise as well, so to counteract that, I’ve decided to keep the videos and basic membership free as always, but if you want to download the jam tracks or tablature you’ll have to get a “premium membership”.  I’m only charging a one-time fee of $5, so no monthly subscriptions or anything.  Hopefully that won’t break the bank for anyone, and will allow me to make a little extra spending money on the side.

I realize that several of the videos on YouTube state that the lessons assets were 100% free, and I apologize if you were misled.  They WERE free for nearly two years, honest! 

Google Plus (or Google+), is Google’s social network that allows users to create profiles, share content, and even hangout with each other.  I’m going to start weekly free guitar lessons via Google Hangouts (a feature of Google+), starting this week!  The only downside is that only 10 people at a time can participate, but if you haven’t tried it already, it’s really a lot of fun - and a great format for allowing people to learn a skill together (like guitar). 

The first thing you ‘ll need to do is go to the ActiveMelody Google+ Page by going here.  If you aren’t already signed into Google you’ll need to do so now by clicking on the blue button in the top right corner that says, “Join Google+ to add this page to a circle”.  You’ll then be able to either login using your current Google account (the same login as Gmail if you use Gmail).  If you don’t have a Google account yet, no worries, it’s 100% free and super easy to sign up.  You’ll need to click the “Create an Account” link in the top right corner.

Once you add ActiveMelody to your circles, you’ll be able to see any content that I update via my page on Google+ and in addition, I’ll add you to my circles - so that every time I do a live guitar class.. you’ll be notified.  Hopefully that makes sense to everyone.

To join the free online guitar class this Friday (November 11) at 9:00 CST, just make sure you have a webcam on your computer and a guitar with you - and go to the Activemelody Google+ page and you’ll see an option to “Join the Hangout” - just remember to add ActiveMelody to your circles.  Feel free to stop by and hangout with us! 

I came across this one on YouTube today and had to share.  You’ll learn real quick on this website what a huge Chet fanatic I am, although it may not seem that way because of all of the blues lessons that are on the site.  I guess I’ve always been conflicted as a guitar player because I love both styles of music equally but they are so different.  On one hand you have Chet Atkins who is about as white as they come, classical, super technical, jazz, Lite FM style - and then on the other hand I love artists artists like Albert King, Muddy Waters, Robert Cray etc… who are kind of the opposite, less technical and much less white.  I guess the only common element is that they’re good pickers.  Anyway, enough blabbing - I hope you like this Chet Atkins / Mark Knopfler version of “I’ll See You In My Dreams” and “Imagine”.  Very well done.  Not to mention that it would be extremely difficult to walk right on to a stage, sit down on a stool and play those songs without flaws because your nerves would be and their peak - I guess they don’t have any.  By the way, if you don’t have it - be sure to get the album that these two did together, “Neck and Neck”.

 

A good friend sent me this one, check out her version of Snowbird by Chet Atkins! 

Hello AM community.  First of all I apologize for the lack of communication on my part, but I’ve been receiving many emails from concerned community members wondering if I’m still alive so I thought I’d give a quick update. 

I started a new job back towards the end of the summer for a startup company and between that and two little ones, I’ve had ZERO time to devote to uploading new lessons.  I am, however, working on my first premium lesson (much more than the usual 10 minute YouTube video) that will be a deep dive look at how to play a solo.  I wanted to try and sum up everything that I know about how to approach soloing in a way that would apply to nearly any style of music… so this lesson shows you the boundaries for playing and will give you 20 really powerful stock licks that you can interchange… basically giving you the building blocks for soloing.  This will allow you to arrange them however you want and put your own custom twist on things.  The other thing this lesson will do is show you how those same licks can work across three very different styles of music and three different keys….  so hopefully you’ll have that “Aha!” moment and understand that no matter what music is being played and no matter what key it’s being played in… you’ll have the ability to jump in and start jamming. 

This is a one of a kind approach and I haven’t seen anyone else doing anything like it.. This will be a great asset for those that really want to dig deep and understand how it all works, and will hopefully help you answer that “now what?” question that so many guitar players struggle with in their learning.  It will initially be available online (in download format), but may offer it on DVD if there’s enough interest (so please send me your thoughts) ... as for pricing I want to keep things affordable (especially in this economy) so I’m thinking this will probably be in the $20 - $30 price range.

In addition to launching my first premium lesson I’ve carved out enough time to continue offering free lessons each week so that folks that can’t afford to purchase a lesson will still have an outlet to learn.

So in essence, stay tuned folks!  I’m still available to answer questions as well.  I’m trying to activate all of the accounts for those that don’t receive the automatic confirmation email and also working on a better sign up so bare with me!

-Brian

Hey all, just curious what the interest level might be in participating in a live guitar lesson via ustream tonight (Tuesday, August 10).  This would allow me to broadcast live and you could interact via chat in real time… ask questions, socialize.. whatever.  So check back on the homepage here around 9:30 PM (CST).  If you are interested, do me a favor and shoot me an email to brian (at) activemelody.com and let me know if you’re going to try and make it. 

Ok, I'm honestly not trying to throw this guy under the bus - but seriously, would you even want to learn to play this way? I'm always amazed at the amount of "shred" guitar players that are still around. I still remember the front cover of Guitar Player magazine back in the early 1990s that had a photo of Joe Satriani laying in a coffin with his arms folded and a caption that read, "Shred is Dead"... that was almost 20 years ago and yet some of these guys can't seem to let it go. The only people that appreciate shredders are other shredders themselves, the average Joe couldn't care less about hearing someone play that way. Ok, enough ranting - am I right or am I right?

So on Saturday I spent the entire day in a guitar player's heaven, I'm talking about Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival. The show started at 11:50 (kind of a random starting time) and Sonny Landreth kicked off the show. It's too bad they put him on as the first act because as he's playing most people either aren't there yet, or are trying to find their seats, etc. - he was absolutely amazing. He is such a phenomenal guitar player and had (to my ear) the best guitar tone of the whole event. His unique style of finger picking and slide, along with his amazing tone really made him stand out for me - if you aren't familiar with Sonny Landreth, search for him on YouTube and I think you'll agree with me.

Following Sonny Landreth was the Robert Randolph band, they were good as always, although there wasn't enough of Robert and his pedal steel, he only played 2 songs with "the Family Band" and then Joe Bonamassa came out and sort of stole his thunder. Joe was good, but I think he's a bit overrated. I know that's going to upset a lot of guitar heads out there, but he just seems too ... textbook to me. He's clean, fast, and loud but doesn't leave any kind of lasting impression with me. To be fair, this was the only venue I've seen him play so maybe he's much better at one of his shows.

Robert Cray and Jimmie Vaughn played next and they were smooth and polished as expected. I love both of those guys, but I honestly couldn't tell you what they played (a few of Robert Cray's new ones I believe) - Hubert Sumlin came out later and joined them and sounded pretty good, great version of Killin' Floor (especially given the fact that he was wearing one of those oxygen tubes in his nose) - I have a feeling Hubert won't be with us much longer so if you ever get a chance to see him and pay tribute to one of the greats, do so.

Up next were two guys that were terrible. The first guy, Bert Jansch was so boring literally half the place got up to go to the bathroom or buy more beer or whatever, Stefan Grossman was a little better (I guess), but he was a drag too - Keb' Mo' came out and joined him which helped (I love Keb' Mo'), but if those two guys never showed up I don't think a single person would have complained.

ZZ Top took the stage next. I've always had a huge appreciation for this band and love Billy Gibbons approach to playing, but I think anyone that was there would agree with me that they were pretty sloppy. The tone was horrible and there were a lot of dropped beats and sloppy notes from Billy Gibbons. I was really pulling for those guys too, I guess I just expected something more.

Doyle Bramhall II came out next and did his thing which was ok I guess. I think he's a really talented player but has kind of a strange band (I forget the name of them), he did a few experimental sounding songs which would probably be really cool to see in a small venue, but didn't work so well in a huge arena. The highlight of his set was when this guy Gary Clark came out to join them. There was a technical glitch with the audio when Gary first came out and in fact he played almost an entire song with the stadium speakers not working at all... the only sound we could hear was the monitor mix on the stage, but anyway, Gary Clark was a name I didn't know and was an amazing guitar player / singer. He played a very cool finger style electric shuffle.. very fast and driving. I highly recommend checking him out. Sheryl Crow came out and joined them and did 2 or 3 of her songs which were great (I love the way she changes the melodies when she sings live.. keeps it interesting)

The next group was the country portion of the show, so lots of telecasters and twang (which I loved of course). Vince Gill came out and was joined by Albert Lee, James Burton and Keb' Mo' - they played the usual mix of fast paced, chicken pickin' stuff which was a nice break to all of the blues. Albert Lee called his daughter out and let her sing one while he did his usual insane fast country pickin' - he tore it up as usual.

John Mayer played after the country set and my only complaint was that it wasn't long enough. He performed with his power trio and he played on several Strats and a Gibson ES-335 - it's easy to forget what a great guitar player that guy is because he's such a good singer / songwriter, but he really does seem to have it all. They played a killer version of Bill Withers, "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone", and also covered Jimi Hendrix's "Wait Until Tomorrow".

The next set included Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang and featured a guest appearance by Ronnie Wood - Jonny Lang had some of the best sounding vocals of the entire show.. he really sounded amazing. At one point they played the blues classic "Five Long Years" and Buddy Guy broke a string at which point Ron Wood took off his Strat and handed it to Buddy. You could tell they were really having a good time with each other. They also played "Miss You" by the Rolling Stones - the crowd went nuts for that one.

Up next we had the Derek Trucks Allstar band which included (his wife) Susan Tedeschi, Warren Haynes, Dave Hidalgo and Cesar Rojas (Los Lobos) - they jammed on several songs including "Three Hundred Pounds of Joy". On a very sad note, they called Johnny Winter onto the stage and his playing was beyond terrible. Everyone literally thought he was trying to be funny but then soon realized he wasn't. He stumbled his way through "Red House" and then left. Poor guy, it's as if he hasn't touched a guitar in years, and he was always one of my favorites.

Jeff Beck took the stage next and had the best mix of the entire show - not to mention an insane bass player. At the last Crossroads event he had Tal Wilkenfield, who was only 23 years old (although she looked like she was 14), this year he had some other girl that blew everyone away, playing a lot of slap funk bass.. she was amazing. I wish I knew what her name was (if anyone knows, leave it in the comments) He played a mixture of jazz and rock and did a very good version of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", but the highlight of his set was his cover of Stevie Wonder's, "Higher" - that was actually one of the best songs of the entire event for me.

Eric Clapton then took the stage and played the Cream classic "Crossroads" - which wasn't anything we haven't heard him do a million times before, but then he had Jeff Beck join him back on stage and they performed "Shake Your Money Maker" together - very cool. Clapton then had Steve Winwood join him onstage and played a number of Blind Faith and Traffic Songs including "Dear Mr. Fantasy" - by the way, Steve Winwood is a killer guitar player, his style is very similar to Clapton's and if you close your eyes you actually have a hard time knowing who's playing. Together they played a few covers including Buddy Holly's "Well Allright", but their version of Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" was probably THE biggest highlight of the entire show - the timing was perfect too because the moon was just rising over the arena as Steve Winwood sang the line, "the night I was born, the moon turned a fire red" - what an experience.

The show ended with B.B. King being summoned to the stage for what we all thought was going to be a big blues finale, but B.B. just rambled and rambled for 15 minutes or so about loving women and shaking your boogie and all kinds of things - meanwhile the rest of the band (Clapton, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughn, Buddy Guy) just sat there and stared at him - I think E.C. was disappointed to say the least. He ran about a quarter of the audience off (honestly!) and then finally started singing "Rock Me Baby", I actually decided to leave at this point (keep in mind it was now 11:30 or so and we got there about 12 hours earlier), but on my way out I heard him start "The Thrill Is Gone". I've always loved B.B. and was kind of sad to see him so delusional - he said he was 84!

Anyway, the show overall was really fantastic and well worth the price of admission. It makes for a longggg day and by the end of the night you sort of get to a point where you don't really care to hear another song - no matter who came out and sang.. but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. This one will be coming out on DVD and Blueray soon so you'll definitely want to check it out. I'll keep you posted when it does.

Ok, I came across this one today - and even though this video is all about drums and nothing to do with guitar I thought it was too good to not share.  You’ll have to watch the whole thing to really appreciate it - be sure to keep your eye on the drummer.  Good Lord is that guy a total spaz or what?

Hey folks, I wanted to give you a quick update on the next batch of lessons that are in the works. Thus far, I've been spending a decent amount of time with lessons that show how to play blues lead guitar which is really and endless supply of material. I'd like to switch gears now based on a comment made by saskstrum (an ActiveMelody member) and start focusing on how to play blues / rock rhythm. He mentioned that people tend to overlook the importance of playing good rhythm and he's right - there are a lot more people out there showing how to play lead guitar, but in a lot of respects, rhythm guitar is even MORE important because it really helps to define the song, so that will be my focus on the next few lessons. Trust me, these won't be the boring "up / down" strumming patterns or anything - I'm talking about creative / interesting rhythms that accompany the band.

In addition to the upcoming rhythm lessons (which I plan on having one up on the site late this evening or early tomorrow morning), I'm working on putting together some premium, deep-dive lessons that will be for sale in download format. Thus far, my videos are all hosted on YouTube which is great because there is a large number of people out there on YouTube, but the downside is that you're only allowed 10 minutes per video.. so it's REALLY hard to cram everything into a 10 minute session - I think having these deep dives will be very beneficial for those that are really interested in digging in at the root level of this stuff.. and I'm going to pour everything I know and have learned over the years into these. So be on the look out - and as always feel free to hit me with comments / questions.

-brian