Hi everyone... new guy here!

[chizzel89]

I joined about 20 minutes ago, with a view to gaining knowledge and advice from others and to hopefully be helpful to other people as well.
My name is Charlie and I'm a 21yr old aspiring guitarist. Started playing when I was about 5. Learned classical until I was around 10 with the wonderful Berkshire music service and later in Pembrokeshire with John Rodge, then stopped playing for a year for some reason. When I started playing again I practiced funk rock and metal guitar quite hard for a few years and started my own band (couldn't find a bass player anywhere, so I taught my best friend to play). This disolved when I was about 16 because I got too into Frank Zappa, which everyone else hated! I started jamming with my older brothers band, and we were playing funk, dub/reggae, dubstep, dancehall type stuff.
I'd always listened to a bit of jazz like Django Reinhardt, charlie parker etc, but didn't get really interested in playing it until I saw The Tony Woods Project with Mike Outram on guitar play locally (one of the few jazz outfits to play in the county, which is generally fairly devoid of jazz).

After working out a few runs from the above jazz legends I could just about string together some patterns which sounded somewhat like jazz, though I had little knowledge of modes and apreggios, and would (and still do but to a lesser degree) end up completely out of key, though I'd quite often pull it back with some kind of descending chromatic lick to try and tie it back together.
This was all very well, but wasn't that fun playing on a fender strat which didn't have nearly the right kind of punch and roundness of tone for clean single note runs. After a while I managed to get hold of an early 80's matsumoku Epiphone Emperor (fully hollow, 17" wide) with seymour duncan 59's and coil tapping which has been my main guitar for 2 or 3 years now. Not even picked up a solid body guitar since buying it!
Anyhow, when my mum became really ill a year and a bit ago I had no time or inclination to play guitar. I felt guilty about doing anything creative or fun when she was in so much pain and when there was endless house work, cooking and looking after animals to do. I was also in college full time which didn't make things easy. I started playing with dedication again a couple of months ago when I realised my life was unneccesarily unhappy without playing music and I'm now playing better than ever.

What drives me is when I fall in love with the way a guitarist plays, and I make it my mission for some time to be able to play like them until I find another role model. The guitarists I aspire to mainly are Emily Remler, Wes Montgomery, Ernest Ranglin and Charlie Christian. In the past my favorite players have been John Frusciante (red hot chilli peppers), Hillel Slovak (RHCP too), Tom Morello (rage against the machine), Frank Zappa,, Hendrix, Robbie Krieger (The Doors), Eddie Hazel and Glen Goins (Parliament/ Funkadelic), The guitarist from the Meters. Numerous bob marley and the wailers guitarists. Also, the guitarists who play with Sly & Robbie.

I've started working steadily through (Music Sales) Jazz Guitar Improvisation by Andy Jones, which seems to be teaching me really well. I'm working really thoroughly through the first and 2nd chaptors still, gaining new ideas and going back to the backing tracks and improvising with them before I move onto new ground.

If anyone has any suggestions of further reading or other books with accompanying CD's (or even better books which show you full songs to play yourself, then solo over them in suitable gaps in the chords) which draw on the styles of the jazz guitarists I mentioned earlier, or guitarists which you think I'd like let know

Other than working through Jazz Guitar Improvisation I'm working my way through Emily Remlers excellent tutorial videos, namely Swing & Bebop guitar.
Spent last night working out the jazz blues progression she plays at the beginning, which I believe is an arrangement of Wes Montgomerys "Natural D Blues", played in B flat.

Anyhow, this is me, and I hope we can help each other out in the future.

Charlie

[ksjazzguitar]

Cool,

Welcome to the group. Cya around. I still say a good teacher is better than all the books put together.

Peace,
Kevin

[chizzel89]

Yeah I hear you... There is a guy who's about 20 miles away who's done a masters degree in jazz apparently.

www.danmessore.com

Whilst I'm not a big fan of his stuff, I can see he has mastery of his instrument. I've emailed him about lessons so we'll see if he's willing to teach me!

Charlie

[ksjazzguitar]

I don't think that your teacher has to be exactly in the style that you want. You'll probably have a few teachers before you're through and it's good to have some of them push your boundaries. You'll learn things from all of them.

Peace,
Kevin

[pierre richard]

time on the instrument...

welcome here to this great site..

pierre

[derek]

Welcome aboard.