The Jazz Guitar MP3 Page: Ged Brockie

Ged Brockie was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1965. Coming from a musical family Ged received piano lessons at a young age as well as cornet lessons as he approached his teens. He did not began playing guitar until aged fifteen but was soon playing in a variety of rock and pop bands around Edinburgh. His exposure to jazz guitar was immediate as his first guitar teacher was a local jazz guitarist and from there he progressed to playing in the local jazz scene.

Aged twenty one he left Scotland to study jazz guitar in England’s premier jazz school “Leeds College of Music” where his jazz guitar studies were led by the acclaimed guitarists Adrian Ingram and Andy Watson. During this time, he also received several lessons from seminal jazz guitar giant Martin Taylor back in his native Scotland.

He left Leeds with a 1st in Jazz and contemporary music as well as the highly prized Eric Kershaw award for guitar.

Over the last twenty years Ged has been extremely active in performance, composition and music education. He currently performs across Europe with various ensembles including the internationally renowned “Scottish Guitar Quartet” that are in the process of recording a fourth album. Ged will also be recording and touring a second solo album after his critically acclaimed debut album “The Last View From Mary’s Place” was released by Circular Records in 2005.

Performance:

Compose, perform record and tour with the Scottish Guitar Quartet, Alex Yellowlees Hot Club and various other ensembles.” West End shows (Cabaret, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Hottest Little Whore House in Texas, Hoot), RSNO, Carl Davis, Scottish Opera, BBC, jingle work for TV and radio, recording of educational material, television broadcasts, International music trade events, Jazz festivals, cover bands.

I started playing guitar when I was 15 and almost immediately got introduced to jazz music which I never knew anything about before hand until I met a school teacher who was also a jazz guitar fanatic. I came from a musical background and had played piano and cornet but right away I new that the guitar was for me. The first jazz guitarist I heard in those early lessons was Barney Kessel and his chords in particular just mesmorised me. I studied with my initial teacher for around three years and he became a life long friend. I also by the way had three years of guitar tuition at a music college in England.

I was mainly listening to guitarists when I started out. Wes Montgomery was a big influence, listening to him almost all the time as well as John Mclaughlin, Larry Carlton, George Benson, Pat Martino and to some extent Lee Ritenour. Joe Pass and Martin Taylor were also on the record deck more often than not. Today I probably listen to less guitarists than I did when I was younger but obviously Pat Metheny is right up there as well as John Scofield and I also like the honesty and playing of Jimmy Bruno.

I try and keep things simple when it comes to carting things around which wasn't always the case. When I was in my teens I had so many pedals and bit's of gear that I needed a truck to do a pub gig....which was pretty funny as I couldn't drive. You can imagine the scene, two speakers cabinets and a rucksack of pedals on public transport! These days, if I can get away with it, I just have my guitar and an AER amp...that's it.

I'm part of a guitar quartet called the Scottish Guitar Quartet and we were given two endorsment deals a couple of years ago which took the band (briefly) in an interesting tech. direction. First up was our association with Frameworks guitars. Frank Krocker in Germany is a wonderful luthier and a great guy...we brought him over to Scotland to hear the group and he loved our music and we loved his guitars so we struck a deal. Next up was Roland UK who have the VG-88 COSM modelling synths and which integrated seemlessly with the Frameworks. Roland seem to like our music as well and we got the second of our endorsment deals which are harder to get these days. We used them on the SGQ's third album "Landmarks". A tune I wrote titled "This Song Reminds Me Of You...To Mary" was written and performed almost exclusively with the VG-88. I also complimented the acoustic sounds on a couple of other tracks I wrote for that album.

For me the main thing is to get a sound that you are happy with and part of that comes with experience and just playing. I have found that all the effects in the world will not give you what a good touch can give you and synthetic sounds, for me anyway, get boring after a while.

Of course I wish I was better, I would think that most people would say that. There are little pointers along the way though that tell you your going in the right direction. SGQ met Steve Swallow when we were playing in Germany. We gave him a couple of our CDs and he got back to us with an email which was very complimentary saying that he thought our playing, writing and compositions were of the highest order.

Frank Gambale has also heard our music and also said it he thought it was something else, so if musicians of that calibre like my/our guitar playing we have to take heart from it. What can be frustrating is when you don't feel you played to your full potential but I think that as you continue to grow as a musician your worst gets better...or so I keep telling myself, so hopefully it's still acceptable to the public even when things don't go as well as hoped.

What do I need to improve on?
Well everything really, it's a never ending process.

I tend to try and play tunes all over the neck. I like doodling around, exploring and perhaps working out arrangements for standards. I compose a lot and I use the guitar to check on compositions.

I try to look for things that I find technically difficult or that don't come easy rather than constantly playing the same old things.

I try and write away from the guitar so I don't fall into familiar patterns and sometimes the lines I think up cause me a nightmare in the playing department. The first track on my album "The Last View From Mary's Place" is a case in point...there are some really tricky lines in "Spring In My Step" that I almost wished I hadn't written come the recording session.

I try to get an hour in a day which can be difficult at times. I know this is not the text book answer as I should say I practice eight hours a day, but the reality is that I find it harder to put extended stretches of practice in as time goes by. I am playing around fifteen gigs a month so I am not away from the instrument for any length of time. I like the Jim Hall idea of keeping familiar with the instrument, ie., playing it last thing at night and first thing in the morning.

I do teach guitar although not as much as I used to. The main thing I want them to discover is how to teach themself. I also hope I enthuse and motivate them to work hard and realise their dream whatever that is.

I have quite a bit of experience behind me now and I have learned a lot about an approach to learning which hopefully ensures that others don't fall into the same traps as I did. Also, I think it's important to focus on music and not just technical matters such as scales.

The next one I play! I love "My Foolish Heart", "The Duke", "I Love You"....actually the list goes on and on. There are so many great standards it's sometimes hard to know where to start or where to finish.

I do make a living as a professional musician although sometimes it can be tough financially. If you want to get into music for money or fame then I would say don't do it. Only a handful of incredibly talented musicians make it through to the "superstar" bracket...and even then this perception is a misleading image in my opinion.

Looking back, I think I can say that my reasons for becoming a musician were that I loved music and loved playing it, nothing more. I still do love music and it's a wonderful feeling to be doing something you love. Hopefully it's not too conceited of me to say that I have made people happy while enjoying myself and that is a nice feeling. When I think over my formative years, although I didn't realise it at the time, they were very much tied into music and I did show musical talent. Only become a musician if you really have to though!

I do wonder about the next generation, as it seems to me there might not be an audience for them to play to if average audience ages are anything to go by. Technology has made all music instantly available. If you want something you just go and buy it on the web....problem solved. No expectation, no waiting in line to get the record, fewer people seeing or caring about the magic that is real human beings playing in front of them.

I learned so much by trying to transcribe solos by guitarists I loved; for example how to make a phrase and develop it, now you just get a book with everything is there for you. You don't have to find things out for yourself so much anymore and paradoxically, this takes the magic of having the music "inside you" because you found it out for yourself.

The last thing I would say about starting in the music business is simply this: don't wait for things to happen, you make them happen. The more you are out there then the better you will become and things will lead from each experience you have.

Currently I am beginning to write music for a second album which will hopefully be recorded in around a years time. I will be touring with this music around Europe in the autumn of 2007.

The fourth SGQ album is going to be recorded in the spring of 2007 and I have written almost all my material for that....I just have to learn to play it now!

I write music to picture so I am often writing music for media. At the moment I am writing four support documents for music students across Scotland in first instrument study, composition, theory and midi. The list of things goes on...

Try to find your own voice. By listening and being influenced by several players you are more likely to find a unique sound that is your own. Pat Metheny is a truly wonderful musician who has influenced me greatly, but does the world want another player that sounds like Pat but is not as good as the man? I don't think so and I want to carve out my own sound. Be honest, work hard and keep going.

Have short, medium and long term goals. Whether this is working on a tune, developing a set or getting a tour together, make sure you are heading somewhere. There are great educational aids out there but for me, you can't beat practice, listening and performance. I hope this will help some of you find your musical voice and direction.