The Builder's Bench

Florentine vs Venetian: which one is better?

Jazz in/near Birmingham Alabama

John Kinnard Frank Hill archtop

Chord Melody Ideas - Doug McKenzie Piano

Lick with tabs

As I often say in threads where Mike is mentioned, there are few musicians who beam with such joy when playing.

Frank Vignola's Guitar Night, an ongoing concert and livestream series

I've got the striped shirt but not the hair. Damn it! I came so close.:redface-new::doh:

Is this an overlooked part of Metheny's sound?

Yes, it's nice, but I don't like the part where he moves up the fret-board from the Fm6 to Em7/Am7 and plays open E & A strings for the bass line, and has the bass line leap up and down a minor 9th...

Time After Time - Jazz Ballads by Jeff Arnold - Tune #2

My motivation for responding to this is not to deride it. I simply don’t like seeing erroneous statements left unchallenged, because others accept them without questioning and spread them as truth. ...

A little help explaining shielding with archtop guitars?

@AdroitMage said “It does look like his 15's were probably JBL's then. That would mean that his 15's were alnico magnet speakers too, because, correct me if I'm wrong, but all of the vintage 15" JBL...

Is this an overlooked part of Metheny's sound?

Hey, this looks awesome! Thanks for posting. I've never looked at Truefire before.

Learning to play with a singer

It may be from having been playing for over 60 years, but that thought and visualization are ever present - I can't turn it on and off. I like to play a bit before a performance, but I don't have a...

Playing the changes vs. playing over the key center

Those half notes are a powerful tool. Just the notion that you can’t play a complete triad on most chord changes is really useful. Or more to the point, you can’t play a complete “shape.” For that...

Playing the changes vs. playing over the key center

Never in all my days have i ever wanted a George Benson Ibanez of any kind. The only thing I could use from George is his chops. I am not even envious because with those chops, I probably focused on...

Florentine vs Venetian: which one is better?

Thanks for that great info. I have read the quote from his website before, HUGE Metheny fan here.:redface-new: I had never seen the one you posted from his guitar tech, though. It does look like...

Is this an overlooked part of Metheny's sound?

Well that’s the goal. In the final analysis terminology doesn’t matter. But - It’s a hell of a job breaking that muscle memory aspect though. Everyone goes up and down usually from the root...

Playing the changes vs. playing over the key center

The more I think about this, the more I think “arpeggio” sticks for guitarists (and I’m not knocking it, and I totally use it all the time) because of that visual/tactile component. Less about the...

Playing the changes vs. playing over the key center

Apologies to any recovering alcoholics out there but this reminds me of the saying "practise like a scientist, play like a drunk" (btw, I had a good laugh at your line "...soloing by formula and rule...

Playing the changes vs. playing over the key center

Otoh Wikipedia says this ‘An arpeggio (Italian: [ar?pedd?o]) is a type of broken chord in which the notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order....

Playing the changes vs. playing over the key center

Reacting to this once more after seeing the Kirk guitar a few more times in different videos: Crossovers are widely available and great fun to play. Mine has a 1 7/8" nut and a 25.4" scale...

Kirk Sand Nylon String Guitar, and some Chet

Playing the changes vs. playing over the key center

Don Cherry on Lennie Tristano

Jazz and Blues Single Note Soloing Recommendations ?

How do you understand the 5th and 6th bars of rhythm changes?

Telecaster - Single Coil or Humbucker?

Not really sounding very 'jazzy'. Is it in the playing technique?

Eliminating the Metronome for technical studies?

JGO Virtual 'Bluez' Jam (Round 3) - Straight No Chaser

Rich Severson’s top 5 guitars

What did early Jazz guitarists in America play live pre-swing era?

How bad is this?

Just a Gigolo C7 Bb7 A7

In-ear Monitors for a Big Band