The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    That's great, thanks for sharing!

    Quote Originally Posted by mtierney
    Oh, and also. He is so nice. I had heard that he was before, but he really was quite approachable. I gave him my group's CD, and he said "Great, I'm going to be doing a lot of driving, I'll give it a listen. Is your email address in here?" I stammeringly said something about oh lemme just grab my business card, mumblemumble, and when I gave it to him he said "Excellent. Let's keep in touch."
    I have a hunch that guys like him who write books, do seminars, make their living teaching and playing have to be quite nice and approachable to do what they do. In a way, you're his boss!

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #27

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    anyone didn't read this in time, send your questions. I'm spending 3 days with John next week playing and hanging, I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem to toss a few extra questions in there for the peoples

  4. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by mtierney
    Oh, and also. He is so nice. I had heard that he was before, but he really was quite approachable. I gave him my group's CD, and he said "Great, I'm going to be doing a lot of driving, I'll give it a listen. Is your email address in here?" I stammeringly said something about oh lemme just grab my business card, mumblemumble, and when I gave it to him he said "Excellent. Let's keep in touch."



    He's also going to send me a 40 page PDF full of material...

    Again:

    Yep, typical John. And here's the thing: he will listen to your album, he will keep in touch, and he will remember you! He's a genuine, classy guy, and of course a ridiculously talented artist.

  5. #29

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    Richb:

    I saw that. His right hand technique is so weird. I meant to ask him, but we ran out of time. I'd love to know the answer if anyone else knows it as well.

  6. #30
    Hey Mike, thanks again for the info and for following up. I'd love to sit and talk with John about a whole list of things. Maybe one of these days.

    I have a good friend and bandmate who played with him a few months ago and said he was just as you and everyone else described - a very good and generous person. Glad you were able to spend some time with him.

  7. #31

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    Jeff, yeah, I'm glad that you made mention of Jimmy Wyble before the seminar, because like I said John mentioned him before I could even ask him about it! I probably wouldn't have thought too much about it if you didn't make mention of it beforehand. Probably would have written the name down then maybe not investigated, etc. Although I did know the song Wybleing beforehand......

  8. #32

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    I have talked with John also about a lot of things, including picking. He IS a truly amazing, nice guy. He uses a tiny plastic pick that he said just kinda sticks to his finger so he does not palm it or anything else, but he almost always uses hybrid, pick-and-fingers picking. I do not think he ever does strictly fingerpicking and he does not use a thumb pick.

  9. #33

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    +5 on John as one of the kindest and brightest people you will ever meet. How he remembers everyone's name after not seeing you for a year or two is beyond me. Amazing talent, very gracious. Be sure and tape your lesson, or you will miss something, I guarantee. John moves pretty fast, if he thinks you are following him, and all of sudden your brain goes into meltdown. I'm still working on stuff I studied with him 10 years ago. Oh, and if you can offer him a place to stay, it makes it easier on him, as he moves around a lot to teach and perform. Try to feed him, too, he's always on the thin side A one of a kind.

  10. #34

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    spent all day yesterday with John, going to pick him up in an hour or so for one last clinic.

    This man is important, everyone should be on the look out for him because he is the real thing, a traveling world class player and a 5star teacher.

    hopfully got some good footage of us playing a bit from last night, we shall see.

  11. #35
    I just found out he will be in my town in a couple of weeks! Am I excited? Hell yes I am! My first chance to see him live and hang with him a bit.

  12. #36

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    Support him anyway you can, please. He is such a deserving and talented man, very humble. He is very self sufficient, but try to force him to dinner, so he has some fat for the winter!

  13. #37
    I finally got the chance to see him live last night w/ one of my pals, Matt Otto. John quite literally went from the airport to the gig because his plane was delayed by several hours. He basically walked in, met the musicians, hooked up, and started playing.

    As you'd expect, the set was really amazing. They did mostly standards but did a few of Matt's tunes as well. It was wild to watch him read down a tune live on the stage and have it sound like he has been playing it for years.

    He used my Polytone in stereo with one of my friend's polytone, spread across the stage with a reverb pedal. His sound was great - very full but still focused. He did a good job of getting balance in his chords and making every note ring out evently. His touch was more forceful than I expected even though his right hand is so fluid. He seemed to be doing a lot of pick/finger hybrid stuff.

    It was really crazy to watch his chordal work from that close. Some of his chords seemed to take up half the neck. Extremely dense but still specific. It was informative to hear how he handled being the only chordal instrument; how he punctuated his lines with bits of harmony.

    He invited me to get some food and such after the set so I got to hang with him for a couple of hours. He is giving a clinic today at one of the big local colleges but I unfortunately won't be able to attend. We made plans to play together next time he is through town so that will give me even more practice motivation.

    So yeah, just about everything you hear about him is true. He is a monster, very unique player and a very generous and personable guy. It was great to finally hear and meet him after so many years of listening to his recordings and working through his instructional material. If he is in your town, i'd definitely suggest making an effort to go. He is far from 'trad jazz' but there is a lot of beauty in what he does.

  14. #38

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    Truefire just issued a new class of John's that you might like:

    Modern Jazz Progressions - John Stowell - Guitar Lessons

  15. #39
    Cool find James! I'll definitely check that one out.

  16. #40

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    John told me a couple weeks ago that it was coming, and I've been checking about every day! It came out this morning.

  17. #41

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    I don't want to transform this into a gear discussion, but I'm curious as to whether John was using his Soloette guitar. I understand he's a big endorser and if he's flying around I expect he used that guitar?

  18. #42

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    John was using the Soloette when I saw him. He was just playing through a little Bugera amp, but man he had great tone. The wood on his Soloette looked like pretty nice maple, but I'm sure so much of his tone comes from his touch.

    But yeah, he said that that's the only guitar he'll take flying.

  19. #43
    Vinny, no problem discussing gear. I am not super knowledgable but I do believe that he used the guitar you mentioned. It was some kind of narrow body with 'wings' that he snapped on.

    He had a Hardwire stereo reverb pedal that he used to split between my Polytone Minibrute III and a friend's MiniBrute II. My amp was behind him and the other was on the other side of the stage next to the drummer.

    He didn't use any other effects. Honestly, he didn't need anything else.

  20. #44

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    Spotify!

    Is almost full to bursting point with John Stowell's albums. He's prolific. I only really heard of him via the Verythin JS and there isn't a great deal of him on YouTube so it was an absolute pleasure to listen to him on Spotify. What a great musician and a guy for whom there is a lot of affection.

  21. #45
    Can anyone comment on how John does what he does looking at his right hand, and how he throws out lines apparently with his index finger (or else)?



    I find his playing fascinating, one of the true poets on the instrument.

  22. #46

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    He's been my No.1 for a while now, but that's the first time I've heard him on an L5 - I hope it's not the last. Beautiful tone and playing.

    His right-hand is mesmerising. He does use a pick, though it's hard to see, and somewhat miraculously it seems to stick to the underside of his thumb, allowing his index to separate. He must have a very light touch.

  23. #47

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    Check 1'18" here, where he seems to re-grip his pick:



    Yet it seems to have disappeared when he sustains that final chord. Something of the magician about our John!
    Last edited by Rob MacKillop; 02-23-2015 at 04:25 AM.

  24. #48
    Quote Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop
    He's been my No.1 for a while now, but that's the first time I've heard him on an L5 - I hope it's not the last. Beautiful tone and playing.

    His right-hand is mesmerising. He does use a pick, though it's hard to see, and somewhat miraculously it seems to stick to the underside of his thumb, allowing his index to separate. He must have a very light touch.
    yeah, thats the point... how does he separate, if it really is a pick that he is holding... hmm.

  25. #49

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    This is really freaky. First of all, amazing player. Concerning the pick: it looks almost as if it's glued to his thumb?!?!

  26. #50

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    There was another thread on picking awhile back and I can't remember which player it was who completely releases his pick, but it staying in place and he re-gripped the pick. I watched the Stowell video a few times and looks like he's doing a combination of releasing and his fingers have enough stickiness the pick staying in place, but a couple times looks like he's dropping the pick behind his other fingers to palm the pick, then he re-grabs it.

    OT:
    I like the sound of that Fralin P92 in the neck of the 175. Not quite the P90 sound of the early Wes, Burrell, Green, but a more single coil than humbucker.