Jimmy Bruno & Andreas Oberg in Webisode 2 of Guitar Project
ArtistWorks
here: http://bit.ly/AWGP2
This is a rehearsal on the first day right after Jimmy arrived in
Napa. More webisodes will be released next week. Both Jimmy and
Andreas teach guitar online.
Mr. Green
I don't care if some may consider this spam, this is brilliant stuff !
Damn I wish I could play some of this however, must keep focused on my
acoustic / bluegrass playing. I've always found it far too easy to get
side-tracked. Must admit, I really enjoy that straight ahead jazz
guitar. Nice to see them both playing with a pick too.
Green
Derek
Artistworks.
I do not have any knowledge of Oberg's site, but have heard from
dozens of people who have enrolled in Bruno's program. They all rave
about it.
If I wasn't satisfied with the path I was on already, I would not
hesitate to sign up. The price is certainly right, and you get quite
a bit for the $.
Sean
Derek, do you still read or participate in the jazz guitar newsgroup? I
did for a while until my head exploded from trying to understand what
those guys were going on about. Jimmy Bruno was a regular contributor,
and was actually a relief from the deep and heavy theory discussions. He
had a more cut-to-the-chase and skip-the-bs approach.
The idea of going for his course flitted through my brain too, but for a
number of reasons I decided not to. Still, I was attracted by the idea,
mostly because of his no-bs approach. Also, he just seems like a
good-natured guy. That comes through on the video with Oberg.
Lumpy
> Derek, do you still read or participate in the jazz guitar newsgroup?
> I did for a while until my head exploded from trying to understand
> what those guys were going on about. Jimmy Bruno was a regular
> contributor, and was actually a relief from the deep and heavy theory
Jazz discussion groups, any of them, always seem to
become filled with pseudo academics who want to argue
their brains out on the theory of things, but typically
aren't very fluent players.
That's always seemed like an odd concept, considering
that jazz likely grew out of and prospered because of
players that had very little theoretical knowledge but
instead simply played a lot and experimented.
"Jazz theory", to me, is sort of like "Anesthesiologist guitars".
Like the classic guitars that hang on the walls of some
offices, but their owners don't/can't play them, a lot of
guys want to theorize about jazz while they don't/can't play
very well at all. I think that they deliberately want to place
the "jazz knowledge" bar somewhere where they feel like they
are safe in saying "I can't reach that". I don't seem to see
that happening in pop/rock/kuntree nearly as much. The classical
guys seem to do it, but they're all a bunch of weird-o's
anyway. Nothing they do makes much sense to me.
Lumpy
In Your Ears for 40 Something Years
www.LumpyMusic.com
Derek
Sean wrote:
> > Derek, do you still read or participate in the jazz guitar newsgroup?
> > I did for a while until my head exploded from trying to understand
> > what those guys were going on about. Jimmy Bruno was a regular
> > contributor, and was actually a relief from the deep and heavy theory
> > discussions. He had a more cut-to-the-chase and skip-the-bs approach...
Yes, I read it most days, and post some. Jimmy is a old school guy
who along with Tony DeCaprio and others, made his bones in the pit
orchestras in Vegas.
Back then, theory info was fairly limited, Berklee was emerging, along
with North Texas State U, the pre-eminent jazz schools.
Guys copped lines off of records, and apprenticed with older cats.
Now of course, jazz has gone to the university, and with that comes
standardization. There is a mix of new and old school guys on that
site.
Several university level instructors, heavy hitters like Jimmy, Jack
Wilkins, Sheryl Bailey, Joe Giglio, and a mix of pro, semi-pro and
hobbyists.
I don't agree with Lumpy's assessment, as there are a number of
outstanding players who discuss theory, and gig regularly.
Then there are guys like me who have quite a bit of theory knowledge,
but not nearly enough time to practice to integrate it all. Jazz is a
minimum 10 year adventure, to even play convincingly.
Some never get there, no matter how much theory they know, so in that
regard, I agree with the Lumpster.
Lumpy
> I don't agree with Lumpy's assessment, as there are a number of
> outstanding players who discuss theory, and gig regularly.
Very small number, seems to me.
As opposed to the very large number that
discuss theory, yet don't play.
Sean
> Sean wrote:
>> Derek, do you still read or participate in the jazz guitar newsgroup?
>> I did for a while until my head exploded from trying to understand
>> what those guys were going on about. Jimmy Bruno was a regular
>> contributor, and was actually a relief from the deep and heavy theory
>> discussions. He had a more cut-to-the-chase and skip-the-bs approach...
>
> Jazz discussion groups, any of them, always seem to
> become filled with pseudo academics who want to argue
> their brains out on the theory of things, but typically
> aren't very fluent players.
>
> That's always seemed like an odd concept, considering
> that jazz likely grew out of and prospered because of
> players that had very little theoretical knowledge but
> instead simply played a lot and experimented.
IIRC, at the jazz ng their version of the "what key is SHA?" was "Did
Wes Montgomery know any theory?" It would periodically pop up and start
a big kerfuffle.
Derek
> IIRC, at the jazz ng their version of the "what key is SHA?" was "Did
> Wes Montgomery know any theory?" It would periodically pop up and start
> a big kerfuffle.
Right. The guys who don't want to do their homework and "just play
man", claim Wes didn't know any theory.
That argument is weak, as there are performance vids where he is
talking about changes, including extended chords.
You really want to stir the pot over there, you bring up the origins
of jazz. That REALLY makes the fur fly.
Derek
>Very small number, seems to me.
>As opposed to the very large number that
>discuss theory, yet don't play.
I have been regularly hanging out there for 6-7 years, and know lots
of those guys personally, and others just from the site.
I have heard probably 2 dozen or more play. I do think there are a
percentage of people out there who just enjoy the mental challenge of
music theory.
Hence Jody Fisher's observation that jazz guitar is the new golf for
middle aged white guys.
Lumpy
> Right. The guys who don't want to do their homework and "just play
> man", claim Wes didn't know any theory.
>
> That argument is weak, as there are performance vids where he is
> talking about changes, including extended chords.
I've got a DVD with Joe Pass saying
"I don't know a thing about theory".
Then in the next sentence he's talking about playing
sharped 11ths to get around the avoid tone.
Mr. Green
Yep that's me, sodoku and music theory, keeps your brain active ;-)
I sure can talk music better than I play it. It reminds me of the
degree qualified engineers I used to encounter in an R&D workshop.
They knew all the theory but, stand well back if they decided to try
and operate a lathe! To be fair though, their knowledge helped keep
the company ahead of the competition.
I've come to the conclusion that you need a lot more theory knowledge
to explain music than you need to play it.
Green