Steve Stine’s 42 Days to Blazing Guitar Solos

About a month ago, I started working on what was once called Steve Stine’s “Essential Techniques for Guitar”. This is a compendium of pure guitar technique, teaching you the “how” of lead guitar soloing. After weeks of grueling transcription and completing the sheet music, GuitarZoom has released what is now called “42 Days to Blazing Guitar Solos”.

If you are at least an intermediate electric guitar player want to do everything from nailing famous guitar to creating your own solos from scratch, I suggest going to the link below:

Other than working on this course, I just completed transcribing another blues course and I’m working on a number of things simultaneously. Therefore, I can say I’m busier than a bee. I guess that’s it for now. I hope that over the next 42 days, you’ve transformed yourself into a guitar hero under Steve Stine’s tutelage.

Close-Mindedness Can Be Very Irritating

I grew up as a fan of metal. I should be because I started out playing in a band that covered Metallica. Naturally, therefore, I would love thrash metal. Heck, I still do. Of all the Big Four thrash bands, Megadeth was up on my list simply because I think their musicianship was the most superb of them all. My favorite Megadeth album is “Rust in Peace”. Fast forward 2013, they released this:

Hmm, okay. I wouldn’t call this thrash metal. It’s some kind of hard rock that is more akin to a Mr. Big hit than a thrash metal anthem like Slayer’s “Angel of Death” (by the way, RIP Jeff Hannemann). I have seen how some fans have started to hate Megadeth because the band has the desire to expand its fanbase (and perhaps earn a lot of money in the process). Who could blame them? They got families to feed, bills to pay, etc. They do this for a living. This has to be respected rather than bash Megadeth for seemingly selling out.

I couldn’t really stand how narrow-minded or close-minded rabid thrash metal fans can be at times. Can’t we respect the band for trying out something else? I mean they’re artists. You can’t expect an artist to put out something like “Rust in Peace” every year or so. That’s the kind of thing that kills innovation.

So, for fans who are disappointed with Megadeth’s direction, please shut up. You’re not doing anything good. Hey, I would agree that this new Megadeth song isn’t really something that I’d be crazy about but you have to respect the fact that they’re living up to their name as ARTISTS and not mere parrots that repeat the same thing over time without meaning.

Steve Stine’s Songfire Now Available

GuitarZoom, one of my long-term employers, has another very useful course for anybody who’s interested in learning new songs on the guitar in a fast and intelligent way. This new course is called Songfire. Written by GuitarZoom’s guitarist-in-residence and professor of modern guitar at North Dakota State University, Steve Stine, This new course offers a no-nonsense approach that could enable any guitar beginner into hearing how most songs work and then eventually learn them in the process.

Now, for those who think they can become instant virtuoso players with this course, you are mistaken. This course is NOT about gaining virtuoso technique in an instant (it takes years of hard work and practice to gain that). This course is more about being able to play many of the songs you hear and enjoy on your guitar in a fast way. This course is not about being able to play your favorite songs note by note, but it is more about being able to understand the underlying harmonic structure (chord progressions, etc.) based on what you hear. Upon finishing the course, you’d be able to listen actively to many pop and rock songs and be able to play through its chord progression in a matter of minutes.

Okay, maybe some will be disappointed that virtuoso guitarist Steve Stine released a non-virtuoso course. Well, that is not the point of Songfire. Songfire’s intent is to give learners the ability to hear music as a whole and be able to at least play a semblance of it, following along the chord progression WITHOUT reading notation or tab. B ear in mind that seemingly simple, sort of entry-level topics like those in Songfire could easily lead any beginning guitarist to be stimulated into getting deeper into the workings of music, eventually figuring out what most of us would consider virtuoso technique. The positive and pleasurable effects of being to successfully learn a new song can always lead to bigger things, musically speaking.

If you want to get access to the course, just click on the Songfire image above. As usual, sheet music and text by none other than yours truly.

Steve Stine’s “CAGED Made Simple” Now Available

Every serious guitarist wants mastery over the instrument wherein one would just look at the fretboard and find every note required to make a solo sound great instantly. Of course such a feat requires practice, but the new GuitarZoom course called “CAGED Made Simple” by Steve Stine helps achieve just that and more.

“CAGED Made Simple” teaches you how to take advantage of the five basic chord shapes to visualize the fretboard better, leading you to do a number of things such as learning songs faster, playing chords differently, and even soloing better. The best part of the course is that it’s taught by Steve Stine, professor of modern guitar at North Dakota State University. Sure thing you can find a number of guitar virtuosos teach CAGED at YouTube, but Steve explains things complex musical concepts in such a way that even little children would have no trouble learning it.

And so, if you want to give your guitar playing an upgrade, just click on the logo below:

 

P.S. Here’s a  little bit of shameless self-promotion this time. If you think Steve’s awesome in this course, trying checking out…ahem…the sheet music (transcribed by none other than yours truly). It contains note-for-note transcriptions of Steve’s improvisations. Just saying….

Acoustic Blues Guitar by Steven Dahlberg to be Launched January 30

Steven Dahlberg is one amazing blues guy. I’ve had the pleasure of working with him on the latest GuitarZoom course entitled “Acoustic Blues Guitar”. If you want to go beyond the very ubiquitous Mississippi Delta Blues style, you got to check out this course.

“Acoustic Blues Guitar” is a fingerpicking style course that intends to teach aspiring guitarists performing acoustic blues in a solo fashion. This is the sort of blues that you would hear prior to World War II. Steven teaches a variety of styles as used by blues legends like Mississippi John Hurt, Mance Lipscomb and others.

This is a four DVD and sheet music package covered by GuitarZoom’s “Learn in 90 days or get your money back” guarantee. As usual sheet music transcriptions have been worked on by yours truly.

All I can say is expand your guitar playing horizons and get into the blues with Steven Dahlberg’s “Acoustic Blues Guitar”

Six String Madness Interviews Mark Galang

Just this week, I was interviewed by Scott of Six String Madness regarding my work and insights as a music transcriber for Steve Stine and GuitarZoom.

Read the interview via the links below:

http://www.sixstringmadness.com/exclusive-interview-mark-galang
http://www.stevestine.com/exclusive-interview-with-mark-galang/

For more tips about playing guitar and info regarding getting the best blues, rock and metal guitar lessons on the net, go visit sixstringmadness.com.

Steve Stine’s 96 Blues Licks Now Available

After two weeks of hard work, I’m proud to announce that Steve Stine’s long anticipated 96 Blues Licks course for guitar has already been released by GuitarZoom. If you’ve ever dreamed of playing the blues and all sorts of its derivatives like blues rock and Texas blues, this is the course that you’ve been waiting for.

Steve Stine’s 96 Blues Licks course can be seen as part of a continuity of lead guitar instruction courses by the guru himself. If the first Solofire installment and Music Theory Made Easy provided you with the “how” of guitar soloing and music making, 96 Blues Licks provides you the “what”. You can say that it’s going to form part of your ever expanding vocabulary of lead guitar lines.

One of the most awesome aspects of 96 Blues Licks is that it provides some insights into the music theory behind playing the Blues. The introductory material provides a good method into how any guitar player would approach using the licks and putting them in the context of any song. Rather than just being told how a lick is played, the introductory materials actually provide more by helping learners expand the licks into things more than just soloing.

The sheet music provided (transcribed by no other than yours truly) is in the usual standard notation and guitar tablature format. It covers all of the materials in the DVD and we even went far as including all of Steve’s jam track improvisations at the end of the course so that learners can actually gain insight as to how Steve approaches playing the Blues.

So, to cut the long story short, if you’ve ever dreamed of being like Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Chuck Berry or Stevie Ray Vaughn, check out Steve Stine’s 96 Blues Licks. If you’re a blues guitar fan, I guarantee that you’ll get more than your money’s worth just listening to how Steve gets you going with the Blues.

Music Theory Mastery for Guitar on Guitarzoom

A good knowledge of music theory allows any guitarist to vastly improve his or her skills, and one of the best courses out there is “Music Theory Mastery for Guitar” by Steve Stine. I have started working on this new project as a music transcriber and chart maker for the past couple of weeks, and I could definitely say that Steve is one of the best teachers out there. His new music theory lesson is currently hosted at Guitarzoom.com.

Music theory can be a daunting subject to tackle. However, Steve breaks it down to practical tidbits that are most useful for any guitarist. It follows a kind of hear-before-you-read approach in that his theory lessons emphasize hearing and recognizing notes, scales, chords and patterns and practical performance advice over reading sheet music. I know that teaching sheet music first could easily turn off a lot of people, especially those that want to get some practical music skills fast. It appears that this approach to learning music theory offers easy transmission of knowledge and skill that learners would eventually want to learn how to read sheet music as soon as they get better.

The main benefit any guitarist can get from Music Theory Mastery for Guitar is that it provides an overall understanding of how music works as it relates to guitar without having to read sheet music. I can say that it’s a very suitable course for guitarists who learned how to play by ear and would want to advance their skills further. If you are interested in enrolling for Music Mastery for Guitar, sign up for the course at Guitarzoom.Com. It’s an ongoing class and week 4 of the course starts next week. Even if you missed the following weeks, you can go and backtrack the previous weeks as many times as you want with your subscription.

P.S. if you’re a Guitarzoom member and you have any questions about the courses, music theory or guitar playing in general, you can send in your questions to me and I’ll gladly offer my help in the Guitarzoom member forums. That’s because I’m the new guitar Q&A guy as well.

Again, if you want to push your guitar playing skills to another level, go sign up for Steve Stine’s “Music Theory Mastery for Guitar” at Guitarzoom.com.

Acoustic Guitar in 7 Days by Chris Argenziano

One of my latest music transcription and engraving projects has already been released by Dan Denley and the rest of the crew at Guitarzoom.com. It’s called “Acoustic Guitar in 7 Days” by guitarist Chris Argenziano. For anyone who would like to get started on playing the guitar, this is one of the best courses I’ve ever had the pleasure of preparing sheet music for.

What’s great about this course is that you do not have to be able to read sheet music yet in order to get started. It follows an intuitive pedagogical method that allows you to immediately grab your guitar, learn how to tune it, and then learn basic strumming patterns and chord patterns. Chris even offers advice on playing tips and practice methods that will allow any entry-level guitar player to build upon knowledge gained in the course.

Take note that “Acoustic Guitar in 7 Days” is a course for beginners. If you already have serious chops, you might want to try something else like Steve Stine’s Solofire Guitar and 96 Rock Licks.

If you want to see a preview of the course, just go visit http://guitarzoom.com/ag7days/. If you happen to like what you see and learn from Chris, you can just click the upper right hand corner of the “Acoustic Guitar in 7 Days” page and go purchase the DVDs and the sheet music transcribed and engraved by yours truly.

Cats Have Taken Over My Cottage Industry Studio Facility

My cats have assumed control over my audio equipment as I was coming up with this musical idea:

 

Sadie: “I don’t care what you’re doing. I’m taking a nap over here. I could care less about your volume controls or your effects pedal.”

Willow: “Nice bouncy keys. Interesting….”

Alex: “Wanna wank, wank, wank? Forget about it! It’s time for me to chew on these nice looking cables.”