Our Menu

I would like for you to take a few moments and listen to the way, Jameson, the brilliant Motown bassist, plays through the changes on this tune. The most interesting part of this, in my opinion, comes after the three minute mark in the video. The music comes to a hold (pause) and shifts grooves. It is in this 50 second or so interlude that James displays his awesome improvisational skills.

First, notice that he does not come in on the downbeat, but enters this piece on the 32nd after the one (downbeat). Also, the baseline that he improvises is crafted by a master at playing a syncopated groove that carries the song.

I know that others have pointed to other examples of his work, but having been a long time admirer of his, I have to say that in my opinion, that 50 second interlude is one of the best examples of his bass playing genius!

This holiday I attended Christmas dinner with family. My grand nephew wanted to learn to play guitar, so for his birthday two months earlier; his Grandmother bought him a guitar. Since I had a hand in choosing the instrument and ordering it, I inquired how he was doing with his guitar. Had he started learning?

He just hung his head and said, "No, I need lessons". I realized that even when you're lucky enough to be born into a musical family with talented people all around you, you still need someone to give you some direction. Something that I felt was simple has stopped him cold, tuning his guitar.

So, I suggested that his parents go online and find a good online program and start working with that so the child can start to realize his dream of playing the guitar. But, leaving this to the parents who are working and doing those day to day task to make certain their young family survives and hopefully begins to thrive, I was just handing them yet another chore to complete.

I then started looking for answers myself, after all I am a professional musician and while I don't play guitar, I can recognize helpful information when I read it or view it in a video. In my research I am finding that so many of you are getting confused by the simplest things (in my mind) such as the parts of the instrument

or tuning the instrument to standard tuning. I understand this confusion because there is so much information on the Internet that is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate that it is easy to get confused. If you are just picking up your instrument and trying to get started, you can learn something and not know the value of the lesson or what the next step should be. That's just wrong. I am building this website to help dispel the misinformation that floats around the Internet.

I am slow to get the videos up that need to be produced because I am so busy, but while there is a lot of poor information, there is also some very good information available, produced by other people. I realize I don't have to produce every video that teaches the information that I know is valuable for the player. I am making this New Year's Resolution and promise to you.

I will be posting videos that teach and inform you of the essentials that are needed to have a good foundation, whether I produce them or they are available somewhere on the internet. I will, as much a possible, post videos and information that help you take the next step in your development. Much of what is baffling to some people can be easily explained or easily shown. There is a lot of "how to" videos out there. The question becomes which ones are good to truly help you on your way? I promise to answer those questions for you.