(not in any particular order)
1. A large collection of Blues recordings
2. The willingness and desire to hang out late in clubs listening to good Blues musicians. And be ready to “sit in” with the band if possible.
3. Tone. Having a mediocre tone can make everything you play lifeless and flat. A great guitar sound enhances every note and can inspire creativity in a player.
4. Patients - is a virtue in Blues soloing. A strong player with lots of chops patiently building a solo, “teasing” the audience comes off lot’s better than a player “showing their hand” in the first 12 bars. The phrase “less is more” is usually key to Blues playing.
5. Comping. Players with flashy soloing chops who neglect their rhythm playing will lose out every time to the guy who plays great rhythm parts and average solos. In Blues, supporting the singer or other instrumentalists and making them sound better is as important or more than big solos.
6. Emotions. Being able to make the connection from the brain to the fingerboard to communicate emotions is key. Anger, fear, love, feeling blue, joy and even sexual tension are great to express in Blues.
7. Music theory. Not a style of music known for needing to know a lot of theory, Blues can still benefit from a player who knows their stuff when it comes to theory.
8. A good ear. The best teachers are the guys on recordings. And the best way to learn what they’re doing is to copy and emulate them. A good ear make learning off recordings much easier. But having a good ear is equally important on stage. Listening to the other musicians and playing off each other is what live playing is all about. Not listening and paying close attention on stage is a quick way to find yourself band-less.
9. Sing, even if you are terrible. Singing is Blues. Learn the lyrics of a few Blues tunes. When no one’s around, pretend you’re B.B. King and sing a tune and add the guitar fills in the correct places. A gold-mine for learning about phrasing, comping and fills around the melody. On the gig, sing one if you’re brave enough, or simply let someone else sing it, but you will now have a much better feel and connection to the music.
10. Learn and understand the music business as it relates to Blues. Know who all the top national and local players are. Learn about the equipment, strings and guitars different players are using. Also learn about Blues history. Where did it come from? Who were the people that brought Blues to the forefront?
-Don Mock
Saturday, August 29, 2009
The Story of the "TEN" Book
In 1982, we decided to put together a promotional book for GIT that brought together many of the great players who were associated with the school. I tackled the job of coordinating the project and help several of the guys write their chapters. It was quite a job, but I will always be proud of this book, as it is truly full of great information. I’ll always remember the evening at GIT, when all eleven of us got together for the cover photo shoot. I’d never been surrounded by so many incredible players in my life! We had a great time; Eddie joking around with Howard and Joe, Larry and Robben trading stories, and Tommy telling jokes and cracking everybody up.
But what people don’t know is that Pat Martino was originally suppose to be part of the project. In 1981, Pat had moved to LA to teach with us at the school. (I can’t tell you how great it was becoming friends and spending time with Pat. We had offices next to each other and in the mornings I could hear him practicing. He played some of the most amazing things, a lot of which were solo pieces he was writing.) So when the idea of the Ten book came about, Pat was one of the ten, plus HR, and would submit a chapter. And in fact the chapter was partly written when the evening came for us all to get together at the school for the photo shoot.
My wife Kathy, an professional art director hired a photographer, had organized the shoot. She made the huge book cover out of a sheet of plywood and we were all to sit around it for the photo. We all sat down and Pat was seated between Joe Diorio and Robben Ford. The photographer took probably 100 shots and then we all just hung out for a while afterwards. I’ve always said that if a bomb had hit the building that night, modern guitar playing would have had a huge set-back for years to come.
After the shoot I sat with Eddie and took lots of photos of his hand positions to use in his chapter which I basically “ghost-wrote” for him. Only a few days after that evening Pat Martino told the schools owner, Pat Hicks, that he was moving back to the east coast. I think Pat was dealing with the effects of his brain aneurism, and wanted to get back home to eventually undergo surgery. Pat made a fairly quick departure and with his chapter not finished it was decided to drop Pat from the book. This left us in a fix because we had a great cover photo and we knew that it would be a huge ordeal to get everyone together again for another shot.
Tommy Tedesco came to the rescue with the idea to get Joe Pass to replace Pat Martino so we would still have the “ten” players. But this did not solve the problem with the photo. Kathy then suggested that we re-shoot only the part of the photo where Pat had been seated. In the days before Photoshop, she felt that if we could get the four of us, who were seated on the left side of the book cover, she could have the image airbrushed together with the original to create a seamless photo. So that’s what we did. Joe Diorio, Robben Ford and myself joined Joe Pass a few days later and Kathy recreated the shot with the four of us. It’s nearly impossible to see the airbrushed seam between Tommy and myself. We eventually got the book completed with a new chapter by Joe Pass. A lot of credit goes to Tony Baruso, a former GIT student who was hired on by the school to do music transcription and notation. Tony was also close to Pat Martino and helped with Pat’s “Linear Expressions” book for REH Publications. As part of my compensation for my work writing and editing much of the book, I ended up with several boxes of the books. And to this day I still have a few hundred copies so if you would like one, send me an email at Mock@guitaraxis.com
-Don Mock
But what people don’t know is that Pat Martino was originally suppose to be part of the project. In 1981, Pat had moved to LA to teach with us at the school. (I can’t tell you how great it was becoming friends and spending time with Pat. We had offices next to each other and in the mornings I could hear him practicing. He played some of the most amazing things, a lot of which were solo pieces he was writing.) So when the idea of the Ten book came about, Pat was one of the ten, plus HR, and would submit a chapter. And in fact the chapter was partly written when the evening came for us all to get together at the school for the photo shoot.
My wife Kathy, an professional art director hired a photographer, had organized the shoot. She made the huge book cover out of a sheet of plywood and we were all to sit around it for the photo. We all sat down and Pat was seated between Joe Diorio and Robben Ford. The photographer took probably 100 shots and then we all just hung out for a while afterwards. I’ve always said that if a bomb had hit the building that night, modern guitar playing would have had a huge set-back for years to come.
After the shoot I sat with Eddie and took lots of photos of his hand positions to use in his chapter which I basically “ghost-wrote” for him. Only a few days after that evening Pat Martino told the schools owner, Pat Hicks, that he was moving back to the east coast. I think Pat was dealing with the effects of his brain aneurism, and wanted to get back home to eventually undergo surgery. Pat made a fairly quick departure and with his chapter not finished it was decided to drop Pat from the book. This left us in a fix because we had a great cover photo and we knew that it would be a huge ordeal to get everyone together again for another shot.
Tommy Tedesco came to the rescue with the idea to get Joe Pass to replace Pat Martino so we would still have the “ten” players. But this did not solve the problem with the photo. Kathy then suggested that we re-shoot only the part of the photo where Pat had been seated. In the days before Photoshop, she felt that if we could get the four of us, who were seated on the left side of the book cover, she could have the image airbrushed together with the original to create a seamless photo. So that’s what we did. Joe Diorio, Robben Ford and myself joined Joe Pass a few days later and Kathy recreated the shot with the four of us. It’s nearly impossible to see the airbrushed seam between Tommy and myself. We eventually got the book completed with a new chapter by Joe Pass. A lot of credit goes to Tony Baruso, a former GIT student who was hired on by the school to do music transcription and notation. Tony was also close to Pat Martino and helped with Pat’s “Linear Expressions” book for REH Publications. As part of my compensation for my work writing and editing much of the book, I ended up with several boxes of the books. And to this day I still have a few hundred copies so if you would like one, send me an email at Mock@guitaraxis.com
-Don Mock
Producer Notes: Don Mock - "Jazz Rhythm Chops"
For years I received hundreds of requests from students for a book or video on jazz/blues rhythm phrases. I’ve always found that the blues progression served as a great vehicle for teaching the fundamentals of jazz. My first video “The Blues from Rock to Jazz” emphasized improvising on blues progressions. Following lots of requests from customers, Warner Bros. decided to release a rhythm guitar series titled “Rhythm Chops.” I tackled the jazz version. Once again the jazz/blues was the perfect structure to demonstrate chord moves used by legends of jazz guitar. I wrote several 12 bar comps which show my favorite voicings and chord movements. The section on 1/2 step connection is a extremely useful and easy tool for creating sophisticated chromatic movements. Thanks to a fine rhythm section, the demonstrations and play-along segments came out very good.
-Don Mock 6/02
The video packaging limitations required Warner to only add a small tab booklet of the examples. Below is the full music and tab PDF version available to download for those who have the video.
http://www.donmockguitar.com/pdf/JazzGuitarRhythmChops.pdf
-Don Mock 6/02
The video packaging limitations required Warner to only add a small tab booklet of the examples. Below is the full music and tab PDF version available to download for those who have the video.
http://www.donmockguitar.com/pdf/JazzGuitarRhythmChops.pdf
see additional post:
http://donmockguitar2.blogspot.com/2009/09/jazz-rhythm-chops-dvd-booklet-pdf.html
Producer Notes: Don Mock - "Guitar Secrets Harmonic Minor"
I haven’t met many guitar players who have spent as much time on the harmonic minor scale as myself. Some say it sounds too “middle eastern” or “exotic” to be useful as a rock and jazz scale. The truth is, the harmonic minor is a traditional classic scale that is right at home in western forms of music especially jazz. I have spent many years using the harmonic minor and have developed a large vocabulary of concepts and melodic lines.
Writing this book was an opportunity for me to lay out my whole approach to using this scale. You’ll learn that the harmonic minor is a must for playing in minor keys including minor II-V-Is. The key to getting the most out of the harmonic minor (and other scales) is mastering the art of “superimposition.” Rather than thinking in terms of modes, this technique has you learn only the one scale and simply superimpose it over chords in various ways. A natural approach for the guitar, an instrument that resembles a “slide rule.” The accompanying audio CD was the most important part for me. I wanted you to hear all the examples played in musical situations. I also used it as a forum to say lots more about the harmonic minor scale.
I want to thank Aaron Stang at Warner for all his valuable help on this book. I hope you check it out.
- Don Mock 3/01
Writing this book was an opportunity for me to lay out my whole approach to using this scale. You’ll learn that the harmonic minor is a must for playing in minor keys including minor II-V-Is. The key to getting the most out of the harmonic minor (and other scales) is mastering the art of “superimposition.” Rather than thinking in terms of modes, this technique has you learn only the one scale and simply superimpose it over chords in various ways. A natural approach for the guitar, an instrument that resembles a “slide rule.” The accompanying audio CD was the most important part for me. I wanted you to hear all the examples played in musical situations. I also used it as a forum to say lots more about the harmonic minor scale.
I want to thank Aaron Stang at Warner for all his valuable help on this book. I hope you check it out.
- Don Mock 3/01
Producer Notes: Don Mock - "Guitar Secrets Melodic Minor"
Does the world really need yet another book on scales? That was my question when talking with the guys at Warner Bros. about a new book series on scales for guitarists. But once I dove into the project, I realized that I had a lot of thing to say about the melodic minor scale that I had not seen in prior books. I’m very happy with the results, although a bit embarrassed about the humorous marketing theme making me out to be a spy revealing secret information. The book is, however, a true look at the scale from a players perspective. The key to getting the most out of the melodic minor (and harmonic minor) is mastering the art of “superimposition.” Rather than thinking in terms of modes, this technique has you learn only the one scale and simply superimpose it over chords in various ways. A natural approach for the guitar, an instrument that resembles a “slide rule.”
The accompanying audio CD was the most important part for me. I wanted you to be able to hear all the examples played in musical situations. I also used it as a forum to say lots more about the melodic minor. I want to thank Aaron Stang at Warner for all his valuable help on this book. I hope you check it out.
- Don Mock 3/01
The accompanying audio CD was the most important part for me. I wanted you to be able to hear all the examples played in musical situations. I also used it as a forum to say lots more about the melodic minor. I want to thank Aaron Stang at Warner for all his valuable help on this book. I hope you check it out.
- Don Mock 3/01
Producer Notes: Joe Diorio - "Creative Jazz"
Without a doubt, Joe Diorio is simply one of the finest jazz guitarist to ever touch the instrument. Joe and I were two of the first instructors at GIT in 1977 and became good friends, playing together whenever possible. No one has inspired my own playing more than Joe. I never tired of listening to him play and tell stories about his early bebop years playing on the East Coast and Europe. If you can ever see Joe play live, DO IT!
Creative Jazz gives you a peek into the genious of Joe Diorio, and the warmth of his teaching. You’ll be inspired with lots of great improvising ideas and techniques to explore. Recommended for knowledgable students looking to widen their horizons.
- Don Mock 2/01
Creative Jazz gives you a peek into the genious of Joe Diorio, and the warmth of his teaching. You’ll be inspired with lots of great improvising ideas and techniques to explore. Recommended for knowledgable students looking to widen their horizons.
- Don Mock 2/01
Producer Notes: Pat Martino - "Quantum Guitar"
An “at the top of his game” Pat Martino walked off the plane in Seattle to shoot his second video series for REH and Warner Bros. Pat had been performing a lot on the East Coast and in Japan with his new band, and was playing as well as ever. Once shoots like this wrap up, my work just begins as I look through all the footage editing together the final show. No other project sent me running for my guitar, more than “Quantum Guitar”. Pat played some of the most amazing lines I’d ever heard him play. From bebop inside melodies to outside, octave displaced ideas, this video has it all.
I would recommend “Quantum Guitar” to all guitar players even if you have only played a short time. Some concepts may be hard to grasp at first, but it’s a chance to be inspired by one of the world’s finest jazz guitarists.
-Don Mock 2/01
I would recommend “Quantum Guitar” to all guitar players even if you have only played a short time. Some concepts may be hard to grasp at first, but it’s a chance to be inspired by one of the world’s finest jazz guitarists.
-Don Mock 2/01
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