Have you seen the YouTube Guitar Hero clips where some kid is playing Dragon Force on expert mode, with no errors and wonder how good they would be if they actually practiced a real guitar instead of playing some wannabe video game. According to Gizmodo.com, we might have an answer to that question. The program is called Guitar Rising and apparently you can plug in any electric guitar and play. I looks as if it works similar to guitar hero except your actually playing the guitar. It starts out with learning the basics of the guitar and progresses to much harder levels. Does this mean, there will be a guitarist in the future that says his/her influences were Vai, Satriani, Emmanuel, and Guitar Rising? Guitar Rising commercial spot Links: \Gizmodo Article on Guitar Rising
latest update
Kyser Humidifier is no longer… Update: Looks as if Kyser no longer makes humidifiers, let along sell them. If you are looking for alternative you can try the this knockoff; it has the same form factor as the Kyser but I haven’t tried it. What I use now is the Music Nomad Humitar system. Works great in keeping my guitar at the right humidity level. You do have to keep it in the case for it to be effective, which is fine. Been working great for me for years and the sponge doesn’t need to be hydrated as much as with the Kyser. For your information: Kyser Discontinued.. In my last post on humidifiers, I wrote about my Grover system and how it worked well but I had concerns with it fitting so tight between the strings and the guitar that it might scratch the finish. I was also having troubles with the sponge getting tangled with the electronics in side my guitar. Purchased a Kyser system from Amazon and I’m very happy with what I got. *Full disclosure: Links within this post contain affiliate links to amazon. I earn commission on qualified purchases. My Impression: The construction of the …
Now that I have found tab that will point me in the right direction in learning Tommy Emmanuel’s Borsalino, it’s time to get practicing. What I usually is listen the hell out of a song and watch any videos I have to observe technique. I had a great version of Tommy performing Borsalino from the Sierra Nevada Center Stage show that aired on PBS. It was on my DVR for quite a while and knew it would always be there. At least I thought it would be. Turns out my Tommy show got recorded over because I failed to protect it so needless to say, I was crushed and pissed. Technology taketh away and technology giveth back! Did a quick search on YouTube and found the performance that I once had. Not to big of a find since YouTube has tons of videos available at anytime but I didn’t want to visit YouTube everytime I need to look at the video. I want to be able to watch it on my iTouch any time I felt like it. Thankfully, many have addressed this need with programs and services that assist me in getting YouTube videos on my iTouch. It’s called …
If You have read some of my previous Tommy posts, you will know I’m on a quest for an accurate Borsalino transcription. I think I found one that when combined with the other transcription that I found, I get a pretty good idea on how to play it. The thing that makes this so hard is that Tommy plays the song differently depending on when he played it. So there cold possibly be many versions of tab out there. Anyway, this site has many different transcriptions for you to try out. (I lost count after 20) They are in PDF format so you don’t have to worry about having Guitar Pro or Power Tab. I have sampled two two transcriptions; Borsalino and Bye Bye Blackbird(Up Close DVD). Borsalino is fairly accurate but it’s hard to say because in the performance notes for the transcription, it says, “As seen in concert…” What concert would that be? Who knows but it fills some holes the other left. Bye Bye Blackbird is OK as far as the notes and fingering but the rhythm was not as accurate as I had hoped. In the “Up Close” DVD, Tommy did a lot of syncopation which wasn’t represented in …
Have you had one of those days where no matter what you do, the guitar will not cooperate? Of course you have! Well, I’m pretty sure today is my turn. Here’s the deal; my guitar won’t stay in tune, my 9 volt went dead and my left and right hands have decided not to cooperate with each other. I know these things happen and I shouldn’t get frustrated but I am. I’ve been advised by many that when this happens, it’s time to put the guitar down and walk away and play another day. So, as I write this, the guitar is sitting on it’s stand, put to bed, mocking me. Must resist the urge to pick it up…..
