'GUITAR GODS: Greg Howe''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Thursday, April 01 2004 @ 17:51:54 BST

Greg Howe crashed onto the music scene in 1988 with the release of his debut album, "Greg Howe" (Relativity), which featured bass master Billy Sheehan and drummer extraordinaire Atma Anur. It was immediately obvious to any listener that this guy was a guitar player not only of intensity and technical wizardry, but a musician with deep insight and passion who was here to stay.
 

The album gained Greg immediate attention and acclaim within the guitar community, and endorsement deals, clinic tours, and magazine spots soon followed. He also gained legions of fans who are still with Greg 16 years and 8 solo albums later (not to mention 2 band albums with brother/vocalist). Unlike many players, however, his guitar playing fans cover a wide range of styles, from the heavy metal shredders to the pop-rock choppers to the nuevo flamencos to jazz fusion buffs.

Greg Howe has also made his mark in the larger mainstream music community, touring with the likes of Michael Jackson, NSYNC, Enrique Iglesias, and Justin Timberlake across America, Europe, and Asia...and "wow"-ing television & radio audiences across the globe.

"Insanity 101: Greg Howe Style"

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Insane Guitar, 2004

Greg Howe may be most famous as the hired gun for mega-stars like Justin Timberlake and Michael Jackson, but he’s known in the guitar world as a player with impeccable chops, extraordinary knowledge, and unique musical vision. He always demonstrates clean lines with both fire and grace, and his ability to weave together tapestries of sound from often disparate genres make him a paragon of fusion.

I am assuming the fingerings below are correct, but only Greg can say for sure. When I spoke to him recently, he made note of some of his unusual fingering patterns, so we can only hope his video series will be available soon.

''GUITAR GODS: Philip High''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Monday, March 08 2004 @ 13:49:22 GMT

Philip High is among the creative elite. Using an electrified classical guitar pumped into a rack of audio effects, he creates intricate and flowing sheets of sound like you've never heard before.

The core of Phil's style is hard to pin down. Using a nylon string guitar, playing fingerstyle using classical, new age, & jazz techniques, Phil plays short phrases into a delay unit which then loops the short phrases. He then plays counter-melodies, harmonies, and lead lines over the loops to create vast musical textures. But he doesn't stop there. He adds to this bizarre special effects (chorus, delays, harmonizers, etc.) to add even more spice to the mix. All that is hard enough to do as it is, but Phil's compositions (before he even goes electric) are sophisticated and varied, and his technique impeccable.

The author (David) on harmonica with Philip on guitar, backstage at Woodsongs, 2009.

Now, try all that - plus a heavy dose of improvisation - in a completely live setting (where one mis-step on a pedal or one bad note can spell immediate disaster) and what you're witnessing is a unique and fearless musician. Such an attitude is rare in the world of music.

"Insanity 101: Phrasing"

Like last month, I’m going to include a little section from some recent guitar clinics I’m currently doing with fingerstyle guru Jerry Belsak and fusion wizard Philip High. One of the questions that comes up at clinics a lot is: “How can I learn to solo?” A lot goes into soloing well, but it begins with a basic understanding of the fretboard and some basic musical concepts (some of which we’ve discussed in the past, like melody fragments and octave displacement and variations on a theme), not just application of technique.

David with a student improvising a solo at a guitar student recital.

The concept I’d like to touch on today is phrasing.

''GUITAR GODS: Tobias Hurwitz''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean 
originally publshed at Tinfoil Music
Date: Monday, March 01 2004 @ 14:54:53 GMT

Whether it's his mellow acoustic strains, his intense and screaming electric chops, his intricate compositions, his many seminars & workshops, or his countless published lessons, Baltimore native and GIT graduate Tobias Hurwitz has demonstrated himself to be an independent solo artist and educator of remarkable skill. To put it bluntly, this guy smokes!

Tobias, who carries the Phil Sudo "Zen Guitar" flame higher than all others, works with the National Guitar Workshop, has published articles in Guitar-One, Guitar, and Guitar Player magazines, directs the Day Jams rock music camp, and has authored several books for Alfred Music Publishing.

"Insanity 101: Etude for Touch-Style"

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Insane Guitar, 2004

One of the fine fellows from the IG message-boards dropped me a line about writing practice pieces (etudes) for certain concepts. His question was in reference to the Harmonic Minor scale (lesson #11, “Modes of the Harmonic Minor”) and we’ll explore some etudes for that in a future lesson. This month, since I just finished interviewing bass master Billy Sheehan for the “Guitar Gods” series, I wanted to share an etude I wrote for touch-style technique (also known as 2-hand tapping).

This etude was written specifically for a series of guitar clinics I’m currently doing with finger style guru Jerry Belsak and fusion wizard Philip High, and I’ll be sharing some of their techniques in future lessons, too. It requires at least a rudimentary understanding & mastery of tapping (check out the archives for lessons I’ve written in the past [re: Jennifer Batten] and lessons by other IG writers, as well as Joel’s master class on tapping, and the current series by Jeff Wilde), so make sure you can both tap single notes and basic chord fragment shapes.

''GUITAR GODS: Stevie Salas''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Thursday, February 19 2004 @ 18:15:03 GMT
 
Stevie Salas is among the most under-rated guitar gods in the history of rock-n-roll. But I doubt he will be for long, as Stevie - with his fresh mix of blistering funk, heavy rock grooves, wailing guitars, and classic rock-n-roll voice - is poised to be one of the first HUGE guitar stars of the 21st century.

...and remember you heard it here first!
 

"Insanity 101: Exotic Scales pt.2"

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Insane Guitar, 2003

As we mentioned last time (in “Exotic Scales [part 1]“), the term “exotic scale” generally refers to scales outside of the standard Major Scale (& it’s modes), the Harmonic Minor, and the Melodic Minor…plus a few others (depending on which text you’re reading). Essentially, exoticism is the use of musical devices (melodies, harmonies, rhythms, instrumentation, etc.) to evoke the atmosphere of ancient or distant places, so the easiest way to gather such scales are to take them from non-western cultures.

Like the last two installments of “Insanity 101″, this article will assume a knowledge of modes. Rather than breaking each scale down myself as I have in the past, I urge you to pull each one apart yourself and experiment with them. Note that all scales herein are in the key of “A”.

'Le Bleu'' - Justin King

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Sunday, April 11 2004 @ 23:26:35 BST
 
Justin King, the subject of a recent "Guitar Gods" interview right here at Tinfoil (see link below), is a one-of-a-kind acoustic guitar phenomenon. Using hammered chord ostinatos, cascading harmonics, fiery flamenco techniques, and dreamy melodies, Justin creates stories with sound. His new CD, "le Bleu", features 19 incredible compositions that take the listener on a wild ride into territory seldom explored.
 
The comparisons to other great fingerstyle players is inevitable, but it's somewhat like pop music fans saying "I can't tell the difference between Bach and Beethoven" or classical music fans saying "all that heavy metal stuff sounds alike". The reality is that despite certain stylistic similarities, Justin King is worlds apart. His use of advanced techniques from a wide range of styles coupled with his odd sense of harmony and incredible rhythmic flourishes put Justin in a category all his own (Justin speaks of some of these techniques in an instructional piece found here).

''GUITAR GODS: Justin King''

- David "Skinny Devil" McLean
originally published at Tinfoil Music
Date: Saturday, January 10 2004 @ 17:02:43 GMT

Justin's official bio starts off, "Justin King has dramatically reshaped and extended the language of the acoustic guitar, introducing his own unique and outstanding techniques. With the intensity and passion with which he plays, Justin brings a quality to the music that is far beyond just his mastery of a dizzying variety of forms...". Most days, I ignore such hype, as it's easier to write a dazzling bio than to develop a dazzling guitar style, but in Justin King's case, this isn't saying nearly enough.

 I first heard a gorgeous and haunting piece ("Something About Angels") from this extraordinary guitarist and mentally bookmarked his name. Then a friend sent a link to Black Albino Films, which featured a film clip of Justin playing 2 minutes of absolute acoustic frenzy combining folk, fingerstyle, flamenco, and rock techniques with utter abandon. I knew right then that if this guy isn't famous yet, he surely will be soon.