It may sound like a elementary school homework but I have really thought about this these last days. I have realized why I love that much playing the guitar.

It is not (only) because I love rock music, it is not (only) because of the beautiful sound or the energy when you hear the overdrive…

The reason I love playing the guitar is the fact that it opens infinite possibilities to my music. Think about it: every time you pick up your guitar you can come up with something totally different, something new and beautiful. I love the fact that my guitar is the door to infinite possibilities of expression.

Think about is this way: me, you, Satriani, Vai, Malmsteen, Hendrix, May, Segovia, Dimebag Darrel, Paco De Lucia , Frank Gambale, we all have the same damn thing: a 6 string instrument, but each one of us makes it sound different.

I love the fact that the same 6 strings are able to produce music that is so different: rock, jazz, blues, funk, classic music, flamenco, folk, damn, there are so many possibilities out there. And all these thanks to 6 strings and a box!

I kept on thinking these days about this and I realize I love the guitar more and more each day, exactly because of this and I realize that I am so small and tiny compared to the possibilities this instrument has. If I don’t make better music is because I can’t. My guitar surely can because it showed it so many times over the years all over the world! There are so many records to prove it!

By the way, IG launched a very interesting idea, “Hug your guitar week” and I think his initiative is a great way to show your guitar you love her.

So tell your guitar here why do you love her and give her a hug on IG’s blog!

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You can not argue that this guy developed a strange talent…

I can’t help myself asking what actually determined him to learn to play the guitar with that damn spoon?

Now, stumble that and digg!! Thank you!

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Gary of Thumbrella posted this strange 3 necks guitar on his website.

Two things I have to ask about this guitar:

1) What would you do with the middle neck? How does it sound actually, cause it has no hole under the strings.

2) Why would you put a bass guitar on the same box with a 6 string guitar? What would be the use of this?

Ah, I get it. Actually it is an ergonomic “band guitar”, you have there the solo, the rhythm and the bass guitarists playing all together on the same guitar.

And as usual, the rhythm guitar is squeezed between the solo guitar and the bass guitar and he doesn’t actually need to be heard so that’s the reason they didn’t assign him a hole.

That explains it…

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Seems that these days I am obsessed with performances that are not in the usual range of an artist. Yesterday we had Joe Satriani playing a Gibson Les Paul, today I have Michael Angelo Batio playing jazz…that’s right, people, Michael Angelo Batio without his 2 hand taping, without speed licks, Michael Angelo Bation playing jazz…

Of, course, again, a professional guitar player has more tricks in the bag, right, Jack?
But how’s that for an unusual performance?

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There is this guy on YouTube that sings and plays an acoustic guitar so beautiful and peaceful that I couldn’t help not to become a fan as soon as I have heard him. He gives me such a warm feeling and I would listen to him for hours. I just imagine this guy has such a beautiful, rich and accomplished life because you could only sing this way if you have inner peace and you are happy with who you are…

He covers various songs, sometimes using a harmonica too, has a very beautiful calm voice and he never shows his face in those videos. Some of you may already know him from YouTube, but I don’t think it will be a problem listening him again, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, as much as I would have loved to embed a video here, he disabled this feature so I can only point you to his channel and wish you a nice audition! Here’s a short list out of his currently 96 songs:

• You’ve got a friend(James Taylor)
• King of the road(Roger Miller)
• A song for Adam( Jackson Browne)
• Let it snow

And his channel here: FretKillr

Is this guy great or what?

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Browsing a few guitar related websites I have found this website speaking, among other things, about tuning problems, especially for rock bands.

Some of them I already knew because I have observed them myself but others never crossed my mind. I must tell you the article is not a short one, but very informative, the information there is a gem and a must read for anyone who’s ever held a guitar in his hands and tried to tune it.

The man(Jack Endino) has a lot of years behind him as a rock music player and as a studio engineer and he speaks from experience. Here’s a quick extras from his website, just to open your appetite for reading further:

You know how when you plug a guitar in and pluck a string, sometimes the tuner needle (or LED display) wavers back and forth and drives you crazy? And you have to pluck it every which way before getting a “good reading” which finally “settles down?” Do these three things:

1. switch your guitar to its rhythm (neck) pickup, if it has one;
2. roll your guitar’s tone knobs all the way off, to remove all the highs; and then
3. pluck the open string right over the twelfth fret, not over the pickup. Try it; you’ll be amazed.

Read the whole article here and then come back and let me know what you think!

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Today, Jon posted on his blog a review of a Doolin guitar, a very beautiful one, that I really liked. So I followed the link in order to see more. To my surprise, I have seen an other acoustic guitar that made me very curious, due to the particular design. I am speaking about Justin King’s Double-Neck Doolin acoustic guitar (kind of a long name for a strange guitar).

So, my first reaction was WTF? How can you play such a guitar? Is it for an ambidextrous guitar player? I thought that he’ll turn the guitar around and play it the other side, cause I couldn’t see any other possibility of playing it since the distance between the two necks is so small so you could never slip your hand between those 2 necks! I didn’t know Justin King plays both hands (you know what I mean)!!

Well, the video here cleared it all and revealed an other extreme playing technique of an amazing guitar player on a strange guitar!

Enjoy!

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What I am going to say now stayed in my head for a lot of years, even it may seem of low importance for some. Acoustic guitar players, however, may know better what I mean.

I happen to  see a very good electric guitar player playing the acoustic guitar in an one on one session. Very good electric guitar player, classy shredder, out of my reach, he took the acoustic guitar, (a large and beautiful sounding box) and started playing.

You know what? Something didn’t sound right, he was playing it like an electric guitar!

Even perfectly played from a technical point of view, the notes were too sharp and sparky, taking away exactly the feeling that acoustic guitars give. The guitar didn’t sound the way it should, the notes didn’t work well  together.

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Since a long time I am trying to make up my mind about the ideal electric guitar but, of course, there is no such thing.

The fact is that I don’t even have one single guitar that for me would be the ideal one. No, it depends on the mood I’m in.

Like for example, I love Ibanez guitars, reason for which I would love to own one, to be more precise, an Ibanez RGT320Q, this one below, which I consider absolutely beautiful! All those Satriani and Vai melodies I have listened made me an Ibanez fan forever…

Of course, because I can not make up my mind and I would also go for an Ibanez RGT220A…

They are both gorgeous, mean and at the same time fashionable, however they don’t manage to satisfy my need for a Fenderish sound, reason for which I would like to also have a Fender Standard Strat HSS Electric Guitar w/Floyd Rose Tremolo.

This is not usual at Fender guitars, but I do want one, because it is my dream, and I do have the right to dream whatever I want. So, beside the two Ibanez RGT guitars above, I would also love to have this one here. It is not a very expensive one, but it is the only model with double locking tremolo, beside Richie Sambora model. OK, that one works too!

I am not sure about the color, I think I would go for an other color, maybe a sunburst, i don’t know!

I would also want a Gibson for Gary Moore and Guns. I am not asking for much, just for a Les Paul. Of course! The reason would be the feeling this guitar gives me, the sustain and the particular tone that can not be copied by any other guitar.

And why not, I would want a Carvin guitar again for the feeling I had playing it and for the sparky-fenderish tone. This one here! With Floyd Rose, of course!

Now, am I asking for much? I don’t know, if I would add those few that I have enumerated here I guess they would cost about $8000, hmm…That is if I don’t go for Sambora signature model, which alone is about $3500 so…

Anyway, I think that I am not the only one unable to make up his mind about the ideal guitar. I think that each guitar player, depending on the mood feels like playing one guitar or an other.

So, what guitars would you love to own? Let’s start somewhere:

• Robert of buildingtheergonomicguitar.com
• Jon of GuitarNoize.com
• Ignatio of igblog
• GLW of Guitarz
• JP of Stratoblogster , somehow I think I know the answer to this one

Anybody else who would like to join?!

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Do you know what I like the most at the internet, music and culture?

The fact that there is so much out there of any of these that you can discover something new each and every day, no matter how many things you have seen, there is always something that can give you the thrills when you least expect it.

Today I was reading something about Sungha Jung that led me to something about Andy McKee and then…Phil Keaggy.

Well, I have listened a few songs of Phil Keaggy and beside the fact that, even if missing half of his middle finger on the right hand he managed to become a great guitar player, with over 30 albums, what amazes me is his music quality, his feeling for those little things, details that make or break a melody.

I posted here Salvation Army Band because I could not believe my ears how beautifully he makes use of those live loops, creating such a beautiful song with just one acoustic guitar. For what he does here you don’t need skills. What you need is pure talent. Listen to all those nuances and shades of his guitar.

You know what? After listening this, I can not call him guitar player anymore. I will just call him AN ARTIST.

Please have patience to listen to the whole song since he managed to surprise me every 60 seconds

It is said that Eric Clapton was asked once what it feels like to be the best guitarist in the world. His response was simple, “I don’t, know ask Phil Keaggy.”

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