Guitar Jar is pleased to announce that a range of T-Shirts is now available in the Guitar Jar Store.

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Guitar Jar is pleased to announce a range of Porter Pickups is now available in the Guitar Jar Store.

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Guitar Jar features stories from a wide range of guitarists from across the globe and we want you to get involved. The “Are You Experienced” feature is looking for you, the guitarist community, to contribute by sending in some of your guitar related news, stories and experiences.

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The latest “15 questions” feature is with guitarist David Griffiths. Dave is the front man and rhythm/lead guitarist for the rock band BOSH, who during the past 7 years have performed live hundreds of times across the length and breadth of UK. In addition they’ve released numerous albums, most noticeably “Sound the Alarms” and “The Gloaming Hour”. Guitar Jar caught up with Dave to quiz him on his equipment, technique and any additional projects he’s currently involved with.

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Porter Pickups is a US based company specialising in producing hand wound guitar pickups. In most cases, guitarists who embark on the Holy Grail of guitar tone often turn initially to loading a new set of custom pickups into their instrument. Guitar Jar catches up with Brian Porter, to quiz him on the range of Porter Pickups available, plus why he thinks hand-wound pickups really are that special.

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At the 2010 Bristol Guitar Show, one UK based guitar manufacturer really stood out to me showcasing their own twist on some classic guitar designs. Beryl Guitars is a new independent UK based guitar company who are producing extremely high quality instruments at very affordable & competitive prices. Guitar Jar caught up with Company Director Phil Preece to ask him more about the exciting products Beryl are due to launch later this year.

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The 2010 Bristol Guitar Show was staged at the Ashton Gate Stadium (home of Bristol City FC) on September 19^th featuring a range of the UK’s leading guitar and effects manufacturers.

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Guitar Jar is pleased to announce that a range of guitar lessons will be appearing on the website over the coming months.

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15 questions with guitarist: Chris Manning

The latest “15 questions” feature is with guitarist Chris Manning. Chris is a Strat wielding, Dallas based guitarist who’s released three guitar based instrumental albums during the last 10 years. Having opened for acts such as George Lynch and Michael Schenker, it seems only fitting that Guitar Jar catches up with Chris to quiz him on his guitar equipment, technique and the projects he’s currently involved with…

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The latest Guitar Jar Mystery Shopper feature finds us at Hogan Music in Newbury. I first came across Hogan Music about a year ago, when browsing their online eBay store.

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Difficulty rating: Medium – Difficult

Many years ago I was playing a gig with a great drummer and good friend of mine. I thought I played the gig quite well, but at the end my drummer friend pointed out to me that on a couple of the tunes I was pushing and playing in front of the beat slightly. The initial reaction in my head was that he was talking nonsense; after all I had spent years playing to a metronome, backing tracks and bands.
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Difficulty rating: Medium – Difficult

“Blue Bossa” is a 16 bar bossa nova jazz standard, written by trumpeter Kenny Dorham. The original version can be found on “The Best of Kenny Dorham – Blue note years” (Blue Note). Many great players have covered this tune including; Pat Martino, Joe Pass, George Benson, Kenny Burrell and a great duo version by Bobby McFerrin and Chick Corea. Blue Bossa is also a tune that is used as a study piece in many music colleges, as it is a good introduction to playing and improvising over jazz tunes due to it being harmonically quite simple.

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Difficulty rating: Medium – Difficult

There have been many lessons and study pieces written for lead guitar, and they ‘re normally based around the technical aspects of lead playing such as a sweep picking/legato/tapping etc. They are very effective as they take all the variables of a technique and put them into one long piece. This not only saves you practice time, but also gives you an idea of how to link ideas together in a musical way, they are also very good for building up your playing stamina. However, I have not seen any devoted to rhythm playing which is just as vital part of your playing if not more so than lead.

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If you’re anything like me, there are times when a particular song or an album seems to take over your thoughts, almost defining that particular moment of your stage in life. I guess you could call it a temporary addiction or even an obsession.

Continue reading “The guitarists and music from Laurel Canyon” »