Hello to all!
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that all the last bits of work on the upcoming Complete Idiot’s Guide to Guitar are all falling into place so that I can try to get myself back on a somewhat more regular schedule, especially in regard to Guitar Noise. If all goes according to plan, you’ll have a brand new song lesson up online today on the traditional tune In the Pines, which some of you may know better as Where Did You Sleep Last Night, which appeared on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged sessions (as well as the accompanying CD).
This lesson also is a bit of a sneak preview for the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Guitar as you’ll get to hear Nick Torres singing two verses of the song on the final MP3 file in the lesson. I am honored to have Nick’s participation in this book project. It certainly wasn’t easy! His task was to sing two dozen different songs (multiple versions of some of them!) in keys that I had picked for guitar teaching purposes, not to cater to his vocal range. And he more than lived up to the challenge, often bringing an interpretation to the song that I couldn’t possibly hope to do myself.
Part of being a musician is giving of your abilities to make something beyond yourself, in this case a song. Working with Nick, whenever I have the opportunity to do so, constantly surprises me because more often than not it’s the subtle musical touches that end up making a song truly memorable. I’ve been very lucky to get to play with many musicians who have helped me become a lot better, as a guitarist and as an accompanyist.
Peace