Friday, March 2, 2012

Welcome!

Welcome to my Blog!  What you can expect to find here is a wealth of information about guitars, equipment and how to play them.  Let me tell you a bit about myself.  I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Jazz Performance from Berklee College of Music and a Master's Degree in Jazz Performance from SUNY Purchase.  I have studied with several people considered to be at the top of the field in the jazz world.  Some of them include - Steve Khan, Mick Goodrick, John Abercrombie and Wayne Krantz.  I have been playing guitar since 1990 and I have devoted my life to it.  I currently teach, play and write music.  I am including these details not to brag but to let you know what my experience is.  College degrees don't necessarily matter.  Most of my favorite players don't have one.  I just wanted to give some background information about myself that might add some credence to the things you will read here.  Some examples of my playing can be found at myspace.com/ethangutzeit.  Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog.

Check out this alternate picking exercise.  The exercise is actually several exercises using different combinations or finger orders with the fretting hand.  The idea is to use pick strokes that alternate down, up, down, up.  The best way to maximize your economy of motion is to mostly use the wrist to move the pick up and down while keeping your pick gripping fingers still.  Your elbow should not be active either.  To really make sure that your are keeping time properly this exercise should be done with a metronome.  Start slowly and make sure each group of 4 16th notes is played evenly from tick to tick.  The first note in each group should "disappear" into the tick.  Keep in mind that you can move these examples up and down the neck to be played on any 4 consecutive frets.  To access the lesson click the link below.  Have fun!

 http://www.ethangutzeit.com/Licks_and_Lessons.html

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