Saturday 15 November 2014

What to try when uninspired to practise.

Photo by Ben McNicoll

We all feel a lack of motivation to practise from time to time. This can happen for many reasons. Sometimes it is just we have lots of other things occupying our time and energy. Sometimes it is just tiredness, sometimes it can be a lack of knowing what to practise. There can be many reasons for this but I find it best not to focus on these, rather to focus on finding ways to work around them.

Here is a few things to try when you feel uninspired:

1. Go to www.YouTube.com and search for new artists.  I do this by searching for people I already know and like and then look at the suggested videos. Often YouTube will suggest artists who are similar in style to what you are viewing and if I see someone I have heard of, or who has a big view count, I will check out their video. Occasionally I just watch videos that look interesting. As a general rule I give each video a minute of my time and if it has not grabbed me by then, it probably won't. If I hear something I like then I check out further videos of this artist. What often happens as a result is my own playing is lead in new directions.

2. Listen to a favourite CD / MP3 that you have not listened to in a while but that you remember being a source of inspiration at some point.  This can lead to concepts that you might have lost sight of. A few that consistently work for me are - Pat Metheny: Question and Answer, John Scofield: Meant To Be and Wes Montgomery: Willow Weap for Me.

3. Try playing a different instrument. I find every instrument makes me play differently - for example if I reach for my 12 string guitar I am going to play differently that my electric guitars. Nylon string acoustic guitar often inspires different musical output.

Photo during Penny Black movie sessions
4. Take a long walk and evaluate what is important to you. I often find life gets in the way of what really matters. You know, doing stuff we have to do rather than whats really important towards reaching our potential e.g. emails etc. Leave the lawns for another day and grab that guitar and work on something that will make you better. I find just getting some time to myself can be really important and is something I need to schedule into my days.

5. Attend a jam night. There is no substitute for playing with other musicians. Good or bad, jam nights can inspire practise. I have attended a few jam and open mic nights where I have played terribly and it has been a wake up call. I have also attended others where for any number of reasons the playing has reached another level and I've really felt inspired to practise for a weeks afterwards. Both can have a positive effect if you think about it in this way.

6. The other alternative is to give up music. Thats right, give up. If you give up there is nothing to feel bad about. Ha.

All the best for your musical journey. I hope this has been useful.


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Thursday 24 July 2014

Keeping it simple - the 'Grease' setup.

I am often intrigued by the complex things in music; gear, harmony, rhythms etc but find I am constantly reminded that simple is usually best. Simple does not necessarily mean easy.

For the last three weeks I have been playing guitar on the theatre show 'Grease'. This is a light-hearted, fun theatre show and in many ways challenging; not least to play the rock 'n roll style authentically, to play consistently night after night and to play the parts super tight among other desirable goals. Rock 'n roll is simple music and I have found many jazz musicians struggle with this e.g. playing 7th and 9th chords when it should just be a triad etc. Luckily I have a background in playing rock 'n roll, blues and rock which has been invaluable in my working career as a musician.

Last night before the show there was a few minutes of free time in the theatre. So I recorded a quick loop of my guitar using my delay pedal and went out the front into the theatre to have a listen. I got the sound guy to crank my guitar up loud in the system. I was amazed at how big the guitar sounded yet the setup I am using is very simple.

In the past I have used big amps, lots of pedals, many guitars etc. For this show I used just one guitar, a small amp and a small pedal board. This is the first time I have listened out front on one of these shows and I was very happy with the tone that was filling the large theatre (1500 seat capacity). [Note: The acoustic guitar in the picture is being used by Conway Jeune who is playing guitar 2.]

My guitar is an Ibanez AR420 Artist (with coil-taps engaged the whole time). I really like this guitar for these gigs as I can get the sound of a Les Paul, a tele and more just by adjusting the settings. Does it sound exactly like a tele? ... no. Nor a Les Paul - but thats not the point. It sounds really good to my ear and is super versatile so any subtlety is not an issue here.

I have a big pedal collection but in recent years have been stripping it back to just the basics - a few drive pedals (Cusack screamer and BB preamp), a delay pedal (line 6 DL4), a tremolo (Empress), an octave (Boss OC2 my one guilty pleasure!) and utility stuff (tuner - Korg, volume pedal - Ernie Ball, Pickup booster - Seymour Duncan, reverb - Chicklet).  I power these using a BBE supercharger which is excellent. It is quiet, reliable and has switchable voltage so can be used anywhere in the world. I use a pedal train board in a soft case (it is the size of a laptop case).

The amp I am using is a Victoria 20112, their reproduction of the classic 1959 Fender tweed Deluxe. This amp is 15 watts with a 1 x 12 inch speaker. It is mic'ed up. Main thing I need from the amp is to produce the tone I want and as a monitor. Easy. Does the job extremely well, and is super reliable - which is hugely important on these gigs.

There is a lot of truth in the concept of it being better to have a small amp cranked up than to have a big amp on a low volume. I set the amp at the point of breakup aka Larry Carlton's concept. Also, the band area is tight (as usual) and a big amp would be in everybody's way.

Someone asked me the other day what they have to do to get these gigs. Hard question as things are definitely different these days than they were when I was starting out. However, I think being recommended for the gig is still the most likely way in. Thats how it happened for me and is likely how it will happen for others (I recommended the 2nd guitar player for this gig - now he is in there and likely to get future work). So, the only way someone is going to recommend you is if they know you can do the job e.g Do you have your rig together? Can you play the styles necessary? Are you RELIABLE? Can you read music? Is your timing good? Are you good to work with? etc.

One of the key skill necessary is reading music. Many guitar players I know read poorly. It is not necessarily their fault (laziness in some cases maybe?) but the fault of their teachers who likely did not read very well either and is not typical of how people learn the guitar unlike say violin, or other instruments. In saying this, guitar players will never read on the equivalent level of great sax players, trumpet players and keys players because the guitar is much tougher instrument in terms of reading - so do not beat yourself up if you are working hard at your reading and not of the level of other musicians.

Here is a sample of the first pages of two charts from Grease. I had to transcribe the chord changes to Grease Is The Word because it was totally wrong - same with Hopelessly Devoted. This is unusual, so ignore that for now, but this is pretty much what show charts look like - a combination of lines, chords, hits etc, etc.



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Sunday 8 June 2014

Guitar Lesson: The Robben Ford Scale by Nick Granville



In this lesson I cover a scale I call the Robben Ford Scale. Some call it the dorian pentatonic or minor 6 pentatonic. I'm not a big fan of either of those names because they both imply that the scale belongs to a minor tonality. Sure, it is a minor scale, but I use it over dominant 7th chords primarily.

The way in which Robben uses this scale is to play over the I chord and the IV chord in a blues or similar progression - essentially to blanket. On the I chord it clearly spells a 13#9 chord and on the IV chord it spells a Dominant 9th chord e.g Bb13#9 to Eb9 if in the key of Bb.

Feel free to fire any questions you might have about this?

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... and you can download my latest album from:  nickgranville.bandcamp.com/album/ home



Wednesday 28 May 2014

Why the majority of people don't like Jazz.

I can understand why average punters do not like jazz. Often the music and performance can be boring.  Jazz in many ways has become academic. You know what I'm talking about - people with great chops and knowledge but no musicality, who just run scales and don't have anything to say. Don't get me wrong, I am not referring to every jazz musician - just some. Here are a few things I think the general music audience don't like about jazz:

1. Walking Bass Lines - some in the audience simply can not hear the harmony when bass players walk so get bored.
2. Ride Cymbal Swing Beat - some in the audience can't feel the beat and lose interest.
3. The Tunes - jazz musicians often play tunes they like rather than what the audience wants to hear. Some tunes called standards are anything but standard.
4. The complexity of the music - Some jazz musicians are more interested in playing clever than music that feels good.
5. Chord Scale Relationship - jazz has been too much about playing scales over chords in my opinion. Jazz education is to blame for this, but thats a different topic beyond the scope of this blog.
6. Poor Presentation - Many jazz musicians put little or no effort into their presentation. I saw a gig recently at a club and the guitar player (who was leading the band) did not say one word to the audience all night. He set up, played, the packed up. What is up with that!
7. Out There Soloists - some soloists are incredibly difficult to follow. Some play all kinds of out lines that do not relate to the melody (which the audience wasn't familiar with in the first place) and wonder why the audience is not digging the gig.

This is just the beginning of what could be a long list ...

For these reasons and more - I hate the term jazz. Many people have had bad experiences of jazz music and I do not want my music to be included in that. The term 'jazz' implies music that my grandfather was listening to - music of a foregone era if you will. One time I even had a students father say that to me 'my son listens to music his grandfather would have loved'. Ha, awesome!

I really believe jazz music can be fresh again. I believe that jazz music at it's best in incredibly exciting, uplifting and relevant. Sadly, the vast majority of people will never hear jazz at it's best and have already made up their mind about what the music is going to be, long before we start. Therefore, it is our responsibility as jazz (for lack of a better term) musicians to win people over and to win the audiences back to the music.

What I think is missing:

1. Fun! Music and jazz was never meant to be super serious. I am not suggesting for one second that people get up and 'take the piss' or don't play well in performances. Rather, I'm saying you have to take care of business, but have fun in doing so, and the audience will like it. They want to see you having fun.

2. Play tunes that people understand and know. The tunes that are now considered jazz standards were once the pop tunes of the day. Some standards have become museum pieces. Play the new stuff - please! However, there is nothing worse that people playing the most recent stuff in a way that is so obscure that no one will recognise the source. This achieves nothing. Some musicians think, I will play this MJ tune, reharmonise it, play it in 7/8 and modulate into a new key for the bridge - then people will love my music and think I am clever. Wrong! Those who like MJ, won't get it, and will hate it. Those who like jazz will think you are doing silly stuff for not playing something they can understand. No one wins.


3. The dance element. Jazz is not an academic sport. It was conceived as dance music. Make the music feel good and you stand a chance - 'it don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing'. Right?

I think The Bad Plus has it right in so many ways. What a great concept they have hit upon. I would love to see this happen more often. Oz Noy has a great saying when describing his music - 'It's jazz. It just doesn't sound like it'.




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... and you can download my latest album from:  nickgranville.bandcamp.com/album/home


If you have an opinion about this let me know? I am curious to know what people think of jazz and what can we all do to lift our game as jazz musicians.





Monday 19 May 2014

The best gigs / concerts I have attended and what I learnt from them.

Matt Penman, Joe Lovano, Matt Wilson, me and John Scofield
As a professional musician I am often asked by punters about concerts I have enjoyed. People assume I get to attend many concerts and gigs; unfortunately I do not - I am often too busy doing my own. This has lead me to do a lot of thinking lately (yes, I know it must have hurt, right) about what it is that makes certain musical performances special and others not so much. The same band from night to night can fire one night and fizzle the next; for any number of reasons. How do we as musicians make it so we fire on all cylinders every time we play?

The best gig I have ever seen was the John Scofield & Joe Lovano Quartet at Skycity Casino in Auckland, New Zealand. I was fortunate to get on this tour as the person who looked after the band and I got to see both the Auckland and Wellington concerts; and I would have seen the Christchurch concert if it had gone ahead, but unfortunately it was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales - come on people, go to the gigs or it is likely the artists won't come back!

For some reason the Auckland concert was on fire. Maybe it was because bassist Matt Penman is originally from Auckland (now residing in New York) and felt a bit of pride about playing with these heavy players in front of a home crowd? Maybe these guys came with the approach to play their hearts out? Maybe the sound was amazing on stage (it was!) and they were responding to a nice acoustic space? It is highly plausible it it was a combination of all the elements and more.

Don't get me wrong, the Wellington concert was good, amazingly in fact, but it lacked the same spark that the Auckland gig had the night prior. Maybe it was me! Maybe by the second night I had made up my mind about the gig, and was not as open minded going into the performance?

I can not help but think the attitude and general willingness of the musicians has a lot to do with why some gigs are great and other not so much. One of the best concerts I have been to was Chucho Valdes and the Afro-Cuban Messengers at the Wellington Jazz Festival. Chucho had a young band who were clearly 'amped' about playing. That energy made this performance special - you could feel it in the air. These guys had decided to smash it out of the park that night and thats exactly what they did.

Two other performances that have stood out for me over the years were the Pat Metheny Trio and the Esbjörn Svensson Trio (EST). Pat is one of my heroes and it was awesome to see and hear him play. I would have traveled a long way to attend this gig. Christian McBride was the bass player and Antonio Sanchez the drummer. Antonio blew my mind. He is the complete drummer - great groove, chops, knowledge, tone etc.

Roger Waters, The Wall. Photo shows an example of the
projected images on the wall. Incredible. 
I think the reason EST stands out for me is that it was totally unexpected. I was given free tickets for their gig as Ben Monder (New York based jazz guitarist) was opening for EST and he was using my Mesa Boogie amp. I heard EST and was completely blown away. They are one of the most original concept groups I have ever heard. Also the sound guy absolutely nailed the gig; incredible.

The best 'show' I have seen is undoubtedly Roger Waters The Wall at Vector Arena, Auckland. The sound was amazing (surround sound), the band 'nailed it' and the visuals can only be described at epic. Stunning concert.

I am convinced what makes a great performance is partly attitude of the performers, partly the acoustics, partly audience participation and open-mindess, the visuals and partly some kind of X factor -  that something just happens. When all these things combine, magic happens and it sure did at these performances I have mentioned. I keep all these points in mind when I am putting together my own shows.

The interesting thing is, in the case of most of these concerts, I wasn't supposed to have gone to the performances, but for a number of reasons things lined up or people made it happen for me. These days try to attend as many gigs and concerts as I can, because one never knows what might end up being a life changing experience.

                             Visit www.nickgranville.com for lessons, free music, videos, news and more ...

Thursday 8 May 2014

Los Angeles: Alive and Vibrant Music Scene or Dead?

Recently I took a trip to Los Angeles to have a look around the music scene, catch up with friends and generally soak up some musical inspiration. I spend two weeks in LA with a few days in San Francisco. I often hear people say there are few gigs in LA these days. While I am not familiar with the LA scene of the past what I experienced was a healthy scene with lots of great music, much of which was free or a reasonable price (usually $20 at the most).

During my time in LA I heard the Oz Noy Trio at Catalina's (feat. James Genus and Dave Weckl for $20!), Bruce Forman's group Cowbop at Viva Cantina and at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival, Ben Shepherd's group upstairs at Vitello's, the Pete Myers Big Band at Jazz at the Cap, Katisse at the Baked Potato, the Kenny Burrell Big Band at UCLA, Poncho Sanchez at Spaghettini's and Tech Support at the Blue Whale. In addition to these performances I attended jam nights at The Falls in Downtown LA, the Cafe Cordial Pro Jam Session and the Baked Potato Monday Night Jam.

I was very fortunate as my friend Jon Papenbrook, who I stayed with for the first week, plays in lots of groups and I was invited to come listen to these groups rehearse. The two groups I heard were at the Burbank Music Academy and the Steve Sleagle (spelling?) Big Band rehearsing at the union building. The Burbank group I subbed for the guitar player who was away on tour with Natalie Cole. Both bands played well and were made up of well known players, with the Jon playing lead trumpet on the both bands. On the Burbank band the second trumpet player is in Earth, Wind and Fire and the trombone player played with MJ; so lots of very good players in these bands.

One highlight of this trip in addition to the music / hang was meeting guitarist Lee Ritenour at Vitello's. I have listened to Lee extensively and he is definitely one the big time Los Angeles studio players. He was super nice to me and we chatted about music mostly and New Zealand a little.

Also, a highlight was jamming with my friend Ben Shepherd and his flatmate Eric Valentine at their place. Eric is a well known drummer in LA, and he informed me that he had been to NZ to play with Steve Luthather and Steve Vai on the G3 tour!! It was awesome to play with these great musicians partly because after hearing all this great music I was hanging out to play, but also because I felt these guys played so well together and we would make a great trio if we did some gigs round LA.

I had always wanted to drive the coast from San Francisco to LA via the pacific coast highway so on this trip I decided to make the most of this opportunity. I drove up to San Francisco via the freeways then returned to LA via the pacific coast highway. This coast is some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. I absolutely loved Big Sur. Stunning, to say the least. I hope to go back there soon to have a holiday. It's a long drive (it took me 11 hours but was worth it). It was a little foggy the day the I did this trip but that added to the excitement!

In San Francisco I heard the Tommy Igoe Big Band at Yoshi's (what a terrific venue!), and the Jose Simione Blues Band at the Saloon (not so terrific venue, but cool gig nonetheless) and an unknown band at the Tonga Room. All of which were high quality and only a 6 hours drive from LA to San Francisco (via the freeways). I have to say, San Francisco is a beautiful city. Busy, scenic and exciting.

I couldn't fit in Vegas on this trip but that is even closer to LA than San Francisco is.

All in all, I would say LA is alive and vibrant as a music city. There are some amazing musicians (as good or better than you will hear anywhere). I have many friends in this town who are awesome people. I hope to make it back there soon and I plan to book some gigs.

(many thanks to Bruce Forman and Jon Papenbrook for accommodating me and taking me to gigs)

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Thursday 27 March 2014

What skills are required to be a professional musician today

I have been thinking about this a great deal lately. The music industry has changed since I first started as a professional musician twenty years ago. Imagine what things will be like in twenty years time from now. I am optimistic.

When I started out the key skills were ability on an instrument, teaching skills, people skills and that was largely it. Thinking about what is required of me these days, I came up with this list (in no particular order):

1. playing the guitar
2. understanding a high level of music theory
3. strong sight-reading skill
4. extensive knowledge of many musical styles
5. ability to teach
6. video and audio production skills
7. knowledge of the latest equipment
8. writing skills
9. understanding of social media and openness to the constant changes in this area
10. ability to promote events
11. negotiation skills
12. learning to live with minimal sleep
13. events management
14. knowing how to play a second instrument (piano for me)
15. people skills (this is by no means last in terms of priority)

We can see that this list is substantial and in some ways overwhelming to think of what is required. However, many of these can be combined into manageable groups. That list would look something like (in no particular order):

1. promotion
2. musical skills
3. technology skills
4. people skills

Computers make learning most of these skills less challenging. If I need to know something I google it... or I visit YouTube to find a tutorial. This sharing of information makes life easier and more complicated in some ways. Still, I would not want to go back to the way things were. My first cellphone was a brick and hardly did anything useful compared to my iPhone.

If you have these skills that does not necessarily mean you will have a career in music. There are many more factors that combine to make a career but if you have these skills then you are in a very good position to do well in music. Good luck.

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Saturday 22 March 2014

The music books that had the most significance influence on my musical development

1. The Advancing Guitarist - By Mick Goodrick. This book is a gem. Mick Goodrick has taught many great players including Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Mike Stern and continues to teach at the Berklee School of Music. This book is not a method book, rather designed to inspire practise and potentially change the way musicians think about practise and music. Yes, it is a guitar book but I would recommend it to any instrumentalist as a considerable amount of the information is universal. 

2. Effortless Mastery - By Kenny Werner. This book was an eye opener for me. This book is a documentation of Kenny's approaches to learning and music. I have owned three copies of this book over the years and each have been loaned to people who did not returned it. I guess that speaks volumes about how great this book is. A must for all serious musicians. 

3. Total Guitar Magazine - multiple contributors. Thats right,  not one book but a magazine. For a while I subscribed to this magazine and would religiously learn to play everything contained in the magazines. This meant I learnt a broad range of musical styles and approaches as often the contributors to these magazines are a cross section of musicians. Also, I learnt a lot about the equipment used by the professionals via this magazine. Now days I really like Premier Guitar Magazine among others and try to learn as many things as I can from this - both lessons and about gear etc. 

4. The Encyclopaedia of Reading Rhythms - By Gary Hess. Many years ago during my studies at music school I was introduced to a book of etudes designed for drummers by Joel Rothman. It was designed to teach you rhythm via snare drum playing (I clapped) of rhythms and learning to read. I found this book useful. I was discussing this book with Lance Philip (excellent Wellington drummer & educator) as I had lost my copy and he mentioned the Encyclopaedia of Reading Rhythms book as a similar resource. I checked it out and found this to be exactly what I wanted and quite frankly a better book than the one I had. I worked on this book extensively, and continue to when I get the time. It is well organised and I really like the check lists. 

5. 14 Jazz and Funk Etudes - By Bob Mintzer. This book is a collection of tunes with solos and a play-along by saxophonist Bob Mintzer. It is available for most instruments. The thing I love about this book is the solos contain a lot of jazz vocabulary and the playalong CD is of a very high standard - featuring jazz greats. Many of the tunes are jazz standards or classic styles (such as blues, funk etc) so are useful for practising anything else that you might be working on in addition to the material presented in the book. Much of the material in this book is difficult but there are easier editions that are similar to this book. 

6. A Modern Method for Guitar - By William Leavitt. I have found this book invaluable for teaching. Many times when students come for a masterclass lesson I ask them what they work on. Often they mention this book as a good on to work on their reading. This is only part of what this book is good for. It has lots of scale, arpeggios, rhythm guitar stuff and more and is laid out in a logical way. 

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Tuesday 11 March 2014

Is your attitude up to the required level for gigging?

It never ceases to amaze me how some musicians work really hard on their playing only to lose gigs or are not asked to do gigs due to their attitude. Do not get me wrong, I am not for saying for one second I am perfect - I have learnt many lessons the hard way.

Lets look at what is involved in doing a gig:

For a local gig in one's home town the band might typically play two sets of forty-five to fifty minutes each. That is around two hours total (give or take) of playing. In order to do the gig the band must know the material which means rehearsal etc. Once at the gig there is setup time; lets say thirty minutes or more. Then the break in the middle of the gig is usually twenty minutes (despite saying we will be back in ten minutes! ha.). Then there is the pack down and maybe a beer after the gig to wind down and talk about the gig. If we consider all of this we can see there are many more hours of interactive time between band members than playing. All this interaction is greater when touring or doing a gig out of one's home town.

It is common sense that people are only going to book those who they know can play the music and are easy to work with. No one wants to work with someone who is difficult or unorganised or is plain and simply troublesome. Being a musician and making music is hard enough as it is.

Recently I had an experience with a difficult musician who was way out of line. The silly thing is I was about to offer this person some gigs - but won't be now. So if he had been cool, that particular gig we were doing would have been better, and there would have many more dates for his diary.

I have learnt many lessons about attitude. Recently I had someone (different person) who was difficult on a gig. I could have confronted this person for being a dork but decided to remain calm and let it go and deal with it another day. In the mean time I happened to stumble upon someones comment on facebook which was 'it is better to remain friends than to be right'. So I decided to say nothing to this person and to let it go. This was the best thing to do.

Here are a few ideas to consider that could make life easier for all:

1. Turn up on time and with the required gear. In fact I would recommend being early.

2. Learn the music. A great attitude won't get you anywhere if you can not do what is required.

3. Be nice to everyone. Many times the guy or girl who is playing next to you will end up becoming the band leader ... or he / she might end up recommending you for future gigs ... or he / she might stop you getting future gigs!

4. Stay focused at rehearsal. If you are playing then focus on that, not your smart phone (no facebook, txt etc unless you have a break or are tacet). I know one band leader who gets extremely annoyed when people txt / facebook / email during rehearsals! This person has a long memory.

5. Pay attention. Do not noodle when the bandleader is talking!

6. Say thank-you when people help you. e.g if someone pays you a compliment, or offers you work, or gives you a ride, or recommends you etc. Seems simple but many people do not do these things. Pay people back for help - consider recommending them for gigs.

7. Be nice to everyone. I know I have said this previously but it needs repeating. You never know where someone is going to end up. The guy who is pouring drinks behind the bar might end up running it one day and might have the power to get you gigs.

8. Never complain about the money. Do not take the gig if you are unhappy with the money offered. If you accept it, then you do so for the amount agreed. However, you have every right to complain if you do not get paid what was agreed.

9. Do not bad mouth people. I know, I know, it is easier said than done but sometimes this gets back to the person... and as I said earlier - you never know where people are going to be, or how they might be able to help you. The only time it is ok to bad mouth someone is if people rip you off. Then spread the word, to ensure others are not getting ripped off too. Even then, often it is best to let it slide and put it down to experience (just don't work with them again!) - besides karma will get them.

10. Make friends. One of the best things about the music industry is the cool people you will meet. Make friends with people. The music gets better. Everything gets better. I have met and are friends with some amazing musicians both locally and internationally and am very grateful for this.


Visit www.nickgranville.com for lessons, free music, videos, news and more... 




Sunday 23 February 2014

Why Spotify is great and sucks.

Spotify: the company people love and hate. When I first heard of Spotify I was excited. I decided to become a musician because I love music and the idea of having access to any music I want is amazing. This generation do not know how good they have it; or maybe that makes them value it less? 

Spotify states on their website - 'Spotify gives you millions of songs at your fingertips. The artists you love, the latest hits, and new discoveries just for you. Hit play to stream anything you like.'  So surely this a good for people who love music? This is why Spotify is great. 

Spotify is a smart company. They have figured out what people want and provided this, making money in the process. The issue seems to be that Spotify is paying a pittance to use this music, which is integral to their business. I have seen people post photos on Facebook of bank cheques for less than a dollar for a huge amount of streams. This is why Spotify sucks. 

have heard many people say the record companies are making money from Spotify due to making a little bit from each of the large number of artists they have on Spotify. Maybe this is true, but it does not makes sense to me. One only has to think back to the days when record companies actually made money from music to see that this business model is one of diminishing returns (many record companies are closing down!). 

I have also heard many people try to claim Spotify is no different from YouTube and other similar websites. I would argue Spotify is unlike anything else so really can not be compared. YouTube is essentially a community: a social network of sorts. Spotify gives access to music to anyone for free, or for a small subscription and is designed to replace CD's and tradition mediums. 

My friend Andrew London raised an interesting point the other day during an interview for Coast Radio. Andrew has noticed a few changes in the buying habits of people at his gigs. In the past people who liked the gig would come racing up in big numbers - in a  buying frenzy if you will. He has observed a decline in the number of people who now do this. Maybe this is because people are aware they can get the music afterwards for free so why buy it?! 

Here is the key - artists need to control how their music is made available to consumers. If you do not like Spotify then do not use it. You have choices. Streaming is here to say. It is not for me to say this is a bad thing; this is being driven by what the people want. Artists need to learn how to operate in this environment. Use Spotify for what it is. 


I have a new CD coming out soon and will not be using Spotify, iTunes or any similar websites to sell my music - I will be controlling this rigourously. I might loose a few sales from people who might stumble upon my CD but I think I will gain by those who really want the music going to one place for it. I have past CD's on Spotify and will be leaving them on there - using Spotify to my advantage (hopefully). I will be making this new CD only available on Bandcamp and a few physical copies for selling at gigs. Click here to go to my bandcamp page. 

I truly believe there has never been a better time to be a musician. (Click here to read my first blog to see why I say this). Remember there are still people doing well in current times - try to figure out what are they doing differently. It is most likely they are thinking differently and using the ‘services’ to their advantage. 


Keep in touch:

... and you can download my latest album from:  nickgranville.bandcamp.com/album/home

Tuesday 11 February 2014

There is no denying it - we are all influenced by others. Deciding upon your BIG THREE.


When considering the playing of any of the great musicians it becomes apparent that everyone is influenced by someone else in someway or another. All of the great players share this; no one is a total original. If they were it would be so weird to listen to that few would find it appealing.

Wes Montgomery is a good example, he was influenced heavily by Charlie Christian. I believe one of Montgomery's first regular gig's was performing a tribute of some sort to Christian. He had to sound as close as possible to his hero and was paid for it! George Benson was influenced by Wes Montgomery in a big way ... and one of Pat Metheny's key influences is Jim Hall. You can clearly hear it in Pat's sound and his approach (which is a vertical approach: see my YouTube video where I discuss working on a vertical approach using the minor pentatonic scale - click here). Yet clearly Pat has his own sound. 

I advise my students to choose three players to study and to make these people their focus. I call them the big three. To start you should consider learning these people's style, their choice of notes, their phrasing, how to recreate their tone and their time feel. At the end of the day, no matter how hard you try to sound exactly like someone else, you will never achieve it, but it does not matter. The goal is to absorb then to come up with your own sound based on a deep understanding of what came before you. As the saying goes - imitate, assimilate, innovate.
I would advise you go to the source. If for example you wanted to sound like George Benson then it would be a good idea to check out Charlie Christian. Remember, the people on your list do not have to be guitar players, although this makes it easier to directly use anything that you transcribe (knowing it will work on your instrument). Besides, if you play the guitar it is probable that you do so because you love the instrument. 

Now that you have decided on your big three it does not mean these are set in stone. This list will likely change over time but the important thing is to get started. Try to learn everything you can about these people. Some important things aspects to consider could be:

Their playing characteristics? 
What instrument / amps and effects they use?
Who are their key influences?
What makes them special?
What are the tunes they play regularly?
What is it you can borrow from them?
Are they still around to get lessons with?
What is their background? 
What is the album the everyone raves about?
What can you think of?






Keep in touch:

... and you can download my latest album from:  nickgranville.bandcamp.com/album/home

Monday 3 February 2014

Do you have the four T's every great musician has mastered?

I often think about the great musicians and what it is that they do differently from the rest. In many cases there is no one answer that explains what the greats do. However, some musical elements are universally mastered by the greats. When teaching students (either individually or in workshops) I often talk about the 4 T's (tone, time, taste and technique) and these are the musical elements I consider to be universally mastered by the greats.

1. Tone. If the tone is great the music captures our attention. If the tone is bad, then nothing works - it just sounds bad. B.B.King is an excellent example of the power of great tone. He plays the guitar with minimal notes with a huge tone which draws the listener in. It is incredibly powerful and moving.

There is no one universal great tone, rather every musician has to work out their tone to suit the music and to express what they want to say. Think of the tone of a few great jazz guitarists for example and you will realise just how different they can be (I am mentioning guitarists because I am one, but these things are the same for all musicians). Comparing John Scofield with Mike Stern or Pat Metheny or Jim Hall for example and you will see that all are worthy of being called great jazz guitarists, yet none of them produce a tone that is even remotely similar.

2. Time. This is a very close second for me. Time, timing and rhythm all fall under the category of time. Every great player has his or her way of feeling and playing the time and being able to project that to the listener. A few years ago I heard guitarist Pat Metheny and was blown away with the sheer power of his time and groove. It was an eye opener to say the least. A few years ago I got to play with guitarist John Scofield (Sco) in a duo format while on tour. Sco's time was so strong that there was never any doubt as to where the time was and it was super solid, yet he had the freedom to completely manipulate where he placed notes to great effect. Again, this was an eye opener.

3. Taste. Taste is subjective, but every great player applies their own taste to the music they play and it influences their decision making; whether they know it consciously or not. We choose instruments based on our tastes, we choose musicians to work with based on our tastes, we create tones based on our tastes etc, etc. So when people like what we are doing, it is often our tastes that they are agreeing with. When musicians get to a certain level there is no such thing as better or worse. No one can say Pat Metheny is better than John Scofield for example; that is a matter of taste. People who like Metheny better are basically saying they like his style of playing better - that they agree with his taste.

4. Technique. If we produce a sound then there is a technique required to doing this. All the great musicians have their technique worked out and developed to the level required to create the music. Great technique does not necessarily mean being able to play fast, unless that is what the music requires: for example, if someone is wanting to be a bebop player then the ability to play fast is very important. Any way you look at it though, having great technique and chops is an incredibly valuable asset. I work a lot on my technique, especially the ways in which I use the guitar pick, and the use of hammer-on's / pull off's (guitar techniques) and more. I do this because I want to be free to play what I want, when I want and not have technique get in the way.

So, when considering what to practise and how to do it, I keep these points in mind. I recommend the same approach to students and try to keep them focused on this. I  hope this helps on your musical journey.

Keep in touch:

... and you can download my latest album from:  nickgranville.bandcamp.com/album/home


Tuesday 28 January 2014

The State of the Music Industry

I hear many people complain about the state of the music industry. At times I have been one to complain too. Only recently have I changed my opinion about the state of the music industry. The most common complaint I hear is that the music industry is not what it once was. Correct, it is not what it once was, and never will be again.

I have done a lot of thinking about this lately, and have come to the conclusion that the only way to think about the music industry is to think positively. In many ways the music industry has never been better. Lets look at the positive:

1. It has never been easier to promote ones work. Almost everyone on earth uses the internet. My four year old uses the internet and from the age of three years old had an iPad completely figured out. Most things on the internet are free to use e.g Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc and can potentially reach many, many people. So letting people know what you are up to is easy and in the hands of the artist nowadays.

2. Websites like bandcamp.com mean musicians no longer need a record label in order to sell their product to the public (labels are good for many things, I'm not knocking them). Direct to fan sales via websites like bandcamp will grow. iTunes is fine, but bandcamp is a much better model for the artist. (my bandcamp page is here).

3. YouTube is amazing. As I write this blog I am listening to a live concert of the Pat Metheny group on YouTube. I can't keep up with all the amazing content. My guitar playing would be different if YouTube was around when I was learning. It has many benefits for promotion, learning, research and more.

4. Recording music has never been easier or cheaper. I have a Mac Book Pro and with this computer and software (I use logic pro X) I have the technology to record professional quality recordings with ease. Logic cost me $250 NZD (approx. price). I remember a time when logic was $1000+.

5. Great musical equipment is getting cheaper all the time and is more accessible. Living in New Zealand it can be tough to get good equipment due to the shipping costs - this has changed in recent years and is continuing to improve.

One major negative of the music industry in it's current state is the theft of product e.g. file transfer sites, downloading etc. However, if one is to thinking positively, then this negative could be a positive and emerging artists can use these websites etc to spread the word about who they are easily, and create a name for themselves. Look at Lorde the Kiwi artist who's original intention was to give away her music, then once it had been downloaded x amount of times she started charging for it. She won a grammy yesterday and is the first New Zealand artist to win that award.

Following Lorde's lead we can see the best way to think about this is that the music industry has changed, and to work with it, not against it. If people continue to do things the way they did 20 years ago then they will be left behind.

Many argue that there are less gigs than there once was. This is true... but there are many other ways to do gigs that people don't think about. Again, following on from that idea of working with trends not against; live broadcasts on YouTube could one idea worth pursuing and constitute a gig, right?

Some people are doing really well in this current industry. They are doing lots of great gigs, earning a decent living and making great music etc. Try to figure out what they are doing differently, often it is the way they think about it all.

Someone once said to me to take care of the music first and foremost and the money will find its way to you. I do not do gigs or anything in music just for the money. I know people who do and they are unhappy people. I am not saying I do not need to earn money just that it is not my primary motivation. So, if one considers the art to be most important then it is a great time to be a musician due to how easy it is to create that art, to spread the word about it and to discover other peoples art.

In my opinion there has never been a better time to be a musician or music listener for that matter. Change is a good thing and is the one thing you can guarantee will happen. So, go forward, and create the music you want, working with the industry.

Keep in touch:

... and you can download my latest album from:  nickgranville.bandcamp.com/album/home