Anthony Alfano
September 2003

Beginning with the May 2003 edition, newsletters are now archived
online at: http://www.guitar-leads.com/newsletter.htm

CONTENTS:

1. ROCK & ROLL 101 - Jeff Beck
2. LEARN-A-LICK - You Know What I Mean
3. TRUE ROCK STORIES - Rock and Roll Bands
4. USEFUL LINKS
5. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION

Please forward this newsletter to anyone whom you think may be interested!

Hi, and welcome to our FOURTH newsletter for: Guitar-Leads.com. I hope you will enjoy it and find it a helpful tool in your journey to becoming a well rounded guitarist.

First, I would like to thank those who have subscribed to my newsletter and to those who have purchased the course. I know that if you want ot play the guitar better, or want to start playing the guitar for the first time, there is no better course out there. I perform everyday for a living and see and hear what musicians are doing. I will not only give you the mechanics to learn to play the guitar better than you thought possible, but also introduce and strengthen your knowledge of ROCK AND ROLL music! You will become a well rounded player, capable of many accomplishments.


Tony

A very important part of learning how to play the guitar to the best of your God-given ability, is to learn about the musicians who played an important role in influencing Rock & Roll guitar in the first place. As a part of this on-going newsletter, I will draw upon many examples, with the intent of showing and explaining different styles, rhythms, tones and other characteristics of playing the guitar. I want you to not only learn how to mechanically play the guitar, but to eventually be able to feel what you play. That will come later, but in time you will come to realize that "feeling" what you're playing IS WHY YOU ARE playing the guitar. It can and will carry your soul to different worlds.

This month's Rock & Roll history lesson is about one of the greatest guitar players of all time:

" JEFF BECK"

JEFF BECK is a BRITISH guitarist whose credentials are as numerous as JIMMY HENDRIX'S. Mastering the guitar during the 1960's and taking ERIC CLAPTON'S place in the group THE YARDBIRDS, he is an amazing guitar player. His partial works are included in the music of THE YARDBIRDS ( with JIMMY PAGE), THE JEFF BECK GROUP (with ROD STEWART & RON WOOD) and BECK, BOGART and APPICE. His ability to combine Jazz, Blues and Rock in his playing is a wonderful gift we can all learn from. Jeff is a tough study, but I want to teach you a very distinctive lick that he plays on his 1975 album (CD) called "BLOW BY BLOW'. I would encourage you to get a copy of this CD. There is much to learn off of it. Now, please go get your guitar: we're going to LEARN A LICK!

Here's the part of the newsletter where we will have some practical fun. In this section I will show you an important Rock Lead (a LICK) for you to add to your arsenal. For this, the fourth lick, we will draw from our ROCK & ROLL 101 musician: JEFF BECK! Let's take a look at the Opening guitar CHORD riff in the song "YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN" off of the BLOW BY BLOW LP. Playing this lead cleanly and accurately and with the correct rhythm will be very impressive. Here goes! Remember, this will be a chord style lick, OK! The rhythm is crazy for this intro, so I will put the beat numbers above the tab columns:

In this section, I will share some of the wonderful experiences I've had as a guitar player. (Remember, you really can make your own memories too, so if you haven't done so, make sure you check out my web site: GUITAR-LEADS.COM)

THE YEAR WAS 1969! It's the year I began teaching myself to play guitar. I really started learning chords first. Then I started playing in my church folk group. Then I started my first band, played throughout high school and college and then in 1975 I joined the U.S. ARMY as an Avionics Mechanic fixing ARMY helicopters. It was pretty cool work at first, but then, like anything else, it got pretty tough: working in the bubble of a Jet Bell Ranger with the temperature at 110 degrees.

About 6 months into my tour, while in a club listening to a live band, GOD sent a stranger over to my table. This guy, "APPLE JAX", introduced himself to me, as he had just gotten out of the ARMY and he recognized that I was in the ARMY (by my short hair.) He said that for 3 years he was a guitar player in the FORT POLK U.S. ARMY BAND. I told him that I too was a guitar player and loved to play so much. He told me about his experience making a paycheck by playing the guitar, FOR A LIVING. He asked me if I might be interested in playing for the ARMY BAND. I said, "of course." He said that he could talk to the Bandmaster about me and arrange an audition. Approximately one month later, I was standing in front of my future bandmaster, playing the guitar and talking to him about my life. Guess what: I GOT THE JOB PLAYING THE GUITAR IN THE FT. POLK ARMY BAND. FROM THAT DAY FORWARD, I WOULD EARN MY PAY, DOING WHAT I LOVED TO DO, FOR A LIVING.

THE VERY, VERY IMPORTANT LESSON HERE IS: EVEN THOUGH I DID NOT PLAN TO BECOME A FULL-TIME MUSICIAN, THE OPPORTUNITY CAME AND FOUND ME! THE ONLY WAY THIS COULD HAVE EVER HAPPENED WAS BECAUSE I TAUGHT MYSELF TO PLAY THE GUITAR 7 YEARS EARLIER. LET ME HELP YOU GET READY FOR ANY OPPORTUNITY THAT MAY COME YOUR WAY OR TO BE PROACTIVE AND PLAN A FUTURE WITH MUSIC, OR JUST ENJOY THE RELAXATION OF PLAYING THE GUITAR FOR YOURSELF.

Why do I tell you these stories about myself? Because it was and is my guitar playing that gave me the chance to fulfill these many dreams and You can do it too! After what I experienced, I am living proof that if you stick-with-it and want to be successful, you have the same chance of living out your dreams as I did and continue to do. The great part about this is: EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BIG PLAN TO BECOME A PRO, THERE ARE OPPORTUNITIES THAT CAN COME AND FIND YOU! I AM LIVING PROOF OF THAT. BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE TOOLS TO BE READY. THAT'S WHY I WANT TO HELP YOU.

I play the guitar, today as a member of a very successful national Rock & Roll Oldies Band. It's a wonderful feeling to be able to do what you love to do to earn a living. I would suggest that if you have not ordered my course TIPS, TRICKS & TABLATURE yet , please do so. Go to my web site and read the front page, I'll teach you how to start your own band, how to read tablature: both chord and note tabs. And most importantly, I will cut-out all the mumbo jumbo out of learning to play guitar so that you can be successful as quickly as possible. My daughter was the first student to take this course. She has been playing less than a year and she is already playing at the same level it took me 3 years to get to when I started. That's because I had no one to take the time to take me step by step through learning how to buy a guitar or how to tune it up or how to hold or adjust it. I had to teach myself. And some of the things I learned from other people were incorrect.

Let me show you how playing the guitar can be such an enjoyable hobby. Once you get hooked, you won't want to put it down! Try my course. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. If you are not a beginner, it doesn't matter. If you can learn one new trick or Barre chord for the price of LESS THAN THE COST OF ONE GUITAR LESSON then you're already a winner!

This COURSE will be the best investment you will ever make. Expect it to change your life. I guarantee it!

An page with many good links about the care and maintenance of your instrument. Guitar Care and Maintence

An index of links to sites with guitar tabs, collectively these sites of tens of thousands of tabs. GuitarTabs

What we hope to do with ease we must learn first do with diligence. ---Samuel Johnson

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