Anthony
Alfano
June, 2005
Beginning with the May 2003 edition, newsletters are now archived
online at:
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CONTENTS:
1. ROCK & ROLL 101 - Tommy Scholz of Boston
2. LEARN-A-LICK - Long Time
3. TRUE ROCK STORIES
4. THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
5. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
Please forward this newsletter to anyone
whom you think may be interested!
PART I: “ROCK & ROLL 101"
I believe that a very important part of learning how to play great lead
guitar, is to know about the artists who played them. My leads course:
Guitar-leads.com will
give you many of the greatest guitar leads ever recorded. You can go
to my web site to get my archived newsletters and get some free leads.
This month’s Guitar icon is a true innovator of guitar leads and
guitar “TONE” development and when you want to jump to the
next level of playing, getting a good guitar TONE is an important part
of that growth process. This great player is the leader of the 70's supergroup
BOSTON: TOMMY SCHOLZ. Not unlike the inventiveness of Les Paul himself,
Tommy not only gave all guitar players the wonderful “Triple-Tracked-guitar-leads” sound
but also gave us a new guitar tone which everyone works so hard to copy.
With hits like “More Than A Feeling,” “Smokin’” and “Long
Time” Tommy not only wrote his own songs but played all the wonderful
solos on his first album. By 1995 it had sold over 15 million copies
in the U.S. alone, making it the highest selling debut album of all time,
and second-highest selling album of all time (behind Michael Jackson's
Thriller at 24 million). (Tommy also has a Masters degree from M.I.T.
and invented the mechanism for the Polaroid camera and the TONE monster
GUITAR accessory the “ROCKMAN & POWER SOAK!” And now,
the fun part of my course: Learning one of Tommy Scholz’s solos.
PART II: “LEARN-A-LICK”
Here’s the part where we will have some practical fun and begin
learning your 1st lead in your arsenal of leads necessary to get you
to your NEXT LEVEL of lead guitar playing. In this section, let’s
look at the EXACT way to play the guitar lead tablature for LONG TIME.
III: “TRUE ROCK STORIES”
In this section, I would like to take you “behind the curtain” and
let you in on some of the wonderful experiences I’ve had with some
of the legends of Rock and Pop music. (I’m telling you this stuff
for one reason only. So that it will encourage you set your goals and
objectives and then work towards them. “Go for” your dreams:
weather it is to be a better guitar player, play some great leads or
go pro! If I could do it..so can you!)
The year was 2002 and I was playing a gig with my group in Las Vegas.
One particular night we were to back-up the great Billy Swan. His great
Number 1 Hit Song from the 70's was "I Can Help." The only
problem was my group had never played this song before and it was no
I-IV-V progression song. As a matter of fact, there is a pretty difficult
guitar intro to the song. So I had to scramble. I went to the local record
store and managed to find a compilation which included his song on cassette
tape. I bought it, drove back to the hotel, borrowed a tape recorder
and tried to learn the introduction. I say “tried” because
it was played too fast to figure out. I worked on it for a solid hour,
rewinding the tape over and over and when I got it close enough, I half-heartedly
surrendered my self to the fact that I wouldn’t get it right.
If there were only a way to 1) slow down the speed of the lick and 2)
not change the pitch when slowing it down! Well, that was impossible.
Just then, a mad thought hit me. Was it possible that this opening salvo
was a series of Augmented Chords played by single picked notes? I took
my guitar out and YES, YES, YES...I GOT IT!
That night when I got on stage and played that opening riff with Billy
on stage, he looked at me and just smiled. After the show I asked him
to autograph my LP which I had brought me. This is what he wrote on my
album:
"What a pleasure
meeting you- I wish I could sing and play
like you my friend- I wish nothing but the
best for you"...
– Billy Swan 4/6/02 |
It felt so wonderful to get a compliment like that from a Performer who
had a number 1 record and who also wrote songs recorded by Mel Tillis,
Conway Twitty, and Waylon Jennings, worked for ELVIS and was in Kris
Kristopherson’s band as well. I tell you this story because I want
you to know that even a guy or girl who teaches themselves can live out
a dream. Billy’s song “I Can Help” became a song in
my lead arsenal. My entire course is made up of these interactive solos
and leads. There’s no other course like it. You can be playing
tough solos within minutes of downloading the course.
If you have not checked out my course,
I strongly encourage you do so
right now and check out the free samples. I look forward to sharing more
great moments, leads and solos. These are my learning tools. They single-handedly
got me to where I am today - playing guitar and earn a living doing it.
Do you want to jump up to the next level? My course will help you do
that.
IV. Thought For The Day - Giving
If there be any truer measure of a man then by what he does, it must
be by what he gives.
5. Subscription
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