Johnguitars is my alter ego, the one who sits quietly in the corner coaxing melodies from an old guitar. Having no voice of his own, the guitar itself must proclaim his love.
JDC
Guitar Parts by Johnguitars is what might be called a live studio album. Although no audience was present each track is played straight through without any overdubs or editing of any description. Even the featured track, "Upon the Clouds," where the continuous bass line might trick you into thinking that a second guitar is present, is in fact just Harpaxe showing off!
Style.
As a guitar instructor Harpaxe expects to hear a distinct melody line from even his most basic students while, those more capable, will also include a few chords to thicken the mix. The next stage is to work those chords by using arpeggios to fill the gaps in the overall sound and the last stage to develop an independant bass line using the thumb whilst still doing all of the above. E.g.
1 Play melody.
2 Add chords at start of each bar.
3 Arppegiate chords to fill any spaces.
4 Where appropriate use a continuous bass line.
For free basic lessons in this style visit www.playguitarbynumbers.com
Track List
1 The Persian
2 The Kingdom
3 Annie Laurie / My love is like a red, red rose.
4 Greensleaves / I came to Jesus.
5 Mystery
6 August
7 By yon bonnie banks / Will ye no come back
8 Green Salad
9 Sunshine and roses
10 Out of the darkness
11 December's storms
12 Hitmo
13 Upon the clouds
14 The day Thou gavest.
To listen to a short extract for free just click an arrow on the player below.
The Year Album by Johnguitars combines a neo sixties format and sound of clean electric guitar, acoustic 12 string, strings, bass and drums, with the compositional techniques of the great classical composers. With more than a nod to his boyhood heroes, "The Shadows", a good balance of musical predictability and surprise has been achieved notwithstanding the short running times of between 3 and 4 minutes per track while keeping within a consistent overall framework.
These 12 tracks, January, February etc, develop from the dark winter melancholy to the brightness of summer before returning to the severity of winter once more. In the mind of Harpaxe melody is of primary importance yet an interesting chord structure enhances the overall effect for no one month is uniformly sunny, cold or damp but each has its characteristic moments of beauty.
So which is your favourite month?
To listen to a short extract for free just click an arrow on the player below.
GEAR
The Year Album
Lead guitar: Yamaha Pacifica.
Bass and drums: Roland E-35 keyboard.
Strings and piano: Roland EP-76 piano.
Rhythm guitar: Jim Deacon JDX35 12 string
Effects: Zoom G1
Software by Magix.
Guitar Parts
Westfield JBAE35
The Future
The next album entitled, "The Great Composers," has been composed over winter 2008 and is now in the practice stage. It is one thing to write a piece but that does not mean you can play it flawlessly! Even guitar teachers have to practice. Recording will commence in Summer 2009 so watch this space.