It’s a pretty well known fact that one’s hobbies have a demonstrable effect on personality, but have you ever considered that they might actually alter the way one’s brain functions? A new study conducted at a university in Berlin examined this interesting medical phenomena in the brains of 12 guitarists, and the results were quite surprising. As it turns out, when the 12 guitarists played together, their brain functions quickly synced up. In fact, the brains of these guitarists were…

Typically when you hear the word robotic in relation to music, it’s being used as a synonym for describing bland music without any semblance of emotion. Here, however, we are employing a much more literal use of the word: electronic pioneers Squarepusher have teamed up with some robotics developers to create an entirely automated (and slightly terrifying) 78 fingered robot player. The guitarist robot has 22 arms, can hold up to 12 picks at a time, and blazes through licks…

Canada’s current affairs magazine, Maclean’s, poses the question – in the eyes of today’s bands and pop music, is the guitar solo effectively dead?  A number of so-called rock musicians and guitarists are alleging that if you play one in a rock song right now, it’s almost laughable and taboo – very different to the rock anthems of the 80’s and 90’s when the guitar solo was almost what “made” the song. The reasons for this are manifold, ranging from…

I often ask myself – if there was ever a fire in my house (touch wood), what would I take?  My usual answer would always be: a file containing important documents in one hand, and my emotional side would say irreplaceable photo albums in the other hand.  Ok, maybe a few hands, with the number of albums I have, but you get my drift. Well the San Jose Mercury News interviewed four people who had to answer that very question for real,…

Ah, there’s nothing that warms the cockles of the heart more than seeing kids enjoying themselves. There appears to be an increasing trend of kids being wanting to be involved in classic rock. No doubt influenced by the likes of Guitar Hero and movies such as School of Rock – the youngsters are signing up in droves for after school and summer programs which involve them learning how to play classic rock in bands. With two more sessions scheduled in…

Back in the day when I trained as a classical guitarist, I remember carefully grooming the nails of my right hand, always manicuring them to ensure that they had the nice squarish shape with slightly rounded corners, and filing them with emery paper until they were smooth.  I went to the extent of ensuring I had lots of calcium in my diet, and using a special hand and nail lotion to ensure that my nails were, excuse the pun, tough…

Most electric guitars come with a variety of knobs and switches. At the bare minimum, there will be a volume knob, and a tone knob. When I first started to play electric guitar, I had no idea how to use these basic controls effectively, and like anyone picking up the electric for the first time, I just left everything on full and played. If I wanted a different sound, I would either use an effects pedal, or experiment with various…

A friend sent me this amazing YouTube video about Tony Meléndez, a Nicaraguan American guitar player, composer and singer and songwriter whose story is simply inspiring.  He was born without arms due to a side effect of Thalidomide his mother was taking during her pregnancy.  Personally, I find it difficult enough playing and singing with all faculties intact – and despite this disability, Meléndez has taught himself how to play the guitar with his feet. In 1987, Meléndez was given the…

The internet has a wealth of information, and if you know where to look, almost everything is available, including guitar lessons.  Sorting the wheat from the chaff is a bit of a challenge though, as often some of these so called free lessons are just designed to upsell you to some paid ones. So where do you go for your free guitar lessons online?  There are certainly plenty on youtube – can you recommend any good channels?  My favourite for christian…

One of my favourite guitarists/artists of late has been John Mayer with his easy, bluesy tunes and riffs.  As part of Rolling Stone’s Secrets of the Guitar Heroes series, they chat briefly with the man himself.  According to him, the perfect guitar tone sounds like this: There’s so many clichés about this, which I hate, like “molten glass.” But I want it to sound like a voice. That’s all. And you want that voice to speak back to you in…