Tony Smotherman and JayBone Jam 23 Feb. 2011

Tony Smotherman and Jay'Bone' Fettinger Jam at the Friese Studio of music in St. Mary's, GA. 23 February 2011.

Tony is to the left in the video performing with the tan colored custom shop Halo guitar. Jay'Bone' Fettinger is to the right in the video playing the 'wood' guitar custom built by Preston Hudson of St. Mary's GA.

Tony Smotherman is a recording artist on Favored Nations records, new cd available soon.

Tony has an instructional DVD due out with Rock House Method due out soon.

for more info on Tony Smotherman, go to www.tonysmotherman.com

Jay'Bone' Fettinger is a guitar instructor at the Friese Studio of music in St. Marys, GA, and is the lead guitarist for the Jacksonville, FL band Denny's Revenge.

For more info on JayBone go to www.myspace.com/guitarmanjay

and www.dennysrevenge.com

Special thanks to Tony for his 'Licks of the Absurd' clinic.

Special thanks to Ken Hobbs (K-Rokk) for the video.

FMP Session 6: Licks of the Absurd with Tony Smotherman

Hey, guys, the FMP class of Jan/Feb 2011 was awesome. You guys were all fantastic and very involved in the class.
We had guest instructors throughout the course including the final guitar clinic with the incredible guitarist Tony Smotherman.

Tony led us through his 'Licks of the Absurd' clinic and gave us amazing demonstrations on just how expressive music can be... he pushes the boundaries and limitations of guitar music.. he makes the guitar sound like a piano, a harp and even instruments from foreign countries such as a Sitar.
For more information on Tony, his CD releases and his upcoming instructional DVD go to www.tonysmotherman.com

Some of the major concepts Tony taught us were:
a. Know your fretboard - it all starts there, know where the notes are on the neck
b. Major, minor scales - understand scale degrees and then start moving them around
c. Effective practice - it only takes an hour a day of focused practice to really improve
d. Read music - you must understand the basic principles of music
e. Keep reaching - keep learning and striving to get better, find your own voice on your instrument

We will be posting pictures from the course and possibly some video as well soon... and be on the lookout for the Spring/Summer Course schedule at the Friese Studio of music. Lots of great course options will be available.
Talk to you soon.
Thanks,
Jay'Bone' Fettinger
Humble Hillbilly Guitar Instructor

FMP Session 5: Careers and Education in Music

Education in Music:
This Session our guest presenter was Ian Cooper. Ian is quite an accomplished Saxophonist, he is an instructor at the Friese Studio of Music, is currently considering scholarships and colleges to pursue his career goal of becoming a college professor of music.

Ian spoke with us about the importance of an education as you pursue a career in music, and some of the tips he gave us apply to all of us even if music is just a hobby for us:
1. you've gotta love it - because the money ain't that good
2. you must be dedicated enough to work hard
3. sacrifice - must be willing to give up time & priorities in order to improve on your instrument
4. consistent practice - make practice a part of your everyday routine
5. use a metronome - it's the best way to improve your timing
6. music theory - basic understanding of music theory is just a ticket to get started, the hard work is up to you.

As I mentioned I am a big fan of Ian and his parents, Doug and Joy Cooper. Yes, the Cooper's are "nice" people but the reason I am such a big fan of theirs is not because they are "nice", I am a big fan because of their dedication to work hard at what they believe in and what they enjoy.

I recommend you take a look at the posting on this blog site called 'Practice Tips and Thoughts', dated Dec. 8 2010 for more of my thoughts on the subject of practice.

Careers in Music:
We also discussed Careers in music, some of the careers mentioned were:
Singer
Music Teacher
College Professor
Band Director
Lead Guitarist
Street Performer
Band Manager
Studio Owner
Music Therapist
Producer
Sound Engineer
Sound Technician
Light Technician
Guitar Technician
Sound & Light Manager
Producer
Stage manager
Backstage Manager
Instrument Technician (repair)
Instrument Builder
Famous musician
Orchestral musician
Band Director

There are many, many possibilities. What I am impressed with is that the class came up with so many careers that are not directly involved with onstage performance. You came up with several examples of jobs that are technical or involved in management or supporting musicians. This is good, because this opens up more job opportunities in the music industry for you to investigate.
Your assignment is to pick one of the career choices mentioned in the class and to e-mail me 3 things that are awesome and cool about that career and then list 3 things that would be challenging or "troublesome" (to quote Jack Dewey). :)
Once I have received this assignment I will issue each of you the certificate of completion for the Fundamentals of music course.

FMP Session 4: Performance & Timing Demonstration

Session 4 included a discussion about live performance, some of the highlights of the discussion were:
A. Know the material - learn the songs
B. Test your gear, make sure it's all good to go and be sure to pack it all, including backup gear
C. Rest - get a full night's sleep or take an afternoon nap before the performance
D. Be Ready to change keys or deal with distractions and last minute challenges
E. Dress appropriate for the venue
F. Move with the music - look like you are supposed to be there, do what the venue calls for

Timing Demonstration - Kevin Kilner and Preston Hudson were kind enough to demonstrate some timing concepts.
1/4 notes - 1 note per beat
1/8 notes - 2 notes per beat
1/16 notes - 4 notes per beat
1/32 notes - 8 notes per beat
rests - count but no sound
common timing - 4/4 time
Accents on beats - a specific beat is accented are played louder
Groove - this is when musicians are lined up and are on the beat together, especially hitting on "one" together.
ADVICE FROM KEVIN: PRACTICE WITH A METRONOME, it's the best way to improve your timing right away.

go to www.metronomeonline.com

Many Thanks to Kevin and Preston for their time and for the demonstration of techniques.

FMP Session 3:Major & minor Scales, degrees, intervals, relative minor

Scale degrees - numbering system for notes in a scale, for example the first note in a Major scale degree #1.

Intervals - spaces between degrees of the scale, made up of mostly whole steps (2 frets on guitar) and some 1/2 steps (1 fret on guitar).

Major Scale - the scale that contains 1/2 steps between the 3rd and 4th scale degrees and between the 7th and 8th scale degrees. (the 8th degree is the octave of the root note).
It is not necessary to write the word 'Major' after a chord or key signature, Major is implied. If it is written it must be written as a capital M.

minor scale - scale that starts from the 6th tone of a Major scale. This also refers us to the relative minor term which states every Major scale has a relative minor, which begins on the 6th degree of any Major scale. Basically a Major scale and it's relative minor scale contain the same notes, they just start from different points in the Major scale.
For Example:
C Major scale is: C D E F G A B
the 6th degree is A, so the relative minor of C is A minor.
A minor scale is: A B C D E F G
so the A minor scale contains the same notes as C Major, we just start from the 6th tone of the C scale and then use the A as our root note to make music "sound" A minor.

A minor scale, note, chord, or key must have an indication of 'minor', proper notation is one of the following:
minor
min
m
(In order to indicate minor, it must have a small m, not capital.)