I first heard Lenny when I was in my early 20's - relatively late in the life of a guitar player. The exact circumstances are lost in my foggy memory, but I remember the feeling of listening to a musician doing things on his instrument that I hadn't heard anyone else do before. The impact was immediate - I was hooked. I needed to know how he created those beautiful sounds. Then I saw some video of Lenny playing; he's using a thumbpick... and he has enormous fingernails! Yikes

When was the first time you heard magic in music? When did you experience the real root of your love for music? Mine was hearing 'Black Dog' by Led Zeppelin being played on my dad's turntable at home. Something about those sounds drew me into it. I was very young; still too young to know who Led Zeppelin was, or what a guitar was for that matter. But that sound had something special in it. I still remember the way the needle hit the vinyl, and the pops and hisses emanating th

First of all, everyone 'always plays the same things'. Even the greats rely on licks once in awhile. Some people make a career out of them. But if you're playing jazz and improvising, I would bet most of us have had this thought a few times about our playing. So, what to do about it? Here are a few things that have helped me over the years: 1) Stop playing guitar! - That's right, put down the axe. Sometimes a little break is all that is needed to gain a fresh perspective on t

When my wife and I moved from the Greater Toronto area to the little city of Casper, WY, I searched for extra work to help pay the bills. I ended up landing a gig at the local ice arena - which made perfect sense being Canadian and a hockey fan. After awhile I made a comment about wanting to learn to drive the Zamboni. To my surprise, they agreed to train me. Living the Canadian dream in the U.S.A.! Driving an ice resurfacing machine is a lot more complicated than I thought,

The older I get, the less I seem drawn to practicing my instrument. It's not from falling out of love with the guitar; there are lots of factors that contribute to my decrease in practicing time. Life is busy and I have to earn a living - which doesn't always involve playing music. Tendonitis in my arms has made playing for long periods of time nearly impossible, and often painful. My attention span has seemingly waned - it's hard for me to focus on one problem for more than

There's an almost infinite world of music out there waiting to be discovered. And with the advent of streaming/downloading technologies a large chunk of it is readily accessible to anyone with a computer, phone or tablet and an internet connection. Finding new music is easier than ever. So, where to start? How do you navigate through this endless sea of sound? I've always tended to work backwards. Like some authors, I'll start at the end and work my way back until I arrive at