Student Spotlight: Shauna Price

This edition of Student Spotlight is here by deemed the " The Christmas Student Spotlight:Shauna Price." I hope by this point everyone has all their Christmas shopping done and is snuggled up next to the fireplace cuddling with their loved ones with a mug of hot chocolate, waiting for ole Santa to come drop off some presents. While your waiting for Saint Nick check out Miss Shauna Price. Miss Shauna has been playing guitar for 2 years now. She is only 8 years old! She started taking lessons from me at age 6. She is a straight A, honor role student at Lake Forrest Elementary School. Shauna decided she wanted to play guitar, way back when, while visiting her aunt in Vermont. Her aunt was taking guitar lessons and Shauna went with her to one and watched her during a lesson. She wanted to play guitar at that moment. Some of Shauna's favorite bands are Fun, Panic at the Disco, Taylor Swift, Classic Addict and Pink. Even though Shauna is only 8 years old she has been to some concerts. She's seen Panic at the Disco, Fun and Classic Addict. If she could play guitar for any band in history it would be Panic at the Disco. The reason why? Shauna got to meet them. When Shauna was around 4 years old her mom sent a video of her singing Panic songs to Panic at the Disco. When Shauna met them a couple years later the band actually remembered her from the video!!!! She got to take pictures with them and hang out with them. That experience solidified her love of panic at the Disco forever. Shauna's favorite guitar is this blue acoustic she has that has a lot of her favorite bands autographs on it. The guitar has Panic at the Disco, Fun and Classic Addict autographs. I am sure she will have many more bands sign it through her life too! If she could play guitar anywhere in the world it would be France. She would love to play in France so that she could see the Eiffel Tower while there, plus she has always wanted to learn French too. Shauna comes from a pretty musical family. Of course she has the aunt that got her inspired to play, who's name is Betty. She has an uncle who plays, has a great uncle who plays a ton of things and has a studio and of course her GaGa plays the flute. Her mother's side is very musical. Shauna's favorite song to play is "Mine" by Taylor Swift. Shauna still sees herself playing guitar in the next 5 years and hopefully is a student at Davidson fine Arts. Shauna thinks that learning power chords is the thing that has most benefited her in her time in lessons with me so far. When Shauna grows up she wants to be a vet. i for one think she can do it with no problem. When Shauna came back from summer break this year she came back wit the fire. She has made huge improvements in her playing and has really stepped up her game. She has impressed me a ton. She is hungry for musical knowledge and has been practicing her butt off! I have enjoyed watching her get better every week. So here's to you Shauna........Keep Rockin.........Keep Playing.........and keep Having Fun!!!!!

Black friday= Christmas Coming

I know its been a while since i have last posted. I have been busy hanging out with my little baby girl. Its hard not to want to spend every waking moment with her. With that being said, it is time for me to give you some cool gift ideas for your musician loved ones. Lets start with some stocking stuffers.

Some great stocking stuffers are strings. Every bass and guitar player needs strings constantly. Guitar slides rule. They are small and there are many kinds to choose from at Rock bottom. Guitar straps are great too. Straps now a days can have your favorite band on them, slogan and come in all different colors. Instrument cables are great too. They go bad often and you can never have enough. Picks are super cheap and every guitar player needs them on a regular basis. I can only dream of getting a stocking full on my gator grip picks. One cool thing i have seen in the store lately is the fender baseball. They are awesome looking. Get one while we got em. They aren't going to be available long. Things like this fit in a stocking very easy and are on the low end of price.

Some cool mid priced things are all over the place at Rock Bottom. We got some great acoustics starting around $120. There are some great bass, banjo, guitar and mandolin starter packs too. They come with everything a player needs to get started. They have the instrument, picks, amp, strap, tuner and picks all in one package. We also have some great practice amps too. The fender Mustang 1 is the new must have amp. It has all kinds of effects built in, hooks to your computer and even has a headphone amp to help out parents and neighbors when a player just wants to crank it up. We also have some great headphones available too. There are also lots of different kinds of pedals available too. from crunchy distortion to far out flangers we got them. Pedals are always a great gift idea for your player loved one.

We also have lots of gifts for that "big gift" you might want to get. We have a ton of great Fender, Gibson, Guild, EVH, Gretch and every other top brand name guitar available. Come on, who wouldn't want a USA Fender or USA Les Paul waiting for them under the ole tree on Christmas morning. The prices on these top name guitars and basses are too low for me to list. There are some awesome amps i need to mention too. We got some marshalls. There is a JCM 800 head I look at every day that i wish would end up under my tree. How about an Ampeg SVT  with an 8x10 cab? Your bass player would flip if they got it! Lots of top quality Pearl, etc drum sets too for the aspiring drummer are all over Rock Bottom. There is the EVH 5150 half stack that is calling out to be put under a tree. We also have the highly sought after 50 watt version of the 5150 too.

With all the choices there are for your musician for Christmas it will be easy for you to pick up that "must have" item for them. Stop on down to Rock bottom on Black Friday or any other day between now and the big day and get that Xmas shopping done! I am also offering a free lesson with every purchase of a guitar. happy Holidays and happy shopping!

Spotlight Licks with Scott Terry: Round 2 the String Bending Edition

We are back with Mr. Scott Terry here in spotlight licks. He is here to show us how to do some awesome, unbelievable bends. Pay close attention and get to bending them strings like you are He-Man or She-Ra!

Way to be a better musician #567- Go See Some Live Music!!!!

One of the things you can do to make yourself a better musician is to of course practice practice practice, but another thing is to go some some live, in person music. Im not talking about watching your favorite band live on a dvd or youtube but physically going out and seeing it happen in real life. Go see some big name national bands and go see some great local music as well. You can see some great music in a coffee shop, restaurant, bar, club, arena, stadium, church and just about any place else. You will learn a ton from seeing your favorite band live. You will see how they perform. Learn some of the stage moves. Listen to the tones and sounds of the amps and guitars. You will even in some cases here your favorite song played a little different live too. Sometimes when a song is done in the studio it is done way different live. Sometimes its better, sometimes not.There are certain bands that are meant to be seen live. Phish is one. They are 1000 times better live than on cd. Godsmack is a band I HATE but will pay to see them any day of the week. They are a completely different animal live. My wife and i had the pleasure of seeing Roger Waters do "The Wall" in concert. It was the single most amazing show I have ever seen. The playing was top notch. The lights and production was top notch and the sound was world class. Watching a master like Roger Waters showed me a whole new way to perform to a crowd. A guy like him can have an audience in the palm of his hand in about 10 seconds. I learned alot about how to interact with a crowd by going and seeing Ozzy. He interacts with the crowd and makes everyone in the audience feel "special." There is also something about being with other people and singing along and dancing to songs that cannot be experienced by listening on an iPod or watching a dvd. There are tons of great local artists who are just as good as any national act too. You can learn alot by watching guys like Riley Williams, Michael Dinkins or TuTu DeVine. So get your butt out of your house and get some concert tickets or go out and see some great local music!

Product Review: MXR Distortion Pedals

This review is done by Rock Bottom Music owner Jonathon Karow.

My quick review on three new MXR pedals at Rock Bottom Music:
Personally I like the MXR 78' Bad Ass Distortion A.K.A. Appetite for Distortion. The MXR Bad Ass Modified O.D. pedal is not bad but sounds a bit "boxy" through my Hot Rod Deluxe. It is a great pedal... just not "my tone". It might make a nice lead boost over and above the tube gain (like a Tube Screamer but voiced differently)? The MXR Full Bore Metal is PERFECT for someone looking for Modern High Gain from Enter Sand Man to full out Death Metal. It is fun to play with but not a necessary "color in my personal Crayon box". I would definitely have one if I were a Metal shred guitarist.

A very cool feature on the Full Bore Metal is the Gate button (Noise Gate). It can be adjusted for the Gate time in the battery compartment. A green LED lights up to visually show the player when the Gate is active.
Come on down to Rock Bottom and test drive them for yourself. The price for these are lower here than any place else...guarenteed!

Product Review : iRig

This product review is on the iRig. The iRig is a cool little device that hooks to your iPhone or iPod and lets you plug your guitar into it and do a vast array of cool things, from just jammin, to recording, to jammin with other people in an online jam session. This little thing is great.

Once you get yourself an iRig you will need to get an app that it works with. There are tons of them, so dont worry about not finding one. It basically works with anything such as garageband, amplitude, etc. I downloaded garageband. The rig itself has a female 1/4 inch jack input for you to plug your guitar into, has a 1/8 inch female input jack to hook your headphones (or run to another form of external monitor) and it has a male 1/8 jack out to hook to your phone or iPad. Once you hook up and open up your app it is really easy to get going. You get lots of choices of amps to choose from. You can have a Marshall, Vox, Fender, Mesa Boogie and any other type of amp right at your finger tips! You also, depending on your app, have a choice of any pedal under the sun! You can control the pedal just like you do a real pedal. You move the knobs and tweek it just like in real life. you can choose the order of your pedals too. If you got some good headphones, ex: the marshall ones from a previous entry, the sound will be pretty darn good. You can jam as loud as you want and not bother your wife, a sleeping baby, neighbors or mom and dad! That is a huge plus!

Some of the apps have some great features. In the one I have, garageband, you can get online and have jam sessions with people around the world. If you have a song idea you can record it at a moments notice. It also lets you do virtual drums, bass and about any other instrument too. that way you can have rough or even complete songs to take to your band mates. I use it to record chord progressions for my students. once its recorded its a breeze to email it or text it to some one.

The iRig is compatible with most any smart phone, iPad, tablet, etc. For less than $50 you got something that is awesome. Depending on the app you can do anything! Apps go from free to $20. The iRig is a great investment. A whole lot cheaper than a porta studio plus you get tons of features. Stop on down to Rock bottom and get one. You will love it.

Student Spotlight: Isaac Verbeck

This edition of "Student Spotlight" is on 16 year old Isaac Verbeck. Isaac has been playing guitar for about 2 years now and has been taking lessons from me since February 24, 2011. Isaac starting playing for a couple reasons. His brother played and that inspired him. He also liked how portable a guitar is to carry around verses say a keyboard. He also just really liked music! Along with his brother playing, his dad plays numerous instruments. His brother does alot of singing and theatre. His brother currently goes to college for singing. Some of his favorite guitar players are Brad nowell from the band Sublime and the guitar players from the band "Slightly Stupid." His dream guitar, and this is a first for this answer, is a high end nylon string acoustic guitar. he wants one because the sound is just great on one. I asked Isaac if he could play a gig anywhere on Earth where would it be. He replied " I would want to play somewhere in Orange County California. That is pretty much the birthplace of any good ska and punk and I just absolutely love those styles of music." Isaac has had a chance to check out a couple of live concerts. He has seen Reliant K, lots of local bands in different areas and various other regional bands. He has some gigging experience too. Isaac was in a band called "Of all the people" and they got to do a couple of gigs with them while he was still in high school. If his band could have played with any band of his choosing what would he pick? He dreams of being on the monster tour called "Warped Tour." Warped tour is a staple of summer concert touring with some of the best and biggest bands out there. That reason and the fact that that tour has so many styles of music on it are reasons why he would dream of being a part of Warp Tour.I also asked him " If you could pick any band in history to be a guitar player for, who would it be?" He replied quickly with " Van Halen!!" Why? Again he replied quickly " Its Van Halen!!! Come on!!! Is there really any other reason???" Isaac also plays a bunch of other instruments. He plays the bass, ukulele,sings and even played the trumpet back in middle school. Isaac is out of high school and is currently working on getting into Augusta State University and getting a computer science degree. Isaac plans on keeping up with music and sees himself continuing making music tracks and posting on the Internet because he loves doing it and its fun. Isaac has got alot from his lessons with me but the thing that has stuck with him the most is screwing around with arpeggios. He loves doing it and has a ton of fun with them. Some advice he has for anyone starting out is to learn 4 chords and learn every song you can with them. I have had a blast working with Isaac. he is a good kid with a ton of creativity. He is going to be musically active for many years and i am looking forward to hearing it! So heres to you Isaac......Keep Rockin........Keep Playin.......and keep Having Fun!!!!!

Spotlight licks: Scott Terry

this edition of "spotlight licks" is brought to you by musician extraordinaire, scott terry. scott is a multi instrumentalist who plays, harp, guitar, banjo, mandolin and countless others. he has played with some world class musicians. he has played with the legendary bluegrass out fit the lewis family, was guitar tech for smash country stars heartland, is endorsed by martin guitars, jammed with earl scruggs and countless other great musical endeavours. he is going to demonstrate moving up on the neck, playing various voicings of the A chord and throwing in some smokin chicken pickin licks based on the A minor and A major pentatonic scales. he even throws in some chromatic notes while going up. he has some great hybrid picking throughout,has some huge bends, some great pull off licks and ends on a cool banjo-esque lick. have fun with this one. he breaks it down slow at the end of the video. that is the prime time to pick up what he is doing. if you have a tough time break it down to learning it a section at a time. consider a section of licks the area in one position of the A chord. as he moves up to the next position of the chord that is the next section and so on.

Student Concert: May 12th Earthfest

It's that time of year again. That time when the students get to get on stage and strut their stuff. This year it will be at the Columbia County Ampitheatre. It is a family event that is celbrating the planet Earth. The students will take the stage at 11:00 a.m. Performances will include Gaia Colafrancseco, Brian Yonn, Blake Sloan, Carter Kight and Taylor Temples and a group performance with Alex Cooke, Chris Marks and his brother Anthony Marks. I can not wait for this. The kids always have a blast and do an outstanding job. I would like to thank Rob Boggs for setting this up for us and providing the sound system for the event. The ampitheatre is located at 630 Ronald Reagan Drive Evans Ga. Its off Washington road behind the library. If you hit the Evans Walmart you went to far. So be sure to be there, tell a friend and be ready to have a good time.

Student Spotlight : Collin Castillo

This edition of "Student Spotlight" is on a very up and coming musician, Collin Castillo. He has been playing guitar for 5 years and has been taking lessons from me since October 2010. Collin got into playing guitar because he saw someone playing and really liked it. His Mom and Dad , at one time, sponsored a band. The band was called " The Fifth." He thought what they did was awesome and wanted to jam. His parents thought it was a phase at first but 5 years later it was no phase! Collin is a 7th grader at River Side Middle School. He plans on going to college for 4 years and hopefully getting to do some music while there. His favorite band of all time is Alice in Chains. He says Alice is one of his dads favorites and that's how he got into listening to them. He doesn't really have a guitar he wants or a "dream" guitar. He plays no favorites with them. He just loves guitars. He has been to a few concerts in his young life too. The best and favorite one he has seen has been Alice In Chains. His mom took him to Atlanta to see them. Seeing that concert is what made him want to be in a band. If Collin could play guitar for any band, new or old, one that is still around or will never be around again, that band would be 90's king's of grunge, Nirvana. He says they are a cool band and he loves all their songs. Collin is currently the guitar player in his church band at Alder's Gate church. They practice every Sunday and Wednesday and play a gig 1 or 2 times a month. Being in this band landed him his first ever real gig. It was about 6 months ago and Alder's Church band kicked some butt! if he could play any gig anywhere in the world Collin would play the Super Bowl.Why? "It is the biggest gig you could ever have and everyone would get to see me play!" Some of Collin's favorite guitar players are Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Perry and Jerry Cantrell. Collin comes from a somewhat musical family. His Aunt Cindy plays everything- piano, guitar, ukulele to name a few. His Great Granny played piano. His uncle by marriage is a heck of a musician, Noel Brown.Noel is an Augusta legend! His mom and dad are huge musical fans and have gave him all the support a young music man could dream of. Why did he start taking lessons? He said "I really like guitar and thought it would be a cool fun thing to do. I really loved it once i started. It's my time to get my escape and have fun." What has been the thing he has got the most use from from lessons? Collin said " You showing me all the chords and their different shapes and learning all the notes on my fretboard." Collin Castillo is a great kid with a huge enthusiasm for music. He is bright and an all around good person. He works hard to be a good player. He continues to impress me week in and week out. He is gonna do great in life when he grows up, as a person and a musician. So here's to you Collin........Keep Rockin'.........Keep Playin'.........and keep Having Fun!!!

Spotlight Licks: John Berret ....the baby edition

This edition of "Spotlight Licks" is brought to you by me, John Berret, a guy who loves being a guitar teacher here in Augusta Georgia. The lick is a beast. It is based in E minor and moves from one end of the neck to another. I have put numbers beside each section of the tab so that I can break down each part and tell you about it. In the beginning, on part 1 you are doing some country-esqe pull offs. Be sure to have your 1st finger kind of anchored on the 3rd fret of the high E string.This lick ends on a slide up to the 5th fret with your 1st finger. In part 2 you start out the same as one but end pulling off on the E and B strings ala Randy Rhodes. Part 3 is identical to part 1. Part 4 is a flurry of pull offs on the E and B strings. Part 5 keeps with the randy rhodes pulls off but takes it to the G string and ends with a 1/4 step bend on the G note, 3rd fret, of your low E string down to an E power chord. Part 6 takes us up the neck. We are using the D and G strings on this. Watch my fingerings in the video and try and use the same as I do. The most important part of executing this part is the use of "outside picking" throughout all of this part. Part 7 is in the same vein as part 6 with the outside picking and how the lick is constructed except that you will use your pinkie to slide up from the 12th fret to the 14th fret and then pull off back to the 12th fret. Take it real slow to get this part. On part 8 you have some wide stretches that contain hammer ons and pull offs ion the same lick. This part is ripped right out of a page of Dimebag Darrell's playbook. Be sure to do this slow and take your time getting it right and smooth. Part 9 is descending arpeggio that goes back up and slides down. Part 10 is in the same vein as this. The last part, part 11, ends it on a nice little bluesy, pentatonic run that ends with the same 1/4 step bend on fret 3 of the low E string as we did in part 5. Take your time and go slow on this one. Once you got it start milking as many licks out of it as you can. Have fun and enjoy!!!!!

since i cant get the video to load click on this to go to youtube to watch it and play along with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGMRgdIJFbU&feature=youtu.be

Check This Out:Gibson Guitar Day w/ Ministry

This Thursday, March 22, at Rock Bottom Music Augusta is Gibson Guitar Day!!!!! We will be having insane sales on all things Gibson and will be doing a Gibson guitar clinic with Mike Scaccia from the band Ministry and Rigor Mortis. I LOVE MINISTRY!!!! The Psalm 69 album was one of the best of the 90's. The guitar sounds on it have inspired me for years. The songs are timeless......come on Just One Fix and Jesus built My Hot Rod are insane!!!!! Along with mike doing a clinic Rock Bottom will be giving away a $1200 Epiphone Les Paul that is killer looking and killer playing and giving away a kick butt acostic guitar too! Look for all kinds of other stuff to be handed out also. The clinic starts at 7:00 on Thursday night. There are no sign up fees and no cost to come. Its free gat nap it!!!!!! All ages are welcome too. There is also no cost to get in the running for one of the guitars either. Rock Bottom is located in downtown Augusta Georgia on the corner of 8th and Broad Streets. Make sure you stop down at 7:00 and catch this. It will be educational, awesome, fun and you can get some very cool free stuff. These clinics have been hits in the past so be there or be square!!!!

Product Review: Planet Waves "O-Port"

This product review is on the company Planet Waves new product, the "O-Port." It is used to enhance the sound of an acoustic guitar and help with feedback when used through a p.a. system or acoustic amp. It is just a piece of plastic the is somewhat bell shaped that goes in the sound hole of your acoustic guitar. It is very easy to install. You just loosen up your guitar strings, bend it in half and install it with the big end of the bell facing the bottom of the guitar. There is a break in the top outside of it (the end that faces up, small end of the bell) that sits where the neck of your guitar goes. There are two sizes for the O-Port, big and small. I used the big one so that I could try it on two different acoustics that I have. I used it on one of the cheapest guitars on the market, an Epiphone DR-100 and I used it on a very expensive one, a Taylor 810. Lets get down to business.

The O-Port claims 4 main things right on the box. 1)fuller sound 2) better clarity 3)more volume and 4) suppressed feedback.

On the Epiphone DR100 i used it on I instantly noticed a huge increase in volume. I used it for 3 days in my lesson room with my students. With every single student i had to play softer. It made it a ton louder for sure. I also noticed it made when I soloed louder too. Every note was pumped up in volume and you could hear every note great! It was almost like it compressed the sound of the notes and made every single note on the guitar , open strings up to the highest register, equal. It made a cheap guitar sound a ton better. It definitely made it sound more high dollar than it really is! Without a dought it made every chord sound fuller too. So far every thing it said it did, it did in spades.

On my Taylor it did the same thing as it did on the Epiphone. One of the biggest complaints I have about my Taylor is when I solo it drops in volume hugely and the notes get lost in the jam. This little device helped for sure. It made the notes I played while soloing stand out and able to keep up with the guitar I was playing with. It did make the guitar sound louder when playing chords. It did a little bit to make it sound fuller when playing rythym. It really couldnt do too much in that respect with the Taylor though. This guitar is one of the best out there for sounding full and rich to begin with. It did its best work on the single notes.

The verdict on this product.........Great!!!!!!! Most players out there dont have a 2-3000 $ acoustic to be playing. It will do wonders for budget guitars and mid grade guitars. Hell, it made a $100 Epihpone sound tons better. These thing s go for around $25 and is worth it. Even on a $3000 Taylor it did some improvement. It also doesnt alter the look of your guitar either. Those other feedback sound hole thing a ma bobs clog up your playing hole and suppress the acoustic guitars natural sound. I didnt play it through a guitar plugged up to test the feedback stopping capabilities. The physics of the O-Port are solid enough to know it will help with it. It is worlds above the other sound hole feed back pluggers. It will help any guitar out there in some way shape or form. For the price its a no brainer. Stop down at Rock Bottom and get one. If you are an acoustic player it is a must have, so get it!!!!

Dear Rockstar: Scott LaFlamme of Bang Tango

This edition of "Dear Rockstar" is with Scott LaFlamme from the Hollywood California band Bang Tango. Bang Tango just rolled into Augusta GA to play at Coyotes night club for Jonathon Karow's "Arena Rock Series" concert. I sat down with Scott after the show and asked him some questions about guitar, music and life.

John Berret: Tell me a little about yourself.

Scott LaFlamme: I play guitar in Bang Tango and before I made it I was a mailman for 18 years.I started playing guitar and singing at age 2 1/2. By 5 years old I could play Johnny B. Goode and the Dukes of Hazzard theme song. I am completely self taught. I got my first electric guitar at age 9 and wanted to play lead guitar. At age 11 I discovered Randy Rhodes and it was over. Randy Rhodes is my guy. I got to play the song "Dee" that he wrote for his family at their music school. It was the thrill of a lifetime. As a teenager I would jam with my brothers in my basement everyday all day. My mom could not stand the noise coming from the basement. We would play after school from 4-11 p.m. everyday. As soon as we got home we did our homework and went right to the jammin. I played 8-9 hours a day. When I got my first electric guitar at age 9 my grandmother ha d a famous family quote. She said "No one needs an electric guitar at 9 years old!!!" I got discovered by Joel Leste and was brought by Alex Grossi. I got in the band with no audition. Straight off their word I was hired. Along with playing in the band I have a studio, LMI Studios. My company does recording guitar, bass, piano and vocal instruction as well. You can read more about me on my bio at my website in you want. (here is the link http://www.scottlaflamme.com/

JB: What has been your biggest thrill as a professional musician?


SL: My "Rockstar Moment" hit me when we were playing with Whitesnake. After tearing it up for over 8,500 people I stepped outside the venue to have a smoke after the show was done. I light my smoke up and look up and about 200 people swarm around me. They wanted to meet and get pictures and autographs.

JB: Did you get to meet every fan?

SL: Yes. I shook every hand, signed everything they wanted, talked to and took pictures with every single one. Myself and Bang Tango, is always for the fans. Without your fans you are nothing. It doesnt matter how many people come up to me. I am talking to every single one.

JB: What is your favorite piece of gear?

SL: I love Les Pauls. I am a Gibson man.I have 23 guitars. I have Les Paul Customs, Studios. I even have a guitar I got from Jerry Cantrell. There is a Charvel thrown in there. Gibson all the way though!!!!

JB: What advice do you have for any up and coming players?

SL:Practice like crazy. Have determination, have the drive and again you got to practice. Start ear training as early as you can. Your ear is the most important thing you have.

JB: Thanks for hangin and talkin and great show!

SL: same here and great show also!

For more on Bang Tango and Scott LaFlamme check out his website at http://www.scottlaflamme.com/

What Cha' Doin' with Miss Shauna Price

This edition of What Cha' Doin' is with a young lady named Shauna Price. Shauna is 7 years old, almost 8 ;), and has been takin lessons of me a while. She is a super student at school and is involved in all kinds of activities. She is as bright as they come and has a great personality. One of the coolest things about her is how much she loves music. One of her favorite bands is Panic At the Disco! and she loves listening to them with her mom. Her GaGa helps her with her guitar playing and her everyday practicing. Her mom and GaGa are her biggest supporters and fans. This is what Miss Shauna price has been up to, click on the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGhuu-cNDfE&feature=youtu.be

Spotlight Licks: Chris Livingston

This Spotlight Lick is brought to you by Rock Bottom Music guitar instructor Chris Livingston. Chris teaches all ages, styles and levels of guitar. He is going to show us how to do some cool pedal steel like bends on the guitar. These things can spice up your solos. They are very popular to be used in riffs too, think Honky Tonk Women by the Rolling Stones. I am not writing out any tab for this because he does a great job showing you in the video. Have some fun with this. I f you or anyone you know is looking for lessons call Chris at 706-589-2112.

Product Review: Marshall Headphones Minor

This product review is on a name most associated with legendary guitar amps, Marshall. Everyone in music knows the name and every guitar player has wanted an amp that was a Marshall. Nothing has more balls than a Marshall stack! This is not a stack I am reviewing, it is headphones. Headphones?????? I did a double take too when I saw them come in at Rock Bottom Music. I got a pair and have tried them out for 2 weeks now and I have to say I love them. They have uses that go past just a musicians use. They are good for the average person for alot of their uses. Lets get into what they are and what I discovered over these past two weeks.

There are two kinds of Marshall headphones. The first kind are kinda big like old school 70's headphones. They are called "Major". The next kind, the kind I had, are called the "Minor." The first thing you notice when you get the box they come in and open it , they are set in there and pop up like your are getting some expensive jewelry from Windsor jeweler or something. The box is sturdy as can be too and can be used for storage after removing the headphones for guitar slides or picks. The minors are more like the ear buds you see today. These ones look like amp knobs from a Marshall amp on the outside. They also have an "ear click" system that secures the in ear piece to your ear. These things click in your ear in the direct part above your sound hole are. These ear click thingys come in small, medium, large and extra large sizes to fit any size ear and provide maximum comfort. They come loaded with mediums right out the box and are easily changed by just pulling off and putting what ever size you want on. These things make the in ear system feel really good in your ears. Most in ear or ear buds make my ear raw and make my ear hurt. These don't. I can wear them for hours on end and have them feel awesome. The box also has this thing called neutral stereo plug adapter. You hook it to you headphone end when using the headphones on an older listening device that is not compatible with today's technology. Example: an old cassette walkman.
These things are very good to use with amps like the new marshall and fender's that have that headphone jack so that you can play and not disturb anyone. I used these headphones with the Fender Mustang and they sounded great! I actually experienced alot of the effects the amp has to offer better with the headphones. The delays and reverb sounded huge and you could hear the delay go on longer and better than with just the speaker. I also used the headphones on my cell phone to listen to music. I tried these out on every type of music. Marilyn Manson sounded mean and in your face. Dr Dre and Snoop Dog had the bass and hi hat boomin on "still d.r.e.". I listened to Korn and when that low end came in my head shook from the bass. I had never had an in ear system make my head feel like i could feel the bass (granted i had it cranked!!!!). Listening to some jazz, Joe Pass, every note was clear and articulate. These things make music sound great. Listening to Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon.....forget about it. That album was meant for headphones like these. Headphones where it sounds like the music surrounds you. Like you are inside the music player. Every effect that is super psychedelic shines. The lows , mids and highs, they all come through like you would want in a set of ear phones. What is cool about these is by the clip to attach the phones to you there is a "remote" thing. This thing lets you stop , play, fast forward or rewind the tracks you are listening too. While i was listening on a Black Berry Curve I could get the stop and play feature to work I could not get the rewind/fast forward to work. I am sure it will work on a Driod, Ipod, Iphone or any other listening device, Black berrys just suck. This headphone also lets you use it on your cell phone to take and make calls. I was happy with how it sounded making calls. Clear as a bell. Makes driving and talking on the phone safer too. It is also as clear as any blue tooth device I have used too. The button that let you play/stop/ff/rewind when listening to music lets you mute your sound receiver when talking. The person cant hear you but you can hear them. It also shows up on your phone with a "muted" sign so that you can see that it is muted. The last thing I used these head phones with, it is also what got the most use for, was listening to talk radio. I listen to Howard Stern hours and hours a day. It made listening awesome. Howard's voice, Robin's voice, they both sounded like they were right next to me. When Fred hit a sound effect it was like he was sitting right beside me. Killer.

These Marshall Minor Headphones have a ton of uses. If it's making a call on your cell phone, listening to your Ipod, jammin on your amp or listening to your favorite talk show these things rule. Marshall is a name made of quality and so is this product. I am sold on them now. While they cost around $59.99 they are worth every single penny. The sound quality is second to none and they are incredibly comfortable. They sound like a $300 set of headphones. They have that cool timeless always in style Marshall look too. Do your self a major favor and get yourself a set of Marshall Minor in ear phones.

What Cha Doing? With Will Setzke

This is a new on going section of the blog called "What Cha Doing?" It will focus on a student, past or present, and show off some of their skills or just what they have been up to. This first piece is on long time student, former student spotlight and Davidson Fine Arts student Alex Cooke, A.K.A. Will Stezke. He has been a song writing machine for a while now and if you remember back to the first article I wrote for the new year I challenged students to set a goal for themselves in the new year to push themselves and get better. Alex or Will Setzke, got a challenge from me to write a song a week for a month. He upped it to a song a week for a year. This has been done by a few people i know and have read about. Most notably former local musician Will McCranie. I challenged Alex/Will Setzke after he came into lessons last week with two songs he blew me away with. I really liked the 2 new songs so much I wanted to hear more. So here he is . Mr. Will Setzke. Here is what he has been doing....................

here is a link to see mr will setzke in action. make sure you watch the video. he kills it!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05C9WbabxXg&feature=youtu.be

Student Spotlight: Taylor Temples

This "Student Spotlight" is another one of the amazing jammers coming from North Augusta Middle School. He is 13 year old 8th grader Taylor Temples. He started playing guitar around 4 years ago, quit for 3 years and started back up. He started his lessons with me 9 months ago. He has been hooked and a daily guitar player ever since! Taylor wanted to play guitar because of his love for rock music and he thought it would be cool to hear a song and go " I can play that!" He doesn't come from too much of a musical family. He has a cousin and an uncle who have dabbled in guitar and a little cousin who has started singing. Taylor's favorite guitar player is Jimi Hendrix. The reason why? He told me " Really????? It's Hendrix. Do you really need a reason why he is awesome? Come On." I laughed my butt off when he said that and could do nothing but agree with him! If he could play guitar in any band in history it would be a tough choice between two bands, Motley Crue or Guns and Roses. I asked Taylor if he could play anywhere in the world, where would it be? He said at the top of the Empire State Building. He would take speaker cabinets and line all the outside walls with them with the speakers pointing out and just sit there on the top of it jammin. Very, Very cool. Taylor would like to possibly go to school for music when he graduates high school. Where does he see himself in 5 years musically? He hopes that the band him and Carter Kight have started is out there playing gigs around the CSRA just getting their names out there and playing their butts off. He hopes to someday be ina band that makes a living playing but at the same time never sold out. His dream guitar is a U.S.A. sunburst Fender Stratocaster. Taylor has 3 big pointers for someone who is just starting out playing. #1- Practice. #2- Practice. And #3- PRACTICE!!!!!!!! What is the thing he feels has been the most important that he has got from lesson so far? Doing finger exercises. He says they have gave him the ability to get down everything that he needs to get down. What song is getting the most play on his IPod right now? All Along The Watchtower by Jimi Hendrix. Taylor is a student that has caught the musical bug hard. He plays everyday and really works hard on his playing. he takes it serious and has showed a huge improvement and love for music. I have been very proud of the player he has become and am really looking forward to the player he is gonna turn into. He is to you Taylor Temples........Keep Rockin'........Keep Playing.........and Keep Having fun!!!!!!!!

New Year= New Goals

It is the first post of 2012. I am starting out the year with some words of encouragement. Get a new goal set for your self and kick it in the butt! I think every student ( and reader ) should pick a new thing and go for it. I have set a challenge to my student Alex Cooke to write a new song every week for a month. He came into his last lesson with two of the best songs I have ever heard him write. Some goals you can set for your self would be to learn a second instrument, learn a song or two from a style of music you don't normally play, get a band started or even play your first open mic or gig. Make sure once you set your goal think about what you have to do to achieve it. Example- Say your goal is to learn the song "One" by MetallicA. You know that the song is played at a speed that is out of your range of playing at the moment. What you will have to do is buckle down, get a metronome and do exercises until you get faster. It won't happen over night. You will have to do exercises everyday to get there. Another example- You want to start a band. With a band you are going to have to spend time finding people to play with, time for practice. You will also have to find the time to learn the songs you are going to play together. It takes discipline to get what you want out of your goal. When something takes skill to do it takes time to master it. It does not happen overnight. Everyone who has been playing for any time knows this, has accepted it and has worked for what they want. I urge all of you to think of a goal and let me know what it is this week at your lesson. We will get to working on it. Hope you set your goal and make 2012 your break out year for playing!