Articles: Featured

/ February 28, 2012 6:28 am

Introduction to the EBow

The Ebow is a very popular electromagnetic device used to create infinite sustain on steel stringed musical instruments. It has been commercially available since the 1970s, and has been featured on thousands of recordings. The most primitive Ebow technique involves sustaining a single string while changing its pitch by altering the left hand fretting position. The advantage to this approach [...]

/ February 26, 2012 11:59 pm

Fender Fatfinger Product Review

The age old argument is does mass equal sustain? I’ve read fantastic reasoning for both sides. Why don’t I just fill my acoustic with cement and find out? Wow that would make a fun blog! In the meantime, I will take a more logical step and review the new Fatfinger by Fender. The Fatfinger is a weighted clamp that you [...]

/ February 20, 2012 2:47 am

Variations on a Theme

Young students often ask me why they need to practice this material. I always reply “because you’re a sum of all your parts”. Imagine if you will a car company that only focuses on transmissions. Well, what about the rest of the car? You wouldn’t get very far on just a transmission alone. In today’s age of music, you need [...]

/ April 19, 2011 9:37 pm

Interview with Megadeth’s David Ellefson

I first saw David Ellefson at the Hartke clinic inside Daddy’s Junky Music in Dedham, MA. What struck me most about him initially, is that he exudes a certain confidence, not born of cockiness but more a sense of purpose. In fact he speaks a few times during our interview about that sort of purposefulness a person can feel in [...]

/ April 10, 2011 3:06 am

Interview With Anthrax Bassist Frank Bello

A direct quote from my notebook, written while observing Frank Bello playing the Hartke clinic inside Daddy’s Junky Music in Dedham, Massachusetts. “This guy F—ing loves music!!” This was my first impression of Frank Bello. He’s a ball of metal bass energy that, when the music is turned on, goes from 0-60 in 2 seconds. His passion for playing and [...]

/ February 20, 2011 6:57 pm

Interview with Legendary Bassist Stu Hamm Part 2

Welcome back to part 2 of my interview with Stu Hamm. This week we get more in depth on his thoughts as a player and composer. Stu talks about some of his writing techniques, who his inspirations are and a few of his road stories. JS - Are you currently studying any players, composers or new techniques? Stu - I’m always working on new stuff. I’ve got a [...]

/ February 14, 2011 6:39 pm

Interview with Legendary Bassist Stu Hamm

In order to be a master you need to think like one and in order to think like one, you need to know how they think! Stu Hamm’s musical career has spanned decades. His first musical ventures were with Steve Vai, who he met at the Berklee College of Music, and Joe Satriani. Later he went on to play with Billy Sheehan [...]