Rick Washbrook - Guitar Lessons - ( Teacher & Student ) - Makes The Difference

"I first heard Rick Washbrook's music at the Interesting Music Shoppe

in Wilfrid, Ontario, around 2002.

While I was looking through the store's CD rack, the store's

proprietor, brought to my attention that there was a great local guitarist

who had released a new CD. The CD is a tribute to the late Lenny Breau

called "A Gypsy's Bed". This caught my interest as I had been a huge fan

of Lenny's music for many years.

I purchased a copy of Rick Washbrooks recording "A Gypsy's Bed" and

enjoyed

it instantly from the first listen. The eclectic material interested me on

many levels. I think what impressed me most was Rick Washbrook's

spontaneous feel and originality of the tunes played in the Lenny Breau

style.

From the music, to the poetry on the liner notes, I sensed this project

was a labour of love by a dedicated artist.

I later checked out some Rick Washbrook references on the Internet. I

read he led a small trio performing jazz standards, instrumentals, and

had a number of female vocalists come out to play once a month at the Gate

403 Jazz

Club in the Roncesvalles area of West Toronto. Washbrook also appeared in

2005 every Sunday night solo

at Gate 403 with his Classical/Flamenco guitar.

At the same time my band the Sum of 5ive, a jazz group, was playing

regularly at the Gate

403 and I began to run into Rick Washbrook at various Toronto Jazz venues.

Rolling forward a couple of years, we kept in touch by email. I subscribe

to

Just Jazz Guitar magazine and read a very positive review on his

new quartet CD called "West Mystic" around 80% originals. The reviewer

Eric Elias couldn't say anything wrong.

I got word that Rick Washbrook relocated west of the city Toronto and I

looked him

up to inquire about lessions. This turned into a chance to take a ten

session block of lessons over a six month period in 2008-2009.

My interest in lessons was based around wanting to further study

finger-style solo jazz guitar. Rick Washbrook was able to tailor the

lessons to my individual needs.

Taking a holistic approach to the study of guitar lessons, we delved into

many topics. Some specific examples were the use of two note comping

chord tones on the G, D & A strings using the 3rd & 7th scale intervals (minor or

major intervals). Developing from there, led to the study of combining

melody and improvisation over these two note implied harmony comping patterns.

The lessons naturally progressed to further embellishment of lead lines

in the areas of chord tone arpeggios and extensions, chord substitutions,

and re-harmonization.

Coupled with this was additional left-hand study of

non-standard fingering designed to accommodate this approach to

finger-style solo jazz guitar. To play the two note comping tones (major

or minor 3rd and 7th) on the lower strings, I had to learn to play them

with fingers 1st and 2nd fingers, 2nd and 3rd fingers, 3rd and 4th

fingers.

This new position work was an eye opener for me because with this

knowledge I gained the accessibility of many additional

notes and was able to slide around the fingerboard and do little tricks to

help with the fingerstyle illusion that there are

two guitars playing.

We had a good time with ii, V , 1 chord progressions. Rick dealt with

some interesting substitution chords that voiced beautifully together.

For example, in the Key of Bb. Rick suggested for the ii chord of Bb (C

minor) try playing Eb major 6/9 or Eb major 7th. Then when moving to the

V chord (F7) use a Eb minor9. Then to resolve to Bb you can play a Bb6/9,

or a C/Bb. I recorded all the lessons and later transcribed them.

The right-hand study was focused on picking patterns, hand position, the

use of fingernails versus bare fingers, and the hybrid style of flat pick

and fingers together.

Rick clearly demonstrated his fingernail tone and dexterity in approaching

moderate

fast lines and melody: he has an interesting way of playing fast passages

with the

index finger alone and teaches an effortless transition back and forth to

index/middle fingering in an alternating classical approach.

Rick also went over how to get different tones from his right

hand middle and ring fingers by using the left side of the nail and

slightly sliding it along the

string before gently attacking the note. This gives it a nice warm tone.

Another interesting technique he showed me was when playing a scale

pattern higher up the neck to use your right hand index and middle

closer up

to the bridge. This helps keep the guitar in tune throughout the whole

scale or line when playing low to high.

He offered plenty of opportunity to absorb the material by providing

written examples of the curriculum as well as encouraging the student to

record the lessons in order that a solid reference for future review was

available.

I had personal interest in the development of rhythm, time and feel. Rick

Washbrook had many exercises for that by making me invent a 4 or 5 note

lick over a blues pattern.

He would then have me play it starting on the

1 beat of the bar. Then he would have me play the exact same lick

starting on the 2nd beat of the bar. Then he had me play the same lick on

the 3rd beat of the bar and then the 4th beat. The next step was to start

the lick on & of 1 of the bar, then the & of the 2 of the bar, and then

the & of the 3 of the bar, and the lick on the & of the 4

of the bar.

We studied the practice techniques of vocalizing the internal music within

oneself on the instrument as well as using the metronome on the 2 & 4,

and playing 1/4 note beats for enhanced swing feel and conversely having

the click on beats 1 & 3 for Latin and Bossa grooves.

As part of Rick's organic approach to the study of the instrument, I was

encouraged to include actual songs in the course of practice. He provided

excellent examples of blending the techniques studied into specific jazz

standards. For example, we worked on challenging takes of "Misty" in the

original, darker key of Eb to provide a vehicle for melody and comping.

"Over The Rainbow" was transposed into the brighter key of A to illustrate

a more guitarist approach incorporating the natural open string voicing of

the instrument.

I felt Rick Washbrook customized my series of lessons to my area of

interest, matching the course to my level of ability which allowed teacher

and student to fully explore finger-style guitar."

By: BH Maitland Rick Washbrook - Guitar Lessons - ( Teacher & Student ) - Makes The DifferenceBy: rick washbrook

POST COMMENT

Piano Bench Buying - Three Purchasing Tips Curso De Guitarra Acustica, 7 Secretos Para Aprender A Tocar Guitarra Easy Online Acoustic Guitar Lessons for Beginners Como Tocar Guitarra Acustica – 5 Claves Para Aprender A Tocar La Guitarra Acustica 5 Tips For Choosing The Best Guitar Instruction DVDs Aprender A Tocar Guitarra Acustica – 4 Secretos Sobre Como Tocar Guitarra Acustica Ensaio sobre a música contemporânea Swinging Sixties ( London ) – British Iconic Music Amateur Video Guitar Lessons The Best Dubstep Software – Produce Your Own Dubstep Music How To Make Techno – The Best Software To Produce Dance Music Arpeggio Guitar Classes On-line - Find out to Master Arpeggio Strategies Taking Interest in Rock Music as an Extracurricular Activity