The Guitar Ninja News Letter – August 2019
Contents
Hey Ninjas. Welcome to our new and improved Newsletter. This has loads of fun and interesting things we thought you would want to see. Everything has been made bitesized and easy to digest and with a clear contents list so you can skip to the import bits or the bits you find most fun. Please note that the “Ninja News” and “Dates for the diary” sections may have important information regarding your lesson so even if you skip the fun bits, it would be worth a skim through the last few sections.
Have fun reading.
Contents:
- Weird Guitars
- All the gear, with some idea
- Quick tips (practice tips)
- Guitarists you should know
- Quick licks
- Check them out!
- Finger Twisters
- Ninja News (Student achievements and more)
- Dates for the Diary
Weird Guitars
This month’s weird guitar is the ESP Godzilla. It is actually build to some good specifications including an active EMG pickup, floating bridge, 24fret maple neck and ebony fretboard and the most awesome thing… embedded purple lights though the neck and body! This is limited to only 5 in the world and costs a whopping ¥5,550,000 JPY (approximately $52,600 or £43,600). I want one, but at that price, I might settle with the pictureI
All The Gear, With Some Idea
The Ibanez Tube Screamer
The Tube Screamer is an overdrive pedal first released by Ibanez in the late 70s. It has become an essential over drive pedal for almost every guitar player and has come in many different versions, including a more pedal board friendly ‘mini’ version! It has three knobs: drive, tone and level, with the drive knob adjusting the amount of gain, the tone knob adjusting the treble and finally the level knob changing the volume of the pedal. One of the more popular uses for the pedal is to use it as a ‘boost’ in your distorted sound while playing live, to help lead playing cut through the rest of a band. Notable users include: Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Steve Vai and Billy Joe Armstrong from Green Day.
Guitarists You Should Know
Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen was born on the 26th of January 1955. He is most known for his work with Van Halen, releasing their first album in 1978. Eddie helped to popularise the art of shred guitar, being a pioneer of the tapping technique along with legato and tremolo picking. He even played the solo on Michael Jacksons beat it! In order to hide Eddie’s blistering technique live the band used a smoke machine. The gear he uses are a ‘Frankenstrat’ which he made from various Charvel and Fender guitar parts which was then painted red and used black and white electrical tape to help get it’s unique look. His main amp has always been a 5150, originally produced by Peavey.
Recommended listening: Eruption (Van Halen, 1978)
Quick Licks
“Quick Licks” are short pieces designed with each note to be played at the same speed. Start slow and build up the speed a little with each run through. These are designed to help you get quicker and build finger dexterity.
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Check ’em Out!
This section is dedicated to lesser known artists that have some real talent or an unusual way of looking at the guitar.
This month check out guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani. You should check him out for his blistering speed along with his amazing accuracy and phrasing. This live version of his classic ‘Surfing with the Alien’ (from the album of the same name) shows not only this but what a great showman Satriani is.
Check out!:Surfing with the Alien (live)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_0khAAItqg
Finger Twisters
Being our first Newsletter to include finger twisters , what better way to introduce the section than to use the first finger twister most of our students will learn. The method of this is to keep both the fret number and finger number the same. So using all four fingers per barre/section.
Ninja News
- As always there is new exciting things happening with The Guitar Ninja. These include our 1 year anniversary since out launch and first ever grading! Yes only 1 year and we already have around 50 gradings passed by the awesome students/trainee ninjas!
To celebrate our 1st year we are expanding and have a new tutor joining us. Chris Ward is now running The Guitar Ninja Corby private lessons! We will also be celebrating by offering free one to one lessons in both Northampton and Corby on the anniversary itself (Saturday 31st August)
More exciting news: We are launching the guitar ninja Saturday clubs in Northampton from 7th September! The 7th is a free open day so even existing student can come along for a free club!
In these newsletters we will be announcing our graded students for the last month. This month we have seen the following students pass their grades:
- Chase – White Strap
- Rebecca – White Strap
- Amber – Yellow Strap
- Sophia – Yellow Strap
- James D – Orange Strap
- James A – Orange Strap
- Marcel – Orange Strap
- Nathan – Purple Strap
Final bit of news is that we will be closed from the 17th – 24th August so there will be no clubs or lessons. We will still be contactable but the responses may be a bit slower than usual.
Dates For The Diary
- 17th – 24th August – The Guitar Ninja Closed – No lessons or clubs
- 31st August – 1 year anniversary – Free Lessons in Northampton and Corby
- 7th September – Northampton Club launch and free entry to everyone
- 20th September – Sebastian’s (bass student) band is performing live in Amptil
- 29th September – Guitar Show in Northampton at the Saints Rugby Ground
- 10th November – Guitar Show in Milton Keynes
Keep In The Loop
If you haven’t already, please keep up to date on Ninja News by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
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