Five Online Guitar Magazines

Personally, nothing beats getting a copy of the Total Guitar or Guitar Techniques and subsequently placing myself in a chair in the sun in the garden or cuddling up on the couch with a cup of coffee. At the same time there is a wealth of magazines available online for free. Here are five of my favorites.

Guitar Player Magazine

One of my old guitar magazines of choice, has a substantial site for the guitar player with lessons, articles, interviews, gear reviews and more. A definite recommend.  Go and visit here >>>

Premier Guitar

A comprehensive guitar magazine with everything you may expect from a modern guitar magazine. Gear reviews, lessons, and more. Go visit the magazine here >>>

A free subscription to the digital version of the magazine is available, including the option to search back issues. A big recommend.

Interactive Guitar

Guitar Interactive is the world’s first fully interactive digital magazine for guitarists the world over – and it’s completely free! Drawing on the resources of Licklibrary – the internationally renowned music teaching resource – GI brings together expert players to analyse the styles and techniques of the world’s best guitarists, which you can see and hear in the hours of video that are in every issue.

An amazing new magazine and a very definite recommendation with a free subscription available here >>>. What appealed especially is the way in which the magazine actually reads like a magazine but on screen.

Total Guitar

One of my favorite magazines to pick up in the shop and read. It comes with a free CD/DVD with further instructions, lessons and play along tracks. Go see the magazine here >>>.

Guitar Techniques

It is through this magazine that I keep myself growing. Monthly lessons that push the beginner as well as the advanced players. Great magazine that comes with a CD/DVD with further information, lessons and sound samples. My favorite.

Go visit the site and magazine here >>>

What are your Favorite Guitar Magazines?

It is impossible I guess to be complete, else Id spend more time browsing and reading that playing. So I limited myself to five of my favorites here. What are some of your favorite music magazines and why?  I look forward to hearing about your recommendations.

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Books: Pat Metheny the Interviews

The Pat Metheny Interviews: The Inner Workings of His Creativity Revealed

This book is now available in New Zealand and a definite recommended read for musicians and non musicians alike.

In 2007, composer, arranger and performer Richard Niles wrote, produced and hosted a three-part radio series for the BBC titled “Pat Metheny – Bright Size Life.” The discussions Niles had with Metheny for the series covered all aspects of the this well known musician who has played an important role for both guitar and jazz music. It covers everything from Metheny’s first awareness of his love for music to knowledge and wisdom gained from years of dedicated musicianship.

This book is a transcription of those and other interviews Niles conducted with Pat Metheny over time.
It’s a surprisingly easy to read, without the loss of detail for the sake of brevity.

The subtitle of “The Pat Metheny Interviews” states it’s “The inner workings of his creativity revealed.”
While this may seem like a considerable claim to make, the book delivers on promise.
Niles and Metheny discuss topics such as why he was driven towards music with such enormous drive and dedication, how he developed his style and approach; how he set and achieved his demanding goals; Metheny’s methodology as a guitarist, improviser and composer.

Transcriptions of what he played during the interviews appear in the book. Additionally the book has contributions from some of Metheny’s colleagues like Lyle Mays, Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette, John Patitucci, Metheny’s brother, Mike Metheny, and the late Michael Brecker, as well as a number of rare photographs from Metheny’s private collection.

Whether or not your a fan, it is pretty hard to deny his exemplary musicianship. His first solo album, “Bright Size Life” (1976), has been highly influential  for a new generation of players. He’s won a great number of  “Best Jazz Guitarist” polls and awards which include three Gold records for “(Still Life) Talking,” “Letter From Home” and “Secret Story,” 12 Grammy Awards, including an unprecedented seven consecutive wins.

He performed with Ornette Coleman, Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Herbie Hancock, Joni Mitchell and David Bowie. His writing partnership with Lyle Mays has been compared to Lennon/McCartney and Ellington/Strayhorn. His body of work includes compositions for large orchestras, film and ballet. He has been a pioneer in the realm of electronic music with the Synclavier and the electric sitar and is known to have developed new types of acoustic instruments such as the fretless guitar, the soprano acoustic guitar and the 42-string Pikasso guitar.

The book can be obtained through Fishpond by clicking on the cover of the book on the left.

And for those of you that may be interested in his music, try out the following albums which I can highly recommend.Of course the first album to appear here is Bright Size Life, his debut album that changed the face of jazz guitar playing. Just click on the album covers below to listen to samples and buy the CD.

Another favorite of mine is Travels.

Or perhaps just browse around yourself using the keyword “metheny” in the search box below.

All Products Books Music Movies

www.fishpond.co.nz