The Right Strings for your Guitar

Hey Folks!

That is like the question I get all the time:
- Philippe, what strings do you put on your guitar?
and, I know when I look in your eyes that you guys had... and maybe still have if you did not read this article yet, the same issue(s) I had. Finding the right strings!
Honestly, if you get into a store and look at the brands, you really start feel ing woozy, and then you start to try one set, and another, and another... and arrive on my blog - or come to one of my clinic - and anxiously ask me about strings.

Because I tried them all, and there is not a week I do not receive a set from a string company. Some are okay... the first days of their life but, like the butterflies, they do not last a long time. Others - let's be honest - most of the brands have intonation issues... you have to run to the store to buy other 1st or 3rd strings (no kidding! I live in Texas and the time I get to the store it's pitch dark, that's how far it is!!!) and you realize you have to go back to the store because the new ones you get still have intonation problems... Other sets have they basses dead in 2 or 3 days... or break.
Seriously: do you want me to break in string during a show? I tour and play a lot and want to have reliable strings! And y'all know I bang the guitar and take all the guts out of the poor thing.

You never see me re-tuning the guitar when I perform (if you saw me, it's because I was about to play open tuning... or it was when I did not have Alhambra Guitar... just buy the right stuffs guys) It's not because I'm deaf ... neither because I'm blond... it's because the strings I use stay in tune, never break, last forever... are cheap and American. Read that well coming from a Frenchy: they are MADE IN ZE USA! Okay... Should I share more about the spirit? You want me to tell you I fence my Texas ranch with those strings?

So, what is the mistery? Well, I went to Africa to meet a wizard in Zambia and he gave me the answer... are you ready?

Over the past 30 years, guitar strings have benefited from a wealth of engineering and manufacturing improvements and the brand I use are now made by utilizing automated computer-controlled winding machines. The result has been unprecedented quality and value for the guitarists. The basses are round anb rich. They got the sustain you are looking for and the support. What am I talking about? Go to the end of the concert hall next time you attend a classical guitar recital... you barely hear the basses. They are weak. Not the one I use

The trebles are sorted by a sophisticated computer-controlled laser machine which performs diameter/tension measurements and quality checks to insure precise intonation. How many times? 200 - TWO HUNDRED TIMES. Those guys are so crazy about precision, they measure EACH string 200 times. It's not only for the fun .. or because they have time to kill... It's because they have a vision:
- They want to make the best products because they take pride into what they do.
- 1 dissatisfied player will be talking to 8 people about how the strings caused them problems and they will talk to others who will talk to others... and so forth.
They want to make you satisfied... And they are.

What do I play?
The only real strings for pro... D'Addario.

I use the Pro-Arte and also, on my spruce top guitar the Composites.

D'Addario Composite wound strings exclusively feature Zyex(R) multi-filament stranded core material, which delivers gut-like tone with extremely long life and consistency. The trebles come with two 3rd strings, one from the regular Pro Arte line (clear nylon) and one made from composite polymer (coffee colored) which has a brighter tone (the 1st and 2nd are also from the regular Pro Arte line).

Say you love me now... okay... a thank you would be enough.

Cheers!

A Frenchy in America!

Howdy Folks,

I just get a new phone with camera and decided to start a tour diary.
Follow me day after day on the road all across America:

http://www.philippebertaud.com/aFrenchyInAmerica/

If you see your face on the pictures... let me know!

Cheers!
Philippe

Visit "La Boutique" to know about the guitar I play, strings I use and accessories...
http://www.philippebertaud.com/LaBoutique/

Three Fingers for Your Scales...

Hi there!

Today, the subject is:
How to play fast with no hassle. I do not believe in a 3 hours warm-up to be able to play. Neither in a 10 hours daily practice. You have many things to do to enjoy your life, why staying in your bedroom practicing the guitar for hours and hours when, what you want, is to play music.
Technique is just a tool and here is another one to help you playing fast (do not listen the ones who tell "everybody has limits". We do not have any and the World is in a constant expansion.
This subject will be developed in the next DVD (release in October) "Tricks and Tips on the Acoustic Guitar". The examples are 2 runs I play at dazzling speed in my arrangement of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. You easily can do the same and will probably do even better.
Ready? OK, let's go.

This technique is inspired by the banjo roll, PMI (in other words: Thumb, Middle and Index)
Practice on open string first and make sure your triplets are even.
Notice you have the same left hand fingering except for the ending. A long slide in the Django's fashion:


To make it even and have entire control, you’ll be working on different rhythmic figures. First you aim the first not of each triplet:


Then the second note of each triplet:


And finally the third. The advantage of such exercise is that you a total control on each note.
It is adapted from snare drum exercise book...


Play several times each formula until you are comfortable.
You can increase the speed using your metronome. Then we will use some speed bursts to progressively play the whole deal fast. Start with one string at a time…


And the complete run.
To play it fast, just focu on the first note of each MEASURE. Use it as a spring board to launch the whole lick. And let go...


Next time I'll teach you the second run, longer but you get the idea:
Just let it go after the first note...

Cheerios!
Philippe
PhilippeBertaud.com

DVD Philippe Bertaud on the Music of Villa Lobos

Villa Lobos: From Rio to Hollywood, history of a passionate.

Most of the students coming to a master class will play a Villa Lobos' prelude or etude. Sharing with them this passion for the Brazilian composer, I decided to work on an instructional DVD.

First question: What do I have to say about him? Classical is known for being conservative but not Villa Lobos!
He had a lot of "non-intellectual" way to compose - what he used to call the Natural way. For instance, to move a chord shape all the way down or up through the finger board. Just like if you take a D Major and play it at any place on the neck and find some good ideas. Wes Montgomery used to do that a lot and not just him.
He also said that he did not want to use dissonances to sound modern. The idea is to portray Villa Lobos as a mix of popular and classical composer. Like Gershwin. Here was a guy from a not rich family, playing guitar in bars and streets to make some money. He used to tell a lot of stories about his travels in the Rain Forest, cannibals chasing him and other funny things… A lot of humor and the constant search for the Brazil's music soul.

The passion, the unlimited faith into his own talent leaded him to travel to Europe where he found a publisher (Max Eschig) and made friendship with famous artists like Stokowsky, Segovia and others…
1944: He went on tour to the U.S and composed for Hollywood! What a move! This picture is far from the desperate-romantic-intellectual composer driking to forget his sadness… Villa Lobos appears all the time with a smile, a big cigar from Bahia… more appealing to me!

As a teacher I try to present several options to the students for the fingerings and the interpretation with one motto:
Be Yourself!

The highest thing to me is when people can recognize your tone. Santana, Pat Metheny, Lee Ritenour, Paco de Lucia… just a few notes on the radio and you know who's playing.

I do not care for the supposed tradition. Can you imagine just following a model, specialy as an artist you want to be personal! Specially when models kill the expression to just play by the letter.
Everybody will play the same: Why bother to listen to a bunch of guy when you can listen to just one?

For the DVD I was looking for a lot of different type of fingerings, worked on them and decided to have a series of excercises that you can access from the menu.And, the top notch feature: a close up of both of my hands on the screen as I saw in a Chet Atkins video.The style can be important also - if you choose that option - also but the spirit comes first.

Villa Lobos assiduously took part in various "Choros", a type of popular music performed in the café or open air and for which it's necessary to have a good ear and improvisation ability. The Choro musicians play during the carnival, in the street for fun and it reminded me to be in Rio and listen to choro bands on Sunday morning… or being in Laranjeiras on the beach at night, people jamming, chatting and having coco milk.
The Choros is also a rhythm. It's like a samba figure but slower and we have different parts, generally a verse alternate with a bridge.After that, you are free to forget about it and do your own. But I like to go back to the Brazil I have inside.Look at what I like about him. Music has to be enjoyable, a sensual experience, something you share with heart, soul.


The Brazilian life is the mold for the 5 preludes:

- The sertanejo (people living in North East). I love to imagine them riding their horses (you have a lot of ranches there… an extension of Texas maybe) Yep! Texas is big. You drive… drive, drive and still are in Texas… drive to Paris… you're still in Texas!

-The outlaws (sounds like Villa Lobos shared that taste for the lawbreakers with Jorge Amado). They are like picaresque… in the book at least. But some of them practice the capoera, live on the beach and use it as a house and a bed for love… nice, uh?

-Indian song (Lobos said he composed this one after he arrived into an Indian village where each one have been killed. The fast arpeggio represents the Indians running away in front of the death.

-Yemanja, the goddess of the sea also a tribute to Bach. When I play this one I love just to remember when, at the beach, I used to keep my head under water and listen to the waves dying on the shores.

-The young lovers in Rio. Evocation of the social life. The ball, the romantic conversations…You don't want to remove the expression from that and kill it!

This fellow knew how to write music, though I like to point at some details like the time signature in prelude 5 (every body plays that like a waltz instead of a 6/4). The rhythm in prelude 3 or the andantino tempo in the first one… Those leads are important for me to phrase the right way. And if I feel I have like an understanding, the music becomes mine. I love to dream when I play and want to share it.

There is cool website about Villa Lobos, it's the Museum in Rio de Janeiro.here it is: http://www.museuvillalobos.org.br/

Two years ago I started to work on the script and watch a bunch of DVD's and Videos. One of my favorite ones is Chet Atkins teaching some of his hits: Little Waltz, Young Things… He's way too fast in the teaching part - yeah, even for me - but the screen is splitted diagonally and you get a close-up of his hands. That's genious. Therefore it was one of my things.

When I moved to Austin and met Gary Powell I came up with this project and he was interested. Then, I worked some more on the script because I wanted to have it perfect. Gary is an artist, a true one with a lot of taste. We had a lot of conversation and visionned together some of my favorite DVD's.

Finally, even if Gary was hyper busy with 2 CD's productions, we schedule the session and I drove to Austin with one of my instrumental students, Brock Griffith. For one complete day he worked with Gary and David on the light set up. They end up with a cozy-inside tropical house looking that just amazed me.

The Thurday morning, at 10:00, we get into the studio and Brock arrange a prompteur for me…And then, we started to shoot the DVD. I was really ready, at 5:00pm it was done and ready for the editing phase. We took a breack and get a diner.
8:00pm we get back to recorded the preludes to complete the CD I started to record in Brazil few months ago with Bossa singer Denise Pinaud. At 11:00pm both projects were completed.

Then, we spend a huge amount of time conversing with Gary about the fact I should record a CD with songs. Which I never did. The Saturday, Amy and Gary had setup a concert in their fantastic house and Gary asked me to sing for the whole second set. So did I.

The reaction of the audience was so good that, right after the show, we stayed together brainstorming about the song project… that will be another story!

See you around, Philippe

Philippe Bertaud on the Music of Villa Lobos. Production Miramuse, Distribution Carl Fisher.
You already can watch some of the lesson and live performance on my website.