Bobby Graham Interview...
Bobby:
Hi, I emailed you about guitar lessons a long time
ago, I dont know if you remember. My playing has advanced
alot since then, as I have been noticing your popularity
has been too. I just picked up your new album from
A&B sound. I was wondering, is your guitar playing
style flamenco?
John:
On the albums it's Rumba Flamenco with a lot of added
influences from years of playing various music styles
Bobby:
Do you use the rasqueado and golpe?
John: I use both. (a golpe is Spanish
to tap) I tap the guitar with my ring finger as I
strum the strings with either my index finger or thumb,
all with the right hand while the left hand holds
a chord. As for rasgueados I primarily use 2 types
now, however I have experimented with them all. The
2 I use is a triplet (up with the thumb, down with
the thumb followed by down with the thumb. The other
is a,m,i,i (down with the ring finger, down with the
middle, down with the index followed by up with the
index.
Bobby: Do you use fingerstyle rest
strokes, free strokes and arrpegios?
John: I use all 3.
Bobby: Is your playing pick based?
John: I currently use both pick
and fingers. When I'm playing picado I use 3 fingers
alternating i,a,m. I also use a flat pick which is
attatched to my index finger with a cable tie. Therefore
I can instantly switch between pick and fingers. I
really love the tone produce when playing with the
pick. Especially for muted notes (Al Dimeola Style,
I'm a big fan!). However, I am now slowly drifing
away from the pick as my technique improves.
Bobby: I also was wondering, when
you write songs for more than 1 guitar what is your
approach, one rythym, one lead? or what?
John: I usually begin with something
in mind, for example, for the song What About Seven
(Peace cd) I wanted to create a song with a harmonized
guitar melody in odd time. (Similar to Strunz &
Farrah) I wrote out the chord progression 1st, played
in 7/8 time. then created the melody in the same key
targeting chord notes within the melody and the chords
changed. (Using chord notes as a guide line is very
important to creating great melodies!) I then harmonized
the melody in 3rds. On the album the melody didn't
work out well in 7/8, so I played it in 4/4 (hence
the title) I then saved the 7/8 for the percussion
breaks. When we play live, we now open with a 7/8
percussion solo with the 2 guitars entering later
with the melody in 7/8 Now it works well and is exciting,
I wish I had it worked out at the time the album was
recorded.
Bobby: I'm really trying to get
my playing to the level where one day I will meet
and you will ask me to come and perform with you.
I have practiced what you told me before, in 3 notes
per beat, 4 notes per beat, 8 notes per beat. I was
just wondering what now.... how do you discover these
strange chords, and melodies?
John: The strange chords are from
adding extentions to basic chords, (the extentions
are mostly scale notes added from the scale the chord
came from) to make the chords sound more interesting
I relearn the chord in deferent possitions and incorporate
as many open strings as possible. I also listen and
study what other artists I love are doing by transcribing
their music and analyzing their live playing from
dvd's, etc..." Guitarist such as Paco Delucia, Vicente
Amigo, Gerardo Nunez, Django Reinhardt, etc...
Bobby: How fast is your speed in
bpm?
John: Somewere around 6 notes @
125bpm, 4 @ 160bpm
Bobby: What can I really do to progress.
John: Basic music theory I have
found to be extremely important, learning to read
music on guitar is a big bonus, learn all basic scales
- major, minor, harmonic minor, then diminshed, wholetone,
melodic minor, altered dominant, etc..., learn to
play jazz, there are so many things you can do to
progress, it's a life long endevour. Even at my level
there is so much I can't do and am continuing to strive
to learn and accomplish more. You have to find what
inspires you, seek out how to slowly learn it and
most important ENJOY THE PROCESS, because it is life
long. Currently I have been extreemly inspired by
a dvd and book from Gerardo Nunez, I highly recomend
it! I wish I discovered it 10 years ago." here
is a link to it, unfortunately the page
is in Spanish
Bobby: What could I do that would
impress you.
John: Always play music from your
heart, whatever it is, learn to feel the music. That
always gets me regardless of ability. Over the years
I have learn't and continue to learn a lot of amazing
techniques because they were impressive to me, and
yes, I wanted to impress everyone, however now I use
it because it excites me, I feel something by it,
it helps me take the music to where I feel it needs
to be at that moment. It is sometimes so very dificult
removing myself from impressing someone. As soon as
I play to impress others I always tend to fall on
my face. I become uptight and nervous, my playing
has no flow, it's labourous, I begin to think to much,
make mistakes, etc... Just play from your heart at
were your abilities are! That's impressive!
Bobby: Using chord notes to build
melodies? Does that mean like if its in the key of
C, making sure you play around Cs, Es, and Gs?
John: Yes, when playing the C Chord,
target the notes C,E & G, then use the other scale
notes to make the passage interesting. If the next
chord is Em, target the notes E, G and B, etc...
Bobby: Also, what is 7/8 time? it
simply you count to 7 then begin the next bar?
John: Yes, most music is written
in 4/4 time, which as you know would = 4 quarter notes
per. measure. To achieve 7/8 you divide the quarter
notes into 1/8th's (now you have 8 beats per. measure)
we could call this 8/8 time. Now remove 1 of the 1/8th
notes. This is now 7/8 time. (Sever 1/8th notes per
measure) The cool thing about 7/8 time is you can
feel it as 2 sets of 2 1/8th's and a set of 3 1/8th's
(for the total of 7) or 2,3,2 or 3,2,2. The idea is
to keep the 1/8th's perfectly even and accent or tap
your foot at the beginning of every set. for example:
count 12 12 123 or 12 123 12 or 123 12 12. (the measures
all have to add up to 7 to be 7/8 time) It creates
some very interesting rythyms and it becomes challenging
to play against." The percussion breaks in What About
Seven are felt 12 12 123.
Bobby: Well thank you so much for
your reply, maybe I could send you some tunes... perhaps
one day I will meet and you will be impressed by my
speed, chords, and by my originals most of all. Thanks
alot. Bob
