Image by Franco Folini via Flickr

This is THE most asked question I get. There are other forms of this question such as, do I need to take lessons? Do I need to go to Julliard? Do I need to pay $66,000 for a decent guitar? Do I need to get a boob job to get noticed or should I just learn to play with my teeth or light my guitar on fire? Do I have to practice scales? Should learn ‘Modes”?…you get the picture.

Ok then, here is a single answer to all of those. HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED to play an instrument, according to me. This answer will be VERY controversial and everyone will have a different take on this. That is what I am hoping anyway so email me and I will post your responses to this. So please hit my blog f

or all to see.

There are 2 things in the front seat of what ‘you need’. In order they are:

1. Strong and musical rhythmic integrity in your phrasing (whether you are improvising or NOT).
2.  The appropriate tone for the music you are playing.

THAT IS IT

After you spend 20 + years playing, studying music and practicing your instrument, you will realize that the difference between a novice and a great musician is mainly in the above 2 items. Phasing and tone. It’s your sense of time/phrasing and your tone that is the difference. Not notes, exotic scales, chops or anything else.

The inspiration for this album was…. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.

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They had some other event booked on Sun so the show was on Fri and I hear it had good turn out. I went on Sat and found it to be a nice but small show. I saw some new vendors there and that’s always a good thing. Nice show..its by BEE 3 Vintage as well, and I hope it continues. Turn out was good, and I almost bought an amp there..more on that larer.

So…here is the walk in…




As you walk in, there were a few vendors before the main hall.

This guy had some Django style guitars. I played these, but didn’t really fall in love. I want one of these, but this maker did not feel like the real deal.

They felt like some of the cheaper stuff coming out of Korea. They are about a grand or more. BTW..i LOVE some of the Korean stuff and play mostly Korean guitars these days.




This was an amazingly clean 175 from 1961.

I swear it looked about 1 year old. No checking at all, and the gloss was still there. The person never played it.

I think the price is high at $8,750, but it’s nice. I had one of these from /63 and sold it for $500. Ill never get over that.

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I will admit, I’m biased toward Jazz, but I love looking at just about everything there. These shows are great and feature a wide variety of Guitar related items from books, CDs, straps etc to the adoption of Greyhounds! I mostly look at the custom high end guitars and I am not a fan or collector of vintage. I think the whole idea is a kind of sham but some people love that stuff. No offense and I will try to include some interesting vintage if I see any.

So..here is the place. Its the Great American Guitar Show put on by BEE 3 vintage.

It used to be the ‘Fall Philly’ Show, but is in Somerset NJ now. Its much better in NJ, as the show seems to be bigger, especially the summer show in May.

This fall show was much smaller but still worth goin for me. The biggest and best show used to be in Long Island, but has scaled WAY down in the last few years, although the jazz bar still has the greatest players in the world for 10 bucks all day. I no longer make the drive to LI.

I jammed with him (and Mike and Ted) on a constant basis between 70 and 75 when I left for Berklee. I keep in touch with Dennis and saw him at Ted’s wake. I also keep in close touch with Jackie Exter his brother as Jack is the third drummer I ever played with (Joe Gazey the first and Dennis the second).

Jack now is a strong jazz upright bass player in NEPA. I see Dennis occasionally and keep in touch with Jack often.

THEN…it was these guys:

1973 Bob Rosencrans (Extreme Bass), Dave Cihockie (WIGGS) vocals and John Cenera (privileged but awesome rock drummer)

I learned to become a very strong rock guitarist in my area. Maybe I was the local “Guitar Hero” at the time and built my entire reputation on about 10 gigs that we played. Musicians from that area still talk to me about the jams we did then. This is where I learned the secrets of Hendrix and Page. John was an extremely versatile drummer who had a strong background in many different styles. Playing Carmine Appice was not a stretch for him. Bob was a former guitar player and strong overall musician with much more experience than my 16 yo ass.

He could cut Tim Bogart with no problem. I built my reputation as I had gotten my 100w Marshall Stack for my 16th birthday from “the Old Man ” and carved out a name locally that seems to still be remembered in NEPA after all these years. I dare not take the stage at any jam in NEPA in order not to dispel my mythology! Ha!

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First Solo CD by Charlie X

This page was inspired by the recent death of one of my closest and oldest friends, Ted Kuna. Upon his passing, I realized who the real “Big Names” in music and in my life are. The big names are not The Beatles or Hendrix. The big names are the people that I knew, that I grew up with and that I played with especially in my formative years. These are the people that, for better or worse, shaped meinto the musician that I now am. Ted was a HUGE name in my process as are ALL of the people below.

These are the musicians that I tribute here. I tribute Parker, Smith and Hendrix on my CDs, but here on this page are the people that really mattered to me.

Ted’s passing made me realize that these are the people that still matter, and in fact, matter most of all.

To understand where I’m coming from..take this short quiz:

1. Who won the Grammy for best album in the last 2 years?
2. What was the name of the swimmer that got beat by 100th of a second?
3. Who won the Kentucky Derby for the last 2 years?

Ok… Now try this one:

1. Name 3 friends that helped you out over the last 25 years.
2. Name 3 people that made you feel accepted and appreciated in the last 20 years.
3. Name 8 people you like to spend time with.

Easier? Ya get it?

Unless you know me, this page may mean nothing to you. You may want to visit my ‘jazz player’ page to see folks you heard of.

OK:

It starts here. April 2, 1970. Me and Mike Dantone on bass. Mike and I went to middle school and high school together. He was the very first person I played my guitar next to. He was into everything I was into and I would practice all of my Page and Hendrix stuff and then jam with Mike to nail it all down. This is a pic of the first gig I ever played at Sorber’s bar at Lake Silkworth Pa. Scroll to the right for another shot. (Joe Gazey on drums..cant remember the rest) The first song I played in public was “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath. I still relate to those lyrics today. I have not seen or heard from Mike in over 25 years. Read Full Story Here