Eclectic Blues Licks is a preview video lesson series for Jeff McErlain‘s upcoming course, 50 Eclectic Blues Licks You MUST Know. Check in every week for a new eclectic blues lick video lesson, and be on the lookout for the full course with tab, jam tracks and more in the near future. Also check out Jeff’s other course, 50 Blues Licks You MUST Know — it’s killer! Subscribe for updates!
I had the great fortune of studying with Mike Stern many years ago right after Berklee. I was such a fan and had seen him at the 55 Bar many times, owned all his cd’s, and collected bootlegs. I was pretty obsessive. While was teaching at a workshop with him I finally got up the nerve to ask him for lessons. He said yes, and before I passed out, he gave me his phone number and said to give him a call. I actually think I cornered him in the bathroom…
I went to his place and had my world turned upside down. I was a jazz fan, but had no concept of chromaticism, swing feel, or dynamics inside a musical line. This is what I learned from Mike. I also learned how little I actually understood about the fingerboard. I knew my scales and arpeggios, but I didn’t OWN them. Mike made it clear to me that there was so much work to do and how little I knew about the instrument. So I still had the good fortune to be living in my mom’s basement at the time and literally practiced 8 hours a day, the last thing I wanted to do was to be unprepared for my next lesson! Apart from the tendonitis I developed, it was an amazing point in my musical development.
It’s funny, only while writing this do I realize how much I owe to him musically, and even though this lick may not sound very much like a Mike Stern lick, I can trace it back to my time spent with him. Thanks Mike!
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Eclectic Blues Licks is a preview video lesson series for Jeff McErlain‘s upcoming course, 50 Eclectic Blues Licks You MUST Know. Check in every week for a new eclectic blues lick video lesson, and be on the lookout for the full course with tab, jam tracks and more in the near future. Also check out Jeff’s other course, 50 Blues Licks You MUST Know — it’s killer! Subscribe for updates!