Thanks for joining us for another installment of the Lou Lombardi

Words & Music Newsletter

We are going “pump you up” with this month’s feature article about the importance of strength training for musicians, especially those who are around the age of forty. We also have a cool video for you from European Guitarist Ana Popovic and there is some exciting Strangelove news!  

www.LLStrangelove.com

Dateline: Pittsburgh, PA

Lou Lombardi’s Strangelove welcomes vocalist vocalist/keyboardist Lynn Berardi to the line up.  Our sound and show are expanding.

We are also excited to participate in the first ever Jeep Festival.  Strangelove takes the stage at the Butler Fair Grounds at 1pm on Sunday August 14.

JUST ADDED!!!

Friday August 26 at the Hard Rock Cafe.  We go on around 8 followed by Supermonkey.  This is going to be a great night.  It’s our first time at The Hard Rock and we are really excited. Special thanks to Chris from Supermonkey for getting us on the bill.

Lou Lombardi???s Strangelove Recommends Ana Popovic

Serbian “Guitar Goddess” Ana Popocvic releases her sixth CD Unconditional this month.  Ana is simply an amazing guitarist with phrasing way beyond her years.  Enjoy this live clip of her performing the title track.  You can find out more about her at http://www.anapopovic.com

Feature: Strength Training

Lou Lombardi

Strength training and the building and maintenance of lean muscles in guitarists around and over 40 is important.  In fact, it could be imperative.   Playing guitar up on a stage under numerous lights and a lot of pressure from lots of people gives one good enough reason to need to be in shape.  The muscles used the most when playing guitar are those in the arms and hands, obviously.  The chest muscles don???t really get any kind of workout when playing guitar, however they do contribute to supporting the weight of the guitar by the strap around the shoulders.  In order not to slouch, which can be difficult with that weight around your neck, the shoulders should be in a pulled back position.  This is difficult to maintain for an evening of playing and after a while they start to droop.  When this happens the chest muscles also slouch and relax, when the shoulders are pulled back it puts certain pressure on the chest muscles. There is no particular training in the muscle sector for guitar players, just general rule exercise works.

If you don???t favour visiting the gym, there are certain ???unexercises??? you can do to strengthen the arms and hands, fingers especially.  The hands and arms, especially fingers, must be in good shape to maintain a pleasant and comfortable feeling enabling you to play to your fullest ability throughout the evening.  Doing finger exercises by practising chords and speedy movement up and down the fret and with the plucking of strings is imperative to keeping your fingers working strongly and without stress, such as cramps or pain.  They say that exercising the fingers ??? for instance typing using all fingers, and similarly playing guitar is good for arthritis, which inflicts many, especially those that use their hands a lot and it would definitely be tragic for a guitar player, or any musician, not to be able to play.    Knowledge of such an instance for a piano player comes to mind.  The chord and note exercises are essential for keeping your fingers strong and able; it also helps the forearm muscles.  For these arm exercises, lifting hand held barbells is the perfect answer, something you can do whilst watching the hockey or ballgame!

A seasoned guitar player will ignore any pain or handicap and not notice it until after the gig is finished.  Much of the pain could have been avoided had they kept in shape, a little at least.  Most musicians welcome the idea of exercise, if their specific form of exercise is music related, when playing music is their ideal. However, diet is also really important if you are serious about maintaining a good physique.

Keeping in shape to be healthy is a benefit to everyone, and maintaining a good muscular system is important, because with weakened upper body muscles one couldn???t lift a guitar let alone play one, and for those that aren???t musicians it would be equivalent to lifting a few pounds.   When you eliminate exercise completely, then you start to get weak at the knees and have to sit down to strum, with your guitar leaning on your knee, and the foot resting on a footstool.  In addition, your music is less energetic than that of a rock star; calmer more peaceful renditions fill the air, the serenity surfacing with age. However, you still need that upper body strength no matter where your guitar is leaning. 

Having pain is no fun, everyone knows that, but having pain and trying to have fun is impossible, unless you are a musician of course!   Therefore, standing on the stage with a guitar strapped around your back for a couple of hours can get uncomfortable if you are in pain.  So, instead of just standing there playing the guitar, babying the sore spot and getting stiff, roll your shoulders, move your upper body rhythmically keep it moving, standing stiffly in one position will not help but hinder, the ongoing movement will loosen the muscles, relieve the pain and remove the stiffness.   Don???t let your fingers get cold, harder to play and takes longer to warm up, a silly thought but significant one.

In addition, when in pain on stage, it shows on your face and the audience either think you are just plain miserable or don???t want to be there, they don???t imagine you are in pain.  Either of these could be true but it is more than likely the pain you didn???t take care of previously that is causing your dismal look.   Exercises that could be done without going to the gym, of course if you enjoy that type of activity you will no doubt build a good strong upper body in half the time than using barbells in front of the TV, but that level of exercise must be maintained regularly, as all exercise should be no matter how limited. 

The bottom line is to be a great guitar player at 40 or older you just keep playing, and practicing and later in life exercising.  The playing only gets better, but you still need to practice no matter how good you get, always new songs to learn and gigs to attend.  Up there on the stage, everyone looking at you, how important is it that you are in good physical looking shape, when those fans are ogling you in awe. 

Are you a writer? We are always looking for unique material, stories, how to???s, even recipes and house hold tips. Feel free to email us with anything that you got and we will do our best to get you published!

www.yourgutiarist.com/bog

www.LLStrangelove.com

www.YourGuitarist.com

Sponsored by :Screaming Brain Studios

http://www.facebook.com/screamingbrainstudio

&

http://www.screamingbrainstudio.com/

Pasted from Word to WordPress LITE Edition

Thanks for joining us for another installment of the Lou Lombardi

“Words & Music” Newsletter

Okay kids you’re going to want to put your thinking caps on this month. Our feature article is about the use of Metaphor in rock lyrics. This should help give Rolling Stone Critic like insite into your favorite bands lyrics. We are also bringing you a great live performance byt Butch Walker to keep you rockin’ your body to the ground all month!

Dateline: Pittsburgh, PA

Rehearsals resume this month for our summer tour. Look for new tunes and new faces at the shows. You will recieve an additional email with a list of summer 2011 dates. Don’t touch that dial!

Lou Lombardi’s Strangelove Recommends Butch Walker.

You may not have heard Butch perform but you probably have heard more than one of his songs. Following in the steps of Desmond Child, and John Hiatt, Butch has written songs that have become hits for other people like Pink, Fall Out Boy, and Avril Lavigne to name a few.

Feature:A Metaphoric Perspective: Rock LyricsByLou LombardiMetaphors, though contradictory in some respects make strong points in lyrics. They are important in getting a point across; a definition of feeling, an example of comparison of how instances reflect on people and situations, life and occasions, celebrations and mortification. What better place to state your ideals than in a song. Rock songs are especially vulnerable to such lyrics. Metaphors are needed for this purpose to make sense of the subject, to convey comparisons in an illogical yet understandable way.The lyrics in any song can tell a good story. Often the story is contradictory and the lyrics become metaphoric in such situations. For instance, when comparing, metaphorically speaking, an English Prof would banish the expressions from his or her vocabulary in an instant, but for talented musicians and songwriters metaphors are the common essence of most songs. Metaphors in rock songs usually compare things like sex with other essences in life good or bad. Or introduce impossible actions and thoughts.One of the favourite metaphors of this writer is “Runs like the Wind”. Obviously, the wind does not run and people cannot breeze through trees. The importance of this line is trying to convey the speed of an individual compared to the movement of the wind but when you consider this realistically, there really cannot be any comparison. A very famous line is “Like a Candle in the Wind”, a simile, a beautiful song dedicated to a beautiful person, however, a candle in the wind would go out, and she did. Changing the metaphor into a sad reality that is reflected in the line “the wings of your compassion”. This example of a metaphor brings important notice to this song as it describes how Princess Diana shared her heart and soul with the less fortunate. Compassion does not come with wings, and this line implies something that is not, the definition of a metaphor.

Metaphors are an important part of life in general, and are used commonly leaving the listener to interpret the lyrics in a song to fit their state of affairs; different scenarios can be developed from one single line from one metaphoric statement. “I am a Rock, I am an island”, giving credence to someone who is strong, silent and alone, nevertheless a person is not a rock neither is he an island. However, the emphasis of this statement is conveying the importance of this individuals desire to be alone in his silence and strength. In addition, this could interpret in a less positive way in terms of abandonment.

The use of metaphors also shortens what could become a lengthy description of a situation, changing a complete sentence into one line, enabling the artist to get a point across simply and quickly. “I’m feeling quite alone and it seems as though no one really cares because here I am, discarded and by myself, sitting like a rock on an island. . .” and this is the point of importance of metaphors in rock lyrics. Are you a writer? We are always looking for unique material, stories, how to’s, even recipes and house hold tips. Feel free to email us with anything that you got and we will do our best to get you published!

www.yourgutiarist.com/bog

www.LLStrangelove.com

www.YourGuitarist.com

Sponsored by :“Screaming Brain Studios”

http://www.facebook.com/screamingbrainstudio

 &

http://www.screamingbrainstudio.com/

“Words & Music” Newsletter

This month we have a review of Joe Bonamassa’s latest concert DVD as well a cool video and of course all the Lou Lombardi & Strangelove info you need to keep rockin’ your little heart out!

Dateline: Pittsburgh, PA 

Writing, writing, writing…Lou is working on several new tunes for the upcoming CD release. Gary has laid down some drums for one of the new tracks called “The Bigger World”. The band is still taking a break from shows but will be back in full swing for summer 2011. They will be playing the Jeep Festival in Butler, PA in August, as well as a few “warm-up” shows beforehand. Stay tuned for all the details.

Lou Lombardi’s Strangelove Recommends Joe Bonamassa

For those of you who aren’t familiar with “Smokin’ Joe” all we have to say is, “Where the hell have ya been?” Joe combines the best of blues and rock to create a style all his own. He’s a dynamic performer with an amazing sound. Check out this clip from his latest DVD Live from The Royal Ablert Hall

.

Feature:

DVD Review: Joe Bonamassa,

Live at the Royal Albert Hall

by

Lou Lombardi

Some of the world’s greatest musicians have performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England and come away smiling and Joe Bonamassa is no exception. One of the most acoustically profound buildings in the world is the Royal Albert Hall. The Royal Albert Hall built to satisfy the appreciation of the arts for Queen.

Victoria has been around since 1871. Joe Bonamassa, who can only be described as an exceptional musician, is amongst some of the finest artists to fill this venue. Joe not only filled this amazing auditorium with over 5,000 people, but with huge sounds of his untouchable talents. The creative manipulation of guitar strings, played skillfully, burst forth in tuneful profusion emanating strident but pleasant, toe tapping or heart absorbing notes accompanied by the bluesy voice of Joe Bonamassa, filling the room with only his amazing music. Eyes hypnotized by the speeding fingers flying over the fret board and streaming across the strings of the Yamaha Acoustic guitar, not missing a note; faster and faster they fly, reaching a breathtaking climax as he plucks the last note and the audience stand in an explosive appreciative uproar. His acoustic performances were exquisite; to say nothing of the skilled manipulation of his Gibson Les Paul Gold Top guitar, for fans that play themselves, you can buy a replica of Joe Bonamassa’s Gold Top guitar from Amazon. Seeming oblivious to the audience, all his feeling transported to whichever guitar he was holding at the time had the audience enthralled. Faces all turned in his direction looking up with amazement, adoration, and so absorbed in this young man’s talents, quieting the crowd with the gentleness, then awakening everyone with the blasting sounds of his wailing guitar. The Les Paul wails but not in pain, but with the profound and intense rhythm and sound of arousing rock and blues.

Yet the sounds of silence prevailed amongst the crowd as everyone in the room sat in their entranced state watching and listening to this magical musician and his band perform. Enhanced by two incredible drummers, Anton Fig and Bogie Bowles both phenomenal drummers in their own right, and their extensive equipment gave songs such as Happier Times more intensity. The forever greats Carmine Rojas complimenting with his bass, Rick Mellick tapping the keyboards with his usual flair, and Terence William (Blondie) Chaplin performs magic on guitar. Every musician in this band put his all into this performance; it was quite evident with expression and appreciation by an exalted audience. As with any musician that has a true passion for the music, it is silently told in the expression and movement of the artist, and Joe Bonamassa tells all about passion and music. To add to all the excitement, the great legendary Eric Clapton made an onstage appearance adding honor to the already overwhelming feeling Joe expressed for being able to perform at the Royal Albert Hall.

This concert was undoubtedly a success, when such talent is on display and they display their natural talent so well, how could it not be successful. If you were one of the unfortunate ones that could not see him live, then you are surely going to enjoy this disc. For a copy of this incredible Joe Bonamassa 2-DVD set of The Royal Albert Hall Concert, you can go to Amazon.com. It is currently #6 on Billboards Magazines for DVD’s and 10 on Top Blues Album Chart. For guitar players or fans alike, this is a DVD you cannot pass up.

Are you a writer?

We are always looking for unique material, stories, how to’s, even recipes and house hold tips. Feel free to email us with anything that you got and we will do our best to get you published!

Lou Lombardi

www.yourgutiarist.com/bog

www.LLStrangelove.com

www.YourGuitarist.com

Sponsored by :

“Screaming Brain Studios”

http://www.facebook.com/screamingbrainstudio

&

http://www.screamingbrainstudio.com/

 I am including the IMDB link but do yourself a favor and go in cold on this one.  This is one of those rides that http://yourguitarist.com/blog/wp-admin/post-new.php
could be more fun if you don’t  know where you’re going.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1337057/

http://yourguitarist.com/blog/wp-admin/post-new.php

News:

Dateline: Pittsburgh, PA

The band is taking a brief hiatus do to the illness of our bass player Dave Z’s eldest son.  Adam is improving with Dave and Lina’s (Adam’s mom) love and support and some great care the the wonderful staff at Children’s Hospital in Pittsuburgh.  In the mean time Gary and I are cutting demos for some original material and catching up on our movie watching.

 Strangelove Recomends:

Who says that chicks can’t rock?  I caught Grace Potter when she came through Pittsburgh last.  It was a great show.  In case you missed it here she in on the Ellen show.  Turn up your speakers and get ready to get your groove on!

 This Month’s Feature:

The State of the Electric Gutiar in Popular music

by Lou Lombardi

Rock Music has a unique sense of excitement that has always distinguished it from the contemporary music and even today it beholds a significant position amongst all other forms with legends written all over history. Rock Music originated in United States and after that it spread across the world like a rage. A group of musicians specialized in rock music is called Rock band or Rock Group. The beginning of rock music started with Pianos and Saxophones but it became known for the guitar when electric Guitar was invented. Guitar is one of the most versatile and expressive instruments. It can do chores and melody like a Piano or expressive solo like a Violin.

         Rock Music has always been evolving. Pure rock had become all but obsolete. In the past decades some of the most promising authentic rock bands ended up merging into alternatives or electronic rock.                  

Rock Music now is in a sea of music fusion. Rock Music is still very popular and today’s youth is starved for good new rock. The videogames such as Guitar hero and rock band are in demand because of the popularity of rock music. The flurry of new rock bands had again lived up the rock music.

     The young artist Orianthi is a live example. She is a musician, guitarist and singer. She appeared at 51^st Grammy Awards as Carrie Underwood lead guitarist. She was Michael Jackson’s lead guitarist and was present on all rehearsals for his THIS IS IT Concerts before his death. She was also named one of the 12 greatest female Electric guitarists by Elec magazine. Also the famous White stripes band which is notable for having two musicians. The band always centered around three. They play vocals, guitars and drums.    

The famous musician Ben Harper is known for his guitar playing skills, vocals and live performances. This American singer is a two time Grammy award winner.

There are many Grammy nominations in the rock category. Kid rock, Kings of Leon, Metallica, Cold Play are the examples of artists that represents one definition of what exactly the rock music is.  The Black keys band consists of only two people with one acting as the guitarist and the other drummer and vocals.

Arcade Fire consists of Husband and Wife duo and they have won numerous awards including 2011 Grammy award for album of the year. Eric Clapton is one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Robert Plant known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin. He also had a successful solo career.

      Rock Music always have a pretty decent as it has its own category and the youth is still crazy about Rock Music as it rocks. Rock is an exciting and highly admired genre of popular music which mainly appeals to the young generation. The most admirable aspect of this genre is its variety and unique style.

Rock is the modern and advanced form of music that is comparatively faster and louder than the conventional genres like classic and folk. It gives the artists a liberty to experiment with variety of styles and express themselves with freedom. The soul of rock is the rock band or the group of musicians and singers who collectively play the songs. The youth is simply crazy for this form of music; they are ardent fans of the various rock stars. The rock albums take you through the various aspects and emotions of life. The words of the songs simply enthrall the senses and thrill the listeners. In this kind of music the prominent vocal melody is accompanied with hard instruments like drums, brass and guitar etc, along with the mellotrans and other keyboard instruments. The rock reached great heights with several amazing rock stars that awed the audiences with amazing performances. Elvis Presley is the most admired and popular artist in the world of rock, his astounding style, classic dance movements and incredible songs entertained the music lovers. The Beetles is the most famous and highly applauded rock band. They had the most numbers of the chart topping hits with the emergence of MTV rock gained immense hype and recognition. Internet further enhanced the growth of this unique genre. The highly popular rock music CDs are available on the internet, you can easily find your favorite DVD for rock music on various websites.

Are you a writer?

We are always looking for unique material, stories, how to’s, even recipies and house hold tips.  Feel free to email us with anything that you got and we will do our best to get you published!

Lou Lombardi

www.yourgutiarist.com/bog

www.LLStrangelove.com

www.YourGuitarist.com

“Sponsored by Screaming Brain Studios.”

 http://www.facebook.com/screamingbrainstudio

&

http://www.screamingbrainstudio.com/

Here a few tips:

1. Instant key change. Just add Capo!  Place a capo at the first fret and you are instantly in whole new key.  There is really nothing more to it.  Simply play your riffs etc… they way you usually do. This is a great way to accommodate a vocalist’s range and still have access to all your favorite open string riffs and licks.

2. Alternate tunings are another option.  By simply retuning one string you will find a whole new world of sounds, riffs, licks, and songs.  “Drop D” is the most common alternate tuning of this current generation of rock guitarists.

Keep in mind that just because you are playing with the guitar tuned to drop D doesn’t mean that your song/riff has to be in the key of D.  There are other ways to utilize this tuning. Start your Riff or chord changes at the 2^nd fret. This is E…  You now have “room” to move a whole step lower.  This opens up all sorts of new possibilities.  But wait!  Now we’re back to the key of E again.  No problem. Start your riff/chord changes at the third fret.  This makes F your home base.  You can descend an entire step and a half now and that low D note is diatonic to the Key of F.  These waters are definitely less traveled than E or even D for most rock guitarists.

Of course drop D is only one of about a thousand tunings you could use.  Tune the guitar to a power chord. For instance (from low to high) E A E A A E. By doing this you will find all sorts of very useful sounds by simply adding or subtracting one note.

3. If you don’t want to have to think about retuning the guitar or you’re too broke to by a capo, try taking your favorite riffs/songs and playing them up or down one fret.  What you hear my not be pleasing to your ear at first esp. if your riff uses open strings.  That’s okay…we are looking for new sounds.  Take time to listen to the “intervallic” differences you are hearing.  Allow yourself to absorb these sounds.  Once you are comfortable try adjusting your riff by one note.  You may also want to modify the phrasing.  You will have to experiment but there are rewards to this approach.

4. Eliminate open strings completely.  By playing fretted notes only, the key of the riff/song becomes a much less significant factor.  Start by transposing some of your favorite songs and riffs into “fretted only” versions.  You must discipline yourself not to revert to open strings.  This may be difficult at first.  Stick with it.  It will get easier the more you do it.  You will find that very often a certain note may require an impractical finger reach.  In these cases substitute this note with a fretted note in a different octave or if this is not practical pick a note that sounds good.  Doing this may cause you to want to adjust other notes as well. Adjust the entire riff if you like.  Before you know it you will have a killer riff in some key like Bb and it’s all your own.  I think that you can see the benefits here.

Doing just one or two of these exercises will help you to see the neck in a totally new way.  This will lead you to many new sounds that you would not find by sticking to you comfort zone.

Happy Jamming!

Lou

http://www.yourguitarist.com/blog

http://www.LLStrangelove.com