News and Events.....
-
January 29, 2007
Hi All,
Here are some upcoming events you may find interesting.....
Wednesday night, February 7, at the Farm Artisan Foods in Redlands, CA.
Jody Fisher--Guitar
Baba Elefante--Bass
James Nation--Drums
6:00-9:00 pm
The Farm Artisan Foods
22 E. State St
Redlands, CA. 92373
www.farmartisanfoods.com
(909) 792-1162
See you there.....
2007 Summer Clinic Schedule:
All of these clinics are sponsored by the National Guitar Workshop. If you are interested in attending any of these workshops, you can receive info and an application by calling 1-800-234-6479, or by going to guitarworkshop.com.
If you have any questions about the classes themselves, you can find descriptions here on my site--just go to the bio page page and scroll down......
Of course you can always email me with questions as well.
June 30--July 5, 2007
The Art of Solo Guitar
Loyola Marymount
Los Angeles, CA
July 7--12, 2007
Jazz Skills
Loyola Marymount
Los Angeles, CA
July 14--19, 2007
The Art of Solo Guitar
Belmont College
San Francisco, CA
July 22--27, 2007
Jazz Skills
The Canterbury School
New Milford, CT
July 29--August 3, 2007
Letting Go
The Canterbury School
New Milford, CT
August 5--10, 2007
NGW Jazz Summit
The Canterbury School
New Milford, CT
Newest Book!
My new book "The Total Jazz Guitarist" has just been released at the Winter NAMM show. It is available now through all music stores and will be available from my website in a few weeks.
This book works through several standard songs showing examples of chord melody playing, inprovisation, and comping.
I have two more books coming out in 2008 that will be FULL of standards and jazz tunes. All the songs are analyzed completely and should give you lots of ideas for your own arrangements and improvised solos.
Once again I had a great time at the 2007 NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA. As always I reconnected with old friends and made several new ones as well.
Some of my time was spent playing at John Carruther's (Carruthers Guitars) booth. Many people sat in and I think we all had a good time. Special thanks to bassist Baba Elefante for playing with me two of the days.
If you are interested in lessons contact me at:
go2jody@mac.com
Once again, thanks for the all the support!
Jody Fisher
Gigs, and an essay.....
-
October 31, 2006
Hi All,
I have a few gigs in the Redlands, CA area coming up I want you to
know about--please click on "Calender" in the menu to find out when, where, and who....
I also want to pass this along--
Here is an essay written my one of my favorite players, Keith Jarrett.
I think he says some things that many people need to hear--
Here goes......
When did jazz become a theory - a thing, not a process; a package, not an experience? When did the players begin to love their image so much that they forgot it was supposed to be about the validity of their own ongoing personal expression? Real jazz is never generic; it can only thrive on individuality and independence.
Jazz is nothing without the players. It's not jazz on paper, only in the air. Jazz is not a commodity, it's a process of self-discovery and revelation. It's about ecstasy, not greed; heart, not attitude; musical validity, not race; inclusion, not regression; struggle, not coasting; content, not virtuosity; practice, not theory; risk, not safety; motion, not stagnation; original voices, not mimicry.
In the early '60s, when I was a teenager, the following jazz players (in no particular order) were all actively creative and all completely different from each other: Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, Wynton Kelly, Sonny Rollins, Coleman Hawkins, Sun Ra, Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, Phil Woods, Paul Bley, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Jaki Byard, Charles Mingus, Charlie Haden, Ed Blackwell, Don Cherry, Percy Heath, Wayne Shorter, Jimmy Giuffre, Stan Getz, Pete LaRoca, Max Roach, Paul Motian, Art Pepper, Chet Baker, Lennie Tristano, George Russell, Cannonball Adderley, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Paul Chambers, Art Taylor, Ahmad Jamal, Bob Brookmeyer, Mel Lewis, Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Randy Weston, Jimmy Garrison, McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, Cecil McBee, Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb, Dollar Brand, Roswell Rudd, Beaver Harris, Art Farmer, Jim Hall, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, Hampton Hawes, Sunny Murray, Warne Marsh, Dave Izenson, Bud Powell, John Lewis, J.J. Johnson, Dizzy Gillespie, Pharoah Sanders, Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, Sam Rivers, Sam Brown, Milford Graves, Lowell Davidson, Milt Jackson, Joe Chambers, Pepper Adams, Reggie Johnson, Jimmy Knepper, Johnny Coles, Blue Mitchell, Booker Little, Herb Pomeroy, Henry Grimes, Red Mitchell, Carla Bley, Jim Pepper, Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Ran Blake, Jimmy Lyons, Alan Shorter, Ralph Towner, Glen Moore, Dave Holland, Louis Hayes, Vernell Fournier, Connie Kay, Billy Higgins, Horace Silver, Kenny Dorham, Eddie Gomez, Jimmie Woods, Shelley Manne, Israel Crosby, Hank Mobley, Red Garland, Gene Stone, Bobby Timmons, Albert Stinson, Eddie Marshall, Victor Feldman, Roy Haynes, Harold Land, Giuseppe Logan, Billy Hart, Leroy Vinegar, Mal Waldron, Philly Joe Jones, Paul Desmond, Steve Lacy and many more.
I would guess that about 30 of these names could have claimed ascendancy to the jazz throne more legitimately than Wynton Marsalis.
The incredible breadth of musical styles represented by these names means that jazz was what it was supposed to be: a melting pot of truly original voices. Of course, in an age of insane fascination with technical achievement (never mind to what goal), elevating a mere technician to godhead is, finally, possible and, hey, why not? But don't call it genius.
What would the corporate media/marketplace do with any of these guys today? (After all, they were just guys, not schools.) Mass advertising needs predictability and conformity, but this was democracy, not monopoly.
When I heard these players, I was influenced most by their individuality, not their virtuosity or even their competence. They each showed me something of the potential that jazz is. This is important. They weren't scared of not being accepted, and they hadn't sold out. (By contrast, today's Young Lions can stand in for each other because they've chosen the rules and they are doing the same basic imitations.)
Now were told it's a new jazz age by the same blind media industries who, along with a bunch of opportunistic critics, lackeys, panderers, cronies, hangers-on, bought the Young Lions in the first place. It's easy to handle them because they're ultra-conservative, not risk takers and easy to track. But jazz is about risking everything to your personal muse and accepting the consequences. Otherwise you don't get to sing your song. The young and old players in the '60's were singing their own songs. But today we have the Lions' Club, and the media seems to have no room or interest in anything else, even though real jazz is always alive somewhere.
I'm supposed to have something constructive to say about what to do now if what I said is true. It's really not about doing something. It's about how much we would risk to get the right something. If you're a young player, my advice is: Don't buy a ticket to the club. You don't want to be another prisoner in the lion cage; you want to be free.
If you're a consumer, stop consuming what you see in the pictures and listen to the music first. It should move you (or disturb you) if it comes from the heart, assuming your heart is intact. It shouldn't move you from A to - A; it should place you in a more intensely real world. But in the age of virtual reality there are bound to be virtual artists and virtual educators. And they will be most visible.
There's an old Bulgarian proverb: "If you wish to drown, don't torture yourself with shallow water."
Jazz is about ecstasy, and ecstasy depends on connectedness, and connectedness depends on sensitivity, and sensitivity depends on life and life depends on heart, and this heart is a gift and this gift can be used wisely or foolishly, too soon or too late, half-heartedly or whole-heartedly. All of our great jazz musicians did not question how much to use and to what purpose. Technically competent and virtuoso players of today (genius or otherwise) beware: These waters run deep.
The state of jazz is, as it always has been, dependent on the guts of the players to choose the real discipline, not the virtual one. But it seems it must have been better understood in the past, when more of the world we see and hear every day was real.
Nowadays, if legitimacy is conferred only by the media and not by peers, we can claim to live in a set-piece created by corporate power, where it is unnecessary to corrupt sensibilities because they have already been tampered with. In this scenario there is no jazz.
Back in the early '60s there was a melting pot of individual voices, a democracy. There was no single expert on jazz. Jazz was the music then, not the image; the ideas, not the ads; the content, not the hype; and jazz soared in those days whether the media wanted it to or not because there were listeners, each equipped with a pair of real (non-virtual) ears and a real hunger for the real thing.
So who will jazz players of the future be able to use as a beacon from this age of mimicry? There was a comic book series called Plastic Man, back when I was a kid, and in the last issue there appeared an exactly identical but fraudulent imitation of Plastic Man who could do everything the original could do: stretch his arms for miles, take the form of any person or object, etc. In this issue there was a dialogue between them that went something like this:
"I am the real Plastic Man." "No, I am the real Plastic Man." "No, you're an imitation." "But plastic is already an imitation." "Yes, but I am really Plastic Man." "How do you know?" "Because you are the imitation Plastic Man." "No, you are!" "But…plastic is already an imitation, and we're identical in every way, so I'm as real as you!"
I have two sons who are both musicians, one already a working musician. It is my hope that they can hear great jazz musicians of their day-live, if possible. But if the media becomes the Mafia and Plastic Man keeps selling, those great musicians will be harder to find.
The hostile takeover of jazz within the media (or the "infotainment telesector," as Benjamin R. Barber calls it in his book Jihad vs. McWorld) has happened. Let's hope there will be young players who see this as a new set of prison bars, meant only to be flown through. If you are ready to fly, you don't put on a suit and join a club. You talk to the birds.
Jazz is probably the only art form whose existence depends on resistance to theories (whether those theories are by blacks or whites). Unlike other kinds of music (and most professions, corporate or otherwise), jazz asks that we speak from our being, not about our expertise in the field. If someone is an expert on jazz, you can be pretty sure he/she is not a vital jazz musician. Where a young player today can have a long enough apprenticeship (so the being-work can get started before Mr. Sony or Mr. Columbia eats him over a two-martini lunch) is a question I can't answer in the age of McWorld. But it's up to the players to know when to say no. There is no way to demystify jazz except by playing convincingly. It is a mysterious occupation.
And the reason no musicologist, critic, virtual educator or brand-name can get a handle on it is this: Jazz is about closeness to the material, a personal dance with the material, not the material itself. And this personal dance is validated not by the media, not only by other dancers. A virtual dance doesn't count in the real world of jazz.
If the phrase "whatever is the most personal is the most universal" is true, it goes far towards explaining why the true jazz giants up to the present time are who they are: They danced up a storm.
--Keith Jarrett
Yup....
Jody
Up Coming Concert--November 8, 2006
-
October 22, 2006
On November 8th, 2006, I'll be performing at the Loft, located in the historic Mitten Building in Downtown Redlands at 345-A N. 5th Street, Redlands, CA.
The show starts at 7:15 and tickets are $10.00 at the door.
I'll be playing with my trio and also performing solo as well. I hope to see a lot of you there.
Of course, CDs and books will be available.
Speaking of books, watch for my newest one entitled, "The Total Jazz Guitarist" which will be released at Winter NAMM, 2007.
In this book you will find a lot of information crucial to good, solid Jazz performance. The book examines improvisation, comping, and chord melody arrangements of standard tunes that you know.
In 2008, two more 128 page books will be released using the same format. Being able to publish songs in an educational format is an exciting new direction for me in my books. I hope you find them useful.....
When these books are released, you will find them on the "Buy" page of this site.
All summer I conducted clinics for the National Guitar Workshop nation-wide. As always, I had a geat time thanks to all the great teachers and students I got to hang with. I always come home inspired and hungry to practice. Thanks, everyone....
--Jody
At Long Last....
-
October 22, 2006
I'ts been a long time since the last update. With traveling , moving, new projects, etc. there's just been so little time for the the site.
Once again, let me say thanks for all the support.
I've received a lot of email over the past several weeks from players asking about books and many other topics. I will be getting back to everyone as soon as I can. The email backs up pretty fast lately. I really appreciate the correspondence so please be patient regarding replies. I'm doing my best...
A plug for John Carruthers.....
For those who live in the Southern California area, John Carruthers and his staff are the ultimate resource for players who need top-notch guitar repair and setup work.
I've been going to John for a few years now. He has worked on quite a variety of guitars for me over that time and I must say that his work is simply the best. He is fast, meticulous and professional, and after working with a variety of other guitar techs through the years, I know that I have found the best.
As some of you might know, I have been playing Klein guitars almost exclusively for a number of years. Whenever I've needed adjustments or repairs, all I would have to do is send the instrument back to the Klein shop and everything the guitar needed would be done and then returned to me.
Now that Klein Electric Guitars are temporarily "unavailable", I had John work on the Klein a few weeks ago. He did a complete refret along with some machine work on the hardware and many other adjustments here and there. I'm happy to say the gutiar is as good as new. And I'm a happy guy. Thanks to John and Rick at Carruthers Guitars. You can reach them at:
www.carruthersguitars.com.
346 Sunset Ave
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 392-3919
Another Great Guitar Resource:
Beau's Guitars
For those living in the lower desert area of Southern California, check out Beau's Guitars in Palm Desert. Beau has a great guitar shop and does excellent setups as well.
Bassist Carole Kaye will be doing a clinic at his shop on Nov. 1, 2006.
For more info:
Beau's Guitars
73-700 Hwy 111
Palm Desert, CA 92260
www.beausguitars.com
(760) 776-1203
No Idle Frets...
Once again I'd like to say thanks to Nick Carver who played a tune from of my latest CD, "Wistful Thinking" this last week, on his "No Idle Frets" podcast.
Check it out here:
http://noidlefrets.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to Nick's podcast--he plays a variety of interesting jazz guitar recordings in each show.
--Jody
Cool workshop Live News!
-
September 18, 2006
I'm sitting in an airport at the moment (coming home from the East coast...) and I just received this press release.
WorkshopLive Reaches Online Music Lesson Milestone
With Portfolio of 1,000 Guitar, Bass and Keyboard Lessons
PITTSFIELD, Mass., Sept. 2006 – Less than a year after launching its revolutionary online learning service, WorkshopLive today announced completion of its 1,000th music lesson. Thousands of subscribers worldwide can now access online guitar, bass and keyboard lessons, any time of day or night, in the comfort of your own home, 24/7.
The one-thousandth lesson was “The Modes of the Harmonic Minor Scale” from Jody Fisher<
http://www.workshoplive.com/teachers/jody-fisher.html>, a southern California jazz artist who has played virtually every style of music professionally. He has performed at many important venues such as the Hollywood Bowl and Universal Amphitheater, and has recently worked all over the United States, Canada, England and Germany.
David Smolover, founder and CEO of WorkshopLive, said, “Our faculty has created a remarkable array of lessons, in every style and for every level, from the absolute beginner to the most advanced. Jody now has more than 80 guitar lessons<
http://www.workshoplive.com/music-lessons/guitar-lesson.html> available that have been utilized by more than 600 players from all over the world, and that’s just one teacher. We’re very proud of reaching this milestone, and even more proud of being associated with such an enthusiastic and talented group of music teachers.”
Besides Fisher, who is author of The Complete Jazz Guitar Method and other instructional books, WorkshopLive’s faculty includes author Susan Mazer [Guitar for the Absolute Beginner]; guitarist/singer-songwriter Matt Smith [Matt Smith Chop Shop for Guitar]; keyboardist Amy Rosser [Max Keyboard], and guitarist/author Lou Manzi [Beginning Fingerstyle].
Formally launched in December 2005, WorkshopLive has attracted thousands of customers for online music lessons from the United States, England, Denmark, Vietnam, the Caribbean, and many other areas of the world. WorkshopLive has dozens of the world’s top music instructors providing online guitar lessons, as well as other music lessons, which range from beginner to advanced. The music lessons are offered in a wide variety of styles (acoustic, rock, jazz, classical, etc.). Players learn at their own pace, whenever and wherever they want, day or night, in the comfort of their own home or wherever they have access to a high-speed Internet connection.
About WorkshopLive
WorkshopLive produces the most dynamic and engaging music instruction content on the Web today. WorkshopLive incorporates more than 20 years of music education curricula to create thousands of lessons for specific styles of music and a variety of instruments. Other divisions include National Guitar Workshop Publications and summer learning camps operated at 33 locations around the country, the National Guitar Workshop and DayJams. The privately funded company is based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Additional information is available at 413-358-9606, and
http://www.workshoplive.com.
As some of you know, I recently moved and haven't had much time to update the site. I'm almost settled in now so updates will become much more frequent.
Jody
New CD, "Wistful Thinking" Now Available!
-
July 6, 2006
Hi All,
My new CD, "Wistful Thinking" has just been released. This recording is a collection of original music for solo guitar.
There are free downloads of some of the tunes in the "Music" section of this site--help yourself.....
You can buy this CD directly from this site--just click on "buy" in the menu.
The CD is also available from CD Baby. If you want to sample all of the tunes, go here:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jodyfisher3
Clips from my other CDs are available here:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jodyfisher2
and here:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jodyfisher1
Digital downloads are also available from:
Apple iTunes
MPGreek
MusicIs Here
Sonific
Of course you can download indivdual tracks, or the entire recording.
Since the recording is new, it may take a few weeks before these companies actually list the tunes from "Wistful Thinking".
Other News.......
I am currently on the road doing seminars for the National Guitar Workshop. Last week I had a wonderful time in Seattle conducting my "Jazz Skills" workshop. I got to work with some really great students and met a lot of new friends and hung with some old ones as well.
Next stop is Los Angeles where I'll be teaching my "Letting Go" workshop. After that, it's Chicago (Jazz Skills), Nashville (The Art of Solo Guitar), then the East coast for the annual Jazz Summit held in New Milford, CT.
Once again, let me remind you to check out WorkshopLive.com for the very best in guitar instruction in every style.
More News......
If you are into podcasts, I suggest you check out Nick Carver's, "No Idle Frets".
Nick has been recording and podcasting for about a year. He features recordings from jazz guitarists and is doing a great job of promoting jazz and helping to keep the artform healthy. My recording, "End of the Beginning" is featured on a recent show. Thanks, Nick. Subscribe to the podcast here:
http://noidlefrets.blogspot.com/
'Till next time,
Jody
Equipment Sale
-
May 30, 2006
Hi All,
I'm moving soon and I'm trying to get rid of equipment I no longer use. So, before I go to ebay, I thought I'd see if anyone here was interested. I'm not trying to make a lot of $$$---I'm just trying for a fast turnaround. If you're interested in any of this stuff drop me an email.
Blonde Fender Deluxe Reverb--literally brand new with cover--$300.00
Digi 002 rack-mount Pro Tools for windows or mac, version 6.1--I've switched to native mac setups--like new--$500.00
Roland D-10 Keyboard--Old but still shiny--never left my studio--with manual--$100.00
Boss DR-5, with carrying bag and manual--$50.00
2 Boss GT-5s--one I used a bit, the other never used (had it as a backup), with manual--$100 ea.
Vox Cry Baby Wah with carrying bag--$50.00
Onkyo HX Pro Stereo cassette deck--like new--$25.00
Ernie Ball Volume Pedal--$40.00
2 folding tripod amp stands--$10.00 ea.
TC Electronics Chorus/Phase/Flange--$25.00 (floor, not rack)
Boss Super Overdrive pedal (sd-1)--$25.00
Boss Turbo Overdrive pedal (0D2R) (don't ask..)--$25.00
Boss CE-5 Chorus pedal--$25.00
Boss BR-8--8-track digital recorder--with manual--$100.00
Digitech RP-1 floor multi-effects unit--25.00
You pay shipping ......
Jody
www.jodyfisher.com
Workshop Live Launched!
-
January 4, 2006
Well, the biggest news is the launch of the Workshop Live website.
In case you haven't heard, Workshop Live is a revolutionary guitar education site that provides lessons in a variety of formats. The lessons are delivered in streaming video, animation and still graphics.
At the moment there are 20 teachers providing lessons in jazz, rock, blues, classical, acoustic and absolute beginner.
Members of the site can watch teacher "interviews" and then choose the teacher they would like to work with. There are prescribed courses in each style but students are free to surf to any lesson that interests them.
There are so many options that it would be difficult to describe them all here.
Right now there are hundreds of lessons uploaded, and hundreds more will be added every month.
You need to check this place out--
www.workshoplive.com
If you decide to join, please use this affiliate code during the sign up process: 1069.
This will show that you were directed there by my site.
You can also go here to explore Workshop Live:
http://relix.workshoplive.com/
In celebration of the launch, WorkShop Live is giving away a Hamer guitar BUILT TO YOUR SPECS! Check it out at
www.playityourway.com
Summer Workshop Schedule
Once again I will be conducting seminars for the National Guitar Workshop next summer.
For brochures and further information go to
www.guitarworkshop.com or call (860) 234-6479.
Here are the locations and dates:
June 24-29, 2006
"Jazz Skills"
Pacific University
Seattle, WA
July 8-13, 2006
"Letting Go"
Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, CA
July 15-20, 2006
"Jazz Skills"
Judson College
Chicago, IL
July 22-27, 2006
"The Art of Solo Guitar"
Middle Tennessee State University
Nashville, TN
August 7-13, 2006
"NGW Jazz Summit"
New Milford, CT
The site has been updated so you'll find some new links, pics, etc.
Don't forget to check my calender--come by a gig and say hi!
Thanks again for all the nice email folks. Please understand that I try to answer all of them but my inbox is always full and it take a while (sometimes a long while) to get back to you all--
Jody
Workshop Live Press Release
-
September 2, 2005
Hi All,
I just thought I would pass this on. A few weeks ago I wrote a little bit about a project I'm involved with called Workshop Live.
Workshop Live may be one of the most remarkable educational programs in the world today and I'm really proud, and humbled to be involved. Regardless of where you live, as a member, you will be able to study guitar with great teachers in every style of music.
Workshop Live combines streaming video with printable graphics and live lessons online. The technology provides an animated fingerboard, as well as examples in standard notation and TAB.
The lessons are provided in a variety of formats to match the style and level of information you require. This is exciting stuff.......
The following is a press release published on August 29, 2005:
WorkshopLive Passes Midway Point to October Launch,
Recording 300 Guitar and Keyboard Lessons for Online Learning
Announces Content Sharing Partnership with Alfred Publishing
For Instructional Videos from Warner Brothers Catalog
PITTSFIELD, Mass., August 29, 2005 – WorkshopLive today announced completion of more than 300 video lessons for guitar and keyboard, passing the halfway milestone for the October launch of the online learning company. The new video studio in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has been hosting musicians and recording their lessons since opening in June.
WorkshopLive is a unique educational platform that delivers personalized and completely individualized music lessons through a broadband Internet connection. Its patent-pending technology determines how each student learns best, then delivers the teaching options, lessons and learning environment that best suits the student’s needs.
Some 600 guitar and keyboard lessons will become available to subscribers of the revolutionary Internet learning system in October. In advance of the company’s highly-anticipated debut, sample lessons will be posted at
www.WorkshopLive.com in coming days.
Among the first lessons or courses concluded are those from performers/bestselling authors Susan Mazer [Guitar for the Absolute Beginner] and Jody Fisher [The Complete Jazz Guitar Method, etc.], guitarist/singer-songwriter Matt Smith [Matt Smith Chop Shop for Guitar] and keyboardist Amy Rosser [Max Keyboard].
The company also announced a content sharing partnership with Alfred Publishing, which earlier this year acquired the Warner Bros. Publications catalog of instructional videos and DVDs. Under the arrangement with Alfred, WorkshopLive can include instructional content from major artists like BB King, Joe Pass, and Chick Corea as part of WorkshopLive’s Master Seminar series.
For further instructional value, WorkshopLive will also offer direct links to Alfred for access to and purchases from that company’s extensive catalog. With offices in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Singapore and Australia, and a roster of renowned authors and composers, Alfred Publishing is a global operation with more than 80 years of uninterrupted growth.
About WorkshopLive
WorkshopLive produces the most dynamic and engaging music instruction content on the Web today. Its patent-pending technology delivers the first truly interactive learning experience of its type, with visual and auditory elements that change to suit the preferences and abilities of the student. WorkshopLive incorporates more than 20 years of music education curricula to create hundreds of lessons for specific styles of music and a variety of instruments. Other divisions include Workshop Arts Publications and summer learning camps operated at 28 locations around the country, the National Guitar Workshop and DayJams. The privately funded company is based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Additional information is available at 413-358-9606, and
www.WorkshopLive.com.
Home Sweet Home
-
August 23, 2005
Well, I'm finally back home after weeks of traveling. I just want to say how great it was to hang with old friends and students and meet new ones as well.
At the moment, I'm working hard with Workshop Live developing all my online video lessons. This is ONE GREAT project! There has never been anything like it--check it out at
www.workshoplive.com. The site should launch in mid October.
Time to Sign Up for Lessons!
This year I am changing my teaching policy somewhat. Over the last several years I have given only two hour lessons but after numerous requests for shorter more frequent lessons I have decided to offer the following:
Two Hour Lessons are still available--these are by appointment only--$100.00
One Hour Lessons--These are available on an every-other-week basis. You'll need to commmit to a regular time and day--$55.00
Half Hour Lessons--These are available on a weekly basis only. You'll need to commmit to a regular time and day--$30.00.
First contact should be made by email: jodyfisher@jodyfisher.com
Available times are limited.
My newest book "Teaching Guitar--An In-Depth Guide to Making a Living as a Profesional Guitar Teacher" has just been released and is available.
Here is the publisher's blurb about it:
Optimizing personal income while developing a career both as a guitar teacher and musician can be rewarding, but challenging. Finally, here is a guide written by a seasoned professional--full of teaching tips, musical examples and business advice to help you run a successful teaching business. The Enhanced CD included with this book contains recorded examples, backing tracks for students to improvise over, and helpful forms for bookkeeping and tracking student attendance and progress. This in-depth guide, which explores a diversity of teaching situations and styles, will put you on the right path to follow your dream of making a living as a guitar teacher.
Book and CD....................$17.50
You can order it on my "Buy" page.
Two New CDs Available this Fall!
The first CD will be a trio recording of all original jazz tunes--should be available sometime in November.
The second CD is another solo guitar recording of some great standards. This one should also be available in November.
Next Book!
My next book is a 128 page book entitled "The Total Jazz Guitarist".
I'm really excited about this one--I'll be using several well known standards and jazz tunes to explore many chord melody and improvisational approaches. This one is for folks who aren't afraid to really dig in........
I also wanted to let you know about another cool guitar and music site sponsored by Workshop Live--
It's called "The Practice Room" and you can find it here:
http://thepracticeroom.typepad.com/the_practice_room/
There are several new links and pics on the site and I'll be uploading some new free lessons in the coming weeks.
Stay Cool--
Jody
News From Jody
-
June 23, 2005
Hi All,
To everyone who has been emailing me over the past few weeks:
I know I've been responding late--I am currently on the road with limited internet access in some locations (I know, it's hard to believe).
I do answer email when I'm traveling but it takes a little (sometimes, much) longer.
Anyway, I am currently on the East coast recording 50, yes 50, video lessons. This for a company called Workshop Live.
In October, Workshop Live launches it's new site providing hundreds of instructional video lessons, and lots of other features for a small monthly membership charge. It's cutting edge technology and a real opportunity for guitarists to study and learn in an entirely new way. I'm really excited about this.
I will provide more info as time goes on.
The site will launch in October 2005. Watch this space--
you're not going to believe what this company is doing.....it's pretty great.
Saturday, I leave for Seattle where I am conducting a seminar at Pacific University. From there I go to Los Angeles and do a workshop at Loyola Marymount.
Next it's Nashville--Middle Tennesee State University, then Chicago, at Judson College, then New Milford, Conecticut, at the Canterbury School, for the National Guitar Workshop's Jazz Summit.
Hope to meet many of you folks at some of these locations. If you're interested in attending any of these Workshops or events, call 1-800-234-6479.
Later...........
Jody