HELLO IN ISOLATION-A LOT GOING ON!

Hi!!!

I hope you are staying safe during these crazy times and that you and your family are healthy.

It's been hard for me to keep the blog updated but here I am today.

These last few weeks have been really busy online for me.

Strandberg Guitars

The Latino artists for Strandberg Guitars had a great .Stranded* live Zoom with the one and only Ola Strandberg. It was great sharing with the amazing Lore Paz Ampuero and Koke Benavides (Chile), José Macario (Mexico), and Liam (my son) and I. 

We had a fantastic conversation, which you can watch at the Strandberg Facebook https://www.facebook.com/strandbergguitars/videos/226677915296969/ and Youtube pages (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhRfy4ejdJI)

We own three of these amazing instruments now and love them all!!

Fun Challenge

Just for fun (and responding to a challenge from my friend Scott Burstein's from Little Kids Rock) I took a shot at Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" solo on the Classic Malta Blue (right on the picture above). Since he did the first solo, I took Dave Murray's and it felt really great to play it on a "strat-ish" type of instrument. I had't bent strings in a while, hehehe. Here it is:

Conversations in Isolation

I started a live conversation series online, "Conversations in Isolation" (Conversaciones en Aislamiento). I'm inviting a friend every Thursday to talk about music, life, or whatever else. This has been done through Instagram Live, so far. The first guest was the incredible saxophonist Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band, Bela Fleck, and too many others), then we had one of the greatest musicians coming out of the Dominican Republic, Waldo Madera (Ricky Martin, Ricardo Arjona, Juanes, and many, many others). These conversations have been super fun and we are open to questions from the audience. You can watch them on my Instagram and I will upload them to my youtube channel soon.I hope to have alternate between English and Spanish. We hope this helps alleviate the situation the entire world is going through.

Other guests will include many other friends, composers, producers, guitarists, etc. I have some already confirmed that will blow your mind. For next week I'll have the great composer Ron Jones (Star Trek, Family Guy, Fairly Odd Parents, and many others). This one will be on Zoom at the same time (8:00 pm Eastern; 7:00 pm Central; 6:00 pm Mountain; 5:00 pm Pacific). If you are a movie fan or composer, don't miss this one!

Mezclando en Casa (Mixing at Home)

My great friend Allan Leschhorn and I gave a mixing workshop for invited guests on Zoom. Allan is a great musician and one of the best engineers I know. We have worked together since our teens and are still doing things together. Multi Grammy winner, Allan owns a recording studio in Dominican Republic and is the recording and live monitor engineer for Dominican superstar Juan Luis Guerra. The clinic was incredible! Super fun! We had guests from the United States, Spain, Argentina, Chile, and many from the Dominican Republic. Thanks to everyone who attended!!! We hope to keep doing more in the future. 

Frank Gambale Online School

Recently I affiliated with the great Frank Gambale. Frank has been one of my biggest influences andd inspiration for many years and it is an honor to be affiliated to his amazing online school. You can check it out (and get discounted prices on his courses) at: 

https://www.frankgambaleguitarschool.com/link/skhtqh?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.frankgambaleguitarschool.com 

Well, that's it for today and I hope I can keep sharing more in the coming weeks. 

Blessings and stay safe,

SG

II V I ETUDE - Using a composed idea in a solo

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while. I have been very busy on this side, but here I am...

I've been getting a lot of questions on different topics and I decided to begin a series of videos in which I will cover a plethora of concepts such as jazz theory, music technology, recording and mixing, composition and arranging, etc.

On the first video (watch it here) I use a jazz-oriented idea on a II V I in major with the altered V7 and apply it in the context of jazz fusion. Although in this particular video I don't dive too deep into the theory and nuances of the material, it will give you an idea of how you can use an existing idea and incorporate it into a solo. In subsequent videos I will explain in detail this and many other topics.

Please subscribe to my blog (http://socratesgarcia.blogspot.com), my youtube channel, and my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/socratesgarciamusic/) so you can receive notifications when I upload new videos. And if you have any question, don't hesitate to contact me.

You can download the backing track, PDF, and Guitar 7 Pro file here:

Materials for II V I ETUDE 1

I hope you enjoy this first video and can apply these concepts to your own music.




Peace,
S

ESTUDIO II V I - Usando una idea compuesta en un solo.

Hola todos,

Me había desaparecido. Ha estado bien ocupado de este lado. Pero aquí de nuevo.

Me han llegado muchas preguntas abarcando diferentes temas y decidí comenzar una serie de videos en los que voy a explorar conceptos como teoría de jazz, tecnologia, grabación y mezcla, composición/arreglo, etc.

En este primer video (bajalo aqui) uso una idea de jazz (II V I en tonalidad mayor pero con el V alterado), aplicada en el contexto de jazz-fusión. Aunque en este video no explico cada detalle con profundidad, les dará una idea de lo que se puede hacer con una idea compuesta de antemano. En otros videos  voy a explicar con más detalle este y muchos otros temas.

Por favor suscribete a mi blog (http://socratesgarcia.blogspot.com),
mi pagina de youtube y mi pagina de Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/socratesgarciamusic/) para que recibas las notificaciones de futuros videos. Y por favor, cualquier pregunta no dudes en contactarme.

Pueden bajar el backing track, un PDF y el archivo de Guitar Pro 7 aqui.

Materiales para II V I ETUDE 1

Espero disfrutes este primer video y lo puedas usar en tu música.

Paz,
S

NAMM 2018 - ANAHEIM, CA

Hi!!
Next week I'll be at the NAMM Convention in Anaheim, CA with Strandberg Guitars.
Super happy with the opportunity to share my excitement about these amazing and innovative instruments. Also excited to get together with old friends and make new ones.

If you are there, please stop by and say hi.

Hope to see you around.

Peace,

S

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

A lot of things happened at the end of 2017 and many more are coming up.

Strandberg Endorsement: I became an Associate Artist for these amazing instruments. I'm loving playing them, which has changed some of my priorities, expanding what I want to do for this year. I'm super excited about the guitars! My plan is to record a new small group album before the end of the year, where, hopefully, you will hear why I'm so stoked with the instrument.

Strandberg Boden Original 6

Socrates Garcia Latin Jazz Orchestra at JEN 2018: I got together with many friends (old and new). Always a great place to hang.
On January 5, I was honored to share the stage with an all-star band for the SGLJO concert. It's always a pleasure to hear my music played by these group of musicians. If you want to read about each musician, please visit my Facebook page (facebook.com/socratesgarciamusic), where I shared the bios for each one of them.
I hope to share a video of the show soon, for now let's share some pics.

With the legendary John Clayton and Dafnis Pietro

Before the show

After the show

Pablito, Brad, SG, Helen, Adam Nussbaum, Daniel

The Dominican team after the show

Once again

Coming up:

NAMM Show with Strandberg: 
I'll be at NAMM in Anaheim, CA with Strandberg from January 25-27. If you are around, please stop by to say hi.

Vanderbilt University Concert: 
I received a commission to write a new piece for jazz orchestra for the Blair School of Music's big band. I'll be at Vanderbilt conducting a concert of my music, including this new piece, entitled The Wizard's Wicked Charm. This concert is on February 15th. It will be great to come back to Nashville and see many of our friends from the time we lived there.
I'm also giving a master class on Dominican Music and Jazz.

More things are coming up and I hope to see you and share my music with you soon,

Best of years in 2018,
S

Hi All,

Here's a compilation of three articles/videos I did for MakeMusic on jazz composition/arranging tips for Finale and the two-part article, "Natural Harmonization," I wrote for JazzEd Online.

If you haven't seen/read it hope you enjoy it.

Peace,
S


Hola Todos,

Aquí hay una compilación de los tres artículos/videos que hice para MakeMusic sobre algunas ideas para composición/arrreglo de jazz en Finale y el artículo en dos partes de "Armonización Natural" que escribí para JazzEd Online.

Si no lo has visto/leído espero lo disfrutes.

Paz,
S


Finale 1 - Ensemble Voicing 
https://www.finalemusic.com/blog/ensemble-voicings/

Finale 2 - Edit Filter/Paste Multiple
https://www.finalemusic.com/blog/jazz-composition-arranging-tips-edit-filter-paste-multiple/

Finale 3 - Drum Cues
https://www.finalemusic.com/blog/jazz-arranging-tips-drum-cues/


JazzEd 1 - Natural Harmonization (Part 1)
https://jazzednet.org/resources/natural-harmonization-part/

JazzEd 2 - Natural Harmonization (Part 2)
https://jazzednet.org/resources/natural-harmonization-part-ii/

Celebration of the Butterflies

Noviembre 25, 1960, fue un día oscuro para la República Dominicana y para las mujeres, en general. Fue el día que las hermanas Mirabal fueron asesinadas por el dictador Rafael Leonidas Trujillo y su régimen. Debido a este trágico día, hoy conmemoramos el Día Internacional de la Eliminacíon de la Violencia en Contra de las Mujeres. 
Las Hermanas Mirabal eran conocidas como las "Mariposas" y yo compuse una pieza para celebrar sus vidas y todo por lo que ellas lucharon. Esta pieza, "Celebración de las Mariposas", es parte de mi disco Back Home.
La publico hoy para celebrar el legado de las "Mariposas" y en apoyo a terminar la violencia contra la mujer.

November 25th, 1960, was a dark day for the Dominican Republic and women in general. It was the day the Mirabal sisters were murdered by the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo and his regime. Because of that tragic day, today we commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. 
The Mirabal sisters were known as the "Butterflies" and I composed a piece to celebrate their lives and everything they stood for. This piece, "Celebration of the Butterflies," is part of my album Back Home. 
I post this piece today to celebrate the legacy of the "Butterflies" and as my support to end violence against women. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyxzS3Hi6Ok


Peace,

S