Once I found the capo position for Come Undone, this arrangement of Duran Duran’s 1993 hit, glided into reality within a matter of 10 minutes. An interesting aspect of transcribing pop songs to solo guitar, is the illumination of the song’s underpinnings.  It’s like dissecting an organism, and looking at how each part works […]

I just saw Muse in Cleveland Ohio two weeks ago, and it was by far the best sounding, and most technologically advanced show I have ever seen. Matthew Bellamy (guitar/vocals) and Chris Wolstenholme (bass/vocals) are really amazing guitar players as they simultaneously: sing, play, trigger […]

Like everyone else it seems, I’m a sucker for highly stylized pop with a nod towards the 80’s.  Tegan and Sara’s new single, Closer, definitely fits the bill, and it integrated seamlessly into a solo-guitar performance. If you’re new to this blog, I have no scheme as to what […]

I remember the very day Urban Hymns was released. I took the day off of work (it was that important to me), bought the CD at Sam Goody, and drove around blaring it from my car stereo. I had been playing in my new band […]

Upon hearing the first few bars of Where Are We Now?, I was admittedly luke-warm about David Bowie’s first single in 10 years.  That is, until I was sucked in by the immensely watchable, and totally weird video.  I think I watched the video so many times […]

As you can probably tell, I am on a Radiohead bender — and I’m almost ashamed that I haven’t explored solo-guitar interpretations/arrangements of their music until now. Not to belabor the blog thing, but if you want to be successful, their are certain things you have […]

I think of Lana Del Rey as a modern David Bowie (with regard to her song-writing) and her single, Lucky Ones, worked out beautifully for solo-guitar.   It appears that her previous album Born to Die, is being released with her new album Paradise and aptly called: Born to Die […]

As expected, Adele’s Skyfall is a proper Bond theme and incredibly well done. Skyfall uses a mixture of the You Know My Name (Bm – G – E) progression, the 007 theme, and Adele’s sultry vocals to pull off a perfect blend of several past […]

“As to the methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) While […]

Sounding like equal parts George Michael and U2, Muse’s new single Madness, is an unbelievably crafted pop-song.  Coldplay front-man Chris Martin praises it as “Muse’s best song ever” and there’s even a Phil Collins-esque (bump bump, bump bump, bump bump) drum fill into the final chorus crescendo. […]

Extreme Ways is the default theme song for the Bourne franchise — specifically the conclusion of each movie. Just when you think Jason Bourne or (in Legacy’s case) Arron Cross has disappeared — the sampled violins strike and Bourne is on the move. To memorize […]

‘Home‘ is an emotive song from the trailer of Walter Salles’ (soon to be released) On The Road that sounds very much in the vain of post-rock songs like Your Hand in Mine.  I initially thought ‘Home’ was an interesting departure for Gustavo Santaolalla — that is […]