Levi Clay's Easy Blues Fusion Guitar

I'll admit, it's been a while since I seriously watched an instructional DVD. I have dark and nebulous melodies as a beginner guitarist, trying to figured out how to play, and becoming frustrated by, 'Easy guitar' DVD's. Four years and thousands of practice hours later, I have to say I think Levi Clay's new DVD Easy Blues Fusion Guitar has won me back to the world of guitar DVD's. From the stellar company that is Lick Library (Producers of iGuitar magazine and countless instructional videos) Clay is coming at you with a DVD that could very well revolutionize your blues playing.

One of the things that makes this DVD especially appealing for me is the easy going way in which Clay presents the material. It is clear that he is an experienced guitar teacher. As he goes through each example he provides a lot of good ideas on how to handle the material and suggests different fingerings. I especially like how every lick is played at at least two different speeds, sometimes more depending on the difficulty of the phrase in question. The overall presentation of each lick is also rather uniform, making it easy to watch and master just one lick.

A key aspect of this whole video is the little gems of theoretical knowledge that will definitely help a beginner blues guitarist. In the introduction of the video Clay does an especially good job of explaining how to mix the Mixolydian mode, arpeggio, and minor pentatonic scale to maximum effect. Furthermore, he does a great job of explaining how guide tones work and how to target them. In fact, there is an especially large focus on reaching the third in licks, and for good reason. This kind of well explained and wonderfully placed theoretical tidbit helps to make this DVD even more useful than it already is.

So how do you best use Easy Blues Fusion Guitar anyway? Well, frankly there are months worth of ideas to practice in here. Not only are some of the licks very tricky, but many present ideas that could easily be fused into new licks. While the main focus is on jazz/blues fusion, blues is also fused here with country and occasionally rock. This gives you ideas that are applicable in a variety of genres, making for even more work. A detailed study of this DVD would entail not just multiple viewings of each lick, but a careful annotation of the (very well presented) tab book. I get the sense, it would be very, very rewarding.

If you want a DVD that will give you all sorts of new ideas for you blues playing and help you bring your understanding of theory to a new level, this may very well be perfect for you. Designed with practicality in mind, there is not a wasted minute. Clay knows how to teach and has created something that is easy to understand and very practical. From the excellent and clear tab booklet found on the disc to the thorough and easy to understand explanations I have no real complaints. If you want to revolutionize, or merely advance your approach to blues music, then get this DVD as soon as you can!

Buy it here: https://www.licklibrary.com/store/levi-clay/54945/easy-blues-fusion-guitar-dvd

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

So I totally just got done watching Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and I will assure you that it is indeed a most excellent film. There is a humorous and well done plot, decent acting (Even from Keanu Reeves!) and some very humorous scenes. This movie is essentially another take on Wayne's World. The general premise and characters are the same but the plot is completely different. Admittedly there are some major plot holes, but we're not going to discuss time travel theory in a comedy movie. All in all this is a great movie that is indeed most righteous. The premise itself was enough to keep me hooked.

The plot goes a bit something like this. Two best friends are about to flunk out of school, and if they do then Bill will have to go to a military academy in Alaska thus ending him and Ted's dreams to become rock stars. So an envoy is sent from the future were their society is based off the music of Bill and Ted's band. This guy gives them a time machine which they use to go back and time and gather a bunch of famous historical figures. However upon bringing them to the modern world they all quickly manage to get arrested D: . Fortunately Bill and Ted can bring them together just in time for their presentation which they get an A+ on.

The acting in this movie is reasonably well done. Ted is very well done and he brings out a youthful metalhead aura in his acting. However Keanu Reeves truly amazes me. In part due to my low expectations of him I was very impressed by his acting in this film. I mean he truly brings out the aura that Wayne has. An aura of a young metalhead who just wants to get a big break. The other characters are also well played. Keanu's father plays the repressive and angry military dad very well and the portrayals of historical figures where all excellent. All in all this movie has some pretty great acting.

The comedy in this movie is truly righteous. The majority of the time it falls into the same category as Wayne's World. It makes fun of stereotypes and allos hilarity to ensue. However some of the shiningest moments in this film come when the metalheads try and interact with the historical figures. It leads to moments where Abe Lincoln shouts, “Party on dudes!”. Or were Beethoven falls in love with Bon Jovi's classic album Slippery When Wet. This combination of historical figure meets real world comedy with metalhead humor is truly magic and it really creates a great aura for the film.

In conclusion this is an amazing movie that I really like and I think that any metalhead would find humorous. There is a decent plot, good acting and some moments of true hilarity. Also the righteous vocabulary of Bill and Ted has greatly expanded my own. So go ahead and watch this movie, it is sure to be a classic for legions of metal fans.

OVERALL 8.5/10

Rock n Roll Highschool

So tonight I decided to watch Rock n Roll high school, a classic rock and roll move from 1979. It has a pretty nice plot, good acting and some great comedy. The remarkable thing about this movie is how it takes all these solid elements and really captures the feel of the era. It shows the crazy lives of the kids who just loved music. It is insane, ridiculous and beautiful, but most of all it is the Ramones. The plot is ridiculous as is the acting, it really comes together with the comedy to create an excellent rock and roll experience. All in all this is a great movie for anybody who likes good ol' rock 'n' roll.

The plot of this movie is fairly unoriginal, it goes something like this. Vince Lombardi high has lost their last principal due to the nervous breakdown he suffered because of his students love for rock and roll. The school bad girl Riff Randall is the biggest Ramones fan in the school. She skips school for three days to get tickets to the show. Her best friend (the school nerd) Kate Rambeau covers for her. The cruel new Principal Togar tries to stop the kids from going to the concert but Riff manages to get tickets for all of her friends. Unfortunately Principal Togar steals their tickets. However the girls manage to win tickets in a radio contest and go to see the show. They convince The Ramones to come to their school where they rock out and eventually create an uprising and destroy the school building.

The acting in this movie is spot on. P.J. Soles can play the school bad girl so well because she WAS the school bad girl. Mary Woronov looks exactly like a principal with a vendetta against rock and roll would look like and she manages to increase our perception of her through her extremely tight demeanor in her acting. Finally The Ramones make the perfect punk rockers because they are pretty much, the perfect punk rockers. In the words of the chief of police, “Ugly, ugly people.”. All in all the acting in this movie is very well done and really creates a great atmosphere for the movie.

Finally the comedy in this movie is brilliant. There are just some scenes here that are so funny that I am almost crying. Whether it is the explanation on different types of bra straps or the reactions of mice to rock and roll this movie is truly funny. One of the best parts of this movie involves the music teacher who evolves from a man who thinks that music died at Beethoven to a 40 year old pothead punk. If you are looking for a movie to give you some giggles, you definitely want to look into this.

All in all this is a great movie that I think you should really watch. The plot is a tad generic but I mean if you bring the Ramones into anything its going to end up as pretty awesome. The acting is spot on, you get a feeling that these people really are their characters. In particular Riff Randall is very well done. Finally the comedy is just spot on with so many moments of pure genius it is just hard to count them all. So, go on out folks and watch this movie, you won't regret it. Its got everything a good rock comedy needs and more, so go out and do the BlitzKrieg bop for Rock n Roll Highschool.

OVERALL 9/10

This Is Spinal Tap

 'This one goes up to 11'. That is but one of the many legendary quotes from This is Spinal Tap. There is nothing bad about this movie it is just 100% brilliant rock and roll stupidity. Everything that you want in a comedy is here, there are stupid characters, stupid lines and a stupid plot altogether creating a really dumb but hilarious piece. The plot is reasonable, it is humorous and generic, but it makes fun of generic plots so it's okay. Then there's the comedy, which is just brilliant, the writers manage to combine a lot of different elements to make a movie that any metalhead no matter how goth has to laugh at. The plot on its own is really ridiculous as well.

The plot is very basic. At its bare bones there is a band that has been together for 17ish years, they are called Spinal Tap. They have 2 brilliant musicians at their core, Nigel and Dave, they are describes as 'fire and ice' and the bassist tries to achieve balance between them. Their most recent 6 albums have been poorly received and are mocked in the heavy metal world. They are touring trying to promote their most recent release however they manage to sufficiently aggravate their manager that he quits, and then Nigel quits. It looks like the end for Spinal Tap, to find out what happens you'll have to see the movie.

The humor is what makes the movie so perfect. There are jokes referencing classic rock across the board. David's girlfriend is like Yoko Ono. David acts like Robert Plant, and the bassist is a knock off Geezer Butler. So yes there are many humorous things involving characters stereotypes however there are also some very funny bits coming from some of the lines in the movie like 'This one goes up to 11'. The third thing they do is they show what would happen if a gigs set failed to work. They also have a drummer die every year, in parody of Keith Moon and John Bonham. In addition they have had 37 band members over the course of their career.

Overall this is a hilarious movie that anybody who is into heavy metal would love. Actually most people who are into heavy metal have scene this movie and they all love it. This is a movie made by metalheads for metalheads makiing fun of metalheads. It shows us what we want to see, a funny group of guys trying to make it and not accepting that they are a washed up rock band, its just hilarious. There is a good and funny plot that creates a good vibe and in addition the jokes are totally brilliant. This is is a movie that is awesome both in concept and in execution and so I have to love it a lot. WATCH THIS MOVIE!

OVERALL 10/10

Waynes World

 ROCK ON WAYNE! Today I watched Wayne's World. So I decided to review it because it's Wayne's World and its completely awesome. This movie is often thought of on the same lines as the legendary This is Spinal Tap, a pure rock and roll movie that is simply over the top. Based off the successful SNL skit this is also one of the movies that got Mike Myers career started, which is pretty awesome in my opinion. This movie has an awesome plot, good characters and just a general over the top feel that makes it very funny. The story of this movie is ridiculous and funny because of that, this is a classically over the top SNL movie.

At the beginning of the movie you are introduced to Wayne, he still lives with his parents but he has a cable access show with his friend Garth called Waynes World that he wants to make a living off of. He meets a Cantonese girl named Cassandra while she is playing music at a bar and he falls in love with her. Then the same record agent signs both of them for seperate deals. Wayne is wanted for Waynes World and Cassandra is wanted for her music. The record dealer is only trying to exploit their talents. He ruins the relationship between Cassandra and Wayne as well as the relationship between Wayne and Garth. He tries to steal Cassandra from Wayne and Wayne has to find a way to get her back. The ending is completely and utterly ridiculous.

The movie has a lot of completely over the top scenes, and they are unbelievably funny. The first example is the third scene of the movie, this is the classic Bohemian Raphsody scene, a scene which sets the scene for the rest of the movie. Another example is the classic Foxy Lady scene, where Garth performs the most ridiculous dance ever. A 3^rd example is the scene where Wayne denounces selling out while showing off a variety of brand name goods. What I want to say is that it is hilarious to remember all of the scenes from this movie, they are so overblown and huge their very concepts are funny and no dialogue is needed to make it funnier.

All in all this is a fantastic movie with a ton of hilarious scenes. Mike Myers shines and creates a movie that is completely unforgettable and truly hilarious. I love this movie and will probably watch it 5 more times this month. There is a rather generic but hilarious plot which features a great cast of characters, all with very confused personalities. The scenes are just so over done that it they are at times pee-your-pants-funny. Really this is just SNL at it's best, a show with a lot of hilarious scenes that just make my life worth living. I would recommend this movie to literally anybody who knows their music.

OVERALL 9.5/10