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We are the Bravest

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This is a Burlington based 6 piece band that, to the older crowd which I am included in, is more pop then anything else. I do have a soft spot for the pop movement, as long as it’s tastefully done while making the song challenging to play love and with no diva’s attached! These kidz, We are the Bravest, are not part of the latter.

This band has been together for around 6 months, but they have quite the mature features to their sound. This post is just another way to spread the newz about upcoming new Canadian acts. You know the ones, the ones that never get the wider exposure that some bands get! I came across the band from an old and dear friend of the family that I recently caught up with.

My first impressions of the band, through their main site, is eloquent but forceful! Their playing style is straight forward with a little bit of complexity thrown in for good measure. They are truly a garage band that is just starting to locate their distinctive groove.

The guy’s myspace site has some neat tunes that they’ve done in the past. They’ve also posted about some recent shows that they played at in my area and of coarse, I missed them, damn it!

I’ve been known for my love of intricate guitar styles, but these guys have a decent flare to them. At times their sound is simple and then they create a nice layer in colour at the right moments. The guitarist sound like they are having a blast and to most people that is what music is all about right? A feel good type of band.

The drummer has some admirable chops and drive in his approach to playing on his kit, the vocalist has this pure ring in his vocal that I’d love to hear live to see if he can pull it off at a live show. The Bravest have two keyboardist, yes to keyboardist! I honestly can’t recall too many bands on the road that have this number, please correct me if I’m wrong here guys! Both keyboardist levitate in and out of phrasing’s filling in between the odd gap! You’d think that they would be overpowering in the pieces but oddly enough they’re not.

So if your in the southern part of Ontario, with nothing to do some Saturday nights, then go and check them out. I myself have not seen them but next time they’re in TO, I’m there.

Keep on Jammin’





Great TABs for John Mayer

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I feel that this is the best site for John Mayer tabs, period! I have found it a great source to turn to, if I come up against a mental road block when learning one of his tunes. I can still remember the first time I came across this site! I quickly ran threw the whole site and committed it to memory, just in case the suites wanted to pull the plug on it.

The site is simple and very easy to use. The contents are straight forward and never cluttered.

Not only does this place provide you with some GREAT tabs for playing John’s creations but, it also has a MISCELLANEOUS TABS part that I just found out about while going back through the site while writing this post. They’ve worked on Damien Rice, Cold Play, Ari Heist tunes as well Dave Matthews Band, Radiohead and Jeff Buckley. Check out the Various area and try the Somewhere over the rainbow one, it’s just fabulous! A buddy sent me a link from this guy playing this song on a eukalalee and it sounded so great, I decided to check out the tabs here and sure enough, they were bang on!

Keep on Jammin’

Developing your left hand dexterity

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Developing you left hand guitar dexterity, as well as your right hand, will pay off big time if you chose to do so. At first, some of these techniques seem odd or puzzling but, after performing these exercises you will wonder why you never thought about it before!

In the following examples, I want to be able to give you some portable tools in which to help you in your growth as a musician that can be used as an alternative to your instrument. So here goes!

One thing to do is to start using your other hand while completing simple tasks. For example, you should begin with using your mouse in your other hand. Try this while playing something simple like solitaire or another game. When starting off with this warm up, begin it very slowly! In the beginning, it will feel quite foreign to you. This will force your weak hand and brain to work in sink with one another until it comes naturally.

This next drill you can do anywhere. First go and get a pen or pencil. Now trying spinning it between your fingers. I find it very difficult to pass it from the index finger through to your thumb and back. I just gave up but if you can pull it off, then hats off to you! Once again, start off slowly until it flows effortlessly from one finger to another!

Just pick up a tennis ball and start squeezing! I find that if you can hold down with your fingers to the same level(keep your fingers flat, like when you have them laid out on a table) for a short period of time, it works best. If you can find a squash ball, use each finger individually to push down on it. This develops each finger’s strength. Not only will this start developing your overall finger strength, but it help out in dealing with stress.

These techniques are great not only for musicians but, can be used for people who have had strokes, or carpal tunnel issues as well! Try them out and tell me what you think about them. If you have founds was of improving these exercises then please tell me because it’s great to have a some fresh eyes on this subject to help improve all our techniques no matter how small they might be!

Keep on Jammin’

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