Chuck Anderson Jazz Guitar

Contrary to popular opinion, picking is the most difficult technical skill on the jazz guitar. Since the fingering hand is visually impressive, most guitar players think more and work harder on the fingering hand than they do on the picking hand.

Let’s break down picking into its most basic components. There are only 2 pick strokes [...]

Chuck Anderson’s new album ‘Freefall’ establishes him as a major force in jazz guitar.

Chuck Anderson is part of an elite group: world-class jazz musicians who focused their careers not on performing, but on passing the baton to others. Like the late Dennis Sandole and Charlie Banacos before him, Chuck spent his career focused on educating and mentoring students, many [...]

No matter what your involvement is in music, marketing needs to be a way of life. This is true more for the musician seeking to make a living in music but it generally applies to anyone with goals other than pure aesthetics.
What is marketing? Marketing is the entire range of activities that involve increasing your [...]

Talent is a topic that is difficult to pin down. The fact is that talent is a fact in retrospect. After you’ve developed it, it becomes obvious that you have it. The problem is that talent itself is a lot like oil. You’re not sure it’s there unless you drill for it. Drilling for oil [...]

Improvisation is at the heart of jazz. Too many people consider it a mysterious art that they can’t appreciate.
In reality, this art form is simply spontaneous conversation between friends. A listener no more has to understand the intricacies behind it, than they have to understand the details of brush strokes to appreciate a painting.

Just listen [...]

Thoughts and Observations
My first observation was more of a feeling than a thought. The words coming from the pages evoked a feeling of familiarity – not the words themselves but the feelings that came out of the words. The visceral sense of loneliness when you’re conceiving of and pursuing a creative idea which is neither [...]

Since the age of 16, I’ve been fascinated by the Jazz Guitar. I can’t tell you why … why I didn’t want to be a Rock star or the Lead guitar player in a famous Rock, Blues or Country band.
The fame held no appeal to me nor did the promise of money. My interest seemed [...]

I recently wrote this in Pat Martino’s guest book after hearing an interview that he did about his experience with Wes Montgomery.
I listened recently to your interview about your experience with Wes Montgomery, It was strangely similar to mine. It took place when I was 16 and it was also at Pep’s Bar. After a [...]

Today’s blog will be very brief but important.
Jazz guitarists are, like many other guitar players, obsessed with speed. Although speed is a good measurement of how much you’ve practiced, it’s not a good measurement of how musical you are.
Today’s advice is simple. Remember that whole notes , half notes, dotted half notes and quarter notes [...]

This is a copy of an E mail that I sent to Ben Ratliff, jazz critic for The New York Times It’s in response to a question concerning the market for jazz.
Ben,
I am a veteran jazz guitarist, born in Chicago but based in suburban Philadelphia.
I appreciate how you handle sensitive topics related to the Art [...]