I now offer online lessons via video chat services such as Skype, iChat, FaceTime, and BandHappy.

Video Chat Lessons are essentially the same as lessons in person.
The material for the lesson will be provided in advance via email as PDF files & MP3 files.

Whether you want to brush up on scales and theory, or explore a new style of music, I can help you reach your goals!

Video Chat Lessons use my standard Rates and Policies.

If you’d like a FREE trial video chat lesson, please feel free to e-mail me!


For More Info on Video Chat services, check these sites:
About Skype
About iChat
About FaceTime
About BandHappy

My Skype Screen-name is GregsGuitarLessons
My AIM / iChat Screen-name is GregsGuitarLssns

Enjoy!

You’ve been a lot of musical projects over the years.
What are the projects you currently consider to be ‘active’.

It is true. Currently active are Braid – we have several shows lined up for 2012 and Chris Broach and I have started working on what we hope will be a full album of new material. And Jack & Ace – a project that I started with Lauren LoPiccolo – we’re also working on an album of new material at the moment. A band i was in for awhile called Certan People I Know will release an album this year too, but we’re inactive. It’s just all of our unreleased stuff.

Is guitar your primary instrument?

Yessir.

Do you play any other instruments?

I read your interview with Mike Kinsella and we seemed to have traveled very parallel paths. Took piano lessons at a young age but didn’t stick with it, really got into the scene playing drums, and then ended up on guitar..

How long have you been playing guitar?

I started messing around on guitar in 1992-ish. An ex-girlfriend’s dad gave me his old clunker and I just started learning it..

Did you take any lessons growing up? (guitar or other)

Piano, as mentioned above, and around 1999 i took about 6 months of voice lessons. I was sick of blowing it out every show. I’d actually love to take a guitar lesson. Chris Broach & I are seriously considering signing up for a class in jazz guitar or latin or something far out..

What impact did that have on you as a musician?

I think a lot. My parents realized I loved music at an early early age so that’s why they had me on the piano. Even though i hated the routine and the practice, that knowledge has stuck with me and was super helpful when learning the guitar.

Do you have an understand of scales and music theory?
— How does that impact your songwriting?

Rudimentary at best. It’s more about “knowing where to put your fingers” during certain songs.

Do you still practice instruments, beyond when you’re writing for your bands?

Not as much as i’d like. I have a bunch of instructional dvd’s i’ve burned onto my hard drive that are just waiting.

Do you still attempt to push forward by learning new instruments or applications?

New instruments not so much. There’s still a LOT that i could learn about the guitar.

Do you have have a method for songwriting? How does it usually happen?
- Prefer bringing a skeleton to practice, or build as a collaboration?

I definitely prefer writing alone and then bringing the skeleton in. Or at least be prepared with something. Too many practices go nowhere or end up in noodly jams for me to stand ALWAYS building in collaboration. I despise noodly jams.

What is your electric guitar rig these days?

It’s a black SG from oh, 1997. I used to have a 74 SG that i used and sounded great but I destroyed it touring. This is why I can’t have nice things. I use an AC30 now too. But I’m thinking of throwing it off of my balcony.

How’s about acoustics?

I have a Guild that I like. It’s roadworthy. That’s important.

Does gear impact your songwriting / performing?

Sadly no, and i think it should. I’m very plug-and-play and rely on others to help fine tune the sound. I hate that I don’t know more about the actual sounds. The only pedals I use consistently are a looper and a tuner.

Any advice for students who are trying to find success in the music industry?

Play a lot of shows and record a lot. Write a lot of stuff down and take pictures. Don’t get discouraged but do ask for help and do ask for advice. And don’t worry about “success.” Just write and play music if it makes you happy. If it makes you happy, you’ll practice more, get better, write better songs, and the other stuff will come.

Any Advice for life on the road?

Enjoy your alone time whenever you are lucky enough to get any. And don’t go out for too long at a time. Maintain some sanity, a base, a place for yourself.

What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry, and what the future holds?

I’m very optimistic about the music industry because I almost think there is becoming less of one. Startups and indies are having a lot of success lately because they are choosing to adapt to technology as opposed to only seeing how it can hurt a business. Whatever happens, there will always be innovative musicians. I believe it.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for the interview! Hope I helped.

Just because you didn’t track in my studio does not mean that I can’t help improve your album! It can all be done remotely via the internet!

Most recently, I mixed and mastered the new record for Canadian math-rockers The Bulletproof Tiger, all from my home studio near Chicago.

The process for online mixing is simple:

(Please make sure they are properly named [kick IN, kick OUT, etc])

This same process can be done for mastering.

If you have an unmastered mix you enjoy, and want it to have that professional volume level, sparkle, sheen that your favorite albums have, let me know!

If you’re like a free sample song mixed or mastered, please e-mail me and we can discuss it further!

There is now a low-cost option to improve your tone!

Re-Amplify your sound!

The process is simple:

In return, you will receive the raw files of your guitar tone through top quality high end and vintage guitar gear! These files will be ready for you to throw in your DAW to complete your record.

Check out the Gear List to get a better understanding of how many wonderful options you have to create a lush array of tones for your record.

Re-Amplifiing your sound starts at the low cost of $20, but will vary based on the scope and size of the project. A true bargain to take your record to the next level.

Here is a great video of Eddie Kramer (known best for his in-studio work with Jimi Hendrix & Led Zepplin) talking about re-amping.

For both instruments, before anything, make sure it is setup by a professional. Ensuring that the action is comfortable, the intonation is accurate, the pickup height is adjusted, and the electronics are clean. You should have this done annually anyways, but especially when you’re recording.

For bass, if it is an active instrument, make sure it has a fresh battery, and consider bringing extras.

For guitars, it’s very important to KNOW YOUR PART. I know that sounds obvious, but if you’re aiming for modern big guitar tones, you’ll likely want to double track your parts. When doing that, you need to be able to replicate what you play as closely as possible.

Understand that the tone that you use live rarely works in the studio.
Example: Jimmy Page is known for the Marshall full stack and a Les Paul, but the majority of those ‘classic’ tones were actually recorded on a tiny 5 watt combo amp.

Be prepared to try new things in order to find your tone. Chances are your engineer (or myself) will know the studio’s amps, cabs, speakers, mics, preamps, and room. Trust them to help find best recorded tone for your record. A lot of bands just bring their guitars, and leave their amps at home. Although, if you have a special, unique, or rare item, it’s worth bringing it with.

Lastly, it’s smart to plan out extra guitar parts that act as additional production tracks. The core of the latest Green Day single may just be 4 power chords, but there are layers of additional tracks, to help provide the depth to their mix and help them get such a huge sound. These parts aren’t necessarily leads, nor are they something that you’d play live. They are just little things that would help expand the sound of the arrangement.

Good Luck!

Read How To Prepare For Recording Parts 1 2 3

Here is my first attempt at a video lesson.
Minus the Bear has been one of the most requested bands I have taught, so I thought it would be fun to try making a video.

Top Records:

Cloudkicker – Let Yourself Be Huge
Cloudkicker’s latest effort proves that a good songwriter is a good songwriter, regardless of genre. the songs are stripped down, and are mostly acoustic. The final track has his first exploration into vocals, and it’s one of my favorite tracks of the year.

Into It Over It – Proper
Into It Over It is really firing on all cylinders for me right now. Evan Weiss’ crew has picked up where Mock Orange’s The Record Play left off. Mathy pop rock with great hooks. Love the production on this too.

Owen – Ghost Town
Mike Kinsella’s latest may be his best yet. Clever, witty, smart songs, with beautiful guitar work, and terrific arrangements. that guy does no wrong in my book. he really sets the standard out of what i’ve come to ask for in an acoustic singer/songwriter.

Thrice – Major/Minor
i love thrice. they are one of the few bands i feel like i have moved in parallel with over the last decade. every record they release has a stylistic change, and it always seems to be EXACTLY what i’m in the mood for at that moment. This is no different. This is just a solid (alt)rock record. Great songwriting, clean production, and execution of the songs.

Town Portal – Vacuum Horror
AWESOME. very much like 09’s top 10 band Shelflife, but darker, heavier, and possibly baritone guitar users. Progressive indie instrumental music, but with their own midwest rock vibe. More arpeggiated than chuggy, more melodic than riffy. Great stuff.

Electric Hawk – S/T
These guys….i had written something about how awesome their american horse meat ep was, and how it was near the top of the list. They managed to release their full length just in time, which now replaces the ep on the list. Great production, great musicianship, great songs. Following the path of Russian Circles, and Pelican before them, it won’t be long before Electric Hawk are the new instru-metal darlings of chicago.

Foo Fighters – Wasting Light
I couldn’t tell you the last time i cared that foo fighters put out music. The hype about the process of how The Foo’s recorded the lp (in grohl’s garage, no computers) had piqued my interest. I picked up the vinyl version on record store day, and was blown away by this record. It’s just a kickass rock record. front to back. highly recommended. throw out any preconceived notions you may have. awesome lp.

City and Colour – Little Hell
If this list was in order of favorites, this may be in the top 3. A very simple, yet beautiful indie folk rock record. The songs are so great, you can look past that they are all the same chord progression (in different keys). Dallas Green’s unique voice is truly made for this style of music (compared to his old heavy band, alexisonfire)

The Dear Hunter – The Color Spectrum
I thought writing a 6 album concept was a hefty task. But Casey Crescenzo (the man behind TDH) wanted to take a break from his decade long concept, in hopes to do a one time, 36 song concept. One 4 song ep for each of the 9 colors in the color spectrum. Each of the songs on that album trying to capture the mood and feel of that color. Black is a heavier record with a darker mood. White is packed with tons of instrumentation, reminiscent of the Beatles. While i do think that his normal 10ish track count records are more consistent front to back, there are some great songs in this collection. But ultimately, i’m as fond of the concept as i am the songs. well done.

Bon Iver – S/T
Just a great indie, folksy record. Dense instrumentation, great arrangements, great melodies, and well crafted songs. Awesome.

Runners up:

Opeth – Heritage
Opeth is one of the few metal bands that i can rely on to stay fresh and have their own fingerprint. This is a little more laid back, progressive, and layered. Very cool record.

Junius – Reports from the Threshold of Death
I hate using sub genres, but when I do, it’s usually to say that i love me some space rock. junius’ latest record is a solid space rock outing that’ll fit nice in a playlist with the most recent constants. It almost has a lighter deftones feel to it.

Songs of Farewell and Departure: A Tribute to Hum
I think this is the first compilation i’ve ever had on any list. The bearfort ms. lazurus is terrific. If you like Hum, the record is worth a spin.

Braid – Closer to Closed
braid’s comeback ep was a contender to be on the best-of list early on, sadly, there was just a lot of music released this year. just a great midwest indie / emo sound, recorded by j robbins from jawbox. the last song was one of my favorite tracks of the year.

Connectedness Locus – Terraforms
Local experimental electronic musician. Not normally my cup of tea, but the record is produced really well, and the arrangements are great.

Moving Mountains – Waves
A killer modern alt / space rock record. Big sounds, good progressive tunes.

Mastodon – The Hunter
This is not their best work, but it is their best production. the sonic fingerprint of this record is awesome. The songs (for the most part), are not. There are some cool parts, and a couple decent tunes, but i can’t give them a free pass because they wrote ‘hearts alive’.

The Appleseed Cast – Middle States
Progressive indie spacerock? Sure. This record has a very dark diy feel to it. There are some killer improv jams-turned epic tunes. if it was a full length, it would probably make the top 10.

Puscifer – Conditions of My Parole
Maynard’s latest release. This record is VASTLY superior to the previous effort. The album has some great tunes, and it’s far more serious than the almost comedic debut. A few tunes have instrumentation similar to A Perfect Circle.

Russian Circles – Empros
I wanted to love it. I didn’t. It’s not a bad record, but it just didn’t grab me. The math rock post rock trio wrote some big dynamic tunes for this record, but they just don’t do it for me these days, the way they did in 04. I don’t know if the genre is getting saturated, or their songs just aren’t as riveting.

Office of Future of Plans – S/T
Falls somewhere between channels and jaw box, with cello. J Robbins, you’ve done it again.

Honorable Mention:

Cloudkicker – Loop: Album of DL4 loops. Worth a listen.
Bleaklow – big post rock record for fans of pelican and russian circles
Polygraph – Ends of the Earth – sweet instrumental progressive indie rock band.
Apparat – the devils work – somewhere near radiohead and electronica.
National Skyline – Primitive Parade – these days, a more rocked out coldplay
Generations of Vipers – huge riffy doom rock record
Sequoia – Couple Two Tree – good rock with great pop hooks
True Widow – doom gaze with female box?
Thursday – thursday’s final record. mighty synthy.
Radiohead – sounds like they are learning ableton.
Mogwai – Hardcore will never die. Not their best work, but worth a listen on Spotifiy.
Glassjaw – not bad music, but not really a follow up to a desert island ‘ worship and tribute’.

Records I Feel Bad Not Listing Above:

Wilco – The Whole Love
Zombi – Escape Velocity
Mock Orange – Disguised as Ghosts
Battles – Gloss Drop
O’Brother – Garden Window

Meh:

August Burns Red – Leveler
i don’t get it. everyone tells me to listen to this band. i do. it’s just not good (metal) music.

Death Cab For Cutie – Codes and Keys
i love death cab, but they don’t get a free pass. this feels like it was phoned in.

Cave In – White Silence
this band has two records in my top 20……which makes this record an even bigger disappointment. Just a bunch of disjointed tunes that don’t belong on the same album. ‘Sing my Loves’ is a cool tune, which pisses me off even more, as i know they have the potential to write awesome music, they just choose not to.

The Lonely iIsland.
another record i don’t get. i tried, but it’s not good music, and it’s not funny. not for me i suppose.

Dredg – Chuckles and Mr Squeezy.
good effort guys, just not your best work. nNt a bad album as much as it was a disappointing one (for me).

Metallica (and Lou Reed) – lulu
jesus christ. this is the worst thing to happen to music.

His new record Ghost Town is out now, and it’s fantastic. Go buy it.

How long have you been playing guitar?

i picked up my brother’s guitar in 7th grade and taught myself how to play some (rudimentary versions of) metallica songs.

Do you play any other instruments?

i play drums and bass and can pick out simple melodies on the piano.

Is guitar your primary instrument?

yeah i guess so. i think i could’ve been a better drummer than guitar player if i ever actually practiced or pushed myself. and i think i could’ve been better at both if i ever learned how to properly play either…

You’re an accomplished guitarist. 
  Did you take any lessons growing up? (guitar or other)

i took three months of piano lessons in third grade and couldn’t figure out how to get my hands to do two different things at the same time so i got frustrated and quit. 

What impact did that have on you as a musician?

um…prepared me for a lifetime of frustration?

Do you have an understanding of scales and music theory?
 — How does that impact your songwriting?

just a little bit. i wish i knew more, although i also feel like maybe i can enjoy making music more the more ignorant i am. like i can’t get too wrapped up in stuff if i don’t even know it exists, so i just have to write stuff that “sounds good” to me. 

A lot of your music uses alternate tunings.
  How did you start this approach? 

i think i just wanted to play a note that i couldn’t reach in standard tuning so i dropped it down and it’s been a slippery slope ever since. 

  Is there a method for when/why you use certain tunings?
  Any personal favorites?

there’s no real method. usually i’ll just be fooling around on a guitar and come up with a riff i like and then have to figure out what tuning the guitar was in after the fact. i’m a sucker for DADGAD, DGCGAC, FACGCE…

 
  Do you still practice instruments, beyond when you’re writing for your band?

nope. 

  Do you still attempt to push forward by learning new instruments or applications?

um…not really. don’t really have the time or mental space anymore. i mean, i’d like to think i’m always evolving (albeit slowly) into a better musician but i’m not necessarily actively pushing myself. 

 Do you have have a method for songwriting?   How does it usually happen?
 Start with a riff, vocal melody, beat?

i’ve usually got a bunch of riffs lying around and a bunch of one-liners lying around and eventually i get motivated to cycle through them all and put some pairs together that seem to fit. once i got something i like i figure out how to make an entire “song” out of it (extrapolate on the words, come up with a bridge for the music, etc.) 

 On record, Owen is mostly acoustic.  
   What is your go-to acoustic guitar?

i’ve got a ‘67 martin that sounds pretty perfect. i’m too afraid to travel with it but it’s fun to pull it out for recording.
 

 Do you have an electric rig at all? 
 If so, what do you have there?

i’ve had the same fender telesonic and twin reverb since college. i don’t play enough electric guitars to warrant any new/fancy purchases.
 

 Does gear impact your songwriting / performing?

not really. i pretty much only play acoustic guitars that are lying around my house. 
 

 I recall reading that you tracked a lot of the Owen material yourself. 
  Do you have a home studio? 

i used to have a DIGI001 set up and some ok monitors and mics but now i’ve just got an mbox and a couple general use mics that i demo with. i usually end up recording everything with an audio technica 4033…
 

Any advice for students who are trying to find success in the music industry? 

um…do what you like doing and don’t do what you don’t. 

Any advice for those balancing being an active musician as well as maintain a good family life? 

um…don’t do what you like doing and do what you don’t. 

What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry, and what the future holds? 

  i don’t know much about it. i’ve never had a manager and i’ve only been on (truly) indie labels my whole life. i know record labels are probably screwed unless they figure out some other service to offer. but i think people who are making music for the sake of music (i.e. not to get rich or famous) are going to be fine…

This DVD was filmed entirely in-studio. It was shot with multiple cameras, in HD, as well as having fully multi-tracked audio.

Check out an example here:

Email for prices and availability!