We have a few things to share with you this month,
so let's get started.

Barrington Bay Music Club

We have started a loyalty program called the Barrington
Bay Music Club or BBM Club for short. This club is
free to join and membership has it's advantages.

10% Instant Discount - Show us your BBM Club card and
                                    we'll knock 10% right off the
                                    top of the price of any regularly
                                    priced items in the store. This
                                    applies to special orders on lines
                                    we carry as well. (A few restrictions
                                    apply - like on used and consignment
                                    items for example)

25% Birthday Discount - We will send you a birthday card
                                     containing a coupon good for 25% off
                                     any regularly priced items in the store.
                                     Again - this applies to special orders
                                     on lines we carry as well.

Additional discounts for BBM Club Members only as I get
them from my suppliers.

Enrollment in our Newsletter (what you're reading now).

I will add more benefits to the club members as time
passes.

Membership is free, and you can join by coming into the
store and filling out the Membership Form, or apply
online Barrington Bay Music website. If you sign
up online, your card will be here waiting for you.


Jam Sessions

We've completed our first cycles of Jam Sessions; one
acoustic, one electric.

The acoustic jam on Jan 14th was attended by about a half
dozen or so guitarists. While a little disappointing for
attendance, it seems everyone had fun, including the few
spectators we had come in. The next acoustic jam on the
11th of February should have more attendees. I invite
everyone to come out and check it out.

January 28th's electric jam blew us away. The support for
this session was amazing, with over a dozen guys showing
up with their gear in advance of the 1pm start time. The
event was attended by approximately 40 people, with over
half being players.

The highlight of the jam was Avery d'Entremont's son
(I apologize but I don't know his name) who is about
9 or 10 years of age, kicking out some serious beats
on the drum kit. I know he played through some blues,
the Eagles' Hotel California, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home
Alabama, and Ozzy's Crazy Train.

We had a drum kit, bass amp, and 3 guitars amps running
at the same time and rocked until almost closing time.
The next electric jam is scheduled for February 25th.
Invite your friends and lets peel the paint off Barrington
again.

I took a few pics and will put them up on the website in the Jams Gallery.


Guitar Chops

I'm going to cover finger-picking this time. A few of you
have come into the store and heard me playing something
finger-picked and expressed interst in learning how to
do it. Well... let's see if I can explain it. In the
following I will be referring to positions for righthanded
players, if you're lefthanded, simply reverse the positions.

When I talk about finger-picking, I refer to the classical
style of playing, not the bluegrass style. A rippling,
almost harp like sound derived from the guitar.

Let's start off with the position of the guitar. You should
hold the guitar where it's most comfortable. It's preferred
to be over the left leg (if you're a righthanded player), as
this approximates the standing position best, or you can stand
if you have a strap. The neck should be level with the floor
or angled up as high as 1 O'clock on a clock face for the
true classical position. It truly doesn't matter the position
of the neck or body of the guitar as long as you are comfortable.

Let's move on to your hands, your left hand should be in a
comfortable place to fret the needed notes. The right hand
should extend down over the strings so you can rest your
thumb (p) on the low E (6th string), and your index (i),
middle (m), and ring (a) fingers on the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st
strings respectively by draping your arm in a relaxed fashion
over the guitar.

You will want to anchor your arm at the point where it t
ouches the guitar as you aren't going to be moving your
hand much at all. You may also want to anchor your
hand further with your pinky finger by pressing it to
the top of the guitar. Once in place, you won't be moving
your hand a lot. All motion comes from the fingers at
the knuckles.

An example of this position and movement is to pretend
your hand is a spider, and to "walk" it across a table
top. Each finger moves separately, with the hand, wrist
and arm stable and unmoving.

I have used some material from a guitar magazine for the
examples.

Example 1

Start with an E chord. If you have trouble reading tablature,
the numbers simply reflect what frets to place your fingers on.
In this case an E chord is low E open (don't fret this), A at
the 2nd fret, D at the second fret, G at the first fret, and
B and e open.

The example is in 6/4 time, which really means nothing.
Just play it steady and smoothly. Starting with the thumb (p),
pluck the low E string, then "walk" your index, middle and
ring fingers across the strings they rest on, then pluck the
A string with your thumb and repeat with the fingers, and again
on the D string and repeat with the fingers. This is going
to take some practice and time to build up your dexterity.

e :-0--|---------0---------0---------0-|-------------------------
B :-0--|-------0---------0---------0---|------------------------
G :-1--|-----1---------1---------1-----|------------------------
D :-2--|----------------------2--------|-------------------------
A :-2--|------------2------------------|-------------------------
E :-0--|--0----------------------------|-------------------------
p i m a p i m a p i m a

Once you have got this sequence smooth, try some more examples at  http://www.barringtonbaymusic.com/newsletter/fingerpick.jpg

Included at the end of the examples is part of "Stairway to Heaven"
that you can try once you get the technique smoothed out a bit.

Have fun.
 

Rentable Space

I've been approached by a local band to know if I'd be willing
to rent out the store (after hours) for practices. I haven't made
a final decision as of yet, but I'm curious how many bands are looking
for jam/practice space and whether this would be worthwhile.

If you or your band are looking for a place to jam or practice,
contact me through the store or the website with your information
and preferred days, and if there's enough interest I'll draw up a
schedule and fee structure.