Yet again, Mr. Ransley delivers another awesome Pentatonic guitar lesson. If you haven't yet checked out part 1 of Robert's Pentatonic lesson, I highly recommend that you check that one out first, before continuing with this one. You can find the first installment here. I'll now turn over the reins - enjoy!

Pentatonic Scales (lesson 2)
(For any instrument)

Hi all,
Robert here with the second part to the pentatonic lesson. I hope you got a grasp on lesson one because this lesson is a direct continuation. Enjoy it and remember if you have any questions place them in any comment section of www.bluesandjazzguitar.blogspot.com. Have fun!

What follows is the superimposing of a major pentatonic scale, whose root will change, over a static root. This will produce the relationship of:

Maj. Pent.
Static root

The major pentatonic scale will ascend by half step and we will analyze the resulting tones when played over a fundamental static bass note (root).

At this point I will refer to all non chord tones (2nds, 4ths and 6ths) as their compound interval equivalent (9ths, 11ths and 13ths). These are also known as the extensions of the chord or scale. So:

2nds = 9ths
4ths = 11ths
6ths = 13ths

Let’s start with C major pentatonic (1, 9, 3, 5, 13) over a root C or mathematically I/I (Maj. Pent./Fundamental static root)



Note that in the “fraction” I/I, the fact that both roman numbers are the same simply means that the roots are the same. The roman number on the left will be the major pentatonic scale and it shares the same root as the roman number on the right which is the fundamental bass note.

Now, we want to analyze this relationship and see the resulting tones to determine over what chord(s) it will fit.



So, when a C note is sounding in the bass and you play a C maj. pent. scale, the resulting tones are those listed above the scale. We need to see which notes are chord tones (part of the structure of the chord), that way we’ll know what type of chord it fits. Chord tones in this case are 1 = Root; 3 = Major 3rd; 5 = Perfect 5th. A clear major triad is formed inside the structure of a (or any) major pentatonic scale. So this scale must sound good over a C major chord. The 9th and 13th are the extensions or color tones.

In lesson 3 we’ll start to compare this scale with other roots and you’ll see all the neat sounds it produces! ‘Til then, bye…

Can you believe that the most unlikely of heroes actually saved that day? I should add this guy to my ongoing series of personal guitar heroes. So who is the mystery man? Well, he's not that big of a mystery!


Chris Llewellyn who is the guitarist for the hip hop artist Asher Roth was on a plane Wednesday that was headed for Los Angeles, when a bit of a ruckus broke out. Apparently a very disgruntled man had all he could take, and shoved a stewardess to the ground. It didn't stop their, as the man claimed to have a bomb, and rushed to the exit door, making an attempt to open it in mid flight. Llewellyn heard the commotion, saw what was going on, and acted.

The 26 year old guitar player tackled the disturbed Delta passenger, and with the help of several other passengers, restrained the man until the plane could safely land. Soon after the man was taken into custody, and no bomb was found on the plane, but thanks to the efforts of Chris and other passengers aboard the Delta plane, any other troubles were quickly avoided. However, the man was not restrained in a perfect scenario. Chris told the Los Angeles Times that everyone was struggling to keep the man pinned, because he was acting insane.

Talk about a hero!

Its almost like there are two worlds in guitar playing. You have the guitarists
who like to use a flat pick, and then you've got the guitar maestros who use
a strict finger picking technique.

Getting the dexterity down for acoustic guitar finger picking can be a bit
of a hassle, and it almost seems as though the fingers don't want to budge.
With some simple exercises, the obstacle can be removed from the road.

Before we continue to explore finger picking, we first need to establish something. In the classical guitar world, where plucking the strings with the fingers is quite common, there is a labeling of the fingers. The labeling is simple, and knowing it will help you to guide yourself when you start working with these passages.

P = Thumb
I = Index finger
M = Middle finger
A = Ring finger



The abbreviations come from the Spanish words of Pulgar, Indicio, Medio, and Anular, and its a very easy system to work with.

By the way, one of the best beginning guitar books has always been
Frederick Noad's First book for the guitar

I even have it in my collection, and it helped me get started with classical technique.

Now that we know that the fingers are labeled as P,I,M, and A, we can apply this identification tool to simple guitar tab.

For this lesson we're going to simply focus on getting our fingers warmed up
with some simple plucking, using P and M for the chords and I for the single
notes. This is also a similar approach to the Beatles song Black Bird.



A word of advice. The key thing here is to take your time, because you want to
put your focus on syncing up the chord changes with the picking. I know that
seems obvious, but the plucking helps to keep a really good rhythm.

Stay tuned, because in the next lesson I'll show you how to put a little more "pep" in it ;)

So in the last guitar finger picking lesson, we learned about the finger labeling system of PIMA. Remember, it was P = thumb, I = index finger, M = middle finger, and A = Ring finger. If you need to, you might want to check out the last finger picking lesson, because this lesson will be an expansion of the piece that we were working on previously.

In the last lesson we were making use of the thumb and middle finger to pluck simple two note chords with, while using the index finger to insert some single note action, which helped to keep a good rhythm and produce a nice melody.

In this lesson we're taking it a step further, by not really doing much more with
the piece.

We're going to divide our chords up a little differently, and add more single note finger picking. By doing this, it will sound a little fancier and have a better rhythm structure. This produces a more interesting appeal, because the arrangement gives us a bass line as well, creating the effect that there are two different guitar layers happening at once, and yet - oh my gosh! its only one guitar player!!

Oh yeah, notice the last note where I goofed and had to erase it later and replace it with the correct note - sorry about that guys. Enjoy.

This will be easier if you have a way of recording yourself, or if you have a buddy that can play one of the parts. If you need a cheap recording solution, there's a recording program that I used to use called WavePad, and its not the best, but maybe they've improved it. You can find it
here.

Anyways, duo harmony is exactly what it sounds like - its simply two or more guitar parts that harmonize with each other, and this works best for lead playing. A lot of flashy heavy metal players are using this trick extensively today, and I have to admit - its quite addictive.

Let's take a look at several ways that we can do this. The simplest method is to take or write one set of notes, and then play the exact same notes, exactly one octave apart (either higher or lower - its your choice).

Here's an example, when put together they have an awesome effect.



Note for note, those passages are the same, but just one octave apart. Something that you hear a lot of in some of the more popular metal bands right now is another type of duo harmony. This is the same harmony that is common in Cuban piano work. In metal guitar, the sound of two lead parts played in this particular way presents a
sour, wicked result.

The formula for this approach is simple. Take a lead part, then when you go to harmonize with it, instead of playing it one octave apart, drop the starting note down 3 notes. That's a whole plus a half step, W+H.

Here it is in action:




And yet one more that I know about is below. The formula for this one is to take your first lead passage, and when you to the next one, drop the starting note (from the octave position) down 5 notes.



There are so many different ways that you can construct these harmonies, and the best way to get this locked into your head, is to do a little bit of experimentation with each method, and even better - see what you can come up with.

The key is really to start with the first notes of both passages. Come up with something, and then try to find the first note of your lick in a different area, exactly one octave higher or lower. After you get to that spot, you can then start to move the overlapping lick around to see what works.

Best of luck - I hope I explained this well and that this helps you guys out.

When I first started getting into recording my own music, I tried every way to find the best free solutions in recording software. I can remember like yesterday, scouring the internet for the most mediocre of recording programs. I would download and use them, but still the results were always limited, and probably because of the times. Now why did I choose to do this? well the reason back then was because I didn't know anything about recording my music, and especially not by way of direct, digital methods, so I didn't want to waste any money at this time.

I can now honestly say that I am a proud owner of Ableton Live, which I use religiously, and would recommend to absolutely anyone. However, the program is a little pricey AND it requires months of experimentation just to get the basics down. Is this recording program worth all the money and effort? yes it is, but a lot of people want something that they can use immediately, without having to spend hundreds of hours devoting their time to reading through training manuals, and investing just as much time by way of trial and error.

I recently found a great solution to this problem. Though this is a guitar
instructional blog, I have no problem talking about recording software or anything related, because recording your own music also benefits the expansion of learning and recording musical art, well....duh!

There is a beat creation program that is now available called Sonic Producer. This beats program, mainly assists a musician in creating music of a hip hop or rap flavor, which you would think would only benefit those who are interested in hip hop music or similar styles. I beg to differ.

I have a drum set, yet I do not have the space, amount of mics, equipment, nor acoustic set up to facilitate the process of recording live drums. This is great if you have a drummer to work with, but if you are an independent guitar player such as myself, and you want an easy solution, then a recording program like Sonic Producer is the way to go.

I do have Ableton Live which is in my opinion the most phenomenal recording program ever to grace the face of the planet, and is pretty much the cream of the crop for beats, but I know that it isn't the cheapest solution. With the release of Sonic Producer, I can seriously say that this is the cheapest solution for creating backing tracks to compose to or jam over that I have ever seen. Sonic Producer contains thousands of samples to work off of, and if you are more traditional, you don't just have to work with new age hip hop beat sounds. Yes, it can deliver exactly what you want, no matter what your style is. Its 30 bucks!!! my God!!

I can't believe this, because anything of this high caliber is always in the multi-hundred dollar price range. I'm really thrilled, because though it can't do what a program such as Reason or Ableton can do, it isn't that far away from the quality of these programs.

I look at it this way, and from the perspective of a mainly lead guitar player - the drums and bass are the bones of the song, and the rhythm guitar is the meat. What's the candy of this operation? lead guitar of course! It doesn't matter what your deal is, you gotta have the bones to make this music thing work. Sure, you can turn the bones into the candy of your masterpiece, but you still gotta have 'em!

There is nothing tastier than creating raw beats to either practice guitar over, or to recording with. How do you think I practice or find inspiration? I gotta have beats and bass!! with my recording program, it takes me five minutes to get a good, basic backing track down. Sometimes I just practice over a set of drum beats, but a lot of times it amounts to a complete song.

I also like the fact that Sonic Producer is so easy to use, and it the necessity of it easily fits in with other plugins or bits of recording software.

If you feel that rhythmic backing tracks are what is lacking in your arsenal, then definitely check out Sonic Producer.

You know, I never thought to mention this, but I am left handed. Now this may not seem important to most, because there are certainly a lot of guitar players our their who are left handed, but most left handed guitar players who are capable of great technique and guitar speeds, typically choose to string and hold their guitars completely opposite.

This is not me. I play guitar the same way that most right handed guitarists play. What is the correct approach if you are a left handed person is just starting to play guitar? well, naturally there is no right or wrong way to go about it. I can remember when I first started playing, for the first 3 months, I couldn't do what most right handed guitar players had accomplished in that same amount of time.

So, if it was that difficult for me, then why did I go this route? because I was told that I had too, and that playing my guitar in reverse would be harder to practice on. What do I think now? its rubbish of course. Just because a right handed guitar player might imagine it to be a difficult task, doesn't mean that a left handed person will have a hard time with it. I mean, asking someone to go against their physical or genetic design, is like asking them to walk on the ceiling.

Oh, it gets better!!

This is really quite fascinating. The other night I was reading about being ambidextrous, because I claimed to be so to a particular person once. She told me that I was not ambidextrous, but that their was a different name for my capabilities, and that I was only "half" ambidextrous. So, I put it out of my mind, but when I read this article the other night, I was blown away by what it had to say about ambidextrous people.

The article explained that basically if you can do one thing that you shouldn't be able to do with your unfamiliar hand, then you are technically ambidextrous. Here's where it gets good. The article went on to explain that most people who are ambidextrous, start out as left handers, and learn to become ambidextrous because we live in a right handed world. Fascinating!

This tells you that what you believe someone can do is only based on them being "gifted", "lucky", or "blessed" is total B.S. I've said it for years, but people just like to make excuses for themselves, I think. I mean that's easier to do, right?

Anyways, imagine that you wanted to become ambidextrous for some reason - could you do it? hell yes you could! When I was six I broke my left arm, and it was in a cast for a very long time. I loved to draw, and spent most of my time doing this. So, I had to learn how to write and sketch with my right hand. I'm way out of practicing now, but at the time I learned to develop my right hand pretty well.

I keep getting these random requests to tab out Rasputin, the heavy metal song that I wrote years ago. Its a goofy sounding song, but every one seems to dig it, so thanks guys for all your kind words.

Someone finally nudged me the other day and I decided to tab Rasputin out in its entirety. If you've never heard it before, here's basically what it sounds like:




The first part is strange and it doesn't exactly come easy at first, but if you just work with it a little bit, the main verse starts to click. Enjoy!

This is something that doesn't get talked about enough, yet I know that the guitar players who baptize their guitars with their fluids of mastication are out their reading this right now, and yes, I said mastication, and no - its not something that you do in the shower. It would be very difficult to eat a cheeseburger while bathing, or would it?

Anyways, you either have drooled on a guitar before, or you've witnessed someone doing this and have laughed at them. I will admit that I used to do this all the time, and I wish that someone had documented it because it would have been hilarious to see. If I had this video, I swear to God that I would post it on youtube - honestly.

I'm getting ready to make a point here - no, this is not a bullshit article like maybe you thought it would be.

First of all, if you've ever made fun of someone for accidentally salivating on their guitar neck while they were practicing, then you should keep your mouth shut :)......*bu-dump-tisss* - I bet you went home and did the exact same thing.

So lets break this down. When you drool upon your guitar, what does this tell you about your current physical state? It tells you that your mouth was open for a period of time and that you forgot to swallow and that you stupidly allowed the fluids to flow out of your mouth, and onto Lucille, Betty, Mom, or whatever you've named that thing.

Now what does this tell you? It tells you that your mind was elsewhere. In fact, it tells you that your brain was so distant that you couldn't even control your basic motor functions - careful! don't make a mess in your pants!

Why was this happening? because all of your mental energy was being funneled to one place. Where? your hands of course. I could be wrong, but I would bet you that more beginning to intermediate guitar players drool on their guitars than advanced guitar players.

Advanced guitar players rarely find something so challenging to work on that would cause them to bathe their guitars in saliva. Sometimes it still happens though ;)

I feel bad for the advanced players and good for you if you are at the beginning of your guitar journey. Why? because what you are displaying when you have this "accident" is the shear mental power that you need to keep thriving in order to reach a certain level of guitar playing.

Perhaps you even get a headache after practicing guitar - that's great! this tells me that you are able to blot out everything and make true, and worth while progress on the guitar.

I'm telling you this because you need to be aware of this kind of mental dedication to your craft. I can't tell you how many times I have said, or have heard said "I play it perfectly, but as soon as I think about what I'm playing - I screw it up!". Does that sound familiar. Thinking hard about what you are playing is not the same as mental focus.

This may be the cause of your lacking of progress with a certain lick or song. I'm a strong believer that guitar evolution is 50% mental and 50% physical, and I talk about this a lot in my book, The essential guide to guitar virtuosity.

A strong sense of awareness is a very, very powerful tool for the guitar player. This is also why it is so important to focus in the right way. I don't know about you, but every time I'm recording a piece, its me - I'm their - I feel my inner spirit, but then when I go back to play the recording - it sounds like someone else played it.

This also tells you that the brain can really cloud your judge meant when practicing. This is also why it is so important to be somewhat self critical, but in a healthy way. You have to be honest with yourself in order to make progress. Dimebag Darrell for instance, used to carry a tape recorder around with him when he was a kid and play back what he had previously recorded. He was always asking himself "how can I make this better?" - "it seems to be a little bit off" - "I need to work on my fretting hand strength", etc.

So if you're having trouble getting into that "zone" sometimes, without the use of narcotics, then think about all the times that you drooled on your guitar. It can be a difficult thing to isolate the parts of the brain that you need, but it can be done, and perhaps you've done it in small instances.

Be aware that this is the mental place that you need to put yourself in.

Keep your head up - hardy har har.

In an effort to make a more user friendly guitar instructional blog, I have just created and launched the official Guitar Speed Secret Blog, which is a sister site to Guitar Speed Secret.com.

I do understand that the topic of speed development and mastering advanced techniques is very specific, but I do get a lot of questions regarding these subjects. So, if this doesn't interest you - I'm still going to maintain GuitArticles, and I will try and stay on top of both blogs as much as possible, but you also know that I just added a lot to my plate, right? ;)

Anyways, check out the new blog, and you can do me a favor by participating in the poll on the right hand side, which will give me a better idea of what you would like to work on. You can choose multiple answers, and if for some reason the poll is too vague, let your voice be heard by emailing me or commenting.

It works best with user participation, because I can teach you more directly this way. Feel free to express your views, so that we can learn and share together.

Take care

I keep receiving questions about writing songs and/or guitar solos, and I get a lot of difficult questions in my inbox ;)

I was recently asked to do a series of videos, outlining how I go about writing a guitar solo, with effects and so forth. I decided to accept the challenge, though this is a very difficult thing to do. To turn on a camera, suddenly become inventive, and explain what is going on is a sure pathway to a headache, and today I definitely have one, but none the less - I delivered.

So in this next 3 videos I explain how I go about song writing and adding a guitar solo. I explained this to the best of my capabilities, using some common sense, and a little improvisation, but there is a lot of good information in this video series, and I do reveal some of my secrets that normally I wouldn't.

Hope this helps you out a lot and please enjoy - it took me 6 hours to make these 3 videos. Parts 2 and 3 are on the way.

Ok, so in the first installment, we laid down a basic drum beat, and added some cool sounding chords, keeping in mind a more interesting rhythmic structure.

Now we need some sort of a melody/intro to what will be our guitar solo. You will see in the video that I settled upon the D Natural Minor scale to line up with our chords, the first chord being D minor.

We'll also make good use of Duo harmony, where we take to melodic phrases and harmonize them with each other. You can find a lesson explaining the process of Duo Harmony by way of that link.

In the video we'll also go over note arrangement a little bit, which is very important for a melodic sounding solo. I won't give it all away, because you can certainly watch the video for yourself, but part 3 will be coming out shortly, which is where it gets really good.

Imagine that someone came to me and asked "what is in your opinion the most important guitar lesson on the site of GuitArticles? which of ALL of the lessons should a student pay the most attention to, and think about on a daily basis?". My answer would be THIS guitar lesson. This is not a how to, a step-by-step, nor does it even feature some sort of example by way of video, audio, or tab. No, it is just so important that it can not be summed up so easily with a multi-media file, or me saying "put your 1st finger here, and play this".

This article in particular can be summarized by one word. ATTITUDE. When I say attitude, I'm not talking about feeling "bad ass", or metal or anything like that. Even soulful, gentle, emotional music has attitude. When I say attitude, I'm talking about what you feel inside when you play music on any instrument, or what you can potentially feel inside.

The shear thrill and energy that you get from playing the guitar shapes your decisions in phrasing, note choices, timing, feel, and most importantly - how you produce the notes or chords.

If you've ever seen my videos when I'm improvising, you will notice that there are times when I get quote, unquote - medieval with the notes. In other words, the feeling of immediate alignment causes me to snap the hell out of the strings. Not break them, snap them with so much emotion that I have inside that it can only come out through my hands.

This feeling is similar in intensity to the feeling that you get when you are really angry, but in a good way, and chances are my best playing comes forth after I have been frustrated for a very long time. Its a valve - its a release, and anyone (and many do) can use it in the form of guitar. It doesn't matter whether you consider yourself artistic, creative, beginner, intermediate, advanced, or "skilled" on the guitar, we all are people and we all carry the same emotions - USE THEM.

Intensity is more important than technique or theory. Period. Intensity can even come in the form of playing something quietly or gently, because this requires a focus that is on the same plateau as playing something ridiculously hard and loud.

You should also come to realize that this kind of control of expression over your playing does not happen right away, and it certainly doesn't happen in the first few years of playing guitar. No, first you must create some things for yourself that only you may like, AND a guitar player has to develop a decent sense of coordination and skill. It doesn't take much, but the better you get, the more ideas you can express (because you'll know how to express them), and you will have broadened your mental and physical palette to be able to play with. When I say play - I mean experiment. It would be kind of hard to write these words if there were only two letters in the alphabet - get it?

Below is a video of me jamming over one of my favorite songs. This is not a form of self promotion at all, because I actually consider this to be my worst jam yet (there are lots of mistakes). The point is, pay close attention to how much energy I put into my playing. It is at times intense, because I'm all their - mistakes included. If you listen closely, you can hear just the guitar strings over all of the noise.

This is part 3 of our constructing a guitar solo lesson, which by the way I totally forgot to post on the site, so I'm sorry for this. Anyways, as promised - this is where things start to get really good - hope you enjoy, and I don't apologize for the off colored comment at the end ;)

Its typical for any guitar player to want to isolate techniques and work on each one separate from another. For instance, we tend to work on sweep picking, and then when we're finished doing that we'll move on to something like alternate picking. Here's the rub - most professional sounding guitar players will combine such techniques. There are two strong reasons for this. One, it makes playing the advanced stuff on the guitar easier, and two, it gives a guitar player more room for expression.

So in this lesson we're going to work with an outstanding exercise that I use to warm up with personally, that combines two techniques. What are they? alternate picking and economy picking, but with more focus on alternate picking.

One more thing before we get started - I truly believe in the power of limiting yourself to working with just two exercises per technique. One big and one small, and I'll show you exactly how we're going to do that. We're going to build a small exercise, and then gradually turn it into our larger exercise.

Watch the video, then consult the tab.

Before I begin, I wish that I could give you some sort of formula for transcribing guitar parts from songs, but I really can't because its done on intuition and from focus. Plus, I have no idea what song or what type of music you may be interested in tackling.

However, I am well aware that many guitar players, both young and old are out right intimidated by the thought of, or word of "transcribing".

As someone who continues to do it to this day, I have learned quite a bit about doing so, and have been proven time and time again that there are tricks that can aid you. I will do my best to help you, but first, why should a guitar player learn to transcribe music?

First, in my opinion, the ultimate goal of any musician should be to find their own voice, and throwing away the tabs and buckling down will unlock the whole world for you. Everything that I teach by way of videos, article lessons, or even rants was born from trying to figure it out on my own. I can't even begin to emphasize this, and words cannot describe.

Second - even if you simply wish to play pre-written songs for the rest of your life, learning them the old fashioned way makes things like soloing, and improvising a total synch. If someone puts you on the spot in front of a bunch of people and you are expected to learn a song right then and there, as that person is playing it, it will be no problem anymore.

So now we begin...

STEP ONE

The first thing is where DO you begin? most people could listen to one note, and they can't picture where its at, and so they assume that its going to be anywhere, and yet it is in one
specific place as expected.

If you do the math, you've got 6 strings, and on a full 24 fret guitar, 2 octaves per string. Let's take a random note. Say G#. On the low E string alone there will be 2 G#'s - remember, two
octaves per string. Now you've got 6 strings - 2 x 6 = 12. So you've got 12 of each note on the guitar - pretty cool.

Even if your guitar doesn't have 24 frets, thinking like this makes playing so much easier.

Now, let's imagine the fretboard as being divided into 4 sections.

We'll say that from frets 0 to 6 are section 1, 6 - 12 are section 2, 12 - 18 are section 3, and 18 - 24 are section 4.

There is a HUGE difference in pitch when a note like G# is played in section 1, 2, 3, or 4. Its the same note, but the sharpness grows as you move on up the neck. By the way, we're not just sectioning off one string, we're handling all of them.

I don't expect you to get it right away, but playing around with this mindset could very well mean that you will be able to go to the correct area of the fretboard, even if you don't have
perfect pitch and know what note it is that you are trying to find.

STEP TWO

Since man does not sport monstrous hands, nor 13 fingers on each hand, you can pretty much assume that the next set of notes will be in close proximity to the one that you first found. The first note by the way gets it started. In my opinion, if you can find the very first note of a guitar solo or melody, you can crack the code for the entire thing.

You should put a LOT of emphasis on that very first note and remember where its at, because if you get lost - this is your starting point again.

The next question to ask yourself is, are the next notes higher or lower, and how much so?

Let's say that you've come to the conclusion that the next note is lower. Even if you have to do half steps, or one fret at a time to find that next note - do it. Once you find the next note, again - lock it in. Go back and play those 2 notes over and over again. We'll worry about the mechanics
of how the notes are played/expressed later.

Even for me, if I encounter a song that's pretty fast and hard to keep up with I will tend to have trouble, but you and me both have a secret weapon. The pause button on our computer or CD player. where ever you are at in the song, hit the pause button immediately after the part that's got you hung up. Don't let those other sounds interfere and throw you off. One block at a time.

Though this process might seem confusing now, if you take my advice of breaking it down, over time it will tend to happen on auto pilot. Hope this helps - best of luck.

Its been a little while now, but roughly a month ago I went to the Alice Cooper Theater Of Death show, and I would have written about it then, except that things have been nuts lately. I must say, if you enjoy Alice Cooper's music and you want to go to the best show that you've ever been to in your life - check him out on tour.

I had seen video of him and his famous, eccentric stage shenanigans before, but seeing the master himself live blows everything else out of the water. There was no shock rock vaudeville stone left unturned as he truly commanded the stage like only a mascara running, self resurrecting, bad boy can.

My brother had always described to me the atmosphere of the show so I did have a little bit to go off of, but then when you are actually witnessing the flow of an Alice Cooper concert, you really don't give an F about any other show. Seriously, everything else is just boring to me now, and the man is in his early sixties now, so now is the time to enjoy what he has to offer, because again - his work is made to be spontaneous, or in other words - live!

Don't let the early sixties part fool - Alice is like a fine wine - he gets better with age.

I've got a pretty cool (I think) sweep picking lesson that I just added to GSS.com. It is definitely directed towards beginners, but advanced players can get some good out of it too.

It starts off with a more manageable pattern, and then expands into something really hot at the end. I've been jamming with this one a lot late because I think its a lot of fun to play. Its very simple in sound - nothing too fancy, and its not a barre sweep either, so it may be a little easier for some of you to tackle.

Read through the text guide, which explains how to develop and practice it. If you like it, let me know and we'll work on some more sweeps together! I bet we can get pretty crazy with this stuff ;)

Sorry I'm not a better classical guitar player. I used to be decent.

Ok straight up I want to say that this is my version that I came up with when I was a kid. I like this, and I don't want anyone pestering me about how its not accurate and all that. It is accurate, its just an interpretation. The problem with most versions of this song is that they are draggy and depressing. This song was meant to be "uppety", because it is a song of joy.

Its a great piece because its a very old Christmas song from France, but it can be played all year round because of its structural diversity I guess you could say.

Real quick:

As mentioned at Wikipedia, this song was first published in the year 1553, and was not meant to be sung as a Christmas song, but rather a song to celebrate French nobility. Though the song contains religious lyrics, and respectively not everyone is in to that, they are still really beautiful. If you wish to know more about it you can check out the Wikipedia page here.

TABS


BRING A TORCH JEANETTE ISABELLA (this is the original file - sorry about its presentation)

|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|--3-------------------0--1--0--------|--3-------------------0---------|
|------0--0-----0--2------------2----|------0--0-----0--2-----2---0--|
|------------4------0--------0--------|------------4------0---------0--|
|--------------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|--3------3---------2--------3--------|--3------3---------2---------3--|

|--------------------------------|------------------------------------|
|--3----3--3--1--0--0----------|------------------------------------|
|------0---------------2--0--0-|-------------------5-----5---4--2--|
|--5--5----------------------0--|--4---2h4h5-0-0-----------0--0--|
|--------------------------------|------------------0----0-----------|
|--3-------3--3-----3--------3--|-------0-----3---5--5------3--2--|

|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------0----0-----3----0-------------------------------|
|--0----------2--------5-----2------------2--0----------2-----------|
|--2----------0--------------0---------------2----------0-----------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--0----------2-----3--------2-------0-------0----------2-----------|
|__staccato__| |__staccato__|

|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--0-----0-----3----------------------------------------------------|
|-----5-----2-----0------0------------------------------------------|o
|-----------0-----0-----0-0-----------------------------------------|o
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--3--------2-----3----3---3----------------------------------------|

Today I received an email from some old acquaintances informing me that some of the chaps from The Dead Matter movie that I helped with are looking to raise $5,000 for a shoestring budget film called Noose.

These guys are really cool and know their stuff and have a wonderful idea for a meager budget film that would be in the style of Dario Argento, probably the greatest Italian horror film director of all time and one of my all time favorite filmmakers.

As described in the video that you can find on the pledge page here, they are looking to shoot something very colorful and psychological along the lines of Suspiria and Deep Red, two outstanding Argento films.

As I mentioned before, the guys behind this project are cool as shit, extremely talented and unfortunately do to the economy, getting the funding for a feature length motion picture in the states of Ohio and Michigan has become increasingly more difficult. These people hover together like families and have great connections back to California, but have decided to go more independent a number of years ago to produce great thriller/horror films.

It's unclear to me at this time whether or not they are intending to shoot a feature length script or make a short, but regardless -- even these days short films can cost a lot of money, but I've always been a fan of making my own short films with no capital, and I really want to support Noose, because I know in my heart that you can make great movies with very little money, and if these guys are intending to make a fairly lengthy film -- then this could be a great inspiration and "role model piece" for young film students.

So, if you like movies (and many of us do), love horror movies, are interested in filmmaking and enjoy supporting this form of the arts, I recommend that you make a small pledge. They have until August 27th to reach their goal of just $5,000, and all you have to do is contribute at least $1.

If you guys are interested in this, I'll try to keep you posted with any details that I receive, but it would be great to get these guys launched to a great start and support really solid entertainment.

Again, here's the page where you can make the Pledge for Noose.

Dead Matter Trailer

Check out the Spanish translation of this article here! We recently added Stephen Street‘s Urtext Edition of Bottesini’s Concerto di Bravura to our Sheet Music Store, prompting a common question: Why is Bottesini’s music written down an octave? The issue at hand is that Bottesini wrote all his solo bass music at sounding pitch rather […]

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The pedagogical influence of Francois Rabbath on the double bass world has been tremendous. Once seen as a dramatic departure from traditional bass technique, the Rabbath approach has become mainstream and perhaps the most commonly used method for young bassists. The story behind the Rabbath Institute Cielito De Jesus started the Rabbath Institute Los Angeles […]

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A first look teaser trailer has debuted for the indie horror comedy film called Super Happy Fun Clown, the latest creation from indie genre filmmaker Patrick Rea (I Am Lisa, They Wait In The Dark, Shriek). It kind of sounds like a mashup between Joker and Falling Down (always worth a watch) featuring a woman this time who goes berserk and heads on a killing spree. To escape a life of oppressed obscurity, a battered former wunderkind weaponizes her obsession with clowning, serial killers, & classic movie monsters into a night of shocking infamy. Jennifer Seward stars as a woman who dresses up as "Jenn-O the Clown", who decides to let loose after realize her life is fading away. The film also features Dan Daly, Tim Shelburne, Nicole Hall, Matt Leisy, Deborah Madick, and Violet Rea. Thanks to Bloody Disgusting for the tip on this. Looks like it might turn out pretty badass - a brutal tale of vengeance from a pissed off clown. Even if it does seem like a Joker remix at least it should be a bit better than Joker 2 in the end. Check this out below. Here's the teaser (+ poster) for Patrick Rea's horror […]

"So what? Do we all just punch and shoot?" Lock & load. Marvel has debuted a new almost 4-minute long promo trailer from D23 Brazil for their next big MCU movie Thunderbolts*. This will kick off the summer 2025 movie season opening on May 2nd, 2025 next year. A ragtag group of antiheroes is sent on covert missions for the American government. This still just looks like Marvel's MCU version of The Suicide Squad, bringing together a group of offbeat superheroes / supervillains to join up as the "Thunderbolts" and do the fed's dirty work. The fun ensemble cast includes David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Lewis Pullman as Bob aka "Sentry", Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster, and Florence Pugh as Black Widow Yelena Belova, plus Geraldine Viswanathan as Mel, and finally Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the handler Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. This is a much better trailer than the first teaser, spending time introducing every single one of these misfits. Bob still looks like the most interesting. And Red Guardian looks like the funniest one. Enjoy. Here's the D23 Brazil promo trailer for Jake Schreier's movie […]

"Watch yourself... You're not Steve Rogers." "You're right – I'm not." Marvel has launched the main official trailer for the next MCU sequel Captain America: Brave New World - landing in theaters February 14th, 2025 early next year. Sooner than you know! From director Julius Onah comes the next Captain America evolution – Anthony Mackie stars as Sam Wilson, who has taken over as the new Cap from Steve Rogers after he retired at the end of the Avengers movies. Brave New World picks up with Harrison Ford as the US president, with the power dynamics in the world changing (a real meta reference). After an attack, Cap is aked to join the military - it's not long before finds himself in the middle of an international incident. The impressive cast includes Giancarlo Esposito, Danny Ramirez as a young Falcon, Carl Lumbly, Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader, Shira Haas, Liv Tyler, Xosha Roquemore; plus an appearance by a Red Hulk, who actually shows up properly in this trailer. Is he a big trick? This is actually an exceptionally good trailer playing up the noir conspiracy thriller elements of this next Marvel movie. Worth a closer look. Here's the full […]

"Everything to love, and nothing to hate." This is also exactly what I'm hoping for with this show. HBO has unveiled a promo featurette for the new sci-fi series Dune: Prophecy, which will begin streaming on Max later this week. Looks like it'll be worth the wait. Set 10,000 years before the birth of Paul Atreides, before the universe knew them as the Bene Gesserit... This is directly connected to Denis Villeneuve's two (so far) brilliant Dune movies but takes place in the distant past. Based on the book "Sisterhood of Dune" by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert (Frank's son). This exciting behind-the-scenes look at the epic interplanetary series includes tons of making of shots + interview bits edited into clips of footage from the big sci-fi series. Dune: Prophecy stars Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Mark Strong, Jade Anouka, Chris Mason, Jodhi May, Josh Heuston, Tabu, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Aoife Hinds, & Shalom Brune-Franklin. We've seen a handful of stellar trailers for this series already, with this promo being a final reminder to add this to your watchlist in time for its imminent debut. I'm impressed by the scope and scale of this HBO show - it's connected […]

"Everything you are, everything you've done... has come to this." Paramount Pictures has unveiled the epic teaser trailer for the grand finale in the M:I series now officially titled Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning. Apparently they've agreed to finally admit that this will be the last Ethan Hunt movie (hence the title), even though there were rumors that Tom Cruise didn't want to say this yet. The 8th entry in the long running Mission Impossible franchise - and the conclusion to Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One from 2023. Plot details are still a secret - it's obvious Hunt needs to stop a dangerous weapon from destroying the world and will go to the submarine to find out more. The massive cast of Final Reckoning: Tom Cruise with Hayley Atwell, Ving Rhames, Simon Pegg, Vanessa Kirby, Esai Morales, Pom Klementieff, Mariela Garriga, Henry Czerny, Holt McCallany, Janet McTeer, Nick Offerman, Hannah Waddingham, Angela Bassett, Shea Whigham, Greg Tarzan Davis, Charles Parnell, Frederick Schmidt. What an fantastic teaser! I got chills! The biplanes aerial stunt sequence they shot in 2022 is also finally going to be in this. Cannot wait! It's finally ready for a summer 2025 release next […]

"Ready? This is it." "Kaboom!" Time for something a bit different. This is a video game movie but it's not like most other video game movies. Though at first glance it does remind me of that upcoming Minecraft Movie coming in 2025. Masala Games has revealed a fun teaser trailer for Detective Dotson: The Movie, an animated movie that's a companion piece to the game made in Unreal Engine 5. Dotson is an aspiring Bollywood star turned reluctant detective. Dotson and his friends will seek to unravel a plot that threatens the entire nation of India. The game is currently available to play on Steam and it's likely the movie will also be released on Steam as well (or just online via YouTube - stay tuned for final release details). Masala's CEO Shalin Shodhan explains: "The events in the movie happen right before the start of the game. So... kind of the perfect origin story of Dotson." There's only a few glimpses of footage in this and while it is a movie, it still looks like a glorified, extended video game cut scene turned into a "movie" to watch. Have a look below. Here's the first official trailer for Masala […]

"This was a piece of culture, it wasn't just a video game." Prime Video has revealed an official trailer for a documentary series called It's In The Game: Madden NFL, streaming at the end of November this fall. Sports fans shouldn't miss this! It’s one of the biggest video games of all time, a groundbreaking brand that became a worldwide phenomenon, spanning generations—but it almost never happened... This is the true story. This doc series is about the beloved, mega popular Madden NFL football video game series - which originally launched in 1988 with the classic John Madden Football (for MS-DOS & Apple II). Now, 36 years after the first game's original release, EA Sports gives viewers unprecedented access to the makers of game that changed the game, and our culture too. Presented by Prime Video and A+E Factual Studios group. "You can learn everything from playing a video game." So much footage in here. This looks like it will cover not only the cultural impact and extraordinary legacy the game has, but also the origins and how hard it was to create the first few versions of Madden games many years ago. It's a 4-part doc series event to […]

"If I were free, I'd fight for what was mine. I'd fight for my people." Bleecker Street FIlms has revealed an official trailer for The Return, a brand new take on the The Odyssey story from Italian filmmaker Uberto Pasolini. This film skipped Venice and ended up premiering at the Toronto & Chicago Film Festivals this fall, with a US release now set for December in theaters. Based on the classic story written by Homer. After 20 years Odysseus finally returns to Ithaca, where he finds his wife held prisoner by suitors vying to be king and his son facing death at their hands. To win back his family and all he has lost, Odysseus must rediscover his strength and fight back. The film reunites actors Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche 30 years after their Academy Award winning triumph in The English Patient. The cast also includes Charlie Plummer, Marwan Kenzari, Claudio Santamaria, and Angela Molina. This looks damn good! Playing the story of Odysseus more as a tale of revenge, once he returns home and has to reclaim his own home against those who tried to take it from him. I stand with Odysseus! Go kick some ass Ralph […]

"We are worth more when we are addicted, polarized, and misinformed... than we are if we are living, breathing, free citizens." Neon revealed a second trailer for 2073, a frightening doc about climate change and the destructive future we're headed towards. Now set for a release in December in the US. It's the latest documentary film from Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia, known for Senna, Amy, Diego Maradona, and others. 2073 is a hybrid doc - featuring a live-action sci-fi segment starring Samantha Morton living in a dystopian future ruined by climate change & authoritarianism (the year 2073); along with doc segments showing how we could get there, giving clear-eyed facts about the rise of right-wing authoritarianism and libertarianism worldwide – which won't stop climate change. "Through a genre-busting mix of archive and drama Ghost witnesses the terrifying threats facing us: a Democratic recession, the rise of neo-fascism, the Climate Disaster and the intrusion of surveillance technology. This is not science fiction. This is happening now." This premiered at the 2024 Venice Film Festival - where I saw it. Alas despite being a good idea, the film is rather boring and won't have much of an impact. Sadly. Though we do […]

"This is the shot we have. We may not get another one... Let's finish it." Ready? Marvel has dropped the new official trailer for the latest season of What If...?, their fun anthology series taking crazy all-out "what if" imaginative looks at different characters and ideas in the MCU. This might be the final season because Marvel's own intro from YouTube states: "Witness the season that ends it all." The Watcher even comes out and says this, too. The first season launched in 2021 to mixed reviews, and this second season debuted in late 2023 one year ago. The opening once again is: Welcome back to the multiverse. So much to see in these 8 episodes! The voice cast set for Season 3 includes Jeffrey Wright as The Watcher, once again, along with Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Laurence Fishburne as Goliath, Oscar Isaac as Moon Knight, Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi, Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Cap, Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter. Plus a few other surprises, of course. Looks like it has a rad Gundam style Avengers segment. Up for an adventure? […]

"You don’t change the world by following the rules. Max has revealed an official trailer for a documentary series titled Call Me Ted, tell the story of "the man who changed media forever." Yep it's a doc about Ted Turner, the original founder of CNN back in 1980. Turner is actually still alive - he's currently 85 years old. The series spans most of his life and career. In one episode covering the 1980s: Ted’s focus on launching CNN prompts him to sell the last of his billboard business and to end his sailing career. His interest in protecting the environment and promoting world peace leads to yet another ambitious — and expensive — concept known as the Goodwill Games. And so much more in his life - so many TV networks and ambitious ideas and even baseball. Featuring interviews including Jane Fonda, John Malone, Christiane Amanpour, Alan Horn, his children, and others. This 6-part doc series will already be out this week on Max if anyone wants to dive in. Looks interesting, plenty to learn from Ted about the media saturated world we're now in. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Keith R. Clarke 's film Call Me […]

"You're going nowhere... I'm telling you how this goes." Netflix has unveiled the full official trailer for an X-mas thriller called Carry-On, landing to watch in December on Netflix soon. It's a new action thriller from Jaume Collet-Serra (of Orphan, Unknown, Non-Stop, The Commuter, Jungle Cruise, Black Adam), who is giving us a present of a cat and mouse thriller with some cheesy direct-to-video vibes. The setup: A young TSA agent fights to outsmart a mysterious traveler who blackmails him into letting a dangerous package slip onto a Christmas Eve flight. Who is he and can he actually stop him? The impressive ensemble cast features Taron Egerton as the main TSA agent, Jason Bateman, Sofia Carson, Danielle Deadwyler, Logan Marshall-Green, Dean Norris, Sinqua Walls, and Jason Bateman. This is finally looking like a legit thriller - reminding me of Die Hard with a Vengeance with as many twists & turns in it. Have a look below. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Jaume Collet-Serra's Carry-On, direct from Netflix's YouTube: You can rewatch the teaser trailer for Jaume Collet-Serra's Carry-On right here, for the first look again. "Every holiday season, millions travel safely by air. This Christmas will be different." […]

"The Smile of Speed." Janus Films has unveiled the official US trailer for It's Not Me, the autobiographic self-portrait short documentary film made by Leos Carax. The mastermind French filmmaker premiered this at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, and it has played at tons of other fests including NYFF, London, Karlovy Vary. The 41-minute biopic film is a "self-portrait of the director and his oeuvre, revisiting in free-form more than 40 years of the author's filmography." This autobiography takes a look back at all of his films and his work, and examines politics over time and the art-form of cinema. The intro: "For an exhibition, that in the end never took place, the Pompidou Museum asked the filmmaker to reply, in pictures, to the question: Where are you at, Leos Carax? He attempts an answer – full of questions. About himself and 'his' world: I don't know, but if I did, I'd reply that..." C'est pas moi or It's Not Me. With Denis Lavant, Kateryna Yuspina, Loreta Juodkaite, Anna-Isabel Siefken, Nastya Golubeva Carax, & Petr Anevskii, plus Bianca Maddaluno. This will be streaming on Criterion Channel in December if anyone wants to watch. Here's the official US […]

"If you don't shag him, I will." Universal Pictures and Peacock have revealed the official trailer for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the next romcom sequel from this long-running franchise starring Renée Zellweger. Bridget Jones first blasted onto bookshelves in Helen Fielding's literary phenomenon Bridget Jones's Diary, which became a global bestseller & blockbuster film in 2001. As a single career woman living in London, Bridget Jones not only introduced the world to her romantic adventures, but added "Singletons," "Smug-Marrieds" and "f---wittage" into the global lexicon. Then came the sequel Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) followed by Bridget Jones's Baby (2016). In this next one, Mad About the Boy, Jones gets on Tinder and meets a dashing young man who woos her. The full ensemble cast has plenty of old & new faces: Renée Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Isla Fisher, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jim Broadbent, Gemma Jones, James Callis, Shirley Henderson, Sally Phillips, along with Leo Woodall as the new boy. Looks as charming & funny & cheesy as the last two sequels. Will it be any better? Official trailer (+ poster) for Michael Morris' sequel Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, via YouTube: Bridget […]

"What happened to you?" "I met a penguin." Lionsgate has revealed the official trailer for The Penguin Lessons, a cute dramedy about rescuing a penguin in Argentina. A similar story to My Penguin Friend with Jean Reno that also opened in theaters this year, but also not the exact same story. Starring Oscar nominee Steve Coogan, this poignant dramedy from director Peter Cattaneo follows an Englishman's personal and political awakening after he adopts a penguin during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history. He finds the small penguin covered with oil and cleans him up, making a new friend in the process. The main ensemble cast in here includes Björn Gustafsson, David Herrero, Jonathan Pryce, Vivian El Jaber, Aimar Miranda, Micaela Breque, Tomas Pozzi, and Ramiro Blas. It was shot in Spain though it takes place in Argentina. After premiering at TIFF, the movie will open in the UK next April - still waiting for a US date. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Peter Cattaneo's The Penguin Lessons, direct from YouTube: From Penguin Random House's bestselling book of the same name by Tom Michell, The Penguin Lessons is the true story of a disillusioned Englishman who went to work […]

"All things are possible..." Netflix has revealed an official trailer for a movie called Mary, yet another new take on the birth of Jesus story. This is ready for streaming in December already. Directed by DJ Caruso (Disturbia, Eagle Eye, I Am Number Four, Redeeming Love), Mary reveals a side of the icon we’ve never seen or even imagined before. Noa Cohen (from the series "Infinity", "8200") stars as Mary in this coming-of-age biblical epic tale in which Mary is shunned following a miraculous conception and forced into hiding. When King Herod ignites a murderous pursuit for her newborn baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph go on the run – bound by faith and driven by courage – to save his life at all costs. The ensemble cast includes Ido Tako, Stephanie Nur, Susan Brown, Ori Pfeffer, Eamon Farren, Hilla Vidor, Mili Avital, Gudmundur Thorvaldsson, Dudley O'Shaughnessy, and Keren Tzur, with Anthony Hopkins. So they made an action thriller about Mary? They must be really hoping to get more religious viewers tuning in. Look good? Here's the official trailer (+ two posters) for DJ Caruso's film Mary, direct from Netflix's YouTube: Through Mary's eyes, this coming-of-age biblical epic is the story […]

"Nobody is above the law." Except pretty much every politician and billionaire. Jolt has revealed an official trailer for a new documentary film called The Bibi Files, which first premiered at the 2024 Toronto Film Festival this fall. It's described as "the documentary Benjamin Netanyahu tried to ban" by court order but it fell through. It might also be called a controversial doc, but it's only really "controversial" because it dares to tell the truth and show that Netanyahu is a corrupt, power-hungry, war criminal. Using never-seen-before interrogation footage, this investigation of Israel's PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his inner circle provides an unflinching gaze into the private world behind the headlines and the TV reports. Petty vanity and a sense of entitlement leads to corruption, and the unwillingness of the Netanyahus to give up power. The extreme right senses opportunity in Bibi’s weakness, and the dominos fall. Another powerful doc about the truth, but I still doubt it will change anything or have enough of an impact to really save more lives. We can only hope. Here's the main official trailer for Alexis Bloom's doc The Bibi Files, direct from Jolt's YouTube: Using never-seen-before interrogation footage, this investigation of Benjamin […]

"Those delinquents hot-wired a carnival ride the other night." Hulu has revealed an fun trailer for a holiday comedy called Nutcrackers, the newest comedy directed by David Gordon Green. He spent a long time making his Halloween trilogy, but it's good to see him back directing more lively & funny films like he used to (Pineapple Express, Your Highness, Prince Avalanche, Manglehorn). Nutcrackers premiered at TIFF a few months ago and is opening direct-to-streaming on Hulu at the end of November in time for the holiday season. DGG's Nutcrackers follows strait-laced and work obsessed Mike as he is suddenly thrust into being a caregiver for his rambunctious, orphaned nephews. In the most unlikely of places, 4 siblings find a loving shelter in an unexpected turn of circumstances. This endearing dramedy draws inspiration from actual events and deftly crafts a gripping story that unites everyone. Starring Ben Stiller, Linda Cardellini, Edi Patterson, Tim Heidecker, Toby Huss, Homer Janson, Ulysses Janson, Arlo Janson, and Atlas Janson. This looks kooky and funny, with a few amusing laughs, but it's a story we've seen so many times. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for David Gordon Green's film Nutcrackers, direct from YouTube: Hotshot Chicago […]

"It's gotten too dangerous here..." Sony Pictures Classics has debuted the US trailer for acclaimed Brazilian film I'm Still Here, the first feature film from director Walter Salles in 12 years. He's best known for his earlier work - directing the films Central Station, The Motorcycle Diaries, Dark Water, On the Road. The film tells a true story about a Brazilian family whose father is taken by the government & never seen again. Set in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1971 - a country in the tightening grip of a military dictatorship. A mother is forced to reinvent herself when her family's life is shattered by a heinous act. The lives of Eunice Paiva and her five children abruptly change after the disappearance of her husband – former Brazilian Labour Party congressman Rubens Paiva. The film stars Fernanda Torres as Eunice, Selton Mello, and Fernanda Montenegro. This first premiered at the Venice Film Festival, and after playing at tons of other festivals, it was selected by Brazil as their entry for Best International Film. It is yet another tale of South America's disappeared, this time focusing on a mother as she tries to figure out what happened to him. Worth […]

Two women, three countries, one relentless pursuit of democracy. HBO has revealed the official trailer for a documentary film titled Night is Not Eternal, the next film by doc filmmaker Nanfu Wang (One Child Nation, In the Same Breath). This recently premiered at a small film festival and is now set for a streaming launching on HBO & Max starting next week. For seven years she has followed Rosa Maria Paya, daughter of the five time Nobel Peace Prize nominated activist, Oswaldo Paya, in Rosa's fight for democracy in Cuba. Interwoven with Rosa's narrative are Nanfu’s poignant reflections on her Chinese upbringing and of eroding democratic norms in the US, revealing unsettling similarities to the authoritarian system she left behind. A powerful meditation on political change and individual action against seemingly insurmountable odds, the doc Night is Not Eternal reflects on the complexities of exile and small acts of defiance to create a narrative that crosses geographical boundaries exploring a universal longing for freedom. If you're curious, get a look. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Nanfu Wang's doc Night Is Not Eternal, direct from YouTube: Night Is Not Eternal is a deeply personal exploration of political activism through […]