Mark 'Spanky' Gutierrez's Blog

Is it C6 or A minor 7?? and Who is on first base?

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 03:10:12 +0000

Lesson: C6 – A minor 7

So, C6 and A minor 7 … same shape different name. WHY? Context my friend it’s all about the context.

If you move from G7 to C6 it seems like its kind of final. There is a “resolution” about it. Try it, play C6 then G7 then go to C6 again. Play 4 counts each. Did you hear it? It’s like all is well with the world and you can go to sleep now.

Now for contrast play E minor and change to Amin7, B7 and then go back to E minor. Give each 4 counts each. Hear a difference? Now the Amin7 (or C6) sounds very minor and if you stop on Amin7 it doesn’t seem to be the end at all, not in a strong sense anyway or you might say less “resolution”.

In the first example we are playing squarely in the key of C. The connection between C6 and G7 is very strong. If you play those two chords and end on G7… some one is likely to scream “finish the damn song!”.

In the second example we are in the key of E minor. The A minor 7 is the “fourth” and its relationship is not as strong as the B7 and E minor connection but still has some “resolution” power.

So playing in context is very import to hear the intent of chord. Is it a minor chord? or is it major? If your lucky enough to play with a bass player, he or she will determine the intent of the chord. If they play A you will hear A minor, C then you will hear it as C major 6.

So, for this lesson please be ready to identify the chords by either name A minor 7 (red notes) or C6 (blue notes).

Follow the C7 Lesson instructions to get to the point that your ready to use this shape in any song.

Peace

Spanky

Filed under: Ukulele Playing Tips, Ukulele Stuff, Uncategorized

2011 Ukulele Hoopla Review

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 03:35:25 +0000

The Ukulele Hoopla came and went like a crazy anxiety dream that had a story book ending. This was our real first go of it and I was so pleased with the results. I have so many people to thank.

We had participants from KC, Lincoln, Omaha, Missouri, and JAPAN. No, I am not kidding some folks came all the way from Japan to our Ukulele Hoopla in Omaha Ne. We had an ice breaker/jam the night before the hoopla. It was so nice to have the artists and some of the participants bust out the ukes and howl at the moon. I would have to say the folks from KC really went all out and made the night. It was a great way to start off the evening.

The day of the Hoopla got started pretty early for the staff and artists. We were all on site by 08:00 AM and as Pop’s said, thats no time for a musician to be up! The sign in table ran like clock work and we were pleasantly surprised by the attendance numbers.

The artists all gave classes during the day and from the feedback we got most of them were very well received. We also had one section of the day set aside for a question and answer session. I think that might have been my favorite. Great questions and very helpful answers. That was really a lot of fun.

The concert was awesome and way TOO long. After such an action packed day a 2.5 hour concert was way too much but to be honest I loved every minute of it. I had invited so many of my dear friends to come perform. It was like a dream come true to see everybody on stage, right here in my home town. Everybody sounded great, the top moments for me were:

Rebecca Lowry, busts out with a full band and melts a room full of hearts with those silly little love songs

Kimo Hussey, just lets that uke ring out arrangement after arrangement that all say “aloha my dear friends”

Pop’s pulls a ballad out that he wrote about the civil war. I nearly cried, great song writing and really great delivery

Brook Adams, has this crazy little shark song that just had me in stitches.

Then I finally got to take the stage, with my band mates Heather, JD and Mike. It seemed so strange to be on the UNO stage with my buds. I remember looking back over my shoulder at Mike our drummer, he had his jam face on and when our eyes locked for a just a second, he blew me a kiss. I damn near dropped my uke. I just had to laugh.

The night was over and we packed it all up in 30 minutes and it was over. Months of planning, months of talking about it and then it was just over. I had that feeling of shock for about a month after the event but now, when I think about it, I get that little grin and a desire to do it all again.

Some special “mahalo” goes out to the Omaha Creative Institute. They were with me every step of the way. We did all of our planning and then they executed with amazing accuracy. Susan and Leigh from OCI are the best team I could have asked for. The artists that came out really did a fine job. Thanks so much to Kimo, Pops, Brook, Rebecca and my dear friends JD, Heather and Mike. If I ever get to share a stage again, I hope you are all on the same bill. What would it be without the participants? You all were great, thanks for showing up and making it just a wonderful time.

We will do it next year? Stay tuned… and keep a little time on your September 2012 calendar free!

Love

Spanky

Filed under: 4 Strings of Swing, Ukulele Stuff, Uncategorized

Ukulele C7 lesson:

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:55:41 +0000

Lesson:

C7 Multiple Positions

The picture to the left shows C7 in 4 positions up the neck. Each position is identified by a box encompassing the appropriate notes.

Instruction:

Play 4 beats on the first position

Then move to the next position and play another 4 beats

Etc…

Up the neck and yes, DOWN the neck.

Strive for 80BPM if you do not own a metronome…

Try this online version:

http://www.metronomeonline.com/

See how fast you can get! but please be careful… Don’t increase the speed too soon in your practice. If you can’t play it slow.. you can’t play it fast. It’s critical that you stay in time. Let me rephrase that, its more IMPORTANT to play “in time” than to play fast with mistakes.

If you are striving to do more…

Can you see all the dominant 7 shapes? You should recognize them from all the first position dominant 7 chords. Can you transpose this to other keys? A very big clue is that the notes that are in the blue circles are the root note. So, if you move that shape up or down two frets you have “transposed” the chord by one full step. IE.. Move it closer to the body of the ukulele by 2 frets and C7 becomes D7.

Transposing C7 to D7

BEWARE: the major scale has two places that have natural half steps. Between B,C and E,F are half steps. So if you move down two frets from C7 you would get Bb7 (or its other name A#7). Likewise if you move up two frets from E7 you would get F#7. Two tricky places to be aware of.

Remember:

1/2 step = 1 fret

1 full step = 2 frets

Between B,C and E,F are half steps (one fret)

Move on thru the cycle of fifths but counter clock wise (in fourths)…

Like a so…

C7 up and down the neck

F7 up and down the neck

Bb7 “”

Eb7 “”

Ab7 “”

Db7 “”

Gb7 “”

B7 “”

E7 “”

A7 “”

D7 “”

G7 “”

If this seems too daunting stick with the keys C G D then add some when you feel mo’ bettah go back and add a few more.

Remember:

Breath, relax, and like Kimo say’s “play without angst!”

You’re body will tell you when your doing this wrong. If your back, neck, wrist, thumb, or elbow hurt after your practice be sure to check your posture and wrists. Sit up straight, fight the natural desire to lean forward out front of the ukulele and try not to twist your back towards the headstock. Wrists, keep them pretty flat. There should not be a bump or a “V” at the wrist. This is true for both left and right hands. Play a tune or two in front of the mirror. That will help you identify an ergonomic problem.

Peace my friend!

Spanky

Filed under: Ukulele Playing Tips, Ukulele Stuff

Scale Lesson

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:30:18 +0000

Scale lesson:

Playing scales on a ukulele is like being introduced to your best friend’s girl friend’s best friend that has a “great” personality.

Why? Well because you can so rarely pull off all 8 tones from lowest to highest. You can always find all eight tones but you can rarely play them all from root to root in a ascending or descending pattern IN ONE HAND POSITION (Think Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do).

Whats a hand position? It’s usually a section of the neck that you can get your hand on and stretch your fingers out comfortably. I usually shoot for a max of 5 frets. So, on a 12 fret instrument we only really have about 3 hand positions maybe four with a cut away, maybe 5 with a cut away long scale baritone!

I have attached my Scale work chart to this lesson. It will be important for you be able to play all of the scales listed on this page. No ANGST.. take a close look Spanky is being real good to you! I am sure you will figure out why I think this is easy.

Okay real important steps about practicing scales.

1 Practice the scales at first in one position at a time. They are marked by a red or blue box

2 Be sure that you know where the root of the scale is. Marked by a blue dot with the letter in the middle. You should actually start with this note.

3 Practice in TIME… Use a metronome .. Tick Tock

4 Practice with good form, be ergonomicaly responsible. Keep straight wrists, and good posture

5 HAVE FUN

When have you mastered it?

When you can easily see where the positions connect and you can navigate thru the positions with out getting lost. No… I am not kidding!

Here is a link to the a few scales written in C major and A minor:

ScaleWork

Wanna do more?

Practice two or more positions at the same time. Go up thru the two positions one way then work yourself back down another way.

Each scale can be transposed by moving the hand position or pattern up or down frets. Move it up two and C becomes D move it down two and C becomes Bb.

Maybe its a good time for you to be able to identify where all the notes are on the ukulele. It sounds daunting doesn’t it? but its not! Here is a cool trick that got me thru it. First know the note names of the open strings. Then just move up the neck and label each fret with the next possible name. Skip the flats and sharps at first.

So if your on the G string two frets up and you have A, another two frets and you have B another two frets and you have…. C SHARP!

Oh dude classic blunder! You have to remember that between B and C and E and F there is only one fret (half step) not two frets (hole step) but knowing this little rule and you’re set. You can start with the open string (be sure to count the nut as your first fret) and rock right up the fret board.

Here is a little check for yourself.

Open G C E A

Fret 2 A D F# B

Fret 5 C F A D

Fret 7 D G B E

Fret 12 G C E A

Other than Fret 5 do recognize those collections of notes?

Fret 2 is the D tuning for the ukulele,

Fret 7 is Barri tuning,

Fret 12 is the octave (so C tuning)

Cool huh.. Easy sha..meeeeazy…

Here is blank fret board paper for GCEA tuning:

ScaleWork Soprano

Here is some blank fret board paper for DGBE tuning:

ScaleWork Barri

Peace, Love and the sound of the Ukulele!!

Spanky

Filed under: Ukulele Playing Tips, Ukulele Stuff

Uke Hoopla … HERE WE COME!!

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 03:45:03 +0000

There is so much going on… My head is in a spin. There’s plane tickets to bring folks in, hotel reservations, registrations, workshop notes, vendor tables, lunches for everybody, venue, venue insurance, social media, old fashion media, but you know what?? ITS ALL COMING TOGETHER, JUST LOVELY!!

Ya, the Uke Hoopla is right around the corner 9/24/2011 please click here for more information.

I am so excited for the Uke Hoopla, we are just headed down the right road to have a wonderful time with some of the best folks that the Ukulele world has to offer. Kimo, Pops, Brook, Rebecca, JD and Heather are all wonderful teachers and performers. I am so pleased to have them on board this year. We are bound to have a great time.

I hope if your reading this you will find your way to Omaha on 9/24/2011. If your a uke player, your going to love the workshops during the day. If your a music lover, the show will nock your socks off. Rebecca’s heart felt songs, Pops wit, Kimo’s smooth playing, Brooks arrangements, and the Jazz from the 4 strings of swing will not disappoint.

Somebody asked me the other day why I would put on such an event. My answer: The following people put me on a path Byron Yasui, Benny Chong, Brian Tolentino, Asa Young, Mike DaSilva, James Hill, John King, Pops Bayless, Kimo Hussey, Brook Adams, Lil Rev, and so many more and that path has given me great joy. Kimo’s motto is “the music is meant to be shared”, I just want to live up to and share the kindness and great instruction that has been given to me.

Life is meant to be lived. Lead with your heart my friends. The ukulele is a humble instrument but within a very short time you will find that it will liberate the music in your soul. Don’t believe me.. come give it a try at the Ukulele Hoopla.

Peace

Mark ‘Spanky’ Gutierrez

Filed under: 4 Strings of Swing, Ukulele Stuff, Uncategorized

New Uke Projects!!

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 01:26:16 +0000

Wow, what a weekend! Well it seems the old saying “when it rains it pours” is spot on. The next couple of months have the 4 Strings of Swing cooking!!

This last weekend the band and Red Orchid Productions helped put together another instructional ukulele video. This one is all based on chord theory and where to put all them fancy chords on your ukulele!! We had a ball shooting the video, Erma and Studig kept us all in stitches for the weekend. There were several times that we cracked the camera man up and had to re-shoot the scene. It was a wonderful laugh, and it just couldn’t have been any better. Tory and Annie Hooton of Red Orchid Productions did a wonderful job planning and it certainly paid off! WELL DONE BRAVO!!

Next weekend 8/19 and 8/20 we are paying for our favorite little restaurant Espana, in Benson. Then on Sunday we are off to play for Jack Clark the plains ukulele builder!! It’s going to be another full weekend!!

September has a few gigs lined up too, a music festival in Iowa, Wedding in Omaha and……

Of course we are still pouring hours of work into shaping the Uke Hoopla. The date for the uke festival here in Omaha Nebraska is set for 9/24/2011. Mark your calendars and check it out at www.UkeHoopla.com

If your looking for good video check out Red Orchid Productions at www.redorchidproductions.com

And for great photo work check out Hooton Images at www.hootonimages.com

Special thanks to Tory, Annie, Heather and JD, you all are the best!! In the words of my immortal grandmother “thanks be to God!”

Peace

Mark ‘Spanky’ Gutierrez

Filed under: 4 Strings of Swing, Ukulele Stuff, Uncategorized

4 Strings of Swing – Play for a Wedding

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 01:03:27 +0000

4 Strings of Swing got to play for a wedding last weekend. We played for the mass and the cocktail hour. The music for the mass included Canon in D, Ave Maria, formal Catholic mass parts, and Jazz standards for prelude and postlude music.

The bride requested Molokai Morning for her entrance. I was so honored, that she would choose a song that I had composed. I think I spoke about this in an earlier post but just to recap that song was a working morning meditation at the Hui Ho’olana on Molokai last winter. It came to me as the sun peaked up over the East side of the Island.

Hui Ho'olana

I reflected on the brides request it hit me that the meditation was a song poem. One that was made to reflect the sunrise. The event that gives me hope for a new beginning. That’s what triggered this thought that maybe just maybe the true meaning of this song was so appropriate for a wedding, a new beginning a giant act of faith in what is to come. I was very very honored.

We also played for the cocktail hour and the brides mother had requested some Hapa Haole music. Now, coming from Omaha Nebraska…that’s not an everyday request! So we worked up a handful of the most popular tunes and inserted them into our set of Jazz and Latin standards along with a few Beatles and Bob Marley tunes (for good measure of course). It turns out that the brides mom was raised on Maui and she danced the hula to two tunes for us! She was wonderful and it really made the event special. There were quite a few folks from Maui there too and we could see their ears perk up as we got into the Hawaiian tunes.

All and all it was a great experience. And a very special wish to Stacey and Chad, may the morning sun always great you with kindness.

Peace and Love

Mark ‘Spanky’ Gutierrez

Oh, if your interested in buying the CD with Molokai Morning on it it can be found here:

4 Strings of Swing Store

Great Sky at Molokai

Filed under: 4 Strings of Swing, Ukulele Stuff, Uncategorized

Ukulele Slogan Contest… Win a Cigar Box Ukulele!!

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:31:08 +0000

NEW CONTEST!! We’re designing 4SOS t-shirts and stickers for our new online store and we want your help! Come up with a snappy ukulele slogan (i.e. “life’s better w/ 4 Strings”, “live ukulele”, etc.) by July 25 and post it to our wall. The slogan can have 4

WIN ME

Strings of Swing in it or not. We would also love to see slogans that represent the Ukulele Life Style.

1st place will receive a cigar box ukulele and the first printed t-shirt!

2nd – 5th places will receive their saying on a sticker and the first sticker hot off the press!

Come participate at…

http://www.facebook.com/4StringsofSwing

Peace

Mark ‘Spanky’ Gutierrez

Filed under: 4 Strings of Swing, GEAR, Ukulele Stuff, Uncategorized

Thanks Mom

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Mon, 09 May 2011 01:09:19 +0000

I hope this finds you all in great spirits. I am writing this on mothers day and its only suitable that I wish all the mom’s out there a very happy mothers day. I am so grateful to my mom, she was the one that started it all. I was in 5th grade and she asked if my sister and I wanted to take guitar lessons. It started then she kindled a spark and it became a fire. I remember early in my music education she bought me a Carlos Montoya album. I listened to that album at least a million times. By the time I was in the eighth grade I had figured out a few lines off of that album. I still work those lines into my playing.

So, thanks mom!

Peace

Mark ‘Spanky’ Gutierrez

Filed under: Uncategorized

Spanky’s Ukulele DVD

Mark (Spanky) Gutierrez — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:33:12 +0000

The production company put together a behind the scenes view of my Ukulele Finger Picking DVD …

Hey... talk louder Spanky!

Check it out:

http://www.redorchidproductions.com/2011/04/15/a-mad-scientist-themed-ukulele-instructional-video/

If you are interested in buying it… click on the following link and go to the ”store”.

http://www.4stringsofswing.com

Peace

Mark ‘Spanky’ Gutierrez

Filed under: 4 Strings of Swing, Performance Video Links, Ukulele Playing Tips, Ukulele Stuff, Uncategorized