Hey Bob Thompson!

[Dave]

Just wondering if you're still around. On the old board I enjoyed your Lenny stories and you were teasing us with a book too.

I just recently registered on the new board here myself, Haaa! So hi to everyone.

Dave Anno

[Bob Thompson]

Hi Dave et. al.!

Thanks so much for thinking of me, bud! HA! I have been scarce as of late... busy as hell with so many guitar-related things! Finally got registered on the new board...nice! Its always so good to see that fingerstyled guitar is alive and well through all the great players who come here! As I have said before, what a great community of dedicated musicians..nothing like it on the web!

The "Lenny book" (actually a DVD set with pdf text) is still being worked on, but I had to change it in a significant way. It had become a monstrously large opus (the text hit 250 pages and counting) before I realized I was not only trying to create an instructional project on Lenny but also was reinventing the wheel with all of the theory issues being discussed in the book as well. As an example, if I showed how Lenny used a G13b9sus chord in a voice-leading situation, I would also explain WHY (for those who would not have studied harmony) this particular chord functions in the manner it does, and where it comes from (2nd begree melodic minor derivative, etc.). So the book kept expanding exponentially with a ton of adjunct theory explanations that gave insight to and justification for the things that Lenny does. Otherwise, I felt it would just be a "licks" book, so to speak, without coherent instructional logic as to why these things actually work within Lenny's style.

But the huge drawback was that the suporting theory content was overtaking the actual Lenny content more and more. In other words, it was becoming a *theory book*. So I finally had to accept that a large portion of the more comprehensive aspects of the theory had to be pulled from the specific Lenny oriented material, and just let that material stand on its own, and hope that those who may not have a thoery background will still be able to understand the content. So now I am reorganizing the Lenny content sans those big complete systems of theory Lenny employed (i.e. melodic minor derived chord systems, reharmonization tactics, etc.). There is still supporting theory explained, but far less deep than the original intent. And there are some Lenny stories in there too, along with dozens of my personal audio clips of Lenny teaching things (better HIM than me!! HA!!!). I just annotate and create some charts to help the process along.

But what I did do is assemble those pulled theory systems into some potent adjunct DVD programs, all being filmed now, finally. So for those who want the deeper theory behind Lenny's (and many other guitarists) approaches, those "courses" will provide that info. A TON of cool stuff in those programs, thats for sure.

So I plod on... HA!!!! Never ends. But with teaching 46+ hours a a week (University, private and now Skype), these DVD projects are definitely a labor of love through very slow going, while I continue to make a living. That lottery win never seems to come my way! HA! So that's the story... Ill definitely keep you posted on a completion date. Hope to put up some YouTube vids soon with some insights too.

Cheers to everyone! Great to see the new forum format... hope everyone is doing great and moving forward with their guitar craft!

Warmest regards,
BT

[keener]

Bob, I look forward to your book and accompanying DVDs. Sounds great. Thank you for taking on such a monumental task.

[Dave]

Wow you're pretty busy!

Nice to hear that your projects are coming along too, for sure let us know when they become available! I'll be up for ordering your stuff as soon as soon as it hits the market.

take care,

Dave Anno

[John Knowles]

Bob, I love your description of your work process. I've had to punt and re-group a couple of times when I was doing some of my projects. Back in the day, that meant scissors, paste and white-out. I'm glad you are saving the "out-takes" for us. I'm looking forward to the final result. John

[Bob Thompson]

Hey Dave and Keener...thanks for the encouragement! Much needed, as I have been working on this thing forever, it seems! HA!!! Don't forget John Knowles instructional product with Lenny!! Big time good! And also Stephan Anderson's book too...lots of info there!

John...a big thanks to you for the psychological lift! Seems like I have been working on this thing for years ..oh, thats right...I have!! Sheesh!!! With only a few hours a week to dedicate to it, the pace is so slow. And every time I sit down to clean up a section of the project, it always seems so presumptuous for me to be doing some instructional stuff regarding Lenny, which throws a bit of nagging doubt and personal embarrassment into the process as well. Thankfully, there's audio clips of HIM, which takes the pressure off of ME. HA! I can just position myself as the lowly adjunct "helper" or "student assistant" in the process (HA!!!!), adding some supporting info and examples to help clarify whatever Lenny "the master" is talking about. Lenny always cuts to the chase when he explains things, with a simple and elegant explanation of a given application or technique. But for a lot of novice and intermediate level players, adding deeper awareness of the supporting rationale for why Lenny did these things is important for assimilating the material with clarity and logic, so they can exploit the tactics beyond just imitating a Lenny transcription. So to know you had your trials and tribulations with your wonderful instructional materials, snipping and "white-outing" a lot, well - that gives me a ray of hope! HA! And yes, the "out takes" have some fairly cool tidbits in them as well, particularly some chord stuff for those who stopped at major scale harmony. Anyhoo... looking forward to more video and instruction from you in the future! Always incredibly inspirational!! Cheers! BT

[Dave]

Hey Dave and Keener...thanks for the encouragement! Much needed, as I have been working on this thing forever, it seems! HA!!! Don't forget John Knowles instructional product with Lenny!! Big time good! And also Stephan Anderson's book too...lots of info there!

Haha, I already got 'em. Good stuff indeed, but I need more, more!

[keener]

Like Dave, I have John's superb book. But, I can't seem to convince myself that I'm good enough to even do the first exercises. Lenny was so many light years ahead of me, and my head is so thick ... I guess I'm just hoping that if experts like you and John keep churning out Lenny stuff, some of it will soak in by osmosis (maybe if I put it under my pillow at night).

Again, glad to see you doing this, Bob, and I wish you the best. Maybe I can learn something from the video material, as I seem to be a little better at learning that way than from text.

[Bob Thompson]

HAA!! Dave, you're obsessed!! Good for you!! Just like me (and hundreds of other crazy pickers out there in Lenny-land!)
Did I send you the sheets with the lower string-set dom7 guide tone chords placed against all the accessible scale patterns / fingering positions on the upper string-sets? (i.e. mixo, lyd. dom, whole tone, diminished, altered, various pentatonics, etc.). You may have designed them yourself at this point, but if not, send me your email address and Ill get the pdfs right out to you... this is fun stuff...not hard at all, and puts the blues with various turnarounds (III/VI/II/V oriented motions, sidesteps, sub-V7, tritone subs, etc.) into perspective from a Lenny-styled pianistic fretboard approach. No technique or independence stuff... just a dozen or so elusive positional orientations for nailing the blues. Nevertheless, anyone who can play a decent blues can easily create stylistically accurate melodic lines with simple dom7 rhythmic comps underneath, simultaneously... just start by hitting a chord on the downbeat of each bar, let it ring thru the bar, and work out a nice simple blues / jazz line with the appropriate linear construct as the chord sustains underneath the line. Then try some contrasting rhythms for the chords (like hitting the chord on the "and" of 2, or on and other target(s) within the measure, and also vary the chord's duration) and adapt the linear rhythms accordingly. This is exactly how Lenny showed it to me. Cool! And if anyone else doesn't have these pdfs from a previous emailing I did quite a while ago, just drop a line to <bethomps@maine.rr.com> and I'll be happy to send em along. Cheers all!

[Bob Thompson]

keener...send me your email address and Ill send you some stuff...cool!

bethomps@maine.rr.com