http://www.brendanburns.com/blog This is the Personal & Professional Blog for Brendan Burns Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:55:07 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Ask Brendan is a seldom updated column where Guitar Educator, Brendan Burns, answers questions about music and the pursuit of Understanding and Mastering the guitar. Chord Inversions (Tiny Triads) August 2008 Q: I have been playing the guitar for 4 or 5 years.  I'm self taught and can't read music (except ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/chord-inversions-tiny-triads/ Thank you to everyone who participated in this year of guitar lessons. Members of the 2007-2008 Brendan Burns GUITARMY: Austin Cohen Myra Johnson Helen Huang Coco Wallace Parker Wallace Charlie Guerra Neil Jones Kavoi Mutisya Christopher Zarins Shaan Shivdasani Sam Roffman Masaki Norton Isabel Wallace Hadassah Stanhill Olivia Siegal Max Josef Gabriel Mininberg Daniel Getz Nick Page Alvin Taylor Sarah Simon Shani Breiman Nico Jochnick Claire Chin Keir Shields Elana Shlosman Sophia Spirounis Sam Mills Aaron Corn Micaela Corn Greg Smith Abby Fink Maria ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/guitarmy/ TuneFoolery received a nice article in the Cambridge Tab last week: Cambridge - Tunefoolery Concert Ensembles from Cambridge, a group of 50 musicians living with mental illness, has a simple yet powerful message: Emphasize people’s strengths and focus on abilities, not disabilities. In May, Tunefoolery members will share their music with the ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/tunefoolery-press/ TuneFoolery is group of concert ensembles made up of over 50 inspiring musicians with psychiatric disabilities.  They've been around since 1994 and I've been teaching guitar there for a few years now.  They are having a celebration for the release of their 2nd CD this weekend.  I've listened to the ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/tunefoolery-cd-release-518-ymca-cambridge/ I'm going to be debuting some new music & new sounds soon. I'm working on a new approach to my Solo Guitar playing and I'm going to be lining up some performances around town to showcase them. The first is at: La Luna Caffe, Wednesday May 21st @ 7pm Solo Guitar http://www.myspace.com/lalunacaffe Here's a ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/gig/ To follow-up last year's Sgt. Pepper concert, the Brookline Music School will be performing the Beatles' White Album this coming Mother's Day weekend. Close to 100 students will be recreating this legendary album with a string orchestra, horns, vocals and rhythm section. I have contributed an arrangement of ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/white-album-may-10th-11th/ There is new category debuting in the blog today: "Guitar Ensemble." This is where students from my Guitar Ensemble at Brookline Music School can visit for updates and discussions. Instead of handwritten parts, all charts will be excerpted from a Sibelius score. The full score of each tune will ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/guitar-ensemble/ I'm a little behind on my updates, but better late than never: I had a wonderful time at my Faculty Recital last month. Vessela Stoyanva, Valerie Thompson & Will Dick all provided themselves as great musicians and amazing associates for the evening. Thank you to all my students who ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/recital-wrap-up/ I'm often asked by my Solo Guitar clients for a repertoire list, and for years I've declined to provide one. My reasoning behind this seemed to make sense at one time, but now I can't remember why I've been withholding information for so long. This morning I sat down with ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/solo-guitar-repertoire-list/ It's that time of year again. Time for recitals! Excitement and nerves meet, and then we play. To honor my students dedication and hard work I will be having a recital of my own. Last year I showcased music for the WAlbum, this year I will be featuring ... http://www.brendanburns.com/blog/2008/whats-good-for-the-goose/