Combo Guitar Style

NEW GUITAR STYLE. I’m working on a different acoustic guitar style. I try to play base, rhythm and lead guitar all at once. I call it the combo style of guitar playing. Then in studio recordings I add two background vocals. Listen and see what you think.

Once you get used to this style of back-to-basics guitar and voice music, you may ask, when listening to other music,’ why is that band song so cluttered?’, or ‘isn’t that other guitar and voice song missing something?’

Hunkasaurus Dot Com is Back

Dear Reader,Hunkasaurus dot com is BACK!
Webmaster Matthew Creed had set up all of my 150 songs to preview on a CDBaby framework, the company that distributes my music online and pays royalties. But CDBaby stopped it’s player.
Matthew found a substitute framework that has brought back preview snippets of all 150 studio version songs in my 9 CD OUTSIDE THE BOX SET. Fun to explore and as I always say – try a hundred or so of my songs and see what you think!
Hunkasaurus DOT come.

Jim Quinn sets my Poem to Music

Jim Quinn has taken my poem , Full Moon, my version of a poem by Walter de la Mare, and turned it into a fine song. Very impressive! https://www.facebook.com/groups/483326849098435/permalink/898220040942445/

Jim writes, i had a guitar piece that i had.but didnt have lyrics too,and i saw tom hendricks had posted a poem ,so i asked if i could put music and vocals too it,he kindly said yes, so this is a collaboration of sorts.very short

Tom, Why Don’t You Play Your Guitar Right?

HEY TOM, WHY DON’T. YOUR SONGS SOUND LIKE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO SOUND?
Here are some differences that are on purpose!
For me songs should be at 2 minutes, 3 minutes for Ballads, that forces the song to have just the essentials and no excess repeats. Motto: stop playing before they stop listening!
The other thing is my guitar playing. This is what I call combo guitar style, not a singer songwriter, not a band something in between something new, where I play bass, rhythm, and lead, at the same time on one guitar. This single guitar leads to a more direct, passionate, and personal song. Though I will add that in my studio recordings I expand this to background vocals, and sometimes a 2nd standard guitar for a fuller sound.
Besides playing a lot of maj7, diminish, and suspended chords, I often play these with ringing open notes, such as an open A on a Bflat chord. I also often make up chords to enhance the melody.
So I encourage you to take these things as new ideas.
Those that like the older style are certainly welcome to do covers of my songs, some have already.

Music That Challenges

MUSIC THAT CHALLENGES:

Part of what I’m doing has challenged the thinking of many:

1. Get back to basics – don’t over produce your music – let the song through, don’t muddy it with technical clutter.
2. D-Pop where the song is what counts. What doesn’t count is the promotional budget or the fame. Then all are on a level playing field with every new recording.
3. Don’t do videos – Videos are a trick that only about 9 ever promoted pop stars can afford with minimum budgets of $100,000 to make (at least) That is a trick to let money count, not quality, and block out all indie musicians that can’t afford it.
4. Support pennies for play – where everywhere you post your song, you get a penny per play. Customers pay to hear music, like a jukebox online. Works for all content.
5. Fair, no ad revue sites – open to all. Where EVERYONE gets a professional review for a fair processing fee per song.
6. The Music Revolution – that would change every aspect of music and get you a chance at a career by ending the monopoly of the Big 3 Labels that block out new music and prop up the same 9 pop stars you see promoted year after year.
7. Take a break from bands for awhile ( the usual electric guitars, bass, drums). This will force musicians to be innovative instead of fit a 60 year old formula done so well by thousands of others from last century.
8. No corporate radio station will play a protest song. Take away their licenses.
9. New type of Combo guitar playing where I try to play bass, rhythm, and lead all on one guitar. Style that is half way between band and singer songwriter.

You may agree or disagree with a point or two – but they are new ideas, progressive ideas, challenging ideas that will help make music exciting, fun, and out side of corporate hands!

Tom