STAND BACK: Live performances of Three Songs from the Music Album

Beginning with the title song, StandBack, from the album by that name, Robert 'Colin" Johnson performs live in the studio. Most of the songs on Stand Back are also used on the instructional CDs from GuitarMedia. The next song, Texas illustrates the tantalizing hypnotic spell called the slow blues. All three songs, including the last song, Upward Spiral, are on both on the Stand Back musical album as well as in the the Soul-of-the-Blues instructional CD. You can download the jam-mix tracks for all three for free, from GuitarMedia--just click on Jam-with-Downloads at the top of the page.

DREAM YOUR DREAM: Live Performances of Three songs from the Musical Album

Here the artist performs selections from his own musical album, Dream Your Dream. The three songs are the first track, Looking Up (about the first stages of a new friendship), Long Way Down (an aural exploration of the exhilaration of heights) and Sliding Sideways (about the pitfalls of living in the frozen North). All songs are available in studio versions on CD or as free downloads from GuitarMedia.Org--just click on the "Downloads" then "Albums" then "Dream your Dream."

ELECTRIC: Blues that Rocks from the albums "Stand Back,"Dream your Dream" and "Heart-of-the-Blues

After the introduction, we immediately launch into a live performance of "If You Ever" from Robert Colin Johnson's "Stand Back" CD featuring his dog "Tex" flawlessly performing a mornful howl in exactly the same bar ever verse. Next a live-in-the-studio version of the song "Upward Spiral" also from the "Stand Back" CD which features a melodic pattern that repeats in the relative minor. Then we hear the song "Rainbow," an uplifting anthem proding you to take pride in doing your best. Also from the "Dream your Dream" CD we hear performances of the shuffling instrumental "Long Way Down" and the classic blues, "Looking Up." Finally, we hear a performance of "Single Shot" from Heart-of-the-Blues entry-level series for guitar players, improvisers and composers.

ACOUSTIC: Solos with Feeling including "One And Only," "Here We Go Again" and "Dream your Dream"

Acoustic performances of the songs "One And Only," "Here We Go," and "Dream your Dream" live in the studio. An upcoming album of acoustic selections will be forcoming in 2006--stay tuned--so for now these are the world's only available performances of these brand new acoutstic songs. "One and Only" uses diatonic harmony, as does "Here We Go" again which both also feature singl-string solos, chord solos and walking-bass solos. "Dream your Dream" is the only song currently available on a commercial CD, in an electric version with a backup band.

HEART-OF-THE-BLUES: Download All the Tracks from Our Entry-Level Guitar Mastery Series

If you like the free preview of the Heart-of-the-Blues above, then why not support GuitarMedia by purchasing a few tracks from the iTunes Music Store. The JAM MIX and SLOW JAM tracks, in particular, can be a source of endless joy. Many guitarists jam with one of these tracks almost every day. Any soloists can use these guitarless bass/drums/vibes-only tracks to keep the music alive and vital in their daily lives.

NOMINAL-LEVEL: Blues Jams that Tout the Clean-and-Upbeat Sound of the Soul-of-Blues

The Soul-of-Blues is an the nominal-level instructional for aspiring guitarists who have already mastered the entry-level Heart-of-Blues instructional CD. Robert 'Colin' Johnson performs her Texas and Rendezvous live in the studio. Both songs from the Soul-of-Blues CD exhibit the clean-and-upbeat blues melodies used by blues masters like B.B. King and Jimi Hendrix, rather than the down-and-dirty blues you master in the Heart-of-Blues. You can download for free the jam-mix soundtracks for both Texas and Rendezvous from GuitarMedia--just click the Jam-with-Downloads button at the top of the page.

IMPROVISED: Melodies Adorn Ad Hoc Sounds from Twirling-the-Dial of a Fender CyberTwin

By twirling the "big dial" of a Fender CyberTwin, Robert 'Colin' Johnson dials in a variety of guitar tones--randomly chosen from all the great tube amplifiers of all time. (The Fender CyberTwin can sound like almost any amp, thanks to its ability to rewire itself like all the classic amps, and a few imaginary ones, by just twirling the dial.) The game is akin to the invent-a-song that folksingers play by instantly making up a song to fit an audience member's chosen word. But here it was the "sound" of the amp thus dialed-in, instead of the word, that was randomly chosen. The instantly invented songs tend to match the genre of the randomly dialed in guitar tone, from the straight-and-clean to dirty-and-raunchy to other-worldly. All songs performed live in the studio at GuitarMedia.

ELECTRIC: Songs from "Stand Back" and "Soul-of-the-Blues" Performed Live

Beginning with the title song, StandBack, from the album by that name, Robert 'Colin" Johnson performs live in the studio. Most of the songs on Stand Back are also used on the instructional CDs from GuitarMedia. The next song, Keep the Faith illustrates the power and majesty of the minor-tone blues melody when played over a rocking rhythm track. The last song Texas, is both on the Stand Back music CD and the Soul-of-the-Blues instructional CD. You can download the jam-mix track for Texas for free, from GuitarMedia--just click on Jam-with-Downloads at the top of the page.

START: GuitarMedia Debuts Live-in-the-Studio Music Podcasts with an Unintentional Introduction

Lisa gives an unintended introduction to the debut podcast from GuitarMedia. If You Ever, the first song, comes from the album "Stand Back". The next song, SingleShot, from the Heart-of-the-Blues, exercises the whole fretboard by repeating the same licks in every playing position. Then Upward Spiral demonstrates alternating harmonies by playing the same patterns in two positions. The song Rendezvous takes a classic blues formula and spikes it with dominant seventh harmony chords. The song Texas is a slow blues that also exercises the entire fretboard, but here with interchangable licks that can be mixed and matched. The final song, One And Only demonstrates the diatonic harmony which grafts together complementary harmonies. All the songs here are performed live by their composer, Robert 'Colin' Johnson, and can be downloaded free from GuitarMedia or you can buy them on either instructional or music CDs.