MakGrgic

Dwight Shrute from the Office. Growing beets with passion but never truly making it large lol

Lol, my last name is such a trouble maker.. Hope this helps: 'Gergitch' Or if you know your wines, it's the same as Grgich (Hills), the wine maker!

My doctorate was in the post tonal analysis with the emphasis on microtonal music from the east and middle east (gamelan, turkish) and how that applies to the western music and guitar. This in addition to instrumental conducting and arts leadership minors.

All in all, I did have to play guitar too, to pass my finals for the degree :D

Hey!

Thanks for the question.

I would compare performing in a hall like this to jumping with a parachute out of an airplane. It is scary leading up to it, but once you are out there, it is a sublime feeling. The acoustics were great, and of course to see a mass of people sitting there lifts the spirits and fills up with energy. Ecstatic!

Mak

Really great question. The answer is a flat out yes. It is a lost art. In classical music we have become so incredibly obsessed with perfecting the art itself, that we forgot that there is freedom to the expression coming from instant own creativity.

I have a few pieces that have sections that are improvised, yes, but most of improvising I've done was done through playing with other people in bands. I have a few friends, who are jazz players, and I enjoy playing with them on occasion.

Tips: know your frettboard incredibly well, by practicing transposing licks up and down in all possible keys. Learn all the possible chord progressions in all the keys you can imagine, and lastly try to listen to first simple then more complex music and try to repeat it by listening to it a few times. Ah, and knowing all the possible modes you can helps.

Once you start improvising, you can follow a tip from my friend: ' there is no wrong way, just your way :) '

Oh. Easy. Hurt by Nine Inch Nails/Cash. :D 4 chords, simple melody. What more do you need?!