Gift Certificates Available!

Last minute gift? Packages of 1, 2, 3, or 4 lessons available before Xmas. Comes with a card. Wrap up a guitar or a pair of drumsticks and get them started. They are welcome to contact us anytime throughout the year to schedule lessons. Info and email here!

http://www.saralandeau.com/Class_Information.html

I love my job

Did a little bandcoaching this weekend for the women putting on "KARATE KID, the Musical." With songs like "Your the Best - Around" by Joe Esposito, "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama and originals such as "Mr. Miyagi," this show will be a SUREFIRE effin hit. I CAN'T WAIT!

Aww.

SOURCE and where to buy.

Intimidating

Whoa! This reminds me to go back everyday and work on the little parts of the songs that I find myself skirting through, and make those parts solid and full...

2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winners - Divided Among 3 Women

2011 Nobel Peace Prize Winners illustrated:

* activist LEYMAH GBOWEE of Liberia

* Liberian President ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF

* rights activist TAWAKULL KARMEN of Yemen.

According to the Nobel committee in Oslo, these 3 women were chosen "for their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work. We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society."

LEYMAH GBOWEE helped organize and then lead the Liberian Mass Action for Peace which confronted the country's president, changed the infrastructure of men and women in her country, and brought an end to the Liberian Civil War in 2003. Their demonstrations culminated in his exile and the election of Africa's first female head of state Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (also a Nobel winner) . She was the central character in the 2008 documentary filmPray the Devil Back to Hell.

PLEASE WATCH!

Here is a Must-See 5 minute introductory video about Leymah Gbowee. LEYMAH VIDEO

(I could NOT EMBED THIS VIDEO unfortunately! PLEASE click to watch!)

Liberian President ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF, knicknamed the "Iron Lady," was the world's first elected black female president (2006) and is the first and only elected female head of state in Africa. She has declared a zero tolerance policy against corruption and has made education free for all children. She said the peace that had ended 14 years of civil war should be attributed to the country's women who stood up against the former dictatorship. "My sisters, my daughters, my friends," she says,"find your voice."

For a lighter look at Ellen Johnson Sirleaf....See her here on THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART

Rights activist TAWAKKUL KARMEN of Yemen is the first Arab woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. She is the president of Women Journalists Without Chains, a group campaigning for press freedom, and the public face of the 2011 Yemeni uprisings. Karmen has fought for human rights and the rights of women in a conservative Muslim and tribal society.

A Must-See look at Karmen in action! Tawakul Karmen VIDEO

(Again, this I'm not able to EMBED THIS VIDEO. Please click and watch!)

Who chooses the Nobel Peace Prize anyway, and why does it matter?

* Exposure matters. We may not have studied these 3 particular women's actions if we just saw their names in passing, now we're moved, inspired, and even changed.

* The award consists of a cash prize of $1.4 million.

Nominations are made from lawmakers around the world, university professors, previous Nobel laureates, and members of the Nobel committee (made up of 5 Norwegians chosen by their country's parliament).

The Nobel Peace Prize was created by Alfred Nobel, the Swedish scientist and industrialist.

(Illustrations by me)

Her cheekbones cast shadows when she smiles

In a pile of drum gear...

PHOTO Source

Back to that Les Paul I was painting...

So I took apart this Epiphone Les Paul in a previous post, sanded it for 2 weeks, painted it magenta with yellow racing stripes over its old dull Sunburst coat, ordered "Mod" white speed knobs from Hong Kong on Ebay, sprayed sealers, set it up, strung it, and got it playing. The other day I felt that twitch that something was wrong, and then I finally decided its just too "rosey." I've re-taped and went over it with a solid Candy Apple RED spray.

Here it is drying over a torn apart issue of Bust Magazine. TBC.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Laura Kennedy of the Bush Tetras RIP

The 5, 6, 7, 8's...

Saw them play at Mercury Lounge on Saturday 11-12-11, poised, perfect, gorgeous, and better than ever...

Not the best video I found on youtube...but you get the idea.

http://www.the5678s.net/

Cookies in Austin, Thanks Lina!

Oaxaca Mexico - A way to celebrate

Dia De Los Muertos Upper Playground Mexico Oaxaca from mrevelli on Vimeo.

Painting an Epiphone Les Paul

The original Epihpone Les Paul in picture #1. I love the way this guitar sounds and it plays beautifully, but I'm not a fan of sunburst. Maybe I'm just sick of it? I dunno. Too "Slash"? Yeah, a little. So I decided to take on the ambitious project of repainting it. This was a MUCH bigger project than I ever imagined! Patience was crucial here and there was a lot of waiting for paint to dry (literally). If you're the type who likes to sit for hours in a monk like meditation and sand wood, this is for you. Luckily I do love to sand and listen to music...

Inspiration: The BMW art cars. I like quite a few of them. This one was painted by Andy Warhol and I love the colors and the ripped tape effect. My friend Josh introduced me to these.

So since Josh is kinda the guy who know everything, I took him with to the hardware store on Metropolitan in Williamsburg. We picked out sandpaper.

The guy working at Crest Hardware casually told us about THE PIG WHO LIVES IN BACK. Just look at this!

Spray paint section. I got excited and perhaps a little ambitious buying 4 shades.

The guitar with the strings off.

Spent a great deal of time precisely putting tape over the pickups, knobs, and sides.

First round of sanding at my studio. The meditation begins. Also the slightly OCD part.

Testing colors. They look a little Alladin Sane in real life. Gorgeous shades.

First layer of Easter Yellow over everything with the goal of ripping tape and having it show through.


Several days later, after sanding twice and 2 coats later, I add painters tape down the center.

The trick with spray paint, I've learned, is to stay far away and do VERY LIGHT coats, one per day. Unlike acrylics, oils, or other paints I'm familiar with, this has an extremely light touch. I got excited and moved in an inch and....damn, a drip. Now I have to sand all over again, layer. Several more days go by.

I went with the Magenta spray.

Sand and spray.
Final coat. Or so I think.


Clear gloss. Several layers and days worth. How do I know when to stop?

The final guitar before putting strings on.

With strings! Completed except now I need to work on its set up since the bridge got a little buzzy in the process.

I left some scratches/paint accidents on the body I liked. Also some red spray paint went off in a bag and sprayed the bottom bridge. Looks good.

Bones and Django are happy I'm done.

Cute and Wierd

Source: http://sonicf.com

New York Magazine... Sun Oct 30, 2011

Read on for "The Rebirth of the Feminist Manifesto" and "An Oral History of Ms. Magazine"

Halloween Dog Costumes

Source/more

Guitar Lessons

Here's a new lesson on triads. I call these Mini Triads because they are only 3 strings in size. Be sure to mute/not hit the lowest strings (E, A, D) for these. Triads can be played on all strings, are moveable up and down the neck, and are interchangeable. For these particular Mini Triads, we're just focusing on the high strings to create that strong dazzling Johnny Marr sound.

Now, can't give away his magic too much, but if you form the first shape, start up high on fret 9 and slide back and forth to fret 7, then 11, you'll start to hear it. You'll need to arpeggiate the chords. Whats that? Arpeggiate is when you hit ONE string at a time, sort of rake through the strings so each note rings out independently before hitting the next note. A chord sounds like all the notes are hit at once. Of course this is an electric guitar with the treble turned up....some reverb...

Favorite Guitarists series

I don't want this song to end. Link Wray is 1st of my "Favorite Guitarist series". No particular order, you just can't number things that way.

This version of Hidden Charms may be the reason I decided to stop playing 3 chords and become a better guitarist. I first got a hold of this when I was 19.

Laying down backing tracks

With the amazing Kathi Wilcox.

New Pic

Makeup and photo by the incredibly skillful Rose Devitt! See her work as it goes up here: http://killer-makeup.blogspot.com/

First official band photo!

the julie Ruin First official band photo!

Photographer: Aliya Naumoff
Makeup: Kristin Hilton
Hair: Jennifer Brent

With Carmine Covelli, me, Kathleen Hanna, Kathi Wilcox, and Kenny Mellman

Sara's Guitar Lessons HERE

I should've done this ages ago. Weekly guitar lessons will be posted here. Requests welcomed. A few new students have asked about these chords lately so lets do that first.

Question: What is a power chord?

* the little number on the side of each chart tells you the fret #.

Answer: A power chord, also called a "5" chord by people who follow music theory, is a 2 or 3 stringed chord shape based on only 2 notes: the root note (a.k.a. the NAME of the chord, like A, C, D, F etc.) and the 5th note of that scale.

This is a neutral chord, not major or minor (so thus not bright or dark in nature), but full and...with a little help from heavy hitting or a pedal..."powerful." These chords can be played over almost song and are a good thing to know when playing with others. Sliding these smoothly from fret to fret is the GOAL. Add some chunky down strums. Just be careful not to hit the thin highest strings (marked with little x's on these charts.) Aim for good tone.

BE SURE to use your Index finger and your Ring (3rd) finger. If you are flipping off the audience, you are holding your chord correctly here. Yes.

* * *Next week I'll be posting The Smith's "This Charming Man" guitar solo, by Johnny Marr. I heard it today during breakfast (at B.A.D. Diner), remember teaching it to a handful of students, and thought it'd make a great practice song for all levels of players. In the works...

Nice Guitar Solo

Scroll to 2:39 to hear the lead girl guitarist's solo! Great job! (Not Metallica's best era or album, but still...)

Olek strikes Astor Place

RIP Sylvia Robinson

Click her for a great NYTimes bio about producer, songwriter, and singer Sylvia Robinson.