The just jeff interview

Alright,luthier's absent from school today,so imma start this up..well whaddya waitn fer?ask sumnthn!

Jeff,
Your dream guitar?
Phip

Do you sing at all?

jeff,why do you always have a capo at the 3rd fret on all your vids?

I could prably learn this watching one of your videos but do you use finger picks and what fingers do you use?

Who has been the most inspiring to you?

Andy McKee or Antoine DuFour?

You've already got such a brilliant profession at the moment; where do you see yourself in 5 years though? Pushing it to fame? Or being a brilliant inspiration to others?

What made you decide to start playing the guitar?
WHat made you crazy enough to go for a PhD? :o)

I really don't know... I would love a nice Martin 000 Series... Though I'd love to custom make one... probably using some great woods and such but I really haven't given it much thought. My Larrivee OM-03 is wonderful and probably is all I'll ever need :)




When I'm alone in the car... yes. I've recorded myself once or twice, and I sound really bad... I have no ability to control pitch with my voice... so I don't bother anymore.




Well, when I cover pop music, most of the time the key is flat. For something like Usher or Katy Perry, they are both in Bb (Play G major on the 3rd fret). Some other music like Owl City plays a lot in Eb (play C major on the 3rd fret). It just so happens they all land there.




Occasionally i'll use a thumbpick, but that's about it. I don't like fingerpicks (like those alaskan picks or banjo picks), they are awkward to play with and I don't think the sound is much different than just growing your nails and playing.

When fingerpicking, you usually just use the index, middle, annular (ring) fingers. Look up the PIMA method for fingerpicking, and that's what I follow. Each finger has it's strings, and there is never any crossing.

I do have to say that Antoine Dufour has always inspired me to further my technique. Andy McKee is all melody, which helps a lot since that's what most people look for in music. Though, if I had to pick one, Antoine will win always :)

As for where I see myself in 5 years... hopefully with a PhD :) I'd love to be working at a University teaching Computer Engineering. Being an assistant has really helped me identify the fact that I want to help people achieve great things, and what better way than to be a teacher, a mentor, and a great researcher?

That's what I'd like to accomplish in these next 5 years.




I started playing my freshman year of college in that "It's college, time to do new things and experience crazyness". So, I bought a guitar on impulse and started learning from my friend who plays violin and can sing pretty well. We have a jam that was recording (because of a pretty *ty situation at VT, but otherwise it's a good recording.) You can hear that here :)



As for the PhD, I think I like the challenge. It gives me the freedom to let me express myself in a unique way, and get recognized in my field. I don't think I'd fit in very well in business. I'll be the first one in my family to go down this road outside of being an actual doctor, so we'll see what happens. :)

And yes, I am quite crazy.

if yiu could change your name,what would you change it too?

How do you record yourself?

As you can see, I use my first name as my alias on here, and on many other sites as well. I enjoy Jeff as a name, so I utilize it so I don't have to explain to people who I am. As for my last name... I have a lot of Italian pride, and my last name is quite Italian, so I don't think I would ever change my name. :-P

But if I could.... I'd change it to Geoff :)




I've wanted to invest in a small scale recording studio for my house, but I've never gotten around to spending that kind of money... so right now I'm using a $20 HD flip cam... and that's it :(

DO you own an electric guitar?

Do you like Jeff Buckley?

Have you ever attempted to build a guitar?

If you could play any instrument you don't play already - what would you choose?

in the tuning of D♯-G♯-C♯-F♯-A♯-D♯ what would be you favorite bass note or root note for the songs you write

has jeff ever gotten into a fistfight?

You are known for splendid covers, are you planning to write whole album your own compositions?

Emp

1) yes, I do own an electric guitar. It's a candy blue mexi made Strat. I love it to death, I'm just not good at playing it :(

2) I only know Hallelujah... which is okay. Other than that, don't know who he is.

3) Nope... I would love to learn though.




Cello or Violin, hands down. I would love to have been in an orchestra studying classical music when I was younger.



It's just a half step down o_0 So, I'd totally work off of the Eb major :-P (or as you have listed there, D#).



I have never punched a soul in my life. However, I have gotten punched, and resisted the urge to fight back. It never solves anything. I'm a tough cookie :)



I'd love to release a CD. Of course, I'd like to have some originals in there. The reason why i started doing covers was to learn how people write melodies. Of course, the songs I cover I feel have some kind of melodic advantage to them, so I try to study that to see what they do.

Hopefully in less than a year, I'll have a CD. :) However, i say that every year.

i agree jeff,your a good guy,plus fighting is bad for your hands(:

jam or jelly?

have you ever heard hawian slack key guitar?

Everyone starts out as a novice guitar player with little knowledge. You now are quite clearly a pretty damned good player. Can you elaborate on your path to success? What you studied and when and how?

I call it jam, and hate both :)



It sounds very familiar. I feel like Tommy Emmanuel uses that tuning in some of his songs.

Apparently after a google search, Slack Key is just the term for open tunings. If that's true, then yes I've heard of it, and have written songs in those kinds of tunings :)




I'll try to sum it up the best I can. I started out just like everyone else, with chords and stuff. However, like most things I do, I obsessed over it. Day in and day out I practiced until my I couldn't play. I wanted to be able to accompany my friends when they played, since I was the only one without any musical background, so I learned as much as I could about chords and keys.

This is when I found Eric Clapton. He enlightened me to the beginning of fingerstyle music, and I just enjoyed his "slow-hand" playing. I listened to him as much as I could and took in the music every day.

After this, I found Andy McKee. He completely changed the way I looked at guitar. I started trying to figure out what he was doing and searched the internet for whatever I could find about that style of music. I studied how they played and watched their fingerings and their positioning.

This is about 10 months into playing, and my first recorded song.


It's not perfect, but it's something.

From there, I took some music theory courses which made my mind start thinking about music from a more intellectual level. I started writing my own music, and that's documented in the fall of 2007 on my youtube/soundclick channels (Grounding, Don't you Worry, etc).



After that first year and a half or so, I started to tailor off a bit and work on my technique and precision. It's still not great, but whatever :)

And that's where I am now. About 5 years of playing under my belt now, and lots of theory background, but I could still learn a crapton more.

I think I went a little too in-depth. Sorry :)

r u into any extreme sports?

Does golf count as extreme? ^.^

only if you fight each other with the clubs (:

That's the way I play. =D

Jeff, do you drive? What kind of car do you drive?

2005 Black Mitsubishi Galant with black leather interior ^.^

Definitely not too in-depth. :o) Thanks for that response!

I noticed in that video you had an Element shirt on. Did you used to skate much?

ROFLMAO. You are just a diamond. Honestly

Jeff, When you do "arrangements?" (dun know if that is correct term), do you know already or "hear" what voicing you use on chord or do you experiment them every time?

Emp

When I was younger, I was a punk. That is all. :)




Yes, arrangement is the word :). Usually I start off trying to find the melody. Once I find the melody, I try to put together the chord progression that goes. This way, the voicing usually is somewhat correct.

Other times, I'll do the reverse. Depends on how simple the song is :)

zomg

Jeff, If you could meet one member of the forum for lunch (he/she pays) who would it be?

now for the 5 City tour question...............5 Cities. Which would you most like to play?
Phip

Hrmm, for lunch? It's a toss-up. I'd have to go with some of the veteran members. I would think cs, but he'd probably leave early because his wife needs him to take in the groceries... Either Jazz or You :-P

For a 5 city tour? I don't think I could give you 5 cities. I'd love to go back to my great grandparent's birthplace (Sant'Agata) and play there. Probably London, Sydney, Some city in California, and New York City. I think that would be a good roundtrip tour :)

Favourite skateboarder?

If you could find one song to define your life - what would it be?

What has been the most helpful book you've ever read (or are still reading)?

What is one of the most important things you would like to do before you die?

When you're feeling lazy, what do you do?



ahaha that was a good one! But cool decision! When I travel to America I hope to visit each of you guys. :)



Seriously D: Was this your first car?

Man, I wish I has a money :(

Then I would buy:




I define her as the mother of all badasses. This IS a true story.




If you suddenly won the Lottery, and I mean BIG... what would you do with it? DETAILED description required. Failure to do so will imply an instant fail to your interview examination. Batteries not included.

does jeff read guitar world?

Don't care too much for skating, but Rob Dyrdek is the **ing man :)


Oh man, this is a tough question. I've been going through some of my favorite songs to see if they define who I am. Started with Incubus - Drive... didn't think it put the whole perspective there, just a bit. Next tried Rob Thomas - Someday, but I feel like I've already accomplished so much that the message in this song becomes mute. So, this is what I'd have to say is the story of my life.

Alanis Morissette - Hand in my Pocket


I don't read. So I can't really answer this question. The books I read are journals and technical papers, along with manuals and the like.

However, when I was a freshman in college, picking up an Electrical and Computer Engineering Journal and looking at some of the cool stuff they were doing put me in the direction I am now, so I'll say that :)


The most important thing to me is to meet my family. I would love to know where I came from and who is on that other branch of my family. I think it would definitely ground me and realize my roots.


I play video games with friends, listen to music, play golf and other non-athletic sports.



It's funny cause I was actually talking to my roommate about this yesterday. I first started out by saying I don't think I could spend $100 million. I don't want a huge house, I don't need to hire staff and have multiple properties. I'd probably use that money to get myself a great guitar teacher, a great chef to teach me how to cook, and then I'd brainstorm a great idea and start my own company, funding it myself.

I would like to keep as much money as I can in the bank for when I start my family. Be able to give my children the freedom to not worry about money until they need to. I wouldn't spoil them, just enough to keep them on the right track academically and socially. There's no reason to have them going to school in an escalade with gold earrings and jewelry.

In the end, I'd probably just give most of it away. And I'm saying that being 100% honest. I love working, and winning the lottery would not change that... it would just enable me to do things that I'd love to do, and I'd totally bring people along for the ride.


Man was that a gauntlet of questions. I hope this is sufficient :-P