So on the weekend of April 6th and 7th, we held a double masterclass weekend with the immensely talented Tom Quayle and the incredible Guthrie Govan. And what a weekend it was, we had a great turnout and hopefully everyone left feeling completely inspired and ready to approach their guitar playing from some completely fresh angles.
Tom Quayle Masterclass
Tom Quayle…… Tom is fast becoming one of the most widely recognised forces in modern fusion playing. His exceptional teaching ability and methods have allowed many rock players like myself to successfully make the transition or at least, start the journey towards becoming a more accomplished fusion player.
I am fortunate enough to have attended one of Toms masterclasses before and have had several private sessions with him. One thing that really makes him stand out is his utter professionalism and the amount of preparation Tom puts into his sessions. This leaves his masterclasses becoming an extremely fluid and efficient experience, crammed with information and revelation like thoughts and concepts for those just starting out on the fusion journey.
During the day covered many subjects such as time feel, playing over changes, developing fretboard knowledge, and various approaches towards constructing lines and licks in a much more creative and non linear fashion.
Guthrie Govan
On the sunday we had the legendary Guthrie Govan. Guthrie has been somewhat of a guitar celebrity for some time now and we were extremely fortunate for him to fit us in to his increasingly busy schedule. Like with Tom, I’ve been very lucky to see/meet Guthrie and attend his masterclasses before and every time I end up sat there with a huge stupid grin on my face whilst he does ridiculous things on his fretboard.
Guthrie talked at length about his development as a musician and the various ‘big moments’ that lead him to discover new musical ideas and concepts and how that changed his approach to the instrument, all the while lacing his tales with copious amounts of surprisingly insightful humour.
It was also very interesting to hear about his various approaches to songwriting. We got a blow by blow account of how ‘Fives’ came to be, right from him being sat in a park listening to a bird chirping in what he determined was an oddly phrased 5/4 time signature.
We were also treated to a few performances from his album ‘Erotic Cakes’, including a stunning version of ‘Wonderful Slippery Thing’ to finish the day.
Here are a few reviews from the day:
“Thanks for putting on the masterclass, they were amazing! Great weekend!” – Joel
“Great stuff….Brilliant day” – Paul
“Great weekend” – Jamie
“Thank you all, great weekend” – Boo
“He blew my mindballs” – Nick
So keep an ear out for future events as they do broaden the mind for any guitarist looking to progress.
Also check Tom Quayle’s website for more master classes from him and see Guthrie Govan’s website for more info on him too.
Thank you all for coming!