So, is there a marketplace for this (old school) style of playing? Well, plenty of people want to learn how to do it for sure, and it`s all in your hands and your ears for me. Buy the right albums too.
My commercial song based album project with reknowned producers Turei, George and 50hz is available here at www.jakeedwards.net:
When it comes to songwriting I just can`t sufficiently explain, no matter how hard I try, how, where and why to do it.

You need to talk to God about that one.

When I first fired up my macbook I was working on a piece with two main riffs. Then the technology died. This is why simplicity is the key in innovating new ideas. Anyway. I still had fun with these two jams until things went awry, like the best laid plans of mice and men…

I have resurrected the unfinished riffs, and although inspiration is long gone, unmixed and unfinished HERE THEY ARE…We used on eof them for our Xmedia Lab presentation.

Cheers and have a good weekend,

Jake Edwards

As a follow on from my post here on being unusual, having something unique and not running with the crowd I thought it might be good to run a short list of unusual guitar related ideas. Being unusual really, really helps stylistically. Here’s a few interesting players off the top of my head!

Keith Richards – 5 strings only and G tuning – D, B, G, D, G (high to low)
Django – predominantly two  finger playing style as other fingers were badly burnt
Robert Johnson – almost supernatural physical technique beyond the horizon
Mississippi John Hurt – earthy brown-dirt piedmont picking souds like  molasses, treacle and golden syrup
Charlie Christian – pioneer of amplification
Jesse Lone Cat Fuller – one man band blues-folk player who invented the Fotdella bass machine
Jeff Healey – Being blind the guitar is played on his lap
T bone Walker – played behind his head, with teeth and before Jimi
Jimi Hendrix – uses teeth, lighter fluid, art-destruction, plays behind head,  attacks amps and heavy feedback
Jeff Beck – one of the early feedback pioneers, also uses unorthodox approach to neck-scales-tremolo etc
Frank Zappa – watermelons in easter hay and shut up and play your guitar – theme from the 3rd movement of sinister footwear
Stevie Ray Vaughan – uses half step down tuning
Eric Mongrain – a highly melodic tapping style (see also Kaki King for a percussive style)
Jimmy Page – used a violin bow and a theremin on occasion
Alvin Lee – completely unique English sound and style  – live, using a drumstick for a right hand, incredible
Johnny greenwood,  Adrian Belew, Reeves Gabrels – completely insane sounds
Robert Fripp – loops and frippertronics
Frank Gambale, Alan Holdswoth, John Maclaughlin – jazz fusion of various degrees
Paul Ubana Jones – mind blowing and unique style
Fred Frith – avante garde un-guitar playing
Richie Havens – open D tuning tour de force
The Edge -underrated master of skeletal arpeggios soaked with melodic feeling – redefined rock/pop guitar sounds
Adrian Legg – idiosyncratic individual picking style complemented with technique and taste
Son House – unimaginably authentic individualism

So, do what feels best even if it`s unusual and strange!

Do what suits you.  Do what you like. Use your limitations to your advantage & if you only know a few scales – there`s no limit to what you can do – explore them fully in all senses.
You dont have to be blind, crippled or named after a fruit, but it might help…a little.

Here are some pictures of me practising underwater, great for making those  leagues below sea-sounds.
Later this week I`ll be travelling to the earth`s core to conduct electromagnetic, heat exchange, tone experiments.

Personally, Ive got my Strat` set up with the bridge in a unique way that should leave the guitar out of tune. It came about through an accident where I ripped the unit out of the body years ago and the tremsetter fell apart. It`s now become part of my overall style…it`s great.

Cheers, Jake.