Goals and Education
NEW CLASS! Music Crew plays The 90s UNPLUGGED
Play the music from the legendary MTV live sessions.
Play the music from the legendary MTV live sessions.
Four of my pieces up at FUSION until June 22, 2025.
Four of my pieces up at FUSION until June 22, 2025.
Thank’s for visiting! Jason, the class instructor, will be adding more to this page on Monday, May 26, 2025. Here’s some FAQ info about the class. If you have other questions and/or concerns. Jason would love to hear from you. Feel free to contact him at 773-369-8268 (phone/text) or jason@knowingtrees.com Grateful Deadhead Ensemble Tuesdays, June 25 to August 12, 6:30 to 8:30 Eight classes, plus one gig (nine meetings total) We’ll have classt at FUSION 700 – 708 1st St. NW , Albuquerque, NM https://www.fusionnm.org/ +1.505.766.9412 $350 (This works out to $20 an hour.) All Instruments/singers welcome! Guitar players – Acoustic guitars are HIGHLY recommended. We’ll figure out amplification needs as the class rolls along. Drummers – There won’t be a back line at our practice space. Hand percussion instruments are HIGHLY recommended. Keyboardists – Jason will be providing a keyboard for the band to use. Obviously, should we have more than one keyboard player, there could potentially be some challenges. But, nothing that I think will hold us back. Please contact Jason at 773-369-8268 (phone/text) or jason@knowingtrees.com if you plan on playing keyboards. Worried that you’re not good enough to play? Worried that you’re too good? This will be a multi-level class. Everyone will be asked to go to the edge of their abilities. Now, that edge will be very individual, as some folks are just beginnng and some folks have a lot of experience. Jason is confident that, no matter your experience level, you’ll walk out of class with a) something to work on, musically and b) a spring in your step from sharing music with such an positive community. This summers’ session will culminate with a gig in the second week of August. Details are still being worked out. Thank you for your patience.
My first looping song as I learn the Loopy Pro app and how to run it using a foot switch.
What an honor to be asked to be part of this fantastic tribute to our very good friend and mentor.
How cool is this? Jonas asked me to make a guest post for Banjo After Dark!
Jess Baldissero is not only a good friend, she is one of my favorite songwriters. I was honored that she sat with me earlier in the week to discuss the discoveries and accidents of the creative process. We shared some laughs, talked about good times and hard times and we each played a few songs. Audio and Video Audio Only Getting to Know Trees knowingtrees.com · Songwriters' Exchange with Jason McInnes and Jess Baldissero Three tracks from The Hermit, my debut solo album are streaming during the pre-order period. The full album will be released June 28, 2024 on Bandcamp. http://joybird.bandcamp.comPick up Jess’s music, featuring her band Joybird, at Bandcamp also.
Musical Dreaming – it’s a practice that I took part in, but had never really considered until some great chats with my old friend John Donahue. I think about John and his musical dreaming a lot when I meet with frustrated students. https://vimeo.com/949795666?share=copy Dreaming with Your Guitar .pdf They wanted to play more. They’re just too busy. They’re frustrated with the pace of their progress. They’re overwhelmed and don’t know what to practice. I get it. I feel that way about music all the time. Thankfully, I’ve developed some strategies to get me out of such a funk and this is one of them. Next time you don’t know what to play, or are bored or frustrated with the same old songs, try some dreaming. The video is the best description I can make of this process. I’ve also made a .pdf that has some drawings that can be useful, but there’s very little instruction on it. I hope you find this useful.
When I was first taking guitar lessons my teacher told me to bring in a cassette of any song that I wanted to play. I was so blown away when he’d hear it, having never heard it before, and by the end of the lesson have written down how to PLAY THE SONG. How did he do that?!?!?!?!?!? He taught me some stuff, but he definitely never taught me how figure how songs for myself. In the years sense, I’ve gleaned a lot about how people learn by ear. And, being on the other side of the teacher/student dynamic I often hear my student bewilderment as to how I can play by ear. And, I found that while many hear me be able to do it, they didn’t have a grasp of WHAT I was doing. At first the task seems quite daunting but once it’s broken down into a few manageable steps, it’s really not so difficult. It does take time and effort, but I am fully convinced that it doesn’t take any special talents or innate abilities. This is a self-lead lesson where I present very short videos that describe the exact process I use to learn a song by ear. Give it a try and listen to how it goes. Drop me a note to let me know how you do, and if you have any questions or concerns. Enjoy! Learn a Song by Ear by Jason McInnes
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