Category: Musical Arts

  • Guest Post – John Mead Teaches the Guitar Solo from Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones

    Guest Post – John Mead Teaches the Guitar Solo from Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones

    “This is a great solo to start on—it’s simple, clear, and articulate; it will teach you how to hear clear phrases and how to hear bends (which make up a significant part of the solo). It will teach you a couple of fairly sophisticated ideas while being very simple and satisfying to play.”

    John Mead

    We’ve been working on Dead Flowers in some recent Guitar Crew meetups and recently a student asked “Do you know how to play the guitar solo?”

    I thought, I don’t but I know EXACTLY who does.

    Check out this killer lesson from one of my very closest friends, and a truly gifted educator, John Mead.

    John Mead and Jason McInnes
    Sure missing hanging out with this guy!


    Download the pdf.

    You’ll notice that John makes the point that, “THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a ‘pentatonic major scale.’

    Now, if you know me and my teaching, you’ll know that soloing with the major pentatonic scale is a core skill of  my introductory improvising lessons. Ha!
    But, I totally get where he’s coming from and there’s a lot of truth to it. If you’ve had those introductory lessons from my, I highly recommend digging into this lesson to put some of those concepts into practice and to take you’re playing to a new space.  

    John is an incredible teacher, player and music philospher. Give him a shout if you’re looking to turn up your guitar playing. John’s there to help you make that happen.


    Contact John

  • “How do you do THAT!?!?!?” Learn a Song By Ear: An Approach (Free Self-Guided Lesson)

    “How do you do THAT!?!?!?” Learn a Song By Ear: An Approach (Free Self-Guided Lesson)

    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

  • Playing By Ear Demo – Hold Music

    Playing By Ear Demo – Hold Music

    I have a thurough self-led lesson about playing by ear in the works. For now, I thought I’d leave you with this.

    My advice on how to learn to play by ear.

    How to Play by Ear

    1. First, seek out financial institutions who provide one minute of music on repeat when you’re on hold.
    2. Next . . .

    OK. While that video is just kind of a kidding around, playing by ear is a goal of many of the people I work with.  Here is a video I made awhile back demonstrating one of the processes I use to learn a song by ear. 


    Blog Post: How I Learn Old Time Tunes – Learning to Play the Tune, Nancy, from a Recording by Jonas Friddle
  • Tisa Batchelder on Her New Album, Dream Girl

    Tisa Batchelder on Her New Album, Dream Girl

    I think probably everybody has some sort of healing dream. And so as you journey through the different songs, maybe little, little parts of the dream are falling into place or coming true.

    Tisa Batchelder

    I’m honored to share this audio essay by my good friend, and one of my very favorite musical artists, Tisa Batchelder.

    In this essay Tisa talks about her album, Dream Girl, which you can find on Bandcamp.com.  

    Tisa Batchelder

    Album Release Celebration

    Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023

    Martyrs’ in Chicago

  • “Let’s start something loud! Can you hear it?” – Cherishing the Music We Made with It’s a Girl

    “Let’s start something loud! Can you hear it?” – Cherishing the Music We Made with It’s a Girl

    One of my most cherished musical memories is of the four of us standing backstage and hearing the sold-out crowd stomping and chanting,






    I loved this band so much and this album represents some of my favorite music that I ever made.

    It was such a thrill to work with people that had so many good ideas!

    Song Ideas!

    Arrangement ideas!

    Staging and audience interaction ideas!

    Teaming up with awesome bands and venues ideas!

    Elizabeth Breen | Miki Greenberg | Jason McInnes | Lindsay Weinberg

    As Miki would say, “The classic lineup of piano, banjo and two oboes.”

    Our first show was October of 2008 at the Tonic Room. 

    Our album release show was in February 2012 and our last show was sometime that spring.

    And, then . . . I don’t think a decision was made to retire the band. I remember it just kind of happening.

    We had taken a long time to make the record. By the time the album came out all four of us were sending our creative energy towards other projects and family life.

    It’s a Girl was much more like being in a theater production than any other band I was part of before, or since. Theatrical shows close and so did this band, I suppose.

    You can listen to the album for free at bandcamp.  

  • Jonas Friddle Discusses the Music and Memories behind his New Album, Jug Band Happy Hour (Interview)

    Jonas Friddle Discusses the Music and Memories behind his New Album, Jug Band Happy Hour (Interview)

    “It’s funny to think of myself as a person who is old enough to reflect on some good times.” 

    Jonas Friddle

    Jonas Friddle joins Getting to Know Trees to talk with Jason about how the good times of the past inspired his new collection of songs, Jug Band Happy Hour. Visit jonasfriddle.com to pick up the recording and to learn about his album release show, Feb. 5, 2023 at Space in Evanston.

  • Can I Sing You to Sleep? – Maria McCullough Shares a Sweet Moment with a Dear Companion

    Can I Sing You to Sleep? – Maria McCullough Shares a Sweet Moment with a Dear Companion

    The sweet moments in this video took place on June 5, 2021. Toro was one of my dearest companions and rest teachers. Can I sing you to Sleep? was inspired by and written in a workshop guided by Octavia Raheem.

    Amongst all the layers in the world that might have you feel and do otherwise…

    May you feel loved.

    May you find rest.

    May you experience moments of ease.

    May you sing.

    Maria McCullough (she/they) loves to share and explore with others through music, movement, laughter, love and rest. Maria is grateful to be living on Tiwa Land/Tewa land in so-called Albuquerque, NM and is at the beginning of a relationship-building journey with the land and beings here.You can contact Maria and learn more about her offerings here.

  • Present Time! – new piece by Elijah Kim

    Present Time! – new piece by Elijah Kim

    One of my music students, Elijah, has offered some music inspired by this time of giving and receiving. Present Time! is Elijah’s musical take on the excitement of opening Christmas presents. Enjoy!

    Elijah is in the 7th grade, and has been playing guitar for 4 years. He likes seals and loves to go ziplining.

    He has been writing songs with his guitar for 3 years and has been composing with standard notation for one month.

    This is a Midi version of it, exported from Elijah’s Musescore file.
  • Gift Packages of Lessons are Available this Holiday Season!

    Gift Packages of Lessons are Available this Holiday Season!

    Help a loved one (and/or yourself) start 2023 off with some music!

    • Guitar, Harmonica, and ‘Ukulele
    • Music Theory and Musicianship
    • Songwriting and Composing

    Contact Jason at 773-369-8268 or jason@knowingtrees to discuss some options. He can work with your budget and schedule!

  • Slideshow – Celebrating Tradition Retreat 2022

    Slideshow – Celebrating Tradition Retreat 2022

    Maria was one of the teachers at this year’s Celebrating Tradition Retreat in Spring Green, WI and I was lucky enough to be invited to tag along. What a rare gift to visit without the responsibilities of being a organizer, a teacher or a student! I thought I would take that opportunity to document the retreat.

    The slideshow follows, more or less, the unfolding of events. I did make the amature mistake of leaving my battery charger in New Mexico, so I missed much of the last day, and the goodbyes.

    It takes a moment to load, so if you see a black screen at the beginning wait 5 seconds and the first photo will come up.

    If you would like hi-res jpegs of any of these photos, feel free to download them at https://photos.app.goo.gl/o4MM4juVk7tg1R66A

    Thanks to the Peggy, Maura and Lou and the kitchen staff, and the friends old and new for making me feel so welcome.