Learn the foundational techniques leading to a lifetime of enjoyment, making your own music. Learn more about this free workshop and register here.
Playing the Guitar: An Introduction – FREE workshop Read More »
Expand your knowledge of guitar strings and instrument care Receive the tools you’ll need to complete a guitar restringing Engage in the process of guitar maintenance within a supportive environment Learn more about this free workshop and register here.
Learn to Restring Your Guitar Workshop Read More »
In this 2 hour workshop you’ll Begin taking improvised solos THAT DAY, and gain insights for your continued study for years to come. Play along MP3s, so you can continue to grow your new skills outside of the workshop. PDFs of all the material covered Complimentary access to Jason’s Creating and Understanding the Guitar Notemap online lesson. Register here.
Take Your First Guitar Solo Read More »
In this 2 hour workshop you’ll Begin taking improvised solos THAT DAY, and gain insights for your continued study for years to come. Play along MP3s, so you can continue to grow your new skills outside of the workshop. PDFs of all the material covered Complimentary access to Jason’s Creating and Understanding the Guitar Notemap online lesson. Register
Take Your First Guitar Solo – September 8, 2024 Read More »
Expand your knowledge of guitar strings and instrument care Receive the tools you’ll need to complete a guitar restringing Engage in the process of guitar maintenance within a supportive environment Learn more about this free workshop and register here.
Learn to Restring Your Guitar Workshop – September 8, 2024 Read More »
Learn the foundational techniques leading to a lifetime of enjoyment, making your own music. Learn more about this free workshop and register here.
Playing the Guitar: An Introduction – FREE workshop – September 8, 2024 Read More »
Learn the foundational techniques leading to a lifetime of enjoyment, making your own music. Learn more about this free workshop and register here.
Playing the Guitar: An Introduction – FREE workshop Read More »
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.
Songwriters’ Exchange with Jason & Jess – Replay from June 18, 2024 Read More »
Join our wonderful neighbors Jason and Maria for an afternoon of community-supported music making. All music experience levels, especially beginners, are welcome. Grab your guitars, fiddles, whistles, banjos, trumpets, drums or anything else and join us in the beautiful woodsy at Chispas Farm on June 25! Jason is an educator, musician and visual artist. You can find him at Getting to Know Trees: Creative Inquires with Jason McInnes. knowingtrees.com Stay tuned for upcoming Farmily Music dates and times with Maria. No experience encouraged. All ages. Accessibility: The property has paths covered in wood chips, pretty flat, and very spread out. Once you arrive at the farm, you can park along the Eastside fence, enter through the gate, and make your way to the woods on the northwest corner of the property. 🍆🍅🌶🍆🍅🌶🍆🍅🌶🍆🍅🌶🍆🍅🌶🍆🍅 Únase a los vecinos Jason y María para una tarde de música apoyada por la comunidad. Todos los niveles de experiencia músical, especialmente los principiantes, son bienvenidos. ¡Traigan sus guitarras, violines, silbatos, banjos, trompetas, tambores o cualquier otra cosa y únete a nosotros en la zona bonita boscosa en Chispas Farm el 25 de junio! Jason es un maestro, músico y artista visual. Encontrarlo a knowingtrees.com. Estén atentos a las próximas fechas y horarios de Farmily Music con María. Música comunitaria en la recogida de CSA. No se necesita ninguna experiencia. Todas las edades. Accesibilidad: la propiedad tiene caminos cubiertos de virutas de madera, en su mayor parte planos. Se puede estacionar al lado este de la cerca y entrar por la verja.
Community Music at Chispas Farm – June 25 Read More »
“The Hermit chronicles a journey. These instrumentals, played on acoustic guitar, banjo and other acoustic instruments, combined with poetry and accompanying artwork expresses a stepping away from an established, but unstable and consumptive, life path onto the ultimately more stable, yet unknowable trail of accepted impermanence.” Read more about the album and listen to preview tracks now at jasonmcinnes.bandcamp.com.
The Hermit – June 28 Release Day Read More »
Jason’s new album, The Hermit, will be released on Friday, June 28. But, you can join in a world-wide listening party to celebrate The Hermit the day before. Come along to listen to the music with the artist and chat about the making of the album. Click to RSVP
World-Wide Listening Party for The Hermit Read More »
Working Together to Cultivate Music Knowledge & Expression A mix of in-person music ensemble classes and private lessons opportunities, located in Albuquerque, NM.In Music Crew we’ll focus on working together to play as a band!. All instrumentalist and vocalists are welcome to join. Musicians from all experience levels are encouraged. Both beginning and experienced musicians/singers will find value in balancing collective work and individual expression. More about Music Crew and Registration Options
Music Crew Begins June 26 – Runs Through August 25 Read More »
Join Jess and Jason for an intrepid discussion about the accidents, discoveries, breaking apart and gluing together involved in the creative process and songwriting in particular. Registration is free, but is required.Register at https://www.knowingtrees.com/storeYou’ll receive an email with the Zoom link for the discussion. Find Jess’ music at https://joybirdmusic.bandcamp.com/ Find Jason’s music at https://jasonmcinnes.bandcamp.com/
Virtual Songwriter’s Exchange with Jess and Jason Read More »
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.
Don’t Know What to Play? Put Your Worry Away and Try Dreaming Read More »
“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. 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
Guest Post – John Mead Teaches the Guitar Solo from Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones Read More »
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
“How do you do THAT!?!?!?” Learn a Song By Ear: An Approach (Free Self-Guided Lesson) Read More »
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. https://vimeo.com/902038361?share=copy How to Play by Ear First, seek out financial institutions who provide one minute of music on repeat when you’re on hold. 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
Playing By Ear Demo – Hold Music Read More »
The song began with a gentle and cyclical guitar part. A jangly loop.
Guest Post From Rose Signet – Thoughts On Writing, Recording and Collaboration Read More »
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 on Her New Album, Dream Girl Read More »
. . . standing backstage at our album release show and hearing the sold-out crowd stomping and chanting,
“It’s a Gril! It’s a Girl! It’s a Girl!”
“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.
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.
Can I Sing You to Sleep? – Maria McCullough Shares a Sweet Moment with a Dear Companion Read More »
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.
Present Time! – new piece by Elijah Kim Read More »
Help a loved one (and/or yourself) start 2023 off with some music! Contact Jason at 773-369-8268 or jason@knowingtrees to discuss some options. He can work with your budget and schedule!
Gift Packages of Lessons are Available this Holiday Season! Read More »
Today, I am honored and humbled to offer for sale pieces from my Listening Wide-Eyed: Limited-Sight Contour Drawings of Musical Instruments series. Between now and early July 10, 2022 you can purchase a piece of one-of-a-kind artwork made specifically for you or a loved one. Jump to the order form. The Listening Wide-Eyed series is an outgrowth of my visual art, musical and mindfulness practices. Each one-of-a-kind piece from Listening Wide-Eyed is created through a limited-sight process, where I make a drawing on a sheet of bristol board without taking my eyes off the subject. I don’t look at the board until I am done drawing. Within the messiness, the structural knowledge and spiritual essence of each instruments expands. Each drawing is a made-to-order, one-of-a-kind piece of visual art. They are created with wax pencil and bristol board. Each purchaser is invited to customize their piece, in regards to which instrument, the use of color and matting. There are also options specific to gifting one of these drawings to a loved one. This process started as a way to strengthen my visual record abilities. As my practice bloomed, this limited goal fell away and the drawing practice engendered more connections between the parts and the whole of both the instruments and myself. How do we move? Where are we sturdy? Where are we delicate? How do those and other qualities affect our presentation to and relationships with others? Considering these questions allowed me to hold and play each instrument in a more open, inviting way. We see and hear ourselves, and others, every day. I hope having these drawings in our living space, practice room, or at a family dining table prompt us to notice moments when we are making assumptions about what we know about both ourselves and others. I hope that they can act as a guide to remain open, curious and to foster connections in musical spaces and all other relationships. This round of sales does end on July 10, 2022. Order form for Listening Wide-Eyed: Limited-Sight Contour Drawings of Musical Instruments
Listening Wide-Eyed: Limited-Sight Contour Drawings of Musical Instruments for Sale Read More »
This fall I published my latest zine, The Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice (available in the store). This is a method for taking a lot of the stress that can come with being a learner/do-er out of our lives. I’ve developed the method over my lifetime as both a teacher and a student I am a user of The Sticker Method and one of my favorite aspects of it is that the method can be used for anything. If you’ve heard my music, seen my drawings, watched my skateboard videos, or if we’ve talked about developing a habit of going to the gym, then you’ve seen The Sticker Method in action. What are you going to practice? I’d love to know.
The Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice Read More »
The Getting to Know Trees Newsletter
