Beyonce Is Crazy In Love With Our Act

The Brute Chorus Are Joined by Chew Lips on New Record

The utterly intriguing Brute Chorus release their eponymous album in October - its a brilliant and inspired debut. Mixing tales of Greek mythology, love stories and bluesy charms it’s full of off-kilter lyrics and foot stompingly good bass lines.

The Brute Chorus are quiffed and moustachiod Vicar’s son James Steel (Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica and Kazoo) Cumbrian Nick Foots ( Vocals, Guitar, Keyboard and Stuff) son of a Morris Man Matthew Day (Vocals , Drums and Percussion) and Essex born Dave Ferrett (Vocals, Bass). The band all live together in a flat in Whitechapel.

The album was recorded in one heartstopping take infront of 300 of their most loyal fans at The Roundhouse’s FreeDM studios. They begged, borrowed and stole equipment from the likes of Rod Stewart, Lionel Richie and then with shaky hands, sweaty brows and a quick swig of JD they were all set to record…

5 weeks before the due date they set about preparing. They inlisted producers Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, Gogol Bordello and Son’s and Daughters) and the Mercury nominated Choque Hosein (Black Star Liner, Hood, Lord Auch). Holed up in their rehearsal residency above a Hackney pub, they practicied solidly to ensure the recording would be a success. After the gig Victor promptly packed up and went back to New York where he mixed the recorded gig.

‘The Brute Chorus’ is a thoughtful and thoroughly unashamed letter to all that has shaped the band. Love, religion, fables, mythical beasts and the odd Greek Tragedyn from the bass heavy drive of the opening track ‘Hercules’ - to the dying drones of ‘I’m Gonna Shake Your Treehouse Down.

Previous single ‘All The Pilgrims’ - A twisted modern love story with references to religion and false idol worship to a girl who resembles Joan Of Arc.

The Cuckoo and The Stolen Heart is Cash/Carter duet for the 21st Century. ‘Chew Lips‘ Tigs joins James on vocal duty for this ode to argument!

There’s a mix of pop, circus burlesque and most noticeably rockabilly. This is a debut that you will not be able to stop tapping your feet to. With a nod and a reference to rock n roll, blues, post punk and even a good measure of ramshackle folk thrown in. it’s one of the most impressive debuts of the year. It’s a fairy tale, a fable and a hoe- down - with music itself as the love interest.

Live, the band are brimming with energy and replete with confidence built on an impressive gigging schedule, they strut, stutter and howl their way through their live sets. They have toured with Martha Wainwright, Rumble Strips, Ida Maria and even a trip to the seaside with Peggy Sue and The Pirates as well as numerous headline UK and European shows.

Guitar Lessons - Learning to Make Chord Changes

How quickly can your fretting hand switch from one chord to another? The speed and confidence you have in making chord changes is key to mastering the guitar and successfully playing the instrument.

The key to learning any instrument, like most intricate human activity, is to develop brain and muscle coordination, more commonly called, muscle memory needed to play the instrument. If you picture a basketball player, for instance, the key to a good shooting performance is the proper hand-to-eye coordination in order to bring the ball up, prepare, aim, and throw it towards the hoop. The different muscles of the arms, wrist and hands will learn the right movements and strength needed to score. Constant practice will condition the brain, eyes, and entire body to know the routine of shooting the ball.

This is similar to guitar playing. The muscles involved would be the arms, wrists and the fingers, with the eyes, ears and brain working in unison to relate the movements to the music being read and the notes produced by the guitar. This is the mechanism that works when a guitar player starts to change chords.

Luckily, there are simple techniques that can help the beginning guitar player to develop these muscle memories and ear training for proper chord changes. Read below and you will see that chord changes are not that difficult to do.

When changing chords, first memorize all the chords involved in the song, and then visualize exactly which fingers of the fretting hand are involved in playing the chords. When playing simple barre chords, the most important finger is the index finger, which will squeeze all 6 strings across the fretboard. So as you move towards playing the chord, you have to position the index finger across the proper fret, or place, along the fretboard before positioning the other fingers of the chord. When playing a broken or simple chord, it is usually the index finger that is the most important finger. Primarily, the index finger and the thumb will form a stable anchor on the guitar neck in order for the other fingers to press the other strings of the chord. The index finger is usually played on the lowest fret and the highest string (by pitch, or string 1), where it could more easily find the proper note, and the other fingers can follow to complete the chord.

When playing a particular song, keep time with the music, but anticipate in which bar and on which beat the next chord will continue. For beginners, it would be preferable to practice the entire song slowly from beginning to end, taking care to change to each chord on time and on tempo. When the student can play the entire song like this without chord errors, he can start increasing the speed to the song’s proper tempo. It would also be helpful to identify particularly tricky chord changes. For instance, 2 consecutive bar graphs would be a relatively simple change, because the guitar player needs only to slide his index finger (which is already in the barre position) to its proper position on the fretboard and quickly press in the other strings of the chord. Changes from simple chords to barre chords - and vice versa - and chords that are positioned at a far distance from each other along the length of the neck are more difficult to perform. Isolate these difficult changes and practice those chord changes.

If it is still to difficult with the slow tempo, don’t play the last beat of the last chord and use the time to move your fret hand into position for the next fret. Keep practicing these changes until the short passage can be played without error. Afterwards, go back to playing the entire song as discussed above. When you can play an entire song properly, try different strumming styles to accentuate parts of the song, or a particular beat; or alternate strumming and light plucking to give volume and variety to the music of the song. First, it is best to complete the song by actually copying how the original artist played it on the guitar; then you can add your own twists and extra technique according to your ear and taste. This will help you develop your hands for more difficult chords and finger playing techniques.

Do this for every song, and before you know it, you’ll be playing a new song like a seasoned guitarist in a short period of time.

Bill McRea is the publisher of Guitar Warehouse the best place to Buy Guitar and learn Guitar Playing Techniques. Both sites offer free lesson and product sales.