Guitar by Randy Buckner

How is Randy, today, you ask? Well, my internet keeps crashing, making it impossible to teach online lessons. One parent, after rescheduling their son’s lesson to 1:30pm Friday, suggested I should call said son beforehand to make sure he’s ready by the time of said lesson.

So now I’m not only a music teacher, but have a side hustle as a concierge as well. “The good news, Mrs. Farley, is there is absolutely no waiting at the Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium, however -“

Barnes is becoming more well-known today, thanks to the internet, and especially his daughter, Alexandra Barnes Leh. She has some very interesting projects in the works that you don’t want to miss out on. While you can locate Barnes’ recordings on the internet, your best resource for all things George Barnes is Alexandra’s website, https://georgebarneslegacy.com/

George Barnes “Guitar Style” ~ 1942 The Book George Barnes Guitar Styles. Published by William J. Smith: NYC. 39 pages. Copyright 1942. Original cost: $1.00. Price on eBay or Amazon: good luck finding a copy.  "12 guitar solos - with piano accompaniment - by the sensational guitar stylist heard on numerous NBC presentatio...

The last blog of my five-part series on John Knowles CGP, and the writing of “Chet Atkins Note-for-Note.”

Part Two: “Chet Atkins Note-for-Note” The Songs Nine songs from Atkins' album, "Chet Atkins Goes to the Movies," were transcribed for this book: "Emily" "Charade" "Solace" "The Entertainer" "A Man and a Woman" "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" "Everybody's ...

When I was in middle school, I ran across an ad in Guitar Player Magazine. The advertisement was for a book of songs recorded by one of my heroes, Chet Atkins. I immediately ordered it, because the songs were transcribed from my favorite album, "Chet Atkins Goes to the Movies." Here are my thoughts on one of the most important books in my collection.

Part One: “Chet Atkins Note-for-Note” When I was in middle school, I ran across an ad in Guitar Player Magazine. The advertisement was for a book of songs recorded by one of my heroes, Chet Atkins. I immediately ordered it, because the songs were transcribed from my favorite album, "Chet Atkins Goes to the Movies." Here are...

Knowles knew he was "gifted" with the opportunity to work with Atkins. He felt the obligation to "share what I had learned from that encounter."

John Knowles: Part Three - Reflections Chet Atkins, The Person Looking back, John Knowles remembers Chet Atkins as being a person who wanted to "get down to business." When Atkins handed Knowles a guitar, he said, "Show me what you're working on" - meaning, "Let's get busy." Atkins didn't want...

~ Knowles advises anyone who has access to a player to be as prepared as possible before they ask a question. The answer will then be heard when it comes time. ~

~ Knowles explained, ‘Don't ask questions you're not ready to hear the answer to. You won't get anything out of it except a photo for Facebook.’ ~

John Knowles: Part Two - Things Learned Nashville After working on the project for about 10 weeks, Knowles - with wife, Becky, and son, Jay, - drove to Nashville. It was time to edit the transcriptions with Chet Atkins. During their meeting, Knowles learned many details about Atkins' technique. The Meeting As part of the editing proces...

I’m beginning the process of moving my old blog posts to my new site. Here’s part one of an interview I did with John Knowles, CGP in 2013. More to soon follow.

John Knowles: Part One - Getting the Call "That's the closest I ever came to hyperventilating." This was John Knowles' reaction when Jim Crockett asked him to write a book with Chet Atkins. The 1975 book, "Chet Atkins Note-for-Note," was Knowles' first book published on a national scale, garnering world-wide attention for the guitar teac...

New blog post.

Jazz Renaissance Quintet - George Barnes Here’s a must-have jazz guitar album, “The Jazz Renaissance Quintet: Movin’ Easy,” with George Barnes as the leader on the date. Musicians are:  George Barnes - Guitar  Hank D’Amico - Clarinet Billy Bauer - Rhythm Guitar  Jack Lesberg - Bass Cliff Leem...