WorkshopLive interview with Reggie Chavez
Started: 15 years old in 1967
Education: Chaffey College (Alta Loma, Ca). School of Hard Knocks (everywhere USA)
Styles: Blues, Jazz. Roots Rock, Classic Rock
Instruments: Guitar, Bass
When did you start to play? I was about 14 or 15 years old when I started to play the guitar.
When did you start to notice that your playing was different from everyone else's? I didn't notice that my playing was different, as much as I noticed that I liked playing different things, different styles of music than a lot of other players.
When did you find your voice as a player? I'm not sure that I've found my voice yet. I feel that I'm still looking. I know that I have a basic sound, but a voice, that's still evolving, I've listened to recordings that I did 15 years ago, and I don't play or sound now like I did then.
How do you keep your playing fresh? Trying things I haven't done before. Learn the head to a tune that I've always wanted to learn. Or if I know the tune, learn it in a different key, or a different octave, in a different part of the neck. Sometimes I'll try learning a solo, note for note. You can learn a lot from that task, plus learn some great licks.
What do you do when you get stuck? Sometimes there's not much you can do when you get stuck except to move on. If I'm working on something, let's say a melody, and for some reason I can't hear It, feel it, see it, I'll put it aside and move on to something else. Chances are when I come back to that melody, in a month or two, it'll be easier to learn. I'm not sure why, but that's the way it works.
What do you still find hard to do? Play well at fast tempos. Balance my checkbook.
How often are you surprised by your playing, or what you're listening to, or music in general? I'm surprise myself at least once a week. Often I'll be on a gig and play something that was new to my playing. Something new in the way I played a solo, or using a new voicing in a chord progression. As far as listening to music out of my typical interests, I never thought I'd be interested in listening to Metallica or Pink Floyd. At least I wasn't interested in these groups when I was younger.
Are there one or two core ideas that are central to your teaching that you make sure every student learns? Speak slowly; look directly at the student, and have a lot of patience.
Do you find yourself returning to listen to the artists who inspired you when you first started to play? All the time. Coltrane, the Kings (B.B., Freddy, Albert), Monk, Bloomfield, The Beatles, and of course Muddy Waters.
Does your playing change when you switch instruments? Yes. But you'll hear a bigger change in my playing when I move from one style of music to another.
What music would you suggest for your students? I try to get student to listen to the players, and the bands that came first, in the style of music they're interested in now. If you're interested in "rock" music of today, you may want to listen to some Deep Purple.
What are you listening to these days? Do you search out music that's new and unfamiliar to you? I've been listening to music that was popular at on time, but is not necessarily popular now. Van Halen comes to mind. I've been listening to, and picking out guitar parts from Eddie Van Halens guitar playing. It's fun and challenging for me.
Do you have a musical wish list - other instruments to learn, people to play with, artists or styles to explore? I've always wanted to play the alto sax. I also want to learn and play some of the interments found in a mariachi group. Requinto, bajo sexto, guitaron. Still looking to form a trio.
Have you ever had a really great teacher? What made him/her so good? Yes I've had some really good, and great teachers. What made them good was that showed me how to use what it was they were teaching me. They just didn't show me licks, but instead gave me tools to work with.
How do you learn best? Repetition. And practicing very slowly.
