GUITAR
ALWAYS A STUDENT | James Duke
I recently went to Minneapolis , Minnesota for my first live gig since the pandemic struck . I ’ ve purposely not taken any live dates this year and have really enjoyed the life change of not living out of a suitcase and sleeping in hotel beds . Just when it looked like I was going to finish out the year sans traveling with my guitar , my friends Bryan and Katie Torwalt asked me to go play some Christmas shows with them . I love them so much and didn ’ t want to miss the opportunity to hang out with them , and getting to play live music was a bonus .
When I first agreed to it , I was thinking it would be simple , worship-style arrangements of the classic Christmas songs we all know and love . It would be a walk in the park , I thought to myself . I later learned that assumption was incorrect . We were playing big band , jazz versions of songs like , “ I ’ ll Be Home For Christmas ”, “ The Christmas Song ”, and “ It ’ s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas ”. When I realized I was going to have to actually learn how to play those arrangements , I knew I was going to have to put some time in .
I told my wife that I was looking forward to having to figure out all the weird chords and then learn how to play them all together so it sounds like a song and I don ’ t come off like a bumbling idiot . I thought it might be nice to have to actually worry about that for a week or so . I got to work .
Surprisingly , thanks to some charts and YouTube videos , I learned them all in a day . I was so proud of myself . I spent the rest of the week playing them over and over and committing them to memory .
The next step was to figure out what guitar would do the job . I needed to get that nice dark , woody , hollowbody clean sound but I was flying and didn ’ t want to drag a big hollowbody guitar around ( I hate carrying guitars through airports and I usually do everything in my power to not have to . That ’ s a conversation for a different time ). I settled on a lovely Gretsch ’ 53 Vintage Select Duo Jet . The chambered body and TV Jones Dynasonic pickups were perfect for that sound . It also fit into my old Incase gigbag ( remember those ? They rule !). For the amp lovers out there , I had a vintage AC30 and Deluxe Reverb back-lined for me . I was all set .
The shows were great and the hangs were so fun , just as I expected . The thing that I always seem to never consider , is how rewarding and fun it is to take the time to learn songs that I ’ ve known and sung my entire life . The old Christmas standards are such a huge part of people ’ s lives . It ’ s so good to learn a bunch of chords you never play and progressions you would never come up with yourself . You also feel very fancy and distinguished playing jazz , like Ron Burgundy when playing his flute . All in all , it ’ s a win .
It doesn ’ t have to be Christmas songs . You could make a point to learn one of your favorite songs . Learn a cool guitar solo . Maybe figure out how to do pinch harmonics like Zakk Wylde . It ’ s all fun and it ’ s all experience and adding some new tools in the shed . I want to always be a student of the guitar . I want to make sure I ’ m always learning and growing . I ’ m making a point to learn a new song or guitar solo every month . Join me ? Go play guitar .
James Duke James is a musician , songwriter , and producer from Jacksonville Beach , Florida . Most known for playing guitar alongside artists like John Mark McMillan , Matt Redman , Johnnyswim , and Steven Curtis Chapman , James also records his own music under the name All The Bright Lights . He currently lives in Nashville , Tennessee with his wife and 3 kids ..