January, 2010 Archives

Mel-Hallam

Mel Hallam, guitar instructor extraordinaire

Mel Hallam Acoustic/Fingerstyle Guitar www.fretsandfingers.com | (702) 292-5292

When it comes to classical, Flamenco or fingerstyle guitar, Mel is the man to see.  He has taught the classical guitar privately for more than three decades and has performed since the the age of 19. Mel is the author of four-volume series of DVDs and books on technique entitled How to Develop Tremendous Technique For The Guitar.

Mel began his classical guitar studies in his teens with Katherine Manning, a voice and guitar teacher in Southern California. From there, he studied with Anisa Angarola who, at the time, was a student of both Pepe Romero and Manning and was a founding member of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.  In turn, this led to Mel studying with Celin Romero, the elder brother of the renowned Romero Guitar Quartet.

Under Romero, Mel received his associate of arts  and bachelor of music degrees from San Diego State University. Mel later received his master’s degree in guitar performance from the University of California at Riverside. For eight years, he ran the guitar program at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert where he was also an elementary school music specialist for a number of years.

Mel currently teaches in Las Vegas both at his private studio near Charleston and Rancho (702) 292-5292, and for the Nevada School of the Arts (NSA). For inquiries about lessons from the NSA, please call them directly at (702) 384-2787.

bass pedal board

Toys or useful gear?

I’ll be upfront with you:  My name is John and I am a recovering gear-aholic.

I love gadgets and playing with new things, particularly when it comes to music and technology. However, I do have a family to help support, financial responsibilities and various stages of fiscal embarrassment that keep my acquisitions in check. Plus, there is a huge difference between what you need to play & gig with an electric bass vs. what you want.  Maybe that’s the reason I’ve stuck with bass of all these years…I can’t afford to be a guitarist!

As I begin to add more goodness to this site, I will include my recommendations on gear for the aspiring bassist. Some of it will be what I consider to be mandatory. Others will be classified as “nice to have” or “if you have some extra dough, you might have fun with this.”

Most likely, I’ll incorporate the tag feature to help you sort through these recommendations once they start piling up.

My thoughts on gear