Killer Technique: Fingerstyle Guitar


Book Description

Mentored by three legendary guitarists, Michael O’Dorn is the living repository of not only the Merle Travis thumbstyle technique, but also the fingerstyle legacies of Chet Atkins and French guitarist, Marcel Dadi. This book contains a discussion of the differences between fingerstyle and thumbstyle technique, plus the most advanced exercises and tunes of any of the author’s three books for Mel Bay Publications — a must-have for any serious fingerstyle guitarist! The book begins with a series of progressive picking patterns with practice points that guide the player through intermediate and advanced licks and techniques. The harmony of each exercise was intentionally left unresolved so that it can be repeated to perfection. Soon, you will be playing O’Dorn’s challenging Travis/Atkins/Dadi-inspired licks and compositions using the left-hand hammer-on, pull-off, and thumb-over techniques, and the right-hand thumb rake and palm mute. While the purpose of this book is to help you establish study habits that enhance your performance abilities, the exercises can also be used as intros, outros or springboards to kickstart your own compositions. At the end, as a payoff for completing the book’s lessons, the author presents three original compositions for player and audience enjoyment. Learn the evolutionary, often unconventional fingerstyle techniques of Travis, Atkins, Dadi, and O’Dorn with Killer Technique®: Fingerstyle Guitar! Includes access to an outstanding online audio recording of the book’s 47 exercises and solos.




Killer Technique: Flamenco Guitar


Book Description

Killer Technique: Flamenco Guitar introduces and explains essential flamenco techniques by virtuoso and best-selling Mel Bay author Juan Martin. The book includes exercises of enduring value, with helpful photos, diagrams and tablature. The material is designed for any experience level




Killer Technique: Classical Guitar


Book Description

All the exercises in Killer Technique: Classical Guitar are either based on orinspired by challenging passages and patterns that appear in compositions. Technical elements and passages have been stripped down and transformed into exercises to help the reader concentrate on specific targets through repetition.The exercises cover various techniques, such as finger independence in bothhands, different types of shifts, in-context slurs, in-context arpeggios, scales, tremolo and switches between different technical elements. The exercises are presented in standard notation and tablature. Explanations andinstructions are also provided. By using standard notation, the exercises include detailed information regarding fingerings and strings. Tablature versions of theexercises are also included, however, the rhythm and finger information is written in standard notation. The exercises are divided into two main sections: right-hand and left-hand. Eachsection consists of different categories specific to that hand. The exercises are not written in any particular order within each category - by practicing these exercises, the reader will master difficult technical transitions when they are encountered in compositional contexts




Film Directing


Book Description

Written for the director who, though skilled in basic directing techniques, wants advice to achieve the emotional and visual impact demanded by today's motion picture industry. Today, the director will be involved in the production, from the time of the script's first rewrite to the completion of the post-production. Renee Harmon's book explores the relationship of the director with the star, producer, writer, production manager, editor, composer, and all the major film craft professionals. Topics covered include creating the on-screen image, camera movements, the director's shot list, lighting, dialogue, story-boarding, casting, the first reading, scene breakdown and more. Includes straight-from-the-hip advice, helpful hints, do's and dont's of film making.




Killer Technique: Hammered Dulcimer


Book Description

Killer Technique: Hammered Dulcimer is a book that uniquely focuses on improving the everyday elements of dulcimer playing. Some mundane fundamentals of technique may seem mindless and appear to need no attention. In reality though, even the most basic essentials of dulcimer playing can hold us back without careful examination and precision. This book does just that! The author, himself a National Hammered Dulcimer Champion and music professor, draws on over twenty years of experience in playing and teaching to share his recipe for success. The material focuses on dulcimer-specific skills and drills them in effective and engaging new ways. Targeted areas include dexterity, aim, flow, commonly used percussion rudiments, chords, arpeggios, and chord suffixes. Each exercise is carefully designed to isolate the targeted skill, provide instruction for its most efficient execution, and help you acquire new and improved muscle memory in the least amount of repetitions. Admittedly, working on technique can seem like a chore. This book takes the work out of it and presents the exercises in fresh new ways so you get the most out of them in the least amount of time. Dr. Wade's biggest technique secret revealed in this book is his use of varying rhythms to re-engage the brain and to acquire new and lasting muscle memory. The exercises are not only fun to master but also incredibly effective! It's all about efficiency–not just going through the motions!




Killer Technique: Mandolin


Book Description

This book is designed for mandolinists seeking to develop their left and right-hand technique. The exercises included help reinforce fundamental actions of playing,and challenge the player to master the various permutations and combinations of these fundamentals. Each hand is given primary focus, working across all four strings or up and down the fretboard before both hands are challenged simultaneously. Through these exercises, a player can improve their functioning abilities and facilitate better control over the instrument. Practicing these workouts can help with the mechanics of playing as well, helping a player improve accuracy, speed, and agility in both hands




Killer Material


Book Description

Stand-up comic Biff Kincaid puts his career and his life on the line when he sets out to discover the mystery behind Ned Lando, a lackluster performer who steals material from other comics yet has the money to rent a Los Angeles theater and fill it with a paid audience for his professional debut.




The Killer's Shadow


Book Description

The legendary FBI criminal profiler and international bestselling author of Mindhunter and The Killer Across the Table returns with this timely, relevant book that goes to the heart of extremism and domestic terrorism, examining in-depth his chilling pursuit of, and eventual prison confrontation with Joseph Paul Franklin, a White Nationalist serial killer and one of the most disturbing psychopaths he has ever encountered. Worshippers stream out of an Midwestern synagogue after sabbath services, unaware that only a hundred yards away, an expert marksman and avowed racist, antisemite and member of the Ku Klux Klan, patiently awaits, his hunting rifle at the ready. The October 8, 1977 shooting was a forerunner to the tragedies and divisiveness that plague us today. John Douglas, the FBI’s pioneering, first full-time criminal profiler, hunted the shooter—a white supremacist named Joseph Paul Franklin, whose Nazi-inspired beliefs propelled a three-year reign of terror across the United States, targeting African Americans, Jews, and interracial couples. In addition, Franklin bombed the home of Jewish leader Morris Amitay, shot and paralyzed Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, and seriously wounded civil rights leader Vernon Jordan. The fugitive supported his murderous spree robbing banks in five states, from Georgia to Ohio. Douglas and his writing partner Mark Olshaker return to this disturbing case that reached the highest levels of the Bureau, which was fearful Franklin would become a presidential assassin—and haunted him for years to come as the threat of copycat domestic terrorist killers increasingly became a reality. Detailing the dogged pursuit of Franklin that employed profiling, psychology and meticulous detective work, Douglas and Olshaker relate how the case was a make-or-break test for the still-experimental behavioral science unit and revealed a new type of, determined, mission-driven serial killer whose only motivation was hate. A riveting, cautionary tale rooted in history that continues to echo today, The Killer's Shadow is a terrifying and essential exploration of the criminal personality in the vile grip of extremism and what happens when rage-filled speech evolves into deadly action and hatred of the “other" is allowed full reign. The Killer's Shadow includes an 8-page color photo insert.




Master Studies


Book Description

This book gives exercises for the development of control and technique for playing drums.




Beyond the Obvious


Book Description

The Killer Questions Your Company Should Be Asking Generating and executing great ideas is the key to staying ahead in a rapidly changing world. It seems so basic. Why is it so hard to actually get right? According to innovation expert Phil McKinney, the real problem is that we're teaching people to ask the wrong questions about their businesses--or none at all. There has to be a better way. In Beyond the Obvious, McKinney will help you use his proven FIRE (Focus, Ideation, Rank, Execution) Method to dig deeper and get back to asking the right questions--the ones all companies must ask to survive. Full of real-world examples, this book will change the way you operate, innovate, and create, and it all begins with battle-tested questions Phil has gathered on note cards throughout his career. Shared for the first time here, these "Killer Questions" include: What are the rules and assumptions my industry operates under? What if the opposite were true? What will be the buying criteria used by my customer in 5 years? What are my unshakable beliefs about what my customers want? Who uses my product in ways I never anticipated? These questions will reframe the way you see your products, your customers, and the way the two interact. Whether you're a company of thousands or a lean startup, Beyond the Obvious will give you the skills and easy-to-follow plan you need to make both the revolutionary changes and nuanced tweaks required for success. Praise for Beyond the Obvious "Human beings are creatures of habit, so getting ourselves and our teams to think beyond the obvious is a challenge we face all the time. Phil McKinney is an innovation expert, and his killer questions and hit-the-spot anecdotes provide a great way to get out in front of opportunities we otherwise won't see." -- Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity "I've always believed that asking the right questions is the essence of design. Phil McKinney proves that point with this wonderful set of killer questions that will jumpstart-or greatly enhance- your innovation efforts." -- B. Joseph Pine II, co-author, The Experience Economy & Infinite Possibility. "Product Innovation is a prerequisite to building great brands. Phil's questions are a prerequisite to building innovative products." -- Satjiv S. Chahil, former global marketing chief, Apple"