āCrank That Sh*t Up!ā Greg Koch on Teaching, Mistakes, Modeling, and Modern Blues
The Milwaukee-based āguitaristās guitaristā doles out decades of midwest wisdom on this episode of Wong Notes.
You might not know Greg Koch, but weāll bet your favorite guitarist does. In 2012, Fender called the Wisconsin blues-guitar phenom one of the top 10 best unsung guitarists, and in 2020, Guitar World listed Koch among the 15 best guitar teachers. Heās been inducted into the Wisconsin Area Music Industry Hall of Fame. Koch is a bonafide midwest guitar god.
He joins Cory Wong on this round of Wong Notes for this meeting of the Middle-America minds, where the duo open with analysis of music culture in Wisconsin and MinnesotaāKoch taught at Saint Paulās now-shuttered McNally Smith College of Music, which Wong attended. Koch and Wong zero in on the blues roots of most modern music and talk through soloing theories: It can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be, but Koch shares that he likes to āpaint himself into a corner,ā then get out of it.
Koch and Wong swap notes on the pressures of studio performance versus the live realm, and how to move on from mistakes made onstage in front of audiences. Plus, Koch has created scores of guitar education materials, including for Hal Leonard. Tune in to find out what makes a good guitar course, how to write a guitar book, Kochās audio tips for crystalline live-stream sessions, and why he still prefers tube amps: āI like to crank that sh*t up!ā
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See the Tone King Royalist MKIII in action!
Tone King Royalist MKIIIGuitars used: Shabat Lion STP (Lollar P90) & Les Paul R8 (Lollar Pickups) & Fender NoCaster
Tone KingĀ Royalist MKIII 1 x 12-inch 40-watt Tube Combo Amplifier
The Royalist was the first Tone King amplifier to offer the best elements of British tone and was one of our most beloved amplifiers.
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