Bruce Arnold

Guitarist Bruce Arnold’s passionate pursuit of new ideas and applications for his beloved six-string instrument has taken him from the minimalist landscapes of Sioux Falls, South Dakota to Boston, where he studied and later taught at the Berklee College of Music, to Princeton University, where he taught for 30 years. Along the way, the has managed to document his innovative ideas for guitar on a series of potent recordings that explore the notion of applying highly complex 12-tone theoretical constructs and serial methods to modern American improvised styles. AND! He's quite simply just a great guitar player. No matter what style he's playing in. He plays with authority and emotion, and he's got a huge bag of tricks. In this episode, Bruce mostly focuses on explaining his use of pitch class sets. He shows how you can organize a solo around groups of three notes. If this sounds like a daunting subject, don't worry. You'll find extremely useful, practical tools in what Bruce talks about. He's got a perspective on working with harmony that will open up your ears and fingers, no matter what kind of music you play. 00:30- Intro 2:00- Influential teachers 4:45- Pitch class sets to organize harmony 10:02- ALL the Books Bruce has released for students 12:12- Playing a Blues with the pitch set 18:12- Pitch class set 2 21:12: Playing a country tune with the pitchs 23:30: Playing a Real Book tune with these concepts 29:40: The altered scale with pitch class sets 36:30: Working on time 44:10: Free Improv