IROCKU is delighted to welcome Eric “Scorch” Scortia to our team of writers and instructors. Texas-based Eric “Scorch” Scortia is a multi-keyboardist and bandleader who specializes in blues, rock, jazz, gospel and country. He has decades of touring, performance, and teaching experience and holds a degree from the University of North Texas School of Music. Early in his career, Scorch became friends with fellow keyboardist Chuck Leavell while they were on tour together, and is proud to join up with Chuck again on IROCKU.
Scorch has performed with numerous legendary musicians, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Wynton Marsalis, Delbert McClinton, Bo Diddley, and many more. He has recorded on and produced numerous album projects and has four solo albums featuring him on Hammond B-3 organ. Of those, two charted in the top 10 and top 20 in the jazz radio format. Scorch’s press coverage includes features in Jazz Times, Jazziz, and Billboard Magazine and ee has also been referenced in various books, including: The Hammond Organ, Beauty and the B by Mark Vail, The Life and Times of a Poor and Almost Famous Bluesman by Omar Dykes; and Texas Music by Rick Koster.
Scorch’s teaching approach is to customize each lesson to fit the individual student’s needs by putting together a tailor-made curriculum covering performance and performance prep, music theory, technique, songwriting, and styles appropriate for the student’s musical goals. He works well with all ages, from beginners to pros. One of his local Dallas-area students includes blues prodigy Dylan James “Boogie Boy” Shaw. Scorch has taught as an Associate Professor in the commercial music department at Collin College with an emphasis on audio engineering, live sound, and performance ensemble. He currently serves on the advisory board of the school’s Commercial Music department. He has given master classes at the University of North Texas College of Music on the Hammond B-3 organ .
Not only does Scorch have decades of experience playing the piano, he knows the instrument inside and out as a piano tuner and technician with more than 25 years as a member of the Piano Technicians Guild. Most memorable tunings include John Lennon’s famous Imagine piano, plus concert tunings for The Eagles, Chick Corea, Burt Bacharach, McCoy Tyner, Ben Folds, Eddie Palmieri, the Wayne Shorter Group, and Bill Gaither. As a voting member of the Grammys, a Hammond organ artist endorsee, and former keyboard clinician, Scorch is also a member of the Nashville Songwriters Association International, the National Guild of Piano Teachers, and is a long-time member of the American Federation of Musicians.
Scorch can’t wait to share his knowledge and experience with his students and will contact you directly to schedule your lessons.
Purchase a Private Lesson with Scorch:
Learn how to play rock and blues piano from one of rock’s greatest. Chuck Leavell, legendary keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, The Allman Bros, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and more.
]]>Slow Down and Speed Up
First, let’s see how to slow down the videos. From the image below, you will see an arrow at the bottom of the video player showing – + buttons. Click on the – button to slow down the video and and click on the + button to speed up the video. The resulting playback speed will be momentarily displayed at the top of the screen.
Looping
Now let’s look into how to loop a specific passage of a lesson video. This is very useful for looping sections of the lesson that you would like to repeat in your practice. From the image below, you will see an arrow at the left of the video player showing the ‘AB Loop’ button. Clicking this button will open up the Looping Bar. With your cursor drag the ‘I’ to the place in the video where you want the loop to begin and drag the ‘O’ to where you want the loop to end. The lesson video will now continuously loop that section of the lesson video. You can pause and play as you like within the loop.
We hope you find these features helpful. Keep rockin!
Learn how to play rock and blues piano from one of rock’s greatest. Chuck Leavell, legendary keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, The Allman Bros, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and more.
]]>
Learn how to play rock and blues piano from one of rock’s greatest. Chuck Leavell, legendary keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, The Allman Bros, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and more.
]]>
A Night of Georgia Music will be performed by musicians with deep connections to Georgia: R.E.M. bassist and songwriter Mike Mills, award-winning violinist Robert McDuffie, and Rolling Stones keyboardist and musical director Chuck Leavell. The night will feature songs of Georgia’s favorite contemporary musicians, including: Ray Charles, The Allman Brothers Band, Outkast, Gram Parsons, Gregg Allman, R.E.M., Gladys Knight and the Pips, Brook Benton, Otis Redding, James Brown, plus the Mills-composed Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra.
Location: The Grand Opera House, Macon Ga
Time: 7:30PM
Learn how to play rock and blues piano from one of rock’s greatest. Chuck Leavell, legendary keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, The Allman Bros, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and more.
]]>Russell will be teaching Live Online Lessons.
[This post contains video, click to play]
Purchase a Private Voice Lesson with Russell:
Learn how to play rock and blues piano from one of rock’s greatest. Chuck Leavell, legendary keyboardist for The Rolling Stones, The Allman Bros, Eric Clapton, John Mayer, and more.
]]>Chuck Leavell
It is with a heavy heart and deepest sorrow that IROCKU acknowledges the death of Rolling Stones’ drummer, Charlie Watts, arguably the greatest drummer in rock and roll history. Our condolences to his wife Shirley, daughter Serafina, granddaughter Charlotte, the band, his friends and loved ones. We also want to acknowledge the millions of adoring fans who are now left to ponder what it means to have lost such a giant. For IROCKU it is more than the loss of a musician and rockstar, it is of course more personal than that because the Rolling Stones are a big part of the IROCKU story. With that said we want to send peace and love to our founder Chuck Leavell, who not only toured with the Rolling Stones for the past 40 years but was also a friend of Charlie’s and thus, our hearts are broken with the magnitude of this loss.
On August 24th, 2021, Charlie Watts left the confines of planet earth and has taken his place in the celestial realm known as Rock and Roll Heaven. In the coming days thousands of words will be written by a multitude of people about the greatest drummer in the history of rock music. Indeed, thousands of words had already been written about Charlie and the band before his death, the story is known, and little new ground will be covered in the wake of his death. But it is fitting that we do so, that we acknowledge his place in history, as a musician, husband, father, friend, and man. So, it is with heavy hearts that IROCKU offers these words as a tribute in honor of Charlie Watts, a brief look at the musical life of legend and member of the greatest band in rock and roll history.
Charlie Robert Watts was born in London on June 2nd, 1941. As a youth he was a record enthusiast drawn to the musical stylings of Jazz and in particularly to the playing of Max Roach and Kenny Clark. A self- taught drummer who famously dismantled a banjo and used the body as a snare drum, Charlie quickly moved on to a full kit, attending art school by day and playing jazz music at night. While performing with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, Charlie caught the attention of Brian Jones and in 1963 the Rolling Stones had found their drummer, popular music would never be the same. With a career spanning nearly 60 years, the Stones recorded 25 studio albums, released numerous compilations, live recordings, and bootlegs, and toured the world countless times, playing in far too many countries to mention here. All this landing them into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and having fans and critics alike rightfully considering them to be the greatest rock band ever. None of this it could be argued, would have been possible without Charlie Watts.
The Rolling Stones sound was bred out of blues, but it was Charlie’s jazz influence that gave the band its swing: the element that makes music a visceral experience for the listener. Pete Townshend upon hearing of Charlie’s death had this to say, he was “not a rock drummer, a jazz drummer really, and that’s why the Stones swung like the Basie band!” Jagger is the showman and quintessential front man, Richards is the pirate, possessing the swagger and attitude, and Charlie was the elegant statesman of the band who sacrificed ego for timing and tempo. This is what made the Stones the greatest ever…the music transcended the human qualities of everyone in the band. If you look at the Rolling Stones’ body of work (and Charlie’s side projects) over the decades, they were able to stay relevant because they did not pigeonhole themselves into being simply a rock band. Charlie Watts allowed them to play blues, rock, country, funk, soul, disco; he could play, fast, slow, he mastered beat-hammering, yet could be subtle, never flamboyant, he had a job to do and did it better than anyone else and that is why the Stones are who they are.
The legacy of Charlie Watts and the shadow he cast on the rock and roll landscape is indelible and will continue to influence drummers and musicians for years to come. Thousands of words will be written about Charlie Watts in the coming days, and the admirers are already chiming in; tributes and words of admiration from, band-members, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Questlove, Mike McCreedy and others speak to the influence and inspiration that this soft-spoken, dapper prince of rock and roll had on so many. If you look at the history of music, not just rock and roll but the entire lexicon of popular music through the ages, Charlie Watts, as Deke Dickerson points out stands alone as the only drummer to have a “59-year stint” playing with the same band. We will never see the likes of that again. The Rolling Stones changed everything. It had always been common thinking that rock and roll music was a young-man’s business, but because of Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones were able to obliterate that mindset ad remain relevant by playing music that stayed true to the swing inherent in a great rock and roll song. Charlie did not need a massive drum kit, self-serving solos, or grandiose flair to be considered a “Rock God”. Hell, he scoffed at the very notion of celebrity. He served the music with impeccable timing, tempo, and swing, and in the process made rock and roll music what it is today. Thank you, Charlie, and rest, in peace knowing that we will look back fondly at your life as a musician, husband, father and man who walked amongst us with style, grace and humility.
Jon Williams
IROCKU Rock Historian
Congratulations Dylan James!!!
[This post contains video, click to play]
Dylan James started with IROCKU about a year ago. Dylan James had been playing keyboard since he was 3 and has a very good ear so he already came to IROCKU as an advanced player for his age. Along with working on the IROCKU video lessons, Dylan James has been taking zoom lessons with Chuck, Rory Stuart, and Bruce Katz. Chuck has taught Dylan some of his personal blues techniques while Rory has shown Dylan James how to play complex rhythm patterns. Dylan James has also been taking weekly zoom lessons with Bruce Katz. Bruce’s connection with Dylan has been magical. Bruce has helped Dylan to find his own personal groove which is a remarkable achievement for a 14 year old. It can take years of practice and playing with others to develop a groove. It rarely comes at this young age.
The IROCKU catalog is tailor made for Dylan James’ style. He now plays “Rockin Pneumonia”(thank you Cary and Collin!) as his go to song. We’re all excited to hear what he will do with “Jessica” and the Professor Longhair pieces.
A note for the guitar players in the crowd; Brandon “Taz” Niederauer won the ‘Blues Kid of the Year’ award a few years back.
]]>
Just finished reading “Fix it in the Mix” by Paul Hornsby. “Fix it in the Mix” is the memoir of Paul Hornsby, the acclaimed record producer and musician best known for his work at Capricorn Records during the 1970s. Early on in his career, Hornsby joined up with Gregg and Duane Allman as a member in the band HourGlass. He is best known for his work producing and engineer the Marshall Tucker Band and The Charlie Daniel bands. His memoir is a history lesson and roadmap of Southern Rock.
Please share what you’ve been reading. Keep rockin.
]]>
In this webinar Bruce Katz will teach Blues and New Orleans inspired ideas and techniques. Bruce will cover improvisation, turnarounds and harmonic ideas that create variety and interest. Bruce will show how to add depth and richness to your playing by using all 10 fingers and 88 keys!
THIS WEBINAR IS NOW CLOSED. WE WILL BE POSTING A VIDEO OF THE WEBINAR SHORTLY. THANK YOU!
The outline for the webinar is:
- Introduction and review of blues basics involving drone notes, 3rds, 6ths, grace notes and a review of the melodic form.
- Improvisation ideas on how to stretch beyond the “blues scale” using chromaticism and notes not immediately associated with the blues scale. The discussion will also include creating real melodies, not just runs and scales. And singing what you play!
- Adding harmony and variety to blues turnarounds and examining the theory and structure of more harmonically complex turnarounds.
- Teaching melodies and improvisations of cornerstone New Orleans R&B licks using major blues scales along with a brief look at New Orleans Bass lines.
This 90 minutes interactive webinar is focused on intermediate and advanced players but all levels are welcome. For those who read music, we will include downloadable lead sheets and all participants will have one year access to a video recording of the webinar.
Date: June 5, 2021
Time: 1:00 EST
Levels: Intermediate-Advanced
About Bruce Katz:
Bruce is an internationally recognized performer and educator. As a performer, Bruce has played extensively in the Blues, Rock and Jazz idioms, appearing on over 70 albums and performing, touring and/or recording with Gregg Allman, The Allman Brothers, Delbert McClinton, John Hammond, Ronnie Earl, Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, Duke Robillard, Little Milton and many others. He also records and tours with his own group, The Bruce Katz Band and has released eleven albums as a leader. Bruce has been nominated for a Blues Music Award (BMA) seven times for the “Pinetop Perkins Piano Player of the Year,” which is considered to be the equivalent of the “Blues Grammys”. Bruce has also been nominated three times for Living Blues Awards.
As a teacher, Bruce taught at The Berklee College of Music in Boston for 14 years (1996-2010), teaching private lessons, theory and ensembles. He also teaches privately and has led master classes and clinics at schools and festivals around the world.
]]>