My Life In Music

ANDERSON

Copyright © 2015 Chuck Anderson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4080-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4079-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015918067

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 06/09/2016

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Dedication

My Guitar Work

My Guitar Education and Performance

Guitar as a Profession

The Chuck Anderson Trio

Liner Notes

Photos

My Education Work

My Teaching Philosophy

Student Success

My Writing Work

Personal Thoughts on Writing

General Thoughts

Soap Box

Music: Pursuing the Horizon

Conclusion

Ten Benefits of Music

Afterword

About the Author

Foreword

The music business, like the business of acting, typically starts slowly and then hopefully, builds into a career. In the early days, most people in these fields work as waiters, waitresses, bartenders, construction workers, secretaries, or they take any type of job to pay the bills.

My life in music was different. I never had a job outside of music. All the money I’ve earned has come from playing the guitar, teaching/education and composing music. As I think about it, I don’t know many musicians who didn’t go through other work on their way to a career in music. I’m sure there are some, but I don’t know any.

It’s a source of pride for me that I’ve had no bosses, no time clock, no hours. This certainly doesn’t mean that I haven’t worked hard. I’ve put thousands of hours into practicing, performing, teaching, researching and writing. I can say that I have always loved my work.

I would also point out that I had no paid vacations, pensions or health benefits. These I’ve had to generate on my own. The music business is highly entrepreneurial. You generate your work, do the work and run the business. To some degree, the music itself is a smaller part of the work equation than you might think. It’s said that your music allows you to enter the business, but your hard work, flexibility and determination allow you to stay in the business and flourish.

I worked in many segments of the music business and always considered it important to love the work I did. If I got to the point that I no longer enjoyed what I was doing, I switched to another side of the business. Here are some examples: I got to the point doing show work at The Latin Casino, that I no longer wanted to continue. So I left that job and formed my first concert jazz trio. When I tired of directing a music school for someone else, I opened my own music school. After many years of writing jingles, I decided that it was time to move in another direction.

It took a certain amount of courage to shift, especially when the work I was doing was lucrative. I have always prized my state of mind over finances and I can say that each shift of direction was successful in its own right.

The philosophy that I have followed is a philosophy that I would suggest to others. Follow your dream and love your work. After all, you’ll be spending a lot of time working, so you might as well enjoy it!

I hope this book will inspire others to do what they love and not just what earns a paycheck.

Introduction

After 50 years of performing and teaching, I decided that it was time to tell my story. I wanted this story to be about my career, my chosen work. I made a conscious decision to avoid personal references except when they were directly related to my work.

My life followed three paths. Sometimes they overlapped. Sometimes they happened sequentially. Those three paths were playing the guitar, teaching, and writing original music. Each path has a story and that’s what this book is about. It’s also about change, the willingness to adapt and survive in a commercial world.

My first path was playing, so I cover that from my first unlikely encounter with the guitar all the way through my current concert work. My second path was teaching. That covers my in-home, travel teaching, music stores, music schools, my own music school, my music teaching co-op, my private studio work, Skype, and online teaching through the Jazz Guitar Studies program. My third path was writing. This ran the gamut of jazz writing, production and media work, classical composition and everything in between.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Mike Oppenheim for proofing, editing, and computer assistance in the preparation of this book.

I’d also like to thank the members of my current band Eric Schreiber and Ed Rick, Jim Miller of Dreambox Media, guitar tech extraordinaire Jack Romano, sound engineers Ray Legnini, Daoud Shaw, Doug Fearn and Allan Tucker. It’s important for me to say thank you to the many great musicians, artists and venues I’ve worked with, and of course, to my fans and students for making a life in music possible.

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my supportive and loving parents, Bill and Catherine Anderson. I lost both of them in the past few years but it’s safe to say that I could not have done what I have done if it wasn’t for their support, encouragement and willingness to let me try. I had no criticism from them - only an attitude of confidence and freedom. This allowed me to do what few people have done - that is - have a total life of and in music. I never had a job. They never criticized my choices. They just offered support if I wanted it or needed it.

To my sisters Carol and Sue who always supported and encouraged my work.

I especially dedicate this book to my wife Coreen who offers total love, commitment and unconditional support to me and to my work. She changed much of her life to help me achieve what I needed to achieve. My goal has always been to help people - to help them to a better and more fulfilling life. I chose to do this through music. Without her support, I wouldn’t have the time or energy to do what has been and what will be done.

I also dedicate this to my three children - Chris, Nicole and Silke. They to a very real degree sacrificed normal growing up for my dedication to music.

My Guitar Work

Personal Music Education Time Line

• Guitar lessons age 14 to 16

• Studied from age 16 to 19 in preparation for studies with Dennis Sandole

• Studied from age 19 to 28 with Dennis Sandole (jazz studies)

• Studied with Dr Harold Boatrite (classical composition and orchestration) 5 years

Performance Time Line

• First solo guitar performance at age 14

• Played in my first band, the Ravens, as a young teen

• Founded and played with the Jay Howard Quartet

• Joined Music Associates - a top Philadelphia outside office

• Worked for Romig, Carney and Lewis - a Philadelphia and New York society music office

• Staff guitar at The Latin Casino

• Spring Rain band - private outside work

• Founded the original Chuck Anderson Trio with Al Stauffer and Ray Deeley

• Recorded Mirror within a Mirror with the original Chuck Anderson Trio

• Staff guitar at Valley Forge Music Fair

• Worked Hershey Arena, The Walnut Street Theater, The Schubert Theater, The Spectrum, The Academy of Music, The Forrest Theater, countless hotels, restaurants, clubs, synagogues, churches and colleges

• Founded the Neo Classical style of solo guitar performance

• Solo concerts in the Neo style

• Recorded Kaleidophon: The Art of the Neo Classical Guitar, Virtuosity and Timeless - solo guitar

• Recording session work

• Recorded Angel Blue featuring Gerald Veasley, Ron Kerber, John Swana, Dan Kleiman and Ronnie Burrage

• Formed the new Chuck Anderson Trio with Eric Schreiber and Ed Rick

• Concerts - assorted venues

• Recorded the CDs Freefall and Night Hawk for the Dreambox Media label

• Recorded the DVD The Chuck Anderson Trio Live at Chaplin’s Music Cafe

I began my journey into music at the age of 14. Before then, I had no interest in music at all. I neither listened to music, played music nor even thought about music. My world was sports. Basketball was my sport with baseball thrown in at a very early little league age. Baseball faded out of the picture early as I focused on basketball.

At the age of 12, I was 6 feet tall. The theory that I would be 6 foot 8 or more turned out to only be a theory. I never grew an inch from that day on. I played in the grade school leagues in Chicago and then in the suburbs of Philadelphia. My high school was Devon Prep. The focus of this school was clearly on academics and not sports. Nevertheless, I took the sport quite seriously and put many hours in on the court.

Ultimately, my last year of basketball was my junior year of high school. How and why that happened was a complete accident - although many would say that it was destiny that intervened and directed my future.

In the summer when I was 14, my family was invited to a neighborhood picnic in Radnor, Pennsylvania. The host was sitting, playing a guitar and cooking hamburgers. I walked his way to get something to eat. He said, So you’re interested in the guitar? I said, No, I was just getting a hamburger. Then he had a great idea. He said, I have 2 guitars - my old one is up in the attic. I’ll go get it and you can take it home with you. I protested, but my mother who overheard the conversation said that it would be rude to turn down such a generous offer. Again I protested, but as you might imagine, she won. When I got home, I put the guitar under my bed and forgot about it.

My dad had set up a basketball court on our driveway outside the garage. One day I was working on my turnaround jump shot and came down oddly on my ankle. It was a bad sprain and there would be no more basketball until the injury healed. Without basketball, I found myself bored and looking for something to do. I remembered that the guitar was under the bed gathering dust. I took it out and noticed some pink sheets of paper with chord diagrams on them. I tried to finger the first chord on the sheet, which was known as Em. Guitar players will recognize this chord as a full sounding yet easy chord to play. From the moment I strummed that chord, music went straight up and basketball went straight down.

I continued to play ball through my junior year of high school, but the writing was on the wall. I had begun teaching, so that conflicted with afternoon basketball practice and my new band interfered with weekend basketball games. I had lost my enthusiasm for the game and wanted to spend all my time on music and guitar.

My parents were very supportive of my efforts and change of direction, although no one, including me, had any idea where music and guitar would take me in the future.

My Guitar Education and Performance

I started guitar lessons immediately. My first teacher was a very kind man named Al Colucci. I took lessons with him at the Medley Music Mart in Ardmore, PA. Ironically, I later became the director of the Medley Music School - more about that later.

My first public performance was a solo guitar show at a convalescent home called Devon Manor. Most of the residents were in pretty bad shape but that didn’t stop them from enjoying the music. I was at such a beginning stage that all I could play were little melodies from guitar method books. It shaped my attitude about public performance. If you can play a song, play it for others. Ultimately, at every stage of your musical development, this is a good philosophy to develop and to maintain.

Several months later, I joined my first band. I remember band naming sessions at the kitchen table of the Wayne home of drummer Rich Ryan. Dave Irwin was there as well - all founding members. Bob Campbell joined the band later. Several proposed names were thrown around. The three I still remember were Hub and the 4 Spokes, AC and the Currents and my personal favorite Pontius Pilate and the Nail Drivers. Ultimately, and at the urging of our parents, we chose something a little more politically correct. We were now a 4 piece rock band called the Ravens. Dressed in black with an emblem on the jacket, it was an early attempt to establish branding. Our repertoire was limited to