Pro Guitarist Adam Smale

Adam Smale

Email Address

Adam at UnitedWeTab.com

Private Instruction

Yes! Please see Guitarwise.net link.

Location

Brooklyn, NY

Home Town

Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada

Instruments Played

Guitar, Electric Bass

Favorite Playing Style

Jazz, R&B, Pop/Rock, Blues, Flamenco

Favorite Artists

Kurt Rosenwinkel • Lenny Breau • Bill Evans • Chet Atkins • Jim Hall • Tal Farlow • Joe Henderson • Ed Bickert • Lorne Lofsky • Chick Corea • Edward Van Halen • Frank Zappa • Alan Holdsworth • Albert Lee

Training

• Masters in Jazz Performance (MM), Western Michigan University • Bachelor of Jazz Studies (BM), Humber College

Musician Bio

Upon reading an article in a guitar magazine on his then guitar hero, Eddie Van Halen, the young guitarist distinctly remembers the rocker mentioning a guitarist from England whom he was giving praise. It was none other than Alan Holdsworth. Upon hearing a couple of Holdsworth's albums he knew that he had lots to learn about music and the guitar. So he worked hard on being the best guitarist he could possibly become from then on.

Early on, Adam developed his deep country and bluegrass roots in Northern Ontario, Canada, where he became a member of the musician's union at only the age of 12. By 14, Adam was already playing on the road, gaining valuable experiences as a performer at bars, weddings, and community dances.

After eight years of performing, Adam's talent and creative drive had exceeded the limitations of small-town exposure. The young guitarist made the move to Toronto enrolling in the excellent music program at Humber College. Humber initiated Adam to jazz and the introduction to its lineage and he never looked back.

Adam has conducted master classes and seminars in Canada & the US, for Guitar Workshop Plus, the National Guitar Workshop, and Western Illinois University, as well as juggling private students over the past 19 years. Adam recently graduated with a Masters degree in Jazz Performance from Western Michigan University in June, 2009, where he was also given some teaching duties while attending.

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- A revolutionary way of organizing and thinking about scales for guitarists, regardless of style of music.
Guitarwise.net
- Guitar Lessons with Adam
Adam has performed with such notable top Canadian Jazz talent as Don Thompson, Terry Clarke, Jeff King, Artie Roth, and Joel Haynes, and has shared the stage in the Regis Philbin Orchestra when Philbin performed in the Toronto area.

Further, Adam has performed in South America, India, and the Middle East, as well as performing in cross-Canada tours. Adam's debut CD, Fun City, an independent release, charted the 9th most played CD in Canadian national radio for the whole month of September according to the Canadian National Jazz Chart in 2000. In 2002, the Adam Smale Quartet placed 2nd in the renowned Grand Prix de Jazz contest, during the Montreal Jazz Festival. Adam's song "It Was Something She Said" made it to the "Top 20" in the 2005 Unisong International Songwriting Contest Jazz/Blues category.

Inspired by the late Lenny Breau, Adam currently plays with a fingerstyle technique, albeit, also with the help of a thumb-pick. Adam has been influenced by musicians who have styles, he feels, which have been true-to-self, yet innovative approaches: Lenny Breau, Bill Evans, Chet Atkins, Eddie Van Halen, Jim Hall, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Joe Henderson, and Ed Bickert to name but a few.

Adam has played many styles of music over his career but now primarily performs Jazz, and beginning to immerse himself into the exciting world of Flamenco.