Ioannis Anastassakis

& Greek Guitar Power Blog

Latest Review of my 2009 CD “Orbital Attempt” -
check out http://ping.fm/xXMTW

July 4, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Back from the beautiful island of Paros – after 4 glorious days of Salsa, sun and….sea! :-)

June 13, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Happy! My CD “Orbital Attempt” is #1 worldwide at the Progressive guitar charts of Guitar9!!! http://ping.fm/TVUYP

June 2, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Friday-Salsa, Saturday-Live Jazz, Sunday-Karaoke, Monday-Wolverine, Tuesday-Live Flamenco, Wednesday-Live Fusion! Not bad, not bad… :-)

May 28, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

First International review of my latest instrumental CD, “Orbital Attempt” – http://ping.fm/rlzA4

May 26, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Wondering if this works… ;-)

May 22, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

it’s true: Living well IS the best REVENGE! :-)

May 22, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Finetuning the DVD menu of my upcoming instructional “60 Sweeping licks” book/CD/DVD by Mel Bay Publications!

May 15, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

been working 9 hours straight on my series of Internet guitar lessons! Phew!

May 15, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Orbital Attempt is on Amazon! :-)

Hey, guys & girls! Check this out!

http://ping.fm/0ZbRu

May 3, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

“Orbital Attempt” Promo videoclip is now online!!! http://ping.fm/dP1vj

May 3, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Very Cool! My latest CD “Orbital Attempt” is #2 worldwide in the sales charts of Guitar9!! :-) Check it out @ http://ping.fm/ADcyA !!!

May 3, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Why most guitarists fail in their quest…

Why do they? Is there a specific reason or is it just the roll-of-the-dice,  governed by a totally whimsical fate? ;-)

Well, from my experience, the main reason why most people fail, is

LACK OF BALANCE!

(in their skills and approach to music)

This lack of Balance manifests itself in many different areas that manifest in a multitude of ways eg.

  • going CRAZY on technique and never learning the other important skills in music…
  • Focusing SOLELY on lead guitar and neglecting the craft of rhythm guitar…
  • playing only by ear and never learning any theory…
  • learning ONLY one musical style and not diversify your approach…

February 1, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

JANUARY 2009 – Month Overview

This  was a very exciting month!

Organised 2 Greek Guitar Power Festivals - at Volos and Athens,

Finished all the mixing and masterings for my Orbital Attempt CD,

Finished recording the CD and creating the DVD for my upcoming “Sweeping Licks” book/CD/DVD for MEl Bay Publications,

Met Greg Howe and spent quite some time talking music & Music Business with him,

and FINALLY getting my sponsoring from Roland and my Roland VG 99!

Colour me VERY happy! :-)

February 1, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Music Success Mechanisms – Part 1 (of many…)

I often get asked what are the characteristics that will determine whether a young kid picking up a guitar will become successful in learning this craft and hopefully even make a successful career out of it.

The answer is VERY simple, really

ATTITUDE.

1% of the aspiring guitar players will be insanely talented at the instrument – learning really fast without a lot of effort.

1%-3% of the aspiring guitar players will be “lost causes” – due to lack of ability related to finger mechanics and lack of ANY kind of musical sense & direction

That leaves 97%…

The vast majority of people will obviously be in that 97%…

ATTITUDE is what will determine the outcome.

What do I mean by attitude? There’s  a LONG list of qualities, desirable qualities that will help significantly.

But that’s for another post….

February 1, 2009 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

Detailed Info for the January GGP Athens Electric Guitar Festival

prospectus-main-ggp-festival-info-athens-2009

December 30, 2008 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | GGP, GGP Festivals, Instructional, Ioannis Anastassakis | | No Comments Yet

GGP – Detailed Events schedule for 2nd Athens Electric Guitar Festival

ggp-festival-detailed-events-info-latest

December 23, 2008 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | GGP, GGP Festivals, Ioannis Anastassakis | , , | No Comments Yet

GGP – POSTER for 2nd Athens Electric Guitar Festival

ggpposterathens-small

December 23, 2008 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | , , | No Comments Yet

SPONSORS – Visual Sound Effect Pedals

Once again, I woke up (REALLY late) this noon  and found another AMAZING Christmas present!

My sponsored Visual Sound Effect Pedals for myself (and Greek Guitar Power) had arrived in a nice hefty box ! -)

I did not even have to carry it – my brother dropped it off at my studio…

Everything I wanted to use and try out was included -8 packages all together

Many sincere thanks to Visual Sound for trusting me with their equipment ! -)

Stay tuned for photos from the unboxing – Christmas is EARLY this year!!!

December 23, 2008 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Ioannis Anastassakis | , , | No Comments Yet

INSTRUCTION – Listing of Contemporary Guitar Techniques

I am asked VERY often about the technical requirements for playing contemporary Electric rock/Fusion guitar – so i made a little list for you!

·        Alternate Picking

·        Crosspicking

·        Chordal Picking

·        Legato

·        Sweeping

·        Tapping

·        Pick & Fingers

·        Wide Stretches

·        String Skipping

·        Left-hand Tapping

·        8-Finger Tapping

December 23, 2008 Posted by Ioannis Anastassakis | Instructional, Ioannis Anastassakis | , | No Comments Yet