Blues Clinic #3 20 May 2023

On 20 May 2023 RockSo Music in collaboration with Muziekschool Plug&Play hosted another Blues Clinic.

This time we challenged the group with 10 licks from several style of blues including BB King and Eric Clapton influenced riffs.

Lucas started the clinic with a short introduction of the blues and the different styles. Then Christian explained the first set of 5 licks. The explanation included tips on the feel and characteristic of each lick.

After a well needed break, Christian and Lucas played an example of the first 5 licks being played, then we continued with teaching the remaining 5 licks. This time, Lucas explained how to play and use them in a solo.

During the last hour of the clinic there was a chance for the participants to try out the new riffs and improvise. We all enjoyed listing to the everyone.

The Clinic ended with a final jam from Lucas and Christian. There was a lot of material this time, but everyone enjoyed the challenge. We will have our next clinic after a summer break. See you all for the next one, and keep on jamming!!

Guitar Transformed

One of my favorite jobs I have as a guitar shop owner is modifying guitars. It gives me such joy and satisfaction to transform a stock guitar into a custom dream guitar.

Recently I was asked to modify my students guitar. It was a normal Stratocaster type guitar. It had the normal 3 single coil pickups and standard pickguard with a 5-way blade switch and plastic knob. But he wanted something totally different! He picked out a tortoiseshell pickguard and chrome covered humbuckers. How cool is that?!

The first thing I needed to do was cut some of the wood of the body to accommodate the humbuckers. With a Dremel, I carefully removed the extra wood in the body cavity. Then I repainted it with shielding paint.

Once the body was ready, all I needed to do is wire-up the pickguard. We wanted something special for this mod, so we went with a 3-way toggle switch instead of the normal blade type switch. The last upgrade was from the plastic Strat knobs to sturdy chrome ones.

As you can see, the guitar went from good to amazing! It looks and sounds great! My student is very happy with the transformation. It’s his first guitar, but now it feels like a brand new guitar all over again. It was a really fun mod and I enjoyed making his dream come true!

If you have a guitar that you would like to transform, please give me a call or stop in to the shop. You’ll be so glad you did!

Keep on Rock’in –

In-Store Blues Clinic February 2023

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RockSo Music and Muziekschool Plug&Play hosted the second In-Store Blues Clinic on Saturday 11 February 2023. Again, the nearly sold out event was a great success. Lucas and Christian got the mood going by demonstrating the concepts of the clinic with the use of a backing track. The 17 participants were then ( 2 could not attend) introduced to blues rhythm guitar parts used in the demo. Participants were called up front at random to perform what they learned in front of the group.

Participants enjoyed a drink and conversation during the break time. This gave the participants a chance to talk amongst themselves, to network, and make new friends. Some participants enjoyed playing many of the interesting vintage and new guitars available at RockSo Music.

During the second half, participants were introduced to the concept of “mixed blues” improvisation. The term mixed blues is in reference to building a guitar solo that uses notes from both the minor and major pentatonic scales. Again, participants were called upfront at random to try their hand at some of these new ideas in front of the group.

The clinic finished with a Q&A session and a final performance by Lucas and Christian.

We would like to thank Lucas @ Muziekschool Plug & Play and all the participants who joined us for In-Store Blues Clinic #2.

Stay tuned for information about our next In-Store Blues Clinic.

In-Store Blues Clinic

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On Saturday 19 November RockSo Music and Muziekschool Plug & Play had their first in-store blues clinic.

The Clinic was developed for beginner-intermediate guitarist and was designed to help guitar players learn about blues music including the theory, scales, and chords that are used to play the blues.

After learning about the blues structure, the participants had the chance to learn blues licks for each minor and major blues scales. Then, the participants had the opportunity to try soloing for the group.

Everyone had a good time learning and playing the blues at the clinic. The In-Store Blues Clinics will continue in 2023 with the next one in January or February. Stay tuned to RockSo Music or Muziekschool Plug & Play for information about the next clinic.

Christian

Popronde Sittard 2022

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As part of Popronde Sittard in 2022, RockSo Music hosted All Dogs Go To Heaven and Penvriend.

On Saturday 29 October we gave a warm welcome to Popronde and two incredible acts.

The night started with All Dogs Go To Heaven. The audience was in heaven when Bjorn hit the stage with his amazing emo influenced acoustic set. His punk roots still intact, but with the perfect balance of vocals and guitar dynamics.

The 45 minute set went by too quick and left everyone hungry for more. Thank you Bjorn for an incredible performance.

Next up, Penvriend. These two were totally in sync and each member did their own part that blended into a whirlwind of rhythm and harmony complete with intricate guitar work and lead guitar solos. Very well done.

As you can see, RockSo Music transformed from a music store to a concert venue. Popronde 2022 was a great success and we thank the performers and everyone that made it a special night.

People enjoying Popronde at RockSo Music

We are looking forward to next time. It was a night to remember.

How RockSo Music Was Born In Sittard

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It all started in October 2021 in Sittard with an empty store. It was like a new canvas. Up until then, we only existed as an online store. Going back and forth on how to setup the physical storefront for RockSo Music, we decided to direct mount the guitars hooks on the walls. This was easier said than done.

Starting With A New Canvas

With an impact drill and blood, sweat, and tears, we finally got all the hooks installed by November. Shortly after the walls were completed, the guitars started to arrive from Japan. Little by little we filled the store with our vintage guitars. We decided to use only two-thirds of the space for the store and reserved the other one-third for our office and classroom for Japanese lessons.

Handyman @ RockSo Music — Handy Man To The Rescue

Workbench being built @ RockSo Music — Work Bench for Repairs and Mods

We had a nice antique counter to use from the previous owner. The case was very empty at first. And we only had one brand of guitar strings from ESP.

Store Opening in December 2021

After the store opening on 2 December 2021, we had about 3 weeks before a month-long lockdown. From mid-January 2022, we reopened, and customers started to come. Then, de Limburger, the Dutch provincial newspaper, ran a story about RockSo Music.

RockSo Music in de Limburger January 2022

A full-page article in de Limburger on 24 January 2022 helped spread the word further…

Some of our customers ask for certain products; others make suggestions on what we should carry in our shop. Our collection reflects those requests and suggestions.

Where We Are Now

Over the past 7 months, RockSo Music has transformed steadily to better serve the local music community as well as the wider audience online. Besides new guitars from KAMINARI Guitars, Tokai, and Fender Japan, we now have an expanded vintage/secondhand selection including signature models and electric basses. To serve local musicians’ needs, we carry a wide range of accessories, amplifiers, effects, and starter-model classical guitars.

If you have not visited us recently, come on down and check out the latest selection!

Sunday Night Blues – 12 June 2022

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This was the last Sunday Night Blues of the spring session. We had the core group again; Maurice, Colin, Marcel, Espen, Francesco, Lucas, Kyoko, and Christian. Unfortunately, Tim was feeling under the weather and couldn’t make it.

We played Mannish Boy and Sweet Home Chicago. It sounded pretty good and everyone was in high spirits.

We then took time to work on Mustang Sally. We did a first play through and then worked on a quiet down part. We played it again adding in the new ideas. It sounded great and Lucas had the spotlight with his blazing solos.

Scenes from Sunday Night Blues — Sunday Night Blues @ Volt

We took a break to do a feedback session as Espen had to leave early. We talked about the future jam sessions and plans for next time.

After the break, we played through the remaining song in this order:

Thanks A Lot
Thrill is Gone
Keep Your Hands To Your Self

During Thrill is Gone, Lucas showed the members new chords and phrases.
Colin and Lucas changed places and we did a final Thrill is Gone by request to practice the Ideas Lucas gave us earlier.

We would like to thank all participants in Sunday Night Blues and a big thanks to Lucas from Muziekschool Plug & Play for helping organize this.

For Autumn 2022, we will update our venues based on participant feedback, which may include public open jams at Cafés as well as workshops. More updates to come!

RockSo Out!

Sunday Night Blues – 5 June 2022

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The 7th Sunday Night Blues with 7 members! The line-up was, Maurice on vocals, Colin on drums and guitar, Lucas on guitar and drums, Marcel on guitar, Tim on guitar, Kyoko on organ, and Christian on the bass.

A scene from Sunday Night Blues 05.06.2022

This was the second to last Sunday Night Jam. We went through the list of songs that we have learned over the last 7 weeks. Here are the songs we played in order.

Mannish Boy
Sweet Home Chicago
Mustang Sally
Thanks A Lot
(break)
Johnny Be Good style Jam
Thrill Is Gone
Keep Your Hands To Yourself
Ain’t gone and Give Up on Love (partial play through)
Mary Had a Little Lamb

Everyone was in good spirits and Tim sounded great with his new Kaminari Liquid 2! We are finally getting comfortable with the songs and are also practicing the endings of the songs. I know with just a little more practice, we can be ready for a live performance one day soon!

Don’t miss the last Jam Night next Sunday!

Sunday Night Blues – 29 May 2022

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This was our 6^th Sunday Night Blues! Maurice with us again and Kyoko on organ. We started off with Mustang Sally to get warmed up. Again Colin on drums and Christian were on bass. This time everyone was in the pocket and lively. We quickly went into Mannish Boy and the energy grew even more!

We went through a full set of songs this time.

Mustang Sally
Mannish Boy
Thanks A Lot
Thrill Is Gone
Keep Your Hands To Yourself
Sweet Home Chicago
Pride And Joy
Mary Hand A Little Lamb

We then played Thanks A lot! Followed by The Thrill Is Gone. Lucas played drums for these and Colin jumped on guitar. Thanks Colin for taking time to teach the guys a few chords and ideas!

We also had a proper break time and a few members went into the main area of Volt to have a beer and chat.

We also played Sweet Home Chicago and then tried to play through a few SRV songs include Pride and Joy and Mary had a Little Lamb with Colin still on guitar. We will work on them again next time! All in all it was one of the most exciting Sunday Night Blues so far!

The Gulls members visit RockSo Music!

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RockSo Music Sittard had special visitors on 21 May.

The Gulls from the UK, gave an outdoor live performance right across from our shop. Eddie was in and out of the shop all day. Christian worked on his two guitars and a bass and got them ready for the big concert the next day at Poppodium Volt.

Eddie did a cable comparison between KAMINARI Curl Cable and his coil cable.

Then came Will, Kil, and Bob. They had fun in our shop.

The Gulls having fun with Fernandes Zo-3

Everyone loves Fernandes Zo-3. Kil and Eddie had fun playing them.

On Sunday night 22 May, The Gulls had a great show at the Volt! They recorded the live performance for their new live album. RockSo Music and Kaminari Guitars are proud to support The Gulls with Kaminari guitar and bass cables for the occasion. Below: Eddie sports a Kaminari T-shirt with Christian.