Description

Martin Miller marries virtuosic mechanical technique with astounding musical creativity. We’ve put together a three-interview package which presents an incredible learning opportunity in both dimensions.

The Original Martin Miller Interview

We often think of really good players as being able to “play anything”. Even though we know that’s an illusion, Martin’s right hand technique almost makes you believe it!

In this first meeting with Martin, we get an overview of his background in rock and jazz, his teaching role at the Dresden College of Music, and get our first look at his stunning picking technique lets him tackle famously impossible alternate picking passages like John Petrucci’s “Glass Prison” arpeggios, and Deep Purple’s “Cascades: I’m Not Your Lover” with effortless aplomb.

Martin Miller: Playing Through the Changes

It’s one thing to understand music theory, and another to apply it to the complex arrangement of overlapping strings and repeated notes on the guitar. In this second interview with Martin, we deconstruct his process for improvising over flowing chord changes, arriving at a simple checklist that anyone can follow to start developing a mature improvisational vocabulary.

For experienced jazz and fusion players, this is an interesting glimpse into the workflow of an ace soloist. And if you’ve ever considered getting under the hood with jazz harmony and improvisation, this a great primer on how that kind of work is done.

Martin Miller Mechanics Workshop

In this hands-on, workshop-style conversation conducted two years after our original meeting, we take a close-up look at Martin’s super-powered alternate picking motion with the goal of figuring out how it works. If you’ve seen our first two interviews with Martin, or spent any time trying to develop the motion he uses, then this conversation is a perfect complement to those efforts.