Best Guitar Coach Worldwide Belkadi is the Author of 12 Book/CD Sets
I work with many Pro Guitarists on their guitar techniques, improvisation, harmony and composition. I also recorded 2 albums
This episode is presented by Jude Gold
No Guitar is Safe!
Episode 95 features a visit with "Guitar Coach to the stars" Jean Marc Belkadi. Showing up with his favorite Telecaster, Jean Marc plugs in with host JUDE GOLD and demonstrates his encyclopedic knowledge of riffs, licks, and guitar styles, a prowess that spans funk, fusion, jazz,and more.
Notable Students
Hanging out with Nirvana Drummer and Foo Fighter Singer Dave Groh
Notable students along the years:
James Valentine - Maroon 5 Lead Guitarist
Albert Hammond - The Strokes Guitarist
Gavin Rossdale- Bush Singer
Chris Traynor - Blur, Bush's Guitarist
Jessie Carmichael - Maroon 5 Guitarist
Mike Posner - Singer Songwriter
Jason Lader - Elvis Costello Producer
Kellen Pomeranz - Songwriter Grammy Award
Megan Bülow - Co-writer #1 hit for Beyoncé
Tai Verdes - Singer Songwriter
Porter Robinson - DJ Songwriter
Dweezil Zappa - Guitarist
Justin Derrico - Pink's Guitarist
Joel Whitley - Stevie Wonder's Guitarist
Jeff Young - Megadeth Guitarist
Joe Holmes - Ozzy Osbourne's Guitarist
Paul Stanley's Son Evan Guitarist
Jeff Stein - Director - Tom Petty, Zappa
Liv Tyler - Actress - Guitar
Casey Kalmenson - Gracie Abrams' Guitarist
Leah Kate - Songwriter Guitarist Singer
José Padilha - Narcos Producer Director
Matt Ornstein - Film Director
Robert Harmon - Film Director
Eddie Cahill - Actor Guitarist CSI NY
Saul Rubinek - Actor Guitarist
Jonathan Sheldon - Film Director
Matt Rutler - Christina Aguilera's Guitarist
Jason Miller - Reba Mc Entire, Composer
Sam Spiegel - Film Composer
Paul Doucette - Matchbox 20's Drummer
Dory Lobel - Backstreet Boys's Guitarist
Jeff Paris - Stanley Clarke's Guitarist
Raphael Moreira - Aguilera's Guitarist
Jose Rios - Anderson .Paak's Guitarist
Ricardo Montalban - Actor "Love Boat"
Ethan Roberts - Katy Perry 's Guitarist
Jeffrey Fiskin - Screenwriter
Orianthi - Michael Jackson's Guitarist
Zane Carney - John Mayer's Guitarist
Brian Chiusano - Orianthi's Music Director
Matt Hocking Edgar Winter's Guitarist
Chip Rosenbloom - Film Producer
Austin Ward Sherman - Producer Guitarist
Nathalie Maine's son Slade Guitarist
Michael Landon's son Sean Guitarist
Jon Eptein - Film Composer
Rupert Wainwright MC Hammer Director
Erwan Anadon - Star 80 Guitarist
Dario Comuzzi - Tori Kelley, Gunnar Guitarist
Meg Frampton - Hillary Duff Guitarist
Arianna Powell - Nick Jonas Guitarist
Meyers Leonard - NBA Basketball Player
Micky Crystal - Tygers of Pan Tang Guitar
Blake Slatkin - Songwriter Producer
Gian Stone - Songwriter Producer
No Doubt Gwen Stephani with JM Belkadi
Jean-Marc Belkadi has an impressive musical education, having studied in France with Stephane Grapelli who was Django Rheinard's violonist and in the United States with the top guitarists Frank Gambale (Chick Corea), Joe Pass, Scott Henderson, Joe Diorio, Tal Farlow, and Robben Ford at the Musicians Institute. The Guitar Institute of Technology, had at the time the famous alumni Jeff Buckley with whom he all the time jammed and practiced. He also studied chord improvisation with the iconic Ted Greene, a Guitar Master Coach who also trained Mike Stern and Pat Metheny. In 1993, Belkadi won the Billboard Song Contest's top prize in the Jazz category with Quincy Jones serving as judge. The two songs he entered were originally recorded at A&M Records upon the request of A&M VP Music Executive John McClain, now the Michael Jackson Estate Executor. Belkadi was further invited in 2004 by the Guitar Center to be a member of the jury for the yearly GuitarMageddon Contest. His extensive experience in the field led him to become one of the most sought-after and respected Guitar Teachers during his time at the Musicians Institute from 1994-2007 and at the Los Angeles Music Academy from 1997 to 2002.
Belkadi's Instructional books are mainly published by Hal Leonard and Musicians Institute Press
1 - Modern Approach to Jazz Rock Fusion
2 - The Diminished Scale for Guitar
3 - Advanced Scale Concepts & Licks for Guitar
4 - Jazz-Rock Triad Improvising for Guitar
5 - Slap & Pop Technique for Guitar
8 - Classical Themes for Electric Guitar
9 - Ethnic Rhythms for Electric Guitar
10-Exotic Scales & Licks for Guitar
11-Technique Exercises for Guitar
12-The Composite Blues Scale for Electric Guitar eBook is available on iTune
Commercials Guitar Sessions for Damien Heartwell
Allstate Rewards
Allstate Unlimited
Car X Man
With Maroon 5 Guitarist James Valentine
With Maroon 5 Guitarist James Valentine
In the recently released Ernie Ball
documentary series "The Pursuit of Tone", Maroon 5 guitarist and songwriter James Valentine is featured. The documentary, directed by Haven Lamoureux and produced by Dustin Hinz, follows James’ journey from his beginnings in Lincoln, Nebraska through his current status as one of the world’s most successful musicians. As part of his story, the documentary also highlights James’ guitar instructor JM Belkadi, who uses the 10-13-17-26-36-46 Regular Slinky Custom Gauge 2221 Ernie Ball Nickel Wound Guitar Strings.
The Pursuit of Tone is an inspiring look at the lifelong search for an unique sound. It is a testament to James Valentine’s hard work and dedication and the invaluable contributions of JM Belkadi to his playing. Fans of the Maroon 5 guitarist and the Ernie Ball brand should be sure to check out the documentary.
Premier Guitar Magazine Interview:
James Valentine (Maroon 5) "Hands All Over". "I started to get together with a great teacher in LA named Jean Marc Belkadi" page 3
Who is your favorite pop guitar player around town? Maroon 5's James Valentine on the Art of Pop/FunkGuitar.
He’s incredible. I would say he’s an inspiration, but what he inspires me to do is throw all my guitars into the L.A. River. While I may never be able to play like him, it’s always immensely fun to learn a new lick or voicing and incorporate it into my onstage vocabulary.
Whenever I can, I take a guitar lesson from Jean-Marc Belkadi or other guys around town not just to learn new things, but because lessons keep me playing guitar. I went to a Berklee summer session right after high school in 1996, just to learn more guitar. That’s where I met John Mayer. He won the big scholarship prize—the son of a bitch. That’s why I didn’t give him that amp [laughs]. Article by Jude Gold
"With Cooler than Me" Mike Posner
Teaching the next generation: Evan Stanley here with his dad Paul Stanley (Kiss)
With Maroon 5 Guitarist James Valentine
"Wide Open" (2019) composed by Mike Posner, JM Belkadi, Adam Friedman, J. Bowen
Check Wide Open Live Here
Jean Marc also plays a guitar riff on "Nobody Knows" (Mansionz) composed by Mike Posner, Musto and Soren Bryce
In 2017 Author, Composer: Jean Marc Belkadi co-wrote "White Linen" (featuring Cyhi The Prynce) with singer-songwriter Mike Posner, Mat Musto (aka Blackbear), Cydel Young and Peter Hortaridis, this song produced by American hip-hop duo Mike Posner and blackbear is from their studio album Mansionz
With Bush Singer Gavin Rossdale
Teaching the next generation: Evan Stanley here with his dad Paul Stanley (Kiss)
Teaching the next generation: Evan Stanley here with his dad Paul Stanley (Kiss)
Gavin Rossdale "Our reviews improved once we stopped selling records"
...Angry, but it’s still got the trademark sense of melody. I’ve never forsaken the top lines. The melody is usually really hard to find over riffs, usually you’re singing over one fucking note! But I always try, that way you get
replayability and connection. I like bands like Shellac and System Of A Down, but for me it’s natural to write and sing melodically. I do try to be learned about music more. I take guitar lessons… Guitar lessons? I’ve got an amazing guitar teacher called Jean-Marc Belkadi. He teaches everyone here in LA, from the top session players to kids. We jam and play and I learn stuff. Music is strangely infinite – there are so few notes and yet so many formulations and possibilities. It still blows my mind.... by Grant Moon.Read the full interview in Louder - Classic Rock
Teaching the next generation: Evan Stanley here with his dad Paul Stanley (Kiss)
Teaching the next generation: Evan Stanley here with his dad Paul Stanley (Kiss)
Teaching the next generation: Evan Stanley here with his dad Paul Stanley (Kiss)
Sensei to the Stars: You don’t have to be an amateur guitarist to need guitar lessons. Even the pros like a good schoolin’ now and again. And if you’re a professional guitarist, singer, or actor in the Los Angeles area who’s fishing around for a guitar teacher, it probably won’t be long before someone refers you to Jean-Marc Belkadi. Like his mentor, the late, great guitar genius Ted Greene, Belkadi is quickly emerging as one of the most in demand and respected guitar instructors ... more here in Guitar Player Magazine
Jean Marc Belkadi with Dweezil Zappa
Dweezil Zappa, sitting in the studio control room tucked inside the rustic confines of Zappa Family Headquarters, “he would say, 'I don’t. It's not important'. Well, to me it is important. I want my kids, and my kid’s kids to feel as strongly as I do about my dad’s music, because it’s so unique. Especially living in a world where so much music sounds the same, there isn’t anything that sounds like Frank.” So Zappa—who enjoys the distinction of being immortalized with his dad on the cover of the January ’87 issue of GP (which also included a Soundpage)—decided he was going to do something to ensure his father’s work isn’t forgotten. In the process, he put himself in the hot seat as a guitarist. “I thought the best way to get people interested in Frank’s music was for them to see it performed live,” he says. “But the minute I decided to do the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, I knew my main challenge was to get my guitar skills together I had to play the really difficult, complex parts found in Frank’s music, as well as improvise solos in the context of that music. So that required rethinking how I play on not only a technical level, but a mental level, too, as I tried to incorporate the idiosyncrasies of his playing into my own playing.” So Zappa got to work, and gave himself, to use his term, “A Complete Guitar Makeover.” He then assembled a band of young, 20-something musicians, as well as three guest players who served time in his father’s band; Terry Bozzio, Napoleon Murphy Brock, and Steve Vai. “I feel that if I don’t do this, there’s a chance his music will slip into obscurity within my lifetime,” says Zappa. “Frank is truly one of the great American composers, and he gets major kudos and respect in the classical world, but that world is a lot different than the pop/rock world that can, and will, easily dismiss anything. I don’t want that.”
You’ve said the ZPZ tour is an “official” representation of Frank’s music. What makes it official, and is the ZPZ tour in any way a reaction to other Zappa tribute bands?
On a certain level it is a reaction to those outfits. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why people go out and play Frank’s music. And in some small way, they’re contributing to building an audience. But it’s not the same. I feel we’re official, because, well, I’m related, and I believe that makes me the most
appropriate person to mount this project. I think my dedication will come across quite easily. What specifically bothers you when you hear other groups playing Frank’s music? I’ve heard a lot of different people do versions of Frank’s music, and I’ve never once heard one that made me say, “Wow, they got it right.” Not once. Believe me, if I did hear that, I’d be psyched. You know, “Who are these freaks who can do this?” The versions I hear are usually in the ballpark, but you’re not playing the music correctly if you’re putting your own stuff in there. That’s what I really don’t like. I know how hard it is to play Frank’s music, and I feel for anyone who is trying to do it. But if they’re going to do it, I want them to do it right, because if an audience hears a bad version of his music first, they may not give it a fair chance. That’s what ZPZ is all about getting people interested in exploring more of Frank’s music.
You’ve put together a band of young, unknown players.
Was this intentional?
Yes. I feel Frank’s music is very contemporary, so I wanted to present it onstage in a way that a young person can embrace—and that means seeing someone around their age playing it. I think college-aged kids—and even
younger— would be fascinated by this music. They just don’t know about it, because it seems that Frank’s music has skipped a couple of generations.
Why is that?
Much of it is due to the way the media has reported on him throughout his career. Some of it is also because the stuff of his that did make it on the radio—such as “Valley Girl”—really didn’t represent what he was about.
Ask a person who doesn’t really know Frank’s work what song they’ve heard, and invariably it’s “Titties & Beer,” or maybe “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow.” Sure, those songs represent his sense of humor, but he’s not Weird Al Yankovic. He’s a bonafide brilliant composer whose music will stand the test of time. I want people to become more familiar with that aspect, rather than what may have made its way to the public consciousness by accident. Another reason I feel his music has been overlooked by younger generations is because of the high level of musicianship it takes to play it.
Years ago, musicians would aspire to that level. Now, a lot of musicians worry more about achieving the right look, and hoping the label’s clever marketing can put them over the top. There hasn’t been an emphasis anywhere that I’ve seen on finding the best musicians out there, and then giving them an opportunity to play. Maybe in a jazz context, but strictly jazz. But Frank blended so many styles together—and there was so much going on musically—that once you’re exposed to it, you’re so disappointed that no one else is
even trying to do something like that. Who is writing music this hard? And it’s not hard for the sake of being hard. It’s very musical and memorable and cleverly arranged. It’s not an exercise. That’s another reason why I feel younger fans will be inspired by this music, because they may not know there’s a reason to go out and be that good on your instrument.
Was it hard finding young guys who could play Frank’s more difficult
stuff?
Yeah. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to find them, but I did. The spirit of the band is amazing. It’s almost like we’re training for the Olympics. It’s difficult music that requires many of the band members to be well versed in jazz, rock, and classical music, as well as having big enough ears to wrap themselves around the improvisational nature of his music.
What period of Frank’s guitar playing do you find the most inspiring?
The years that make up most of our two-and-a-half-hour set list, 1972-1979. That’s when his tones were the best, he was touring more frequently, and he was playing more. Listen to the Apostrophe’, Over-Nite Sensation, and Roxy & Elsewhere albums—those are milestone records not only for his guitar playing, but for his writing and arranging as well. He was blending rock, jazz, classical, and funk. You’re playing extremely difficult tunes such as “Black Page #2,” “St. Alphonzo’s Pancake Breakfast,” and “Inca Roads” on the guitar. What did you do to work your playing into shape to handle that music? In order for me to play the really hard stuff on guitar, I had to completely revise my picking technique, as I found strict alternate picking to be too cumbersome. So I studied Frank Gambale’s method, which a lot of people call Economy Picking. The basic idea of that method is to economize your picking hand’s motion by using successive upstrokes and down strokes. For example, if you’re playing three-note-to-a-string scales, the picking motion, starting on the low-E string, goes down, up, down, then down when you move to the A string. This allows for high speed with clean execution, and with very little hand movement. It changed the way I play entirely, and it has allowed me to play what I hear in my head. I also took lessons from players such as Jean-Mark Belkadi and T.J. Helmerich. It was like Guitar University here! And I worked with Brett Garsed, who he showed me how to incorporate the fingers of my picking hand to get to some of the wide intervals in Frank’s music that I couldn’t get to with a pick. I use that technique to play “Black Page #2.” I also took some lessons from the late Ted Greene to round out my knowledge of chords and harmony.
You’re also taking a ton of extended solos during the ZPZ show. Did you refine your improvisational chops, as well?
Oh yeah. I worked from a book by Wayne Krantz called An Improviser’s OS. For Guitarists, which I’ve barely scratched the surface of. It’s brilliantly executed with great concepts and exercises, and is somewhat similar to Nicholas Slominsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns. My dad loved that book, and he was a friend of Slominsky’s. The coolest thing about the Krantz book is the types of exercise it teaches you to jump start your solos. For example, to limit yourself to, say, three notes. They are the only notes you can play, but you can play them in any order in any octave. Say you’re limited to the 1, b2 and b5. You think you’ll run out of ideas almostinstantly, but when you dig in, and try to mix them up rhythmically and by jumping octaves,the possibilities are endless. A lot of those concepts are actually in Frank’s playing and writing.
That kind of discipline is a whole new world for me. In the past, I had my pet, specialized licks that I would just plug in. I was from the “rock guy” school, where a solo means getting your stock licks out. Frank came from an entirely different headspace. He described a solo as “air sculpture,” and that is such a fascinating concept that makes not only improvisation more satisfying, but guitar playing in general more satisfying. His perspective on soloing also required me to listen more to what’s going on around me and react to it, as opposed to only listening to what I’m doing.
Are there aspects of Frank’s playing that show up in your playing simply
as a result of DNA?
It’s funny, but his bizarre phrasing and odd note groupings have always been relatively easy for me to capture. That’s probably because I heard him play so much growing up. I’ve heard tapes of me playing when I was 12 years old, and I sound more like Frank than the guys I was trying to sound like—such as
Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhoads. I’ll tell you, before I decided to better myself as a guitarist, I was a player who couldn’t talk to you about scale degrees and intervals. Studying all of this information has made me a better player, a better musician, and a better improviser. The work was overwhelming, it literally took me six months to work out parts that are less than 30 seconds long—but it was all so much fun. I only wish I had been motivated to do this 15 years ago. Then I would have had the chance to talk to Frank about it. It’s such a pity that it dawned on me too late, but I’m doing the best I can.
Extreme Sweeping: Jean-Marc Belkadi’s Polytonal Plectrum Pyrotechnics
Who is the most influential electric guitarist of all time? Hendrix? Clapton? Page? Van Halen? Wrong. You’ll need some lethal debate skills to prove that any rock guitarist would even have a stage to stand on without help from St. Louis’ own Charles Edward Anderson Berry—“Chuck” to his fans and friends. With his rapid-fire two-string eighth-note riffs and legendary stage swagger, Berry single-handedly put rock and roll guitar on the map. So, if all guitarists have ol’ Chuck to thank, then who the heck influenced him?
Piano players.
You don’t need to be a musicologist to hear how Berry took boogie woogie piano riffs, applied them to guitar, and cranked ’em through an amp so loud that asbestos flakes likely snowed down on the Eisenhower-era gymnasium crowds he so thoroughly “reeled and rocked” in the ’50s and beyond. Berry’s sound, of course, opened the floodgates to so many wild electric guitar styles that today, unfortunately, most guitarists rarely look to other instruments for inspiration.
Los Angeles-based guitar guru Jean-Marc Belkadi is one of the exceptions.
“The polytonal and bi-tonal licks I’m going to show you are directly inspired by listening to pianists such as Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock, as well as saxophone players like Michael Brecker and Joe Henderson,” says Belkadi, one day before embarking on a clinic tour of Europe (which would include a stop in his native city of Toulouse, France). The examples Belkadi shares can be used in rock, jazz, fusion, even shred metal, and they all have a cool, modern sound. And, thanks to sweep technique, they can each be played quite fast. Also, any of the examples can be used as an exercise to improve sweep timing, because keeping the notes evenly spaced as you rake your pick across the strings in either direction is one of the trickiest challenges of the style.
Sensei to the Stars
You don’t have to be an amateur guitarist to need guitar lessons. Even the pros like a good schoolin’ now and again. And if you’re a professional guitarist, singer, or actor in the Los Angeles area who’s fishing around for a guitar teacher, it probably won’t be long before someone refers you to Jean-Marc Belkadi. Like his mentor, the late, great guitar genius Ted Greene, Belkadi is quickly emerging as one of the most in-demand and respected guitar instructors in Southern California and beyond. Over the years, the former GIT staffer’s roster of students has included Dweezil Zappa, Ricardo Montalban, Rafael Moreira (Rock Star house band), Joe Holmes (Ozzy Osbourne, David Lee Roth), Joel Whitley (Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill), Justin Derrico (Pink), inger/actress/John Denver ex-wife Cassandra Delaney, Matchbox Twenty drummer Paul Doucette, Sean Matthew Landon (Michael Landon’s son), Austin Ward (Sela Ward’s son), and even Martin Chirac (grandson of the former President of France, Jacques Chirac).
Huh?
By loose definition, a polytonal melody travels through multiple keys, chords, and/or harmonies in a relatively short amount of time, typically over a static background key. If the phrase tags only one other tonality, it can be more specifically described as bi-tonal.
Tips From the Grand Master
When it comes to sweep picking, Frank Gambale is the style’s undisputed champion, in both senses of the word. With his impossibly fluid lines and flawless command of the technique (shows marked superiority), Gambale is unparalleled as a sweep picker. Plus, he has always been the style’s most impassioned and articulate proponent (militant advocate or defender).
In the September ’87 GP, Gambale shared some of his insights into his signature playing approach with an eloquent lesson article entitled, simply, “Sweep Picking.” Here are some of the pointers he offered: 1.Keep the notes as separate as possible—almost staccato (short)—at first, especially when crossing multiple strings. Newcomers to sweeping tend to run the notes together. 2.Watch your picking hand and make sure you are using a single movement when sweeping across strings, not separate successive strokes. 3.Always practice with a metronome or drum machine, making sure that the notes are clean and even. 4.Be critical and honest when evaluating yourself. It’s harder to sweep at slower tempos, so start with medium ones (sixteenths at q=60-100 bpm). Guitar Player Magazine article