September 24th, 2024

Homeskoolin’ Volume 345, Tom Bukovac, “Hitchhike From Saginaw”

Chapters
00:00 - Plunking, looping, and soloing
06:10 - Hard to stop looper
06:19 - Fucking amazing Reggae
06:55 - "Everything's hard" / Amazing playing cont. / Blackbird Studios / Singing and playing Alex Harvey Band Cheek To Cheek
08:21 - Lesson: Simon and Garfunkel - America / Yes
09:40 - Lights out / Complaining about lighting in free videos
10:30 - Amp guessing game
12:07 - Tweed Deluxe / Thanks for gifts
13:00 - Marshall Plexi / Good people getting ahead
14:06 - Lesson: A little finger work
15:15 - Lesson: Harmonies - Steely Dan - Led Zeppelin
16:05 - Play that sound all night / New room vs kitchen
17:12 - Lesson: That guy got the lick wrong / Fast pull-offs
19:56 - PayPal thanks / Rental house? / Thanks for the help / Dave Grohl scandal mention / Dating apps and advice
24:25 - Listen to America by Simon and Garfunkel / Vocal Harmonies, counter-rhythms
25:45 - Yes - America (version)
25:53 - Lesson: Yes - America part / Creamy center of songs, sweet little moments
27:31 - "Slightly different than the original" / Doing covers
28:28 - Giveaway


Notes
Uncle Larry gets in the weeds after a long day of sessioneering with some stream of consciousness music and speech

January 8th, 2024

Homeskoolin' Volume 268, Tom Bukovac, "Panties Applied For"

Chapters
00:00 - Homemade Evel Knievel stunt
00:45 - Plucking that Goldtop
03:27 - Episode 268 and Homeskoolin' Inc. / Hardest thing about playing guitar (bending content)
05:00 - Cookin' with Larry thanks / Taking things too literally / Nick Gordo shame
06:20 - Heavy double-stop tangent into Marilyn Manson
06:56 - Cleveland into the playoffs
07:23 - Working with Steely Dan's Michael Omartian (Omar)
08:19 - Comparison of PAFs
09:27 - Burst PAF (Bridge)
10:42 - Goldtop PAF (Bridge)
11:45 - ES-335 PAF (Bridge)
12:54 - Burst PAF (Bridge)
13:20 - Goldtop PAF (Bridge)
13:48 - Goldtop PAF (neck)
14:54 - Burst PAF (neck)
15:47 - ES-335 PAF (neck)
16:33 - Goldtop PAF (neck)
18:11 - Burst PAF (Bridge)
18:47 - ES-335 PAF (Bridge)


Notes
Uncle Larry lines up a couple PAF equipped suspects in a tone identification interrogation...

a 57 Les Paul Standard, a 58 Les Paul Standard and a 63 es-335

We all know that it's impossible to REALLY hear anything in this iPhone mic'ed scenario, but let's just act like we can hear, and play along for fun.

Which one ya like best?

June 5th, 2023

Homeskoolin' Volume 225, Tom Bukovac, "Deuce & A Cawtahh"

Chapters
00:00 - Full body guitar, ZZ Top-esque playing
04:48 - "Good tone is heavy and hard to carry" / Summer camp / Thanks for 20 million views
06:15 - Epiphone amps / Smashing reverb tank & hot swap guitar
07:30 - Sticky shirt and wearing out the guitar
08:00 - Analog tape hiss
08:50 - Magic Sam & raunchy guitar
10:03 - Chuck Berry raunchiness
11:00 - Lesson: Rhythym percussive thing & picking / Blues playing
14:30 - Love for the Firebird
14:40 - Steely Dan singing / Believe in what you sing, it's great
16:16 - "Night Bob" roady / Becker
17:10 - Keep up the good work / Guitar comparison comments / Doubleneck
19:40 - Blind guitar test discussion / Listening with your eyes
21:50 - Donald Fagen pronounces "Oregon"
22:10 - Early '60s Epiphone Zephyr amp
23:30 - 1940 National New Yorker (Memphis Minnie)


Notes
Uncle Larry shows you how to do a long forgotten ancient technique of picking the guitar.


a LOT of new viewers have recently asked "where is the tip jar?" when they felt led to contribute something after 225 free guitar lessons...despite Dominic Hudson's best efforts to deter them.

You can make PayPal donations to this address:
tombukovac@gmail.com

You can make Venmo donations to this address:
@Tom-Bukovac-1

A lot of these very same new viewers don't seem to know that Uncle Larry made a couple records that they could potentially listen to...one is an instrumental solo record called "Plexi Soul" that is available here:
https://tombukovac.bandcamp.com/album/plexi-soul

another is an instrumental collaboration with his dear friend Dean Deleo (originally from the Stone Temple Pilots organization) that is available here:
https://tripthewitch.bandcamp.com/album/trip-the-witch

and a LOT of people don't seem to know that they can go here to purchase a myriad of Homeskoolin' related merchandise..including several different T-shirts and some beautifully constructed coffee mugs for those afflicted with thin lips...
https://dvg-inc.shoplightspeed.com/merch/tom-bukovac/

June 3rd, 2023

Homeskoolin' Volume 224, Tom Bukovac, "OJ Test Results"

Chapters
00:00 - Slow intro playing
02:10 - Class! / Blind contest and Les Paul Burst
04:00 - VCB (Viewer Comment Bin) / First video edit?
04:28 - Steely Dan, Gretsch, and the love for them, or dislike / "Don't Take Me Alive"
10:00 - Modes, jazz, mill hunky
10:40 - Yahct Rock / Christopher Cross
14:30 - Reverb and Steely Dan bone-dry guitars
15:00 - Steely Dan - Chain Lightning / Your Gold Teeth II
19:18 - Raunchy ass shit / Chain Lightning
21:30 - Results: Guitar A = Gibson ES-1235, Guitar B = Gibson ES-335, Guitar C = Gibson Les Paul Custom, Guitar D = Gibson SG (PAF), Guitar E = Gibson Les Paul (PAF)


Notes
Uncle Larry goes off a typical early morning rant.

June 1st, 2023

Homeskoolin' Volume 223, Tom Bukovac, "10,000 Hour Blues"

Chapters
00:00 - Some intro noodling
04:48 - Hello, class! / Thanks
05:30 - '61 Gretsch White Falcon - incredible guitar / New tail piece
09:18 - VCB (Viewer Comment Bin) / 10,000 hrs. of playing
11:10 - Black Mountain Slide / Ziggy
12:25 - Guitar House shirts
12:47 - Phrasing flows and background track
13:10 - Glorious feedback
13:35 - Movie soundtracks and computer software
14:23 - Steely Dan
17:11 - Modes and scales
17:33 - Lesson: 2 chord loop / Playing over it
20:40 - Lesson: 2 coolest notes in passage


Notes
Larry does the real math and figures out that 10,000 hours is actually just the cover charge that gets you in the door...so you can actually begin learning....

March 16th, 2023

Homeskoolin' VOLUME 200!!!! "A Special Treat"

Chapters
00:00 - Intro 200th episode / Pacifico and wine
03:08 - Homeskoolin' thanks / Dann Huff as a producer
06:18 - Collaboration and dictatorship / No right way to finish line
12:24 - Moment knew when making big
15:45 - Dann's take on guitar tone
18:00 - Dann bought Tom's pedalboard
18:53 - No greatest tone / Leslie West story
21:00 - Van Halen (tuning)
23:15 - Midrange / Small guitar tones
27:00 - Cool Dann story (Van Halen)
30:50 - Bass content with guitars
34:00 - Most genious overdubbing
35:50 - Great guitar tones / Billy Gibbons stories and Guthrie Trapp
38:19 - Great tones continued / Billy Gibbons - Jesus Just Left Chicago
41:16 - Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Chile
43:08 - 50% more distortion / Distortion and guitar
47:22 - Marshall Plexi tone / Foreigner - Hot Blooded / Greatest power chord Foreigner - Juke Box Hero
53:45 - Roxy Music - Love is the Drug solo
55:55 - That one note of Steely Dan
58:10 - Cooper Time Cube - 100 ft of garden hose (doubling effect) / Joe Walsh - Life's Been Good
63:10 - Steve Miller Band


Notes
One of my favorite humans on this planet

Sweet Dann Huff

November 29th, 2022

Homeskoolin’ Bonus, “Cool Chord Party Volume 2”

Chapters
00:00 - Lesson: Steely Dan organ playing


Notes
I know you guys are probably tired of all the endlessly clever chord progressions and harmonic voice leading genius that you hear in pop music today, but it should ALSO be noted there was some really clever stuff that people were writing way back in the 70’s.

The boys and i were on a nice sunday drive this afternoon and my youngest asked me “dad, what’s your alltime favorite song? Is it still “under pressure” by bowie/queen?” (which i have always told them it was)… and then i said “well, it might be this one actually” and then played “fire in the hole” from the first 1972 Steely Dan album.

Amazingly enough, i never learned it before…so of course when i got home i figured it out immediately.

If you’re a chord lover, fagen and becker never disappoint…they always find a way to twist something simple into something that makes you go “Why the hell have i never thought of that?” not to mention jeff baxter’s wickedly metallic sounding pedal steel solo…

When i met jeff about a year ago the first and only thing i asked him was “Man do you remember what kinda steel you played on “fire in the hole”?”

He said “im pretty sure it was an Emmons”

Of course it was a push/pull Emmons

If you guys don’t know this song, shame on you.

April 6th, 2020

Corona Lessons Volume 21, Tom Bukovac, “Fake Jazz & Contest Winners”

Chapters
00:00 - Loop jamming
02:07 - What's happening?
02:27 - Chord progression lesson
03:32 - Contest results and modification
08:00 - Larry Carlton / Steely Dan


Notes
Lads...I appreciate all the hard work....you guys are awesome....if you didn't make the list PLEASE DO NOT LET IT DISCOURAGE YOU...keep on practicing!!

March 31st, 2020

Corona Lessons Volume 13, Tom Bukovac, “Session Man”

Chapters
00:00 - Nasty blues playing
03:03 - Interruption / Intro
03:37 - PRS "Cleveland" story
04:55 - Sessions and playing
05:35 - Freedom in playing / "Red Light Fever"
07:32 - Aggressive vs safe playing
07:45 - Steely Dan story / Rehearse / Explore
10:52 - Session musicians and experiences
13:18 - Skillset needed to be session musician


Notes
A trip through the triumphs and the horrors of the worlds second oldest occupation.