The Future is Unwritten-DVD Documentary

Julien Temple, one of the early documentarians of the London punk scene and director of the 2000 Sex Pistols film The Filth and the Fury, turns his attention now to that other seminal British band: The Clash--or more accurately, to the band's co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and lead singer, Joe Strummer. The Future is Unwritten is more than just a biography of Strummer; it is a tribute and exploration of a musician, artist and devoted humanist. Though Temple respects and admires Strummer (his influence is exalted by close friends, peers and fans like Bono and John Cusack), he doesn't romanticize this larger-than-life personality and presents Strummer honestly and not always in flattering light, though the director's fondness for his subject is constant. Most movingly, Strummer himself provides the narration via reassembled excerpts from a variety of interviews and the BBC radio show he hosted during the nineties. In the wrong hands, this could be contrived, but in this masterful documentary it serves as a testament to not just Joe Strummer the myth, but Joe Strummer the man, telling us his story in vivid detail. The Future is Unwritten is a moving and personal portrait of a musician who helped shaped not just punk, but modern music as a whole. --Kira Canny
Customer Review: Amazing movie about a rock legend
There have been several movies made about Joe Strummer but Julien Temple's is unique in its personal touch. Temple was a friend of Strummer's for many years and so had insight into the man behind the music that many people did not have. The movie consists of Joe's life story as told by many friends, acquaintances, fellow artists and others who knew him or were influenced by him over the years. Amazing music, very well put-together, and just a great story about a man who was a huge influence on rock & roll and politics during his time on this earth. Joe was taken from the world too early when he died unexpectedly in December 2002 and after watching this movie one can only wonder what more he would have accomplished. The opening scene of Joe singing "White Riot" a capella in the studio is complemented by the closing scene of Joe and Mick Jones reuniting on stage 20+ years later to perform the same song...even though they were old (and Mick a little bald!) they still ROCKED. If you like the Clash, you must see this movie!!

Many years ago I asked a good friend of mine who is now a very successful professional musician, what my next step in learning was as a musician. I was so surprised with the fact that he could play anything he heard without fumbling for notes; and not only on the keyboard, but also on the bass, the guitar and several other instruments.

He told me that the most important thing a musician should learn is HARMONY. Now, I fully understand why:

When you study harmony, you are not only studying guitar, but all instruments at the same time. Harmony is notes and chords in their context. You start to understand the relationship between note intervals and scales, scales and chords. You know what will work effectively in a musical situation and what will not. You can consciously combine genres (i.e. fusion).

Once you've started learning harmony, you literally 'take off' musically. You have so many directions you can go that you'll never get bored. There's always something new to discover once you get 'out of the box'.

But the problem is which direction to take, what to learn first and what to leave for later on. When people are looking for online jazz guitar lessons; are they just looking for information, or how to put the information to good use?

If it were just a matter of information, the web is filled with hundreds of sources to find out what the Lydian Mode is, for example. Wikipedia itself has the definition and an explanation for anyone interested in knowing about it. But how to put it into use effectively is an entirely different matter.

Good online Jazz guitar lessons are well structured in a step-by-step manner and this takes the guesswork out of your learning. You learn step-by-step through watching videos and seeing it written in musical notation and TAB, practice it and consolidate it by playing along with backing tracks so you get the right feel. By learning in this way, you can clearly see how much you've progressed; and being able to play exactly what you hear is one step closer every time.

Ruben Cardos has been a non stop studio and live musician as well as sound technician, electronics technician and sporadic guitar teacher for well over 25 years. Learn more about the #1 recommended "Play What You Hear" guitar method for learning harmony and improvisation by Chris Standring at BandSuccess.

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