“Dave Celentano is one of the industry’s hottest and most sought-after guitar instructors and has been teaching for over 20 years. A graduate from M.I., Dave is proficient in many styles of music including rock, blues, heavy metal, jazz and classical, and specializes in multi-finger tapping, sweep picking, music theory, and reading music. Having published over 30 books, videos, DVDs, and albums, Dave has a prolific creative output unseen by most of today’s published guitarists.
“Dave has displayed his expertise and educational chops during seminars at M.I. and a multitude of music stores across the southwest United States. His specialization in several styles and transcribing skills have helped thousands of students who have attended private lessons with Dave. Many students remain with Dave for several years. Dave has reached hundreds of thousands of guitarists through his published works, teaching aids, and performances, and inspired many to pursue their own successful careers in the music business.”
All Access Magazine just received a copy of Dave’s new instrumental CD, “Wicked Music Box,” his follow-up to “Guitar Stew.” Once we listened to his new CD and got over the initial “Wow!” reaction, we had to find out how this busy guitarist has kept motivated over the decades, and has achieved the rare distinction of being a Los Angeles-area musician who actually makes a living playing guitar.
AAM (Clio): Dave, you’re well known among Los Angeles-area guitarists - hundreds of whom have been your students and attended your guitar clinics. What were some of your major influences?
Dave Celentano: Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth) was going to my same high school; I was in 10th grade and he was in 12th. Back then he was a no-name except in our little town of Laurel, Maryland. I was hungry for guitar and wanted to learn so I took some lessons from Marty. Each lesson gave me a ton of stuff to work on. He’s the one who got me to play lead guitar. He’s nice; very humble. We went our separate ways, then all of the sudden he was in Megadeth. It was really cool to see him rise to that level of superstar celebrity. He was a huge influence. I was practicing an hour a day, and when I started working with him, he was practicing 4 hours a day! I thought that if I wanted to be that good too, I needed to practice more.
Wolf Marshall was also an influence. When I first started teaching music he was teaching, writing instructional books, and doing videos. He was a role model for me in terms of making a living doing music.
AAM: When did you start playing guitar, and why?
Dave Celentano: I’ve been playing guitar for over 30 years. But Ace Frehley of KISS got me to start. Yeah! You know Dimebag Darrell (Pantera) was a huge KISS fan. There were a lot of closet KISS fans who didn’t go public until KISS started doing their reunion tour. I got KISS’s “Destroyer” album, made a cardboard guitar and stood in my living room pretending to be Ace Frehley when I was 11 or 12. Once Van Halen’s “Eruption” came out, I became aware of Black Sabbath, and Led Zeppelin, and then started to look for other guitarists to learn from, like Yngwie Malmsteen. In those days there were not a ton of really good guitar players who were well known. Now there are thousands.
AAM: You did a Randy Rhoads Star Licks video back in the ’80s?
Dave Celentano: Star Licks did a bunch of videos in the ’80s with Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath), Brain May (Queen), Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot). But they also did lower-priced tapes by guys like me. I did one called “Guitar Tricks.” It’s not in print anymore. It was on using the whammy bar, 8-finger tapping, that kind of thing. I also did a “Randy Rhodes Style” one and an “Eric Clapton Style” one.
AAM: Speaking of Randy Rhoads, there’s a connection to him on your new CD.
Dave Celentano: My friend and producer Chet Thompson took lessons from him before Randy joined Ozzy. Chet was in a band in the ’80s called Hellion – their big “Headbanger’s Ball” video was “Bad Attitude.” Chet taught guitar at a lot of the same shops I taught at, so I’ve known him for 10 or 15 years. When I started to get my new CD together at another studio, I ran into Chet and he’d just opened up Elephant Symphony Studios in Burbank (CA), and he offered to produce it there. He also played bass on all my tracks.
AAM: You are adept in a number of different genres, but the new CD is definitely metal. How big of an influence was Chet Thompson as a producer?
Dave Celentano: Yeah, this one is more metal. “Guitar Stew” was more blues, more rock. I’ve been into metal forever, and Chet plays a lot of the same style as I do. In the studio he pushed my guitar playing as far as he could go with it. I’d show Chet a song and he’d give me input.
We triple-tracked all the rhythm guitars. Being human, I can play it 99% the same way each time, but that 1% deviation is enough to make it sound thicker, richer. KISS did it. Hetfield (Metallica) does it. It’s like an orchestra with a bunch of violins, cellos, and flutes, because 5 or 6 playing the same thing makes it sound good – IF it’s tight. That’s where the value of a good producer comes in. And you have to be open to the producer saying, “That part sucks,” or “You can do it better,” or “Let’s try something else.” You have to trust where a good producer is going to take your stuff. And I can’t say enough good things about Donny Baker, the CD’s engineer. Chet just started E.S.I. Records (http://elephantsymphony.com/ESI_Records/ESI_Intro.html) and I’m signed to it, so you can buy a song or 2 of “Wicked Music Box” or the whole thing on their web site.
AAM: Which came first, the song “Wicked Music Box” or the CD’s title?
Dave Celentano: I did the song first, then the name came along. That song has more of a classical influence – it has parts from Paganini and Bach. I got to thinking about the jewelry boxes where you’d open them up and there would be classical music and a ballerina. But I wanted something darker…so “Wicked” happened. A box with stuff in it is a collection, and this CD is a collection of wicked songs. To get the darker sound I used the harmonic minor a lot, like the song “Wicked Music Box” has kind of a snake charmer sound to it from the harmonic scale. Then the CD cover is by Eddie Young, who does the covers on some of my instructional books. It’s kind of a Stephen King evil clown idea – a jack-in-the-box with a metal guitar, and the headstock is a meat cleaver.
I went for a cinematic style with the CD. It has a hard rock/metal sound but not traditional metal like Metallica or Megadeth. It’s more airy and cinematic like background music in TV or movies. I’m trying to market it to that industry, license some of the songs. Video games have a lot of licensed rock songs in them too, because to license from a non-celebrity is cheaper, and for the artist it gets the stuff out there. Nowadays video games have real music, versus the old Mario Brothers games.
AAM: How long have you been teaching guitar?
Dave Celentano: When I was 20 I moved to L.A. from Maryland to go to Musician’s Institute (MI). There were a lot more opportunities here – except for the pay-to-play aspect, which was a big surprise, coming from back East where they actually pay you to play. When I moved here I was on my own; my folks didn’t help at all. I had to make things happen myself. I went to MI during the day, and I didn’t have a car so I walked up the street to work at McDonald’s at night. I played in a band and lived in a band house with them and all the girlfriends. After about 6 to 8 months of that, I decided that was not where I wanted to go with my life! I thought to make money as a guitarist you had to be a rock star. But at music school I found out there are a lot of other ways to make money. You can make guitars, you can teach guitar. You can make instructional books, videos, DVDs. You can make a living at it! And it’s a much better living than you earn working at McDonald’s. I made a lot of connections through MI. That’s where I got interested in teaching and hooked up with Hal Leonard Publications.
AAM: What are the advantages of taking guitar lessons?
Dave Celentano: A lot of people just want to figure it out on their own, which is fine. But you can pick up bad habits and not even know it. You can hit a brick wall and need some fresh input. And one-on-one is the best way to learn. A weekly lesson gives students someone to be accountable to. Even if they didn’t practice, we can practice at the lesson. Once you start to get stuff on the guitar, it gets fun. I tell everybody, “Have fun with it!” I let them pick songs that they want to learn, because they’ll practice more if it’s stuff they like. I try to feel where their head is at and go that way, with kids and adults. I try to be open-minded about all the different music styles – jazz, blues, classical too. And you’ve got to practice that stuff.
AAM: So you have to practice too?
Dave Celentano: I have to keep up with what’s hot. I do 2 to 3 hours a day of my own practice. I work on Yngwie, Michael Angelo Batio, Al Di Meola who is a jazz fusion guy…anybody really good. I can figure it out and transcribe it – and then practice it! To play that well and that fast takes practice, and a lot of it.
AAM: In all your years in the business and teaching guitar, what makes someone stand out as a guitarist?
Dave Celentano: Good players have a couple things in common: Good attitudes (well, most of them have good attitudes), commitment, and passion. You can appreciate a good athlete, but to be a good athlete you have to go to the gym and do the training. It’s the same for guitarists.
AAM: What bands do students want to learn to play these days, as compared to when you started teaching?
Dave Celentano: In the last year or so it’s gone back to more shredding guitar. When I started teaching in the ’80s it was all sweeps and tapping. Then in the ’90s Kurt Cobain came along and students all wanted to learn Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Which is fine, but there’s no high-tech lead guitar in it. So for 8 to 10 years shredding guitar, lead guitar, was not needed as far as teaching it.
Now it’s coming back. Zakk Wylde and Ozzy kept the torch going, and Dimebag too. Even during the ’80s/’90s grunge, Pantera put out kick-ass albums. But now it’s definitely come back around! Students want to learn Avenged Sevenfold, Iron Maiden. 13- to 14-year-olds hear cool stuff on Guitar Hero and Rock Band and want to really learn it – although it’s a lot harder on a real guitar! I might start them on Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” and Metallica’s “Enter Sandman,” then as they get better we go to “Eruption” from Van Halen. Plus, their parents are my age – they’re into rock-and-roll from 20 to 30 years ago, they’re listening to Zeppelin and Sabbath. When I was younger my parents were into Elvis, and that wasn’t cool to me. But these days kids like their parents’ music.
AAM: Guitar Hero and Rock Band have had such widespread influence.
Dave Celentano: Guitar is bigger now than in a while. TV has more guitars in commercials: You hear “Iron Man,” Zeppelin. And TV series often use a guitar as a prop in the background. It’s become part of mainstream culture, visually a lot higher profile.
AAM: You have several types of instructional materials on the market.
Dave Celentano: I have over 30 instructional books and DVDs out. My latest one, “Secrets of Shred Guitar,” is a book with a CD, and there’s also a DVD with a booklet. With publishing, like with Centerstream Publications/Hal Leonard, the tough part is getting your foot in the door. A lot of people try to do books on their own, but although they get 70-80% of the money, it’s hard to sell many. A publisher will move thousands, so although you get a smaller percentage, it adds up in volume. Plus the publisher does all the work. I can focus on teaching, recording, practicing. But teaching is still a job, and it’s humbling too: You’re not on stage, you’re not getting all the attention. But it has consistent pay!
AAM: Which of your accomplishments in the music business are you most proud of?
Dave Celentano: My biggest accomplishment is being able to help guitar players of all ages and styles get better on the guitar. That’s what life’s about: helping out people. There’s something so rewarding when a student is eager and practices a lot, is hungry and works at it. That’s when you and the student start having fun. With all different people, when you see the look in their eyes when they get something down…it’s rewarding to know you’ve helped people in their paths.
AAM: Any advice for our readers thinking about a music career?
Dave Celentano: I you want to play guitar, get a guitar and take some lessons to get started in the right direction. Seek out some good role models. Instead of playing Guitar Hero and thinking about playing guitar, well, there’s no time like now! Everybody can get started. For adults it’s a little harder to develop agility and figure dexterity. They’re not sponges like kids, and kids’ muscles are still developing. But whatever your age, do you have a secret desire to play guitar? Get one and try it out!
All Access Magazine wishes Dave continued success and highly recommends his new CD, “Wicked Music Box” on E.S.I. Records. He currently teaches guitar in Santa Clarita, CA, and his instructional materials are available at Guitar Center, Amazon.com, and many other places. Check out cool videos of Dave’s effortless-looking 8-finger tapping on his web site and by searching on his name at YouTube.com.
