“Do not make silly mistakes because you will not be forgiven but, rather, strive to give out ‘proper’ sound,” renowned singer and guitarist Erik Paliani, advised participants during The Ultimate Guitar Workshop held at Flood Church in Blantyre on Saturday.
Hosted by ethno-musician Waliko Makhala, The Ultimate Guitar workshop had two sessions, starting off with general training in the morning before winding up with introduction to jazz in the afternoon.
The workshop in Blantyre came barely a week after Paliani successfully held the first session in Lilongwe, where he attracted good patronage.
It was the same in Blantyre, where the first session pulled the numbers but the figure went down in the afternoon, when Paliani and participants discussed at length the beauty of jazz, the dos and donts in playing the guitar, the notes and several other elements.
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In between the discussions, Paliani and the participants played songs and at times it was more like a jam session.
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“I hate it when artists make deliberate mistakes. As human beings, we make mistakes but, in music, we have to avoid some of the mistakes we make. We make things difficult for ourselves and we need to learn to make it better and shine out there,” the ‘Chitukutuku’, star, who is now based in Mchinji where he is engaged in teaching jazz at Kayesa Creative Centre, said.
Paliani, who has performed with top artists such as jazz maestro Hugh Masekela, said he has been stimulated to do the workshops after noting that he was walking around with too much information which needed to be shared.
“In the absence of proper art schools, it is hard for many artists to learn. I have a setup at Kayesa but we need to do more, hence going on this tour. It is not tough. These are important things that can make one a world class musician,” he said.
Paliani said there was a need for support and proper funding that can help grow the project.
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“There is so much to teach but I only covered a few topics within the time I had. This is the beginning of more things to come but I cannot do it alone. I am bringing the experience so that youngsters know what to do including reading music,” he said.
McLuther Mambala, a youthful artist come who is set to tour Turkey in April this year, described the workshop, which in the afternoon did not have womenfolk, as important.
“We have been making music but not in an appropriate manner; so, we have learned a lot on how to perfect things and do them in a professional manner,” Mambala said.
He said there was talent in the country but many needed such workshops to sharpen their artistry.
