Blending Cultures and Rhythms: The Musical Journey of Luca Vincenzetti

What happens when you mix Italian roots with Venezuelan rhythms and a passion for rock and blues? You get Luca Vincenzetti, the newest instructor at Guitar Zoom, whose musical journey is nothing short of fascinating. From his early days in Italy to discovering a friend's drum set in Venezuela, Luca's story is one of serendipitous encounters and relentless passion. He recounts how the sounds of ACDC, Van Halen, and Pink Floyd captured his heart at an American school in Venezuela, leading him to pick up the guitar and set the stage for an incredible career.

Luca's path wasn't always straightforward. Initially pursuing engineering, he made a bold switch to study music full-time in the vibrant mid-90s Caracas scene. He talks candidly about the grind of cover bands and the challenges of breaking into notable acts in Venezuela. Driven by a deep love for jazz, Luca began carving out his own opportunities, creating intimate performances in quieter venues and developing his leadership and creative skills along the way. His journey underscores the multifaceted nature of a music career and the substantial time commitment that goes beyond just playing notes.

Balancing a career in music requires a nuanced approach, and Luca shares valuable insights on maintaining financial stability through teaching while seeking gigs that feed his soul. We discuss the importance of diversifying income streams, from management and venue ownership to audio and video production. Luca also opens up about his personal interests outside of music, like soccer and motorcycle riding, and draws inspiration from legends such as Eric Clapton and Pat Metheny. This episode is packed with lessons on finding your unique path in music, the joy of transcribing diverse instruments, and embracing personal technique. Tune in for a rich, inspiring conversation that offers a fresh perspective on what it means to be a musician today.

Tune in now and learn more!

Links:

• Check out Luca and the GuitarZoom Academy: Home (guitarzoom.com)
• Steve’s Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/stinemus... 
• GuitarZoom Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/guitarz0... 
• Songs Channel → https://www.youtube.com/user/GuitarSo... . 
• Check out Steve's Guitar Membership and Courses: https://bit.ly/3rbZ3He

Transcript

Steve [00:00:00]:
Hey, everybody, Steve Stine here from guitar zoom, as well as the Steve Stine guitar podcast. And today we're going to be talking to an amazing guitar player, amazing guy, Luca Vincenzetti. And Luca is now part of the GuitarZoom family. He's one of the academy instructors here at GuitarZoom. How you doing, buddy?

Luca [00:00:18]:
Hey, Steve, thanks for having me. Pleasure to be here on your podcast. And, yeah, I'm doing great. It's been awesome working with you for the past almost three years now.

Steve [00:00:30]:
Yeah, it's been a long time.

Luca [00:00:32]:
Yeah, it's amazing how time flies, but, yeah, super excited to be part of this great team and, yeah, definitely really happy.

Steve [00:00:40]:
That's awesome. So where are you located? Where are you at right now?

Luca [00:00:44]:
Well, right now I'm in a small town called Merida. It's in Venezuela, South America. So originally I was born in Italy, and my family moved here when I was just a kid. I was ten or eleven years old, and we moved to the capital, which is Caracas, basically. So that's where I grew up, and that's where I started playing guitar, basically, and I studied music over there. And, yeah, I moved to Merida, which is, as I was saying, a small town about six or seven years ago. Okay, so that's where I'm located right now.

Steve [00:01:29]:
How far is that from where you grew up then?

Luca [00:01:32]:
Well, that's about. Well, it's quite a ride, you know, it's like, by bus, it's like 12 hours.

Steve [00:01:41]:
Oh, okay.

Luca [00:01:41]:
Yeah, it's about 900 km away.

Steve [00:01:45]:
Cool.

Luca [00:01:45]:
Yeah.

Steve [00:01:45]:
Okay, well, tell me what I'd love to know before we get into all this other stuff is growing up. Of course, I was born in the States. Growing up where you grew up, how did you first get introduced to music? Like, what was before we even get to guitar? Like, what's your earliest memories of being intrigued by music itself? Any people or music or whatever it might have been?

Luca [00:02:09]:
Absolutely, yeah. You know, my kind of earliest memory goes back to when I was around nine or ten years old, basically, and we were still living in Italy. Right.

Steve [00:02:21]:
Okay.

Luca [00:02:21]:
So I had a friend who was like three or four years older than me, and he had a drum set in his house, right? So when we hanged around, you know, he would sit in his drum set and start playing some stuff. And basically, you know, what the guy was playing didn't make much sense to me at all. It was like the guy was just banging on the drums and stuff. But then a couple of days later, he had a rehearsal with his band and he started playing the same rhythm thing that he was doing when he was alone, and suddenly everything fell into place, you know, what. What he was playing, that at the beginning didn't make any sense at all, just sounded amazing, you know, with the other. With the other guys playing. So there was always kind of, like, a magical component in music for me from that very first time and again when I was just a kid, and I don't remember, really. My mom is the one who tells me there used to be some music shows on the tv in Italy.

Luca [00:03:34]:
Right. Kind of like Saturday Night Live stuff. Sure. You know, she tells me that I used to have this little toy guitar, and I would just kind of pick it up and jump on the chairs and, you know, start mimicking whatever I was listening to on the tv.

Steve [00:03:50]:
Right.

Luca [00:03:51]:
So, yeah, even though my family is not very much, you know, like, musical inclined, you know, my sister started playing piano, and she's two years younger than me. She started playing piano when she was around seven or eight. So there was a piano in the house, and, you know, there was music on the tv. There was music on the radio. So, yeah, I was always attracted to music from, like, a really early age. I didn't start playing till I was, like, 13 or 14, actually, when we actually moved to Venezuela. And the other interesting thing is that when I was in Italy, I was studying in an american school. Okay.

Luca [00:04:35]:
Yeah. So that's where I basically learned how to speak English. So when we moved to Venezuela, I didn't know how to speak Spanish, so I kept on going to american schools here in Venezuela as well. And the music that the guys, like, my roommates, you know, my classmates were listening to was completely different to what was, you know, going on in, like, venezuelan schools. So here, there is a lot of influence from latin music, obviously, you know, but in american school, you know, we used to listen to rock. You know, that. So. So that's what really attracted me at first to, you know, to guitar itself.

Steve [00:05:17]:
Basically was rock music.

Luca [00:05:18]:
Yeah, absolutely. It was rock music, you know, like AC DC and Van Halen and, you know, deep purple, Ozzy Osbourne. I was into hard rock, man, you know, but I also liked a lot of blues, like Eric Clapton and maybe, you know, still rock, but maybe I would say a bit more melodic type of rock. Kind of like, you know, pink Floyd and Ernie. So, yeah, put the police also was a big influence at me at first.

Steve [00:05:52]:
Sure.

Luca [00:05:53]:
So, yeah, that's. That's basically what I, you know, I was listening to rock even before I started playing guitar.

Steve [00:06:00]:
Right.

Luca [00:06:01]:
That's what really attracted me to itself.

Steve [00:06:04]:
Sure. So when you started playing guitar then, do you remember what your first guitar was?

Luca [00:06:10]:
Yeah, and that's kind of like a funny story because I used to have long hair, you know, and I was like 13 or 14. And my father, he wasn't really into that very much. He didn't like my look. So walking from school back to the house, there was this really nice music store. And they had, you know, Gibson's and Fenders and all sorts of guitars. And, you know, I was really interested into that. So I was like, hey, dad, check out this guitar and so on. What do you think? So he was like, okay, let's make a deal.

Luca [00:06:50]:
If you get a haircut, I will buy you the guitar. So I actually traded my first guitar for a haircut. And I think I made a pretty good deal because it was a great Fender strat.

Steve [00:07:08]:
Oh, great.

Luca [00:07:09]:
So, yeah, it was an awesome guitar. So, yeah, that was like my 1st. 1st guitar. And, you know, the way I got to the guitar was kind of like that funny story, a deal I made with my father.

Steve [00:07:25]:
So when you got your guitar then, did you start taking guitar lessons or what did you do?

Luca [00:07:29]:
Well, there was a guy in high school that played guitar. He was awesome. At least I thought he played great.

Steve [00:07:38]:
Sure.

Luca [00:07:39]:
So we got together for a couple of sessions and, you know, he taught me the very first thing that I think we all learned, which is basically the. A minor pentatonic scale.

Steve [00:07:51]:
Sure.

Luca [00:07:52]:
And like the twelve bar blues progression. So I started. Yeah, you know, just messing around with that and trying to figure out songs by ear, you know, like smoke on the water by deep purple, you know, kind of like the. The first songs I think we all learn.

Steve [00:08:12]:
Sure.

Luca [00:08:13]:
Like the intro to stairway to heaven by Led Zeppelin.

Steve [00:08:16]:
Right.

Luca [00:08:18]:
And, you know, maybe a couple of intros to black AC DC songs like back in black and that kind of stuff. And, you know, trying to figure out songs on my own. I remember the very first solo I tried to figure out was a song by deep purple called when a blind man cries, you know, so Richie Blackmore solo. And that really blew my mind, you know, being able to figure out those first notes and, you know, making the guitar, you know, getting some sounds out of the guitar. So, yeah, that was kind of like my very first approach. So I only took a couple of lessons with this friend of mine. And then, yeah, you know, I started maybe jamming with some friends and maybe making up music of our own, composing some stuff with the very rudimentary knowledge we have at first. But I was really into composing music from the beginning and eventually know way later on.

Luca [00:09:27]:
I studied composition, you know, after. After I went through music school. And, yeah, so at first was really kind of informal training, really. I didn't start to study music, like, seriously speaking on, like, a college level after high school, after I graduated from high school. And in the meantime, I started to listen to other types of music as well. You know, I think, like, music learning is just an ongoing process. You know, it's something that it evolves over the years. You know, just like, maybe what type of pick we use or what kind of strings we like on the guitar.

Luca [00:10:13]:
You know, we just change over the years. So I started listening to some still rock. It was still rock, but it was a bit more complex rhythmically and. And harmonically. You know, it had maybe more interesting sounds. So I really got into listening to rush, you know, the band from Canada. So, yeah, you know, I joined a couple of friends, and we started playing basically rush songs, you know, like Tom Sawyer, limelight, you know, all of those tunes. Red Vercetta, you know, so, yeah, and that was kind of like my introduction to maybe a bit more complicated music, you know, and eventually I started listening to some jazz rock, Alan Hollsworth, for example.

Luca [00:11:08]:
Not that I ever was able to play anything by Alan.

Steve [00:11:11]:
Oh, sure. But, yeah, I mean, of course the transition makes sense. And, you know, I think that, like, what you just said is really, really important is that, you know, you start off a certain way, and then as you grow to enjoy the instrument itself more, sometimes it makes you want to search out different kinds of music where when you're a kid, it's more about, like, for me, anyway, it was more about the energy, and I still love all that kind of stuff. But there becomes an element of wanting more interesting things to do with the instrument itself, definitely, because for me, it was the same thing. Like, I started off very much with the same kinds of bands. I don't even know if I think I'm a little older than you. I'm not sure, but I think we're.

Luca [00:12:01]:
More or less the same age.

Steve [00:12:02]:
Are we?

Luca [00:12:03]:
I'm 54 right now.

Steve [00:12:05]:
Then we're the same age. So it's very similar. And I think with a lot of us that are this age, you did start off playing a lot by ear, because how else could you do it? You know, you had a buddy or, you know, maybe a neighbor that could kind of show you a couple things here and there. But they weren't teachers necessarily. They were just trying to show you something.

Luca [00:12:23]:
Absolutely. Yeah. And the other thing is that kind of, like, in the nineties where I grew up in Caracas, there really weren't a lot of music schools that taught, you know, that kind of music. You know, there were basically classical conservatories, you know, so if you wanted to study music, well, you had to study classical guitar, which I eventually did study a bit of that, and it helped me a ton, especially with the right hand technique, you know, but I wasn't really into that, you know, and, you know, classical conservatories, you got to study for, like, eight years or ten years before you graduate. So. Absolutely. You know, the first contact we have with music is from buddies, you know, from. Yeah, like, what we hear around maybe the radio.

Luca [00:13:15]:
So, yeah, definitely we. I think we come from a pretty similar background.

Steve [00:13:20]:
Right. So when you. So where did the transition kind of occur that you decided to go to college and study music? Like, you know, was there other things you had thought of doing, but then you were like, nope, this is. This music thing is what I'm gonna do.

Luca [00:13:37]:
Well, actually, yeah, you know, I mean, I always really wanted to focus on music. You know, there were, you know, other stuff that you might be interested. Maybe you're good at math in high school, and so you might want to study engineering or something like that. But something happened at the, you know, at the, like, early nineties, maybe 95 or 96, that a music school, a new music school opened in Caracas. And so a couple of guys, you know, they were husband and wife. They had studied in the states. She studied at Berkeley College of Music, and her husband studied at MI in Los Angeles. Right? So they opened up this music school, which was 100% focused on, you know, popular music and, you know, jazz and all.

Luca [00:14:37]:
So it was an awesome opportunity. So I had started studying in college, engineering. But as soon as this school opened up, it was like the perfect, you know, the perfect timing, the perfect moment. So, yeah, actually, I quit college, and I went all in with studying music at this music school over there in Caracas. And also in that period of time, the scene in Caracas, there were a lot of COVID bands playing in bars and restaurants. There wasn't a lot of jazz scene. Still, there isn't very much, you know, at least compared to the states or other countries, but there was a chance to play in cover bands and, you know, like, playing top 40 songs and, you know, whatever was going on in the radio at that time. So I joined a couple of COVID bands, and I started working, you know.

Luca [00:15:37]:
So, yeah, it was like, perfect timing. You know, the music school opened up and, you know, these opportunities came up to play, you know, and make some money playing music. So it was kind of like the perfect time. And that was when I definitely, you know, went all in with music and I started studying seriously music and, you know, practicing a lot and, you know, playing around the music scene. The thing was that after a couple of years, you know, we get kind of tired and bored of playing the same kind of stuff over and over. And, you know, it was really hard to find a good gig because, I mean, literally there was, like, kind of three or four major acts going on here in Venezuela. They were all kind of like latin pop, but we were like 200 guitar players. So it was really hard to get into one of those gigs because it was actually, it was only like three or four guitar players who had all of those gigs.

Steve [00:16:55]:
Right.

Luca [00:16:56]:
So the other thing is that all of, you know, these four or five acts, they all kind of sounded the same, you know, because it was kind of like the same type of music, the same musicians playing the same stuff. So, you know, I really wasn't too much interested, obviously. You know, if. If I would have had an offer to play with those guys, I would have definitely, you know, taken it because of the experience and, you know, the pay was great, right. But musically speaking, you know, I don't think it would have, you know, given me too much, you know, as far as, again, apart from the great experience and, you know, playing other types of music. But I was also getting into jazz very much at that time, you know, and since, you know, there wasn't too many gigs around, you know, and the opportunity to play jazz, I started to kind of, like, make up my own gigs by, you know, getting together with a couple of friends like minded who also wanted to study that type of music. So we started studying jazz standards, you know, from the real book and, you know, trying to go around and finding some gigs that wanted that type of music. Maybe a restaurant, which was more kind of like, you know, soft, you know, and, you know, another type of scene.

Steve [00:18:30]:
Yeah.

Luca [00:18:31]:
So that's actually something that really, really helped me because, and it's something I always tell, you know, students and people who ask me, you know, I don't have anybody to play with, you know, it's hard for me to find a gig or something. So what I tell them is, you know, make up your own gig, you know, find like minded people like you that, you know, want to play the same music, like the same music and, you know, get together. Sometimes we have to kind of like, be the leader, you know, and, you know, move around and get the people together and, you know, figure out the rehearsal times and call the guys, you know, we got rehearsal tomorrow, so show up. So kind of teaches you a lot about, you know, leadership as well.

Steve [00:19:21]:
Yeah. What you're, for, those of you listening or watching, you know, that's. That's a really interesting thing, because when you first start playing, you're focused on playing. You're focused on elements of the guitar and learning to listen and hear and ear training or whatever it might be. But the performance aspect, the band aspect, the booking, the traveling, all of these other things is an entirely different world. And like you just said, like, it's just so interesting how, you know, you can be on a track in your mind of what you want from the guitar, but there's always going to be some sort of a give and take in terms of what you're going to be able to do out in the real world with other human beings in terms of the music that you're playing or the time that you spend. You know, I firmly believe that we spend 20 times more getting ready for a gig, traveling to a show, going on tour, whatever these things relative to the pay that you actually get, like, you have to love what you do.

Luca [00:20:32]:
Absolutely.

Steve [00:20:33]:
So much more than. Yeah.

Luca [00:20:35]:
Starting to interrupt even the actual playing, you know?

Steve [00:20:39]:
Yes. And so nowadays, it's even worse. The money, it's like, the money, the amount of money that bands make never really went up over the years, but the amount of time that you have to spend is still the same amount of time that you have to spend. So, you know, it's just so important that you love what it is that you're doing. And for me, I've always been blessed to be able to also play because I've played in a lot of bands and done a lot of different things like that and developed really great friendships out of those where I have a lot of friends that have played in musical situations where they've hated the musical situation, but they did it for the experience or for the money or whatever it might be. So, again, I'm just saying it's just interesting because it's such a give and take of how much time you're willing to put in for a little bit of recon, you know, a little bit of compensation.

Luca [00:21:34]:
Right. And retribution.

Steve [00:21:36]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's so. Okay, so you're doing. You're doing the school thing, you know, you're playing in bands. You started doing recordings. So with. With the recordings that you have. Are they.

Steve [00:21:53]:
Are they your compositions, or do you play on other people's stuff, or do you do both of those, or what do you do?

Luca [00:21:58]:
Well, that came a little bit later, actually, you know, and just a small parenthesis because there's something that you mentioned about, you know, playing sometimes gigs that you really don't like the music, which I think it's super important. And, you know, I got a question a couple of weeks ago from a student asking me, okay, how can I make a living, you know, playing music or being a musician? So the other thing that I started to do at that same time a couple of years later was teaching, right? So the great thing about teaching is that it can give you sort of like a steady income, right. And it allows you also to choose what gigs you want to play. You want to play and what gigs maybe you're not so much interested in, right. So teaching has been basically, you know, kind of like my go to for the past 20 years, basically, right. So on the side, apart from having, like, a steady teaching job, you can, you know, make up your own music. It gives you more freedom, basically, I think, you know, to have a steady income as a teacher and being able to choose the gigs that you really want to play. You know, I always thought about taking gigs that would, you know, teach me something, musically speaking.

Luca [00:23:37]:
You know, for example, like playing in a quartet or a quintet is not as hard as playing in a trio or maybe in a solo setting. Right. So eventually, after doing these gigs, I started doing other, you know, gigs playing, you know, pop and rock. But in a dual situation, you know, where the guitar is like the main instrument, so you're the only one there. And when you got to do a solo, you don't have anybody comping for you. So, you know what I know. My point is basically that having kind of, like, a steady job as a teacher, maybe, you know, teaching music will allow you to, you know, have more freedom on, you know, the type of gigs that you want to take and. Yeah, the type of music that you want to play.

Steve [00:24:27]:
You bet. Two things I'll add on that number one is the less people that there are in the band, the more money you can make. So if you're doing a solo gig, you know, you can make more money as a solo gig than you can with a six piece band oftentimes. And the second thing I'll say is, is what you're. What you just said. Absolutely true. Nowadays, you have to be diversified. Like, you can't just put all of your eggs in one basket, which is, I'm gonna make money playing in a band.

Steve [00:24:52]:
You know, you look at bands, popular bands, relatively speaking, in their niche, that will still make software, or they'll make pedals, or they'll sell guitars under a particular brand that they're. They're connected with. You know, I have friends that do, like, they sell beats or they do commercials or. I mean, there's. That's. The thing is, is you have to. You have to be willing to do, you know, there's got to be other things that you. So you can look at your talent and go, well, what else can I do with this talent? Because what I will say about teaching is that in order to be able to teach, at least from my perspective, you need to be.

Steve [00:25:33]:
You need to have the qualifications of being a halfways decent teacher. You know, there are people that I know that are really great players that are not really great teachers.

Luca [00:25:42]:
Absolutely. It's a totally different thing.

Steve [00:25:44]:
Yeah. And so I think, you know, you know, teaching can be an avenue, no doubt about it, if that's something that you're qualified or you're good at being able to do. But there's so many things out there that you could do from management. Like, I've got friends that, in Minneapolis that that's what they do, is they manage bands to come in on tours and things like that, and they make supplemental income doing that. Or they own venues for people to play at, or they own filming companies, right? So they do the filming, the audio production, and video production. So the beautiful thing is that you're forced to think outside the box. It's not just your talent on guitar that will do whatever. You've got to figure out what else you might be willing to do that you would still enjoy or tolerate or whatever you want to call it, to be able to.

Steve [00:26:36]:
So you're not sitting at a desk doing, you know, economics or accounting or whatever it might be. And so, you know, for anybody that's listening, you gotta be thinking about that. Like, what other talents or what other byproducts can I have off of what it is that I'm doing? I think that's really important nowadays because it's just really hard, you know, you could talk to again, it was always interesting to me the reality of the people that I put on a pedestal as a kid, and I'm not naming names, but the eighties guitar icons that I was like, oh, my God, these are the guys. And now they're doing Patreon, and they're doing whatever to try and stay in the game and make money and make a living because, yeah, it's a tough, so be real about the situation. Don't just. The other thing is that, and I don't wanna go on a tangent on this, but, you know, you never wanna burn bridges because you never know who you're gonna need down the line to be able to connect again and make something real happen. And your phone doesn't ring because nobody knows who you are. Like, you've gotta get out there and meet people and talk to people and develop connections and relationships.

Steve [00:27:56]:
And, you know, I grew up in a very small town in the midwest that nobody knows. And the only way to have done something that was beyond that was to get out, to start doing other things and making connections that were bigger than just like you living in a small town where there really isn't a scene.

Luca [00:28:19]:
Exactly.

Steve [00:28:20]:
You got to try and find a way of being able to break out of that.

Luca [00:28:23]:
Yeah. And do what you want to do, know, find other alternatives and.

Steve [00:28:30]:
That's right.

Luca [00:28:31]:
Yeah. The thing that you mentioned about networking, I think it's super important. In fact, you know, I've got a lot of friends who studied in music schools in the states. You know, they went to college, maybe at Berkeley or, you know, whatever, New England conservatory or New school in New York or whatever. And, you know, one of the things that they say is that, like, one, like, the thing that they learned or took more from being in college was the networking that they were doing.

Steve [00:29:04]:
The reason I went to college, I mean, I originally went to college to be a child psychologist. I wound up studying music, but my biggest takeaway were the connections.

Luca [00:29:17]:
Absolutely.

Steve [00:29:18]:
1 million%. 1 million%.

Luca [00:29:21]:
Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, the, the, you know, the money you pay for the education, obviously, you know, being in a music school, it's super important, I think, because, I mean, you get to play with a lot of people. You get to, you know, get to know the great teachers. You can learn a thousand things, and it's kind of like a shortcut, because obviously you can learn things from, uh, listening to records. In fact, that was the way that everybody learned before music school even existed. Sure, you know? Yeah, but, but the networking and the connections is like, what, the thing that's gonna stay with you your entire life, basically. So, yeah, yeah, well, so, yeah, I.

Steve [00:30:06]:
Always think about the, like, the underground metal band. Like, I have a lot of, a lot of, lot of guys that took lessons from me that are now in bands, and they travel around and do whatever, and, you know, their whole thing was learning how to write, getting a band together, and then immediately go to shows and start connecting with people and get on the road. Now, again, they're scraping by, right? It's not like they're making all of this money, but they're doing what they love to do. They're out there doing their thing, traveling around in a van or, you know, whatever it might be, and playing shows and going around the country or going around the world. And that all happens with making those connections, going to those shows, meeting people in the band, talking about stuff, giving them your music, whatever it might be. Back in the day, it was all based on record companies and trying to appeal to the record companies. Now, you don't have to do that. Like, you can appeal, right, to the artists themselves, you know? And I'm not talking about going and trying to meet Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones.

Steve [00:31:13]:
I'm saying you're going local shows that come through, and you're meeting these people and you're connecting with them and saying, hey, this is my music. I'd love you to listen to this, whatever. And there's a great camaraderie with a lot of those kinds of bands where they're all working together and they'll take each other on a tour or whatever it might be. And again, you know, you do this for the love of it and not so much because you think you're gonna get rich off of it. Absolutely.

Luca [00:31:41]:
I mean. I mean, that's one of the things that, you know, if you really want to do this for a living, you gotta love it, you know, you really have to love it because, you know, and kind of like, be open minded to maybe sometimes you're, you know, you're not gonna make that much money as if you were a doctor or a lawyer or whatever, but, you know, it's something that I wouldn't trade for anything, you know? But that's because we love this thing so much.

Steve [00:32:08]:
That's right. Yeah, you're absolutely right. So tell me this. So how did. I mean, because there's people that. That are just getting to know you. So how did you first get connected with GuitarZoom?

Luca [00:32:21]:
Yeah.

Steve [00:32:22]:
In there in the first. In the early days?

Luca [00:32:24]:
Well, actually, you know, that was because of the pandemic, basically.

Steve [00:32:29]:
Okay.

Luca [00:32:29]:
You know, because when the COVID started, I was teaching in college here in the town where I live, and playing, you know, at local nightclubs and stuff, you know, jazz and maybe some brazilian music, which I really got into as well because of where I live, basically. You know, Venezuela has got a lot of influence from Brazil. But then when Covid came up, everything just stopped. You know, there was no more teaching. There were no more gigs. So, I mean, yeah, I could stay here at my place and study and compose and make up music, but, you know, I had to do something. It was kind of crazy. And, you know, we all probably went through that.

Luca [00:33:11]:
So I started doing some online work, you know, so I got into, well, this page called upwork and started, you know, applying for jobs, and I started getting, you know, crazy type of jobs, which kind of connects to what we're talking about before, you know, about being able to do different things.

Steve [00:33:30]:
Sure.

Luca [00:33:31]:
So, yeah, I got contacted with a guy who was doing transcriptions of old persian music.

Steve [00:33:39]:
Oh, my goodness. Okay.

Luca [00:33:41]:
Yeah, so he just needed, you know, the sheet music to be transcribed on a finale, like. Like, you know, basically digital notation.

Steve [00:33:55]:
Right, right.

Luca [00:33:56]:
So. So I got that gig, and then there was this other girl who was doing a vocal coaching thing, and she wanted some. Some vocal lines transcribed, like those runs, you know, that, you know, like. Like, you know, Christina Guilera or those kind of singers do, like, really blues, bluesy and gospel stuff.

Steve [00:34:21]:
Right.

Luca [00:34:22]:
So I started doing some transcriptions with her, you know, for this music vocal book that she was. She was doing. Then, you know, I got contacted from some guys. Maybe he needed a jam track, and there was this guy in Australia who needed a jam track, so I made the jam track for him.

Steve [00:34:41]:
And, you know, yeah, just odd. Odd jobs.

Luca [00:34:44]:
Odd job. Maybe a couple of guitar recordings from some guy in Norway or wherever.

Steve [00:34:51]:
Right?

Luca [00:34:52]:
And then I got an invitation, you know, to do some transcriptions from this company called GuitarZoom, and they. They need a transcriber, you know. And I applied for the job, and that's basically the way I got contacted, you know, guitar zoom. And, you know, it's kind of funny that this has been basically my job for the past three years. And, you know, one of the main challenges I went through when I was in music school was the ear training course. You know, that was hard. And, you know, I had classmates that were super more talented than what I was, you know, and, you know, some guys with perfect pitch who would just, you know, hear something and just figure it out, like on the fly. So I really had to study hard, you know, to pass that ear training course.

Luca [00:35:52]:
And it was. I mean, it's kind of ironical that after all the trouble I went through, my main job is basically transcribing, which is 100% ear training. So, yeah, you know, my advice is keep an open mind all the time and, you know, study, because you never know when you're gonna get that opportunity.

Steve [00:36:16]:
That's right. I mean, it's so true. That's that's. You have to be available if you're.

Luca [00:36:21]:
Yeah.

Steve [00:36:22]:
If you're never available, there's. There's no way anything could happen. Wow. That's awesome. Yeah. Okay, so what do you like doing outside of music?

Luca [00:36:33]:
Well, you know, I really like soccer. Football, you know, that's kind of like my italian roots, I think. So I play some soccer, and I got a motorcycle. I like riding around. And, you know, in the town where I live, it's in the mountains, so there's a lot of, like, tracks that you can go around and. Yeah, that's, you know, doing some sports, playing soccer and riding around with my bike, basically. So, yeah, that's kind of like my other side apart from music.

Steve [00:37:09]:
Sure. So do you get winter where you live?

Luca [00:37:13]:
Well, actually, no. We get basically, like, the dry season and the rainy season.

Steve [00:37:19]:
Oh, I see. Okay.

Luca [00:37:20]:
Yeah. Yeah. So right now we're in the rainy season. Season, basically, but we still get, you know, some days in the sun. So, yeah, we can ride around and.

Steve [00:37:33]:
Okay, so I got one last question for you.

Luca [00:37:36]:
Yeah.

Steve [00:37:38]:
Who are some of your favorite, like, name three of your favorite guitar players of all time.

Luca [00:37:45]:
Okay. Well, I would start, you know, way back. I would say Eric Clapton.

Steve [00:37:50]:
Okay.

Luca [00:37:51]:
Is one of them. And then there was a guy who super influenced me when I was studying in college, which is Pat Matheny. And, you know, it was Pat Matheny was an eye opener to me, not only because of the music, and it was kind of like, the perfect balance between, like, musicality and virtuosity.

Steve [00:38:17]:
Sure.

Luca [00:38:17]:
You know, because he can play super fast lines, but at the same time, he can play two notes that, you know, they just get to your heart.

Steve [00:38:26]:
Right.

Luca [00:38:27]:
And the other thing is that I was never very fast player. You know, I was never very good at, you know, alternate picking, like, all the stuff that you do. You know, I would love to do it, but I was never too good at it.

Steve [00:38:40]:
Sure.

Luca [00:38:40]:
So one of the things that Pat Metheny taught me was to find another way, because he plays a lot with legato and slides. So I started thinking, okay, so how would pat Metheny study a major scale, basically.

Steve [00:38:59]:
Right.

Luca [00:39:00]:
Without, like, attacking all the notes.

Steve [00:39:03]:
Right.

Luca [00:39:03]:
You know? So studying Pat metheny was something that really helped me to improve my technical skills, basically.

Steve [00:39:12]:
Right.

Luca [00:39:12]:
You know, and going through, you know, finding other routes apart from just you know, alternate picking and, you know, like, attacking all the notes, but studying other ways to do whatever it is that you want to accomplish.

Steve [00:39:28]:
You bet.

Luca [00:39:29]:
So, yeah, Pat Metheny was a huge influence on me. And lately, you know, there is an awesome guitar player. He's really young. He's called Julian Lage.

Steve [00:39:41]:
He's really good.

Luca [00:39:43]:
Yeah, yeah. And so I would say, like, from these three periods, I would probably say those three guys. And, I mean, we could name tons of others. And not only guitar players, you know, sax players and trumpet players, piano players. I love Keith Jarrett. I think he's one of the most awesome improvisers around.

Steve [00:40:04]:
Sure.

Luca [00:40:04]:
And that's something that I always recommend. Students, even if you're a guitarist, listen to other instruments as well.

Steve [00:40:13]:
That's right.

Luca [00:40:14]:
Transcribe lines from sax players or pianos or even vibraphone. Gary Burton is another big name for me. So, yeah, keeping your mind open always is a big help. Definitely.

Steve [00:40:30]:
You know, going back to what you just said, there's two things. You know, I was a Montessori instructor for about 14 years, if you know what Montessori education is. And the lady that owned the Montessori school was also the lead teacher, and she would always tell the kids, you need to find a way that works. So. And there's so many different ways I could go into that, but I was just thought that was a really great way of approaching it. And it reminds me of a George lynch story where George is from Daken, where he's talking about how, you know, Daken had this element of success, and then there were all these shredders that were really popular, right? So he's going back and he's trying to learn how to alternate pick, and he's sucking at it because that's not what he does.

Luca [00:41:18]:
Exactly.

Steve [00:41:19]:
So he's trying to learn how to do this, and then he has this moment of clarity where he goes, I'm George lynch. Like, why am I trying to do that when I do this? And I've always thought that was just a great. Because it is the truth. I mean, there's no. There's no one way to eat a Reese's peanut butter cup. Like, you got to figure out the way that works for you in whatever way it is. There's no, you know, like, say, do you pick? Like, they'll ask me, do you pick everything? Or do you legato? I'm like, to be honest, I don't do one or the other. They're always interacting with each other.

Steve [00:41:55]:
And the less I think about it, the smoother everything sounds like. I don't really try and go in there and analyze exactly where the transition between legato and picking happens. I just allow it to be because it tends to sound smoother that way. But there's no this or that. Yeah, it's interesting that you say that.

Luca [00:42:17]:
Absolutely. And especially with our instrument, I mean, the guitar. I mean, there are some other instruments who have, like the piano. There's like a very specific technique or saxophone, you know, the way you get the sound out of the instrument, it's, you know, it's very specific. But, I mean, how many guitar players are there that have, you know, a specific picking technique? Yeah, I mean, there are probably as many picking techniques as guitar players are out there.

Steve [00:42:47]:
Yes, well, I think, like, because this is a conversation that always comes up, too, is people will talk about economy picking and they'll go, you know, Frank gambali does economy picking. Yes, of course he does. But it's not like he doesn't alternate pick. You know, it's not like he doesn't know how to alternate pick. He knows how to do everything incredibly great. You know, it's not like he doesn't do legato. He can do all of those things. So you always have to go, yes, yes, it's true.

Steve [00:43:12]:
He does do economy picking, but he does it when it's needed in his style of playing, it's not like, you know, so it's easy to take something out of context and forget that there's all these other things anyway.

Luca [00:43:26]:
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, the other thing is that we should, you know, and that's another thing I always tell students is, you know, believe in what you do because, you know, even if maybe, you know, I wasn't such a fast player, but I kind of learned how to pick, you know, nice notes that sounded good. And many times I got gigs because, you know, of my melodic playing, you know, other than because of, you know, somebody wanted a shredder or something, you know, I'm kind of like, not that guy. Sure. You know, go look for the guy who does that. But, you know, like, like being comfortable with what you play and the way that you play and everybody has something to say, you know? And, you know, one of the things that we. We do many times, especially at an early age, is comparing. You know, comparing.

Luca [00:44:26]:
No, this guy is better than that. Than I am or, you know, I would love to do that. So, like, be true to yourself. That's one of the main advices I could give to students. Feel comfortable with what you do and believe in you, basically.

Steve [00:44:45]:
And I would add, because all those things are true, but I would definitely add that at the end of the day, it's your execution. It's the way that you're speaking on the instrument.

Luca [00:44:56]:
Yeah.

Steve [00:44:57]:
That makes all the difference. Like, if you're just caught up in x, y or z, you know, arpeggios or tapping or. I mean, again, I'm not picking on technique. I think technique is the better your technique is. If you can do other things, you're either.

Luca [00:45:12]:
I mean, you need technique.

Steve [00:45:14]:
Yeah, yeah. You met, I mentioned Frank Gambali, you had mentioned Pat Matheny, you know, Mike Stern. Like, like, these guys have control of all of these things. But at the end of the day, that's the important thing, is that when you go to play, like, I always think when I used to teach guitar lessons, which I did for a very, very long time, you know, I would be with a student and I would be saying, okay, so let's jam a little bit. Let's see where. Where you are with things. And they would do something like, for instance, a band, and the bend would go down like lead boots. It'd be terrible, right? They'd bend and it sounds like they're killing a cat or a vibrato or something like that.

Steve [00:45:53]:
And then they get in their head and they get all freaked out and then they don't want to do it.

Luca [00:45:58]:
Exactly.

Steve [00:45:59]:
So the thing is, you've got to be confident with those. And. And I hate to use the word master, but those things that you find important that you want to develop, you've got to be able to add them and implement them in a way that when it comes time to play, your execution feels like music. It feels real, like, you know, you're not, you're not. You're not thinking, oh, well, I like Pat metheny, but, you know, the execution of Neil shone from journey, you know, because you listen to them all and go, well, that. That's right. That's. That fits.

Steve [00:46:32]:
There's Carlos Santana doing what Carlos Santana does. So it doesn't matter whether it's fast or slow or high or low or rock or blues, no matter what it is, it comes down, in my opinion, it comes down to the execution. So when you play, somebody listens to you and goes, yep, there it is.

Luca [00:46:48]:
That's absolutely. And, you know, I can't agree more. You know, it's, it's. And we all have something to say, definitely, you know, and our own, like, sensibility and musical taste is always going to come out, you know, and so, yeah, I can't agree more. Absolutely. You know, we all have a voice, and that's one of the things that we, you know, a lot of people, a lot of great players I've heard saying, you know, at the end of the day, you have to find your own voice and find your own way of, you know, doing things. Maybe it's a. It's a, you know, like a position or, like, you know, a fingering that, you know, might not work.

Luca [00:47:34]:
So, yeah, you got to work your way around it, and at the end of the day, that's going to stick with you much more than if you learn something from somebody else. That's why, you know, I think great teachers always say, you know, this is the way I do. You know, I present it this way.

Steve [00:47:52]:
Right.

Luca [00:47:52]:
But that's not. It's not the only way to do that's right. You know, you see if that works for you, and if not, just find. Find your way around.

Steve [00:48:00]:
Yep. Find a way that works. That's.

Luca [00:48:02]:
Yeah, that's what it is.

Steve [00:48:06]:
Thank you so much, Luca, for your time. I'm not going to keep you here forever, but it was awesome talking to you and certainly get to know you a little bit better. This is great.

Luca [00:48:13]:
My pleasure, Steve. Yeah, yeah. And again, you know, it's been an incredible ride, you know, working with GuitarZoom, and, yeah, I hope we can keep doing awesome work. And, you know, all of the people who want to join academy, I strongly recommend it because, you know, I think we're building a great team. You know, we're all like minded people and, you know, willing to help whoever wants to join. So, yeah, for the people listening out, please check out GuitarZoom academy. And, you know, sign up.

Steve [00:48:48]:
Yeah, absolutely. So for those of you that might not know academy, what we've done@guitarzoom.com. is we've started having these instructors now that you could actually study with. That's what academy is, is that you can study with these instructors. Instead of just getting a guitar course and going through it, you can actually have someone who is there to help you build your path and help you achieve your goals. That's what academy is all about. And Luca is one of the instructors for that. That just does an amazing job.

Steve [00:49:22]:
So, yeah, like you said, please check it out. You can go to guitarzoom.com, and there will be a link. Wherever it is you're seeing this or watching this, there'll be a link for that, too, but you can check it out. You can get a hold of Luca and sign up with him and do some studying. So thank you, Luca, for your time. I sure do appreciate that, buddy.

Luca [00:49:41]:
My pleasure, Steve. It's always a pleasure talking to you. All right, thanks. Thanks. And thanks for everybody who's listening as well.