Five Questions with Duane Denison

Perhaps best known as the guitar player for pioneering rock band The Jesus Lizard – whose albums Goat and Liar made Rolling Stone and Pitchfork's "Top 100 Albums of the ‘90s" lists – and possessing a musical resume comprising bands and collaborations with an enormous list of musical innovators, it’s no wonder Spin recently named Duane Denison to its list of 100 greatest guitarists. With tasteful and ferocious chops inspiring a legion of imitators, Denison continues to set definitive standards for aggressive, dynamic guitarists everywhere. At the same time, Denison is a classically trained musician, well versed in music theory, and an enthusiastic teacher of multiple styles of the guitar.

Two Lessonface staff members recently had the pleasure of taking lessons with Duane the teacher, experiencing firsthand how candid and approachable he is in passing on his wealth of knowledge to students. In short, Lessonface is proud, and humbled, and downright proud again, to give you our interview with this widely respected rock musician and skilled guitar teacher.

Lessonface: How did you first get introduced to the guitar, and what kind of music were you listening to at the time/growing up?

Duane Denison: A used Yamaha classical guitar came into our household when I was about 11, I think. My older sister was taking lessons at the local YMCA so my folks went out and got her that guitar (which I still have, by the way). It has a huge, thick neck – impossible for kids to play, and it still feels wide to me. I'd play it when she wasn't playing it, which was most of the time. I'd already had a few years of piano lessons (we had a piano in the house, which both my parents played) so I'd just take her lesson book – Alfred's Basic Guitar, Book 1 – and teach myself the first position notes and the few little songs that were in there. When I later got my first electric guitar, it was the early/mid ‘70s, and I was into glam rock (T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, etc.) and some of the American blues rock guys – Johnny Winter, Leslie West of Mountain, even Alvin Lee.

Lf: Did you take lessons or have particularly influential mentors early on, or later as you progressed?

DD: I took lessons at local music store called Anderson Music, which at that time and place (a Detroit suburb called Plymouth) meant that there were great players there. There was a fellow named Paul Warren who'd just recorded with the Temptations (that's him on "Papa Was a Rolling Stone"), a prog rock guy named Lynn Bender, and a jazzbo named Steve Ezzo who went on to play with Tom Jones, among others. Hearing these guys play – and watching them up close – was as good an influence as I could've asked for. I eventually went to college as a music major, graduating in 1984 with a B. Sci. in Music from Eastern Michigan University.

Lf: What general teaching experience do you have, and what got you interested in teaching through Lessonface?

DD: I started teaching guitar while still in high school, and I even got credit for teaching a music theory class, as I recall. I remember thinking that it was a pretty good job – better than most! It was nice seeing people's faces light up when they "got" something. I later went on to teach in various music stores (like the previously mentioned Anderson Music), which have long since disappeared . . . sadly enough. The demise of the “local music shop” and the rise of the “superstore” meant that the days of the private teacher seemed to have gone by the wayside. Maybe now Lessonface will be the logical extension of that tradition, gone global.

Lf: If you had to recommend one video or song for new fans or prospective students to check out in order to understand you and your style, what would it be?

DD: One song would be hard to pick – there's a couple of songs by The Jesus Lizard (”Boilermaker", "Nub", "Monkey Trick", etc.) and Tomahawk ("Laredo", "Birdsong", and "Oddfellows" from the new album) that are pretty good examples of different things I've done. There's a video made by the Gibson guitar company of me trying out a Les Paul BFG that's kinda cool, actually.

Lf: You're currently focusing on Tomahawk and a newer project called Unsemble – can you tell us a bit about these projects and any latest news about them?

DD: Well, for those who don't know, Tomahawk is a rock band consisting of me, Mike Patton [Faith No More, Fantomas, ex-Mr. Bungle], John Stanier [Battles, ex-Helmet], and Trevor Dunn [Melvins Lite, Fantomas, ex-Mr. Bungle]. We're about to release our fourth album "Oddfellows" and I'd describe it as a mix of heavy, hard stuff and more atmospheric stuff as well. Rock cinematique, si vous plait . . . . The Unsemble is a new project with myself, Alexander Hacke [Einstürzende Neubauten], and Brian Kotzur [ex-Silver Jews] that's all instrumental – almost "chamber music" with guitars and drums, but more loose and improvised in sections than what typically gets called ''chamber music.” We've got an album finished but we're not sure when it's coming out. We'll let you know!

Related:

• Duane Denison's instructor booking page
• Free guitar tutorials with great teachers
• Our complete hand-picked list of electric guitar teachers