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Brandon Terzic
After immersing himself into a total study of Blues music, and playing a handful of gigs with his first band, Terzic abrubtly quit playing at the age of 19, sold all his guitars, and flew to Europe. This began a life long obsession of traveling solo and seeking inspiration and knowledge from being alone on foreign shores. When he returned he settled in New York City taking a day job in the booming Internet industry. At this time he began to take his firsy serious Guitar lessons, Studying with Mordy Ferber, and David Fiucznski. After almost 3 years of working 9-5, Brandon again abruptly quit his lucrative day job And flew to Israel, traveling onward to Egypt and Cyprus. It was during this trip that he began playing Oud in the old city of Jeruselum, making enough in tips for his daily bread, and getting enough inspiration from the people and the experience that he decided that he had to be a performing musician.
On his return to NYC, Brandon tried to get a day job again but failed miserably. Running out of time and money he had no choice but to begin playing in the Subway system, and from that point onward he began his career in music. Since then he has performed in the states and Internationally, traveled to Morocco and Senegal studying music, and playing with many incredible Musicians, amongst them Tomchess, Matt Kilmer, Matt Darriau, Rufus Cappodocia, Shane Shanahan, Luke Notary, Hassan Houkmoun, Peter Slavov, John Shannon, Gilad Dobrecky, Mal Stein, George Stathos, Sylvain Leroix, Tom Rossi, Max ZT and many many more. He currently teaches and performs in NYC, and his Debut Album is due June 1rst 2011, with his new band Xalam Project.
Gear
Endorsed by Godin Guitars
Tags
Pyeng Threadgill and Brandon Terzic team for The Blues Sessions residency at Barbes
Source:
Matthew Paneth
If the American Blues tradition has been overly saturated by endless retellings of the same songs by the same artists, it is not so much a declaration of a lull in creativity and innovation as much as it is a sign of how powerful the roots are. It is the well spring from which all current popular styles of music hold allegiance to in one degree or another. Brandon Terzic along with Pyeng Threadgill has taken this to heart and ...
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"Terzic combines the poise and dexterity of Hamza Al Din with a Western-inclusive attitude akin to Anouar Brahem, threading slivers of blues and funk into his more fevered string bending and sounding remarkably self-assured." -Derek Taylor Bagatellen http://www.bagatellen.com/archives/reviews/001773.html
Primary Instrument
Oud
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Brandon has been teaching music for the last 11 years in NYC. He teaches guitar, Oud, music theory, and songwriting. He himself has studied with guitar greats such as David Fiucznski, Lionel Loueke, and Mordy Ferber, as well as Arabic music with Bassam Saba and Simon Shaheen. For beginners, the focus is on getting people inspired, focused and confident by teaching them to play and hopefully sing their favorite songs, and then using this as a vehicle to understanding the fundamentals of music: rhythm(timing), hearing (listening), and creativity. After the basic technique is solidified, students are encouraged to begin to write and compose music and/or lyrics of their own. Brandon has had tremendous results while doing this with students of all ages. he has had young students that have auditioned and been accepted at progressive creative arts schools like LaGaurdia, and that have recorded and written their own material. By emphasizing the voice and composition, students really get a more inspired and well rounded musical experience, and most importantly, they have more fun! For the intermediate/advanced student, chord-scale theory and fret board logic is used to expand on the skills that the student has already developed, and to have as many different approaches to interact with music creatively. Melodic development and phraseology are emphasized for the improvising musician, and most importantly a firm commitment to having strong time and rhythmic sensibilities are emphasized. Brandon also brings in the world music stylings to the guitar, using flamenco right hand techniques, African rhythmic and melodic ornamentations, and slurs and inflections of the Mid-East and east asian string traditions.
