Wolf Marshall charts success with Sibelius G7 software

WALNUT CREEK, Calif.-The founder and original editor-in-chief of GuitarOne magazine, Wolf Marshall is a well-respected and prolific performer, author, instructor and columnist who has been influential in music education since the early 1980s.

As the leading impressionist in the industry, emulating the styles of the greats with spot on accuracy, he's also known as "the Rich Little of guitar" - not only does he perform the most challenging licks of players like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton and countless others on his best-selling book/CD packages, but he explains and demonstrates their special techniques and approaches to guitar students and fans globally.

One of the tools Marshall relies upon to generate the tablature for such popular lessons is G7 from Sibelius.

"I can play notes right off the on-screen fretboard into tablature," Marshall says, " and in one step, generate both the standard notation and idiomatic fingerings. I don't have to do any manipulation later; I'm literally playing the software like an instrument. That's a milestone."

These days, Marshall has turned his efforts to cyberspace in providing music and instruction for Line6's Guitar Port Online website.

"I use G7 exclusively for this high-tech venture," he says. "In fact, I was introduced to Sibelius through the project. This is cutting-edge technology in cyberspace, and the only guitar-related website of its kind. I find that G7 has met every artistic challenge and demand presented by the medium, and has performed admirably."

Learning guitarists on the other end of Marshall's lessons can use the software as well.

"It plays back in MIDI, so they can hear what it's supposed to sound like," he says. "I've been making guitar versions in Scorch pages of some of the licks from John Coltrane's ‘Giant Steps,' which has always been kind of a bête noire for guitar players. Here, we enter the world of online publishing, global file-sharing and the creation of a large-scale music community. And the current G7 Kontakt version has sampled guitar tones, so you can hear the right timbre."

Marshall set the standards for modern guitar education in the eighties. His transcription books, audio "licks" releases (on Star Licks, Music Sales, Cherry Lane and Hal Leonard labels) and videos created the standard for the industry. He is also a highly-respected music author, contributing articles and columns to Vintage Guitar, Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician (later re-named Guitar), and Guitar School.

Marshall's GuitarOne is another milestone. Created in 1994 and first published in 1995, it is currently a monthly publication simply called GuitarOne. The magazine remains an obvious testimonial to Wolf's notoriety and influence.

His eight volume book/audio series, The Wolf Marshall Guitar Method and Power Studies, established new standards for modern guitar pedagogy in the early 1990s. With Hal Leonard, he is currently working on a book and CD with jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell, which will be the eighth title in his ongoing jazz guitar series.

In early 1994, Marshall released an original track for Guitar Records' Guitar's Practicing Musicians, Volume III. His composition, "Rainbow Roll (Extra Spicy)," appeared alongside cuts by Dream Theater, Zakk Wylde, George Lynch, Jack Bruce, Shawn Lane and John Christ. He has also produced and hosted interactive online events with musicians like Albert Lee, Steve Lukather, Jimmy Bruno and the late Hank Garland for Seattle's EMP (Experience Music Project).

"I'd never been one to get into notational software before, but when I saw what Sibelius had, it changed my mind," Marshall notes. "Other programs had too much of a learning curve. I'm really a player and music transcriber, not a computer maven. Sibelius was so easy to get into - it was very intuitive."

"I use G7 to produce notation for all of my private students, and I've also used it to create scores for live performances and studio sessions," he adds. "Sibelius really thought it through and made G7 responsive to guitar players."

To date, there are more than 100,000 Sibelius users worldwide, including television composer Alf Clausen, musician Pat Metheny, composer Sammy Nestico, choral composer John Rutter, guitarist Andy Summers and conductor Michael Tilson-Thomas.

About Sibelius

Sibelius Software Ltd. is based in London, England. Its U.S. subsidiary, Sibelius USA, Inc., is located at 1407 Oakland Blvd., Suite 103, Walnut Creek, California, 94596 and has offices in Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis and Nashville. Sibelius products are available worldwide in more than 100 countries. For more information, contact Sibelius USA at phone (925) 280-0600; fax (925) 280-0008; on the Web at http://www.sibelius.com; or via e-mail at infoUSA@sibelius.com.