Guitar Sessions: Do you remember your first guitar? Do you still have it?
Corey Christiansen: Yes, it was an old Sears Silvertone steel-string. My dad learned on the same guitar so it must have been from the 50's. It's hanging on the wall at my parents' house. My first electric guitar was also a Silvertone. My grandfather worked for Sears and I think my dad got his first guitars from Sears as a result. My second electric guitar was a Les Paul knockoff that I bought at a garage sale for $50. It was a pretty good guitar. Then I got a Fender Bullet. I really loved that guitar.

What styles interested you when you first began to play? How do those preferences influence your current music?
I liked the usual rock stuff that most kids like, but I grew up playing a lot of bluegrass fiddle tunes. I started listening to jazz in my early teens and it stuck with me from that point on. I was and still am a big fan of Jeff Beck, Pat Metheny, John Scofield, Jim Hall, Grant Green and Wes Montgomery.

My style is a result of everything I've played and enjoy listening to. Even though I'm a jazz guitarist I listen to some good pop/rock music. I appreciate the time and effort they put into the production of a recording. I'm a bit of a fan of Beck. Yes, Jeff Beck and Joe Beck, but also Beck Hansen who does alternative rock stuff. His albums and tunes are quite creative and I think he's always thinking forward and evolving his style while remaining true to his creative ideas.

Does your enthusiasm for guitarists named Beck have anything to do with naming your firstborn son by that name?
No, not really, though I get asked that question a lot. My wife suggested the name. I liked it and so did she so it just kind of stuck.

What factors accounted for your switch from rock to jazz?
The simple answer is I'm a better jazz musician than a rock musician. But I like the fact that jazz is quite challenging. It's interactive and not as much about image as it is about excellence. It just fits my personality I suppose. I never made a conscious decision to become something and not the other. Jazz kind of just picked me in a way. It's fun to play and I like the challenges it presents. It's the best medium for me to express myself.

Who were your teachers, mentors, and guitar heroes?
Well, I had a number of great teachers. First, my dad- Mike Christiansen. He was not only a great teacher but great dad. We still jam and play together. I studied with Jack Petersen, who I regard as one of the most influential jazz guitar teachers of all time. His list of students is pretty incredible. It includes, Mick Goodrick, Rick Peckam, Bruce Saunders, Chris Buzzelli…the list goes on and on. I studied improvisation with a great saxophonist, Jack Wilkins and composition and arranging with Chuck Owen. Both of them gave me invaluable insights to being a better musician.

What areas do you emphasize with your private students or in your own workshops?
I talk a lot about teaching the guitar. I believe the future of the instrument lies with the quality of teaching so I am very involved with helping young teachers, or more experienced teachers, use better teaching techniques and methods. Mel Bay Publications has been a great supporter of the guitar teacher clinics I conduct around the world. I also do a lot of clinics on improvisation. I believe learning improvisation is a lot like learning a new language; I teach improve through learning phrases and building musical sentences and paragraphs by repetition, much like a new language would be taught. My Essential Jazz Lines series covers this type of improvisation pedagogy and I've had amazing results with many of my students.

Who came up with the concept of MB3 (Mel Bay 3), the jazz guitar trio you play in with Jimmy Bruno and Vic Juris?
This was Bill Bay's idea. He put me in charge of getting the group together and selecting the tunes. It was great to be a part of this project because I was able to hand-pick some of my favorite musicians.

For two weeks your album MB3/Jazz Hits, Volume 1 has been at #1 on the JazzWeek Jazz Chart of radio play in North America. Can we safely assume that there will be a Volume 2?
We're talking about another volume. It would make sense. All of us are having a great time working in this band so we're looking forward to getting back into the studio and creating some more great arrangements. I'm sure Volume 2 will be at least as exciting as Volume 1. We have some ideas to take the arrangements to the next level.

What's it like to play on stage with two of the best in the world?
It's great. I have really grown musically working with these guys and I'm a much better player because of my association with them.

How does the group decide what tunes to play in a gig or for a recording?
For this recording we picked time-tested tunes. All of the tunes on the record have been played a million times. Sometimes the real die-hard jazzers shun these tunes because they get over-played, but the reason they get played so often is because they are wonderful tunes. They've passed the test of time and are a lot of fun to play. We try to program the concerts in a way that keeps the audience's attention. We use the three guitars as three distinct textures more often than as one big unit. Many guitar ensembles function like a sax section playing in unison or as a harmonized line. We are striving to use the textures of three guitars in a way that celebrates the sonic color of the guitar. All three of us have a different tone and color so it's working out extremely well.

What are your preferred strings, pick, pickup, amp, and recording mic?
I use Thomastik-Infeld strings. Either the Bebop 13s (sometimes the 12s with a wound 21 for the third string) or the Swing 13s. They make fine strings. I use a D'Andrea Pro-Plec pick which gives me a firm, warm tone. I'm using a Buscarino "Corey Christiansen" signature guitar with Buscarino pickups that are wound by Kent Armstrong. I have a few of John Buscarino's guitars and can't say enough about them. They are truly amazing instruments! I recorded the MB3 album with a 70's Music Man amp. It has 65 watts and two 10-inch speakers. It's a great, warm-sounding amp. I run through a Line-6 delay and an Alesis Microverb reverb unit. For a little bit of an edgy tone I use the Rat Ducetone.

Do you have any other product endorsement agreements?
I do endorse Leonardo Cabinets and Acoustic Image amplifiers. Both of these products sound incredible and are very lightweight.

Is there anything on your wish list as far as music equipment?
There's always something on the wish list. I would like a couple of Mesa-Boogie amps, a solid-body guitar with a synth system and a good nylon-string. I think the quest for tone never really ends. As my gigs get bigger I want to use more colors. One of my favorite guitars, though I only get to use it in certain contexts, is a Tricone Cutaway Resophonic guitar built by National Guitars. I'm not a true slide player, but I've found this guitar to be perfect in certain settings and I love the colors I get from it in the studio.

As senior editor at Mel Bay Publications you are in a position to see what's coming off the presses in the proximate future. Among your own or other authors' projects, what current or upcoming Mel Bay products do you find exciting?
Well, I'm very excited about the DVD and recording projects we've been working on. I am looking forward to the Vignola Plays Gershwin project with Frank Vignola. I ended up on half the tunes on that recording and had a wonderful time working with Frank and his band.

As far as publications go, all the guitar professors at USC are working on projects that should be fantastic and rewarding for students at all levels. This is not just guitar-related, but I produced a DVD and book project with Mr. Johannes Weidenmueller and Ari Hoenig (bass and drums) that deals with metric modulation. This project is a "must have" for anyone serious about advanced jazz improvisation. It deals with a very modern concept of modulating and super-imposing different meters and grooves over core rhythmic structures. Johannes and Ari are the best in the business at this and they explain and demonstrate it very well in the book and on the DVD. I'm excited about the public having access to this one. Lots of projects, lots I'm excited about.

Are there any upcoming performance dates, travels, or workshops you would like to mention?
Well, I'm playing at the BYU/Crescent Jazz Festival the 15-18 of February, and I'll be at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival the 19-25 of Feb. I'll be teaching again this year at the Jamey Aebersold Camps in Louisville July 1-14. I'm also playing and teaching at The Music School's Jam Camp in Utah, June 17-23. This is a modern music camp that covers jazz and rock, a really great camp. I have a number of other performances that are in the works and they should be up on either the Myspace site or my personal website in the coming weeks.

What are some of the places you've visited or played in your service to the company?
I've been all over the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK. I spend about 6 months out of the year on the road playing and promoting Mel Bay products. I love to travel and I enjoy meeting new people so it works well for me. Mel Bay has the best guitar products in the world so I am honored to go out on the road and share them with people at my clinics.

In your role as a jazz educator and author, what changes and trends have you noticed at the local and collegiate levels?
Well, I think the level of playing in the students has grown quite a bit. There are more good players out there than ever before. The jazz pedagogy thing is really taking off and the end results are incredible young players.

How has your family affected your music?
My family is great. My wife is very supportive of my art and my travel. In nine years of being married she has never complained about my music/travel or anything like that. I guess as long as the checks don't start bouncing she'll continue the amazing support. But seriously, no one could ask for a better family support system. She's an amazing woman.

When I'm home I try to give my family the attention and respect they deserve. I have three kids now and they are really a joy to me. They have been the inspiration of my strongest compositions. One of my musician friends commented that every time I have a new kid I play better. I have to play better to keep shoes on their feet and food in their bellies!