Jon Finn
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Jonathan M. Finn (born 1958) is an American rock musician and
guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...
. He is the founder and leader of the Jon Finn Group, and is a professor at the
Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...
; he joined the guitar faculty there in 1988. He is also the author of several books on the guitar, and was an instructional columnist for ''
Guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
'' magazine for three years. Finn grew up in
Westwood, Massachusetts Westwood is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 16,266 at the 2020 United States census. History Westwood was first settled in 1641 and was part of the town of Dedham, originally called 'West Dedham', unt ...
, and began playing guitar at the age of six. He later became a student at Berklee. When he was 14 years old he played with the group Cheap Thrills, which consisted of Finn, Steve Carro (Vocals), Bob Shain (Keyboard), Ron Dupres (Bass), Joel Sklar (Rhythm Guitar), and Greg Buckingham (Drums). He has been a guest performer with the
Boston Pops The Boston Pops is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, specializing in light classical and popular music. The orchestra's current music director is Keith Lockhart. Founded in 1885 as an offshoot of the Boston Symphony Orc ...
, recording several albums with them, including the
Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
-nominated ''The Celtic Album'' (1997) and ''The Latin Album'' (1999). He has also performed with
John Petrucci John Peter Petrucci (born July 12, 1967) is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. He produced or co-produced (often with Mike Portnoy before Portnoy's absence from the band 2010-2023 ...
of
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,
Carl Verheyen Carl William Verheyen (born April 3, 1954) is an American musician best known for being the guitarist of Supertramp, the leader of the Carl Verheyen Band, and as a Los Angeles session guitarist. He was ranked ''One of the World's Top 10 Guitaris ...
,
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,
Steve Morse Steve J. Morse (born July 28, 1954) is an American guitarist and songwriter. A seven-time Grammy nominee, he is best known as the founder of the Dixie Dregs and as the longest serving guitarist for Deep Purple. Morse also enjoyed a successful ...
of the
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Collin Raye Floyd Elliot Wray (born August 22, 1960), known professionally as Collin Raye and previously as Bubba Wray, is an American country music singer. He initially recorded as a member of the band The Wrays between 1983 and 1987. He made his solo debut ...
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, and
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, among others. In addition he has toured with
musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...
productions such as ''
Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...
'', ''
Mamma Mia! Mamma mia (; an Italian interjection, literally "mommy mine"), Mammamia, Mamamia or Mumma Mia may refer to: Music Works associated with ABBA * "Mamma Mia" (ABBA song), a 1975 ABBA song * ''Mamma Mia!'' (musical), a stage play based on ABBA s ...
'', ''
Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is a tragic opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 De ...
'', ''
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...
'' and '' Copacabana''. In his 1999 publication, ''Advanced Modern Rock Guitar Improvisation'', Finn introduced the warp refraction principle. In 1997, Finn was listed as #30 in the ''Westwood One Hundred'' publication's List of Top 100 notable people and places in Westwood.Westwood One Hundred, Suburban World Newspapers, 1997, page 25. Warp refraction is a term coined by Finn in his 1999 publication, Advanced Modern Rock Guitar Improvisation, to describe the single major third string interval in
standard guitar tuning Guitar tunings are the assignment of pitches to the open strings of guitars, including classical guitars, acoustic guitars, and electric guitars. Tunings are described by the particular pitches that are made by notes in Western music. By c ...
.


Discography

* ''Don't Look So Serious'' (
Legato Records In music performance and notation, legato (; Italian for "tied together"; French ''lié''; German ''gebunden'') indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly, such that the transition from note to note is made with no intervening sil ...
, 1994) * ''Wicked'' ( SEP Records, 1998) * ''Bull in a China Shop'' ( SEP Music, 2010)


Books

* ''Advanced Modern Rock Guitar Improvisation'' (1999, Mel Bay Publications, Inc., ) * ''One Guitar Many Styles'' (2003, Mel Bay Publications, Inc., ) * ''Blues/Rock Improv Book'' (2004, Mel Bay Publications, Inc., ) * ''Guitar Riffs in the Style of 60s and 70s'' (2007, Mel Bay Publications, Inc., )


References


General references


U. S. Copyright Office


External links


JonFinn.com

Berklee College biography

Mel Bay biography


1958 births Living people American rock guitarists American male guitarists American male writers People from Westwood, Massachusetts Berklee College of Music faculty 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians {{US-rock-guitarist-stub