Jon MacLennan

Jon MacLennan is a Los Angeles-based musician, composer, producer and music educator. MacLennan's session work includes playing guitar on Julian Lennon and Steven Tyler’s song, "Someday", from Lennon's album, Everything Changes (2013),[1] and backing vocals on Jamie Cullum's album, The Pursuit (2009).[2] He’s also played guitar on songs for Holly Knight, Mark Spiro and Tim Miner. MacLennan’s original song, "Fallin' Deeper",[3] is featured in the Twentieth Century Fox film Marley & Me: The Puppy Years (2011) soundtrack.[4] MacLennan's published works include: three self-produced albums,[5] two instructional music iBooks, Melodic Expressions: The Art of the Line (2012),[6] Play Ukulele (2012) and hundreds of instructional workshop videos on his YouTube channel[5] with over 1.48 million views.[7]

Jon MacLennan
Background information
Birth nameJon Andrew MacLennan
Born (1987-03-23) March 23, 1987
Tarzana, California
GenresClassic rock, jazz, blues, pop
Occupation(s)Studio musician, composer, producer, instructor
Years active2003–present
LabelsSuspicious Love Productions
Websitewww.jonmaclennan.com

Background

MacLennan began his professional music career at 16 completing session work for Grammy Award-winning mixer Tom Weir. His first album, Suspicious Love (2006) was recorded at Weir's Studio City Sound in Studio City, CA. MacLennan also secured television work with 20th Century Fox Television and the Disney Channel during his teen years.[5] MacLennan earned a bachelor's degree in Ethnomusicology from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with emphasis in jazz guitar in 2010. His mentors include: Carl Verheyen, Tim Pierce, Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Wyble, Tamir Hendelman, Ron Anthony and Wolf Marshall,[8] the author of Hal Leonard’s Wolf Marshall Guitar Method and Power Studies.[9]

Music education
  • Guitar instructor for the Los Angeles Pierce College Department of Music.[5]
  • YouTube channel with over 250 videos and tutorials with over 1.4 million views.[5]
  • MacLennan is a regular contributor to GuitarControl's Play From the Heart section[10] and also contributes to BluesGuitar.com[11]
  • When B. B. King died on May 14, 2015, The Los Angeles Times contacted MacLennan for expert insight into what is known as the "B.B. Box" in guitar instruction circles and commentary on King's style and legacy.[12]
  • Guitar World featured MacLennan's research and video-lesson into the Rolling Stones, "You Can't Always Get What You Want", MacLennan proposes the song's intro is produced with a specifically tuned twelve-string acoustic guitar.[13]

iBooks
It’s like having the book come to life... As a guitar player and as a guitar instructor, it’s like having a dream come true. [...] As far as I’ve seen, he’s the first one who’s done this successfully.

— Wolf Marshall (Guitarist, educator, author, lecturer), Daily Bruin[6]

Melodic Expressions is an interactive instructional iBook for advanced guitar players. The iBook contains more than 90 pages of content pertaining to different musical genres[8] and focuses on the "...language of the music," according to MacLennan.[6] The iBook is divided into three sections, "Major", "Minor" and "Dominant"[14] musical phrasing with genre specific core-elements, rather than formal scales and drilled exercises. Each page includes a slow and fast tempo playback with the lead guitar in the right speaker and the pad guitar in the left speaker.[15] After-market iPad accessories are available to enable the guitarist to plugin to the iPad directly and play along with the left, right or both tracks.[14]

  • Melodic Expressions: The Art of the Line (2012)[16]
  • Play Ukulele (2012)[17]

Instructional DVDs

Jon has been creating instructional DVD guitar courses since 2012. Listed below are some of his top selling DVD courses.

  • The Fasttrack Guitar System (2013)
  • Play From the Heart (2013)
  • Ukulele Secrets (2013)
  • Blues Power (2014)
  • Banjo Made Simple (2014)

Filmography

Soundtracks
Soundtrack features MacLennan's single, "Fallin’ Deeper" – 20th Century Fox (2011)[3][8]
  • Perch (Surfing DVD) – composer/performer
Alex Knost, C.J. Nelson, Joel Tudor, Josh Farberow and Oliver Parker – Kylemacfilms (2009)

Television
20th Century Fox Television[8]
"What the Hey" season 2 episode 21 – Disney Channel (2006)[8]

Discography
  • Suspicious Love (2006)[2]

Suspicious Love (album)

  • Released: 2006
  • Format: LP/CD/Digital
  • Label: Jon MacLennan Productions
  • Producer: Jon MacLennan
Tracklist: Suspicious Love (UPC 634479426988)
No.TitleLength
1."Suspicious Love (I think I like it)"2:44
2."Good To Know"3:39
3."The Fighter"4:11
4."Crazy Love"2:50
5."Don't Go"3:07
6."Big Time"5:02
7."You Don't Know"2:57
8."Kind To No One Blues"2:55
9."S.P.F."2:56
10."On My Mind"4:12
  • Dreams (2011)[5]

Dreams (album)

  • Released: 2011
  • Format: LP/Digital
  • Label: Suspicious Love Productions
  • Writer: Jon MacLennan
  • Producer: Jon MacLennan
  • Singles: "Fallin' Deeper" featured in the soundtrack Marley & Me: The Puppy Years (2011)
Tracklist: Dreams (UPC 885767642072)
No.TitleLength
1."Start All Over Again"3:38
2."Someday"4:30
3."Dreams"3:16
4."Lesson Learned"4:17
5."Fallin' Deeper"3:09
6."Christmas Day"3:17
7."Footsteps in the Sand"3:08
8."Peace"3:51
9."Cheating Woman Blues"2:53
10."Until the End"3:47
  • Songs from Box Canyon (2013)[5]

Songs from Box Canyon (album)

  • Released: 2013
  • Format: LP/Digital
  • Label: Suspicious Love Productions
  • Writers: Jon MacLennan, Heather Youmans
  • Producer: Jon MacLennan
Tracklist: Songs from Box Canyon (UPC 887516928130)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Nobody Cares When You Live in L.A"MacLennan3:19
2."New Life"MacLennan3:02
3."In My Arms" (feat. Heather Youmans)MacLennan/Youmans4:12
4."Fallin' in Love"MacLennan4:00
5."A Time and a Place"MacLennan2:38
6."Bottle of Dreams"MacLennan3:19
7."I Want You Back"MacLennan3:34
8."We Are the Future"MacLennan4:20
9."Without You"MacLennan4:18

References
  1. Anglin, Garrett (8 April 2013). "UCLA alum bands together with Steven Tyler, Julian Lennon". Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014. MacLennan, a UCLA alumnus, plays his 12-string Rickenbacker electric guitar alongside Steven Tyler on Julian Lennon’s new single, “Someday,” set to be released via iTunes today. The three recorded the track at the famed NightBird Recording Studios in West Hollywood...
  2. "Jon MacLennan Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  3. MacLennan, Jon (12 July 2011). "Fallin' Deeper – Jon MacLennan". Jon MacLennan YouTube Channel. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  4. Jon MacLennan (9 August 2011). Fallin' Deeper (MP3). Weir Brothers Entertainment. ASIN B005JBC5S0.
  5. "Jon MacLennan Biography". CD Baby. Retrieved 8 August 2014. MacLennan worked as a private guitar instructor for the Los Angeles Pierce College Department of Music and also independently instructs several students via SKYPE, which allows him to instruct students from all around the world. With a YouTube channel currently containing more than 250 videos and 1.3 million cumulative video views, his online lessons and performances have become a viral success.
  6. Malik, Abhay (8 May 2012). "Alumnus Jon MacLennan's iBook 'Melodic Expressions' advances guitar instruction". Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014. '(MacLennan) was one of my most promising students and did things far beyond the call of duty. His material tends to reflect that,' Marshall said. 'As far as I’ve seen, he’s the first one who’s done this successfully.'
  7. MacLennan, Jon (20 November 2006). "Jon MacLennan: About". Official YouTube Channel. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  8. "'Melodic Expressions: The Art Of The Line' Coming To IBookstore". MacTech. 4 November 2012. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014. "Melodic Expressions: The Art of the Line," an interactive guitar instructional iBook for the iPad to be released later this month at the iBookstore.
  9. "Wolf Marshall". UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  10. MacLennan, Jon. "Play from the heart". GuitarControl. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  11. MacLennan, Jon. "BluesGuitar: MacLennan". BluesGuitar.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  12. Corrigan, John (15 May 2015). "B.B. King dies: Generations of guitarists used 'B.B. Box' to learn how to play". The Los Angeles TImes. Archived from the original on 15 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  13. Bienstock, Richard (2020-02-13). "Has the mystery behind Keith Richards' acoustic sound on You Can't Always Get What You Want finally been solved?". guitarworld. Archived from the original on 2020-02-15. Retrieved 2020-02-19.
  14. Lucas, Scott (8 May 2012). ""MELODIC EXPRESSIONS: THE ART OF THE LINE" BY JON MACLENNAN". RiffsofWisdom.com. Archived from the original on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  15. Jon MacLennan (9 August 2011). Melodic Expressions Trailer (Video). Jon MacLennan YouTube Channel. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  16. MacLennan, Jon (23 April 2012). Melodic Expressions: The Art of the Line. Suspicious Love Productions. ISBN 9780615620183.
  17. MacLennan, Jon (8 June 2012). Play Ukulele. Suspicious Love Productions. ISBN 9780615655512.
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