This is a little about myself, my history, hobbies, family, etc.

I was born in 1948 and began playing music when I was eight. (Okay, the guitar in the picture was a toy, but that was the toy that sealed my fate.)

I wanted to play guitar as early as I can remember. My father played guitar so there was always a guitar around the house and my interest in the guitar began very early. I didn’t pursue music seriously until my late teens. I played guitar constantly while I was in Vietnam with the Marine Corps in 1967 & 1968. Below are some Vietnam Pictures.

The first 5 string banjo player I had ever seen in person was in the late 1960’s. I was fascinated by how fast his fingers moved. It inspired me to take up the banjo. I immediately bought one and taught myself to play. I was in college studying classical guitar, so I was able to apply my musical background to the banjo.

I graduated from college and did some graduate work in jazz guitar while teaching banjo and guitar and playing with some of the local groups. I wrote a regular column for the Banjo Newsletter as well as regular contributions to several other music publications. I began teaching music around 1972 and have continued teaching full time. I currently teach about 70 private guitar and banjo students a week at a Boise music store. I also teach 4 music classes and 20 to 30 private jazz and classical guitar students a week at Boise State University.

With the large volume of teaching I do, I felt the need for a computer and music software that would reduce my teaching prep time. I bought an IBM compatible PC and found a musical notation program that served my guitar teaching needs, but found nothing that would produce tablature. Most banjo players and an increasing number of guitar players are using tablature, and need a tab that contains the timing stems and beams. My brother had recently retired from the navy where he had served as a computer specialist. I told him what I needed and we began developing TABrite.

Since 1992 TABrite has evolved from a simple DOS version with minimal, basic requirements, to our 4th Windows version. It produces beautiful printout, plays back at any speed with any tuning and creates a .MID file that can be opened and played in other music programs. It’s easy to use and the latest version has a new display window that shows a page view in addition to the working window. You can download a demo version from the TABrite demo page. Some of the songs on my song download page are in TABrite format.

I am currently playing a duo with a talented vocalist named Carol Meli. We just completed work on a CD. On the CD Carol does all of the vocals, including harmony parts and I play all of the instruments.......at the same time! (okay only in the picture.)

I have been a life-long student of the guitar as well as a teacher. I have had the privilege of studying, privately or in seminars, workshops, clinics and master classes with some of the most renowned players and teachers in the world. Among them are:
Christopher Parkening, Oscar Ghilia, Joe Pass, Ted Greene, Stephen King, Barney Kessel, Emily Remler, George Thomason and Johnny Smith.
It has been my pleasure to share the knowledge I have gained with a new generation of enthusiastic guitarists.

July 2002 was the release of Sally Tibb's new CD. I played Guitar with her on the CD. For information on how to get a copy, contact Sally at: www.sallytibbs.com

Somewhere during all of this time with music I managed to acquire four children (now all grown) and two grandsons (now 9 years old and 2 years old). Like any proud father & grandfather, I threw in a couple of pictures. On the left is my son Clint, his wife Tami and my grandson Clinton Duane Jr. In the Middle is my son Cody. On the right is my grandson Cody Jr.

Beside my great love for music and my children and grandson, I have spent a lifetime studying the martial arts. I have studied several styles and am currently active in Taekwondo, where I am an instructor and 4th degree black belt.

Below is a picture taken with some of the regulars from the nearly 150 students in our school. (I am in the front, fourth from the right.)

This is a picture of some of the instructors in our school. I am on the left rear.

This is one of my Saturday morning classes.

Dancing is another recent interest I have developed. I am a member of Idaho's High Desert Swing Dance Club. And the USABDA ballroom dancing club. Below is a photo taken at a dance workshop I participated in during the 2001 year. I am on the right, on the second row. (Just my head sticking out. You can't see my two left feet in the picture.)

This is a picture of me and Alla, my wife. We share a passion for travel. The photo below was taken on vacation in Jamaica in 2002.

In the Spring of 2003 we vacationed in Paris. This was taken then.

In early Summer, 2003 we spent a week in New York City.

During the Summer of 2003 we traveled around Europe. Our first stop was Frankfurt, Germany then on to Dusseldorf and Cologne. This was taken in Dusseldorf.

We went on to Vienna, Austria where this picture was taken.

This picture and the picture below are from Prague in the Czech Republic.

This picture was taken in Jamaica on New Years Day 2004. GREAT WAY TO START THE YEAR!

	This picture was taken at the  Gaudi Park in Barcelona, Spain  on Spring break, March 2004.
	This was also taken in Barcelona in March of 2004. This was on top of the hill near the Olympic Park. Great view of the city!
This is a picture of me and Alla taken in June of 2004 at the Trevi fountain in Rome.
	Here we are in New Orleans in June of 2004
	This is me in front of the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia in June of 2004.
	This photo was taken in Bangkok, Thailand in March, 2005.
	This picture was taken at a coffee shop at the top of Victoria's Peak in Hong Kong, March, 2005.
	This is my wife at Hong Kong Park, March, 2005.
	This picture was taken on the Colonel Jackson riverboat as we cruised down the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tenn. June, 2005
	This picture was taken in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil in November of 2005. We are standing in front of the "Christ the Redeemer" statue on top of Corcovado (2,400 feet high.) There is actually quite a far distance between us and the statue. It appears deceptively small in the photo, but is actually 100 feet tall and very impressive.
	This is another picture from Rio. We are standing atop Sugar Loaf with an incredible view of Copacabana beach. It was a breathtaking view of the city and worth the hair-raising gondola ride to the top of the biggest granite rock we have ever seen.
	This was the most relaxing moment of the trip. I am sitting at a quiet table at Colombo Cafe on the peninsula that separates Copacabana Beach and Ipanema Beach. We walked half the distance of each beach in 90 degree heat. Not an easy task since they stretch for miles. Rio has the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and more of them than anywhere I have ever been. There are 54 miles of beaches in that city.
	I took this picture on the street in one the oldest section of Buenos Aries, Argentina in November of 2005. It is common to see Tango dancers dancing on the streets of Buenos Aries. The people are proud of their music and dance (Tango originated there.) My wife, Alla is in the left of the picture in the white sweater carrying her shopping bag full of treasures.
	In this picture I am standing in front of the "Woman's Bridge" over the canal in Puerto Madero Buenos Aries. The canal flows through the old warehouse district, now converted into rows of great restaurants serving the finest steaks in the world. Dining in Buenos Aries is one of the best attractions of that city.
	This is Alla and myself at the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan in April of 2006. (It was a serious rainstorm.)
	This is us in front of the Chinese war memorial in Taipei, Taiwan in April of 2006.
	This is us at the Formosa Hotel in the mountains of the Taroko Gorge National Park in Taiwan in April of 2006.
	This is me in front of the tallest building in the world, Taipei 101 (101 stories high) in Taipei, Taiwan, April, 2006.
	This is me hiking in the Swiss Alps in June 2006
	This is Alla in the Swiss Alps. The Eiger mountain is in the background.
	Is is the view from the hotel balcony looking over the lake at Bonagon, Switzerland.
	This is me in Frankfort, Germany in July 2006.
	This is Alla at lunch in Munich, Germany.
	This is the Square in Munich, Germany. The people are ceabrating the day after the German team won the game against Argentina, June 2006.
	This is me in front of Motzart in Salzburg, Austria, July, 2006.
	Me in front of St. Basil's church in Moscow's Red Square, June, 2006
	This is Alla on the street of Montreal's St. Denis area of town. This was taken on our May, 2007 trip to Canada.
	This was in front of Notre Dame in Montreal during the dame trip.
	This is me in front of some old classic buildings in the Old Montreal section of town.
	This is Alla in the Old Montreal section of town.

Return to home page