Voices at Large

Concord Music Group is partnering with Yamaha Guitars, guitarist Lee Ritenour and several other sponsors to stage The Yamaha Six String Theory Guitar Competition, a worldwide guitar competition that could best be described as the International Axe-Master Olympics.

The Yamaha Six String Theory Guitar Competition - sponsored by Yamaha Guitars, CMG, Berklee College of Music, Monster Cable, D'Addario Strings and The Broad Stage - begins this month and runs through February 1, 2010. Aspiring guitar players from around the world are invited to submit performance videos (via YouTube) showcasing their chops in a variety of categories: rock, blues, jazz/fusion, country, acoustic and classical/flamenco.

Videos will be viewed by a panel of online judges, including Ritenour, and whittled down to six finalists - one from each category. Finalists will compete in a live performance at The Broad Stage in Los Angeles on March 10, 2010, to determine the grand prize winner.

The winner will be featured as a special guest on Ritenour's forthcoming String Theory album, scheduled for release on Concord Records/Monster Music in the summer of 2010. String Theory will be an original collaboration of some of the greatest guitar players in the world representing the aforementioned genres. The grand prize winner will also score a four-year, full-tuition scholarship to Berklee, concert dates with Ritenour during his 2010 word tour and endorsements from Yamaha, D'Addario and Monster Cable. Runners up will get Yamaha guitars, endorsements and additional goodies from D'Addario and Monster.

Get all the contest rules and other details at sixstringtheory.com. Then get busy polishing your scales and your image. You could be a six-string superstar by next spring... theoretically speaking.