Actively Watching and Day 54

Actively watching.

I have noticed that in the interviews I watch with more recently famous guitarists, they talk about watching their heroes.  They hardly ever talk about what they do themselves, and talk about who they were watching when they learned it.  I saw an interview with Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, and most of the interview was him talking about what he learned while talking to Billy Gibbons.  The same interviewer talked to Billy Gibbons and guess what... all Billy talked about was the guitarists he got stuff from when he was 12 years old watching old blues players.

Back in the 90's, I had friends and relatives that had these massive stacks of VHS's and later DVD's of their favorite players.  They had minutes and seconds memorized, they would go to remembered spots and say "look how he did this, I've been working on doing this for weeks" and "someone showed me this, but they were wrong, look how he does it live at this concert".  Do not just watch people, ACTIVELY watch people.  Watch their fingers, watch how they play, watch how they keep beat, don't just listen, WATCH.  When you see them play, don't just think "that bend sounds cool" you should wonder "what note is he bending from and bending to?"  or "was that a powerchord or am I missing what he's doing with his pinky?"

We now have Youtube and we don't have to chase down these stacks of videos.  Youtube is going to be credited for the biggest inspiration to musicians since The Beatles.  In twenty years all the players are going to be talking about who they watched or how much they watched Youtube.  I do not quite seek out live performances yet, but I do watch a TON of gear reviews.  Now, you might be saying, "you gearslut" but no, no wait, listen.  The good reviewers have jam sessions and improv playing during their reviews.  You can learn a lot while the camera is focused on the guitar being reviewed while they play.  Find the people you like to watch playing doing their improv and you will learn MUCH more than when they play their own songs.  You will get a peek inside their head, how they come up with phrases, sounds and songs.

I have also noticed in interviews that sometimes guitar players are doing things they don't realize are "mystical" or "difficult".  Especially Billy Gibbons.  It really sounds like he's surprised that people are marveled by some of the stuff he does.  Instantly he can tell you what old blues player he learned that from, and he's always "oh its just a simple this right here".  So it pays to watch.  You might learn more watching actively than being taught passively.  They do not keep their "secrets" on purpose, I'm finding that the players just do not know they are "secrets"


Day 54

Book learning day.

Well it started out as diagramming, and in the process of diagramming out the scales and keys I learned a lot.  Things like lowest note on lowest string.  I'm also seeing what patterns work with what chords.  Well.. the chords I know.  All this makes me sound like I know more than I do, please don't take that as me knowing my stuff haha.  I am still in the dark about chord progressions and so I'm just beginning to learn basic ways of playing with that.

Rocksmith's Session mode taught me the single most transcendental thing I have ever learned when it comes to playing with people; find the key the chords are being played in and then you can play scale notes in that same key and sound like you belong there.  It is probably "duh" to some people, but holy crap has it helped my confidence.  I am diagramming the minor and major Pentatonic scales so I can learn my memory where each key is... and realizing that it is just the lowest note(most bass) on the lowest(thickest) string.  It is something I should have already knew, but sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees.

I already knew the G minor pentatonic, E and D because I love playing in those keys.  I "zoomed out" and learned the 2 frets to the left as well as the main shape.  This is because I felt like the lowest notes on the B and high E were just not enough high notes to play in, so I extend it back.  I did this mainly for when I was playing in G, but the beauty of the pent scale is that its the same wherever, so learning it for the G I automatically learn it for all other keys.

Rocksmith's session mode is SOOOO good for learning these lessons.  It is so very good for taking notes with too.  I get these questions in my head, and before I'd have to Google it and go through several pages of trying to translate someone talking about music to get my answer.  With the session mode, I can change a few settings and... there I go.  Its right there in front of me, visually in a way I can understand it, and it "clicks" in my head.  Its like the best interactive theory book ever.

Legendary: Appetite for Destruction Les Paul and day 53

Legendary: Slash's '59 Derrig Les Paul, AKA The Appetite for Destruction Guitar

Few people brought Les Paul back in "style" more than Slash of Guns N Roses.  Arguably no one has needed to bring it back since, as it has stayed one of the top guitars since.  The Les Paul has gone in and out of style as time passed.  It has looked too old before, and then became something that only pretentious rock millionaires used.  The story of Slash's Les Paul begins during the era after the 70's, when punk music had branded the Les Paul as gaudy symbols of wealth, and the flashy hair metal bands saw it as too old fashioned and apparently devoid of spikes and neon.  This can be seen in the picture below.  If you wanted to look the part, the B. C. Rich guitars of the time were the ultimate in boutique style.  Today they are overseas made budget instruments, in the early 80's they were the height of showing off.  Slash had other ideas though.

Slash's B C Rich guitars he eventually gave up

One of the big "we made it" memories with Guns N Roses was the day Slash brought home a Les Paul for the first time.  It sounded amazing.  The band played more jam sessions just to hear how well the guitar sounded.  However, by the time Appetite for Destruction was to be recorded, he sold it to pay his drug habit.  Slash claims that most of Appetite was recorded on B. C. Rich guitars, but when it came time to lay down the lead parts, they sounded horrible.  Their manager went out and found a Les Paul of the late 50's style, and brought it to Slash.  It had an amazing sound to it.  It turns out that this guitar was made by Kris Derrig, it is not even an original Gibson.  Slash has used this guitar on every album he's ever done.  He will do rhythm parts and small parts with others, but the Derrig Les Paul is his main guitar used for recording.

It shocks a lot of people to find out that he is not playing a real Gibson.  The deal was that he could keep Gibson on the headstock, and Gibson wouldn't bitch, but he was always call it a Les Paul.  Later Gibson would make copies and issue special "Slash" Les Pauls, but the "original" as Slash calls it, is only a replica made in the 80's.

The journey of this guitar is Legendary, but it has mainly stayed in the hands of Slash for decades.  What of that first Les Paul Slash had?  Its called The Hunterburst, and while not as famous, it has a very complicated story.  A story for another post at another time(maybe tomorrow?).

Day 53

Doing a big Guitarcade day since i'm playing sorta late at night.

Earlier in the day I did play outside of Rocksmith.  I was watching these interviews with guitar players where the interviewer asked about their techniques and stuff.  I have to say that every time I see Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top in an interview, and he's playing guitar, I learn something I use.  Just like Angus Young, Billy has this reputation for doing the same kind of "easy" blues rock over and over.  Billy was one of Hendrix's favorite guitar players.  Jimmy once said that Billy would be the next amazing guitarist everyone talks about.  I don't think many people realize the techniques he sneaks and works in.  Billy does tapping, he did tapping before it became a "thing".  Lots of people will crap on tapping as a cheap trick to sound shreddy and fancy, but if Billy Gibbons says it belongs in rock and roll, then it belongs in rock and roll.  Makes me want to study Dusty Hill a bit more and see what I can learn about bass from him.  All in due time I guess.

I really really like Scale Racer at the moment.  I think I always wanted to beat Rad Racer, but only ever got to the later tracks a few times... I probably haven't touched the game in a serious way in 20 years now that I think about it.  I really wish I'd push myself in Castle Chordead a bit more.  I keep wanting to stop before I get "too far ahead" of myself and haven't committed the chords to memory.  Maybe tomorrow I'll just go as far as I can get.

Pick your Pick and Day 40

I'll get this out of the way first; the only advice you can really give about picks is to try them out and figure out which you like best.  Picks are like 25 cents, and you're going to wear a pick down and have to replace it eventually, so why not just get a few and test them out.

Other advice:

Thick, hard picks give you a very strong attack on the string.  They are less flexible but make a harder hit on the strings.  Many people that play more "lead" guitar, note for note playing as opposed to chords, prefer to use a stiff pick.  These picks will also tend to wear out faster if you use it for a lot of strumming.

Thinner picks are more flexible.  They are easier to move from string to string in a sweeping motion, so these are very adaptable to chord playing.  They are made to be flexible, so they wear out slower when it comes to strumming.  When it comes to note per note playing, they can actually slow you down a bit.  However more the pick has to be flexed to get past a string, the more effort it takes to strike the chord.  We're talking milliseconds here, but "feel" is subjective.

I personally like a .88 pick.  It would be considered a little bit more stiff than the "medium" side of the spectrum.  The lightest I can stand is a Fender Medium, I do not even like them very much for strumming.  I have a 1.14 pick that is too stiff for me.  They make some that are 3x as thick as that, they are so thick that they generally have a ground out "grip" on them so you don't feel like you're holding a brick.

I've seen videos of people using STONE or GLASS picks.  These have zero flex to them.  I would consider this extreme, but Brian May from Queen uses a coin that is just a tad bit bigger than a US dime.  Billy Gibbons from ZZ top uses a Mexican peso.  Some like Celluloid picks because of their flexibility and the traditional feel of them, but there is also tortex.  Tortex is a rougher plastic that provides a little more grip, this is my material of choice.  If you need even more grip there are specially treated picks with a rubberized surface to them.

Like I said at the start, you just need to try them out to figure out what you like.  Don't be afraid, they usually aren't expensive, and you'll lose many of them before they wear out anyway.  You don't have to be different, and you might want to worry about your strings before you go using a coin.  Work your way progressively towards the ends that you're comfortable with.  I plan on keeping some Fender cel mediums along with my tortex .88's.  Some times you just feel like a change.

Day 40

I've had too many silent(unpowered) nights of practicing chords.  Today I tried out my new amp set up.  I've got my amp elevated, so I've lost some of the low end in the sound.  I have cranked up the bass settings, but ended up just having to take the amp down to the floor when I was doing my metal practice.  I just have to "feel" those palm mutes.  If you keep your practice amp on a table, take that into consideration; you're losing low end.

I am fuzz-strated.  I can't get a fuzz in Rocksmith to sound like I want AND I can't get a fuzz sound from my multi-effects pedal into my real amp.  I guess that fuzz is just too hard to do digitally modeled?  I don't know.  I did put a high gain amp model into the dirty channel on my Marshall, and got an acceptable, but overly complicated Fuzz.  I want a Devi Ever Soda-meiser so very badly.

I finally recorded some of my heavy metal "phrases" I've come up with.  A few days ago I was going to play some for my girlfriend and my mind just went blank on the stuff.  Playing in front of someone messes with your memory I guess.  Anyway, I have recordings of a few of them now so I can just bring that up on my phone and job my memory.  For some reason I kept wanted to make it more "swinging" sounding in the beat.