I’ve recently been going through a number of masterclass videos from jazz piano great Hal Galper. Not only is Galper a great musician, but he’s also a very articulate and inspiring teacher.
In one masterclass on practicing, Galper talks about building your vocabulary as a musician. He breaks this down into three categories: rhythm, harmony and melody.
Something about this simple categorization really jumped out at me. When you stop to think about it, those three areas are all you really need to worry about when it comes to vocabulary. No matter what sort of material you’re practicing, you’re basically either working on the rhythmic, harmonic or melodic aspect of your playing.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these types of musical vocabulary.
Rhythm
Rhythmic vocabulary is anything that has to do with manipulating the timing of the music. This can translate into working on reading rhythmic notation, understanding strumming patterns, building odd rhythms or locking into a groove, just to name a few ideas.
It means developing a strong sense of inner-pulse, playing around that pulse and manipulating that pulse for emotional effect.
Effort put into your rhythmic vocabulary pays off in the kind of insane rhythmic mastery shown by guitarists like Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström of Meshuggah.
Harmony
Harmonic vocabulary is where guitarists spend a lot of their time. When it comes down to it, we work mostly as accompanists. So it makes sense that we would focus on understanding chord shapes, chord progressions and the theory behind how chords are built.
A great way to develop your harmonic vocabulary is to look for inspiration on other instruments or in other genres. What can you learn about building chords on the guitar from the vocal harmonies of choral composers like Arvo Part? Or from the lute compositions of Bach?
For example, just give a listen to the interesting textures this vocal composition by Arvo Part lends to a quartet of guitars:
Melody
Melodic vocabulary is perhaps one area that we guitarists could stand to improve the most. The grid-like layout of the fretboard can make it easy to focus on scale shapes and patterns rather than letting our ear guide us.
Effective melodies are usually ones that are the most vocal-like, and so are often very simple. For some great examples of melodic guitar playing, give a listen to Grant Green, David Gilmour or one of my favorite guitarists, Derek Trucks.
Guided By Instinct
One of Hal Galper’s main points in his masterclass on practicing is to become aware of what resonates with you. The music that speaks to us does so for a reason. It’s showing us something about our own approach to music and our own playing.
As you listen to music, pay attention to what stands out to you. Then ask yourself why. What is that music trying to show you about your playing? Is it your rhythm, your harmony or your melodic vocabulary?
Most successful groups usually have one dominant member (maybe two) who provides the artistic vision the rest can respect and rally around.
Without strong leadership, you can usually kiss any band goodbye. This appears to be the underlying lesson in Guitar World writer Alan Paul’s excellent new book, One Way Out: The Inside History of The Allman Brothers Band (St. Martin’s Press).
Written with the Allman Brothers Band’s participation, One Way Out is perhaps the most in-depth look at one of America’s most beloved, but thoroughly dysfunctional ensembles.
With slide guitar genius Duane Allman at the helm, the Brothers started out strong and sure. They went from strength-to-strength in the late Sixties and early Seventies, becoming one of the world’s truly inspired improvising bands as evidenced by their landmark 1971 double album At Fillmore East.
The Allman Brothers Band was largely Duane’s conception, and it was his unflagging energy and incredible guitar playing that drove them to mesmerizing heights as they blended rock, jazz, blues and country in new and exciting ways. Unfortunately, the guitarist was killed in a motorcycle accident in October of ’71 just as the band was achieving large-scale commercial recognition.
In the aftermath, co-guitarist Dickey Betts picked up the baton, and for a while it looked like he would lead them to new-found glory. Their next two albums, Eat a Peach (1972) and Brothers and Sisters (1973) were artistic and commercial triumphs. However, Betts’ temperamental behavior made him a less than ideal captain, and over the next several decades the band split into warring factions that became the stuff of legend. Astonishingly, they continued to play solid, often inspired, music and somehow survived—but just barely.
The band’s incredible rise and their trials and tribulations naturally make for a great story and engrossing reading. Alan Paul has written about the Allmans in Guitar World for the last 25 years, and his depth of knowledge shows.
He manages to get every surviving member of the band—past and present—to be shockingly honest in their assessment of their music and relationships with each other. Even the group’s famously easygoing guitarist Warren Haynes gets into the act as he expresses his exasperation at the sometimes strange and unpredictable behavior of his gifted, but flawed, band mates.
The book is written in an oral history format, so the stories are salty, unfiltered and straight from the horse’s mouth. It’s a good thing, too, because the Allmans’ story is often so bizarre and harrowing it’s hard to believe it’s true. The word “definitive” gets tossed around so often it has lost some of its meaning, but this 400-page journey into the heart of rock and roll darkness deserves the accolade.
The book also makes you wonder just what would’ve happened if Duane had been around to kick some butt …
Brad Tolinksi is the editor-in-chief of Guitar World magazine.
The March 2014 issue of Guitar World magazine is available now: Eric Clapton's 50 Greatest Guitar Songs, How the Layla Sessions Almost Destroyed the Allman Brothers Band, Mike Bloomfield, Johnny Winter and More! It's available at newsstands and at the Guitar World Online Store.
Whether he’s racing with devils on Spanish highways or chasing aliens in Arabian deserts, Al Di Meola has enjoyed a career highlighted by new musical adventures in exotic locales.
His latest call of duty? Recording a tribute to one of his favorite bands—the Beatles—at London’s Abbey Road Studios.
Di Meola's new album, All Your Life, finds the guitarist lending his intricate cross-picking and flamenco flourishes to 14 Lennon/McCartney compositions, all in a stripped-down, acoustic setting. Highlights on All Your Life include “I Will,” “I Am the Walrus,” “Michelle,” “Eleanor Rigby” and a mesmerizing version of “Because.”
The all-instrumental album was recorded with a range of guitars, including a 1948 Martin D-18, a Gibson J-200, a Taylor and a pair of Ovations, though the primary “voice” is provided by Di Meola’s Spanish-made signature Conde Hermanos nylon-string guitar.
Di Meola says that melody was a factor in his choice of songs—but it wasn't everything.
“I think all Beatles songs have strong melodies, but that wasn't enough,” the guitarist says. “I wanted to do my signature thing, which is where I syncopate the arpeggiated chords. If I didn't have enough harmony to do that with, it wouldn't work. ‘Come Together’ wouldn't work because it's basically one chord. But with ‘Blackbird,’ there's a lot of space for me to do my thing.
“A lot of jazz guys have done their own covers, but there's usually so much re-harmonizing and altering of the melody that you’d never know it's a Beatles tune. I didn’t want to do that. My intent was to bring in the sophistication through rhythm as opposed to altering of harmony, which would take the prettiness away. I wanted to preserve the beauty of these tunes.”
Animals As Leaders have premiered a brand-new track — "Tooth and Claw"— and you can check it out below.
The song is from the band's new album, The Joy of Motion, which will be released March 25 via Sumerian Records.
Animals As Leaders also will be headlining a North American tour in February and March with After The Burial, Navene-K and Chon. For tour dates and tickets, visit the band's tour page on Facebook.
Every artist, at some point in their career, has that defining, milestone performance- a moment that inspires the envy and white lies of those who failed to attend.
For Railroad Earth, that moment was July 12th, 2013, Red Rocks Ampitheatre, outside of Denver.
For anyone who didn’t make it last year, short of rubbing your nose in it, here’s a bit of what you missed:
But this summer, specifically, on Saturday, August 2nd, Railroad Earth fans will have another chance, as the band has slated a headlining return trip to Red Rocks, along with special guests Greensky Bluegrass and The Wood Brothers. Showtime is at 6:30pm.
In addition, Railroad Earth will also do a special "Evening with" at The Boulder Theater on Friday, August 1st (the night before the Red Rocks date).
Tickets for this show can be purchased only as a 2-Day Pass with a Red Rocks ticket and will be available as of THIS Thursday, February 20th, only through RRE Ticketing: railroadearth.frontgatetickets.com The general on sale date will be Saturday, February 22nd at 10am MST.
The band’s latest album, (their 7th), Last Of The Outlaws, is nothing short of a masterpiece. Recently tagged by RELIX magazine as what “may become Railroad Earth’s identifying recording—the moment where they laugh in the faces of the critics who’ve lazily dubbed them the ‘folk-pop-Celtic-bluegrass-roots-and-rock act from Jersey,’” the album is an adept intermeshing of style and substance.
Top-to-bottom listening reveals moments of Dylan and The Band, Neil Young, Jimmy Webb and Gram Parsons, just to name a few, but the band handles rollicking country bluegrass and Celtic influences just as effortlessly as their classic American Songbook bent.
For more information, please visit: http://www.railroadearth.com
The all-new March 2014 issue of Guitar World is available now!
In the new March issue, we celebrate the 50 greatest guitar moments of Eric Clapton's five-decade career — from the Yardbirds to Cream to Derek and the Dominos and beyond. We also take a look at how the Allman Brothers Band were almost torn apart due to Duane Allman sitting in with Clapton for Derek and the Dominos'Layla album sessions in 1970.
Also, as the Allman Brothers prepare for another extended residency at New York's Beacon Theatre, the new release Play All Night serves up tasty morsels from their first stand at the celebrated venue.
Further on, Boston return as Tom Scholz releases Boston's last recordings with singer Brad Delp: Life, Love & Hope, an album 11 years in the making.
Finally, the results of the 2013 Guitar World Readers Poll are revealed. Clapton boogie-shuffles his way into the Guitar World Hall of Fame, Black Sabbath's"Iron Man" nabs MVP and Best Metal Guitarist honors and Joe Satriani reclaims the shred throne!
PLUS: Al Kooper's quest to remind us all that Michael Bloomfield was one of the greatest electric blues guitarists of his time; Blues Power! with Johnny Winter, Lonnie Johnson and Warren Haynes; Of Mice & Men and much more!
Five Songs with Tabs for Guitar and Bass
• Eric Clapton - "I Shot the Sheriff" • John Mayall - "Hideaway" • Avenged Sevenfold - "Hail to the King" • Suicide Silence - "You Only Live Once" • Avicii - "Wake Me Up"
Here's a Prime Cuts feature from the August 1992 issue of Guitar World. The original headline was "The Master of Reality: Evil guitar genius Tony Iommi, the heart and soul of Black Sabbath, recalls the best and the worst of the heaviest band south of heaven."
The 1970 album Black Sabbath introduced the world to four English gents who would go down as the greatest, most influential heavy metal band in history. Twenty-two years later, the band’s hand of doom, Tony Iommi, continues to compose the most withering riffs this side of Hades.
Guitar World recently spoke with the power-chord master for a retrospective look at two decades of Sabbath albums. Join us as we shed some light on a very dark past.
Black Sabbath (1970)
“Money was really scarce in those days, so the whole album was recorded in eight hours on an eight-track machine at Regent Sound in London. We were so pleased to have been given the chance to make a record that the whole experience seemed very luxurious. A record deal in those days was a very big thing.
“Most of my solos on that record were done the same way I do them now—very off-the-cuff. I performed the extended solo on ‘Warning’ in only two takes. The first one I played was much better than the second one, but our so-called producer, who had never produced an album in his life, decided to put the second one on the record without consulting us.
“For that album, I used my Gibson SG—the same one I used for the next 10 years—and either a Laney or Marshall cabinet. We didn’t even have time to work on getting sounds—we just set up mics in front of the cabinets and went off. We just played as if we were playing live.”
Paranoid (1970)
“I think the reason this record turned out so well was that we had a long time to work out all the material. We were playing seven 45-minute sets each day in a dusty old club in Switzerland, in front of anywhere from three to two dozen people.
Rehearsing like that for six weeks really tightened us up. It also enabled us to experiment more because we really only had enough songs for one set each day—certainly not seven. It gave us a chance to make stuff up and rearrange existing songs.”
Master of Reality (1971)
“During Master of Reality, we started getting more experimental and began taking too much time to record. Ultimately, I think it really confused us. Sometimes I think I’d really like to go back to the way we recorded the first two albums. I’ve always preferred just going into the studio and playing, without spending a lot of time rehearsing or getting sounds.
“We tried recording ‘Into the Void’ in a couple of different studios because Bill [Ward] just couldn’t get it right. Whenever that happened, he would start believing that he wasn’t capable of playing the song. He’d say, ‘To hell with it—I’m not doing this!’ There was one track like that on every album, and ‘Into the Void’ was the most difficult one on Master of Reality.
“The coughing that opens the album is actually me! Ozzy had pulled out a joint, and I nearly choked to death on the bloody thing—and they recorded it! I didn’t have any idea that it would end up on the record.”
Vol. 4 (1972)
“We wrote and recorded Vol. 4 at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. LA was a real distraction for us, and that album ended up sounding a bit strange. The people who were involved with the record really didn’t have a clue. They were all learning with us, and we didn’t know what we were doing either. The experimental stage we began with Master of Reality continued with Vol. 4, and we were trying to widen our sound and break out of the bag everyone had put us into.”
Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1975)
“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath was a real turning point for us. We started getting more involved in what we thought we should sound like, not what other people thought we should sound like. We had a good time in LA and we moved back there for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, hoping to recreate the sound of Vol. 4.
Musically, we liked that drug-oriented sound. [laughs] So we went back to L.A. and rented the same house, the same studio, the same drugs, everything. But we weren’t able to create anything there, so we returned to England.
“We started thinking the band didn’t ‘have it’ any more, and we knew we had to do something to get ‘it’ back. So we rented an old castle in Wales and rehearsed in its spooky old dungeon. After we wrote ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath,’ things just started coming fast and furious again.”
Technical Ecstasy (1976)
“Black Sabbath fans generally don’t like much of Technical Ecstasy. It was really a no-win situation for us. If we had stayed the same, people would have said we were still doing the same old stuff. So we tried to get a little more technical, and it just didn’t work out very well.
“We recorded the album in Miami, and nobody would take responsibility for the production. No one wanted to bring in an outside person for help, and no one wanted the whole band to produce it. So they left it all to me!”
Never Say Die (1978)
“Right before we were supposed to record Never Say Die, Ozzy quit the band. We never wanted him to leave, and I think he wanted to come back—but no one would tell the other how they felt. So we had to bring in another singer and write all new material. Then, two days before we were finally ready to record again, Ozzy decided to come back.
But he wouldn’t sing any of the stuff we had written without him! Bill had to sing on one track because Ozzy refused to sing it. We ended up having to write in the day so we could record in the evening, and we never had time to review the tracks and make changes. As a result, the album sounds very confused.
“The problems with Ozzy continued, and eventually we knew we had to bring in somebody else. Geezer and Bill would say to me, ‘Either Ozzy goes or we go.’ At that point, Bill was becoming the businessman of the band, with his briefcase and his haircut, and he fucking goes and tells Ozzy, ‘Tony wants to get rid of you.’ [laughs] To this day, Ozzy thinks I fired him on my own, when it was really the other two who wanted him out. But I wasn’t pleased with him either.
“Mixing the album even caused my marriage to break up. As with Technical Ecstasy, everyone went on a holiday when it came time to mix. My wife kept asking, ‘How come you’re the only one working while everyone is in bloody Barbados?’ ” [laughs]
Heaven and Hell (1980)
“After going through 11 months of frustration with Ozzy, Ronnie James Dio was a great addition to the band. He had a new way of looking at things, and it gave us a new approach. Ronnie was very excited about joining the band, but I think it was difficult for him to fill Ozzy’s shoes.
We tried to make it as easy on Ronnie as we could because, even though we went out on a limb firing Ozzy, we believed in what we were doing—and it worked.”
Mob Rules (1981)
“We were all going through a lot of problems at that time, most of it related to drugs. Even the producer, Martin Birch, was having drug problems, and it hurt the sound of that record. Once that happens to your producer, you’re really screwed.
“Mob Rules was a confusing album for us. We started writing songs differently for some reason, and ended up not using a lot of really great material. That line-up [Iommi, Dio, Butler, Ward] was really great, and the whole thing fell apart for very silly reasons—we were all acting like children. But I think we needed to split with Ronnie and gain a little breathing space to be able to do what we’re doing with him now.”
Born Again (1983)
“When we first put that line-up together [Ian Gillan, Iommi, Butler, Ward], it was only on paper—done purely by lawyers. Ian is a great singer, but he’s from a completely different background [Deep Purple], and it was difficult for him to come in and sing Sabbath material.
“To be honest, I didn’t like some of the songs on that album—and the production was awful. We never had time to test the pressings after it was recorded, and something happened to it by the time it got released.”
Headless Cross (1989)
“That was the first album I wrote with [drummer] Cozy Powell, even though we had known each other for almost 20 years. That album was put together very quickly, and we produced it ourselves. I like Headless Cross very much, but I wouldn’t compare it to Dehumanizer, because they’re very different.”
Dehumanizer (1992)
“Getting back together with Ronnie James Dio was a little rough in the beginning—there were all kinds of egos bouncing around. We had been separated for 10 years, and it took us a long time to get to know each other again. Tony Martin had been our singer for the last three albums, and I must admit, I did feel bad that we had to let him go. But the truth is, he wanted to get out. He was getting more into writing for other people instead of performing Sabbath material. He understood the situation with Ronnie, so it really wasn’t a problem.
“Before we [Iommi, Dio, Butler and drummer Vinny Appice] started writing Dehumanzer, we talked about what we wanted. We decided to make a very heavy Black Sabbath record that had a real natural sound and a ton of doomy riffs—nothing too jolly. The material is sort of a cross between the old stuff and Heaven and Hell. It has a raunchy sound—something I think has been missing from Sabbath over the last few years. This is very much a classic Black Sabbath record. In fact, I didn’t expect it to come out quite this good!”
Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante is streaming a track from his upcoming solo album, Enclosure, which will be released April 8 via Record Collection.
Be sure to check out "Scratch" below and tell us what you think!
"Enclosure, upon its completion, was the record which represented the achievement of all the musical goals I had been aiming at for the previous five years," Frusciante said in an announcement.
"It was recorded simultaneously with Black Knights'Medieval Chamber and as different as the two albums appear to be, they represent one investigative creative thought process. What I learned from one fed directly into the other. Enclosure is presently my last word on the musical statement that began with PBX."
"Scratch" was the first song recorded during the Enclosure sessions.
Here's something we stumbled upon this morning on Kickstarter.
It's a video about Acoustic Stream, a new wireless tuner/recorder that monitors humidity and temperature to hopefully help you protect your guitar.
From the company:
"Musicians get the functionality of four devices in one. Record or perform wirelessly, tune and protect instruments from environmental damage.
"It empowers guitarists in the creation and performance of your musical inspirations while also providing the peace of mind that your prized instrument is properly monitored while you are away. ... Acoustic Stream performs its functions simply and easily then gets out of the way of your creative process.
"Acoustic Stream gives musicians the features and capabilities they need most by wirelessly connecting their instrument to the power of their smart phone or tablet. It simplifies life and saves money by combining recording, performing, tuning and protection into one compact device. Instruments are susceptible to damage from rapid environment changes, and now musicians can protect their investment by placing Acoustic Stream inside their instrument or case.
"It uses intelligent sensor technology to warn users of imminent damage that could cost hundreds, even thousands of dollars in repairs and lost value."
In this lesson, we're going to continue learning Mozart's 25th Symphony in G minor. So far, we haven't encountered anything too difficult technique-wise.
That is — until now!
We have learned a large portion of the piece, and for this new lesson I'm going to set you a rather difficult challenge. At this point in the piece, we are meant to repeat in full everything we have learned so far. I thought it would make a fun challenge if we played everything one octave up for this repeat.
To explain further, if you look at the backing track, parts 1 to 4 go from 0:00 to 2:04. You will then play parts 1 to 4 again one octave higher from 2:04 to 4:07. This is the challenge for Part 5.
You're going to have to transpose everything from the previous parts, and you might have to make slight changes to the arrangement of the notes.
Having played through everything a few times in the upper octave, I would suggest a few very slight alterations we will have to make to to previous parts. You may like to make additional changes you feel necessary, but these are just a few I felt I needed to make.
The bass notes during the theme at the beginning of Part 2 could be omitted and played like the theme in Part 1.
In Part 2 the final alternating chords should be played on just the high E and B strings. By omitting the D string, these chords are much easier to play in such a high position on the neck.
In Part 3 the F7 arpeggio begins with an Eb, which is played on the 23rd fret on the high E. If your guitar has only 22 frets (like mine), you should bend up a half step from the D note on the 22nd fret.
Good luck with this challenge. To play everything correctly from start to finish should be considered a big accomplishment even for advanced players!
Will Wallner is a guitarist from England who now lives in Los Angeles. He recently signed a solo deal with Polish record label Metal Mind Productions for the release of his debut album, which features influential musicians from hard rock and heavy metal. He also is the lead guitarist for White Wizzard (Earache Records) and toured Japan, the US and Canada in 2012. Follow Will on Facebook and Twitter.
Today, GuitarWorld.com presents the exclusive premiere of a new song by the Bottom Dollars.
The track, "Smoker," is from their new album, Meet Me In Cognito, which will be released February 25.
The official New York City release party for the album, which was produced by John Siket, David Brandwein and the Bottom Dollars, will take place February 22 at the Mercury Lounge.
After that, they're heading out on a huge cross-country tour. You can check out all the dates below the Soundcloud player.
2/22 - New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
2/28 - Somerville, MA @ Davis Square Theater
3/1 - Washington DC @ DC9
3/4 - Charleston, SC @ The Royal American
3/5 - Wilmington, NC @ The Whiskey
3/6 - Athens, GA @ The Green Room
3/11 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/12 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/13 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/14 - Austin, TX @ SXSW
3/15 - Austin TX @ SXSW
3/16 - San Antonio, TX @ The Cove
3/20 - Phoenix, AZ @ Lost Leaf
3/21 - Las Vegas, NV @ Double Down Saloon
3/22 - Palm Desert, CA @ The Hood
3/26 - Los Angeles, CA @ Silverlake Lounge
3/27 - San Francisco, CA @ Neck of the Woods
3/28 - Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp Lounge
4/3 - Portland, OR @ Analog Theater
4/4 - Seattle, WA @ High Dive
4/8 - Missoula, MT @ The Badlander
4/10 - Denver, CO @ Lost Lake
4/15 - Rock Island, IL @ Daytrotter
4/17 - Saint Paul, MN @ Amsterdam
4/22 - Nashville, TN @ 12th & Porter
On February 18, tenacious U.K. rockers Skindred released a new album, Kill The Power, via Red River Entertainment/Sony RED. The disc is getting rave reviews across the board.
We recently tracked down Skindred guitarist Mikey Demus — just as he was gearing up for a tour with Seether and Black Stone Cherry — and subjected him to the "five questions" treatment. You can check out our full conversation below.
01. How does it feel for Skindred to be back? Why the long hiatus?
We are stoked to be heading back to the U.S. this year. We’ve never gone away; we've just been touring our asses off in Japan, Europe, Australia and the U.K. Due to some label issues beyond our control, we were unable to release our last album, Union Black, in the U.S. Now Kill The Power is out, and we’re coming to spread it around. I can’t wait!
02. Has it been tough as a heavy band with a reggae influence, or has it been a blessing, something that makes you stand apart from the crowd?
It’s more of a blessing. We’ve never wanted to be part of any scene. Standing apart has kept us going so we have no intention on changing what Skindred is about. I can’t stand going to a show when four bands are playing, all of whom sound exactly the same. How boring! We’ve got tons of influences in our music. It’s grown these days into something much grander than reggae/metal. The new album is varied and full of big tunes. We can’t wait for our fans in the U.S. to hear it.
03. On this record, you guys have tapped songwriting legend Russ Ballard. What was it like working with him? Why did you guys decide to go that route?
Working with Russ was a personal highlight. We've always been up for collaborating, but it’s hard to know who to go with. Luckily Russ was totally into the idea of working with us. We weren’t looking for help writing detuned metal riffs; it was always about writing better songs and bigger choruses. Russ brought insight and changed all our perspectives, furthered our horizons. We did "Saturday,""We Live" and "More Fire" with Russ. He' a wonderful guy, and I’d love to work with him again.
04. Your new music video was shot in the slums of India. What prompted this, and is there any special meaning you're trying to get across with this song?
It was kind of serendipitous. We had a U.K. shoot all planned and scheduled, but in classic last-minute style, it fell to pieces for one reason or another. We had impending touring commitments in India. I think Arya, our drummer, had a brainwave that we should try to make something happen while we were there. Within a few emails and phone calls, we had locked down a reputed director and full crew, including the location guy from Slumdog Millionaire. It was a surreal experience that worked out for the best.
We never really thought about it until afterwards, but it was a great document of a few days in our lives. We get to do all this incredible stuff — going to places like India, Russia, South America. We are constantly doing weird and wonderful stuff a lot of touring bands never get to do. It was beautiful to capture. The people of India are amazing. I can’t wait to go back.
05. What can the world expect from Skindred on this tour? And what's the main thing you want music fans to take away from the tour?
I wonder what people will think of the new songs. I know there’s stuff out there on the Internet, but we never released Union Black in the U.S. officially. We’re working on that now. It’s a big piece of the sonic pie and what we’re about these days.
I think the whole world has caught up to the idea of mixing genres. As a U.K. band, electronic/urban influences and U.K. subculture have crept into our music steadily over the last decade. I really feel we’ve nailed it more on the last two records than ever before, so I’m excited to see what the U.S. makes of it. It’s all a bit more realized these days; we have a firmer identity. Anything before now was a warmup. Get ready for the main event!
In March, The Deli’s Stompbox Exhibit — a free, interactive, in-the-headphones display of guitar effect pedals — will travel to Austin for its first official involvement in the SXSW Music Gear Expo.
The exhibit, which will feature dozens of stompbox manufacturers, will be co-presented by Guitar World and sponsored by Washburn, Shure, PreSonus and Pedal Genie. Pedaltrain — although not an official sponsor — will provide pedalboards and power.
Here are all the details you need. Just bring your guitars!
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 13 to 15 WHERE: Austin Convention Center, 500 E. Cesar Chavez St., Austin, Texas HOW MUCH: Free; open to the public. No SXSW badge is necessary to attend. HOW IT WORKS: Musicians are invited to bring their own guitars and plug them in directly into the stomp boxes. If you don’t have your six string with you, you’ll be able to borrow a Washburn guitar. Pedals will be organized on StompBlox boards and connected to Shure headphones fed by PreSonus headphone preamps. MORE INFO: Visit audio.thedelimagazine.com.
It's common to hear the idea that guitarists need pitch and drummers need rhythm. These are both half true, as guitarists and drummers need both pitch and rhythm.
Could you imagine what a duo band like the Black Keys would sound like if Dan Auerbach had bad rhythm? Not so great. Playing great riffs out of time is sort of like driving a Ferrari into a wall.
You'll also need good rhythm for your solos. Guitarists may have a reputation of wanting to play as fast as they can, but as the old Yngwie proverb goes (I'm actually not sure if he ever said this), “Playing slower in time sounds faster than playing super fast out of time."
So here are some fun ways to develop rhythm for solos and rhythm playing.
One reason people play rhythm parts out of time is because they don't know/feel the subdivisions of the beat they're playing to. Sixteenth notes and sextuplets and general funk strumming can seem overwhelming, so it's good to start simple and build from there.
There are a few ways to do this. The first is to use a metronome and slow your rhythm part way-y-y down. When playing a part slower, it forces you to feel the subdivisions of the beat and really understand the rhythm of the riff. On most metronome apps, there are options to subdivide the beat into eight notes, triplets, etc., for help.
Say you're playing the awesome verse riff from Muse's song “Unnatural Selection” that starts around 48 seconds in. Sloppy playing on a riff like that would completely ruin the vibe of the verse, and if it's tough for you to play speed-wise, your arm will get tired and you'll slow down the riff. You don't have to spend two hours practicing this riff or anything, but 10 minutes of starting at a slow tempo like 90 bpm then building up 8 bpm at a time after a minute of playing the riff is a good idea.
Another good way to tell if you're playing tight is recording yourself along with the song. Using a program like garageband and having something convenient like a guitar-cable-to-USB-adapter around makes recording yourself very easy. Just upload your favorite cover(s) to play, pan it left and you right, play along, and then listen back very critically.
Things to look for: Are you locking in with the groove? Are you in tune? How is your tone in relation to the guitar on the song (more/less saturation, brighter/darker, more/less reverb, etc.)? Is your pick attack too strong/too weak? Although it sounds so good, I'd recommend using no reverb/delay as to get the most accurate representation of your playing.
Learning how to keep time with your soloing gets a little trickier. A great way to understand your licks better is to move them over an 8th or 16th note. Take Example 1: Normal descending A minor blues-rocky lick. No surprises here.
Example 2, though, moves it over an eighth, which doesn't seem difficult until the ending. Bouncing the last notes off the first beat of the next measure will feel much different.
The toughest, and my favorite, is Example 3. This is the same lick but moved over a 16th note, which can feel tricky at fast tempos. Use a metronome and try the examples back to back several times, transpose them, then try to use them in a solo. Do this with your other licks too, and 1. You'll have a better grasp of time and 2. You will have some new licks.
Hope this helps! Feel free to post any questions in the comments section.
OK, by now, we've all worked the Strat thing to the point of making that guitar, or some variation of it, a part of almost every electric guitar player's arsenal. We also just work around, or just avoid, some of the limitations of the Strat-style vibrato bridge.
One of the limitations is that you cannot D-tune, or down-tune a guitar with a floating Strat-style bridge without it going drastically out of tune. The same goes for when you break a string. The whole guitar goes out of tune.
Some people set up a Strat with the bridge flat on the body to avoid these issues, but I think that really takes away from the charm of a Strat. Subtle tremolo bar effects are really compromised if the bridge is not floating off the body.
But just because you have more than one Strat doesn't mean you want to haul a bunch of them to shows just to cover all the songs you want to play that have different drop tunings. Drop-D and Drop-C are just two that I like. I used to have a dedicated Strat for each of those tunings.
With a Strat-style vibrato bridge, if you want a nice floating bridge that gives you a nice, smooth vibrato action, you will need to set up the guitar specifically for the altered tuning.
So the big surprise is that Leo Fender figured out a fix. With a properly set-up Jazzmaster / Jaguar-style bridge system, you can down-tune from standard tuning, and the guitar will still be in tune, and, as a bonus, you can still use the tremolo bar, though only go down in pitch when down-tuned. This also can allow you to keep playing if you break a string in the middle of a song.
Here I am playing some stuff doing some down-tuning on the fly. First I'm in standard tuning, then Drop-D, then Drop-C, then back up to standard tuning with no problem:
To properly setup a Jaguar-style tremolo so that you can down-tune a string, or continue to play in tune after breaking a string and still be able to use the vibrato bar, follow these steps:
1. First, tune the guitar. Then hold down the the vibrato bar as low as it will go, and push the round sliding lock back toward the Fender logo, and then let go of the tremolo bar.
2. Pull up on the vibrato bar. If there is some upward movement possible before you feel it stop, turn the tension screw clockwise to close the gap. As you continue to turn the screw clockwise, you will not be able to pull the vibrato bar up as far, until you get to the point where you cannot pull up the vibrato bar at all.
3. Tune the guitar again. If you can pull up the vibrato bar, and it moves a bit before hitting inside, tighten the tension screw some more.
4. The end result we're looking for:
~ The guitar is in tune
~ The tension screw is tightened just enough so that the mechanism is "zeroed." That means that when you gently pull up on the vibrato bar, it's the tiniest distance to when you feel it hit.
5. Now slide the lock forward toward the headstock. The vibrato works normally.
6. When you want to down-tune a string, push the sliding lock back toward the Fender logo. Down-tune any string, and you can now use the vibrato bar with the guitar remaining in tune.
Thanks for checking out this technique! Hope it made some sense to you. If I see any questions in the comments section below, I'll get to them as quickly as I can.
Writing songs has been my way of processing life since I was 11 years old.
I think men often have trouble talking about our feelings. We tend to keep them to ourselves a lot of the time.
Early on, I discovered that I could sing about my feelings even when I couldn't talk about them. I guess it gives me just enough distance from them that it makes me feel safe.
I can project my feelings onto my character in the song and let "him" deal with them. I write because it is my therapy and keeps me sane.
I also write because I have to. Something inside me needs to have its voice heard. I have always looked at life differently than most people. I have questioned the status quo. I'm the one who says "the emperor isn't wearing any clothes." Very early in life, I learned that this trait does not make you popular in a conservative church environment. So, I kept my voice quiet.
I became very shy and withdrawn because when I did speak out or share my thoughts on life, people looked at me like I had three heads. That voice inside me stayed quiet for a number of years, but it was killing me to keep it hidden.
I write because I believe I have something worth saying now - even if no one else "gets" me - I want and need to be heard. I have learned that keeping your "voice" silent is a slow painful death. So, I speak through my songs.
And, I write because I love writing. Writing has given me more than I could ever repay, emotionally, spiritually, and financially. I love when new combinations of words come together and say perfectly what is in my heart. I wake up ever day thrilled that I get to write another song with another creative soul.
Bill Currington's official video for "Must Be Doin' Something Right."
One time, I was on the road writing with Billy Currington. He was opening for Kenny Chesney, so I got to see them perform 3 of my #1 songs each night. One night, I snuck out of the backstage area (I know it usually works the other way) and went out into the grassy area of the amphitheater where they were playing.
I sat in the grass surrounded by strangers and watched people slow dance to "Let Me Down Easy" and "Must Be Doin' Something Right." The whole crowd was singing along.
Then Kenny sang "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven." Everyone stood up. People raised their drinks in the air and went crazy dancing and singing.
As I watched, tears came. Maybe I'm the only person who ever cried during "Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven," but it hit me in that moment that my voice had been heard. That my voice mattered. That speaking up and out can impact people's lives. And I realized….THAT is why I write on.
Marty Dodson
Marty Dodson is a songwriter, corporate trainer and entrepreneur. His songs have been recorded by artists such as Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Joe Cocker, Leon Russell and The Plain White T’s. He once bumped Psy out of the #1 spot on the K-Pop charts but that’s another story for another day. Marty plays Taylor and Batson guitars. Follow him here: www.facebook.com/songtownusa, at www.facebook.com/martydodsonsongwriter and at Twitter @SongTownUSA or visit martydodson.com
Today's lick features Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge tackling a fast, descending pentatonic phrase that takes a Shawn Lane-inspired approach to playing single-note runs.
In Tremonti's own words:
This involves the use of individual fingers when moving between notes on neighboring strings at the same fret, as opposed to employing a more traditional finger "roll" or barring technique. Finger barrés often result in notes ringing together like a chord. By avoiding them, maximum note definition is maintained to create a cleaner-sounding lick.
To grasp this lick's fingering concept, note that you'll be using your fret-hand middle finger to fret the last note in each of the first three quintuplet groups. Doing this will allow your ring finger to jump back and cleanly fret the following note on the adjacent higher string without having to rely on a ring-finger barré to catch the note.
The tempo is 132 beats per minute, 94 for slow practice.
Matt Pond PA is excited to announce the Emblems 10 Year Anniversary Tour, kicking off on May 1st at Grog Shop in Cleveland, OH.
This special tour will commemorate the anniversary of one of the most regarded albums in Matt Pond PA's ever growing catalog, which earned critical praise and solidified him as an artist to watch.
"We've never played all the songs on Emblems in front of a live human audience, so this is definitely exciting. I wrote the album when I first started drifting between New York and Philly. Since I haven't stopped drifting, it feels as relevant as it did ten years ago" said Pond.
Additionally - Matt Pond has launched a Pre-order via Pledge Music for the forthcoming album, The State of Gold, in which fans will be offered a glimpse into the recording process, early mixes, and various exclusives such as the Guild Guitar used throughout the recording process.
05.01 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
05.02 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
05.03 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
05.04 - Brooklyn, NY @ Rough Trade
05.05 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
05.06 - Cambridge, MA @ the Sinclair
05.08 - Toronto, ON @ the Mod Club
05.09 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
05.10 - St. Louis, MO @ the Duck Room at Bhlueberry Hill
05.12 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
05.13 - Kansas City, MO @ the Record Bar
05.14 - Omaha, NE @ the Waiting Room
05.16 - Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
05.17 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
05.19 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
05.20 - Seattle, WA @ the Tractor Tavern
05.22 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
05.23 - Los Angeles, CA @ Roxy Theatre
05.24 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
05.25 - Phoenix, AZ @ the Crescent Ballroom
05.27 - Austin, TX @ Red 7
So did I. That’s why I hauled it over to The Independent in San Francisco last night to see the killer performance of the John Butler Trio.
With selections ranging from trippy reggae-tinged sing-alongs to lovely harmony-laden ballads and straight out rock tunes, the set was not only varied, it was enthralling.
The trio as a whole were incredibly tight, with Byron Luiters on bass and new drummer Grant Gerathy joining the fold.
Butler not only showed his varied guitar talents, he created a masterful tone palette utilizing a variety of pedals, a Marshall half-stack, and more with his instruments, which included 6-string and 12-string acoustics, banjo, resonator guitar and a couple of electrics. I’m talking some truly innovative and inventive stuff that was going on here!
Top selections for the night included “Only One” from his latest album, Flesh and Blood. Other cuts from the album that satisfied were “Spring to Come,” “How You Sleep at Night” and a rousing closer of “Living in the City.” “Devil Woman” was just plain frolicking fun.
But it was his live solo performance of “Ocean” that pretty much blew everyone’s mind ten times over. The virtuosic guitar technique coupled with the waves of intensity pulled back into soul-satisfying resolution were truly moving and jaw-dropping. Holy moly.
Here’s the studio version, but I am telling you, nothing can compare to this live!
The sold out crowd was a mass of bouncing, swaying bodies and each one of them loved every minute. Oh, and kudos to the sound man. The mix was perfection.
If you haven’t checked out the latest from John Butler, I strongly recommend you do. This is truly one of the best shows I have seen in the past 12 months and, just wow.
There are more dates on the tour. Run!!
Tour dates here: johnbutlertrio.com
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