Less is More

So many players want to learn a million scales and fly up and down the neck every time given a chance. Every time they are given for a solo.... typically 8-16 bars they have to fill it up with 250,000 notes as if their hands are on speed. Hey that's cool, and sometimes it fits, but remember the old saying "less is more"

Sometimes not saying something is just as important as saying a mouthful. This is something some players don't, and will never understand. For those of you who aspire to be great lead players, but maybe you don't have an arsenal of weapons to unload yet, take this lesson as advice. You can always express yourself with the things you already know if you don't limit yourself by getting into the mindset that you don't know enough yet to do so. Take what you know and run with it. A solo with a few notes full of feeling and passion can sound much better than someone ripping up your speakers if done right.

Just keep adding to your arsenal until you have all the tools you feel you need. Remember, theory is a great thing, its the tools we use to better self express ourselves through our playing and music.

I know up until now these lessons have been mostly conceptual, but I will have tabs and other things very soon to better accomidate those of you who regulate this site. Keep Rockin

Timing is Everything

I can't stress how important having good timing is. Doesn't matter if your a musician playing an instrument, or a vocalist, if your timing is off, you will stick out like a sore thumb. I played the guitar for YEARS before realizing how important good timing was, of course, when your playing in your room to CD's it doesn't matter if your off, there is nobody there listening, but when your playing in a live band, the other members depend on you to be on your game.

A few things you can do is, obviously, practice to a metronome. I know for most this isn't much fun, but those who are serious about becoming a great player, this will get you headed in the right path. Another thing to make a habit of is keeping time with your foot, once this becomes a natural habit you will be keeping time without even thinking about it. Something else that has tremendously helped me is simply playing percussion on things constantly, whether it be the steering wheel in the car, the desk at work etc etc, it will get you in the habit of keeping time and give you plenty of practice.

For those of you just starting out, new to an instrument, remember something, its always a great idea to form good habits in the beginning, that way it will be with you the remainder of your playing days. Those of you with more experience under your belt who might not have great habits, its NEVER too late, trust me, I didnt form good playing habits till after a decade of playing, and of course, it was a little harder to form these habits, but if you work at it, your determined and persistant, it will happen.

As always, I hope this opens up a few doors for ya and helps ya get on track to where you'd like your playing to be. Keep Rockin!!!

Gettin Better

Some musicians or guitarists are happy with the bare essentials. They learn their chords and maybe a scale and their content, but many of us strive to get better on our instrument as time goes on. It can be a roller coaster ride, once in awhile finding ourselves in a rut, or atleast feeling we are in one, mostly from playing the same things day in and day out. Remember though, just because YOU hear yourself everyday doesnt mean everyone else does. So just because you pull out the same lick you've played a billion times sounding stale to your ears doesnt mean it wont impress someone else or perk up their ears.

Some basic ways to improve your playing are not playing the same songs day in day out. You only get better playing or learning things you dont know rather than playing your favorite Metallica song every single day. Another great tip is: play with musicians who are more experienced than you and better than you are. I know for those of you less experienced players that can be intimidating at times, but believe me, overcoming that fear alone will bring your confidence levels up. Confidence is huge in becoming a better player, and once you cross that hurdle your half way there. If your a serious player, and other musicians sense this, they will respect you either way. Its pretty obvious, playing with those who have more experience than you is going to be a huge learning experience, and will ultimatelly help you in the long run, but dont forget to "give back" once your the experienced one!!! Keep Rockin!

Grabbing the Audiences Attention

There is much more to soloing than just playing something that "fits" or "works" over the underlying chord changes. A guitar solo should stand out melodically and make a strong musical statement, something people will remember. Certain types of licks have a way of seizing people's attention. I'd like to share a few ideas that you can apply to your own solos to help make them more dramatic and memorable.

One way to turn heads is to just bend a high note and shake the hell out of it, look at Zakk Wylde for example, or Dimebag. You can use this just about anywhere and its great for building tension and cutting through the roar of the rhythm section. While this type of vibrato is most easily performed on the B string near the 12th fret, it is most effective when used with a high note on the E string. Use atleast 3 fingers to push and release the string, and dont be shy to go crazy with it. Make the vibrato wide and even and put alot of attitude into it. When executed well, this type of lick will create the impression that you're about to explode.

Repetition is another great attention getter, look at the solo in Freebird. Repeating a short lick over and over creates a real sense of drama, especially if its repeated over moving chord changes. These are just a couple of ways of grabbing your audiences attention. Experiment a bit, then see if you can come up with other ways to blow people away. the next time you perform in a crowded, noisy club, try using one of these techniques in one of your solos and study peoples reactions. Do whatever you have to do to make sure to get those people standing at the bar to turn around and check out your band.

That concludes this lesson, but I will be back with more on how to fill your trick bag full of licks, and make a personal identity for yourself as a player. Keep Rockin!!!!

Guitar Tuning Issues- Part 3

Another Tuning problem is an unsecure nut. On guitars with locking tremolos, make sure that the screws that hold the nut assembly to the neck of the guitar are tight. On a standard style nut, its imperative that the slot of the neck in which the nut sits is tightly bound to the nut itself. Usually, on steel string and electric guitars, nuts are glued in place with cyano acrolite, super glue in otherwords. Although this is a strong bonding agent, its not entirely permanent and can loosen or break free. If this happens, every time you bend a string or vibrato a note, you could be altering the position of the nut-and thus the tuning of your axe.

Another nut related problem is when the pitch of a string jumps sharp. This freak of tuning occurs when the nut slots are not cut properly. If the slot is too narrow, it will pinch the string and hold it in place. Eventually, when enough pressure or tug is exerted, the string will jump up a little in the saddle slot, increasing the tension of the string and raising its pitch. Optimally, you want the saddle slot of the nut to be slightly wider than the gauge of the string. This problem is pretty easily corrected using slotting files, but dont try this yourself if your inexperienced. A qualified repairman is always your best bet to fix an unsecured or improparly cut nut, and neither of these operations is particularly costly.

This concludes my tips on tuning issues. I know at some point you have all experienced them, and may still continue to experience them, so I hope this helps you out and you can start enjoying your guitar playing more without falling out of tune continuously. Keep Rockin!!!

Lyrics - Tips on Writing Effective Lyrics

Writing songs for some can be one of the toughest parts of being a musician, especially if you have'nt been able to complete your first song. Its like being a virgin and not knowing exactly what to do, but of course, over time, the more and more you pound away at it, the better you get.

Lyrics are the part of the song most listeners identify with, it can make or break your song. Some songs start with lyrics, and the music is added later, which in my opinion is more difficult than those that start with a musical arrangement adding lyrics later. For this example I'm going to assume you have the musical part of the song written and its time to start writing lyrics.

There are many ways of accomplishing the lyrical content of a song, different things work for different people, so I'm going to give some tips I personally use when writing lyrics.

Once I have a song arrangement and all the pieces put together and recorded I will start playing a piece of the song over and over, either the chorus or the verse, and I will start humming a melody as a start point. Sometimes it takes a few runs through, but the basis for this is I'm humming a melody to see how many syllables i will need in each lyric phrase. Its the same idea as poetry. Once Ive established how many syllables are need I start filling in the blanks.

Now many you have a subject idea for the song, maybe you dont, but something that works for me is just opening the mind and once Ive got that melody I just start singing one liners until something clicks, usually the one liner will direct me in a direction as far as a subject. Once that subject of the song is established you have a platform to start writing on.

Now of course you want the syllable content to match in each line of the verse or chorus, as well as the last word of each phrase to rhyme. Come up with words related to your subject and find words that rhyme with them, a dictionary or thesaurus is a good reference point as far as word usage goes.

Now remember that your lyrics need to tell a story, and they need to be organized. If you have 3 verses in your song like a typical song does, your first verse needs to be the start of your story, your 2nd verse needs to tell the story, and your 3rd verse needs to basically end your story.

This is just a basic layout for those of you who might have never written a song, those of you struggling to write lyrics, or those looking for different ideas. There are many ways to write lyrics, music has no rules, Make it YOURS. This basic idea has worked for me many times over, and I hope for those of you struggling it gives you an idea of somewhere to start. If anyone else has anything more to add, please feel free to post. I will be back with ALOT more on the subject of songwriting and lyric writing that get more indepth, I wanted to have a starting point here for those having trouble. Hope this helps, Keep Rockin!!!!

Guitar Lesson of the Day -Making Practice Less Boring and More Effective

This lesson is about how to get the most out of the time you put in practicing your instrument. I will focus on guitar mostly, but these simple rules, or ideas can be applied to any instrument. I know theres some of you out there that have been playing for awhile, and you run into someone playing alot less time than yourself, and wonder why they are so much more developed, or just better than you are. It has happened to me PLENTY of time, believe me.

First, remember one simple rule that will ALWAYS help you, You only get better practicing things you DONT know, as oppose to playing the same thing daily, monthly, or for some of us, we get stuck in the rut of playing the same thing for YEARS. For example, my downfall in the earlier days of playing was jamming to the SAME OL CDs, day after day. Sure you might master those tunes, but you arent gaining any new skills either. There are players who play HOURS a day, and others who play 30 minutes a day, with the latter being better because they applyed themselves in ways that utilized their time the best.

If your serious about developing your skills, and becoming a well rounded player, rythem, lead, and maybe a variety of styles, you need a practice routine. Alot of guitarists find this to be boring, but as Ive said in the past, once you see improvement, it can become quite addictive.

First off.... I'll start by saying, for anyone, to break up the manogomy, or boringness of excersizes, make sure you still take time to just Jam, to albums, by yourself, for ideas, whatever.
Secondly, I suggest setting aside a designated amount of time daily. Now for the fun stuff.

If your aspiring to be a well rounded player, what I suggest is getting a few files. In these files you will keep excersizes, and practice routines. You want to divide your practice time up. Make a file for rythem, a file for lead, a file for theory, or whatever else it is you want to learn, or get better at. Then divide your practice time, if your gonna give yourself an hour a day, maybe devote 15 minutes for rythem workouts, 15 minutes for lead excersizes, 15 minutes to theory, and the rest of the time to jam and enjoy your instrument.

You can use this basic guide, and fine tune it to what your trying to accomplish, believe me, it is a very effective way to get the most out of your practice time. Hope this article helps, keep shooting for your dreams, and KEEP ROCKIN!

Guitar Hero

So ya wanna be a guitar hero... Well it takes ALOT of work and alot of dedication, and its alittle bit harder than playing the video game.
I was just wondering the opinions of other guitarists, those who may have been around for awhile. Those who saw the popularity of the guitar decline in the 90s. Those around in the 80s shredfest and so on.
Is the game guitar hero a good thing? A Bad thing? Or just irrelevant in the music world?

Some will agree its a great thing, bringing back the popularity of an instrument that lost alittle a decade ago. Others will say "its just a game" and most the kids who play it will never pick up a real guitar.

Ive played the game a couple times, I think its a good concept, and I hope it influences a younger generation of guitarists who see the instrument for more than just a few chords. I guess only time will tell, but they do have there heads screwed on straight, seeing as how the games are packed full of great guitar work.

Let me hear what ya'll think about the subject, and anything else you might want to share with the readers here... we can all learn from each other.. Keep Rockin!

Guitar Lesson of the Day...Workin out the kinks

Many guitar players, especially those new to the instrument, and some experienced run into a song or a part of a song they just cant get down. It might have to do with not having the ability to play the part, or maybe its a lead run thats too fast etc etc. When I was new to the instrument, like many, there were tons of songs I could not play that I wanted to. I was into alot of different players at the time, being the early 90s, so alot of shredders where still in the spot light. Im going to use Eddie Van Halens Eruption as an example for this lesson. I wanted to play it so bad, but didnt know where to start. The pieces were way beyond my ability. Thats where the lesson comes in.

Those of you who want to be able to shred, play lead, or just have control over your instrument, I do recommend using exercises to get there. They can be boring, and hard at first, but have patience, put in the time, start slow, and you WILL see results, and once you do, getting better becomes addictive. I will put plenty of exercises up in future posts, but now back to being able to play that difficult piece of a song, or the whole song.

You have to build your chops in order to be able to play certain things, and thats something I personally didint understand in the early days of my playing. I also recomment breaking those parts out and making exercises out of them. Play them on different parts of the neck. If there is a legato piece, do legato exercises. Speed picking the same. Nothing is easy in life, and that goes for being a super shredding guitar hero too. Hope this lesson helped alittle, be back with plenty more.

Keep Rockin!

Guitar Lesson of The Day

Many guitar players out there are self taught, most infact. Some decide at some point to get lessons to improve their playing while others are totally against the idea of taking lessons for fear they are going to be conformed into playing or sounding like their teacher, or others who fear that once they gain some knowledge of musical theory they will find themselves restricted to only thinking inside the box.

Im a self taught player for the most part, but have taken a few lessons here and there, as well as watched plenty of lesson DVDs from everyone to unknowns to famous guitarists such as John Petrucci and Eric Johnson. You will only find yourself being restricted if you let yourself be, you can learn and gain influence in many different ways from many different players and styles. Open your mind and take it all in.

Now for my lesson of the day. Its actually something that most guitarists and guitar instructors overlook, but is a very important part of guitar playing if you want to play at your best or advance at a faster pace. Its simple.... its called STRETCHES!!!!! Im going to give you a few basic stretches you can/should do before playing your guitar. I also do them throughout the day just to keep loose.

First... open your right hand flat, then place your left hand on top of it, in the other direction, so that your finger tips are by your thumb. Then push your fingers back, reversing the direction they go when bending the hand. Only push so that your feel a stretch, you dont want to hurt yourself. Hold the stretch 10 seconds and let go.

Second stretch...... make a fist with your right hand and make sure the top of your hand is facing down. Now with the left hand wrap your palm around the fist and push your clenched fist hand down toward the inside of your fore arm. You will feel the outside of the wrist stretch.. hold 10 seconds...

do this with EACH hand and a few times each... also message the fingers... fingertips... hands and wrist to get blood flowing. This is a great pre warm up.

Hope you enjoyed the lesson... keep rockin!!!