The Guitarist Syndrome- Proper Technique vs Popular Technique

Hello

  So recently I've delved into the art of "guitar music". Most guitar players follow the stereotypical technique of learning and playing the guitar. I'm writing this post in hopes of changing that. This term "guitar music" sounds lame, but it's really the only way to talk about it. Instead of using a violin and a cello to create long, droning, single notes, one can simply use a guitar with delay, reverb, and if you really wanna get weird--a pitch-shifter or a synth engine. These effects allow you to explore all the things that a guitar really can do. Once you do figure out all the different techniques to playing, you realize that it truly is a very versatile instrument. That's right kiddies--guitars do more than power chords and pentatonic scales. Here's an example:

Ambient Dark Orchestra - this piece is by a great musician named Andy Othling. He has some great ambient guitar pieces and full albums under his solo project Lowercase Noises. In this sketch he utilizes an ElectroHarmonix Superego (only $213 from your local retailer! Just kidding that's appallingly expensive for a boutique pedal even) to create the washing sounds of a dark orchestra. 

  Now, the sonic capabilities of your guitar are seemingly endless and amazing. However, they have to be coupled with great guitar playing--musical capabilities. Find your sound using effects, your favorite amplifier, and your guitar. Then use what you know about music theory to actually proceed into making chord shapes and melodies. This technique applies to ALL genres of music, not just ambiance. Try exploring your capabilities of stretching your fingers out to make huge intervals and chords! Play around with tuning to get chords to sound glorified and drone on even longer! Play with your teeth! Just get away from the standard guitar technique. It's effective, but fucking boring. For example, if you're playing a punk rock song and you're using a four chord progression, that's totally fine. But don't use power chords, please. Play at least a 1-3-5 or a 1-3-6 chord, instead. The point is, POWER CHORDS ARE LAME. Don't use pentatonic scales! Learn full scales. Major, Minor, Harmonic, Melodic, Double Harmonic, et cetera. Most of all, do what you feel is right. You can ignore this post, if you'd like. So many guitarists do things the exact same way that their favorite rockstar does them. They lose their individuality. I'm not saying that you can avoid every bit of influence and see things from just one perspective. The fact of life is that everything influences you whether you like it or not. But make sure you still have your own voice in the end, not someone else's channeling through you.  

sk

Just in case you lack originality

A few amp settings from artists that people may somewhat enjoy.

John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers

-Use a strat neck pickup for clean arpeggios and the bridge pickup for chords and bite.

-Marshall (JCM800 preferably)

-Gain - 4

-Treble - 8

-Mid - 2

-Bass - 6

-Reverb – 7

Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin 

-Les Paul bridge pickup, light strings (.10)

-Marshall or Orange

-Gain - 4

-Treble - 8

-Mid - 3

-Bass - 7

-Reverb – 2

Dave Sullivan of Iron Maiden

-Strat, bridge pickup

-Anything with a lot of gain                                      

-Drive - 7

-Treble - 9                                                                           

-Mid - 7

-Bass - 4

-Reverb – 0

Randy Rhoads of Black Sabbath

-Les Paul, bridge pickup

-Gain 7

-Bass 7

-Mids 7

-Treble 10

-Reverb 0

Slash

-Les Paul, neck pickup, tone knob rolled back to 7ish

-Marshall Slash signature AFD

-Presence 9

-Bass 6

-Mid 6

-Treble 4

-Volume 5

A Message to Guitarists: The Problem With Up and Coming Bands

Hello

 Recently I've spent a lot of time at local venues, like the Epicentre in the heart of Mira Mesa.Quite honestly, most local bands that play at places like these are awful. But they aren't bad because they can't play well or they don't have musical talent--it's because all the instruments simply aren't audible. The problem is usually with the guitarists' volume and bite (bite is the amount of treble signal coming through the signal). This is what happens. The guitar is simply too loud and the bite just fills your ears. Notes just can't be deciphered. Meanwhile, the vocalist sings, but he can't be heard. The bassist continues to play, parallel to the volume drummer, both of which are lower than the guitar's volume. You see, the bands forget that they me sound amazing in their garage, but when they get to a bigger venue, they forget to adjust their sound. For example, you need a bit of reverb on all the instruments. Reverberation just adds this whole new element to your sound, normally. But in a big venue, it will allow your wattage to carry through the place. Also, if you are using a tube amplifier, make sure it's less than 100 watts. You just don't need more than 85 watts to play anything less than Madison square. Finally, keep your damn volume at a moderate level, guitar players! Look at it this way. The bass guitar fills the most space. It fills the room and dominates the sonic galaxy of the venue. Next come the drums, which are another huge space-taker. These two instruments should be well balanced. Use the venues monitoring system to do that. The guitar comes in on top of all that. It should be loud enough to be heard (just a wee bit louder than the drums and bass), but not loud to the point where it's indecipherable and deafening. Finally, the vocals come in. They should be the most audible sound in the room. Remember that the thing your audience is listening to isn't your epic power chords or riffing during the verse--it's your singer's voice. So portray it in a manner that complements the whole band. Another thing to keep in mind is the volume of any pedals you are using. For small venues, I usually keep it down to 2 or 3 staple pedals--OD, Dist/Fuzz, and maybe a Wah. Make sure they're all set at around unity, aside for maybe the OD, which should be a bit higher for a boost.Guitarists-you'll get your chance to shine during solos. Set your ego aside and let everyone in the band come together in a sonic swell of awesomeness.

sk

P.S.--I learned this the hard way. I had a 100 watt Marshall JCM900 on about 5 with the gain all the way up on the dirty channel and the volume at 6 on the clean channel. If you're using a Marshall, you know that they sound great in your garage, and amazing in a hall. But there's no in-between. I was just too loud. You couldn't hear the vocals or the keyboards. Well, everyone has to fail once to learn.

John Frusciante-- New stuff?

Hello

So I have a fairly biased point of view on John Frusciante's solo albums. He recently put out Outsides, a 3 song EP, and not too long ago, he released PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone, his eleventh studio album, an 11 track, intense album. Let's start with something older. How about the Will to Death or a Sphere in the Heart of Silence? In albums like these, John takes a much more melodic, almost spiritual approach to making music. For example, during "the Afterglow", the second song on a Sphere in the Heart of Silence, the bass/guitar melody is amazing. It grasps you from the beginning of the song. Then, his vocals jump in. Even though it's just scaling and such, it creates a great contrast with the other instrumentals within the space. Now let's take a look at "Outsides EP". This CD has three tracks, which is disappointing to me, because i had been looking forward to this album for a long time. I actually did enjoy all three tracks. They provide great ambiance to any scenario. I know, this may come out as odd to some of you that have listened to this EP. But it did. The first song, "Same" has amazing guitar licks, but it also has a chilled out backing track. "Breathiac", however, creates an entirely different space. It's almost a synapse. All in all, Outsides is a new, different album. It's worth listening to. It's a new favourite of mine for sure.

sk

Intervals

Intervals

What is the correct way to name and write them? Is there a "correct" way?

Hello

Recently I've been brushing up on some basic interval training (stuff along the lines of naming and writing) and I realized that I spend way too much time naming intervals. I ended up doing about 40-50 of them today and it took me about an hour and a half. This was due to the fact that I went through the entire process each time. First, I'd give the interval a numerical name. Second, I would think about whether the interval was major or perfect. And if it wasn't, what accidental would fix it? Third, I would name it. Then I noticed that I could easily use the circle of fifths to my advantage in this scenario. For example, instead of thinking which accidental would make a note major or perfect in it's key, I could simply glance at the circle and count out the sharps or flats. It was that simple. I don't know why i felt the need to express this, but i did. I hope it benefits some of you. 

sk