Guitars, tips and great music discussions
This is a little dittie that I came across on JT Music and it is something that I just had to share with you all!
It’s Little Wing played by SRV and the video is a combination of great blues players and also shows the making of what seems to be Fender guitars.
SRV R.I.P.
Keep on Jammin’
Has anyone ever wondered what the tremolo setup in their guitars look like, but was too afraid to take it apart. I’ve never had a guitar with a tremolo bar but my buddy did and one day he decided to show me.
My buddy in Brantford was a collector of guitars. He was rather talented, but was more into collecting them, then playing them. Nice hobby if you can afford it. I was very fortunate one evening to see a “59 Fender Strat” that he had picked up for his collection.
One night I was invited to bring my HiWatt and Gibson RD to his house with a couple of buddies to jam. I had come in, set up my amp and he gave me a beer. The boys always looked forward to jammin’ with me because I was one of the few guitar players who liked to challenge myself with different playing techniques. Most of the time they just watched and asked questions. That always drives me crazy! Then my buddy went over and brought out a guitar case and placed it in front of me.
When he opened the case, I felt my body shaking inside. It felt like someone had just opened up the “Ark of the Covenant” and was looking at the “10 Commandments” written by God and given to Moses on the mountain, inside!
I had never seen this legendary 59 Strat let alone had the ability to play it.
I just looked at it for a while and then he said “why don’t you plug it in?” I then picked it up and studied it intensely. After 10 minutes of viewing every angle and part of this mythical beast, I plugged it in and played for around 2 hours straight.
After I stopped playing I asked him “What does the Whammy (Tremolo) Bar system look like?”. He drew a quick picture on a pack of smokes and then asked me if I wanted to see this one’s? The guy who he had bought it from then took it from me and started to take off the back to expose the inner workings of it. It looked something like this:
Now to give you a better understanding how it works, I have a video for you.
So if you have one of these on your axe, you now have a better idea of how it works and how to roughly adjust it. I strongly recommend that you take the back cover off it and just take a look around just for an educational experience.
Remember by taking the cover off the back of your guitar to take a look, you won’t blow it up! This will make you more aware of your overall guitar and make you feel more comfortable with it. Knowledge is power and besides, it makes you look like you know what your talking about.
Take pictures and save them. Later on this may become a life saver if you do start adjusting it. This will allow you to see what it looked like before you started. Actually, take pictures of every stage of it. There is nothing worse then having a couple of screws left over when you think your done! It happens to the best of us!
Keep on Jammin’
This is a player who should be in everyones’ music collection. Michael Hedges is so innovative, crisp in the clarity of his unique style and most of all provides a very refreshing new experience. Just listening to the creative levels of his guitarmanship makes your mind wonder off towards a different level of consciousness. Just listen to the video and you will see what I am referring to.
Just off topic a bit but, I thought that I was the only one who was constantly tuning my guitar between songs. The beginning part is useful to a player who is attempting to play his style of playing, it certainly helped me out.
He refers to his style as “violet acoustic” which is a style that I might be considered to use frequently as well. Actually, aggressive acoustic is more appropriate. Michael Hedges has this gift to be able to dampen strings, which is called “Right hand string stopping” by classically trained guitarist. This is applied to the bass strings of the guitar by your thumb. Michael however, brought this to a new level of playing.
He insisted that you should dampen every individual note that is not worthy of hearing. Michael thought that letting a string ring out is like contaminating the chord structure of a song and not giving the listener the clarity of sound that you want them to hear, and I quote “It’s just, why let it ring by default of any thought? Be responsible! Don’t let things just go on because you started them.” This poses a huge problem for most guitarists. That is, it is very difficult to do this while flying around the fret board at warp speed.
The only way to achieve this level is to apply the old adage “slow down, I’m in a hurry”. Did ya ever hear of that one?
This means that you have to slow down so much that, when you play a piece fast at such slow speeds paying attention to every single minute detail, it allows you to play almost error free. I do this all the time when I practice and I may lose my marriage to my wife one day because of it. Her mind is so agile and crisp that she can do things flying around at MACH 5 and absorb things while executing it almost perfectly.
I have to give credit where credit is do so, thanx Brian @ RiffDreams for this great new guitar experience.
Keep on Jammin’
A great friend of the Power family’s son Jessie, is truly the apple of his father’s eye. In a recent article about Jesse from the Brantford Expositor this past Thursday, July 19, 2007, pretty much sums up the bright future ahead for this Brantford Musician. I really wish him the best of luck!
I fondly remember many stories about this man’s son and his guitar playing ability. I recall many stories about him doing the things that kids do over the years but never ever met the guy. He, along with his father, was a player whom I had always wanted to jam with but never had the time to do so. I hope that I can jam with him now that he is a star in the making, LOL!
I just checked out Jesse’s Myspace and LiveVideo and found it quite refreshing. He is just an honest guy doing a honest man’s gig in my home city of Brantford! I hope that this is not his Last Song!
Keep on Jammin’ Jesse
So we finally got ourselves a more then capable HD Video camera. Our SONY HDR-SR5 was bought this past Sunday. I have been going over the manual for some time now and I must admit it seems easy enough to use but to get the desired effect maybe another story.
My first video attempt was just random shots here and there around the house. I also had the opportunity to video some fireworks down at our local park. It was Canada Day on Sunday so perfect timing! The focus was so fluid and the simple effects were just plain simple to execute! The touch screen was very user friendly not to mention very cool as well! It is set up in such a simple format that even my parents, I think, could figure it out. Sorry mom & dad!
The HDR-SR5 has a CD for running the camera for idiots and another for the recording software as well as an in dept PDF manual that is very straight forward.
If you are looking for a HD Video camera I think you should check this one out! The only problem that I have with this so far is that we need a S-Video cable to plug it into our SAMSUNG HDTV. Otherwise full steam ahead.
Today I will install the software in my laptop and try out a few of the basic functions. I hope the software allows me to import the audio from an POD to the final video. If I am having problems the old boys at G-Force Media Productions in Toronto, can certainly help me out!
So wish me luck! Finally after all the hype about my starting to set up lessons on line it really will be coming soon to you my good readership!!!
Keep on Jammin’
Boy is this guy good. His name is Steven King and I will be watching out to see if he will be playing in Toronto any time soon! Also, check out the positioning of his middle pick up on his guitar, neat huh?
He may come across to some guitar players as the typical technically perfect musician with a lack of feel, but that’s ok, he’s really good at what he does. The best part comes at 1:02 of his performance.
This was the feeling that I got when listening to this type of player when I was 13 – 14 years old. I couldn’t get my thick head around the idea that this was great or, to a greater extent, cool music to play for audiences.
Then again, I was in a Kiss tribute band at the time, see earlier posts from this era of my career. Once again, my best and most influential guitar teacher was looking out for my development without me even realizing it.
He started teaching me little ditties to play that were both cool and technically satisfying for me to play at the time, and also some kids my age thought that it was good to listen to as well. Later on, I started to play “Suite Case” blues by Rik Emmett of Canadian Super Group Triump, from the Just a Game album. This direction of guitar playing has truly stood the test of time with me.
So take a little listen to this style of guitar picking. You might even try to decide if this is a style that you may want to add it to you own repertoire of techniques. Also go to youtube and input his name to find more of his work. You’ll envy this guitar guru!
Keep on Jammin’
Well this is a follow-up post from my last one.
Most music lovers in Ontario in the 80’s, were exposed to and grew up with some of the most extraordinary musical talents. But the ones that were
I bet that these guys would have done well for themselves in the European market. Bands of that era especially Saga, which had a huge cult following in Germany, shows that it can be done! Some of them tended to just peter off a bit in their later stages of the European introduction.
I just thought that I would introduce to you all, to an eye opening Canadian talent that changed my view of how to play in a uniquely Canadian way. Some of you I highly recommend you listen to this a couple of times, to really appreciate it. The guys are truly showing us here their advanced interpretations of just how to play their music to us here. Imagine the guys who influenced them!
I would just killed to play this song live with the old Pylis band. Our keyboardist Tony could play anything on those damn black boxes of his! The guy is just way too modest for this world (you got that Tony?).
So without further adieu … Ladies and Gentlemen … FM!!!
Oh, BTW, Nash is the guy in the bandages.
This little ditty is of them during their Gary Neuman period. There is a great hint of Roxy Music and Yes in there to tantalize your musical ear as well.
Keep on Jammin’
What a drag, and I was just in London that day as well!
Just kiddin’. Now this is a gig that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss if I WAS THERE.
Imagine been in a little pub holding around 500 patrons or so people and checking out Mr. McCartney as the house band of the night. Now that’s worth the over priced cover charge isn’t it?
I remember seeing him in Toronto at the Sky Dome and it was just fabulous. The sound was well, the Sky Dome but it wasn’t all that bad none the less. But a venue with 500 people … love it!
Hey, if you like the Rolling Stones you might want to take a minute and look at this video that I found. The band takes a few minutes for an interview as they prepare for their European tour.
This is a great band to see live if you ever get a chance. They just have so much energy on stage.
The Rolling Stones often come and rehearse here in Toronto before big tours, then they end up playing in a small venue just before their tour starts. We almost went to one of their pre-tour shows before their last tour.
This is another song from Saga that we played in Pylis. The song starts up with an acoustic guitar that then goes into an electric. My Gibson RD Artist fulfilled that dual roll quite admirably I must say.
It wasn’t until recently that I re-visited this song on my Larrivee L-03 acoustic.
The lyrics were just fascinating to listen to and the guitar forms are much more complex then I remembered. As you may or may not know, I’m not a lyricist by any stretch of the imagination. I just pay attention to the level of difficulty of the guitar, the overall structure and emotion that a song provides.
Later on I will start teaching people how I “interpret” how a song is played. So check out this song, and try to pick out all of the guitar progressions and remember them when I start video taping my version.
Keep on Jammin’