Learn to play as a chile learns to speak

This player - and his views, have had a profound effect on me as a musician. What an eloquent and talented human being. Victor - you are a gift to us brother. Thank you for all that you do.

Great iPad or iPhone app

I have been working with this great little app for my iPhone and iPad called Chordbot. It really is a great and simple little application that allows you to get simple backing tracks up and going in seconds. I highly recommend checking it out. You can really take your practice portable as this app. Using just the device's speakers and an unplugged guitar, you have a perfect neighbour-friendly practice tool.

BTW - I have ZERO affiliation with these people, just passing it around as I have found it something worth sharing. Check out their site (http://www.chordbot.com) for a full rundown. It has loads of features.

Red Barchetta solo w/tabs

In honour of one of my all time favourites; Rush and their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here is a classic solo from what many consider to be their finest album Moving Pictures released in 1981. This solo is from the second track Red Barchetta. Alex Lifeson has so many absolutely great solos to choose from, making it tough to choose which to be my first featured here.

Analysis

Seriously, how cool is it that this solo section is in 7/4 time? I mean really, Rush can just make any odd time meter seem to flow so cleanly that most people don't even realize something tricky is afoot. They are masters at this.

The solo begins with a fast run down the A Major pentatonic scale. BUT - Alex doesn't play the standard box patten. Which allows his to access a new area of the neck upon its completion. He then runs back up the A Major scale over the relative minor chord of F#min. A quick sequence of artificial pick harmonics (A.H. on the tab). Then he gets into the intensely melodic triad section. Here he simply follows the chord backing - AMaj triad, F#min triad, G (he adds the 9 here for a little shimmer), before culminating in a D triad then some sliding 6ths to end it. Wham, boom, see ya later! Beautiful chord tone stuff kiddies.

Getting the sound

Single coil guitar. Short slap type delay, slow light flanger and a boatload of attitude.

The files

Here is the TAB sheet for your downloading pleasure.

How important is the pentatonic scale? Bobby McFerrin demonstrates.

SUPER cool musician and demonstration. Bobby McFerrin, goes far beyond just the "guy who did 'don't worry be happy'". He is a large asset to the musical community. Here he demonstrates how deep this scale goes into the human psyche. The REALLY interesting part is where he says "anywhere I go in the world, the audience gets this". I mean how can that be? We are always told about different cultural uses and microtonality, different from our own, and all that. There is just something about this pitch collection that clicks with humans. Something to think about isn't it?

Steve Vai - a window into his style development

Here is a great video where Steve breaks down a song from his newest release. It should give you some appreciation for the amount of work he has put in to developing his own style. He clearly listens for new ways and obviously HUGELY loves the path of learning. A critical element to acquiring a massive set of chops like his. Most great players have a built-in curiosity and a hunger to try new things. Demonstrated clearly here.

Sports and music - "training" for success

A discussion I had on a music forum the other day, prompted me to do some thinking on the similarities between training for sports and music. In that conversation, I made a comparison between playing tennis and playing a guitar - which was met with a luke-warm reaction. Once one gets beyond the distasteful thought of music as some sort of competition. One with a winner and a loser. There are some definite similarities to be explored.

I should step back momentarily and say what triggered this discussion was; in the guitar community specifically, there exists a pretty vocal group, who push some sort of he-man pride in being 'unschooled' or a 'feel player'. (These attitudes usually go hand-in-hand with a general lack of theory knowledge and certainly a lack of reading and writing abilities). My personal belief is much of this bravado is simply a cover for laziness.. and that is kind of what prompted this sports/music comparison.

I was thinking... you never hear a pro athlete bragging in interviews. They just don't say that they "don't know what they are doing" or that they are a "feel player"! Athletes don't pride themselves in not working hard the way some musicians do (In spite of the fact most advanced musicians have put in far more hours on their instrument than a doctor has in school for medicine).

If you hired a professional athlete to train you; they certainly wouldn't just play the game with you would they? There might be something to learn in that approach surely. But also could come with some potential negative effects on you (as you realize the vast crevice between your level and theirs). Just playing wouldn't be enough. I have always made a light joke that musicians are really just "finger athletes" so let's take a look at typically how pro athletes train for success.

Top level athletes implement a targeted training approach and it would be something like this:

• Spend an unrealistic amount of time devoted to the craft - more than the next guy
• Eat a balanced diet
• Work out (off-field, court, ice) to strengthen muscles
• Train specific movements in isolation (i.e. shooting practice or passing drills etc.)
• Practice visualizations, work on mental aspects and concentration
• Study different formations of coverage/attack and defence strategies
• Scrimmage or play friendly game simulations
• Schedule regular practice sessions
• Play the actual game
• Watch video after, stopping to view errors, identify opponents habits - good and bad, discuss and assess individual performances
• Spend time watching other games as a fan
• Work in some days for rest
• Get lots of sleep

Quite a list isn't it. ...

Now let's look at how this relates to musical study.

• Spend an unrealistic amount of time devoted to the craft - more than the next guy (same)
• Eat a balanced diet (same)
• Work out (off-field, court, ice - stage, jam room ) to strengthen muscles (Practice - finger patterns, scales, chords sequences etc)
• Train specific movements in isolation (i.e. shooting practice or passing drills etc) (work on specific fingerings that are causing problems, isolate a chord change (theory) and practice playing over them, different voicings of the progression etc)
• Practice visualizations, work on mental aspects and concentration. (Visualizing the instrument, developing phrasing skills, stage freight, focus issues etc. Many musicians meditate for this reason)
• Study different formations of coverage/attack and defence strategies (theory/transcribing/analysis)
• Scrimmage or play friendly game simulations (soloing to backing tracks, jamming along with albums, lifting songs)
• Schedule regular practice sessions (jamming)
• Play the actual game (gig/performance/recording)
• Watch video after game (listen to performance recording playback), stopping to view errors (listen for problems in your playing), identify opponents habits - good and bad (transcribing), discuss and analyze individual performances (Post transcription analysis - discuss with other players online or in person)
• Spend time watching other games as a fan (listening to songs you love)
• Work in some days for rest (same)
• Get lots of sleep (same)

As you can see, this comparison isn't so far off the mark. Music, as with sports can come with some definite born in advantages/disadvantages. Sadly for us mortals, there will always be those people that achieve at a higher level... in spite of their practice habits. But even those - despite what they may tell you - have likely done many of the above things through their own intuition. 

To achieve success at the highest level does not happen by accident and clearly medical evidence has shown; we are not born with these abilities. They are nurtured over time through passion, persistence and a truck load of plain and simple work. But look at the number of things on the list above. Of all those points only one of them is playing the actual 'game'. The vast majority of the milage is made up outside of these moments.

So... Does your practice routine look similar to the above? Because, if not - and you dream of playing at the highest levels - you may have some things to consider.

Writer's block - some thoughts on overcoming

Writer's block... seem to have it now as I stare at this page! For any artist, musician, writer, who creates original compositions just those words strike fear. For the purposes of this entry remember,  this is really a music blog, that will be the sometimes unavoidable focus of this article. But a most of these concepts apply to any medium.

Just do it

A great piece of advice on writing came to me from my lovely wife. She - a part-time journalist and one-time journalism major back in her college days - has dealt with this issue a myriad of times before. Her advice (paraphrasing here): "Get a pencil, and just start writing - anything and everything that comes into your mind. No matter how nonsensical. The act of simply writing will just get the mind flowing. Soon it will transform into something usable. Or a grain of something you can build on". This, works. Plain and simple. No matter what the medium, sometimes you just need to start 'doing'.

Other angles

In art college (I went to school for graphic design after years as a pro musician) I had a professor who assigned a mock project that required us to paint a cover illustration for a yachting publication. My painting consisted of: Boat on the ocean, sun and channel marker buoy in the distance, seagulls, at sunset. Fairly typical marine scene. Once completed he said "Fantastic! Now redo it, as if you were seeing the scene from the other side". So I re-painted it - sun behind, buoy in front, ship in the distance, added a marina in the background... Whew! He saw it and said "Fantastic! Let's do it one more time as a seagull looking down on the scene.". He had us do this 5 times! I wanted to murder him, but in the end - we had a fully developed 3 dimensional view of the idea. The cool part was that my original perspective wasn't the best one! One of the single best lessons I ever had. Sometimes seeing it from a completely opposite angle changes everything.

Add some other minds to the mix

To begin with, it should be said that a BIG part of the problem these days - in this 'wonderful' time of computer and home do-it-yourself technology - is that artists can sit alone and write ideas endlessly. In isolation, without cost... Sounds great right? Well, it is... But not always. What you need to remember is, your same ideas, when collaborated with others, could change drastically. Maybe even taking what now appears an obvious rip-off, or lifeless piece to completely new places. Your ideas maybe aren't bad... but maybe the fact that they haven't been fleshed out with humans is a big part of their perceived lameness.

I just lived this example. I was asked to join an original band project. I did what was requested of me and wrote a piece of music for us to work on. It was well received and we jammed on it for a bit. The bass player really liked one part, he heard something in it. It was a part I had used as just a filler, a mini-bridge before the chorus. At his urging, the tune got completely re-arranged. The part I was using as the main verse got dumped altogether - replaced by this 'filler' riff. The whole picture evolved from that new place as the individuals added 'what they do' to the idea. The tune in the end, is very much nothing like what I wrote... I mean it is - but it really isn't any more. But it is honestly a better piece overall.

Writing is a process

It's an art. The hard reality is; you need to write some really weak pieces (a lot), before some good ones may be allowed to come. So I say "let the crap flow!" get it out of the way. Write your obvious riffs and get them out on the table, so the real stuff can flow. Don't be frustrated - see it as growth.

Or give up
Which is what most people do.

How about turn the tables on it and TRY to write or create a horrible piece. Write the worst song ever.

You have to ask yourself, did you honestly think all your pieces would be groundbreaking? Because if so, you better check that ego. Writing original pieces is NOT easy. Thank goodness too! Because if it were everyone would do it... making it... no longer original. After all, where's the fun in that!

Some music solutions

• Take your riff and change the time signature. I guarantee any riff played in 7 or 5 will add a whole new dimension. What about 3? 6? 9? 11? Try them all.
• What about power chords? Augment or diminish one here and there (move the fifth up or down one fret).. Or add one or two if none appear in the piece.
• What about sliding into notes instead of hitting them square
• Or displacing one or two notes by an octave
• Make one of the notes of the riff a chord
• Play it on a different part of the neck
• Skip strings on a guitar - or add a large intervallic leap on other instruments.
• Half time feel, double time
• Change the key 
• Drop the tuning 
• Add open strings to the idea or chords
• Alternate open tunings
• Maybe use less distortion effects, change the feel from up-tempo to a ballad 
• Try even adding random noise (feedback, harmonic, toggle switch, pick scrape) into the picture.

Let's get all Zen

We all go through more fertile periods in our life. So in less fertile times, you need to rely on your cunning to make your art. There is a great analogy a super successful salesman once told me. He probably stole it from somewhere but I thought it was awesome:

"Most people when they get a job picking apples, grab a basket and walk around the orchard. They grab only apples they can reach. Problem is, most of the good apples are already taken by the people who went before. When the basket isn't quite full, they will grab the best ones they can find off the ground. Cash their basket in and call it a day. Then there is the another kind of person. One who will do what it takes, maybe go grab the long extension ladder. At risk to their personal safety and convenience they will pick the best ones that live near the top of the trees. These are the people who do work of substance."

Speaks for itself really. Sometimes we all need to dig deeper. 

I think maybe we should grab the ladder : )

triads - the power of three

Hey folks, here is a quick and very useful little tool that can help you expand your note choices when soloing.

Let's set this example as if you were playing over a minor chord... You could always use the old standby options like Dorian and Aeolian, pentatonic minor and blues version among other scales. But typically people are bored of the pentatonic and the 7 notes scales have some tricky notes to work with. Wouldn't it be great to have a pool of notes (or pitch collection) to work with that has only great sounding notes? Well, here's a way to do just that. 

The ticket here is working with 3 easy-to-remember triads. So imagine - we are soloing right now over a minor chord... Let's call it A minor. The the notes of A minor are - A, C & E - this is all you need to know to use this. A little trick to remember is; if it is a minor chord, you work your way up with an alternating pattern starting with the kind of chord (so minor chord = minor,major,minor...). If it were a Major chord you were over it would be the opposite Major, minor, Major. Remember you start the pattern with the type of chord you are over.

So for our example an Amin chord (remember the notes are A,C,E) you could play:

A minor triad
C Major triad
E minor triad

See they flip flop minor,major,minor,major,minor...

If it were a Major chord (A, C#, E) you could play:

A Major triad
C# minor triad
E Major triad.

See they flip flop major,minor,major,minor... as you work your way up the notes of the chord.

Don't just read this - grab your guitar and try it. You will soon see how easy it is to remember. Soon it forms those nice little finger patterns most guitarists love so dearly. Try making up a "scale" build of only notes of these three options. Now use these to make some great music.

Matt Schofield - again - yeah, fanboy

Man this guy is awesome. Love his playing and attitude, the whole bit. His "gear nerd-ery" comment is quite funny and I certainly relate. Enjoy

Kenny Werner Masterclass

Kenny Werner to me, is like the yoda of music. I absolutely love his approach and his observations strike me as very accurate. I first came across Kenny through his wonderful book 'Effortless Mastery' - one of my all-time favourite music books. Check out this video and really consider his words. You will be a better player for it.

Take the Power Back solo w/tabs

Here is a 90's classic "Take the Power Back" by Rage Against the Machine. This solo is one of Tom Morello's few all out burners where he let's his chops hang old-school. Rage hit me and the world like a freight train. I will NEVER forget the first time they came into town in support of their first album. Small theater show, with less than 1000 people on hand. They hit the stage and absolutely annihilated the place. Ranks up there with the very best rock performances I have ever witnessed (and I saw a LOT of the bigs in their prime).

Analysis

This song is a standard tuning - but the E string gets dropped down to a D. So it is D,A,D,G,B,E. The solo portion is centered around the D natural minor scale (Aeolian mode - so same notes as the key of F Major). There really is nothing added other than the very cool Dmin7 triad that slides down to the #6. The ending is a chromatic series of dissonant diminished chords that end on the note E (played as an octave chord). An odd choice? I suspect it could have been a passionate misfret that just was left in the recording. You'd have to ask Tom!

Getting the sound

Pretty simple here, guitar with humbuckers through a tube amp. Lots of gain, but mostly aggression. Don't be nice to it.

The files

Here is the TAB sheet for your downloading pleasure.

Pedalboard fun

Check out this cool little club pedalboard I assembled. My son gave me one of his old skateboard decks. So I took some Velcro, screws, rubber feet and a handful of my unused pedals that I can swap out depending on the gig. All I need now is a skateboard bag and I will be truly rockin and Rollin!

John Schofield - "On Improvisation"

One of the best videos from one of the greatest players ever to pick up the instrument. Go out an buy yourself a copy of this beaut. It's a 4 part vid - so look for all 4.

Roben Ford - Crafting a solo

This is some great advice from one of my all time favourite soloists. If you are not familiar with Robben's playing I would suggest hitting YouTube and check the man out. I first came across him many years ago with the Yellowjackets and Miles Davis. THAT is heavy company to keep!

Modes - clearing up some common confusions.

With modes, sometimes you need to step back to start to understand them. So let's go back to the basic understandings of a mode: a mode is simply a major scale - but with a different note as the tonic or home tone.

So the key of G has the notes: G,A,B,C,D,E,F#,G
A Dorian has the notes: A,B,C,D,E,F#,G,A

Same notes right?
Different order - THIS matters.

A Dorian has the note A - which also means that its associated chord (Amin) is the tonic or 'home tone'. So a song that uses the notes of the key of G - BUT IS CENTERED AROUND THE CHORD Amin is a Dorian piece.

Sounds simple yes? Well it is. 
But here's the thing; YES - you can use all of the chords that live within the key of G. But the problem is, this pool of notes (or pitch collection) has a STRONG gravity towards the note G - NOT A. So the more of these chords you add to your progression, the less 'Dorian' it will sound.

This is why typically, most songs considered truly "modal" are based around just one or 2 chords. Using only one or two chords can create the sound of a drone of sorts. This harmonic simplicity allows the listener to soak in the true nuances of the desired mode. Think bagpipes or Indian music. A constant note provides a built-in framework, which has a real beauty to it.... or ugliness as desired.

Let's also discuss a couple other confusing things:

1. The use of a 'scale mode' and something being 'modal' are not the same. During a solo, over a static chord, sure you can use different modes momentarily... Jazz guitarists do this all the time. But understand that this does nothing to affect the songs overall modality. The chords define the mode NOT the scale you are choosing to use.
2. Modes are NOT scale shapes.... well, I mean, they are... or can be. But playing in Mixolydian mode (for example) can be fingered a number of different ways. Typically guitarists tend to think of things as fingering shapes - again TYPICALLY with the root centred on the low E string. This is not what is going on here. All the answers lie in the notes or pitch collection used.

You want to write a modal piece? It's simple.

STEP 1: Pick a mode
Let's pick Mixolydian, the fifth mode of G (for example). The V chord in any key is dominant, so that means to get the Mixolydian sound, we use a D7 chord as the root of our progression. So strum away and record yourself doing so... one chord, chug, chug, chug.

STEP 2: Write a melody (or 'head')
Play around until you find a melody that works over your D7 backing.

STEP 3: Support the newly created melody
Once you have your drone and melody in place start adding in chords (again, of the key of G) to your backing  - but whatever you do, make sure you keep going back to the D7.

The key here is KEEPING IT SOUNDING LIKE D.
NOT G.

Voila! A modal song. This concept confused me for soooooo long that when i finally grasped it, it seemed anti-climactic. I hope that just happened for you too. : )

Modal understanding should be a part of every musicians bag of tricks. BUT - it is not some magic potion. Applying creativity to everything you do IS what it is all about. So armed with this knowledge, get out there and write me a classic. Modal sounds have been utilized by everybody from the classical masters, to the Beatles, right up to this day. You can learn to use them too.

With a little practice of course!