Guitar Tune Ups - Truss Rod Adjustments

So I've been feeling brave and adventurous lately. I absolutely love my Ibanez AM77 semi-hollow body, but couldn't help thinking it could stand a few improvements here and there. The first was regarding the action, or string height. It comes with a bridge that is Ibanez version of a Gibson tune-o-matic. I was having problems with fret buzz, so to fix the problem I raised the bridge until the buzzing stopped. While the strings now rang out nice and clean, the high action made it a little more difficult to play. In my research I determined that the most likely cause of my fret buzz was in the neck. On most electric guitars, you don't want your neck 100% straight, you want a little forward bend to allow the strings to vibrate freely when fretted. You can adjust the bow in your neck by tightening or loosening your truss rod. This is a threaded steel rod that runs through the neck of steel stringed guitars to help keep them from warping under the tension of the strings. By tightening the truss rod (righty-tighty) you are bending the headstock backwards(away from the strings) By loosening the truss rod, (lefty-lousy) your are allowing the natural tension of the strings to pull the headstock forward.

Measuring for proper relief is very simple. Place one finger of your left hand on the first fret of the low E string. Place the pinky finger of your right hand on the 14th fret. Now look at the distance between the string and the 6th fret. It should be a little more than the thickness of a business card. Any more or less should require only small adjustments.

A necessary word of caution. If you tighten your truss rod too much, you will crack your neck. That is what we call "very bad"!! Make only minor adjustments. If you have to turn it more than 1 or 2 full rotations, allow your guitar to sit for a couple of days so the wood in the neck can conform to it's new shape. If you felt your neck is too tight but you still have buzzing issues or improper relief, take your guitar to a trained luthier.

Keep rockin'!!

And remember, whether it's learning a new riff or adjusting your truss rod...

Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast!!

A Year of Fun and Learning

It was just about a year ago that I started playing with the group of guys I now refer to as "the band". I've already shared quite a bit about a lot of the fun and learning that has taken place in these last 12 months, but I had a real eye opener just this morning. At our last practice session, we began talking seriously about gigging. We all feel pretty confident in our abilities, and we are looking for the next step, to help us take it to the next level. One of the first things we did was to start talking about a set list. Our drummer, Andy, sent out an email with a list of the songs we play on a regular basis. To my suprise, there were almost 30 songs! He did not include the songs we have only played a couple of times, or the ones with which we are still struggling and tweaking. These 30 songs are songs which we would feel comfortable playing in front of paying customers. Add the other odd numbers, and we are at roughly 35. On top of that, I have a out 10 or 12 songs that I play on my own, but don't do with the group. So in short, I have gone in one year from not knowing how to play the guitar to playing nearly 50 songs, and most of them pretty darn well (at the risk of sounding a little arrogant).

So what's my point? By learning a few simple chord shapes, a couple of scales and finding a group of like-minded musicians to play with, I have been able to go from "guy who thinks it would be cool to play the guitar" to "guy who plays guitar in a legitimate band". It's far from impossible, in fact I wouldn't even go so far as to say it's even been difficult. I don't say any of this in an attempt to toot my own horn. I bring up the point to illustrate that anyone at any age can make the decision to pick up an instrument and start to play and have fun. For that matter, it's not even limited to music. If there is something you've always wanted to do, play guitar, get a degree, run a marathon, write a book, whatever, the only thing stopping you is you! Don't let fear and intimidation keep you from living the life you want to live.

In the mean time, crank it up to 11, and rock out!

And as always don't forget... Slow is smooth, smooth is fast!!

Low Cost Gear Upgrades

            In my last post, I talked a little about good sound on a budget. Specifically regarding several articles I had read recently about well-known artists who use low end guitars both on tour and in the studio. That got me thinking about my own situation. A while back I won a Fender American Standard Strat in a Fender giveaway. The guitar is a classic piece of work; I am just not a big fan of the single coil sound. So for several months I have been speaking with guitar shops about possible trades to get into something with humbuckers. This has been a pretty discouraging undertaking so far. For the most part, even though the guitar is like new and sells for $900-1000, guitar shops only want to give around $300 in trade-in. I am not going to trade a $1000 guitar for a $300 guitar, just on principle. So, up to now, I have held on to it and it sits in its custom hard side case in my closet.

            So, taking a bit of my own advice, I have started looking at upgrading the stock single coil pickups with after-market humbuckers. I am intrigued by the humbuckers that are the same size as the single coil pickups, allowing me to upgrade without having to replace or alter my pick guard in any way. My research so far has revealed that I can get into a set of Strat humbuckers for $200-300. Even cheaper than that, I can buy a single bridge humbucker for less than $100 and have it installed for about $15 so I don’t have to mess with any soldering myself and screw anything up. I am also looking into upgrading my pots. Just for the record, up until about two weeks ago, I had no idea to what the term “pots” was referring. Now I know that “pots” is short for potentiometers, aka….. your knobs. Pot’s sounds cooler… Anyway, I have read that when upgrading from single coil to humbucker pickups, one should upgrade the tone and volume controls to higher capacities. Another cool option in to get push-pull (aka. coil tapping or coil splitting) knobs. This allows you to change whether your pickups operate in parallel or in series. By changing these settings, you can alternate between single coil and humbucker tone. It really makes for a win/ win. I can upgrade to having a humbucker available, without losing the single coil sound if I need it in the future. New pots run about $15 and another $15 labor to have them installed.

Long story short, instead of going out and spending a thousand dollars on a guitar with humbucker pickups, and taking a $700 bath on my new Strat, I can spend a little over $100 and make it into the guitar I want it to be. Now the challenge is figuring out which pickup to buy. That’s OK, it gives me an excuse to go on guitarcenter.com and look at a bunch of stuff that I don’t have the money to buy!

Keep rockin’ and have fun.

Remember….. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast!!

Playing with Sounds and Textures - Magic Carpet Ride

The last time we got together and played, a couple people brought some new songs to try out. The one I had the most fun with was Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf. First, the song itself is very simple to play. Basically goes like this-

(I like to dream....)

D - D - C - G - G 

(Right between the sound machine...)

D - D - C - C - G - G - G

Repeats...

(Close your eyes girl...)

G - A# - C - G

As always, go online and listen to the song on uTube, Grooveshark or some other online music resource, and it's pretty easy to figure out the rhythm. Once you have the feel for it, play around with the syncopation, and it gets pretty funky pretty fast.

On the second to last verse, on the second time around of the G - A# - C - G, instead of going back to the D - C - G progression, go to the E chord (A shape bar at the 7th fret... play the open low E as well to add extra punch). On Steppenwolf's version, they do this extended, psychedelic, feedback driven, distorted jam. I haven't counted to see for how many measures they do this, but we do it for about 20 measures or so. As a rule of thumb, wait until it feels like it has been going on for an uncomfortably extended time, and go one more measure just to be sure. I'm typically not playing up to this point, we have two other guitars, one playing bar chords, the other open chords through the verses and chorus. When the jam starts, I come in with an over driven, distorted tone. I also use some touch wah and sine chorus to add to the psychedelia. 

I typically don't have feedback issues with my semi-hollow body despite everything everyone told me when I bought it, but in this instance, my goal is to get a very full, warbling feedback. I'll typically come in playing the E, then slide up to a Cmaj7 (A shape at 10th fret on the D - G - B - e strings) and alternate between strumming and picking alternating notes. The chord looks like this:

.e:--12

B:--12

G:--12

D:--10

A:--X

E:--X

After about 20 measures or so, it cuts right back into the first verse (D - C - G progression). I'll have my neck pickup volume set at 0. To act as a cut-off switch, I'll flip from bridge to neck, and go right into the first verse vocals. It makes for a really cool tonal transition!

I know it's hard to conceptualize sounds in words, so  pick up your guitar and play around with it. As a rule in general, but for this song in particular, the louder the better. Get some ear plugs and crank it up. You can't get the same sounds out of your amp at 2 that you can get at 10!

On a side note, I put my first ding in the new Ibanez playing this song. While playing with the angles of the pickups to the amp and changing the tone of the feedback, I accidentally bumped the headstock against the wall..... another cool sound! So, needless to say, this was repeated several times to play with the different sounds and textures. WARNING!!! Don't do this if your guitar is your baby! You will end up with dents and scratches on your headstock.To me, my guitar is a tool, so I'll do whatever I need to in order to get the sound I want out of it. Probably another good reason that I won't buy a guitar for more than a couple hundred dollars. Reading articles in Guitar World the last couple of months, I have read multiple interviews with popular, professional, touring guitarists who have Squire Strats and other similar low budget guitars in their arsenal. What these guys do is buy pickups and electronics that they like, and swap them out with the stock electronics in these cheap guitars. So much more of their tone comes from their amps and effects that the differences between tone woods and construction in a $200 guitar and a $10,000 guitar are negligible. I guess the moral of the story is this.... You don't have to spend a ton of money on gear to have a great time and play great music!

So go get 'em!

Have fun and practice, practice, practice

Remember................ Slow is smooth, smooth is fast!!

B

Milestones to Success

I'm pretty excited that with this posting, I will more than likely meet one of my personal milestones, 100 pageviews on my blog! I appreciate everyone who stops by and checks out the updates. I know that 100 pageviews isn't a huge accomplishment. There are plenty of websites out there that get hundreds, even thousands of views every hour (some of them even feature people with their cloths ON!!)

The fact that it isn't a gigantic success isn't the point. Just like with your personal progress with the guitar, there is nothing wrong with setting small goals for yourself. First learn one chord shape, then two, then learn how to take three chords and play a blues progression. It doesn't have to be huge, just keep moving forward. The point for me is that it is helping me to organize my thoughts and my practice routines, and most importantly, helping others learn to enjoy guitar the way that I've come to enjoy it. I have received several emails from you guys, saying that you have been thinking about starting, but never really had the motivation to take the plunge. The questions range from gear recommendations for beginners, to fears about how difficult starting to play may be. That is awesome, because it's exactly what I want this blog to be. I want to help others learn and grow musically, which I believe, also helps them learn and grow personally.

So keep the questions coming! Tell your friends about it! Eventually, I would like to get enough followers to get the attention of some vendors and retailers, and be able to give away some gear to help make it even easier to get started... Nothing easier than free stuff. The next goal is 10 followers, so next imte you stop in, be sure to register and become a follower. Thanks again, and I'm looking forward to talking to you again soon!

As always, don't forget;

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast

B

Simple Songs: AC/DC - Back in Black

Music doesn't have to be complicated to be good. Take one of my favorite bands for example... AC/DC. The song Back in Black, a rock and roll classic, is basically three chords repeated, E-D-A. Don't believe me? Try it out here.... Think about the rhythm and play these chords:

E--D-D-D--A-A-A 

The first little turn around is a very simple backward E scale, looks like this:

.e:--3--0---------------------

B:--------3--0---------------

G:-----------------3--2--0--

D:---------------------------

A:---------------------------

E:---------------------------

Then right back into the chorus, E-D-D-D-A-A-A. The next turn around is a simple walk up, looks like this on the low E string:

E:--7--4--7--5--7--6--7--7\0

When you play that last note slide down to the open E and start the E-D-D-D-A-A-A rhythm over again. Basically every verse just repeats these alternating chords and turnarounds. Now, for any melancholy purists out there, I don't care if this is how Angus played it on the original studio cut in 1977 or whenever. The point is, it's simple, it's easy, it rocks, and it's fun to play! Especially if you can get some distortion out of your practice amp (now your all kinds of Rock Star!!) Learn this and whip it out at your next party or social gathering, just make sure your wearing your shorts, chucks and school-boy jacket when you do it, and you'll bring the house down! Seriously, everybody knows that rhythm, don't care who they are.

The chorus, if you get really adventurous, just a simple play on this E scale:

E Scale

.e:-------------------------------------------0--3--

B:------------------------------------0--3---------

G:--------------------------0--2--3---------------

D:-------------------0--2-------------------------

A:---------0--1--2--------------------------------

E:--0--3------------------------------------------

And this A scale, which looks just like the E scale, just move it up one string, like this:

A Scale

.e:----------------------------------0--3--

B:------------------------1--3--4---------

G:-------------------0--2-----------------

D:---------0--1--2------------------------

A:--0--3----------------------------------

E:-----------------------------------------

Run up and down those scales a few times, then try this out for the chorus:

E Riff

.e:-------------------------------------------

B:-------------------------------------------

G:-------------------------------------------

D:-----2--0-------------0-----0-----0------

A:------------2--0---------0-----1-----2---

E:--0----------------3----------------------

Play that four (4) times, then shift up to the A scale:

A Riff

.e:------------------------------------------

B:------------------------------------------

G:------2--0------------0-----0-----0-----

D:-------------2--0--------0-----1-----2--

A:--0----------------3---------------------

E:-----------------------------------------

Play that twice, then back to the E riff and play it two more times (E-E-E-E-A-A-E-E). Now, bring it aroooouuund toooowwwnn back to the verse:

.e:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

B:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

G:---------------------------------------0----------------------0---------------

D:-------------------------------------------0----------------------0-----------

A:--0-----2--0--2--0-------2--0--2------------0------0--------------0-----0--

E:------0----------------0----------------------------3---------------------3---  

Play this whole thing twice.... then G bar chord:

.e:--3

B:--3

G:--4

D:--5

A:--5

E:--3

And finally, resolve to a few D bad chords:

.e:--x

B:--7

G:--7

D:--7

A:--5

E:--x

That is basically the whole song minus Angus' solo. Remember what I said about playing with tab. Tab is a tool so you know what scale and chord shapes to use. Before and while you are playing, go on to youtube or grooveshark, and look up the song. Listen to the rhythms, pause it and practice it a piece at a time. When you have the rhythm down, practice playing the whole thing through, along with the song or video. Start slow... a little piece at a time.

Always remember....

Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast!!

B

What I'm Listening To: 1/25/2011

I love Pandora Internet Radio..... Love, love, love it!! If you are already familiar with Pandora than you probably already know why I am so enthusiastic. If you aren't in the know about Pandora, let me bring you up to speed. Pandora is an internet "radio" service that takes a song or artist that you like, matches it with other similar songs and artists, and plays a mix of music that is similar in one way or another to what you like. For example, my favorite Pandora channel is my White Stripes channel. Because of the eclectic style of Jack White, I get a wide range of interesting music, from rock (Wolfmother, Black Sabbath) to blues (Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Canned Heat) to alternative (The Hives, Cake) to bluegrass (the "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack). By getting a good mix of styles and artists, I have been introduced to music that I probably never would have listened to before. Granted, not all of it is great, but if I don't like it, I just give it the big "thumbs down", and never have to hear it again.

The last four songs I have set out to learn have been "300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues" by The White Stripes, "All Night Long" by Buckcherry, "Get Over It" by Ok Go, and "On My Way" by Billy Boy on Poison. What these songs have in common are 1) They are all rather simple to play with bar chords, 2) they have a little bit of guitar vamping, but nothing really crazy as far as solos, and 3) they all have kind of foot stompin', and heavier "good times" rock and roll beats and rhythms. I can hear a "style" starting to come through in my playing, something like a mix between an AC/DC style rock with a heavy blues influence. Besides the fact that these are the kinds of music I enjoy, they also play to my strengths (and weaknesses) as a player. I am sure that my abilities have influenced my music choice at least as much, if not more than the pure esthetic.

For the time being, I am not going to tab songs on this site, maybe some time in the future, but for now, I get pretty much anything that I play from Ultimate-Guitar.com If you are new to using guitar tab, here are a couple of hints. Don't try to figure out a song just by looking at the tab. If you aren't really familiar with the rhythm, the tab can be really frustrating.  If you want to learn a certain song, the first step is to listen to it... a lot...  If you don't already own a copy of the song, you can get a video for just about any song there is on Youtube, or you can go to an iTunes or other digital music site and download it for  around 99 cents. Once you have the song, and can listen to it over and over, try to play along. This is where the tab comes in handy. Use the tab to identify the chords and changes, then follow along as you listen to the music. A warning.... not all tabs are created equal! A lot of tab is submitted to public sites by regular Joe's (or Jane's as the case may be) just like you and I, who liked a song,  sat down and banged out something as close as they could to what they are hearing, and wanted to share that with others. That being said, use tab as a guideline, not a rule. If you play the tab and it doesn't sound just right to you, then change it up!

Keep rockin', and remember.....

Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast!!

B

Seven String Guitars

Reading through several guitar periodicals, I have noticed a trend in monthly features regarding seven string guitar method, licks and tabs. I spent a couple of days thinking about and researching the topic and I think the next guitar I get will be a seven string, and here's why...

The method I used to teach myself guitar was based upon shapes and patterns. Incidentally, I think a mistake that a lot of teachers make, mostly because it is in every method book you pick up (Mel Bay, Fender, etc...), is to spend a ton of time on open chords. Not that there is anything wrong with open chords, they are full and bright sounding. But when someone wants to learn guitar, it is typically because they want to play songs. Open chords simply are not the fastest way to learn your favorite songs. Especially when it comes to younger students, whit shorter attention spans, I think it would be more fruitful to teach them an E-shaped bar chord and a few rock progressions and let them have at it. Then, teach them the A-shape, a few more songs, maybe mix up the E and A shapes, and let them rock out. Then, teach them the major and minor pentatonic, which are minor variations of the same shape, and teach them a couple solos to go along with a couple of the songs they already learned the chords for. I think it would keep them excited longer, and thereby keep them practicing and improving.

Now that I have become comfortable with bar chords and the pentatonic scale, I have started experimenting with different sounds and textures. I think this is probably a natural learning progression. All that to say, because of the intervals of the seven string guitar, it is very simple to transition these same shapes from a six string. The bar chord shape for a major chord on the seventh string, a low B, is the same as the E shape on the sixth string.

Check this out:

E shape, open fretting, E chord (six string)

.e:--0
B:--0
G:--1
D:--2
A:--2
E:--0

E shape, open fretting, B chord (seven string)

.e:--2
.b:--0
G:--x
D:--1
A:--2
E:--2
B:--0

Don't let the last three strings fool you, if you strum the B, E, A and D strings, you get a nice full and powerful low B. Move this shape up the neck and you get a C, C#, D, and D# that are all lower than any chords you can get on a standard tuned six string. Of course, you can play these lower chords by drop tuning your six string, but this has two negative effects in my opinion. 1) drop tuning messes with your chord and scale shapes, and 2) you lose the high end of the register because you have to down-tune your high e string.

All in all, I am excited about experimenting with a seven string. I am a firm believer that great things can be accomplished by focusing on mastering the basics. A SWAT instructor of mine once told me that the difference between basic and advanced is the number of repetitions. In other words, the difference between a beginner guitarist and an advanced guitarist is how quickly and accurately you can play the same scales. Not that I feel that I have mastered any aspects of the six string guitar, but a seven string is a natural progression of my learning theory. A while back, I won an American Standard Stratocaster in a giveaway. I'm not a huge fan of the single coil sound, so maybe I will use that traditional little beauty to trade my way into a decent Schecter or Ibanez seven string....... Hmmmmmm

Remember...

Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast!!!

B

Peavey AmpKit Link Review

I was pretty excited when I read about the Peavey/ Agile Partners AmpKit Link in last months Guitar World. The idea of being able to sit in my recliner and play without dragging out my amp and having power and guitar cables strung across the living room was pretty appealing. The same issue ranked the Amplitube iRig as one of the top apps of the year, so I was interested in comparing the two. Based on the articles, both products are quite similar. I own a Peavey guitar with which I have been very pleased, and a friend of mine swears by Peavey amps. Those factors as well as the fact that Peavey is an American company and the Ampkit Link is about $10 cheaper led me to my decision to go with the Peavey product. I called Guitar Center to make sure they had some in stock, and headed across town on my day off to get my new toy. 

First, I downloaded the free version of AmpKit onto my iPhone 3G. The free version comes with several emulators;  a Peavey Valve King head, a 1x12 and 4x12 cabinet, two microphones, a noise gate pedal and what boils down to an overdrive pedal. 

Next, I opened my new treasure, chucked the el-cheap-o batteries that come in the package, and put in two brand new, name brand AAA batteries.....Check. 

I plugged the link into my iPhone..... Check.

I plugged the guitar cable into my Ibanez AM77 (with black nebular finish!!).....Check.

I fired up the AmpKit App and chose the Valve King with 4x12 cabinet with no effects pedals..... Check

I plugged the guitar cord into the Link and got the green light..... Check

I wind up in my best Pete Townshend fashion and strum a monster E power chord ................ Nothing.

I checked the volume on the guitar, the iPhone and the amp head, all were OK. I unplugged the headphone jack and plugged it back in. Other than a tremendously horrible scratching noise..... nothing. In my frustration, I went for the users manual. When all else fails, read the directions! Only problem is there is no manual in the package. But, lucky for me, the box says there is a manual available online. So I go onto Peavey's site, but to my disappointed, there is no users manual to be found anywhere.

Next step, I email Agile Partners customer service point of contact designated for any Link problems. Now, the longer I wait, the more frustrated I become. After several hours of checking and rechecking, deleating and redownloading and changing every conceivable setting, it' stime to go to bed, back to work for me in the morning. Due to long work days, I didn't have a chance to mess with the Link much for a couple days. Unfortunately, it took Agile roughly three days to respond to my initial email.They recommended I try the Link on another iPhone, so I tried it on my wifes to no avail. I emailed them back with the results, at which time they told me it is probably a bad link, take it back and exchange it. So, it's back across town. I exchange the defective link for a new one, which I test out in the store with a demo guitar, and to save myself another 1 hour round trip. 

This time, my iPhone identifies the Link, and its beautiful music..... Well, sort of... I was getting a lot of static. I remembered reading in a forum that some users had issues with excessive static. Many blamed it on their phones. For me, I quickly identified the culprit as being low E string buzz!! So, after a few turns of the bridge screw on the low E side and a quick tune-up, any noise was virtually gone and it was back to playing. The Valve King head provides a very punchy and bright sound. I switched it to the lead setting, and it gave a gravelly grumble, but not the dirty, garage rock tone I was hoping for. I am a big fan of the Fender Hot Rod DeVille, so when I saw the "American Rebel" available in the gear store, I just had to know. For $4.99 I am now the proud owner of yet another virtual amp. I should learn to read the descriptions better. This amp only comes with the 1x12 cabinet, not the 4x10 I was hoping for. Getting past that, I readjusted my settings, picked the DeVille and matching cab and gave it another shot. At first, the sound was drowned in low end. I adjusted the equalizer, bumped up the treble, turned down the bass and tried again. Better, but this emulator sounds nothing like the warm, classic blues/ rock tone of the DeVille line. I suppose that for $995 less than the real thing, it isn't awful. 

All in all, if you are looking for a replacement for an actual amp and cabinet, this is not for you. If you are looking for a cool and affordable gadget to make practice more fun and convenient, than it's worth the $30 for this little piece of kit. 

Gear Upgrade - Line 6 Spider IV 30 Review

While the SP-10 is a great little starter amp, it just didn't have the lungs to keep up when playing with the band. When I first showed up, the room where we play is roughly 15'x20', with about a a 10' peaked ceiling. My little 10 watt amp with 6" speaker had to compete with a full drum set, a Fender Jazz King, a Marshall combo, and a bass head with 2x12 cabinet. So needless to say, I was a little out gunned! I really didn't want to spend a ton of money, but I wanted to be able to run with the dogs, so to speak.

 I first looked at tube amp combos, and quickly realized these were out of my price range. Then I started shopping online for solid state combos. I found there to be three relevant price ranges for me. The first was anything under $150. Most of these amps were only slightly larger than what I was currently playing, 15 to 25 watts with 8-10" speakers. Some had a few effects, but nothing to get excited about, and certainly nothing worth spending 150 of my hard earned dollars on. The next group was the $250 and over crowd. Some of these were very nice, mostly when you get up to the $350- 400 range. Decent power (40+ watts), some neat bells and whistles and even some foot pedals. But for the most part, at the lower end I found stripped down versions of the nicer amps. Better than the $150 amps, but not nice enough to justify $300. A friend of mine first recommended the Line 6 amps. He owned a pod, and had high praises for Line 6's amp, cab and effects modeling capabilities. So on my next day off, I drove over to the guitar shop and checked out the Spider IV 30.

Speaking with the clerk at the guitar shop, he told me that Line 6 had such good modeling and effects capabilities because they use the same hardware and solid state technology in their amps that they use in their pedals. Basically it's just like having a bunch of pedals hardwired into your amp, in contrast to a central processor which processes the signal to create the effects you request. So, after a few trips to the shop, and playing a few different guitars through the Spider, including my Squier Strat, I shelled out the $199 to Firehouse Music in Wyoming, MI. When I got it home, I plugged it in and took it for a spin. The first feature I used was the built in tuner. The interface is pretty simple, there are four lights. If the far left light lights you are flat. If the far right light lights you are sharp. If both middle lights light, you are in tune. After tuning up, it was time to get rocking. My favorite feature of the amp is the 1/8' input jack which allows you to play your mp3 player or iPod through the amp and jam along, the next best thing to playing with an actual band. This is great for practice. Not only is it fun, but it helps you learn to keep time and tempo. The down side is the 1/4" headphone jack. Really? Does anybody even own 1/4" headphones anymore? Unless you are a DJ in a New York nightclub, or that dude from the Gorillaz, you just look like a big dork. Especially if you have the big spiral, stretchy phone chord ones!! But, I already owned the $5 1/4" to 1/8" converter from Radio Shack, so it was easily overcome.

While there is a wide range of tones and effects, I really didn't find "that tone" from the Spider IV. When plugged into the Squier Strat, I found the clean tones to be a bit too tinny. When using the "dirtier" settings, the bass has a tendency to overwhelm the sound. If you are a fan of metal, the distorted channels on the Spider IV will be right up your alley. The "Insane" setting has crazy saturation, and still manages to keep it's punchiness. When playing rhythm with the band, I'd usually stick to the neck pickup, and use the dirty blues channel with pretty decent results, something vaguely resembling a warm, anemic version of the Jazz King. My daughter has since inherited the Spider IV. She plays a Peavey (which I will review later) with two single coils and a humbucker at the bridge. She likes to play some 30 Seconds to Mars and Thousand Foot Krutch. Through the humbucker, she can get good crunch and sustain. In my opinion, the Spider IV is definitely more ideal for hard rock or metal, and less for classic rock or blues. All together, while the Spider IV probably isn't a "gig" quality amp, it is definitely an affordable alternative if you are looking for some decent chops in the garage with your buddies and don't want to break the bank.

In the mean time, remember......

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast!!

Have fun,

B

Getting the Band Together

After bar chords and the pentatonic scales, the next ingredient that supercharged my learning curve was playing with other musicians. About 6 months into reading do-it-yourself guitar books, online tab searches and repetitive scale exercises, my next breakthrough came from work (of all places). I had just started a new job, and was orienting with Andy, another new hire. We went through all of our training together, and eventually had to go out of state for a week of training. We both had extensive military backgrounds, so we hit it off right away. One day I was telling him about my new guitar hobby, and he told me he had been playing drums for over 20 years. He invited me to come play with him, a bass player and another guitar player.

I was a little intimidated at first, but Andy and the guys were very encouraging, and the focus was always (and remains to be today) on having fun and growing musically. One of the many benefits was helping me focus. When playing on my own, I spent more time browsing through different tabs, trying to decide what song to play and learn than I spent actually playing. When I arrived, they already had a list of songs they played on a regular basis. I had never played any of the songs before, but by the end of the night, with the help of more experienced musicians, I was able to play six or seven different songs from beginning to end. This pace of learnin was light-years faster than anything I would have accomplished sitting on my couch with a guitar tab book.

I had more fun that first night than I'd had in a long time. I left that night with a whole new level of confidence and a desire to attack my playing and keep moving forward. That excitement and enthusiasm carried over into my practice routine. With new found focus and renewed spirit, I emmersed myself in that set list. I downloaded the songs off of iTunes and listened to them when driving back and forth to work, working around the house, in the shower and when laying down for bed at night.

After a couple more jam sessions, we all felt pretty comfortable with the songs, and quite frankly, we were starting to get a little bored. So, the following get together some of us brought new material, and the learning process started all over again, this time with an expanded library of musical references built on our past experiences.

I was lucky enough to have a great bunch of musicians fall right into my lap at just the right time. However, you don't have to wait for someone to invite you to jam with them. Visit your local guitar shop, and you are likely go find a bulletin board where individuals or groups will post looking for musicians of all types and skill levels. You can post there too!! Either way, find yourself a group of fellow musicians, and it will fast-track your development to that next level and beyond.... Not to mention, it's CRAZY fun!

Keep rockin', and have a blast.
Remember, slow is smooth, smooth is fast.....

B

Scales

I am apparently a very visual learner. Just like with bar chords, nearly all of the soloing that I do revolves around two shapes. When reading elsewhere, they are usually referred to as soloing scales. As a logical progression in my playing, I suppose it is no surprise that I built my use of these scales around the E and A bar chord shapes. For simplicity sake, let's look at what I call the E shape, starting at the 3rd fret, or G on the low E string:

G root:

 e:--------------------------------------6--8--10

B:-------------------------------6--8-----------

G:---------------------3--5--7-----------------

D:--------------3--5----------------------------

A:----1--3--5----------------------------------

E:--3-------------------------------------------

Just about any solo you hear in a blues or rock song, with the exception of some metal, revolves around this scale shape (AKA the fabled minor pentatonic scale).

You can also play this scale with the root on the A string like this:

C root:

 e:----------------------------------6--8--11

B:------------------------4--6--8-----------

G:-----------------3--5---------------------

D:-------1--3--5----------------------------

A:----3--------------------------------------

E:--------------------------------------------

Use the scale rooted on the E string when soloing over E shaped bar chords, and the scale rooted on the A string when soloing over A shaped bar chords.

You can extend the A shape scale down to the E string too, it looks like this:

C root:

 e:------------------------------------------6--8--11

B:--------------------------------4--6--8-----------

G:-------------------------3--5---------------------

D:---------------1--3--5----------------------------

A:--------1--3--------------------------------------

E:--1--3------------------------------------------

My personal experience, when it comes to my training plan, is that there is no substitute for accurate repetition. Start ridiculously slow until you get the feel for the chord shapes. Also, listen to the progression. I bet it will only take a few trips up and down the neck before you hear something that reminds you of a song that you know or solo you have heard. 

When I started playing and got the scale patterns down, I would literally sit in my chair, with the TV on or whatever, and just play ascending and descending scales over and over and over again. This creates a few different results. First, if you are new to guitar, you need to build up the callouses on your fingers, and nothing does that better than running scales. Second, when you are playing these scales, get in the habit right away of alternate picking. Alternate picking means that you pick the first note of the scale with a down stroke, the second with an up stroke, the third with a down stroke, so on and so on. This is critical to eventually building skill and accuracy. Finally, chances are, these scales will make up the majority of soloing you will do going forward, so the sooner you learn them the better.

Remember when you are practicing .... Slow is Smooth, Smooth is Fast

Now go rock it!!!

B

Minor Bar Chords

After learning major bar chords using the E and A chord shapes, the next step took me to minor bar chords. This progression had little to do with conscientious decision making, and more to do with the fact that it seemed like a lot of the songs I was trying to learn via tablature included minor chords. The transition from major to minor chords was simple once I understood the E and A bar chord shape concepts. Here are examples of some E minor shaped bar chords:

E minor bar chord:

e:--0
B:--0
G:--0
D:--2
A:--2
E:--0

G minor bar chord:

e:--3
B:--3
G:--3
D:--5
A:--5
E:--3

As you can see, playing an E minor shaped bar chord is nearly identical to the E major shape, the only difference being that you lower the G string by one fret. The E minor shaped bar chords can be identified the same as the E major, by simply identifying the note the index finger is playing on the low E string. The A minor shape is formed the same way, except with your root on the A string. Here are a couple of examples of minor bar chords in the A minor shape:
A minor:

e:--0
B:--1
G:--2
D:--2
A:--0
E:--X

C minor bar chord:

e:--3
B:--4
G:--5
D:--5
A:--3
E:--X

You can see that the A minor is the same as the A, with the exception that the B string is lowered one fret. Again, you can identify the minor bar chord by what note the index finger is playing on the A string.

Bar chords are a pretty simple concept. The trick for me is to think of them as shapes; the E shape, the A shape, the E minor shape and the A minor shape. Once you grasp the shapes, all that is left is to identify the notes of the low E and A strings, and you can quickly play any major or minor chord up and down the neck of the guitar.

Squire Strat and SP-10 Starter Pack Review

I wanted to take a break from the more "academic" topics (to use the term as loosely as possible). I want to talk about what gear I use, and what my experiences have been up to this point. In the spirit of full disclosure, just let me say I am a tight wad when it comes to buying equipment. As a matter of fact, had it not been for me winning a Fender giveaway, I still would not own a guitar that cost more than about $200. That being said, I figure the best place to start talking about my gear was to start with the first guitar and amp I ever bought.

 A Chinese made black Squier Affinity Strat with white pick guard, and Squier SP-10 10 watt practice amp. It was an open box, and was missing the tremelo bar, so I got it for $100 at Firehouse Guitars in Wyoming, MI (check out their online store at geartree.com). A steal by any standard.

This starter pack is the closest thing I could find a picture of online, but it's not exactly the same. Mine did come with the strap, method book, cable, tuner and gig bag. However, the pickguard in the picture is pearloid, mine is plain white. This fretboard is rosewood, and mine is maple. 

The factory specs are as follows:

Model Name	Strat® (Maple)
Model Number	031-0602-(Color#)
Series	Affinity Series
Colors	(506) Black, (525) Metallic Red, (595) Metallic Blue, (Polyurethane Finish)
Body	Alder
Neck	Maple, (Polyurethane Finish)
Fingerboard	Maple, 9.5” Radius (241 mm)
No. of Frets	21 Medium Jumbo
Pickups	3 Single-Coil Pickups
Controls	Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. (Middle Pickup)
Pickup Switching	5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup Position 3. Middle Pickup Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup Position 5. Neck Pickup
Bridge	Synchronous Tremolo
Machine Heads	Standard Die-Cast Tuners
Hardware	Chrome
Pickguard	1-Ply White
Scale Length	25.5” (648 mm)
Width at Nut	1.61” (40.9 mm)
Unique Features	Large Headstock ‘60s Style Headstock, White Plastic Parts, Black Silkscreen Logo, Dot Position Inlays
Strings	Fender Super 250L, (.009 to .042) Nickel Plated Steel, P/N 073-0250-003

As far as starter guitars go, I think this was a great find for me. There were some minor issues, but when you get a guitar and amp for $100, what do you expect. First of all, I couldn't get it to stay in tune out of the box. My brother in law has played guitar for almost 20 years, and he said it just probably needed set up by someone who knew what they were doing. So, the next day I took the guitar back to Firehouse, and Justin set it up for me for free. Less than an hour later, I was on my way back home to try out my newly set up strat. MAN was there a huge difference. Not only did it now stay in tune, but Justin lowered the action, which made it a lot easier to play. 

The other issue I have had is that I have to be conscientious about how hard I press down at the first fret. Too hard, and the notes go sharp. I am assuming this is because the first fret is too high(?). Maybe I could have someone shave it or tap it down, but it would probably cost me a large fraction of what it cost to buy the guitar in the first place, so  I just deal...... no biggie.

When it comes to tone and overall sound, at this stage i n my playing, this guitar sounded the same as any other with the exception of one. Shortly after I bought this guitar, my family and I went on vacation to Chicago with my brother in law and his family. He took me to Chicago Music Exchange where I was able to play a $10,000 1959 Gibson ES-335. Even not knowing anything about guitars, I could tell that this was an amazing axe!! That being said, if I had to chose today between buying the $100 Squier Strat or the $10,000 Gibson, I would chose the Squier (I prefer to be able to pay my mortgage for the next year!!!)

The SP-10 amp is about as basic as basic gets. It consists of an input jack, volume control, treble and bass controls and headphone jack. My only complaint is the 1/4 inch headphone jack... Really?? The last time I saw anyone with 1/4 inch headphones was on an episode of That 70's Show. This can be fixed with a $3 adapter from Radio Shack so you can plug your 1/8" ear buds into the 1/4" jack. While it has a "Over Drive" button, it would probably be better described as "fuzzy mess". It basically offers a distorted alternative for when you get tired of that twangy, treble sound, and want to sound a little more "Rock and Roll". When played clean, the amp does an adequate job of letting the beginning guitarist clearly  hear the notes and chords they are playing. The real deal breaker here is this little 10 watt shoe box's ability to crank out power chords loud enough to make your mom (or wife in my case) complain about the noise :) All in all, a great little starter amp. 

Looking on eBay, you can pick one of these guitars up pretty darn cheap, usually less than $100. The amps can be found for under $40 including shipping. Looking at Guitar Center and  Sweetwater online, a new starter pack runs about $200- $250. After you figure the tuner (a must for starting guitarists), the cable and the bag, I would probably recommend just spending the $200 for the new pack. This also gives you some buyer protection should there be any out-of-the-box manufacturing issues. The new bundles that are around $250 come with the 15 watt Frontman amp which includes an input jack so you can play your mp3 or cd player through the amp and jam along, a huge help when trying to learn that new chord progression or solo from your favorite band, or just to play out your rockstar fantasies in the comfort of your own bedroom!!!

Either way, this little bundle beats the pants off of the Daisy Rock or First Act hunks of junk that you can buy at Wal-Mart or Best Buy out of which you will be lucky to get a year of consistent playing before they fall apart.

The A Bar Chord - Part 2

Just like with the E bar chord shape, get into the habit of fingering the chord with your middle, ring and pinkie finger, even when playing the open A. Also just like the E chord shape, you can identify the name of the chord depending on which note your index finger is fretting, only this time on the A string. The progression is the same as the E string, only this time starting with A as follows:

A-A#-B-C-C#-D-D#-E-F-F#-G-G#-A

Remember, the A and E bar chord shapes are just two of the many, many ways to play these major chords. There are a ton of chord library websites out there that come in really handy.

Sorry I had to split this post up into two sections, but I am writing on the road, and having trouble getting my iPhone browser to work well with Blogger.

Until next time, keep rocking and most of all, have fun!!

B

The A Bar Chord - Part 1

So now that I know what I call the E-shape bar chord, and how to identify major chords up and down the neck based upon the notes of the low E string, the next thing I learned was what I called the A-shape bar code. First let's look at the open A major chord. It looks like this:

Open A chord/ A bar chord shape:
e:--0
B:--3
G:--3
D:--3
A:--0
E:--X

The "X" on the low E string indicates that the low E is not played as part of the A chord shape. I will usually place the tip of my index finger lightly on the low E string to prevent it from ringing out. Just like with the E- shape, we can move the A- shape up and down the neck of the guitar, using the index finger to "bar" all six strings behind the A shape, like in the A# bar code shown here.

A# bar chord:

e:--1
B:--4
G:--4
D:--4
A:--1
E:--X

Bar Chords and the Low E String

OK, so last post we talked about the open E chord, looks like this:

 e:--0

B:--0
G:--1
D:--2
A:--2
E:--0

Well, can't play too many songs with just one chord, so what's the big deal about the E chord? Here is where things started to come together for me. Once you know this chord shape, you can play any major chord on the guitar. Here is how it works. Remember when I said to use your middle, ring and pinkie fingers for this chord? You were probably thinking, what the heck do I do with this index finger that is just flopping around and getting in the way? The next chord we are going to talk about is the F chord. The F looks something like this:

 e:--1

B:---1

G:---2

D:---3

A:---3

E:---1

OK, great. So how in the heck do I know this is an F chord? I'll tell you. The notes on the low E string are as follows:

E-F-F#-G-G#-A-A#-B-C-C#-D-D#-E

This pattern repeats itself and continues on up the neck until you run out of frets. When you play the open E string, it is, of course, an E note. When you play this chord with the open E string, it is an E chord. So what about that index finger anyway? To make the F chord, you move your middle, ring and pinkie fingers up one fret each, and lay your index finger across all of the strings at the first fret. Again, this will suck at first, and you will want to bite your finger off every time you get that crappy "buzzing" sound instead of a clear, crisp chord, but you will get there. Repetition, repetition, repetition.... build those motor units, create that muscle memory (why did I just sound like Bob off of the Biggest Loser?.... Why do I know who Bob is?) This is called an F Bar Chord. Bar, because you are placing your index finger across the strings like a bar.... incredibly imaginative, I know. Playing bar chords was especially difficult for me at first, no thanks to an unfortunate Millie Vanilli incident which left my index finger on my left hand oddly angled and partially numb, but I digress...

Now you know the E and F major chords. We are now going to rocket ahead and learn 10 more chords in about 30 seconds. What?? (You have to say it like Joe Dirt) That's right. You now know how to play 12 chords. All you have to do is take this "shape" and move it up and down the neck. Upon whichever note your index finger is on that low e string, that's the name of your chord. For example, for an F# chord:

 e:--2--

B:--2--

G:--3--

D:--4--

A:--4--

E:--2--

Your index finger is on the F# on the low E string, therefore, this is an F# chord.

G chord looks like this:

 e:--3--

B:--3--

G:--4--

D:--5--

A:--5--

E:--3--

So on and so on. Clear as mud? If you're having trouble grasping the concept, there are probably hundreds of other people out there who can explain it better than me. The point is, once I learned how to play bar chords, then I could play songs, then it really started getting fun!!! The more fun you're having the more you'll play. The more you play the better you get. The better you get, the more songs you learn. The more songs you learn, the more fun you have, the more you play, and the better you get, etc, infinitum, ad nauseum....

Now go Rock It!!!

B

First Steps

I have always loved music. When I was about 13 years old, I found two cassettes in my oldest brothers dresser drawer after he moved out. The first was AC/DC, Back in Black. I had listened to this album a thousand times sitting in Brian Green's basement playing Blades of Steel and Nintendo Baseball. The second was Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble, Texas Flood. I had never heard anything like it before. I remember thinking " I wonder how many people have to play their guitars at the same time for it to sound like that?" LOL! The first tape I ever bought with my own money was far less illustrious. It was Milli Vanilli's "Girl You Know it's True". I bought it with my birthday money and opened it in the K-Mart parking lot with the pocket knife I had got for Christmas just a week earlier, resulting in 20 stitches, permanent nerve damage to the index finger on my left hand, and the pain of forever knowing that my first independent music choice was Milli Vanilli :(

All that to say, that in January of 2010, I had a love for music, a heart full of crazy emotions, a new guitar and amp and no freaking idea what I was doing. I've always been a pretty methodical and analytical guy, so I started planning my guitar learning. I had spent a few years in choir and musical theater in high school, so I had a basic working knowledge of music. Don't get me wrong, I still can't "read" music, beyond "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge" and "FACE", but I understood rythem, melody, harmony, and the difference between individual notes and chords.

 I think the first thing I learned was the E bar chord. Unbeknown to me, this chord shape would be the foundation for about 90% of everything I would play in the next year. If you haven't learned the E bar chord yet, it looks something like this:

 e:--0
B:--0
G:--1
D:--2
A:--2
E:--0

Of course this assumes you know how to read tablature. If not, here is a quick explanation. Each line on the tab represents a string on your guitar, like this:

high e: ------------------------
        B: -----------------------
        G: -----------------------
        D: -----------------------
        A: -----------------------
Low E:-------------------------

Each number represents a fret. In the E bar tab above, the 1 on the G string indicates G string, first fret. The 2 on the D string represents the D string, second fret, and the 2 on the A string represents A string, second fret. The 0's indicate that you strum those strings open, or without pressing down at any fret.

Here's a word to the wise...... play this chord with your middle, ring and pinkie fingers. I know it sucks. You haven't used your pinkie for anything except making that stupid "Dr. Evil" face whenever anyone says "One Million Dollars". But trust me, it will make everything else going forward a million times easier. To be specific, middle finger on 1st fret, G string, ring finger on 2nd fret D string, pinkie finger on 2nd fret A string. I can't stress  this enough. It sucks, will probably sound like crap at first, and your pinkie and wrist will hurt like a mother after a couple of days, but you are creating muscle memory. This is a term I learned as a tactical firearms instructor. The more times you repeat a movement, the more efficient your motor units (nerves, muscles, etc) become at performing those movements. Think of swimming. If you learned to swim as a kid, you may not go swimming for twenty years, but as soon as you hit the water, your body knows exactly what to do, ergo, muscle memory. Every time you do it the wrong way, you are creating what is called a "Training Scar". A training scar is when you teach yourself to do something the wrong way, and have to break bad habits to learn good ones. One of the keys to quickly learning and growing in skill is to avoid as many training scars as possible.

This brings me to THE foundational training principle. A quote I heard one time was "slow is smooth, smooth is fast". Whenever you are learning something new, go ridiculously slow. Again, I know it sucks, but if you want to hit those chord changes, or rip those solos one day at break neck speed, you have to train your fingers. Some research says that you have to repeat a motion at least a thousand times before it becomes instinctive, or something you can do without consciously thinking about it. The old saying goes "practice makes perfect". Well, that's half true. In reality,"perfect practice makes perfect."

Remember killer, "slow is smooth, smooth is fast".

B

Why I Play

This blog is my vehicle to share my playing experiences. Like many other blogs, I will talk about what methods I am or have used in the past, my gear, what I'm reading, listening to or playing. What makes this blog different than the thousands of others is it's about me. A little narcissistic, I know, but I have had so much fun up to this point, that I can't keep it all to my self. After all, that is what music is all about, in a word..... JOY! That's why I play. It brings me a tremendous amount of joy.

I know you're saying to yourself, "but Matt, how did you come to embark upon this fantastic voyage?" (Coolio reference intended) Glad you asked. After spending 11 years in the Army, including a couple of years overseas getting shot at by Iraqi's and various other individuals of the Arab persuasion, I became very good at, well, breaking stuff, as well as teaching others to become very effective at breaking stuff. When I ended my time in service, and returned to my young wife and beautiful kids to begin the transition from soldier to civilian, I needed some kind of conduit for the many emotions swirling around inside of me. Up until the point that I picked up the guitar, I had developed other outlets for the powerful feelings churning within me, but they usually involved throwing things or trying to pull people through their driver side windows after they flipped me the bird on the highway and had the unfortunate luck of getting stopped at the next red light (that last illustration may or may not have actually occurred, depending upon in which jurisdiction you are currently reading this blog post...)

For Christmas, 2009, at 34 years old, I bought myself my first "axe", a black Fender Squire Strat starter pack, complete with 10w practice amp. The whole she-bang (no William Hung reference intended) set me back $100 cash at Firehouse Music on 28th Street, Wyoming, MI. I took it home and, after taking it back again to have Justin at Firehouse set it up for me properly (which he did for free.... thanks Justin), I was off and running. In the last year or so, I have acquired a bit more gear, a lot more knowledge, and a few amusing stories as well. But most of all, I have gained a peace that I didn't know I could have at this point in my life. If you are reading this, and considering picking up a guitar and trying to learn, I have two things to say; 1) it's never to late to start, and 2) whatever else you do, HAVE A BLAST!! If you have been playing for some time now, and have stumbled upon my humble little .com, take a minute to let others know how truly amazing the whole experience can be.

Thanks for stopping by, I can't wait to share the ride with you!!!

B