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