Guitar
Often I hear less experienced guitarists who have reasonably good meter, but have a hard time coming up with good chord voicings or compelling rhythm grooves. Some players have a tendency to push forward working on their lead playing at the expense of their rhythmic concept, with the results too often being one-dimensional and amateurish sounding. An understanding of how chords are built can go a long way to opening up solo concepts, while rhythmic study results in groovier, tighter playing.
One of the most obvious problems I hear is a tendency to use closed barre-style chords for everything. Let's face it, basic barres that are built on basic triads (or, shudder, just 1 and 5) sound vanilla as hell. Even dominant sevenths lose their flavour after a while. Understanding how chords are built from scales (and vice versa) will allow you to harness their potential. Learn how to harmonize the major scale, how to move sevenths around, the relationship of 6ths and 9ths, how to employ chord substitutions; it all adds up to flexibility and mobility. It will ultimately revolutionize your lead playing as well, opening up your understanding of the fretboard, and widening your concept past single-note cliches
If you are sharing the stage with a bassist you don't always need to state the root note of a chord- the bassist already has that covered, which gives you the opportunity to use a hipper voicing with a different interval in the bass. I use chord shapes that have a third or flat seventh in the bass a lot of the time- I like the way the harmonies ring out at the bottom of the chord. Obviously, in a riff based tune this won't apply, and locking in tight with the bassist and drummer is the primary concern. Still, when you get the chance, try just dropping the root in the bass and see how it opens up space in the music. (A related problem: guitarists trying to compete with the bassist for low-end. Thin out your tone a little and you make a whole lot of room for the bassist and get into volume wars much less).
When it comes to rhythmic ideas, the drummer is your best friend, specifically, the drummers snare, ride and high-hats. Bassists generally link up tight with the kick drum, but guitarists should pay more attention to the top end of the kit. This is not to say that you should be aping all of your drummers licks (or vice versa), but you should certainly be paying close attention (does he/she push 2 and 4? accents on off-beats?), and riding as close as possible.
Almost everyone I know hates practicing with a metronome, but it does help. I find it especially useful for finding where I'm consistently going out of time, so I can work on specific problems. Yeah, I know it feels stiff and it sounds annoying- if you have a drum machine (or a computer), try using a kick drum for you click- it sounds a little less obnoxious. Also you can set the click for just 2 and 4, which allows you to swing a whole lot more. It doesn't actually take that long before metronome practice becomes more tolerable, enjoyable and musical. If you haven't taken the time to do this, do; you and your band-mates will benefit from the (hopefully) brief frustration.
Get serious about your rhythm chops and your chord vocabulary- you won't wait long to reap the benefits.
- Peavey T-60 And T-40 Cases, Part Ii. . . . .
I asked Chip a couple of questions - How did the moulded case design come about, in order to conclude this piece about the cases and just get get an insight into the musical side of him, what his musical experiences were and did they influence...
- A Little Heads-up For Jammers
You guys play nice or you're going to separate rooms... Whilst visiting a jam session as the special guest of a friend of mine last night, I noticed a couple of the greener jammers causing some common faux-pas. As a long time jam host...
- Solo (you Can't Hear It)
One is the loneliest number... I just landed a steady solo gig, the first in about two years since I had a serious falling out with the proprietor of the last joint (where I had cooked for eight years and performed for three-and-half). This...
- Adventures In Co-writing
My very-busy-of-late, crowded-as-hell workspace. I've recently embarked on a singularly ambitious composing project with a couple of dear friends of mine, Joe and Glynis Burke. Glynis has a stack of lyrics dating back twenty years or so,...
- An Interesting Rant On The State Of The Union
A friend of my wife's passed on this article which is a pretty canny summary of the state of things for us working muso types. The comments section is equally enlightening. Check it out here: http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2012/02/why-music-venues-are-totally-lost-an-open-letter-from-a-professional-musician/...
Guitar
Chords and Grooves
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| ...and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and.... |
One of the most obvious problems I hear is a tendency to use closed barre-style chords for everything. Let's face it, basic barres that are built on basic triads (or, shudder, just 1 and 5) sound vanilla as hell. Even dominant sevenths lose their flavour after a while. Understanding how chords are built from scales (and vice versa) will allow you to harness their potential. Learn how to harmonize the major scale, how to move sevenths around, the relationship of 6ths and 9ths, how to employ chord substitutions; it all adds up to flexibility and mobility. It will ultimately revolutionize your lead playing as well, opening up your understanding of the fretboard, and widening your concept past single-note cliches
If you are sharing the stage with a bassist you don't always need to state the root note of a chord- the bassist already has that covered, which gives you the opportunity to use a hipper voicing with a different interval in the bass. I use chord shapes that have a third or flat seventh in the bass a lot of the time- I like the way the harmonies ring out at the bottom of the chord. Obviously, in a riff based tune this won't apply, and locking in tight with the bassist and drummer is the primary concern. Still, when you get the chance, try just dropping the root in the bass and see how it opens up space in the music. (A related problem: guitarists trying to compete with the bassist for low-end. Thin out your tone a little and you make a whole lot of room for the bassist and get into volume wars much less).
When it comes to rhythmic ideas, the drummer is your best friend, specifically, the drummers snare, ride and high-hats. Bassists generally link up tight with the kick drum, but guitarists should pay more attention to the top end of the kit. This is not to say that you should be aping all of your drummers licks (or vice versa), but you should certainly be paying close attention (does he/she push 2 and 4? accents on off-beats?), and riding as close as possible.
Almost everyone I know hates practicing with a metronome, but it does help. I find it especially useful for finding where I'm consistently going out of time, so I can work on specific problems. Yeah, I know it feels stiff and it sounds annoying- if you have a drum machine (or a computer), try using a kick drum for you click- it sounds a little less obnoxious. Also you can set the click for just 2 and 4, which allows you to swing a whole lot more. It doesn't actually take that long before metronome practice becomes more tolerable, enjoyable and musical. If you haven't taken the time to do this, do; you and your band-mates will benefit from the (hopefully) brief frustration.
Get serious about your rhythm chops and your chord vocabulary- you won't wait long to reap the benefits.
- Peavey T-60 And T-40 Cases, Part Ii. . . . .
I asked Chip a couple of questions - How did the moulded case design come about, in order to conclude this piece about the cases and just get get an insight into the musical side of him, what his musical experiences were and did they influence...
- A Little Heads-up For Jammers
You guys play nice or you're going to separate rooms... Whilst visiting a jam session as the special guest of a friend of mine last night, I noticed a couple of the greener jammers causing some common faux-pas. As a long time jam host...
- Solo (you Can't Hear It)
One is the loneliest number... I just landed a steady solo gig, the first in about two years since I had a serious falling out with the proprietor of the last joint (where I had cooked for eight years and performed for three-and-half). This...
- Adventures In Co-writing
My very-busy-of-late, crowded-as-hell workspace. I've recently embarked on a singularly ambitious composing project with a couple of dear friends of mine, Joe and Glynis Burke. Glynis has a stack of lyrics dating back twenty years or so,...
- An Interesting Rant On The State Of The Union
A friend of my wife's passed on this article which is a pretty canny summary of the state of things for us working muso types. The comments section is equally enlightening. Check it out here: http://diymusician.cdbaby.com/2012/02/why-music-venues-are-totally-lost-an-open-letter-from-a-professional-musician/...