In this lesson I show how to add more open string vocings to your vocabulary by explaining the transcription of Hall Goes West, from my cd ‘Entwined’.
Month: November 2009
Musician’s Health
In my experience, I have found musicians to belong to two categories: the health freak and the self-destructive…the first one would never touch a mojito with a ten foot pole, and is always at the gym doing Yoga or Pilates, while the second one is pretty much drunk by the second song. I am not here to preach, but it is quite obvious that a good balance of mind/body is a winning combination to make you a better musician…so there you go a few links for exercises and general health facts to avoid the most recurring music related problems.
www.musiced.about.com/od/beginnersguide/a/injuries.htm a good article on types of injuries and how to avoid them.
www.handfootcare.com/hand_warmup.htm very graphic page on small but great exercises to warm up your hands and keep them in tip top shape.
www.musicianshealth.com/stretches.htm some more exercises.
www.hhsbands.com/forms/breathingexercise.pdf#search='exercises for musicians' some good stuff on breathing and more.
www.alexandercenter.com/pa/ Alexander technique for musicians
www.japanshakuhachi.com/handcareformusic.html Tips on how to care for your hands, a valuable asset for every musician.
www.hearnet.com/ Great resource for earplugs, tinnitus remedies and more.
exercise.about.com/library/bltravelworkout.htm some easy exercises to do when you are traveling and have no equipment.
www.dontlosethemusic.com/home/ great website on noise level awareness.
www.hear-the-world.com/ another website about hearing awareness backed up by some impressive names.
On how to find the best gig for you as a guitarist/musician
In the ever changing world of the music industry, it is getting more and more challenging to find your way as a guitarist (or should I say as a musician) and make a successful career out of it. I think the best piece of advice I can give from my experience, is to do a realistic checklist of your strengths, of where we stand as a musician, of your goals and then make a plan on how to achieve them. It is very important to review these goals from time to time and even more important to renew them once achieved (or missed!!). Without a goal to work toward it is very easy to loose our way.
First of all there are a few dualities we have to explore: are we a leader or a sideman? Solo artist or band member? Do we find work for ourselves or would we rather be part of a team? Do you want to be a jack-of-all-trades or the best at just one?
Do you have a product to ‘sell’ or are you all form and no content?? This could be a CD, a book or even just a song you really believe in. Maybe it is time for you to start writing your own material rather than covering somebody else’s or mimicking parrot-fashion your idol, or the ‘in’ act of the moment. You always stand a better chance to make it with your own material, and believe me the rewards are much bigger, especially from a personal point of view. You can record your own album or demo at home with very little gear, so no excuses there.
Another misconception I seem to hear many times, is that a musician has to be only a performer to be called a musician…actually some of the most well established guitarists I know are not only performers, but also writers, teachers, producers and more! This is why well rounded musicians stand a better chance to make it. Overnight fame very rarely happens. Most artists concentrate on developing different ‘streams of income’ or earning a living through a combination of session work, writing, producing, and any other music opportunities that may present themselves. Networking is a key element in all this and nowadays it is easier than ever with social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook. Having said that, nothing beats going to live gigs, meeting face to face and building long lasting relationships.
Building a Mailing list is vital if you want to keep your connections alive! These could be for people that like your music and are your fans, or clubs where you want to play, recording studios, management companies, and more. Keep those email addresses in a safe place, and don’t be afraid to use them!
After all that, I must say must say that one thing is still true: follow your instincts!!
A short list of websites where to find gigs/work in the UK as a musician:
http://www.jobs.ac.uk/categories/music
http://uk.music-jobs.com/welcome.php
www.gumtree.com – Pick your town and search in their musicians’ section.
www.myspace.com – Musician exchange section
http://www.lastminutemusicians.com/
http://www.musician-manager.com/en/
Phrasing – Build your own vocabulary of melodic material
This is where things get quite interesting. In this video I will show you how to use material from other solos you might already know, or you want to learn. All this will build your vocabulary of musical ideas/ knowledge of styles if you do it the right way:
1. Learn a phrase (=musical idea from a solo, in the video I use the very famous pickup from ‘Another brick in the wall Pt2’ by Pink Floyd as played by David Gilmour on ‘The Wall’)
2. Analyze the phrase…how is it built? from what scale? What Key? In the example the phrase is based around the D minor pentatonic.
3. Learn it in every key so that it becomes available to you in every key.
4. Use it adapting it to the song you are playing on. In this case I had to transpose it to G minor pentatonic, using it to give a ‘bluesy’ sound to the track. I also used it in E minor pentatonic as E minor is the relative minor of G major, which means that this phrase can also be used as G major pentatonic. Furthermore I had to adapt its rhythm as the original is in 4/4 and the track is in 3/4.
Again, the backing track can be downloaded >HERE<
Legato: Technique and Exercise
I am sure most of you are already using this technique without even knowing it. as I show in the video, the important thing is to keep the the tone and volume of the notes played with legato as close as possible to those picked. Also remember to play with the tip of your finger when you hammer on, and pluck the string (like you would do with your right hand fingers) when you pull off.
This is the exercise I play at the end of the video:
