Author: Gianni C.

Shoulder Stretches

by Gianni C. on May 1, 2013

I am always looking for new exercises to stretch and make gigging less of a physical chore. If you have ever played a whole week of four-sets-gigs with a heavy Les Paul on you shoulder, you know you will feel better if you stretch before and after your gig, even just for a few minutes.

I bumped into this set of stretches for your shoulders and I must say I found them to be great. Practice them slowly at first! Know your limits!

This is the link:

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/1-7459-1/8-yoga-poses-to-help-cervical-spine-neck-issues.html

This is another great stretch/warm up for your finger to do before and after your gigs and long practice sessions. Remember to warm up your hands (or any part of your body) before stretching and get your blood flowing. Never stretch from ‘cold’.

Posted in Tips and Online finds

Constructive Criticism – No Negative Thinking.

by Gianni C. on April 28, 2013

I bumped into this great video a few days ago:

Great stuff. Those that have read my instructional blues book know how I advocate constructive criticism, where you try to fix problems without putting a negative spin on what you are playing. I was lucky enough to read the Inner Game of Tennis early on and focus on the process of improving rather than getting demoralized by how many mistakes I was making. A version of the book geared towards music has been since published (see end of post), but I still prefer the original book as really well written and to-the-point.

To improve in every aspect of music making, we have to go through the process of criticising what we play to remove mistakes and try to find ‘our sound’. This unfortunately makes us over-critical, especially in the early stages when we have a hero to emulate and the end result seems unreachable.

A good exercise (always suggested by guitar guru Mick Goodrick) is to record yourself playing and, after a few days, listen back to the recording making note of what to fix and what you liked. Take action.

Some other good thoughts on practice, goals and focusing on the positive can be found in this great video from a Steve Vai masterclass:

Considerations for a better guitar tone.

by Gianni C. on April 27, 2013

Finding our tone is a process of elimination in small incremental steps, trying to remove things that do not please our ears and trying to improve the signal path with better materials or with things that more please our ears. At the time of writing I am playing around 200 gigs a year, and every time I try to see if there is a better way to do things.

To follow, a series of keywords to keep in mind when trying to improve your tone.

Signal Path:

Hand (touch, weight of the picking stroke, way you hold the pick)

I tend to use a lighter touch, letting the amp do the work. Obviously this is genre specific, if you play metal you might want to grip the pick and hit the strings harder. Try and experiment with making the picking motion with your fingers, wrist, forearm or entire arm and notice the difference.

Pick (thickness, material, shape of edge)

I did a video on this a while ago: https://www.giannichiarello.com/using-different-guitar-picks/

In general I use the same picks during live gigs for consistency, but to record (especially pop) I tend to find the right pick for the job.

Strings (material, round/flat, thickness, tension)

this is where things start go get a bit complicated as choice of strings don’t only have to do with tone, but with budget and how easy they are to find…when I was touring and travelling a lot I stuck for a long time (and still use) D’Addario 10’s as they seemed the only set that I could find everywhere in the world (including small villages in the Caribbean when I used to play on cruise ships!).

Wood (Lighter to heavier)

A general rule of thumb is that the lighter coloured the wood, the brighter (and snappier) the sound. Maple fret boards/ash bodies will give you a hollow and bright sound, as opposite to Mahogany and Rosewood fretboard that will give you more punch, body and a darker tone.

Hardware (bridge, nut, hight and type of frets, pegs)

Frets are vital for sustain and they are so important for the choice of the right instrument. In general high frets (jumbo) are great as they allow less of the string/finger to touch the wood on the fretboard and make bending easier. Having said that lower frets are great for jazz as they allow smoother slides.

Check out this video from Paul Reed Smith:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzKT8WrZhhc

I am not a fan of carbon fibre hardware as it seems to dull the sound for me, but if you have issues with breaking strings they seem to save the day. Bone nut seems to be the favourite of most guitarists but there are alternative materials that do just as well, if you don’t play 15 hours a day.

Pickups (if any, output, magnet type)

Possibly the first port of call if you want to improve or change your tone is changing pickups…having said that, I always urge to try and set them up first and try to get them closer or further from the strings. Most times that is enough to add more bass/treble or output to the signal chain. I always try to do this live if I can…carry a small screw driver and try to tweak the hight as you play a real gig…obviously don’t get caught doing it!

Electronics (active, passive, caps)

Try and get the best quality potentiometers and caps in your guitar. I have noticed a noticeable jump in quality by doing that, and in durability. Keep a can of contacts cleaning fluid to keep things working as they should. There are also some tricks to keep the tone from getting dull when the volume is not all the way up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0SLdOWvz3c

Quality and type of Cables/Wireless

Just like for stings picking cables have a lot to do with quality, budget and durability. I always use braided cables as they don’t tangle up (reducing setup time) and make the cable last a lot longer. Not always the more expensive the cable is, the better it sounds. Try and use correct lengths…if you are doing a restaurant gig don’t use a 50ft cable…and try not to bring a 3ft cable for a area tour. Tone changes with a longer cable.

Pedals (how many, True bypass/Buffer, paraller/serial,switching system)

I could write a whole book on this…my experience is to try and find the right solution for the gig. At a small gig/recording session try to bring what you need, and if you build a pedal board my personal suggestion is to use true bypass loops/switching system with possibly a switch-able buffer (sometimes I find they change the dry tone too much). Believe the hype: if a lot of guitarists use a specific pedal, go and try it…it will probably sound good.

Amp Sections (Power soak?)

Usually an amp that is built for early break up, does not have much headroom. Consider using a power soak. To me a good amp is quite true to the sound of the guitar you are using, and makes it sound just louder. I try to avoid using the send/return section as I find changes the sound. Also I try to cut on the EQ section (unless the guitar I am using is really weak), as that usually allows me to turn up the volume and get more in the ‘sweet spot’ zone of the amp.

Speaker Selection

Changing the speaker makes such a massive difference in your tone, and alongside changing pickups it is the most common upgrade. Try and find comparisons online and take your pick! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWK0sa7tlfI

Keep everything in top conditions! Old strings, dirty cable connections, loose solder joints…technical problems happen, but there is no excuse for negligence. Obviously the first thing is ‘brain/ears’: do we know what tone we want? I find that is the biggest issue sometimes. Can you ‘hear’ the tone you want in your head?

I hope this helped, good luck!

Thoughts on Guitar Amp live EQ Settings

by Gianni C. on November 20, 2012

I play a lot of gigs of all kinds and styles of music , as I always enjoyed doing that. I always considered myself a bit of a ‘session guitarist’ always trying to ‘fit in’ rather than ‘stick out’. When somebody approaches me at the end of a gig and says how well I complemented the band and ‘blended in’, I feel I have done my job.

So I wanted to do a post on what I think a lot of guitarists out there get wrong…remember this is my opinion!!

First of all: you need to find a balance between what is a volume/tone/sustain that is both comfortable and inspiring for you but not overpowering and intrusive for the other band members.

A good approach is to CUT rather than to BOOST on your amp’s EQ section. Unless you are playing on the same stage every night, every room will make your amp sound different. So I always start from all EQ on 12 o’clock and start cutting what I feel makes my tone muddy. Usually…bass!! I always hear too much bass coming from guitar amps. That’s the bass player’s realm.

Cutting frequencies will also allow me to turn up the volume more, which is always a good thing for tone…we all know that! 🙂

A slight boost in the midrange area might help you ‘cut through’ when needed.

I own different amps, but my go-to amp for medium size gigs is a modified Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with a Vintage 30 speaker. Unless you play metal, there is enough in there to make everybody happy at any gig, and not break your back carrying it around. It’s not an expensive amp, and I have seen even Mike Landau use them live and great some great tones…so if it is good enough for him…

Even though ‘all knobs all the way up’ might be a good setting to record a rhythm part in a studio, this might make your tone clearer and fuller:

Then again…use your ears!! All I mean to say here is try to think like a sound engineer mixing a band rather than just to make your guitar sound bigger.

A last thought: learn to play with a lighter touch. Too many guitarist pick too hard all the time. Let the amp do the work for you, and ‘dig in’ when you need that extra kick or break-up. All my favourite guitarist in terms of tone just about touch the strings with their picking hand.

Melodic Development – How to make your solos more interesting

by Gianni C. on November 12, 2012

In this video I quickly explain how to take a basic idea and try to develop it to make your solos more interesting and memorable. Remember to leave lots of space!!