Author: Gianni C.

Playing ‘Out’

Playing ‘out’ is very common in jazz and fusion circles, as it adds tension-resolution to your phrasing. In the video I show a few examples of this and of how to get ‘that’ sound.

Tips: 1- always use phrases that are very recognisable, with very strong melodic content.

2- use this techinque at the end of a bar, or a section of the tune

3- resolve on a strong note, preferably chord tone

4- in the end, this has a lot to do with HOW you play than WHAT you play!

best of luck!

Suggested reading:

Contemporary Blues Soloing

Cont Blues Soloing

True Bypass vs Buffers

I have seen this so many times…and I just wanted to add my two cents.

Today I bumped into this video:

This video makes perfect sense…so why is true bypass so popular, and used by most boutique pedal makers?…it cannot be just a hype or a selling point, it would not have lasted this long.

I mostly use true bypass pedals, as I feel that the buffer changes the nature of the sound. This is just my personal opinion. But I also agree that with longer cables, which I use when I play bigger venues, the sound gets really dull and dark. To make a comment on this video…who the hell uses 50 feet cables, unless you are playing in a major venue?? To do everyday gigs, I have never used a cable longer than 16 feet, and I feel the loss of treble with good cables (I have been using for over 10 years and endorse Spectraflex cables) is not something I miss.

So the solution I use is a switch-able line driver/buffer when I do bigger gigs. Something like this http://www.jimdunlop.com/product/mc406-Buffer. Hence it is not True Bypass vs Buffer but True Bypass and Buffer in my opinion. For the same reason that we keep in our pedal boards different booster and distortion pedals to suit different scenarios, it should be the same with type of switching.

What’s your opinion on the subject? Leave a comment.

 

Nile Rodgers Masterclass

Following the theme of master classes from legendary guitarist today I am going to share with you this great video where Nile Rodgers delivers some great funk guitar playing.

Amazing stuff, great quality video as well, very clear and quite easy to follow!