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!!
Recommended reading:
Author: Gianni C.
Documentary on Wah Pedal
This is a great documentary on the wah pedal, with a lot of interviews to guitar giants for all the guitar geeks out there! Enjoy!
Cry Baby: the Pedal that Rocks the World from Desarraigo on Vimeo.
Cry Baby: The Pedal That Rocks The World from Joey Tosi on Vimeo.
Suggested reading:
Guitar Effects Pedals: The Practical Handbook
How to Play the ‘Walk of life’ Groove on guitar
In this video I show how to play the groove for ‘Walk of life’ by Dire Straits. It is self explanatory, make sure you listen to the original as well as some live versions!
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
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.