Happy new year!

Well, 2006 is coming to an end today, and what a year it has been!
For me, it was a year full of changes, chances, and many good things. Seems like the year went by with the speed of light, and in between I tried my best to cherish all the good things happening, instead of just moving on to the next thing. Quite important to do that, IMO.

The book was something that I had wanted to do in quite a while, and so when I started working on finally putting it all together, it happened rather quickly. I am happy with the results, and I hope that the upcoming second part will also be something I will eventually feel fully content with. The sales numbers and feedback I have received so far indicate that people seem to like it a lot, and that it helps them to learn some of the techniques covered. All the experience I got through the years of teaching, and through writing all the articles, by correspondence with readers and students, workshops etc. sure came in handy in the process of putting this together.
I´d like to thank everyone who has purchased it, and I hope it´ll continue to help you learn the techniques discussed in there, to eventually expand your “musical toolbox”, which in turn should be helpful in getting the music in your mind out to the listeners.

Lots of other things were going on this year, but I don´t think it would make sense to go into details there.
I´d like to wish all of you a happy, successful, enjoyable year 2007!

R.I.P. James Brown

Just heard that James Brown passed away today. How very sad, James was such a powerful performer and one of the most essential artists regarding the development of funk.
Rest in Peace, James…

Wiki on JB 

Another mail bag

Just like I did before, I post some kind of an FAQ here, based on emails I get. Maybe this will answer questions you have and wanted to send by email…

Q: Can you tell me how to play style X? or Can you explain the modal system to me? or…
A: I really do appreciate that you ask me for advice on this kind of stuff. And if I could I would answer all those emails very thoroughly. However, the problem is a) a limited amount of time and b) a feeling of “I have answered all that several times”.

The best bet to get these kind of answers would be to:
- check out my articles, and the books (the current one and the upcoming ones)
- Sign up to the ibreathe forums (it´s free) and ask your question there… and do a search before. Not only have we discussed many of those questions there,but also, there are so many cool, polite, friendly and knowledgable players there that will be willing to answer your questions. So you´ll have several guys answering your q, and all that for free.
As I said, I would love to respond to all those inquiries, but it´s really tough and I always feel kinda bad if I can´t reply in a timely fashion. So check out what I have written before, and sign up to the ibreathe-forum!

Q: Any update on another Jemfest?

A: No, because I am only one of the performers. Your best bet to get updates would be www.jemfest.com

Ricky Garcia is the one responsible for organizing the german version of Jemfest, so it´s up to him, and since he´s on tour with LaFee right now, he´s quite busy with that. So I guess it might take a time until Jemfest will happen again, but hey, it´s always worth the wait! =)

Q: How it it to play at Jemfest?
A: It´s awesome. Both an honor and a pleasure. To play guitar for charity (the Make A Noise Foundation) in front of a crowd which loves instrumental music and shredding (tough to find crowds like that) is really fun, and to play, hang out and jam with killer-players like Patrick Vigné (One of the nicest guys I have met in a long time, and an awesome player!), Marcel Coenen, Martin Behr, Ricky Garcia, Kai Stringer, Frank Schiphorst, German Schauss amo. is just mind-boggling and very inspiring.
I have so many fond memories about those Jemfests, like sitting backstage with Marcel, jamming on classic Scorpions-tunes, gossiping with Martin, having a few brews with Ricky, talking to all the wonderul people in attendance…
So if you hear that there´s a Jemfest happening close to where you live, check it out! It´s something very special.

Q: What sessions have you been involved in in the studio?
A: Actually, quite a few, but I rarely ever elaborate on details, simply because many of them aren´t all that representative. Many of them involved me playing rhythm guitar or adding some little details and textures, so it´s not like I was blowing solos on top most of the time.

There also were some jingles- and commercial-sessions, plus some sessions where I was asked to fill in, too. I don´t think it makes any sense to list those, as the guitar-work wasn´t a very integral part of the results.
It´s always a great learning-experience though, and I enjoy doing that, even if I haven´t done that in some time. It depends on where you live, and it´s quite a competitive scene. I am always open for request, though, as long as it´s possible at all, regarding schedules, travelling etc.

Q: You mentioned a 101-lesson with Paul Gilbert? How was that?
A: That was during my time at the GIT, and I was very fortunate to get that opportunity. It was awesome. Paul is a big influence and one of my favorite players… he also was one of the main reasons for me to attend the GIT, and I had worn out several copies of “Intense Rock” 1 and 2 prior to that.
That lesson… well, I was dumbstruck (think Wayne and Garth going “I am not worthy”), even though he was being so cool, relaxed, down to earth… and funny. But still, it felt pretty unreal, so I couldn´t think of most of those burning questions.
I got a pretty hands-on-lecture regarding the whole “tone” debate (I hear there are still people who still deny that there´s a “its in your hands” tone factor… people who believe that, once you have the exact same gear as a certain player, you´ll sound exactly like him). He likes to swap guitars, so he picked up mine (a Strat) and handed me his torquoise PGM (I almost fainted at that point, as I had seen that guitar so often in live videos and on pics). And he sounded exactly like him playing on my guitar, through some crappy practice amp, while I sounded like myself (only shakier than usual) through his axe.
It was awesome, I was hovering above the ground for days.

Q: Can you help me write up a practicing schedule / workout for me?
A: Tough. Difficult. Really. Yes, I can give a load of advice on general things regarding that. Strategies, basic “rules of thumb” etc., actual licks for the different techniques etc.
I have done that in the past, too… check out my articles at ibreathe, or my book.
However, it´s very tough to do something like that, especially by email. Simply because every player is an individual, and creating a schedule should be done by yourself to a certain degree.
Working on yourself involves the “analyzing”-part as well. Figuring out what doesnt work yet, what you would like to work on, what you wanna achieve. And a detailed workout that worked for me or one of my students might not work for someone else.
it also depends on how much time you have, what point you´re at technique-wise, your personal goals, your attention span etc.
So check out my articles on that, and then try to create one yourself. I can provide some general guidelines (so can the people at the ibreathe-forum), and everything else you should try to figure out yourself.
And this is not meant to be like “I don´t care” or “I am too lazy to help”. It´s something that I consider important: analyzing yourself, taking your time, figuring out what needs work.

More coming soon… merry axe-mas, everyone!

Steve Vai´s “Passion & Warfare”

Steve Vai´s “Passion & Warfare”album

 

It´s funny that I am writing a blog-entry on that album. After all, I have written about this one twice before in former versions of my blog (starting in late 2003, in the “Thoughts” section of my old website).

So why do I keep talking about this? Simple, because I love this album, and it´s been very influential for me. You might not be able to tell easily from my songs, but it is. I remember seeing a TV commercial (imagine that) for that album on MTV (IMAGINE THAT), and as I already liked Vai a lot (I knew “Flex-Able” and his work with DLR), I immediately went out and bought it.

You know what? I spent my complete summer vacation back then listening to that CD. I loved every aspect of it. Not only the pure technical aspect (the chops), but also the ideas, songwriting, creativity, humor and pure emotion.

From “Liberty” (which gave me goosebumps) through “Erotic Nightmares” and “For The Love Of God” to “Love Secrets”, I was hooked to this. And seeing the videos of “I Would Love To”, “The Audience Is Listening” and FTLOG sure was way cool.

And even though I don´t listen to that one anymore a whole lot (in order to not spoil the enjoyment, cuz I have listened to it a gazillion times), every time I do I enjoy the ride. I don´t listen to it as background music, but lean back, close my eyes, crank it up and relax. And every time I do listen to it, I hear something I haven´t heard before. This one has so many overdubs, little details and sounds, it´s just great.

Definitely one of the coolest guitar-albums ever, and a huge influence to so many of us (I mean, have you ever noticed how often TABs of FTLOG are featured in guitar mags, and how many people attempt to learn it and play their own version?). I will prolly be eternally grateful to Steve for sharing all this with us.

And if you dig instrumental guitar music (heck, even if you don´t!), give this one a listen, you won´t regret it.

Patterns for 7-string

As I have been fiddling with the 7 string quite a bit lately, I figured I´d post an arrangement of some 3NPS (3 Notes Per String) patterns of the major scale. As you might know, I use those 3NPS-patterns a lot, and also have written about them before in some of my articles. Now, it´s not all that tough to use those patterns on the sevenstring… after all, the extra string is a B, and you have another B-string, so figuring out how to expand those patterns shouldn´t be too much work.

So check out this POWERTAB-file (you need to have the free Powertab-client installed) or the PDF-version of that for Adobe Acrobat to see 3NPS patterns of the major scale (in this case, C major… I usually prefer “dot-diagrams” instead of actual TAB, but I´ll leave that to you, as I simply created a quick ptb) arranged for a seven string…

Merry Axe-Mas !

I recently sent out a load of emails with an xmas-message, but I am positive that I forgot a few people… I apologize for that, but it´s really tough to keep track of everyone.

So instead, here´s to you:

Merry Axe-mas and a happy new year !!!!

Also, thanks so much for the support, for writing to me, checking out my music or book, and listening!

Repost: EVH

I am currently re-reading “Van Halen 101″, the really cool book about Van Halen by Abel Sanchez (check it out HERE)
It once again reminded me of the impact Eddie had on me… after all, seeing and hearing him in the “Jump” video was probably THE moment that made me decide to pick up a guitar (other factors were Jeff Beck´s playing on “People Get Ready”, “Always With You, Always With Me” by Satch and an obscure live-version of Jimi´s “Little Wing”). And what a great writer and player he is.
Even though I listen to a wide variety of music, I think VH will always remain my favorite band (all eras / lineups, too!), and Eddie will always be a huge influence.
So right now, I am listening to some old VH-records, playing along to them, as I learned a lot of their riffs and solos back in the day, and that was a pretty good chopbuilder… and always a lesson about great riffs, tasty phrasing and chops.
I think one of my favorite VH-solos is the one in “You´re No Good”. I love the whole vibe of the tune, and the solo has some really cool “Eddie-isms”, like tapping combined with bends, the “palm harmonic with legato” stuff etc. Also, when I played along to the “Jump” solo again, I noticed that the bluesy lick at the beginning (after that first, high note) is part of my lick vocabulary, without me ever noticing where that came from.
I don´t know whether I should believe the rumors about the upcoming tour (with Wolfgang on bass, instead of Michael Anthony, which, even though it sounds interesting and I have heard good things about the new sound, is a bummer, because MA is such an essential part of the VH sound), but if it really does happen with Dave, I will try my best to see one of the shows.
Anyway, maybe I´ll get a chance to thank Eddie one of those days, just because he had such a huge impact, was such a big influence to many of us (not only regarding soloing… I dunno how many guitars I slaughtered back in the day when I modded them, inspired by Eddie´s mods) and gave us so much cool music.
And if you are not too familiar with this stuff, and think that Eddie´s only about tapping, I recommend to check out some more of his music, and try to pick out some of his licks and phrasing.
THANKS, ED!
PS: Check out Abel´s book, it rawks. Very honest and sincere, and Abel´s a very cool dude!

Repost: Kiko and the G9.2tt

Just heard that Kiko Loureiro of Angra (who has been a fellow Zoom-endorser for some time) now endorses the G9.2tt as well. Very cool, seems he likes the same features about it that I like.<br>
Check out the Zoom website to read his comments and to get further info.
Speaking of Kiko, he´s a killer-guitarist. I really enjoy listening to both his first album, “No Gravity” and his newest one, which is a bit more on the jazzy site and has some very tasty playing.
Who knows, maybe we´ll get to jam one of these days, would be awesome… so, check out the G9.2tt if you haven´t yet!

Repost: Outworld

Today, the debut album of Outworld was in my mailbox. As you might know, Outworld´s the band of Rusty Cooley. I have always liked Rusty, as he has a lot of dedication and his solo-album was really cool… unfortunately, it seems as if a lot of people didn´t really “get it”. Rusty´s intention with that album was to record some of the heaviest and most extreme stuff he could come up with (think Racer X), and IMO he achieved it. A lot of people said that it lacked emotion or sounded dull, apparently not understanding that it wasn´t his intention to record nothing but in your face, crazy metal-songs.
Anyway, I enjoy the Outworld-debut as well. It´s metal, and the players really are good. The singer has quite some range, and Rusty gets plenty of room to shine. He has come up with some really heavy riffs and some really cool solos. He´s a big fan of Paul Gilbert (as you know, so am I) and it shows. At the same time, some of his solos there sound very inspired by Yngwie, too. Anyway, if you get a chance and like metal or shred, give this one a spin!

Repost: Sevenstrings are FUN!

I just received a 7-string guitar (sorry, won´t relay any details on brand and model, youll have to wait and see) in order to review it for GUITAR magazine.
And right away I noticed how much fun it can be to use one. Of course I have tried a few throughout the years, and even used one for some workshops a few years ago, but somehow, the low B-String didn´t fit that well for the music I have written in recent years. It would be kinda pointless to use a sevenstring for a song like “Canyon Of Spirits”.
However, I find myself writing rather different stuff lately (I hinted at that before), and fiddling with a sevenstring is quite inspiring. I try to stay away from standard-stuff, even though it´s fun to jam away with those extra low notes.
Even though it´s not that much of a difference, the B-string can help to come up with some interesting new lines and sounds, so that´s quite refreshing.
I also liked the stuff guys like Vai, Rusty Cooley and Marcel Coenen did with a sevenstring before (and I would LOVE to try what Cooley did, adding a high A-String instead of a low B, which gives you some mean extra-high notes… check out his interview at Jemfest Radio), so who knows, maybe you´ll hear some of those ultralow notes in a new song of mine someday…

Repost: Dave Martone

Right now, I am listening to some songs by fellow guitarist Dave Martone. And as usual, I am impressed by his playing… what a great player! Not only the actual technical side, but also his ideas and creativity, very unique and inventive.
First thing I heard from his was his beautiful cover version of Jason Beckers “Higher” for the “Warmth In The Wilderness” tribute. The way he had translated those beautiful vocal harmonies in the intro to the guitar, and everything he played after that really had me smiling.
So when “A Demons Dream” came out, i ordered that, and I am listening to it on a regular base. Stuff like “Code Red”, “Country Maniac” and his quite interesting cover of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” really shows what a creative guy he is.
I also love “Bach Tones” of the “Zone” album… the clean sound there is great (very much alike the clean sounds I usually aim for myself), and the ides he plays there are really cool. Instead of just playing a note-perfect rendition of the prelude (from WTC), he plays a few very beautiful variations at first, and then gets into stuff like tapping.
Anyway, just a very inventive guy with killer-chops and great, refreshing ideas. If you haven´t checked out his music yet, I really recommend to do so!

Repost: 2 more old soundfiles

I found two more soundfiles, as well. These are recordings with an acoustic guitar, and you might consider them “song idea drafts”, as they were recorded as first takes, and are partially improvised.
I simply plugged in a Yamaha APX and recorded straight, just adding a slight verb. The MP3s are occasionally clipping a bit, but hey, we´re talking drafts here <br>

“Blue Dress“
“Smokey Mountain Dream“
Hope you´ll enjoy those song-ideas. It´s kinda funny…apparently some people are quite surprised when they figure out that I play acoustic guitar too. Sure, I had two songs on “Hidden Creek” that were mainly based on the acoustic, but still, I had people talk to me, going “You don´t play the acoustic guitar, do ya”, sounding quite positive about that.<br>
Well, I do. I actually love it, and I use the acoustic guitar not only for practicing sometimes, but also wrote quite a few tunes on one. I don´t consider myself an “acoustic player” (along the lines of guys like Doyle Dykes, Adrian Legg or others), but I do like playing one a lot, and occasionally like to experiment with open tunings too.
So anyway, don´t know whether these soundfiles are of interest for you, but I guess I´ll just stick to my concept of using this blog for all kinds of random stuff

Repost: Michael Schenker

Funny… I just found an MP3 that I had forgotten about. I recorded it for the older version of this blog, sometime last year. It´s my take on the “Only You Can Rock Me”-solo by Michael Schenker. A quick job (I recorded a rough backing on my sequencer, then added some rhythm guitar and the lead-guitar. The sound ain´t too happening, as I recorded a little FX-processor I used for teaching back then, but it was fun to play that solo.
I learned it when I was in my big “Michael Schenker phase”, at the age of 15 or so. That solo always touched me because of it´s wonderful melody, and it´s yet another prove of what a great player Michael is, both regarding chops and melodic content.

So here is that MP3… LINK

Back when I first posted that MP3 in my blog, I used it as an example of how learning solos by other players can influence your style. Some licks from Schenker, like the ascending pentatonic run with the trills thrown in, occasionally creep in when I improvise, and I guess that´s because I learned some of his solos, and listened to his playing quite a bit.
Even though I really didn´t spend THAT much time to learning an insane amount of solos note by note, I did learn some, and learned what a great lesson that can be. Working on technique is one thing, trying to learn someone else´s solos or songs can be a great learning experience as well.

Repost: Harp harmonics

And yet another new post, last one for today…
As I have mentioned many times before, I am a big fan of the amazing Steve Morse, and have been for many years. Years ago, I worked hard on learning some of his licks, riffs, leads, songs, and some of his trademarks. Usually, that was quite a humbling experience, as not only his technique is amazing… he also is a great songwriter and a very inventive and creative person (not to mention that he´s an insanely nice human being, and a very funny guy. I always enjoy talking to him or hanging out with him tremendously, and consider myself blessed when I get a chance to do that).

Anyway, one of the things he likes to do it use “harp harmonics” (kinda like Lenny Breau-style). For an explanation on how it works , check out my article on harmonics at ibreathe.
Basically, you fret a note with the left hand, and then, with the right hand index finger, you touch the string you are fretting the note on exactly 12 frets above (or 5 or 7, like with natural harmonics) and pluck it with the pick or the thumb. So you fret a note, pick the string, while generating a harmonic with your index finger, very similar to natural harmonics.
I hope this explanation will help you understand the technique if you don´t know it yet, and if not, maybe the article I linked to above will be helpful. It sounds complicated, but the concept will get easier once you try, and once you are used to the right hand-part, it won´t be hard to do anymore either. Check out some live videos of Steve, as he uses the technique quite often, and seeing it might make the idea even clearer.
Anyway, one of the most beautiful melodies I heard him play with that is the first solo in Deep Purple´s “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming”. It took me a while till I figured out that it was harp harmonics he´s using there. Using them adds to the beauty of the melody.<br>
So, from memory, here´s about what he´s playing there. I am not sure how close I got, because I don´t have the album around (“Purpendicular”), but I think it went something like this:

Note that even though it says “T” below the notes, it´s not played with tapped harmonics. Powertab doesn´t have a harp harmonic-symbol, so I used the t.h.-symbol instead. The technique is similar, but tapped harmonics, especially with distortion, sounds more percussive and aggressive than harp harmonics (compare, i.e. Eddie´s live solo “316″ from Van Halen´s “Live: Right Here, Right Now”, where he plays a long passage using tapped harmonics, to some of the harp harmonic-stuff Steve does, like for example in this song)

This might take a while to learn, as you have to synchronize both hands… the left hand plays those notes, while the right hand “mirrors” the left hand and turns the notes into harp harmonics. But it´s worth the effort, as it´s a very nice sound, and good technique to work on. Check out the article I linked to above for more examples.

Repost: Quick Mailbag

I guess I am going to use this blog for several different purposes… mini lessons (if you wanna call them that), posting some of my g9.2tt presets (thanks for the feedback so far, glad you like them!), random thoughts and ramblings (I will try to keep them music-related though, don´t worry!), and, like with this post, in order to reply to a few questions I have gotten by email. So here goes….
Q:You mentioned using DiMarzio pickups. Which ones do you use?
A: I have been using DiMarzios for many years now, and I have used many different ones. For example, one of my favorites used to be the Double Whammy, which isn´t available anymore (actually, it is, but only on custom-order). I am currently getting into replacing all my main guitars, and the new ones I am using don´t have DiMarzios, but regarding all previous guitars, here are some of my favorites: ToneZone (prolly my favorite DiMarzio… I have one in the “stripped” Vandy guitar), PAF Pro (often use one in the neck position, but also used to have one in the bridge position of a Strat I used to use), Fast Track II (I love that one, too. Have been using those for about 8 years now), Twang King (great pickups for Teles), FRED (very nice for lead guitar), Super Distortion, and the list goes on…

Q: …and what picks do you use?
A: Even though I usually go by “f it works, don´t fix it”, I occasionally go from one type of pick to another. I have been using Dunlop Jazz IIIs for many years, and then switched to Jazz III XLs. I still have a lot of those stashed away, and they´re a favorite of mine.<br>
However, my current favorite is the Ibanez Paul Gilbert pick. I discovered those a few years ago, but at first, I didn´t like their tone too much (quite trebly), and also I wasn´t sure whether I could get a constant, reliable source of supply for those (I´d hate to fall in love with a pick and then be in a situation where I couldn´t get them anymore).<br>
However, the tone issue works now, after slightly adjusting my attack and the angle of the pick, and I´m a happy camper with them. They work amazingly well for fast picking, love that. They wear out quite quickly, but I constantly have enough of them around, so that´s not an issue either.

Q: When are you gonna write new articles for ibreathemusic.com? (or: Could you write an article on…)
A: Tough to say. I love writing for the site and hanging out at the ibreathe-forums (lots of great people), but right now, I really have a hard time finding enough time to finish new articles, with all the stuff that´s going on.<br>
So I can´t tell how long it´s gonna take, but yes, I will still write new stuff for them. Regarding requests: I appreciate any suggestion or request for new topics to cover, but please don´t mind if it takes a while. Or if I choose not to write about certain topics. Also, I decided at some point to not write any more “player profiles”, because there were a load of requests coming in, and I recommend to do a search instead… most of the players mentioned in those requests were written about by others anyway, and I also recommend to try figuring out some of your favorite players licks, too… it´s a great way to learn and train your ear.

Q: What´s your opinion on TAB?
A: I guess that´s based on some posts I made at the ibreathe forum, or some comments at workshops I conducted. You see, I have no problem with TABs at all… with TAB itself, that is. I usually write out stuff in TAB for lessons and workshops, use them in articles etc. Also, I of course used TABs in magazines back when I started out (no internet back then).
And I like the fact that these days, people can find TABs to their favorite songs, so even without having to transcribe a full song (which is tough at first), they can learn tunes.HOWEVER… it seems to me that the over-abundance of TAB has led a lot of people to neglecting their ears and working on them. When that lawsuit came up and TAB sites were closed down, I heard people say “What am I gonna do? I NEED TABS”
Which, in some way, I understand. On the other hand, it´s kinda scary, because it seems as if most people don´t even try to figure out stuff by ear anymore. Sure, there often is no need to anyway, because it´s easy to find certain TABs and get right to work on learning the song anyway.
But training your ears, developing your relative pitch and being able to pick out melodies and chord progressions, even simple ones, IMO is an essential thing for any musician to do.
Simply because good ears are essential for a musician, and when you play with others, or write songs, or improvise, your ears are important.
I know perfectly well that at first, having to figure out stuff by ear can be very very hard. I had that too, and it´s not like these days, everything is a walk in the park… some chords that guys like Holdsworth or Krantz use, for example, still are really tough to figure out by ear. However, back when I started, I didn´t have other options (other than magazine TABs or asking my teacher to figure out the stuff), so I kept working on it, and eventually it started to become easier.
And I am glad I was forced to do this, because I benefit from my relative pitch pretty much every day, whether it´s for teaching or writing or improvising.
And I don´t mean to say “Well, back then we had no TABs, so you young ´uns don´t know what it´s like” or something. I simply am concerned when I see that some people never even tried to figure out simple melodies or chord progressions, and are lost without TABs… as I said, it´s tough to get started, but after a while, it becomes easier, and it has many advantages.

Repost: Ted Greene

A couple of days ago, a student sent me a link to a video on Google-Video. It was footage from a clinic Ted Greene did at the GIT in 1993. Of course I knew Ted´s work, after all I had worked on some parts of his legendary “Chord Chemistry” book, like many other players.

But that still didn´t prepare me for seeing that vid. It´s one of the most inspiring vids I have seen in a long time. The stuff he plays in there is simply beautiful, and insanely inspiring. While watching, I had to pause the video several times in order to pick up the guitar and try some of the things he suggests in there.

Not only does he have a beautiful tone and sound there, but the chords and little lines he is playing while talking are really pretty, and to think that he´s actually just improvising those is humbling. So is his take on “A Whiter Shade Of Pale”. Even though he didn´t get some of the chords right (and mentioning it too, while still playing), it´s so impressive to see him improvise that version on the spot.
It´s really inspiring, and it´s also a great way to be reminded that there´s so much more you can do besides playing fast licks etc.
Here is a link to the video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7821531272280033510&q=ted+greene
Enjoy!

Repost: Michael Landau

Recently, I was going through some CDs I have, and in between those, there was “Tales From The Bulge”, Mike Landau´s first solo-CD. Mike´s an amazing musician, and I really like this album a lot. I remember Brett Garsed mentioning too as one of his favorite albums, and I think he at some point said that it was an influence on his “Big Sky” album as well.

So anyway, I never picked out licks from that album, but when I listened to it, I picked up a guitar and figured out how to play the first song, “I´m Buzzed”. I have always liked that one… very cool riffs, great sound and tone, and some very beautiful chords and ideas.

I attached a TAB of the main-riff (note that you´ll have to tune to dropped Db in order to play along to the CD, or, if you just wanna play the riff, you will need to tune to Dropped-D anyway)…

and part of the “verse”:

Check out the “Dadd11″ voicing… might sound kinda odd at first, and is tough to fret if you are not used to wide stretches yet, but it´s a beautiful chord. So check out the third bit of TAB…

I started playing around with that chord, and it´s just a nice one to use.
Don´t know if anyone cares about partial TABs like that, but I figured I´d post anyway =)

Repost: First G9.2tt presets

I promised to put up some of my presets for the G9.2tt, and since I have gotten quite a few requests to hurry up ever since, here are the first two presets, in pdf-format.
If you wanna try those out, I recommend to also play around with them and tweak them to your own taste, as the results will also depend on your style of playing, and the guitar you use.
Preset 1: EV-Lead

Preset 2: Twang

More presets coming soon…

Repost: Get Out Of My Yard

When Paul Gilbert announced that the first 38 secs of his new album would be pretty much unplayable, I was really excited to hear what he meant.
When I heard it, I loved it right away. It sounds awesome, and yes, it is hard to play. Because, other than the high speed, you need to string your guitar with 3 strings only (three E-strings, all tuned in octaves), and you need a “human capodaster” to play it the way Paul did.
So after figuring out the arps he is playing there, I took my old, beat up Flying V, strung it with those 3 strings (a low E-string where the G-string would be, a D-string tuned up to E where the B-string would be, and a regular high E-string), and worked on playing that part.

As I don´t have a human capodaster around (who does?!? LOL), I first used tapping, but then switched to a Satch-style “right hand over left hand” technique, utilizing hammer-ons and pull-offs exclusively. It´s impossible to play the palm-muted passage that way (actually, my favorite part), but it´s a load of fun to play that intro this way.
Here´s a pic of the V with the three strings:

…and here is a .pdf of my TAB, arranged for a tuning like the one above. Enjoy!!

http://ericvandenberg.files.wordpress.com/2006/12/goomy-3str.pdf

Repost: Some listening recommendations

Well, as I haven´t posted new entries in quite some time, lemme list a few new (or not so new) records I have been listening to… stuff I enjoy and that I recommend for you to check out!

1. Paul Gilbert – Get Out Of My Yard
I have been looking forward to a new PG record for a while, and when I heard that the newest one was gonna be instrumental, I got quite excited. And he did deliver! This album really rocks, and there´s SO MUCH great guitar-playing on there!<br>
The intro (the infamous “38 seconds of impossible playing”) truly is insane. I even worked on that one, see my next blog-entry…<br><br>

2. Guthrie Govan – Erotic Cakes
I had heard many good things about Guthrie, and I knew he´s an awesome player. So I was looking forward to hearing his debut, and I sure was not disappointed. Lots of variety, and some awesome playing… both melodic and technically challenging. Great job!

3. Chris Juergensen – Prospects & Big Bad Sun
Chris is amazing, not only as a player, but also as a person. Both his albums are great. “Prospects” is more on the jazzy side, while “Big Bad Sun” is a blues-album with vocals. I enjoy listening to those a lot, so check them out!<br><br>

4. Andy Timmons – Resolution
I have been listening to that one a LOT ever since I got it in April or May. Extremly tasteful playing with killer-sounds and a great tone. I am planning on including a cover of “Deliver Us” into the EVB-setlist, what a great tune. And that´s only the opener…

5. Dave Martone – A Demon´s Dream
Dave is another scary, amazing player. He has got a great sense of humor as well. I love this album, especially “Code Red”, “Country Maniac”, the cover of “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat”… can´t wait to check out his upcoming new album

6. Dredg – Catch Without Arms
Great bands, so many memorable melodies and I love some of the chord progressions their guitarist comes up with.

7. Hardware – Third Eye Open
Very obscure, hard-to-find album. Hardware is Bootsy Collins (Bass, Vox), Buddy Miles (Drums, Vox) and the amazing Stevie Salas on guitar and vocals. A serious Hendrix-vibe to be found here, and it sounds very live. If you can find it somewhere, check it out!

8. Rob Balducci – Colour Of Light
Very melodic player with a slight Vai-sound, great album!

9. Keith Urban – Be Here & Love, Pain And The Whole Crazy Thing
Keith´s amazing. Great guitar-player, awesome songs, great voice. The solos in “Nobody Drinks Alone” and “Stupid Boy” are SO well-constructed, and he knows how to build tension and excitement in his solos. IMO he deserves all the success

10. Rascal Flatts – Me & My Gang
Another country-act. Great songwriting, I especially love “What Hurts The Most” and “My Wish”.
I guess that´s a wacky list of different CDs, but hey, I like variety =)