Thoughts on Bach

Bach is the beginning and the end of all music – Max Reger

Study Bach! There you’ll find everything. – Johannes Brahms

Bach opens a vista onto the Universe. After hearing him, people feel there may be meaning to life after all. – Helmut Walcha

Although I don’t believe in God, Bach’s music shows me what a love of God must feel like. – Alain de Botton

It seems almost pointless to write about Johann Sebastian Bach. So much has been said or written about him, and even though he also has been critizised, his music has touched so many people for so many years, and the quotes above are just some examples of that.

I have to say that, even though I don’t listen to a lot of classical music, or play much of it either, Bach will always have a very special place in my heart. I remember hearing his music the first time. of course I had heard bits and pieces before, after all his music is all over the media, covered, performed etc.

However, I was interested in hearing some classical music, and one day, when I was like 10 or so, I went to the local public library, and they had an album called “Toccatas and Fugues for Organ”. I went by my gut-feel and took that home.

Words can not describe what it felt like to hear the Toccata in Dmin and the Fugue that belongs to it. I know its prolly his most popular work, and has been sampled and “reworked” (not in a pleasant way, sometimes…) many times, and some people might be tired of the piece, but OMG, the sheer beauty and power of this piece is so amazing.
The drama, the melodies, and those huge chordal movements, so majestic, almost divine.
I got into Bach more and more, and listened to other works, mainly the instrumental works. I fell in love with it, touched by the beauty and genius in those pieces, the harmony, those melodies. I read biographies about him, and was impressed to read how much his work was inspired by and dedicated to his love for God.

I even learned a few of his pieces on guitar… some of the simpler arrangements for classical guitar, and some other pieces in an arrangement for electric guitar. I didnt do too much of that though, as I never felt that you could do his music much justice with an electric guitar. I have heard so many versions of pieces like the “Toccata in Dm”, but even though there still was beauty in most of them, they were lacking the power and most of the harmonic aspects.

However, learning some of those parts was very inspiring. I remember learning the lower voice of the “Preludium in Cmin” from the”Well-Tempered Clavier”, and enjoying it so much, as it was not only challenging, but also sooo interesting and nice-sounding.
Its amazing what an impact Bach had, how much he is admired, how many people he has influenced (not only Yngwie! =)), and how huge his body of work is.

I remember a very special day last year, when it was snowing outside. I had a day off, lit some candles and listened to some of his works for the organ and the piano, as well as the “Art Of Fugue”.
I doubt that Ill ever cease to be amazed and impressed by his music, and I always find myself coming back to it from time to time. And I think that pretty much every musician can learn something from listening to, analyzing, studying or even learning some of his pieces.
I sometimes wish it was possible to thank him personally (him and others of course) for their contribution to music, to the world, for everything they gave us.
I am sorry if parts of this post sound a bit weird, I just felt like writing all this down..,
Respect if you read that far =)
Thank you…

Further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bach 

NP: “The Bach Variations”, a sampler from Windham Hill Records

 

Jamtrack of Talking Hands Part V

Based on several inquiries by email, I figured I should put up a quick TAB of the jam-track which belongs to episode 5 of “Talking Hands” (featured in the most recent issue of GUITAR magazine, March 2008).
The jam-track came together quickly, and is based on a simple powerchord-progression. I used a few slides and pinch harmonics in between. Here is the TAB:

 
(click to enlarge)

I hope this helps! Thanks for the feedback on the series, I am glad it’s helpful and that you enjoy it!

Brian May/Queen

In my early teens, I went through a “Queen phase” and was listening to Queen albums pretty much 24/7. I remember watching the morning news one day before I went to school, hearing there the first time about Freddie Mercury passing away… what a sad day. Just a few months prior to that, I had bought the “Innuendo” album, which completely blew me away, and to me was pretty much as amazing as the “Night At The Opera” album…

Anyway, I still go through “Queen phases”, where I find myself listening to some of their songs or albums. And I also find myself playing along to some of their songs. Brian May doesnt only have an instantly recognizable sound and tone, but also played some highly memorable solos, very melodic and tasteful, and some awesome hooks and riffs.

I can still sing along to many of his solos, and I love to play along to some of them, like “I Want It All”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Who Wants To Live Forever”… just very tasteful, melodic solos, and I think they’re a great lesson.
I also love Brians solo spot, for example on “Live At Wembley”… very majestic, I love the things he does with the echo…

But the guitar work isnt the only thing worthwhile about Queen… consider the number of hits they had, the change of styles they went through (from 70s hard rock and prog to 80s pop, always keeping the rock-side to their music too), and the variety they always had on their albums… i.e. check out the “Innuendo” album.

You have the title track, which is very mysterious and epic, with this huge majestic chorus, lots of power, and then a breakdown with some flamenco-style guitar courtesy of Steve Howe. That song was a bit hit, which is quite amazing considering the structure and everything.

Then you have “I’m Going Slightly Mad”, which is pop, but with a twist. “Headlong” is a driving rock song, while “I Cant Live With You” is more of a majestic song again. You also have the beautiful “Bijou” with Brian May playing some beautiful phrases (a bit Jeff Beck-ish), the soothing “These Are The Days Of Your Life”… etc.

And its just amazing that these four guys offered so much versatility, without ever losing their credibility IMO. I mean, you’d always be able to tell it was Queen. The vocal harmonies were amazing, and the band truly rocked live, a great live-act. All of those guys wrote hits, and its just amazing to listen to that plethora of styles they covered, and to pay attention to the little details they put into their songs.

There is so much music to be found here, and of course, Brian May’s playing is always a joy to listen to, whether its the “guitar choir”, or just his melodic solos like on “Hammer To Fall”, “Somebody To Love”, “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “It’s A Hard Life” or the beautiful “Save Me”…

I know I’ll always keep going back to them and relisten to their albums, finding something new…

Check it out!

Thank you!

I just received the newest issue of Guitar Magazine, and its the one with the results of the annual readers poll.

I was happy to see that my “Talking Hands” series came in 2nd of the “Best Guitar Workshop” series, right after the Annihilator Workshop with Jeff Waters (quite an honor!).

Id like to express my heart-felt gratitude to everyone who voted, and I hope you’re gonna like the upcoming episodes as well!
If you have any feedback or questions, as always, please feel free to write to me!
Thanks!

Thoughts on distortion/gain, pt. I

As you might have expected, I am late on writing down some thoughts on gain, overdrive and distortion, something I had talked about sometime late last year. However, I wanted to get started on that now.

First of all, lemme point out that the thoughts in here are entirely mine, meaning that it’s just my opinion. Opinions on that topic differ quite a bit, based on what style of music someone plays, what kind of other gear is used, and of course, personal taste regarding the sound you’re going for.

Starting while being a metal head back then, I of course wanted quite a bit of distortion, as it suited the kind of music I wanted to play (rock, hard rock,metal, shred stuff), and I have to admit that I still like higain-sounds, and use that quite a bit. It might be a bit harder to control, but I do feel comfortable with it, and like to use that quite a bit.

However, over the years I started to appreciate lesser-distorted sounds too, learning to appreciate the different dynamics and punch that a good, crunchy sound can give. And I started to use sounds like that too.

Now, I started out back then with a crappy solid state amp, and soon converted to my first “tube setup”… an old tube radio with a cheap tube preamp in front of it. Low-fi, very unreliable and of course not comparable to a “true” tube amp, but I liked that so much better. I also started using different distortion and overdrive pedals, and soon knew that Id always prefer the distortion from the amp, especially with some poweramp-clipping added, over trying to distort an amp with some pedal, trying to get a high gain sound out of a clean amp with some uber-aggressive distortion pedal.

Later on, I started using amps which had gain galore, and allowed me to control the amounts with the volume knob of the guitar. I felt so much more comfortable with the amp giving me the distortion instead of relying on pedals. The 5150 (the first one) by Peavey was one of those amps.

However, using a modded Mesa Mark IV and a heavily modded JCM 800 also caused me to use a pedal again, in this case an overdrive pedal as a booster. And I learned to appreciate the versatility and different options this can give you.
So that is one of my favorite setups today. When I play live with the EVB, I sometimes use a 5150 (I or II) with an overdrive pedal in front of it, which I kick on for solo-parts, leaving it off for rhythm and alot of the melodies.

However, I have also become quite picky about the quality and basic sound of the pedal. I used to think that a lot of the “tried and true” industry standards would work perfectly, but of course, its also a matter of taste. I recently had the pleasure to review a boutique tube amp, based on 60s Marshalls. Its a very “Pure” amplifier, and it really brings out many of the smallest details of your playings, and every little detail of your guitar.

I tried different overdrive- and distortion pedals in front of it, and was quite turned off about how evident it suddenly became that some just didnt work for me. The amp brought out the tonal characteristics (or shortcomings) of those pedals, and only very few worked well, while others seemed to “damage” or even ruin the basic, plain and pure sound of the amp and the guitar… too much treble, too much of a “synthetic” sound, or simply an unpleasant voicing (based, of course, on my taste).

Sure, for some other setups, those might work perfectly, but I have grown used to certain pedals that are more… musical, color the sound less, almost like a plain booster would. The Keeley-modded pedals are wonderful when it comes to that. They dont color the sound as much, add 2nd order harmonics, and altogether sound very musical. They dont “even out” and overcompress dynamics, and seem to bring out the basic character of the guitar and amp, instead of trying to bend the sound too much. So consider that a recommendation… if you can, try some of their mods, or even compare them to the pedals without the mod.

I often try out the characteristic of such a pedal by hooking it up to a clean amp, nothing in the signal chain but that pedal. I crank the pedal, and see what it does. The Keeley modded BD for example gives you a very Vox- or Fender-style open, gritty crunch, which is just very tasty, very musical, even with a lower quality amp.
Thats always a good indicator that the pedal will do a great job the way I usually use it, as a booster for solos. I use pedals like that to add just a tiny bit more gain, a bit more body and sustain. Most people in the audience might not even notice a difference, yet I do when I play, and thats the purpose. I love to bring out the characteristics of the guitar and amp, and add a bit more gain. Of course, a booster might do the job too, and I use one occasionally, too, but with a good overdrive or distortion-pedal, you can get such a boost plus a slightly different tone, a certain color (the original Tube Screamer is a good example), which is another nice thing to have.

I dont know if any of this is interesting to you,and I have lots more thoughts on this to share, but I am gonna end this for now… I would like to recommend to you though to try out different pedals, try to find out what they can do, really experiment with the knobs, as some pedals might sound better when they’re not cranked all the way. Its definitely worth experimenting with this!