Another advantage of starting with acoustic- you are not distracted by endless exploration of tone. The tone is limited by technique. Forcing you to focus on rhythm and melody
When I took guitar lessons in college, my instructor would ask why I insisted on playing rock songs on my acoustic guitar? I stated that "If I can play it on my acoustic, I can damn sure play it on an electric". I've been playing for 20 years. I still enjoy the hell out of it.
I have only been playing acoustic. When I try electric the strings are just ringing all over the place. Never learned the necessary damping. And I just bend the strings all the time, sounding out of tune.
Can see he’s genuine in his vids. He definitely seems like a Rick and not a Dick. And I’m sure that’s part of what helped him hit 1 million subs ( and the insanely great content).
Not only is fingerstyle an important skill to learn, it is one of the most liberating things a guitarist can use. Thanks for the reminder to pick up my electric more often!
That's very true, listening to each other while playing can make playing music so much better. And quitting the ego trip, that ruined many great musicians.
you could not have put that better. I really wish more young musicians would understand this! It's like they say they understand how to listen to a band but then they actually don't do it. There are A LOT of musicians with big egos. And even if you have a big ego, try not to let it show or consciously try to reel it in so your band mates aren't annoyed at you half the time haha.
That is what you do in a live band - I listen to others and how I musically fit in. Note: Only because I did my homework and got my guitar bits right. Ha ha
Hearing you guys talk about Chet makes me miss my Dad. I lost him just last summer. He was 88. He was very particular about music he liked. He wasn’t a fan of rock at all. He was old school. He absolutely loved Chet Atkins. I got a cassette back in the day with Chet and Mark Knopfler. I finally got him to listen to Dire Straits. He loved “Walk of Life”. I finally found some common ground musically with Dad. I began collecting music that he loved. I could finally sit down and listen to music with dad. As a lover of most genres it was very special to get him interested in it with me. He finally wanted to have the radio on when we rode together. We did a trip from northern NY to Houston when I moved back here in 2009. He was 78. We had to drive straight through 28 hours. He was too old to do that. We had 2 dogs and 4 cats with us so we couldn’t stop. He came along so I wound the have to do it alone. We listened to so much music on the way that he could appreciate. It was like I finally got in tune with my dad. Every time I hear anything relating to Chet or Knopfler I remember that horrible trip with my dad. Horrible only because of the circumstances. We really loved our time together. He did it with me the first time in 95 too. My best memories with my dad came at the hardest times in my life. Thanks for the memories of dad guys. Miss you dad.
MartyDadRiffs I’ve recently gone back and listened to some of those old albums and they are killer. I saw them during the Blackwater Park tour and it was the first concert I’d seen where grown men were crying because it was just that good.
Absolutely! I get blown away by the stuff they write on acoustic (especially when I play it) and think to myself "how in the HELL did they come up with this, this is like super-genius level or something" lol
So glad people are talking about Opeth here. A person who commented that Rick should do a "What makes this song great" for Opeth, Rick actually said he would :D! "Still Life" was my 1st hearing them and immediately became a fan, but I "read" about them 1st for their debut "Orchid" in 1995 (when I 1st heard Meshuggah for "Destroy Erase Improve" and 2 minutes in was an instant fan), and so on till Still Life. The "Brutality to Beauty" was astounding to me, how they could be so aggressive and then like a breath of fresh air, come in with acoustic guitars, made them very unique for the time. "Blackwater Park" was my 1st time seeing them as well, as they opened for Nevermore on the "Dead Heart in a Dead World Tour". Mikael was MUCH more shy then, he and the whole band were shocked at their positive reception, and all he would say is; "thank you . . . thank you very much" :). Now he's basically a stand-up comedian :p.
My first gig is in ten days, I’m 51. Power trio, and our music spans 4 decades. I’ll just add that it’s learning whole songs, lyrics, rhythm and a little bit of dynamics that will get you headed in the right direction to actually go out and play it. This works best with acoustic guitar. Know the song at its foundation, memorize it.
As a guitar player, it's a sad fact that every acoustic player can play electric, but not every electric player can play acoustic. The action on many acoustics is much higher, the string tension as well, and it requires much more fretting and string pressure to get clean notes. If your finger tips are not made of stone, and your fretting hand isn't strong, acoustic can humble even an accomplished electric player. It's like the difference between power steering, and manual steering. Driving a car is the same, but the guys with manual steering have forearms like Popeye.
I'm a month into learning. Multiple people said Acoustic was harder, so that's where I'm starting. Literally just learnt yesterday what muting even is and how to do it. At the end of each week I take a video of something new I have learnt that week, and something old that I have improved on during that week. It's an outstanding way of tracking progress and self-motivating.
Just play music and don't worry about boxes to put yourself in. I started on trumpet at school, played in an orchestra, was lead guitarist in thrash metal band, also own and play synths, piano and bass guitar. Just started singing (lol). Used to worry that I perhaps would suffer by not dedicating to a single instrument but now can play anything I need to in my own compositions apart from drum kit. I am never going to be virtuoso or session musician on anything but what I have perfectly suits my needs and means I am for the most part independent although it has taken me 25 years to get there!
Exactly Right! I'm somewhere just behind you in age, but, I often find it odd when folks are surprised that I play 6, 12 str acoustic and electric. I see it as I play guitar - albeit, different kinds, but all are the essentially same register and fret the same. I understand when non-players say this, but it really shocks me when guitar players say this... I'm like WTF?
Explaining strumming patterns sounds like Big Bruce explaining his harmonica instruction book (remote area of Alaska): Blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, suck, blow... As I've started learning to play chords on acoustic, I've added a semi-hollowbody electric, and "Wow!" lighter strings and it sounds good unplugged, too. 12-53 acoustic strings, 10-46 electric strings (stock 10-52, but I asked and was advised 10-46 strings are OK). Plugging in to a modeling (practice) amp with a little analog delay sounds great! Working tech for musicians is an oh yeah, been there, that happens... Computers will fail (usually it's a software failure, rather than hardware), and I've come to expect it. Paper always works! I always sing along behind the sound desk, which really helps with the changes, page turning or lyric slide changes in projection. Thanks, guys! Loved the intro(s) and the outro, too! The important thing: "Always have fun!" Ladies in their 80s and 90s will tell you that, and I tell them that they're the rowdiest people I know.
EVERY guitarist that is trying to improve should see this video. I love the part on timing. Words of wisdom from all 3 of them. This should be “ Gospel for Guitarists “ Part One. Thank you guys.
As a kid in the 80s I desperately wanted to shred electric and saved for an electric guitar and an amp. Due for my parents need for sleep and the general and monetary unavailability of headphone- practice amps at that time I played the electric guitar dry unplugged, but allways loved the natural sustain, which later on made me love the acoustic tone. As it turned out, I was a better lead player, than a rhythm player, which opened the doors to many bands. That lead me decades later to play the Yamaha silent guitar to be played like an electric, which it actually is, with the sound of an acoustic. I use the heavy punch of stone and horn pics, that give the guitar player almost the feel of playing a slap bass. The world doesn´t need that, but I found my thing, which I enjoy. Thank God, I do not have to make a living on playing music, but I now understand the importance of the harmonic basis. I love following harmonics, playing scales. A good lead is nothing without an interesting chord progression. And since I´m not dead yet, who knows… Old man´s tale who never dared to make it in the music business.
I try to tell all my students that playing a guitar is really like being a drummer. You have to have tremendous technique and cooperation between the hands. It is what creates feel and more importantly, you start to develop "your" feel and sound. This is when playing becomes so much fun and you start going to the next level. Passion is what drives it all.
Great discussion, guys. I don't play the guitar and have no clue of most of what you're talking about but I enjoy your enthusiasm and passion for music.
WE'll go from 'Kill or get killed' to 'Sue or get sued' ;) Learn the minor scale once and then hire the best lawyers - don't bother with the rest of music theory, invest in musicologists and favorable jurors; it'll pay off big time ;)
I'm electric; to me, "box" guitar to "slab" is like bicycle to motorcycle; so much extra work to get less further... but as it's own instrument, acoustic is great, and a mix of slab and box can lighten up and widen a 2-axe soundscape. Vibrato... (14:40) ...yes; hearing a lot of "too wide" in this age of bedroom video shredders on light-gauge strings! As important IMO is your center-point, i.e. bending up from note, down, or a mix of the two. I drop chords and bend down vibrato by bending the neck forward (helps to have a frail or damaged guitar; do it a lot, and you will have ), and that also helps flatten the blues third (e.g. from E to mostly-open G) and get the Gibson whammy-bar shimmer without a whammy bar. Here's a challenge; play a Robin Trower song without any effects other than overdrive, and try and get the phasing effect by how and where you play on the neck. What works for me, is open drone strings, neck-bend vibrato, and particular neck fretting positions that are a PITA to reach in real time. A good practice workout!
Congratulations Rick on your million subscribers! I enjoy this channel immensely and I tell anyone who will listen about it. I'm always inspired by your videos. Thank you my Paisan!
I was really heartened by what you were saying about drummers playing with clicks. I grew up playing 70s and 80s rock and blues. I always hated clicks and loops because, as you say, it takes all the feel out of the music, and yeah, absolutely kills the atmosphere in the room between songs when someone (not always the drummer) has to mess around with their equipment to set up the next song. One of the things that happened during the late 90s and early 2000s was that extra loops became popular in live performances, which forced drummers like me to play within that grid. It killed the enjoyment for me and was one of the reasons I stopped playing professionally. It made me crazy that so many people had this kind of arrogance that somehow playing click perfect drums was 'right'. It was like they just couldn't admit that it sounded sterile. They couldn't understand why audiences were not getting into it at performances. Anyway, now I'm thinking of coming back into music years later, and these videos are so encouraging. Thanks Rick. I really appreciate what you're doing.
It amazes me to this day that there are people like Beato, Rhett and Dave that can talk about music on all levels without any snobbish attitude and just talk music. I thought I was alone. Damn I wish I were friends with these guys as it would be so much fun talking with them and jamming :)
@@RickBeato Now that you're SUPER huge celeb your free time is limited. However, one day I'd love to come visit if you do some sort of meet and greet. Or if you ever happen to be in the DC metro area (I live in VA) then i'd definitely come out! Cheers!
The Rolling Stones, with the rhythmic swagger of Keith Richards, used acoustic guitars to underpin many of the tracks that many think of as electric guitar driven. Keith is a subtle genius. Thanks for the video.
This is such a great video! You guys have hit all of the really important points of musicianship! Singing, right hand technique in guitar playing, keyboard/piano playing. I’m recommending this video to my students!
Ahh it's awesome to know that you guys joke around on the occasion! Also there are many skills to understand, but I'd definitely agree with this one! Great work!
10:02 !!!! So true. One could probably develop a whole course around muting. Even just using free fret hand fingers/thumb to dampen unwanted strings takes a lot of practice, e.g. applying enough pressure to mute but not enough to fret, and adapting that technique depending on if you are close to certain harmonics. Then controlling the fretting finger to be able to dampen the adjacent higher string, lower string, or both. Not to mention using picking hand palm and picking hand thumb to mute low strings, using picking hand ring and pinky fingers to mute higher strings, resting the pick into adjacent strings. I learned most of these techniques subconsciously over decades of playing and only recently noticed that I was doing all of these.
The first guitar I bought , was an Ovation, in the late eighties with the music of Don McLean, Ralph McTell and John Denver on the record player. My older sisters would have the likes of Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bay City Rollers and early Bowie on their turntables. Older brother had Marley and the Eagles as his main influences. The Ovation has been with me through early travels, University and then through my Medical training. Got the electric guitar bug later and went for a silent guitar, with Boss GT-100 and small Marshall amp. I'll never be a professional musician but it certainly is rewarding and a good form of therapy. Your videos, Rhettt's and the many other musicians who take the time to put content out there, certainly give help to us want to be musicians, thank you.
Started on acoustic over 40 years ago and then I went to Electric right away. Now I come back to the acoustic as well, it really helps improve my playing
This is great! I teach a little guitar and I often feel like I’m being hard on beginners for harping on about muting and working on strum patterns and explaining the importance of chord shapes to kids who want to play riffs... i feel like you’ve given me just want I needed to hear to keep on pushing these youngsters to learn these techniques early on 👍🏻🎸 really nice video 👌🏻
I started on acoustic in the '60s with folk music and strumming chords, practicing finger picking and strumming rhythm patterns. Then came lead and later classical guitar, also self taught. It just seemed normal to me that all types and styles should be learned, since records all had all these elements. One thing I'll say about the days before computers...it was great ear training, sitting alone in your room figuring out all the parts by ear...and...do you know how many guitarists I've met over the years that can't solo over a simple I IV V blues progression because the have no sense of where the chord changes are?
11:25 Im well into my bass and guitar playing, but still learning guitar. Sometimes when im bored I just play into pro tools along with spotify and record it. Listening back to those is sometimes really humbling. Like "Damn I really sucked at that part" and go back and work on it. Obviously not everyone has a interface and the gear to record into pro tools, but recording yourself is super important if you want to get better. Also at 13:30, playing with a drummer is an incredible way to get some coordination between playing with others down. I've been playing with my drummer for close to 2 1/2 years and I know exactly when he is gonna do some sort of fill, because Im used to his drumming. The metronome part is also a good point, instead of playing to the click, play to each other, and if you can develop that skill of being able to keep in tempo even when its changing is huge, especially as a bass player. Feel is the most important thing to a bass+drums groove, not the click.
I am so thankful you brought up the necessity of vocals in bands And their important. In my area musicians don't seem to deem vocals as any real importance... I write and play rhythm guitar. As a female rock vocalist I see around me all male bands where none of them have an actual real singer in the band yet... they seem to be able to put a band together and play gigs. it's like pulling teeth for me, I'm no slouch on vocals, ive been singing lead vocals in rock bands off and on most of my life and have to give myself some credit for being a good strong singer. I do very limited backup vocals in a blues rock band and struggle to understand why my vocals are not utilized more. I find alot of musicians don't take singers seriously unless they can shred on guitar or drums or bass. Which is why i taught myself to play the guitar but i am a singer, i am not a guitar player, i would like to focus on vocals but find myself up against the lead guitar player syndrome over and over again. Where as long as you can shred...who cares if the band has a good vocalist. I don't know if it's this area I live in or what. But thank you for stressing the importance of vocals in bands. 🙏
No doubt. When I hear someone that can't bend on pitch it absolutely drives me crazy. My dad once played with this guitar player that he raved about how great he was and when I finally heard the guy I wanted to rip my ears off my head. If you have bad vibrato and you're an electric player you shouldn't even bother tuning your guitar because you're just gonna sound out of tune as soon as you bend anyway. It's like they're clueless to the fact that even when you bend a string you're still "targeting a note" and not just bending it to bend it. Kirk Hammett is a professional guitarist that I just think has TERRRRRRRIBLE vibrato. Gary Moore and Angus Young are guys I would say have absolutely astounding vibrato and I'm not even a big AC/DC "fan" per se. But credit is due for that vibrato for sure.
I've been playing acoustic guitar for 25 years but I just started playing electric this year. Super fun to learn all these new things. Though when I was younger every time I was handed an electric I felt so disconnected from everything I knew about guitar and I thought I always sounded silly.
This is a great discussion. For those of us of "advanced" years, it's second nature for us to think of musicians being multi-instrumentalists. For me, it started with Queen: All 4 had piano/keyboard parts on hit songs (or at least on hits within the fandom, if not chart listing), all 4 had guitar parts on hit records and Roger Taylor played all instruments at some point on various songs over the course of their career.
Speaking of vibrato. When I was first learning guitar I was a huge Leslie West fan and the very first bent note when the song Nantucket Sleighride kicks in to me is the definition of what feel touch taste and vibrato is all about. That is my my favorite note in all of rock. You want to know what killer vibrato is all about just listen to that note!
Learn to play bass. YES! I remember when I first picked up the bass, my friend Luis, who was a drummer/drum instructor, said to me. "Oh God, if you're going to play that, please learn how to play it correctly." The look on his face was one I'll never forget. He basically scared me into honing my bass chops. Thanks Luis, where ever you are.
Thanks, Rick (& all) for making TH-cam so much better. When we dreamed of the possibilities years ago, no one imagined content as good as what you put out regularly.
Big congrats to 1M! Such a great channel and a great place for learning and feeling connected with others that love music and making music! Thank you so much!!!
Dave nailed it - when things became fragmented into specific genres, acoustic guitars vanished from certain types of music. For me, in my British punk music days, I don't ever recall seeing an acoustic guitar. Even In rockabilly phase, it was all electrics. Tom Petty and John Hiatt really made me discover the power of the acoustic guitar. Love this series. Cheers Rick.
One great background singer (although he did sing lead on some songs) that comes to mind to me is Mike Mills in R.E.M. Played good bass and solid keys as well as great background vocals. Nobody in that band was maybe the greatest on their instrument technically but usually each played something musically solid that together made their songs really good.
I only ever played acoustic... and I know a lot of people that only play acoustic. I' m kind of in the folk scene though so I guess it makes sense. Electric guitar really is a whole different animal, I feel totally out of my element when I pick one up
Brent Willey preach, brother. I started on classical, got me a Strat later, got me an acoustic steel string. Love all three. Had to get rid of my strat. 😩 Looking for a new electric. I feel incomplete without one. Honestly, I think every guitar player ought to have a nylon string, a flat top steel string, an archtop steel string, a dobro and an electric of some kind. Oh, and a 12 string! Now, I’m going to hit send and I’m sure I will think of three more kinds people ought to have. Always want one more.
Christopher Rowley oh, I am sure there’s an electric out there for you. Maybe a semi hollow. You might like some of the stuff Gretsch makes. That’s what Chet Atkins played on. He did a lot of acoustic. But he did amazing stuff on a Gretsch. Just play your electric clean. Then, slowly add some gain and see how far you get. You might enjoy it. It’ll open up all kinds of new avenues of creativity for you. I started out on classical an acoustic. It’s a little different but you get used to it pretty quick.
This is so true! There are so many "10 guitars every player needs" videos that don't have a single acoustic, let alone a classical guitar in them. After seeing those I can never take those people seriously.
Rick congratulations for the 1M man! Hard work pays off. You know I always like to think about 80/81 when Pat Metheny gathers the heaviest jazz masters you can think of, and he shows up with the acoustic guitar! He will always do what feels right to him.
I didn't pick up an electric guitar until I'd been playing for seven years. When I was 12 (in 1977) I started off on a nylon-stringed classical guitar, doing scales, basic chords and strumming patterns. For some reason, Bmin in the standard position (2nd fret) was very difficult for me to learn to transition to from a Dmaj or an Amaj chord (but I finally learned how to do it). It wasn't all that fun because the neck was WAY too wide for my short fingers. However, it helped me learn accuracy. When I was a junior in high school, my parents finally relented to my incessant nagging and bought me a student steel-string acoustic guitar. It was easy to play (and MUCH more fun) because I'd already built up callouses from playing the classical guitar, and the neck was narrower and more comfortable for my left hand. My first electric guitar was a 1983 black Squier Strat with a maple neck that I purchased in 1984 when I was 19. Honestly, I never got used to the thing. In fact, I stopped playing electric guitar in 1988 (concentrating on acoustic guitar and bass) and left them alone for almost 30 years because for some reason I could never get comfortable playing them. I finally started playing electric guitars again when I started exploring jazz and discovered hollow body jazz guitars. To me, they have the feel of an acoustic guitar. That's probably the main reason I love playing them.
I began learning acoustic guitar when I was 10 years old. I didn't begin learning electric guitar until the late 1960's when I actually bought a Guild Starfire to go with my Guild D40. Even that D40 had a DeArmond soundhole pickup. I wore out the original frets on that D40 using round wound nickel electric strings.
remember Dream Academy - "Life In A Northern Town" (1985) quite a lot of chorus and oversampling -definitely acoustic The whole MTV Unplugged era was popular for a reason, And Neil Young never left...just saw him, still strong those Nelson brothers, "Love and Affection", Extreme, Mr. Big etc they really ushered in the 90s acoustic stuff, then Lilith, Indigo Girls, Sarah McLaughlin, Shawn Colvin
Another advantage of starting with acoustic- you are not distracted by endless exploration of tone. The tone is limited by technique. Forcing you to focus on rhythm and melody
When I took guitar lessons in college, my instructor would ask why I insisted on playing rock songs on my acoustic guitar? I stated that "If I can play it on my acoustic, I can damn sure play it on an electric". I've been playing for 20 years. I still enjoy the hell out of it.
I have only been playing acoustic. When I try electric the strings are just ringing all over the place. Never learned the necessary damping. And I just bend the strings all the time, sounding out of tune.
Just ran into Rick at Guitar Center...such a humble friendly guy.
Thanks Karl!
So cool!
Awesome to hear - that comes through on his videos - likeability factor thru the roof - congrats on 1million subscribers Rick!
Can see he’s genuine in his vids. He definitely seems like a Rick and not a Dick. And I’m sure that’s part of what helped him hit 1 million subs ( and the insanely great content).
Rick is such a nice guy. I meet him at last years master class and it was so cool.
Not only is fingerstyle an important skill to learn, it is one of the most liberating things a guitarist can use. Thanks for the reminder to pick up my electric more often!
Most important skill - listening to other musicians while they’re playing and not being egotistical.
Wow you...wow that's so so true man ... really well put
That's very true, listening to each other while playing can make playing music so much better. And quitting the ego trip, that ruined many great musicians.
Rule #1 of Robert Fripp's King Crimson
you could not have put that better. I really wish more young musicians would understand this! It's like they say they understand how to listen to a band but then they actually don't do it. There are A LOT of musicians with big egos. And even if you have a big ego, try not to let it show or consciously try to reel it in so your band mates aren't annoyed at you half the time haha.
That is what you do in a live band - I listen to others and how I musically fit in. Note: Only because I did my homework and got my guitar bits right. Ha ha
Hearing you guys talk about Chet makes me miss my Dad. I lost him just last summer. He was 88. He was very particular about music he liked. He wasn’t a fan of rock at all. He was old school. He absolutely loved Chet Atkins. I got a cassette back in the day with Chet and Mark Knopfler. I finally got him to listen to Dire Straits. He loved “Walk of Life”. I finally found some common ground musically with Dad. I began collecting music that he loved. I could finally sit down and listen to music with dad. As a lover of most genres it was very special to get him interested in it with me. He finally wanted to have the radio on when we rode together. We did a trip from northern NY to Houston when I moved back here in 2009. He was 78. We had to drive straight through 28 hours. He was too old to do that. We had 2 dogs and 4 cats with us so we couldn’t stop. He came along so I wound the have to do it alone. We listened to so much music on the way that he could appreciate. It was like I finally got in tune with my dad. Every time I hear anything relating to Chet or Knopfler I remember that horrible trip with my dad. Horrible only because of the circumstances. We really loved our time together. He did it with me the first time in 95 too. My best memories with my dad came at the hardest times in my life. Thanks for the memories of dad guys. Miss you dad.
Opeth, Opeth, Opeth. They have always had a clever mix of acoustic, electric clean and dirty tones.
MartyDadRiffs I’ve recently gone back and listened to some of those old albums and they are killer. I saw them during the Blackwater Park tour and it was the first concert I’d seen where grown men were crying because it was just that good.
@@12xenn45 I did not know that, but I am not surprised.
Absolutely! I get blown away by the stuff they write on acoustic (especially when I play it) and think to myself "how in the HELL did they come up with this, this is like super-genius level or something" lol
I hear opeth fans praising opeth I crack a smile, they're acoustics are phenomenal! btw their new song just came out today and its a solid jam
So glad people are talking about Opeth here. A person who commented that Rick should do a "What makes this song great" for Opeth, Rick actually said he would :D!
"Still Life" was my 1st hearing them and immediately became a fan, but I "read" about them 1st for their debut "Orchid" in 1995 (when I 1st heard Meshuggah for "Destroy Erase Improve" and 2 minutes in was an instant fan), and so on till Still Life. The "Brutality to Beauty" was astounding to me, how they could be so aggressive and then like a breath of fresh air, come in with acoustic guitars, made them very unique for the time.
"Blackwater Park" was my 1st time seeing them as well, as they opened for Nevermore on the "Dead Heart in a Dead World Tour". Mikael was MUCH more shy then, he and the whole band were shocked at their positive reception, and all he would say is; "thank you . . . thank you very much" :). Now he's basically a stand-up comedian :p.
5:45 "You can do heavy music on Acoustic" - which is an excellent point and a great idea for a dedicated video on its own
Yeah! ... Kiss' unplugged is an example of that
Tons of 80’s power ballads had acoustic. Poison, Cinderella, GnR just to name a few. That’s what got you laid back in the day, learning acoustic.
My first gig is in ten days, I’m 51. Power trio, and our music spans 4 decades. I’ll just add that it’s learning whole songs, lyrics, rhythm and a little bit of dynamics that will get you headed in the right direction to actually go out and play it. This works best with acoustic guitar. Know the song at its foundation, memorize it.
What a great discussion. I kept thinking of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers as a good example of so many of these points.
Thanks for mentioning Tom and the Heartbreakers.
I could listen to you guys all day. Common sense, experience and entertaining. Keep them comming
As a guitar player, it's a sad fact that every acoustic player can play electric, but not every electric player can play acoustic. The action on many acoustics is much higher, the string tension as well, and it requires much more fretting and string pressure to get clean notes. If your finger tips are not made of stone, and your fretting hand isn't strong, acoustic can humble even an accomplished electric player. It's like the difference between power steering, and manual steering. Driving a car is the same, but the guys with manual steering have forearms like Popeye.
👎🏻
I'm a month into learning. Multiple people said Acoustic was harder, so that's where I'm starting. Literally just learnt yesterday what muting even is and how to do it. At the end of each week I take a video of something new I have learnt that week, and something old that I have improved on during that week. It's an outstanding way of tracking progress and self-motivating.
Just play music and don't worry about boxes to put yourself in. I started on trumpet at school, played in an orchestra, was lead guitarist in thrash metal band, also own and play synths, piano and bass guitar. Just started singing (lol). Used to worry that I perhaps would suffer by not dedicating to a single instrument but now can play anything I need to in my own compositions apart from drum kit. I am never going to be virtuoso or session musician on anything but what I have perfectly suits my needs and means I am for the most part independent although it has taken me 25 years to get there!
it's a couple of months that i'm basically closed home learning how to play guitar with zero social life and suddenly you guys are my best friends
How is it going?
Exactly Right! I'm somewhere just behind you in age, but, I often find it odd when folks are surprised that I play 6, 12 str acoustic and electric. I see it as I play guitar - albeit, different kinds, but all are the essentially same register and fret the same. I understand when non-players say this, but it really shocks me when guitar players say this... I'm like WTF?
Explaining strumming patterns sounds like Big Bruce explaining his harmonica instruction book (remote area of Alaska): Blow, blow, blow, blow, blow, suck, blow... As I've started learning to play chords on acoustic, I've added a semi-hollowbody electric, and "Wow!" lighter strings and it sounds good unplugged, too. 12-53 acoustic strings, 10-46 electric strings (stock 10-52, but I asked and was advised 10-46 strings are OK). Plugging in to a modeling (practice) amp with a little analog delay sounds great! Working tech for musicians is an oh yeah, been there, that happens... Computers will fail (usually it's a software failure, rather than hardware), and I've come to expect it. Paper always works! I always sing along behind the sound desk, which really helps with the changes, page turning or lyric slide changes in projection. Thanks, guys! Loved the intro(s) and the outro, too! The important thing: "Always have fun!" Ladies in their 80s and 90s will tell you that, and I tell them that they're the rowdiest people I know.
I love both electric and acoustic guitars
EVERY guitarist that is trying to improve should see this video.
I love the part on timing.
Words of wisdom from all 3 of them.
This should be “ Gospel for Guitarists “ Part One.
Thank you guys.
Staind - It's been a while. Such a great nu metal/post grungy acoustic-electric song. Such a great song period.
As a kid in the 80s I desperately wanted to shred electric and saved for an electric guitar and an amp. Due for my parents need for sleep and the general and monetary unavailability of headphone- practice amps at that time I played the electric guitar dry unplugged, but allways loved the natural sustain, which later on made me love the acoustic tone. As it turned out, I was a better lead player, than a rhythm player, which opened the doors to many bands. That lead me decades later to play the Yamaha silent guitar to be played like an electric, which it actually is, with the sound of an acoustic. I use the heavy punch of stone and horn pics, that give the guitar player almost the feel of playing a slap bass. The world doesn´t need that, but I found my thing, which I enjoy. Thank God, I do not have to make a living on playing music, but I now understand the importance of the harmonic basis. I love following harmonics, playing scales. A good lead is nothing without an interesting chord progression. And since I´m not dead yet, who knows… Old man´s tale who never dared to make it in the music business.
It makes my day to see y’all together.
Completely agree. Learn them all. Bass, Acoustic, 12 String, Slide, fingerstyle,, hybrid picking. Good talk!
I try to tell all my students that playing a guitar is really like being a drummer. You have to have tremendous technique and cooperation between the hands. It is what creates feel and more importantly, you start to develop "your" feel and sound. This is when playing becomes so much fun and you start going to the next level. Passion is what drives it all.
Great discussion, guys. I don't play the guitar and have no clue of most of what you're talking about but I enjoy your enthusiasm and passion for music.
These videos with the three of you guys just talking off the cuff are my favorites
Hi I'm Rigby Otto, Rachel, Wave Water Ono. Even the captions are far more entertaining than everything else on TH-cam! You guys are Great! Lary
Most Important Skill: not getting sued
Haha!!!!!!!!!
@@RickBeato Congratulations on 1million subs, Rick! You deserve it 110%. Thank you for your generosity.
WE'll go from 'Kill or get killed' to 'Sue or get sued' ;) Learn the minor scale once and then hire the best lawyers - don't bother with the rest of music theory, invest in musicologists and favorable jurors; it'll pay off big time ;)
Just avoid all variations of I-IV-V-vi :)
I guess soon they will start offering law degrees in music schools
I'm electric; to me, "box" guitar to "slab" is like bicycle to motorcycle; so much extra work to get less further... but as it's own instrument, acoustic is great, and a mix of slab and box can lighten up and widen a 2-axe soundscape.
Vibrato... (14:40) ...yes; hearing a lot of "too wide" in this age of bedroom video shredders on light-gauge strings! As important IMO is your center-point, i.e. bending up from note, down, or a mix of the two. I drop chords and bend down vibrato by bending the neck forward (helps to have a frail or damaged guitar; do it a lot, and you will have ), and that also helps flatten the blues third (e.g. from E to mostly-open G) and get the Gibson whammy-bar shimmer without a whammy bar.
Here's a challenge; play a Robin Trower song without any effects other than overdrive, and try and get the phasing effect by how and where you play on the neck. What works for me, is open drone strings, neck-bend vibrato, and particular neck fretting positions that are a PITA to reach in real time. A good practice workout!
Congratulations Rick on your million subscribers! I enjoy this channel immensely and I tell anyone who will listen about it. I'm always inspired by your videos. Thank you my Paisan!
I was really heartened by what you were saying about drummers playing with clicks. I grew up playing 70s and 80s rock and blues. I always hated clicks and loops because, as you say, it takes all the feel out of the music, and yeah, absolutely kills the atmosphere in the room between songs when someone (not always the drummer) has to mess around with their equipment to set up the next song. One of the things that happened during the late 90s and early 2000s was that extra loops became popular in live performances, which forced drummers like me to play within that grid. It killed the enjoyment for me and was one of the reasons I stopped playing professionally. It made me crazy that so many people had this kind of arrogance that somehow playing click perfect drums was 'right'. It was like they just couldn't admit that it sounded sterile. They couldn't understand why audiences were not getting into it at performances. Anyway, now I'm thinking of coming back into music years later, and these videos are so encouraging. Thanks Rick. I really appreciate what you're doing.
It amazes me to this day that there are people like Beato, Rhett and Dave that can talk about music on all levels without any snobbish attitude and just talk music. I thought I was alone. Damn I wish I were friends with these guys as it would be so much fun talking with them and jamming :)
So come to Atlanta!
@@RickBeato Now that you're SUPER huge celeb your free time is limited. However, one day I'd love to come visit if you do some sort of meet and greet. Or if you ever happen to be in the DC metro area (I live in VA) then i'd definitely come out! Cheers!
The Rolling Stones, with the rhythmic swagger of Keith Richards, used acoustic guitars to underpin many of the tracks that many think of as electric guitar driven. Keith is a subtle genius. Thanks for the video.
I know what skill Steel Panther would say is the most important skill to master. "to look bitchin"
Russell ward >> Lololol
the Rebecca Dirks Premier Guitar interview with Satchel is hilarious - I keep watching it, like bad reality TV haha bitchin' !!!
Most important skill as a musician: Bitching. Got it. ;-)
he said that you should create riffs on an acoustic, if it sounds good on an acoustic it sounds good on an electric
This is such a great video! You guys have hit all of the really important points of musicianship!
Singing, right hand technique in guitar playing, keyboard/piano playing. I’m recommending this video to my students!
Ahh it's awesome to know that you guys joke around on the occasion! Also there are many skills to understand, but I'd definitely agree with this one! Great work!
"Traditionally" you're supposed to start on acoustic. Acoustic is unforgiving so you develop accuracy. And finger strength.
I think nylon strings are nicer than metal for beginners, too.
@@j_freed you can't play much at all if you're a beginner 😂😂😂
@@j_freed You can lol
@@j_freed Not with that attitude....
j freed most famous acoustic guitars are Metal G B E strings
You deserve a like just for the intro
"Is it on?*
Rick Beato 2019
Great intro - I really like the fact that you guys left it in and didn't edit it out. Just makes you all that more human and approachable.
I started on a 12-string as well. I can't remember why. It was a used '75 Ibanez. I still have it.
10:02 !!!! So true.
One could probably develop a whole course around muting. Even just using free fret hand fingers/thumb to dampen unwanted strings takes a lot of practice, e.g. applying enough pressure to mute but not enough to fret, and adapting that technique depending on if you are close to certain harmonics. Then controlling the fretting finger to be able to dampen the adjacent higher string, lower string, or both. Not to mention using picking hand palm and picking hand thumb to mute low strings, using picking hand ring and pinky fingers to mute higher strings, resting the pick into adjacent strings.
I learned most of these techniques subconsciously over decades of playing and only recently noticed that I was doing all of these.
Congratulations on 1,000,000 subscribers! Ed Sheeran Acoustic and Electric guitars, and current!
The first guitar I bought , was an Ovation, in the late eighties with the music of Don McLean, Ralph McTell and John Denver on the record player. My older sisters would have the likes of Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Bay City Rollers and early Bowie on their turntables. Older brother had Marley and the Eagles as his main influences. The Ovation has been with me through early travels, University and then through my Medical training. Got the electric guitar bug later and went for a silent guitar, with Boss GT-100 and small Marshall amp. I'll never be a professional musician but it certainly is rewarding and a good form of therapy.
Your videos, Rhettt's and the many other musicians who take the time to put content out there, certainly give help to us want to be musicians, thank you.
Lenny Breau. Master of playing the bass lines, chords, and melody all at the same time. Awesome.
Started on acoustic over 40 years ago and then I went to Electric right away. Now I come back to the acoustic as well, it really helps improve my playing
MTV had the whole ‘unplugged’ series, which probably invented the word. Clapton and SRV spring to mind.
Nirvana, too.
This is great! I teach a little guitar and I often feel like I’m being hard on beginners for harping on about muting and working on strum patterns and explaining the importance of chord shapes to kids who want to play riffs... i feel like you’ve given me just want I needed to hear to keep on pushing these youngsters to learn these techniques early on 👍🏻🎸 really nice video 👌🏻
John Coltrane always said, "If you can't sing it you can't play it."
The voice is an instrument by itself. You can still hear it perfectly in your mind and not sing it.
On bass, it is equally important to know when to end notes as it is to know when to start them.
Comgrats on 1M subs!
Days of the New were really good at mixing acoustic with electric in their songs
Josh Clark - Very much agreed. Love me some DOTN 👍
I commented something similar just now without look through the comments. They were really innovative.
DOTN was the first band that came to mind in this topic for me.
Shame what happened with their singer though.
First band that I thought of too - post first read 1k comments after :)
Love these three guys. Solid, enlightened conversation
One of the best acoustic guitar albums ever is Beck's Sea Change album.
Round of applause for Rick getting to ONE MILLION! Keep on rockin'!
I started on acoustic in the '60s with folk music and strumming chords, practicing finger picking and strumming rhythm patterns. Then came lead and later classical guitar, also self taught. It just seemed normal to me that all types and styles should be learned, since records all had all these elements. One thing I'll say about the days before computers...it was great ear training, sitting alone in your room figuring out all the parts by ear...and...do you know how many guitarists I've met over the years that can't solo over a simple I IV V blues progression because the have no sense of where the chord changes are?
11:25 Im well into my bass and guitar playing, but still learning guitar. Sometimes when im bored I just play into pro tools along with spotify and record it. Listening back to those is sometimes really humbling. Like "Damn I really sucked at that part" and go back and work on it. Obviously not everyone has a interface and the gear to record into pro tools, but recording yourself is super important if you want to get better. Also at 13:30, playing with a drummer is an incredible way to get some coordination between playing with others down. I've been playing with my drummer for close to 2 1/2 years and I know exactly when he is gonna do some sort of fill, because Im used to his drumming. The metronome part is also a good point, instead of playing to the click, play to each other, and if you can develop that skill of being able to keep in tempo even when its changing is huge, especially as a bass player. Feel is the most important thing to a bass+drums groove, not the click.
This is awesome as always! And congrats on 1 million subs🤘🏻🙌🏻
Rick...my favorite video thus far! You guys nailed it here....so many good topics and examples! More please and THANK YOU SIRS!!!!
Jorma Kaukonnen is a great acoustic picker of course. And electric player.
I am so thankful you brought up the necessity of vocals in bands And their important. In my area musicians don't seem to deem vocals as any real importance... I write and play rhythm guitar. As a female rock vocalist I see around me all male bands where none of them have an actual real singer in the band yet... they seem to be able to put a band together and play gigs. it's like pulling teeth for me, I'm no slouch on vocals, ive been singing lead vocals in rock bands off and on most of my life and have to give myself some credit for being a good strong singer. I do very limited backup vocals in a blues rock band and struggle to understand why my vocals are not utilized more. I find alot of musicians don't take singers seriously unless they can shred on guitar or drums or bass. Which is why i taught myself to play the guitar but i am a singer, i am not a guitar player, i would like to focus on vocals but find myself up against the lead guitar player syndrome over and over again. Where as long as you can shred...who cares if the band has a good vocalist. I don't know if it's this area I live in or what. But thank you for stressing the importance of vocals in bands. 🙏
Rhett, you're so right about vibrato techniques. Awesome!
No doubt. When I hear someone that can't bend on pitch it absolutely drives me crazy. My dad once played with this guitar player that he raved about how great he was and when I finally heard the guy I wanted to rip my ears off my head. If you have bad vibrato and you're an electric player you shouldn't even bother tuning your guitar because you're just gonna sound out of tune as soon as you bend anyway. It's like they're clueless to the fact that even when you bend a string you're still "targeting a note" and not just bending it to bend it. Kirk Hammett is a professional guitarist that I just think has TERRRRRRRIBLE vibrato. Gary Moore and Angus Young are guys I would say have absolutely astounding vibrato and I'm not even a big AC/DC "fan" per se. But credit is due for that vibrato for sure.
@Kai Weber Sorry Mr. Hammett.
I just love these shows. Listening to you three talk is just really, really interesting. Thanks for publishing these Rick.
"People used to pitch complete games in the seventies."
Classic
Always love seeing you guys chat it up. Great topics.
Time for our dose of music education 👍
man i love your miking technique ,just a simple chat and it felt lick i`m in the room sitting in front of you , LOVE IT
"Find a good drummer and play with them." - Says it like it's easy.
A drummer that can play solid time and lay down a groove!
1. Get a Daw
2. Buy EzDrummer or any drum machine
3. Tweak the midi so that it's not perfectly quantized (for a more realistic feel)
4. Profit!
@@ToastedCigar replace 2 with Jamstix and skip 3.
I'm a good drummer. Play with me :)
How can you tell if it's a drummer knocking on the door? The knock keeps speeding up!
I've been playing acoustic guitar for 25 years but I just started playing electric this year. Super fun to learn all these new things. Though when I was younger every time I was handed an electric I felt so disconnected from everything I knew about guitar and I thought I always sounded silly.
Roy Clark does not get enough credit. The dude was a shredder on Hee-Haw
yes he was, on just about any thing with strings too
Roy Clark is an extraordinary player. Good call.
He got credit from all the older folks that actually heard him. Now, most younger musicians have never even heard of him.
This is a great discussion. For those of us of "advanced" years, it's second nature for us to think of musicians being multi-instrumentalists. For me, it started with Queen: All 4 had piano/keyboard parts on hit songs (or at least on hits within the fandom, if not chart listing), all 4 had guitar parts on hit records and Roger Taylor played all instruments at some point on various songs over the course of their career.
Opeth uses acoustic and electric frequently. AMAZING band, Dream Theater as well
Speaking of vibrato. When I was first learning guitar I was a huge Leslie West fan and the very first bent note when the song Nantucket Sleighride kicks in to me is the definition of what feel touch taste and vibrato is all about. That is my my favorite note in all of rock. You want to know what killer vibrato is all about just listen to that note!
Triumph (Rik Emmet) was good for at least one acoustic solo piece on every album.
Midsummers daydream!!!!
Soooo underrated. Would love for Rick to do something on Triumph.
I love "Happy", I love the blend of MJ and KR on the chorus. One of my favorite songs.
Jeff Buckley, his album is a fantastic mix of acoustic and electric guitars!
@a free man in america Sorry but nope, Lover you should have come over, Last goodbye or Grace contain acoustic guitar parts.
He was amazing.
Learn to play bass. YES! I remember when I first picked up the bass, my friend Luis, who was a drummer/drum instructor, said to me. "Oh God, if you're going to play that, please learn how to play it correctly." The look on his face was one I'll never forget. He basically scared me into honing my bass chops. Thanks Luis, where ever you are.
How could you leave out Heart? Pretty much every song has both.
Rick, you gotta fix that or they'll go crazy on you...
Yeah Rick, how could you be so heartless?
Am I on reddit?
@@ExasBits Could be... who wants to know? :P
@@ExasBits one can only dream boat Annie
Thanks, Rick (& all) for making TH-cam so much better. When we dreamed of the possibilities years ago, no one imagined content as good as what you put out regularly.
acoustic can be heavy look at Opeth amazing blend of acoustic/folk guitar with smashing heavy riffs!
Big congrats to 1M! Such a great channel and a great place for learning and feeling connected with others that love music and making music! Thank you so much!!!
A7X tune is probably Seize the Day. That was their huge acoustic ballad on City of Evil
AXCX had some nice melodies
Dear God had acoustic, banjo and lap steel guitar.
Station Unrest Dear God is a great song, but Seize the Day was a commercial success.
1st one that popped into my head was Sidewinder
Dave nailed it - when things became fragmented into specific genres, acoustic guitars vanished from certain types of music. For me, in my British punk music days, I don't ever recall seeing an acoustic guitar. Even In rockabilly phase, it was all electrics. Tom Petty and John Hiatt really made me discover the power of the acoustic guitar. Love this series. Cheers Rick.
I'm 10 seconds in and cracking up. Love you guys.
Thank you guys, amazing chat, I just got from work and Utd really joy to talk about guitars 🎸. Rock on
90's you forgot Oasis guys ! Acoustic, electric, everything you'd like !
Anyway, here's Wonderwall.
One great background singer (although he did sing lead on some songs) that comes to mind to me is Mike Mills in R.E.M. Played good bass and solid keys as well as great background vocals. Nobody in that band was maybe the greatest on their instrument technically but usually each played something musically solid that together made their songs really good.
It never occurred to me to not play both haha 🤷🏻♂️
Yeah I think it's a concept they mostly invented just to make the video... 😞 It's all good though. Jmho.
Was thinking the same thing.
I only ever played acoustic... and I know a lot of people that only play acoustic. I' m kind of in the folk scene though so I guess it makes sense. Electric guitar really is a whole different animal, I feel totally out of my element when I pick one up
Brent Willey preach, brother. I started on classical, got me a Strat later, got me an acoustic steel string. Love all three. Had to get rid of my strat. 😩 Looking for a new electric. I feel incomplete without one. Honestly, I think every guitar player ought to have a nylon string, a flat top steel string, an archtop steel string, a dobro and an electric of some kind. Oh, and a 12 string! Now, I’m going to hit send and I’m sure I will think of three more kinds people ought to have. Always want one more.
Christopher Rowley oh, I am sure there’s an electric out there for you. Maybe a semi hollow. You might like some of the stuff Gretsch makes. That’s what Chet Atkins played on. He did a lot of acoustic. But he did amazing stuff on a Gretsch. Just play your electric clean. Then, slowly add some gain and see how far you get. You might enjoy it. It’ll open up all kinds of new avenues of creativity for you. I started out on classical an acoustic. It’s a little different but you get used to it pretty quick.
This is so true! There are so many "10 guitars every player needs" videos that don't have a single acoustic, let alone a classical guitar in them. After seeing those I can never take those people seriously.
Beck made me buy an acoustic in the 90s... And yeah, “Polly” influenced too. But Beck was my acoustic role model back then.
Rick congratulations for the 1M man! Hard work pays off. You know I always like to think about 80/81 when Pat Metheny gathers the heaviest jazz masters you can think of, and he shows up with the acoustic guitar! He will always do what feels right to him.
You only need to learn Bass.
Now, SLAP like!
- A Davie504 fan.
OMG
I didn't pick up an electric guitar until I'd been playing for seven years. When I was 12 (in 1977) I started off on a nylon-stringed classical guitar, doing scales, basic chords and strumming patterns. For some reason, Bmin in the standard position (2nd fret) was very difficult for me to learn to transition to from a Dmaj or an Amaj chord (but I finally learned how to do it). It wasn't all that fun because the neck was WAY too wide for my short fingers. However, it helped me learn accuracy.
When I was a junior in high school, my parents finally relented to my incessant nagging and bought me a student steel-string acoustic guitar. It was easy to play (and MUCH more fun) because I'd already built up callouses from playing the classical guitar, and the neck was narrower and more comfortable for my left hand.
My first electric guitar was a 1983 black Squier Strat with a maple neck that I purchased in 1984 when I was 19. Honestly, I never got used to the thing. In fact, I stopped playing electric guitar in 1988 (concentrating on acoustic guitar and bass) and left them alone for almost 30 years because for some reason I could never get comfortable playing them. I finally started playing electric guitars again when I started exploring jazz and discovered hollow body jazz guitars. To me, they have the feel of an acoustic guitar. That's probably the main reason I love playing them.
"What are we supposed to do with these grandpa's guitars??" Metalocalypse lol
What are those, chairs?!?
You guys have great chemistry, perspective, and experience. Keep collaborating. Congrats on 1M, Rick. Whooda thunk?
Extreme...songs More Than Words...Hole Hearted...bad ass acoustic songs by a metal band...
Yeah, Nuno is a really good at both electric and acoustic guitar and piano.
Extreme a "metal" band??? In what universe?
Wow Rick !!!! Congrats on the 1 million . You deserve it . Your theory lessons really helped me a lot. Thanks so much
1 million subscribers. Mazal Tov you did it man.
I began learning acoustic guitar when I was 10 years old. I didn't begin learning electric guitar until the late 1960's when I actually bought a Guild Starfire to go with my Guild D40. Even that D40 had a DeArmond soundhole pickup. I wore out the original frets on that D40 using round wound nickel electric strings.
I love my 1965 Martin D12-20
Check out Daniel Lanois’s Martin 12-20
remember Dream Academy - "Life In A Northern Town" (1985) quite a lot of chorus and oversampling -definitely acoustic
The whole MTV Unplugged era was popular for a reason, And Neil Young never left...just saw him, still strong
those Nelson brothers, "Love and Affection", Extreme, Mr. Big etc they really ushered in the 90s acoustic stuff, then Lilith, Indigo Girls, Sarah McLaughlin, Shawn Colvin