So impressive to have this subject covered by a pedal maker. Caring about customers without relentlessly pushing product. And you covered it well. Thank you.
1.Tuning is so important, but so is intonation. One must check their bridge settings religiously. There is nothing more satisfying than a guitar that's in tune. 2. Palm muting. It's all just drunken campfire music until you start to incorporate palm muting. And it truly is an art. One should spend time each day experimenting with palm muting. 3. Turn down the gain. SRV showed us that amazing tone can be had with little to no distortion. Listen to Cold Shot. Even the solo is played clean. Can't Stand The Weather is another example of how good a clean amp can sound. 4. Standing up is great advice, but dance too. Don't just stand there. Get into it. Even if it's just 3 chords repeating the whole time. You have to feel the music. Dance with it. Close your eyes. Groove! Let the music enter your soul. This is how you go from average to excellent. And all you have to do is immerse yourself into the music. Look at SRV's face when he plays. That boy is feeling every note. 5. This is still to do with 4., but..... play simple things and play them well. If all you are doing is playing a D,G and C chord, don't act like a snob that's too good to give these three chords your full attention. Play those three chords like your life depends on them. Try to play that D chord like no one has ever played it before. Make it the finest D ever heard by man. Nothing is so easy that it doesn't deserve your full attention and effort. And it's sometimes really fun to get into three chords so deeply that your mind is completely free from any other thoughts or experience other than just those three chords. 6. Never practice scales! NEVER! EVER! This may sound like heresy, but many great guitarists will say the same thing, and the reason is clear.....If you practice scales you will sound like you are playing scales. Hey, the mind and fingers operate on memory. And so when you go to play a solo, you're fully inclined to play what you have practiced. So never practice scales. OH, ya, have diagrams of scales plastered all over your walls so you memorize them all, but never just go up and down the scales with your fingers. Play licks. Practice the solos to all your favorite songs. And don't try to play the solos note for note. Otherwise you'll end up just ripping off other people's licks. Allow yourself to deviate from the record. Make the licks your own. But still, it's from practicing your favorite artists solos that you will learn how to create your own amazing solos. 7. Practice at slow tempos. So you think you learned a song pretty well? Now practice it as half speed. That's right, play each note perfectly. Make every transition perfect. Make each note sound out clearly. Dissect your playing. Listen to how you mute the strings, etc. It's about giving total attention to what you're doing. And it's fun. It's so awesome to stand in a quiet room under a bright light and just go over a song, or lick, and just fully perfect every little nuance about it. 8. My playing improved ten fold when I stopped smoking weed. I thought the weed would improve my concentration and really allow me to focus during my practices. Well, as soon as I quite smoking weed, my playing went through the roof. It was the best thing I ever did, but results may vary. 9. Oh you newbies are so lucky today with your internet. In my days it was hard to find good lessons. Now you can get the best lessons for free all day long on TH-cam. So make use of this amazing new world feature. 10. Solo over backing tracks. I bought a Fender G-DEC some 10 years ago. Well, that thing has backing track loops. Those loops allowed me to solo over backing tracks for hours at a time. And I did! And wow, did I learn a lot from doing that. It's one of the greatest inventions ever. Especially if you turn the tempo down, so you can think clearly about each note you are about to play. Because there's a lot to think about when learning to solo. You have to know the key, what chord is being played, what scales can be played over each chord, what the next chord will be, etc. And playing over the same simple backing track at low speed for hours is a great way to train you and your fingers how to solo. 11. Remember, music is all about relationships. Soloing is all about relating to the chords underneath it. And there are so many ways to relate them! There is no one way to solo. It's like painting pictures. There are a thousand different ways to solo over chords, but there is always some kind of relationship going on. When I solo, my mind is doing something like, "Okay, we are in A major 12 bar blues pattern. Let's start with an A major pentatonic lick and end it with a minor pentatonic lick. Here's the D major chord. I'm gonna stay in the A minor pentatonic and finish it with a D major pentatonic. E now. Let's play it safe and just stay in E major pentatonic. Back to A. Let's do a little Chuck Berry style double stops. And now some Lynyrd Skynyrd major pentatonic stuff. Oh the E is coming up. I'm going to play a little E major pentatonic before it actually hits. Wow, that worked! lol " 12. Don't get suckered into buying expensive guitars and amps. I talk from years of experience. Just buy a Fender Twin Reverb, a tube screamer, a wah, maybe an Electric Mistress or other modulation and a $500 guitar. From that set up you can sound incredible anywhere. If it works for SRV...it'll work for you too. I have a dozen guitars I bought used for under $200 that sound and play absolutely amazing. I also have a real 1964 Strat I bought in 1979 from Norm's Rare Guitars. So I know tone. And as amazing as that 64 strat sounds....my $200 Schecter C-1+ sounds and plays equally amazing. I just had to change out the volume pots for vintage taper units. 13. Always practice with a drum machine. These days it's less uncommon for people to practice without some kind of solid time keeping. But it's still important. Back in my days there were no drum machine, backing tracks or barely even any metronomes. When I started playing with a drum machine, I instantly learned how bad my timing was. Even if you practice with a drummer (like I did), use some kind of time keeping device. It's always funny to watch a drummer have to play against a metronome for the first time. It's such a shock to them to find out how sloppy their timing truly is. Most drummers will try to break the device in anger. 14. Use light gage strings. There's simply no sense in torturing your fingers with heavy gage strings. Heavy strings do not sound any better than light gage. Sure, SRV used very heavy strings and he could nail the Hendrix tones, but Hendrix played the lightest strings offered. So....see? Same tone, despite wildly different gages. 15. Don't buy fancy gear. Buy an older Fender amp. Period. Why? I'll tell you why. Because amps break. And when your boutique $3000 amp head blows up.....now you have to find someone to fix it. Everyone knows how to fix an old Fender amp. Not everyone has worked on your Three Monkeys, Frenzel or Line 6 head. And when you find someone who can work on it, you gotta pay shipping and extra money for the parts and labor. But an old Fender amp? You can usually fix the thing yourself. I use a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue. I'm constantly blowing peoples minds with my tone. And if it breaks, there's a hundred people within driving distance who have worked on hundreds of these amps already. They know exactly what is wrong with it before I even bring it in. ("Oh, the *&^*%&$ always goes on those things") And so it's cheap and easy to get this amp fixed. Plus most times I can fix the amp myself. I wouldn't even dream of trying to fix a Line 6. Amps are so overrated. At the end of SRVs career, he was often seen using just two old Fender Twin Reverbs. Even a dreaded late 70's Twin Reverb with a master volume!!! There was a time these amps were loathed. Yet, there was Stevie playing the most incredible sounds you ever heard with one of the most loathed amps ever. Why? Simply because amps are so overrated. Just get a simple old Fender tube amp, and you'll have all you need in that department.
***** Know your scales, but never practive them in a linear fashion, unless you actually want to sound like Yngwie. I can't stand Yngwie. I love to watch him play, but to actually listen to him is incredibly annoying. And it's because all he's usually doing is going up and down the scales. There's nothing musical about it. Just really fast scale exercises. I've heard from many famous guitarists that they never practice scales for just that reason. They know their scales, but they never just go up and down the scales trying to remember where the notes are. It's unmusical. It doesn't sound nice. And if you practice doing things that don't sound nice,,,,guess what happens? You end up not sounding nice, because you tend to play what you practice. And so if you want to practice the E minor pentatonic scale, then practice the solo to Whole Lotta Love. This way you learn the scale and you learn how to play it in such a way that it sound cool. Seriously, if you want to be a great soloist, learn every great solo you love. Try to learn the theories behind the solos. But never play anything that isn't pleasant to listen to. My first guitar teacher had me practicing all the scales in all the positions. And so when I went into a solo I always sounded like I was practicing all the scales in all the positions. It was horrible! lol I didn't know any licks. All I knew was how to go up and down all the scales in a most monotonous fashion. It tooks years to get away from it. I think I still struggle with it a bit. I still find myself playing notes because it's the next one in line. Learning our favorite solos is what opens the door to our own creativity and style. This is how we learn how notes work together to make pleasing melody lines. It's why so many famous guitarists know so little theory. Because music is more of an art than a science.
Left hand muting technique doesn't hurt either, especially when it comes to muting some strings inbetween while fretting a chord or when playing through a lot of gain.
Something that helps me is recording myself and listening to it. The first time I did this I was shocked at how sloppy my playing was. I had lots of extemporaneous sound I wasn't controlling the way I should have been.
Definately a really good piece of advice I dont see people mention enough these days. We have the technology to do it so why not take advantage of it. I find recording yourself with a clean tone will really make yourself aware of the nuonces of your own playing.
Yeah, i can def sometimes hear what i'm going for rather than what i'm actually getting. Recording goes the other way too, though - a casual throw-away turns out to be great. Helps to just video it as a scratch pad - make sure the neck is in the shot so you can remember how to play when you dont know how you came up with something.
“If nothing else, just call it jazz” 😂 Love that - as well as everything in this whole video. Some great advice all around. And you make great pedals and amps! Thank you Brian!!
60 Cycle Hum I used to call it the lamb vibrato, Hendrix used it for a particular type sound in some of his solos. He’d like to bend the string up/down the go into the lamb vibrato while the string is bent. Steve Via mentioned spending hours at a time, practicing vibrato.
Few things I've picked up over the years: I feel like I've never practiced one day, I have, I just love playing so that's what I do, if you 'just play" you're going to get better. When I first tried to play it was just so boring to sit there and bang my head against a wall, so I quit for years and picked it back up later and decided I would only ever do what I thought was fun. Another thing this did for me was helped me develop my own style. When you play guitar there are no rules and you don't ever have to be like anyone else if you want. I dig so many styles of music so something that, I'm sure, helped me with timing was when I would play guitar to styles of music that don't have a lot of guitar like some Rap, Hip-Hop or Electronic music... the beats are almost always consistent and coming up with your own guitar parts to stuff with none is fun, at least for me. If you don't like those styles of music maybe drum loops or something would be better. I agree with playing loud! There's just something about feeling the music that just drives your soul, at least for me. I also love watching videos like this and reading about everything I can and that's where I get a lot of 'new idea' inspiration. There's nothing like reading a guitar mag interview with one of your favorite players and then taking some tip or something they do and try to insert it into what you do. Sometimes the mistakes you make will actually end up being some of the coolest parts you'll do so always keep in mind that not all mistakes are bad. Anyway the Wampler Pedal Vlog is rad! Really dig it!
Love that tip about incorporating wrong notes into your playing. The right note is just a half away, so don’t get flustered, and slide up into it. And if you play it again, it resisters with the audience that it was i tetional. Always suspected that there is a unintentional note on Allman’s at Fillmore East, but he resolves it so musically it ends up sounding really interesting.
As for tips to improve tone, cant believe no one mentioned playing with your fingers. Lose the pick as fast as possible. 2) do not buy cheap guitars. buying cheap guitars will only get you so far. Expensive guitars can improve your sound immensely. The day I bought a Parker fly mojo changed my world forever. 3) don’t think about scales, don’t even think about where you are going next in a solo. Just go somewhere without thinking and work with the location you have. Nothing wrong with being out of the box, hitting a bad note. It all helps you sound different than a 1000 other ‘by the book’ guitar players. 4) Don’t overplay. Purposely hold a note for 5 seconds. Then don’t play anything for another 4 seconds. Let non guitar playing people understand you and keep up.
As the late great Les Paul stated: “You’re only a half step away from greatness.” Brad Paisley just showed what that can look like. Thanks for sharing this Paislean trick Brian.
Jack Leyton He answered the question way earlier in the comments. Fender Deluxe Reverb, tumnus, 2x12 with wgs veteran 30 speakers, if his recollection is correct.
Cool I now know that I have a great guitar teacher because he wants me to play chords around scales and get creative! Plus he makes learning guitar so darn fun.
That one note in a chord that's more than a few cents off - and sometimes all night. I hate to publicly admit that anything bothers me. But that unresolved dissonance. It's like biting onto a sandwich and somehow there's this tiny bit of aluminum foil in there. The scrape of foil on one of your fillings. That's the sound. A good tuner is so affordable. I'm baffled by the fact that it's still completely relevant to suggest to players of all skill levels to buy and use a tuner. That, and either set up their instruments properly or at least pay someone a few bucks to do it for them. ... Here's an idea for a charity: "tuners for the toneless".
I would add: 1 practice as much as possible in the circumstances of what you would really like to be doing in front of people or to record. i.e. your 'real' sound at stage/recording volume with a band playing tunes right through with NO BREAKS. Where most players come unstuck is having a too small (usually bedroom-sized) comfort zone and too easily being taken out of it. Get your real live sound sorted then get out and play wherever you can it really is the only way. 2 try and only play music that sounds good, whether you like it or not or whether it's just for money or whatever, if it's not working on its own terms don't do it. 3 controversial here - don't worry too much about the metronome/drum loop thing. Everyone has timing, or will get it, if they're relaxed with the music they're playing it will just happen. If you haven't got it yet just play with others on things you are comfortable with and relax, a metronome or drum loop won't harm your playing but it won't help much either.
I found that a great practice tool, right here on TH-cam, is doing a search including the phrase “guitar backing track” it’s like karaoke but for guitar instead of voice. A lot of times you’ll find people of actually taking the original recordings and edit it out to Guitars. I’ll blow through a handful of these as exercises on the days when I don’t really feel like practicing. For solos, there’s also different styles and keys such as “ blues in E minor guitar backing track” etc. I put it through my PA and blend my guitar to match. Occasionally I have to stop just to enjoy the backing track. (SRV’s Pride & Joy guitar backing track is great all by itself!). Enjoy!
Best tip I've heard in awhile is to stand while practicing. Learning new songs and playing them on stage do always feel like night and day. Thanks Brian
OMG, I forgot about that. Used to love that show. I actually really like jazz, but there is a certain sub-genre of it that I just don't get and sounds exactly like some kids banging around on instruments knowing nothing about them or music, that's what it sounds like to me at least.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing. There's also a free app for slowing down any song on your iOS device called Tempo Slow. Simple to use and helps tremendously with learning solos, etc.
Great suggestions if I could add or modify one of your points, when I sit down and practice before I stand up to practice, I sit with good posture place my guitar strap on when I stand up the guitars at the same height so I'm using the same sort of muscles and memories I've created in my hands and fingers while standing or sitting .. thanks again! has another side note I'm not sure if you are friends with Robert Keeley the pedal designer he came out with a new Plexi pedal not sure if you've heard it it's called The El Rey Dorado ... That thing is killer! Not to mention your Pinnacle which I've owned great Van Halen Plexi amps in a box!
I love the Funkbox iPhone app for practicing, it's a drum machine emulator that allows you to control all the parameters of an actual drum machine (and tons of other stuff). Way more fun and way more musical than a metronome ever could be
I love how “get things done” and playing with guitars are in the same video. To my wife, playing with guitars and music is all playing. “Getting things done” is housework and errands. I’m still trying to find out how to combine “getting things done” with building and playing guitars. I do notice the presence of farm animals so I’m sure there is lots of work that goes with that too.
Very helpful! Thank you! Hey Brian, I'm curious: are the saddles on your telecaster compensated? (you mentioned you can't stand guitars that are barely out of tune). Cheers!
Every thing you said is straight on, if i had not learned to be comfortable with all those things i would have been all messed up first time i sat down with 4 other musicians and i have seen it happen to others who keep saying they just are not used to playing in a live setting.. I would even suggest picking ten songs and playing all the way through them while standing to gain stamina and confidence
Re: learning melodies/solos from other instruments or vocal- I love Jerry Douglas solos and decided to learn dobro. Even though I haven't started dobro yet, I figured it would help to learn to play his solo on guitar so I'd have it in my head (Let Me Touch You For Awhile). It was so much fun and instructive to learn his phrasing (playing upbeats instead of downbeats, for one) and also to mimic his sliding into notes using bends instead. Opened up a whole realm of possibilities in my guitarplaying.
cjenson72 He answered the question way earlier in the comments. Fender Deluxe Reverb, tumnus, 2x12 with wgs veteran 30 speakers, if his recollection is correct.
none of this helped me at all... because after 35 years of playing i learned it the hard way... If i had seen this video 35 years ago i would have catapulted my playing SOooo much faster!! GREAT GREAT VIDEO!!!!!!
"Playing in time is gonna make you sound...honestly better than any pedal, any amp, any guitar- ...well. Within reason. I do like Telecasters" Hahahahahaha! Same though tbh
A known song played with the 'proper' rhythm but many 'wrong' notes has been proven to be still easily recognizable. Shows where musical priorities may be, sometimes anyway.
The peak, is when you "Innovate". Funny, you accidentally do this when you are learning. :) "Improvisation". :) Circle of fifths or luck, hence the "Mystique". There is no try, just do. :) Can I call it me? :)
Every Guitarplayer should take these tips by heart, instead of only buying new equipment. But, when you are once in your practise routine, then you will find out, whitch gear will help you and what might become useful. Shure, watch the famous players, but also to other expirienced musicians. If you want to get better, you should put more effort in developing your ears and skills, instead of searching for the right tabs for a specific peace. Again, another helpful video, thank you!
great video, lots of good information . ...I recently had a Soldano Lucky 13 50 watt combo amp built...and it is 100% SLO...would you have any tips on setting the Tone to something close to Michael Schenker's tone ? as I am a really big fan ... I also play the usa dean V's....thanks...
I'll add my two cents: Always have your amp on the floor. Never put an amp on a stand or a chair, it loses most of its low end and mid tones. If you want to hear its true tone at ear level, try sitting down on the floor in front of it, its pretty amazing. AND yes, play notes around the chords! Great bit of advice!!!
I like your videos, the content you choose and the way you present the material. However, slightly scratching my head on the remarks concerning vibrato and the way it reflects "musical maturity' .......fraid I can't really go along with that. Guitar playing over the years has thrown up all manner of vibrato styles, a really wide range, fast to slow, wide to narrow.They are sometimes highly personal and can be the players fingerprint and primary identifier. Different styles are also appropriate for different musical forms, as well as within forms. There is also a direct comparison with the way a singer emotes, which is fundamentally what a Guitarist is in part seeking to emulate. I would say that there is no "Good versus Bad" vibrato, just Well executed vibrato versus badly executed vibrato. The musical immaturity aspect arises when things are done in poor taste ...... in a contextually inappropriate way, for example. Same argument applies to the good 'ol whammy bar :-)
Listen to violin pieces(not the hyper fast) , classical piano too. Soundtracks from films too. The main theme from "Jacobs Ladder" for instance. Amazing.
I know this is about buying nothing - but how important is it to buy good cables? I am using a 24 year old Sam ash cable that sounds better than the Fender custom shop cables - 2 out 3 that were completely not usable. Same with the daisy chains - I have your Velvet Fuzz (LOVE IT) but that pedal happens to have a fairly deep input where the power is at the top. So I use a 9V battery for it because my daisy chain for power is cheap. I have a Danelectro power supply - but the daisy chain attached fits 2 other pedals well - but not the Velvet Fuzz. I heard MXR are good if you want to spend less than few hundred on all the cables.
I hate playing standing up- always have. But learning to outline chords with notes changed everything for me. Most players I know end up in the same place I was at- they noodle around in scales and it never really sounds very melodic or musical but we're convinced that learning all those notes is the key- if we just knew all the notes that would potentially work- surely, we could find a melody in there somewhere. But it doesn't work because we're approaching playing backwards- you're supposed to hear the melody in your head and just play it really. That's the absolute easiest and best way to come up with a lead line- forget scales, forget chord shapes, and shut up- listen to the rhythm, now what do you hear in your head? Play it, and don't pay any attention to where it's at on the neck- just make it sound right. Most ppl are shocked to find they can do this- it's not really that difficult. Especially if you've been noodling around in scales for years already. But- i you really must have some sort of guide as to where to start- using chord shapes beats using scales any day. And I don't necessarily mean the exact chord shape they're playing either- maybe they're playing a D major- I would find the D major Bar chord- now I would look for a perfect 5th or 3rd- to give it that "major" feel. But- if they're playing a D minor- same thing accept this time- I'm going to concentrate on the flat 3rd- which is what makes a minor chord sound minor. In other words- I'm going to concentrate on whatever note it is that defines the chord they're playing. That way your melody is helping to color the chords and give the song the feel it's supposed to have.
You can see that "bumping the end of the guitar" thing on an old video clip of Les Paul and Mary Ford, I think it's on 'How High the Moon' from a TV show.
Im outa any town bout 4mi and closest neighbor is 500,600ft . Yeah lucky in that respect so i crank it alot. And think of vibrato as tap tempo ,,,sorta ? All good pts, thx.
A tuner is gear, is eventually free just as headphones. An amp and guitar are free to take from stores. Lol. Just kidding. Thanks. All the best. Grtx. AnkuTom
I love how the first tip to improve without buying anything is to use a good tuner... which, if one wasn't already doing, they would have to... buy, one.
A couple of these suggestions nailed me to the wall. They were the exact things I need to to work on to keep moving forward. Totally unrelated, my wife and I watched your Mrs. Wampler interview together the other day. She reminded me that this is Wampler suggest jewelry for those wives who have to put up with a Mr. Wampler. My obvious response was to go out and buy a Wampler Belle ecause it sounded so pretty and feminine. I am sure that there is a jewelry purchase in my future not withstanding.
my add ins to Larry...,. find people that are better than you......surrounding yourself with good players makes you much much better......don't be a fanboy.....but make friends with guys or girls you can learn from..... take a few theory classes....theory gives you a basis to know the nomenclature of music.....so if someone says " circle of fifths" you at least have an idea of what they are saying....... learn the intervals of the scales...this has helped me with session gigs a lot because guys could call out Nashville numbers and I could understand it......the 1....4...5....in c major is c,f,g.....the 2 is dminor......that type if thing if a guy yells "2" at a bridge you can jump to dminor and stay with the band. Learn some vocal harmonies..... this will help you understand intervals and if you can sing a little you tend to get a lot more gigs even if it is backing vocals ....if you are learning chords try and sing each note in the chord as you pick it.....I have stepped into fill-in sessions where the guys had 2 part harmony and I added in that third high part and they looked around like....."man.....that sounds a lot better" you get a lot of call backs for things like that. This is where standing up helps.....you can breathe better standing and sing better if you learn to. You will almost never sit if you are on stage.....learn to get comfortable with the hand and wrist position relative to the neck when standing. Don't buy a lot of gear but if you start gigging have a spare of crucial items.....I keep an extra overdrive pedal, chords, picks, mic, mic cable, a direct input for the pa is good too if your amp craps our and you can go directly to the pa system.... pick out horn, piano, and fiddle parts......maybe learn them at least in diatonic chords (two notes) .....such as Van Morrison's Into the Mystic horn solo......being able to adapt those parts helps and trains your ear........I had a music teacher that would play intervals and chords on the piano so that you couldn't see his hands and test you on your ear training..... ask you " is that minor? " is this a third or a fifth? is this a major or minor scale?.....you can get a friend to do that.....
Vibrato is tricky, after 50 years of playing I have to keep myself from doing it automatically. Otherwise it is the same no matter the note. Different notes and context should be tailored. There really wasn’t any tone stuff in this video.
8:25 thus trick that Brian is talking about, that Brad Paisley did in order to correct a wrong note. The only time I've heard of or seen a guitar player do this was Les Paul, on an old black-and -white tv special.
...Excellent presentation! FYI, (at 8:16) often Brad Paisley plays a "bender" guitar...either a G bender or a B bender and he literally does pull into the note by raising the tone a half step or so.
While I agree that if you don’t practice developing melody, and use phrasing while soloing your leads will sound boring. If done right, scales can tune up your ears. Learning scales for the fingers = meh, learning scales for the ears = good. Learning scales is more than just running consecutive notes up and down the octaves.
as bassist plus apt living 15 watts was too loud , cops came didn't hear anything at my front door, i use 2 pick to hard cuz played unplugged too much i gotta 500-watt amp wit 410 212 cab lol , u can tell alot someone soul by their vibrato , have you tried side to side vibrato
How do I send Phil a ? and photo about the ? . I remember Phil doing a show on adjusting the bridge but I forgot the instructions. Paul a newbie that has learned so much from your Utube. shows.
technically, your strap length is supposed to match your seated position . . . that way, you never have any discrepancy . . . but, I think its only us bassists that do that , really (it works) . . Depends on what your concerned with .
You get feedback from an amp without actually inducing audible string resonating feedback. Having an amp and speaker in the room is a link in the guitar sound equation that is omitted when you use headphones. Use a tranny amp a modeller or software and you have too many bad links in your chain and are going to come to a standstill!
I know it is late, but take a break and listen to players. The other tip is record yourself and listen back to it, notice what you should have done or where another place it could have went, pick up the guitar and make it happen and record that too.
i really liked the way you brought up playing around chords instead of scales its much more musical and pleasinf to the ear as is vibrato in the right places and just the right amount. try plaing a voilin or viola and you will get better at guitar! what set uo did you have sounded nice. i play telecaster mostly now and its right by my bed drives gf crazy thanks for the info like your stuff
It's not a wrong note if you hit it twice.;)
Daniel Jeffries two wrong notes is an arrangement --' Frank Zappa
That's the best advice I ever got. Seriously. Hit it again, at least it sounds intentional.
golden advice
The correct note...as my jazz teacher always said...is just a half step away :)
I incorporate wrong notes all the time ... :)
One really important thing you didn't mention; practicing bends to hit the correct pitch.
you can thank the goats for my subscribe...
;)
Yep. The goats got me too.
So impressive to have this subject covered by a pedal maker. Caring about customers without relentlessly pushing product. And you covered it well. Thank you.
I like the fact that u could just try to sell us a pedal but you're just being an honest person
Slovy* that's just a trick he uses😂😂😂😂
1.Tuning is so important, but so is intonation. One must check their bridge settings religiously. There is nothing more satisfying than a guitar that's in tune.
2. Palm muting. It's all just drunken campfire music until you start to incorporate palm muting. And it truly is an art. One should spend time each day experimenting with palm muting.
3. Turn down the gain. SRV showed us that amazing tone can be had with little to no distortion. Listen to Cold Shot. Even the solo is played clean. Can't Stand The Weather is another example of how good a clean amp can sound.
4. Standing up is great advice, but dance too. Don't just stand there. Get into it. Even if it's just 3 chords repeating the whole time. You have to feel the music. Dance with it. Close your eyes. Groove! Let the music enter your soul. This is how you go from average to excellent. And all you have to do is immerse yourself into the music. Look at SRV's face when he plays. That boy is feeling every note.
5. This is still to do with 4., but..... play simple things and play them well. If all you are doing is playing a D,G and C chord, don't act like a snob that's too good to give these three chords your full attention. Play those three chords like your life depends on them. Try to play that D chord like no one has ever played it before. Make it the finest D ever heard by man. Nothing is so easy that it doesn't deserve your full attention and effort. And it's sometimes really fun to get into three chords so deeply that your mind is completely free from any other thoughts or experience other than just those three chords.
6. Never practice scales! NEVER! EVER! This may sound like heresy, but many great guitarists will say the same thing, and the reason is clear.....If you practice scales you will sound like you are playing scales. Hey, the mind and fingers operate on memory. And so when you go to play a solo, you're fully inclined to play what you have practiced.
So never practice scales. OH, ya, have diagrams of scales plastered all over your walls so you memorize them all, but never just go up and down the scales with your fingers. Play licks. Practice the solos to all your favorite songs. And don't try to play the solos note for note. Otherwise you'll end up just ripping off other people's licks. Allow yourself to deviate from the record. Make the licks your own. But still, it's from practicing your favorite artists solos that you will learn how to create your own amazing solos.
7. Practice at slow tempos. So you think you learned a song pretty well? Now practice it as half speed. That's right, play each note perfectly. Make every transition perfect. Make each note sound out clearly. Dissect your playing. Listen to how you mute the strings, etc. It's about giving total attention to what you're doing. And it's fun. It's so awesome to stand in a quiet room under a bright light and just go over a song, or lick, and just fully perfect every little nuance about it.
8. My playing improved ten fold when I stopped smoking weed. I thought the weed would improve my concentration and really allow me to focus during my practices. Well, as soon as I quite smoking weed, my playing went through the roof. It was the best thing I ever did, but results may vary.
9. Oh you newbies are so lucky today with your internet. In my days it was hard to find good lessons. Now you can get the best lessons for free all day long on TH-cam. So make use of this amazing new world feature.
10. Solo over backing tracks. I bought a Fender G-DEC some 10 years ago. Well, that thing has backing track loops. Those loops allowed me to solo over backing tracks for hours at a time. And I did! And wow, did I learn a lot from doing that. It's one of the greatest inventions ever. Especially if you turn the tempo down, so you can think clearly about each note you are about to play. Because there's a lot to think about when learning to solo. You have to know the key, what chord is being played, what scales can be played over each chord, what the next chord will be, etc. And playing over the same simple backing track at low speed for hours is a great way to train you and your fingers how to solo.
11. Remember, music is all about relationships. Soloing is all about relating to the chords underneath it. And there are so many ways to relate them! There is no one way to solo. It's like painting pictures. There are a thousand different ways to solo over chords, but there is always some kind of relationship going on.
When I solo, my mind is doing something like, "Okay, we are in A major 12 bar blues pattern. Let's start with an A major pentatonic lick and end it with a minor pentatonic lick. Here's the D major chord. I'm gonna stay in the A minor pentatonic and finish it with a D major pentatonic. E now. Let's play it safe and just stay in E major pentatonic. Back to A. Let's do a little Chuck Berry style double stops. And now some Lynyrd Skynyrd major pentatonic stuff. Oh the E is coming up. I'm going to play a little E major pentatonic before it actually hits. Wow, that worked! lol "
12. Don't get suckered into buying expensive guitars and amps. I talk from years of experience. Just buy a Fender Twin Reverb, a tube screamer, a wah, maybe an Electric Mistress or other modulation and a $500 guitar. From that set up you can sound incredible anywhere. If it works for SRV...it'll work for you too.
I have a dozen guitars I bought used for under $200 that sound and play absolutely amazing. I also have a real 1964 Strat I bought in 1979 from Norm's Rare Guitars. So I know tone. And as amazing as that 64 strat sounds....my $200 Schecter C-1+ sounds and plays equally amazing. I just had to change out the volume pots for vintage taper units.
13. Always practice with a drum machine. These days it's less uncommon for people to practice without some kind of solid time keeping. But it's still important. Back in my days there were no drum machine, backing tracks or barely even any metronomes. When I started playing with a drum machine, I instantly learned how bad my timing was.
Even if you practice with a drummer (like I did), use some kind of time keeping device. It's always funny to watch a drummer have to play against a metronome for the first time. It's such a shock to them to find out how sloppy their timing truly is. Most drummers will try to break the device in anger.
14. Use light gage strings. There's simply no sense in torturing your fingers with heavy gage strings. Heavy strings do not sound any better than light gage. Sure, SRV used very heavy strings and he could nail the Hendrix tones, but Hendrix played the lightest strings offered. So....see? Same tone, despite wildly different gages.
15. Don't buy fancy gear. Buy an older Fender amp. Period. Why? I'll tell you why. Because amps break. And when your boutique $3000 amp head blows up.....now you have to find someone to fix it. Everyone knows how to fix an old Fender amp. Not everyone has worked on your Three Monkeys, Frenzel or Line 6 head. And when you find someone who can work on it, you gotta pay shipping and extra money for the parts and labor. But an old Fender amp? You can usually fix the thing yourself.
I use a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue. I'm constantly blowing peoples minds with my tone. And if it breaks, there's a hundred people within driving distance who have worked on hundreds of these amps already. They know exactly what is wrong with it before I even bring it in. ("Oh, the *&^*%&$ always goes on those things") And so it's cheap and easy to get this amp fixed. Plus most times I can fix the amp myself. I wouldn't even dream of trying to fix a Line 6.
Amps are so overrated. At the end of SRVs career, he was often seen using just two old Fender Twin Reverbs. Even a dreaded late 70's Twin Reverb with a master volume!!! There was a time these amps were loathed. Yet, there was Stevie playing the most incredible sounds you ever heard with one of the most loathed amps ever. Why? Simply because amps are so overrated. Just get a simple old Fender tube amp, and you'll have all you need in that department.
and this is...Living like Larry :D
Great advice...thanks for sharing.
***** Know your scales, but never practive them in a linear fashion, unless you actually want to sound like Yngwie.
I can't stand Yngwie. I love to watch him play, but to actually listen to him is incredibly annoying. And it's because all he's usually doing is going up and down the scales. There's nothing musical about it. Just really fast scale exercises.
I've heard from many famous guitarists that they never practice scales for just that reason. They know their scales, but they never just go up and down the scales trying to remember where the notes are. It's unmusical. It doesn't sound nice. And if you practice doing things that don't sound nice,,,,guess what happens? You end up not sounding nice, because you tend to play what you practice.
And so if you want to practice the E minor pentatonic scale, then practice the solo to Whole Lotta Love. This way you learn the scale and you learn how to play it in such a way that it sound cool.
Seriously, if you want to be a great soloist, learn every great solo you love. Try to learn the theories behind the solos. But never play anything that isn't pleasant to listen to.
My first guitar teacher had me practicing all the scales in all the positions. And so when I went into a solo I always sounded like I was practicing all the scales in all the positions. It was horrible! lol I didn't know any licks. All I knew was how to go up and down all the scales in a most monotonous fashion. It tooks years to get away from it. I think I still struggle with it a bit. I still find myself playing notes because it's the next one in line.
Learning our favorite solos is what opens the door to our own creativity and style. This is how we learn how notes work together to make pleasing melody lines. It's why so many famous guitarists know so little theory. Because music is more of an art than a science.
Left hand muting technique doesn't hurt either, especially when it comes to muting some strings inbetween while fretting a chord or when playing through a lot of gain.
Yeah..! thats right good points Larry
"If nothing else, just call it Jazz ..."
My whole playing history has been one, big, 'Free-form Jazz exploration', a la Spinal Tap's hiatus ...
Forget who said it or I'd give 'em credit-"You're never more than 1 fret away from the right note."
CPFS it was Eric Johnson, I think. Or mike stern.
Another take on the same general theme (from the jazz realm): "There are no 'wrong' notes, only bad resolution".
Victor Wooten said it. Can't say if he said it first, but I know he said it.
I did. Not the first, but I did.
"Play a wrong note once and it's a mistake, Play it twice, and you're a genius." Miles Davis may have said that, not sure.
Something that helps me is recording myself and listening to it. The first time I did this I was shocked at how sloppy my playing was. I had lots of extemporaneous sound I wasn't controlling the way I should have been.
Definately a really good piece of advice I dont see people mention enough these days. We have the technology to do it so why not take advantage of it. I find recording yourself with a clean tone will really make yourself aware of the nuonces of your own playing.
Yeah, i can def sometimes hear what i'm going for rather than what i'm actually getting. Recording goes the other way too, though - a casual throw-away turns out to be great. Helps to just video it as a scratch pad - make sure the neck is in the shot so you can remember how to play when you dont know how you came up with something.
Love this company and Brian. He's actually a player, not just trying to sell you something. A Wampler pedal is definitely next on my list!!
Dude, this is a list video in which the 12 ways ARE ALSO LISTED ON THE DESCRIPTION. YOU ARE A FUCKING HERO. Subscribed.
laughed out loud when you hit the guitar to get it to the right note, that's a great trick!
Maybe it's a g bender telecaster
"just call it jazz" haha
classic
You know what else helps, even it costs money?? The Wampler Tumnus!!!! Best pedal ever.
It is my number one pedal for making music, the best dirt pedal ever made.
Great pedal Mr. Wampler!
as far as neighbors, I find it easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. works
Not only noise ordinance time matter.
The second You get annoying for anybody with noises and to it somewhat regular it's illegal.
or find neighbors that are drummers who don't mind the noise :-)
You need to play so it's just a bit annoying because then they won't bother going to complain 9 times out of 10
Works with wives...sometimes.
Something I do is purposely hit a wrong note while practicing and make a bend or a repetition out of it in case I do it during a live performance.
If I hit a wrong note, I'll 'accidentally' drop my drawers as an effective diversion. My wife told me "just call it jazz and don't even try it".
“If nothing else, just call it jazz” 😂 Love that - as well as everything in this whole video. Some great advice all around. And you make great pedals and amps! Thank you Brian!!
I like the weird vibrato, lol. what does that say about me?
I think it means you're flirting with me? :b
Wampler Pedals i
60 Cycle Hum I used to call it the lamb vibrato, Hendrix used it for a particular type sound in some of his solos. He’d like to bend the string up/down the go into the lamb vibrato while the string is bent. Steve Via mentioned spending hours at a time, practicing vibrato.
Few things I've picked up over the years:
I feel like I've never practiced one day, I have, I just love playing so that's what I do, if you 'just play" you're going to get better. When I first tried to play it was just so boring to sit there and bang my head against a wall, so I quit for years and picked it back up later and decided I would only ever do what I thought was fun. Another thing this did for me was helped me develop my own style. When you play guitar there are no rules and you don't ever have to be like anyone else if you want.
I dig so many styles of music so something that, I'm sure, helped me with timing was when I would play guitar to styles of music that don't have a lot of guitar like some Rap, Hip-Hop or Electronic music... the beats are almost always consistent and coming up with your own guitar parts to stuff with none is fun, at least for me. If you don't like those styles of music maybe drum loops or something would be better.
I agree with playing loud! There's just something about feeling the music that just drives your soul, at least for me.
I also love watching videos like this and reading about everything I can and that's where I get a lot of 'new idea' inspiration. There's nothing like reading a guitar mag interview with one of your favorite players and then taking some tip or something they do and try to insert it into what you do.
Sometimes the mistakes you make will actually end up being some of the coolest parts you'll do so always keep in mind that not all mistakes are bad.
Anyway the Wampler Pedal Vlog is rad! Really dig it!
Les and Mary used to do the "trick" in their performances.
Love that tip about incorporating wrong notes into your playing. The right note is just a half away, so don’t get flustered, and slide up into it. And if you play it again, it resisters with the audience that it was i tetional. Always suspected that there is a unintentional note on Allman’s at Fillmore East, but he resolves it so musically it ends up sounding really interesting.
Ur supposed to place ur guitar on the other leg when ur sitting, classical training 101
As for tips to improve tone, cant believe no one mentioned playing with your fingers. Lose the pick as fast as possible. 2) do not buy cheap guitars. buying cheap guitars will only get you so far. Expensive guitars can improve your sound immensely. The day I bought a Parker fly mojo changed my world forever. 3) don’t think about scales, don’t even think about where you are going next in a solo. Just go somewhere without thinking and work with the location you have. Nothing wrong with being out of the box, hitting a bad note. It all helps you sound different than a 1000 other ‘by the book’ guitar players. 4) Don’t overplay. Purposely hold a note for 5 seconds. Then don’t play anything for another 4 seconds. Let non guitar playing people understand you and keep up.
I got good at doing vibratos by listening to a ton of Chuck Schuldiner
Tuners aren't free, esp. the Turbo tuner.
Play a E chord or any and throw your finger anywhere on the fret board and make a phrase around it in that key, great practice!
As the late great Les Paul stated: “You’re only a half step away from greatness.” Brad Paisley just showed what that can look like. Thanks for sharing this Paislean trick Brian.
What amp and pedal combination were you playing through? Great tone!
Jack Leyton He answered the question way earlier in the comments. Fender Deluxe Reverb, tumnus, 2x12 with wgs veteran 30 speakers, if his recollection is correct.
Robert Fripp doesn't stand during gigs because he doesn't practice while standing.
Yeah, but then if you sit down you have to play as good as Robert Fripp
Aaron Black
Yeah and he’s kind of a weirdo 😊
Cool I now know that I have a great guitar teacher because he wants me to play chords around scales and get creative! Plus he makes learning guitar so darn fun.
If your neighbour stays at home all the time you can also ask him/her what are they favourite bands and maybe you can practice some of their songs.
I've seen Chet Atkins hit a wrong note and say. "All mistakes are intentional".
Just found your channel. Good Stuff. Enjoy the content and your sense of humor. thxs. Cheers.
Thanks Marty!
holy shit your “playing around a chord” is uhm... massive...need a whole class on that.
That one note in a chord that's more than a few cents off - and sometimes all night. I hate to publicly admit that anything bothers me. But that unresolved dissonance. It's like biting onto a sandwich and somehow there's this tiny bit of aluminum foil in there. The scrape of foil on one of your fillings. That's the sound. A good tuner is so affordable. I'm baffled by the fact that it's still completely relevant to suggest to players of all skill levels to buy and use a tuner. That, and either set up their instruments properly or at least pay someone a few bucks to do it for them. ... Here's an idea for a charity: "tuners for the toneless".
I would add: 1 practice as much as possible in the circumstances of what you would really like to be doing in front of people or to record. i.e. your 'real' sound at stage/recording volume with a band playing tunes right through with NO BREAKS. Where most players come unstuck is having a too small (usually bedroom-sized) comfort zone and too easily being taken out of it. Get your real live sound sorted then get out and play wherever you can it really is the only way. 2 try and only play music that sounds good, whether you like it or not or whether it's just for money or whatever, if it's not working on its own terms don't do it. 3 controversial here - don't worry too much about the metronome/drum loop thing. Everyone has timing, or will get it, if they're relaxed with the music they're playing it will just happen. If you haven't got it yet just play with others on things you are comfortable with and relax, a metronome or drum loop won't harm your playing but it won't help much either.
Wow that Tele nick has some miles on it. Like every note on every fret on every scale has been drilled to the bone. Impressed.
Goats milk is the source of the Wampler Euphorias tone... I knew it!
Maybe it's those Goat Curries he's been eatin .... YUM .. !!
MEDium Studios ..Almond milk works for me.
I found that a great practice tool, right here on TH-cam, is doing a search including the phrase “guitar backing track” it’s like karaoke but for guitar instead of voice. A lot of times you’ll find people of actually taking the original recordings and edit it out to Guitars. I’ll blow through a handful of these as exercises on the days when I don’t really feel like practicing. For solos, there’s also different styles and keys such as “ blues in E minor guitar backing track” etc. I put it through my PA and blend my guitar to match. Occasionally I have to stop just to enjoy the backing track. (SRV’s Pride & Joy guitar backing track is great all by itself!). Enjoy!
Best tip I've heard in awhile is to stand while practicing. Learning new songs and playing them on stage do always feel like night and day. Thanks Brian
learn to sing your licks your ears are arguably more important than your hands
"If nothing else, just call it jaz." Ha, that was great. In fact great video and advice.
Similar to what 'Angela' said on The Office, re: Jazz - "why can't they just play the right notes?"
OMG, I forgot about that. Used to love that show. I actually really like jazz, but there is a certain sub-genre of it that I just don't get and sounds exactly like some kids banging around on instruments knowing nothing about them or music, that's what it sounds like to me at least.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing. There's also a free app for slowing down any song on your iOS device called Tempo Slow. Simple to use and helps tremendously with learning solos, etc.
The key to success is to leave in a beautiful and peaceful place like this.. I'm so jealous.. Your pedals are just fkn AWESOME by the way.
Great suggestions if I could add or modify one of your points, when I sit down and practice before I stand up to practice, I sit with good posture place my guitar strap on when I stand up the guitars at the same height so I'm using the same sort of muscles and memories I've created in my hands and fingers while standing or sitting .. thanks again! has another side note I'm not sure if you are friends with Robert Keeley the pedal designer he came out with a new Plexi pedal not sure if you've heard it it's called The El Rey Dorado ... That thing is killer! Not to mention your Pinnacle which I've owned great Van Halen Plexi amps in a box!
I love the Funkbox iPhone app for practicing, it's a drum machine emulator that allows you to control all the parameters of an actual drum machine (and tons of other stuff). Way more fun and way more musical than a metronome ever could be
I love how “get things done” and playing with guitars are in the same video. To my wife, playing with guitars and music is all playing. “Getting things done” is housework and errands. I’m still trying to find out how to combine “getting things done” with building and playing guitars. I do notice the presence of farm animals so I’m sure there is lots of work that goes with that too.
6:47 HOLLLLyyy JESUS!!!! i jumped out of the chair
Hahahaha same.
Great channel..ty
Very helpful! Thank you!
Hey Brian, I'm curious: are the saddles on your telecaster compensated? (you mentioned you can't stand guitars that are barely out of tune).
Cheers!
The last time Robert Fripp played a gig standing up was in 1969 :-)
Only guitarists like Fripp, only a few people even know who he is.
That tele sounds great man!
Every thing you said is straight on, if i had not learned to be comfortable with all those things i would have been all messed up first time i sat down with 4 other musicians and i have seen it happen to others who keep saying they just are not used to playing in a live setting.. I would even suggest picking ten songs and playing all the way through them while standing to gain stamina and confidence
Re: learning melodies/solos from other instruments or vocal- I love Jerry Douglas solos and decided to learn dobro. Even though I haven't started dobro yet, I figured it would help to learn to play his solo on guitar so I'd have it in my head (Let Me Touch You For Awhile). It was so much fun and instructive to learn his phrasing (playing upbeats instead of downbeats, for one) and also to mimic his sliding into notes using bends instead. Opened up a whole realm of possibilities in my guitarplaying.
Slow it down without changing the tempo 10:58.
Albee213 😂😂😂😂 right! I heard that and I’m like ?? What?
He must have meant "without changing pitch".
Or he could have said change the pitch without changing the key.
Like Jeff Beck said, "hit a bad note? Hit it three times over, making it sound planned."
I heard that from Brian May.... I guess it's just so true that everybody said it at some point.
HI!!!good advices!!!here you demo with your deluxe reverb 65 i suppose???WHAT VOLUME,,,??
I'll re-ask the question...what are you playing through? Your tone is freaking amazing!!
cjenson72 He answered the question way earlier in the comments. Fender Deluxe Reverb, tumnus, 2x12 with wgs veteran 30 speakers, if his recollection is correct.
playing a lot sitting can be less a hindrance if you play with a shortened strap. Get the guitar about where it is while seated... when standing.
Doug H. in VA yeah if you want to be a fuckin square
none of this helped me at all... because after 35 years of playing i learned it the hard way... If i had seen this video 35 years ago i would have catapulted my playing SOooo much faster!! GREAT GREAT VIDEO!!!!!!
"Playing in time is gonna make you sound...honestly better than any pedal, any amp, any guitar-
...well. Within reason. I do like Telecasters"
Hahahahahaha!
Same though tbh
A known song played with the 'proper' rhythm but many 'wrong' notes has been proven to be still easily recognizable. Shows where musical priorities may be, sometimes anyway.
I see so much of that poor vibrato, I like angus youngs vibrato, almost like he has a hard time bending the string but fights it into submission.
8:30 Les Paul and Mary Ford was doing that 70 years ago. Take my word for it.
The peak, is when you "Innovate". Funny, you accidentally do this when you are learning. :) "Improvisation". :) Circle of fifths or luck, hence the "Mystique". There is no try, just do. :) Can I call it me? :)
@12:11 Nah that major 7th was pretty, bro. Just cause it was unexpected doesn't make it wrong. It actually jumped out more🤘🏽
Every Guitarplayer should take these tips by heart, instead of only buying new equipment. But, when you are once in your practise routine, then you will find out, whitch gear will help you and what might become useful. Shure, watch the famous players, but also to other expirienced musicians. If you want to get better, you should put more effort in developing your ears and skills, instead of searching for the right tabs for a specific peace. Again, another helpful video, thank you!
great video, lots of good information . ...I recently had a Soldano Lucky 13 50 watt combo amp built...and it is 100% SLO...would you have any tips on setting the Tone to something close to Michael Schenker's tone ? as I am a really big fan ... I also play the usa dean V's....thanks...
I'll add my two cents: Always have your amp on the floor. Never put an amp on a stand or a chair, it loses most of its low end and mid tones. If you want to hear its true tone at ear level, try sitting down on the floor in front of it, its pretty amazing. AND yes, play notes around the chords! Great bit of advice!!!
I like your videos, the content you choose and the way you present the material. However, slightly scratching my head on the remarks concerning vibrato and the way it reflects "musical maturity' .......fraid I can't really go along with that. Guitar playing over the years has thrown up all manner of vibrato styles, a really wide range, fast to slow, wide to narrow.They are sometimes highly personal and can be the players fingerprint and primary identifier. Different styles are also appropriate for different musical forms, as well as within forms. There is also a direct comparison with the way a singer emotes, which is fundamentally what a Guitarist is in part seeking to emulate. I would say that there is no "Good versus Bad" vibrato, just Well executed vibrato versus badly executed vibrato. The musical immaturity aspect arises when things are done in poor taste ...... in a contextually inappropriate way, for example. Same argument applies to the good 'ol whammy bar :-)
All solid, useful points Brian! The 200+ thumbs down must be because they don't like goats? Who doesn't like goats...WTH?
"If nothin else, just call it jazz."
-B Wamp's words of wisdom on how to handle wrong notes.
Love it.
Listen to violin pieces(not the hyper fast) , classical piano too. Soundtracks from films too. The main theme from "Jacobs Ladder" for instance. Amazing.
Ready for that solo...and TOTALLY wrong note right in the middle of it....LMAO
I know this is about buying nothing - but how important is it to buy good cables? I am using a 24 year old Sam ash cable that sounds better than the Fender custom shop cables - 2 out 3 that were completely not usable. Same with the daisy chains - I have your Velvet Fuzz (LOVE IT) but that pedal happens to have a fairly deep input where the power is at the top. So I use a 9V battery for it because my daisy chain for power is cheap. I have a Danelectro power supply - but the daisy chain attached fits 2 other pedals well - but not the Velvet Fuzz. I heard MXR are good if you want to spend less than few hundred on all the cables.
I hate playing standing up- always have. But learning to outline chords with notes changed everything for me. Most players I know end up in the same place I was at- they noodle around in scales and it never really sounds very melodic or musical but we're convinced that learning all those notes is the key- if we just knew all the notes that would potentially work- surely, we could find a melody in there somewhere. But it doesn't work because we're approaching playing backwards- you're supposed to hear the melody in your head and just play it really. That's the absolute easiest and best way to come up with a lead line- forget scales, forget chord shapes, and shut up- listen to the rhythm, now what do you hear in your head? Play it, and don't pay any attention to where it's at on the neck- just make it sound right. Most ppl are shocked to find they can do this- it's not really that difficult. Especially if you've been noodling around in scales for years already.
But- i you really must have some sort of guide as to where to start- using chord shapes beats using scales any day. And I don't necessarily mean the exact chord shape they're playing either- maybe they're playing a D major- I would find the D major Bar chord- now I would look for a perfect 5th or 3rd- to give it that "major" feel. But- if they're playing a D minor- same thing accept this time- I'm going to concentrate on the flat 3rd- which is what makes a minor chord sound minor. In other words- I'm going to concentrate on whatever note it is that defines the chord they're playing. That way your melody is helping to color the chords and give the song the feel it's supposed to have.
You can see that "bumping the end of the guitar" thing on an old video clip of Les Paul and Mary Ford, I think it's on 'How High the Moon' from a TV show.
Im outa any town bout 4mi and closest neighbor is 500,600ft . Yeah lucky in that respect so i crank it alot. And think of vibrato as tap tempo ,,,sorta ? All good pts, thx.
A tuner is gear, is eventually free just as headphones. An amp and guitar are free to take from stores. Lol. Just kidding. Thanks. All the best. Grtx. AnkuTom
I love how the first tip to improve without buying anything is to use a good tuner... which, if one wasn't already doing, they would have to... buy, one.
A couple of these suggestions nailed me to the wall. They were the exact things I need to to work on to keep moving forward.
Totally unrelated, my wife and I watched your Mrs. Wampler interview together the other day. She reminded me that this is Wampler suggest jewelry for those wives who have to put up with a Mr. Wampler. My obvious response was to go out and buy a Wampler Belle ecause it sounded so pretty and feminine. I am sure that there is a jewelry purchase in my future not withstanding.
my add ins to Larry...,. find people that are better than you......surrounding yourself with good players makes you much much better......don't be a fanboy.....but make friends with guys or girls you can learn from.....
take a few theory classes....theory gives you a basis to know the nomenclature of music.....so if someone says " circle of fifths" you at least have an idea of what they are saying....... learn the intervals of the scales...this has helped me with session gigs a lot because guys could call out Nashville numbers and I could understand it......the 1....4...5....in c major is c,f,g.....the 2 is dminor......that type if thing if a guy yells "2" at a bridge you can jump to dminor and stay with the band.
Learn some vocal harmonies..... this will help you understand intervals and if you can sing a little you tend to get a lot more gigs even if it is backing vocals ....if you are learning chords try and sing each note in the chord as you pick it.....I have stepped into fill-in sessions where the guys had 2 part harmony and I added in that third high part and they looked around like....."man.....that sounds a lot better" you get a lot of call backs for things like that. This is where standing up helps.....you can breathe better standing and sing better if you learn to. You will almost never sit if you are on stage.....learn to get comfortable with the hand and wrist position relative to the neck when standing.
Don't buy a lot of gear but if you start gigging have a spare of crucial items.....I keep an extra overdrive pedal, chords, picks, mic, mic cable, a direct input for the pa is good too if your amp craps our and you can go directly to the pa system....
pick out horn, piano, and fiddle parts......maybe learn them at least in diatonic chords (two notes) .....such as Van Morrison's Into the Mystic horn solo......being able to adapt those parts helps and trains your ear........I had a music teacher that would play intervals and chords on the piano so that you couldn't see his hands and test you on your ear training..... ask you " is that minor? " is this a third or a fifth? is this a major or minor scale?.....you can get a friend to do that.....
Vibrato is tricky, after 50 years of playing I have to keep myself from doing it automatically. Otherwise it is the same no matter the note. Different notes and context should be tailored.
There really wasn’t any tone stuff in this video.
8:25 thus trick that Brian is talking about, that Brad Paisley did in order to correct a wrong note. The only time I've heard of or seen a guitar player do this was Les Paul, on an old black-and -white tv special.
...Excellent presentation! FYI, (at 8:16) often Brad Paisley plays a "bender" guitar...either a G bender or a B bender and he literally does pull into the note by raising the tone a half step or so.
How to get good tone? A room full of nice amps . Which I can't afford. Man, I wish the "white privilege " myth was true.
While I agree that if you don’t practice developing melody, and use phrasing while soloing your leads will sound boring. If done right, scales can tune up your ears. Learning scales for the fingers = meh, learning scales for the ears = good. Learning scales is more than just running consecutive notes up and down the octaves.
as bassist plus apt living 15 watts was too loud , cops came didn't hear anything at my front door, i use 2 pick to hard cuz played unplugged too much i gotta 500-watt amp wit 410 212 cab lol , u can tell alot someone soul by their vibrato , have you tried side to side vibrato
How do I send Phil a ? and photo about the ? .
I remember Phil doing a show on adjusting the bridge but I forgot the instructions. Paul a newbie that has learned so much from your Utube. shows.
technically, your strap length is supposed to match your seated position . . . that way, you never have any discrepancy . . . but, I think its only us bassists that do that , really (it works) . . Depends on what your concerned with .
Still sound the same, maybe i should buy a Guitar.. but then the "Without buying Anything" Title would have to change... ha ha
Man, about correcting that 'wrong note' that Brad Paisley way. Les Paul used to to that.....
You get feedback from an amp without actually inducing audible string resonating feedback. Having an amp and speaker in the room is a link in the guitar sound equation that is omitted when you use headphones. Use a tranny amp a modeller or software and you have too many bad links in your chain and are going to come to a standstill!
Great vid Wampler! If you are having trouble w/ a passage, slow it down and use a metronome... oB
if you play a "wrong" note....do it twice...and don't show it on your face....then it seems like you meant to do it....🎸👍
Play in front of people as much as possible, it forces you to be better, cost noting.
I know it is late, but take a break and listen to players. The other tip is record yourself and listen back to it, notice what you should have done or where another place it could have went, pick up the guitar and make it happen and record that too.
You can google guitar backing tracks and find all kinds of stuff to play along with. Also "If nothing else just call it jazz" hahahaha
Agree about vibrato. Some people that are really good players lack a good vibrato. Brings a certain emotion to the song/lead.
i really liked the way you brought up playing around chords instead of scales its much more musical and pleasinf to the ear as is vibrato in the right places and just the right amount. try plaing a voilin or viola and you will get better at guitar! what set uo did you have sounded nice. i play telecaster mostly now and its right by my bed drives gf crazy thanks for the info like your stuff