-FIX THIS BAND! Ep.2: Sweet Child o' Mine! Check out all my lesson vids at: www.the-art-of-... Facebook: / fansoftheartofguitar / theartofguitar Thanks!!!
No. They miss the whole bouncy bounce of the choruses that feed the tension and release of this song. Sure they're playing the right notes, but they miss entirely the point of the whole song form. Major fail.
I’ve been playing guitar on and off for 20yrs so as bad as this sounds it’s pretty brave of these guys to get up there and have a go. Where I am right now as a guitarist, there’s no way I’d be confident enough to jump up on stage.
I’d have stopped and pointed at someone, until the guy fixed it. 😆 Actually, I would’ve grabbed the singer’s guitar after about a minute, and hold him we’re doing a 20 minute extended jam. 😄
Bass player here, love this new series! Especially the respectful way you’re handling it. I searched, but can’t find anyone else who’s doing this. Sometimes you NEED the honest advice of other performing musicians to get to the next level, and the people you know, may not be honest. Merry Christmas!
You need to be reasonably good in the first place though to get to another level! This band need only to watch this video to tell them all they need to know!!
I am not the bass player in the video (nor do I know who that is). I play with a very experienced group of excellent musicians. But, even I, notice things that bother me. (I look at the fret-board too often, for example). I do wonder what another experience musician would suggest if he didn’t care about hurting my feelings. …but I certainly don’t have the gut to post a live video here! I’d much rather learn from others.
Im a singer in my band and play some keyboard parts. I noticed you mentioned the singer not having a tablet as if its a bad thing to have one. Can you expand on your feelings about using lyrics in a cover band? I personally have one because my memory is very poor, I just cannot remember lyrics to save my life.
Oh God that is so fkng true.!!! The amount of comebacks in that situations, i sometimes think i can be a Late Night Show band member doing turn-arounds.!😢😐😑🤣🤣🤣🤣
It's a lot harder than it looks. A lot. Being able to focus on just vocals or just guitar makes it so much easier. It doesn't help though that this song is out of the vocal range of a lot of singers, which now amusingly includes GNR's own Axl Rose. Take the song down an octave vocally, it still sounds great.
I've been playing guitar going on 30 years. Decided last year I'd start singing. I should have started years ago. It's difficult but if you do it every day you see improvement. I still wouldn't get on stage and do it. Even if I am a good guitarist, throw my shitty singing on top and it doesn't matter.
Fun fact: This is an old video from a very rural part of India, from the capital Delhi, you'll need to take 2 planes and another 12 hour ride by road just to get to this very place and 2G internet was just introduced, TH-cam was never heard of and only few people were familiar with the internet. They probably figured out all the lyrics and chords just from hearing alone, from magnetic cassette and CD. All the suggestions were fantastic but you have to understand the reality of their situation, their access to any information, gears and equipment during this time
You're right - that context is important. Maybe they'd never seen a rock band perform this song well, and they didn't have a standard to know how they sound? And maybe playing with Western tonality and rhythm is like a second language? I don't think anyone in the Middle East would like my attempts at playing maqams.
I noticed right away that English was probably not his first language or main language which might have influenced how he perceived and sang the song. More like he was doing an imitation than actually feeling it.
Bass players are the backbone of rock :) It was nice to see the rhythm section holding it together while everything else was catasrophically falling apart around them.
Idk…I would say the solution is to just give it a restart at the first hit of that rhythm guitar. Coffee break…tune to the guitar and turn up the amp. Then again as John Mayer once said when he had to restart ‘Your Body…’- “This is a lot of pressure! I have to play this THAT much better to justify me restarting.” Now, Mayer nailed it. I’m not sure it was gonna get all that much better for this band lol.
And it's always when we're young, unpolished, and sound as awful as we ever will! My first gig with my high school band was a nightmare, but 42 years later I see how funny it was! So many people showed up! Campus security estimated over 2,000. (It was a Freshman Week party at a college dorm, apparently the only one that Friday night.) We were scared sh*tless! We played everything so fast we finished our 4-hour set in less than 2 1/2 hours. We sounded epically horrible, but I think they thought we were just playing irreverent punk versions of pop & rock songs (like Hotel California... yeah, ikr?). They wouldn't let us quit either after 2 1/2 hours, so we just played our first 2 sets again. That was 1982, and to this day that's the biggest crowd I've ever played for.
Not to mention, the singing is physically pretty painful entering the ears due to involuntary squinting, crinkling of the forehead, and brainwave disruption.
This was one crap performance. But we are missing context. Maybe it was at school where they were trying their best, etc. It's ok. Especially if band is aware of their skill level. Sad thing is there are people who are not able to evaluate themselves. One of those "I can do anything and I'm the best at whatever I try" people. And they used that "I'm offended" bs, etc. Be offended, I don't give a damn. That doesn't make you know how to play. :)
I thought the first video gave them a lot of credit and highlighted some true highlights! This is vital information for people trying to get on stage for the first time 👍
I love the series, really reminds me of when I started playing live aged 13 - soooo many mistakes... I wish I had someone like you to help me correct my bads. Your criticism is a constructive one, very helpful I think
I love this series so far. Rick Beato started a couple of episodes like this but from a producing perspective. I always find invaluable insights from these kind of series. I look forward to the next one!
Mike this is a great series/idea. When I started playing in activly gigging bands in about 1987 🤦♂️. This kind of advice just wasn't so readily available. This could be extremely helpful to beginning bands. It took years to get the live performance skill down, thru trial and error. What you are doing is not a Criticism it's technically a Critique. If some are calling that out, possibly they have too thin of skin or too big an ego to deal with the the vast amount of things that can and do go wrong. My worst show ever was about my 500th or so. Keep up the great content! Thanks.
great critique. Need more critiques like this. This is where musicians who are just starting out and have no experience can learn a whole bunch from an experienced band player. Thanks for putting this out.
Hi Mike. This is a great series, thanks for putting in the work for us to learn from. As far as the critics go, don’t let them get in your head. You’re one of the kindest and most humble guitarists on TH-cam. You certainly have the chops! I’m 60 years old and have been playing for 50 years and learn from you all the time. Thanks for putting yourself out there for all of us.
No one is above the cringe - we’ve all been there. As said, you just have to make the mistakes and move on. Important to note is what is inside and outside of the band’s control. Obviously engineering issues and technical difficulties can’t always be helped, but your balance internally as a band is critical. Making sure your volumes and frequencies are balanced as much as possible just makes the sound tech’s job that much easier and your setup at the venue that much smoother. If you sound good on your own, you’ll sound good on stage (usually 😅)
You know what I hate the most? As a lead guitarist I work my ass off to learn all the tricky parts and sort out tons of details. I have to work on my sound until I find the right tone for the song. Bass players and drummers usually do some heavy lifting of their own. But then your typical rhythm guitarist comes over, "Nah, man. I'll just strum through some cowboy chords." And some of them are really heavy-handed, with no dynamics, no nuance, so they stick out like a sore thumb. Why the no-effort attitude? Is it because any fool can play a bunch of chords? I just don't get it. That's exactly what we see in this video as well.
This is why I spend as much time on rhythm as much as I do on lead. Studying jazz and loving Keith Richards has taught me you can improv with voicings or different rhythm styles.
i have the opposite problem me a bassist and a drummer will put together a section with really cool chords and get it as tight as we can and then a lead player will show up with an amp that's way too big and improvise some sloppy pentatonic bs over it with WAY too much gain and act like he added something
"I sing and no one else does, so I just get to play whatever I want" These guys are a dime a dozen, only acceptable behavior if their singing chops are great.
Sound tech and cover band musician here. It's pretty common to put the snake head beside or behind the drums to hide it, especially on a larger 16 or 24 channel analog snake. The guy walking back by the drummer to fix the guitar amp mic was likely checking the patching of the mic to ensure that it got plugged in. This has the feeling of a show that consists of multiple acts and built on entry level or volunteer labor. Patching mistakes easily happen, particularly when there is insufficient time between acts for a line check. Kudos for the quick thinking in grabbing a functioning mic rather than trying to troubleshoot the existing line. The sound tech was smart in that he muted the vox mic while it was being repositioned to the amp, rolled the gain back, then brought it into the mix protecting the PA system and the ears of the audience. Also, big credit is due for managing that boomy midrange feedback, especially in a very acoustically live environment. Also, the bass vocal effect...I can almost promise he's using a voice effect box with an octaver on it to drop to the proper register. It has a very cheap guitar pedal sound to it and is not set to fully wet, further exposing the delay in the digital processor. I've tried similar things when I was starting out. Then I realized that 99% of voice processors suck unless you're really good with the setup of the effects banks and are working with a good PA and great sound tech.
As someone who really liked the first episode, I am happy to say that I enjoyed this one just as much. Funny how the frontman is the one who ruined the band in both videos.
I was at one of the few performances of GnR where they finished their set and walked off stage on a positive note (Axl said it himself, he normally gets mad and storms off stage). I did not see Axl ruin the concert as the frontman that time, but he was always notorious for his lack of professionalism. The Metallica incident (Axl again) is a great example of how the frontman can really mess it up.
@@sw4610How many times has axl actually walked off the stage before finishing the concert? I here this a lot but haven’t actually seen it as commonly as people say it happened. There must be a compendium for that kind of thing somewhere
I died at least 3 times while watching this 😆 partly because I'm sure that GNR have performed like this at least once 😂 At least no fights broke out on stage 🙂
😀😀😀 I knew this people (band or just a group of friends) not personally though, we're the same community. This video has been circulating the internet for over 10 years at least, I think.
I like this new series, and I think you are handling it very good, being very respectful and still honest and to the point. I still can't help and feel a bit sorry for those kids. My first band was even worse when we were starting around that age, and I'm very happy that neither camera phones nor TH-cam were a thing back then. I wonder if the possibility to end up being embarassed before thousands of people might have a chilling effect on highschool bands these days.
I spent a few years as the lead singer in my church band (replacing a not-good chorus), playing with a pair of talented jazz musicians (drums & piano). I'd been playing guitar for almost 20 years when I started, but having played entirely on my own, and never having lessons, it was difficult for me to play with a band, especially when they were expecting me to be the band leader. Vocally, no problem, but getting the guitar to work was a STRUGGLE. As such, I have some advice on how to approach a situation like this. First off, it's important to be able to admit your limitations, and not get down about them. There were plenty of times when I just could not figure out how to get comfortable with a guitar part (especially since I was often adapting piano arrangements, while the pianist took a jazzy improv approach), and I would simply make the decision not to play for a song, or to only play guitar during particular sections. My bandmates were very supportive of my playing, and would sometimes argue with me to keep giving it a try, but I stuck to my guns and did what I felt was best for the song. If the guitar was getting in the way of me being able to confidently sing the song, then the guitar went back on the stand until the next song. Simple as that. What doesn't work is what we saw here, where he was coming in and out not with distinct section changes, but haphazardly in the middle of sections. Either play or don't. Both are valid, but you have to have the confidence to choose and stick with it. If you're going to be in-and-out during the song, do it with purpose. Building on that point - and this is something that I think a lot of musicians should hear - it's okay to play something different from the original recording. What matters is that the BAND sounds good. Listen to what your bandmates are playing and tailor your part to fit theirs. That's especially important if you are less experienced/comfortable than those around you. Listen to what they're doing, and feel out what you can do that will ADD to what's already there. In this case, where the rhythm guitar isn't going to be a driving presence (with the drums & bass carrying the song's momentum), a nice approach would have been to focus on more selective big hits, and letting the chords sustain, rather than clumsily strumming through them. That would let the arrangement breathe a bit more, while still adding that dynamic texture to the chorus. Then for the outro section, where you want to build the intensity, maybe go to power chords and a straight 8ths driving rhythm. Keep a steady attack and let the drums & bass do the accents and subdivisions. Dynamically this song and many others work just fine with drums, bass, and lead fills in the verses (and the post-chorus solos, which are the same thing), so it's totally fine to drop out entirely for those sections. Like I'd said above, though, you've got to COMMIT to not playing just as much as you commit to playing. Lastly, and you touched upon this, trust the microphone to do its job! As a singer who has also done some amateur audio engineering I cannot stress this enough. Think of how you'd sing a cappella in your bedroom, and do that straight into the mic from about an inch away. I would always tell people who oversang that they weren't singing to the room; they were singing to the microphone that's right in front of their face. Don't push, don't yell, and certainly don't grab the dang thing. Just sing to the microphone and trust that it will amplify your voice, even if you don't hear it. I actually had the experience just this week of playing an open mic I hadn't been to before, hearing the people before me sounding well balanced, then getting on stage and discovering that while there was a guitar amp behind me, there was no vocal monitor at all. So, while I was bathing in the sound of my guitar, I could barely hear my voice. I didn't try to compensate, though. I just listened where I could to catch that I was in tune, and sang using my normal voice, the same as I would unplugged in my living room. And you know what happened? I got compliments from a whole bunch of people, including the organizer who set the levels, on how good my voice sounded. I trusted the mic, and it did its job, even if I couldn't hear it. That's why we practice how we play, and play how we practice. Get the reps in the right way, and you can play through any situation.
Nice way to tackle this constructive criticism. Cool video. Obviously this band practiced and went on stage to do their best. Huge respect for that. It is not easy at all. Yes, things to improve, but getting up there on stage is a step not many will even try
The whole time I was feeling what James was feeling the first time he jammed with Lars. I bet the singer/rhythm guitarist has a great record collection like Lars did. 😁😁😁
Great T-shirt. I remember the old tdk vhs tapes. As for the band, at least they are giving it a try. They are probably having fun too and that's important. If they keep practicing and work out these issues they'll be much better. At least these guys have a band and are playing for an audience. That's more than I can say for myself at this time 🙂
Great video. Musicians really need to record themselves individually and as a band. Listen to yourself playing the songs so that you know whether you can perform a song individually and as a band or not. Doesn't have to be fancy. Just a phone recording during a practice session should be good.
Being a sound engineer and working with starting bands many things they did would drive me nuts. Of course bad equipment quality is always a struggle. Important to always do sound check to make sure all mics and cords are functioning properly. Good points made and appreciated the positive vibes. Love to encourage all starting musicians and keep the music alive ❤
Sometimes, our band plays a game called Kamikaze Karaoke with our audience. An audience member gets up with the band and tries to sing a song with us. Thing is, they think the stage sound is the same of FOH. The look on their face is priceless when the song they can do so well with a recording suddenly gets much harder when they're with a real band.
Lol! That's a great lesson. VERY different on stage, with live musicians. I never played in a band, but started going to open mike blues nights. The first few times were 100% horrible, humiliating and terrifying! That said, everyone there was so supportive and encouraging that I was able to keep trying.
Anyone saying that you’re making fun of these bands is way off base. First, these videos are available to the general public as they have been posted on the internet for anyone to see, these are not private videos. Second, since these videos were made public, it’s fair to say that the people involved are aware of the nature of the internet and the criticisms they may receive. Third, nothing that you have said is untrue about these bands. We all have ears including the band members themselves and can hear the issues that you’ve pointed out with these bands. Not once have you made fun of any of these bands. Simply pointed out the obvious. I really enjoy these kinds of videos because it really helps us musicians understand what we do better and makes us more aware of things we might not be focusing on when it comes to playing and performing. There’s certainly been times during my tenure as a musician that I’ve been the one who is holding back the band for one reason or another and I certainly would have liked it if someone had been willing to tell me straight about the things I could have done to improve. But I had to learn the hard way by critiquing myself by watching my performances. Keep up the great work and thank you for bringing us this series!
Definately a good thing with the review. When a musician (and a band) steps on stage, you had better be practiced, polished and together. If you love your craft, then you love to play AND love to practice and rehearse. If you don't, you can bet the audience will know it.
The sweet child cover was from some decades ago when there was no internet, no way they knew the lyrics, and if anything, you should give them props for knowing GNR back then. It's from a remote part of North East India
@@michaelmiami Yes he did, you can barely hear it and if you watch you will see him playing it. If you remember like Mike mentioned, the sound engineer only made the bass player louder later when he realised he was too soft
I filled in on vocals while a friend’s band auditioned bass players. Midway thru “Sweet Child,” I completely blew my voice. Props to this guy for even trying, but there’s never shame in dropping it as many keys as necessary to pull it off. I wish Axl would at this point.
As an adult i often would get annoyed if someone close to me point out the weaknesses seen in me but as time goes by i agree they weren't wrong and i'm indeed very much humbled cos the weaknesses made me change into a better person today.Thank you!
Really liking this series! I appreciate the way you are critiquing these bands, not bashing the individual players, but giving solid advice for improvement. As a fellow guitar player, I can get caught up in my own world, so I am loving all the extra tips and nuances, from stage presence to the importance of sound engineers, etc. Keep em coming!
Sometimes it's hard for musicians to understand what it takes to vibe with others. It's easy for some musicians with the experience and a breadth of styles, but for others it takes time together making mistakes then adjusting. Liking the series.
As a bass player, I'm glad to see the bassist isn't the weakest link for a change. Besides all the technical issues, I think their biggest problem is the singer trying to sound like Axl Rose instead of just himself.
Bass players don't pick up the instrument to be cool or show off. We're supposed to be the responsible adults in the group who actually focus on the music :D
I remember playing Billie Jean and the bass player forgot his starting point for the riff, and he must've covered every fret trying to find it during the song whilst shouting to the drummer to ask the guitarist the key of the song or the chords, who in turn had to shout to ask me on keys, and we had to shout the chords back to him via the drummer , he finally got the bass riff in the right place on about the final 8 bars of the song. I played in a lot of bands with the same drummer and bass player , and they were the tightest engine room you could imagine, we had a 70s funk disco band with 3 girl singers at one point and to work with them on that was a treat, especially a lot of sister sledge stuff, and car wash with the slap bass fills was a joy to play with
I ran sound for a battle of the bands once. It was put on by my small town church youth group. So with zero budget. We had a PA which could do vocals… and that’s it. Sound check was the first song for each band. That by the seat of your pants life… this video reminded me of that.
I can't remember all the times I've messed up on a gig. Forgot lyrics, broke a bass drum head. Broke a kick pedal. The snare cable broke. Etc etc. I've learned the hard way to be prepared for anything.
when i got out of the army my buddy and i started a little cover band. We sounded pretty good, at least on our set ups at home. One of our first gigs was at a big pasture party. We set up on two big flatbed trailers playing through generators. We had no clue what our instruments would sound like through the generators. It was pretty rough. All you could hear were the bass and drums. My rhythm guitar was louder than the lead, and the singer you could barely hear at all. It was a trainwreck, but such a blast. Definitely a learning moment.
Yeah totally, first show I played I had to play through someone else's amp (and settings) and we didn't get a soundcheck either - I had to correct for a scooped jangly tone as I played, which was uh fun. I think at our 3rd show the singer/lead guitarist soundchecked normally, then during the first song he blasted all his pedals and got turned down to bee-in-a-jar levels for the rest of the night. You can practice forever but actually playing shows is a big part of the learning process! Definitely feels like a bit of that's going on here
As a beginner guitar player, I love this series! I think it's fresh content as well as learning from it. I mean C'mon we all make mistake's on the reg. Great series, ignore the hater's bud.
I noticed that a lot of people here are either angry at you for making fun of a band or upset that you're not making fun of them hard enough. I'm not sure if they get the point of the video... I love this series and your respectful, open-minded approach to pointing out a band's mistakes (which I'm sure other amateur bands make all the time). I've never played in a band (not yet, at least), but even I feel like I'm learning something from these videos. Please do more of these!
They are from Mizoram.A local guys that aren't real musicians. When I first saw the video years ago,I laughed but it has been like more than a decade and as a musician and a teacher I can't laugh at people who just try their best and I feel kinda sad whenever I see this video coming up again.
Speaking of wah, I have a Guitar World magazine from the mid 00s and it has an interview with Slash. He mentions in the interview that he never used a wah pedal and I got so mad at this. Dude out here trying to insult our intelligence and I've had a vendetta against him since.
I remember playing New Years Eve and a local ambulance and fire station was sounding out of my amp all night at a really loud volume on stage every time they had an emergency! Nothing we could do so we just did the gig.
Bassist and drummer holding it together as usual
Lol... Every time.
Once the drummer pulled back on smashing the skins. Started off by overpowering the other instruments. But I agree they did a great job leveling out
No. They miss the whole bouncy bounce of the choruses that feed the tension and release of this song. Sure they're playing the right notes, but they miss entirely the point of the whole song form. Major fail.
Where do we go now 😂
That's their job.
dude committed to that singing harder than ive committed to anything in my entire life
respect
Hats off to anyone who gets on stage and gives it a try. Much more than I can do.
Not true. You can. Embrace the fear. Accept failure. These are steps to success.
I second that.
I didn't play onstage till I was 40.
I’ve been playing guitar on and off for 20yrs so as bad as this sounds it’s pretty brave of these guys to get up there and have a go.
Where I am right now as a guitarist, there’s no way I’d be confident enough to jump up on stage.
@@flyballhdeg9775this is the way
I want these guys to play my wedding just to troll my wife.
🤣🤣🤣
Lmfaoo And just to think this band didn’t even hit the bar at the reception yet? Lmfao
I hope you also save some money for the divorce, you're gonna need it! 🤣
They might surprise you
Awesome 😎😹
The guy mixing the sound gave the lead guitarist the ….and Justice For All treatment.
Also Merry Christmas Mike.
so true
bro did him dirty
I’d have stopped and pointed at someone, until the guy fixed it. 😆
Actually, I would’ve grabbed the singer’s guitar after about a minute, and hold him we’re doing a 20 minute extended jam. 😄
That dudes tone/ eq was also really scooped, his sound disappears in the mix.
I think its guitarist problem, he must have turn off his volume because his amp has the power to be loud on its own.
Props to the Bassist for holding it together during the tech issues
Bass player here, love this new series! Especially the respectful way you’re handling it. I searched, but can’t find anyone else who’s doing this. Sometimes you NEED the honest advice of other performing musicians to get to the next level, and the people you know, may not be honest.
Merry Christmas!
You're the bass player in that band?
You need to be reasonably good in the first place though to get to another level! This band need only to watch this video to tell them all they need to know!!
I am not the bass player in the video (nor do I know who that is). I play with a very experienced group of excellent musicians. But, even I, notice things that bother me. (I look at the fret-board too often, for example). I do wonder what another experience musician would suggest if he didn’t care about hurting my feelings.
…but I certainly don’t have the gut to post a live video here! I’d much rather learn from others.
Unfortunately, too many people these days want sunshine pumps, not honesty.
Im a singer in my band and play some keyboard parts. I noticed you mentioned the singer not having a tablet as if its a bad thing to have one. Can you expand on your feelings about using lyrics in a cover band? I personally have one because my memory is very poor, I just cannot remember lyrics to save my life.
Kudos to the lead guitarist for not losing his sh*t and seeing it through. Managing any kind of solo with all that going on is a great effort
Oh God that is so fkng true.!!! The amount of comebacks in that situations, i sometimes think i can be a Late Night Show band member doing turn-arounds.!😢😐😑🤣🤣🤣🤣
Watching these videos makes me appreciate lead singers that play guitar at the same time.
The people who do it well have practiced doing it.
It's a lot harder than it looks. A lot. Being able to focus on just vocals or just guitar makes it so much easier. It doesn't help though that this song is out of the vocal range of a lot of singers, which now amusingly includes GNR's own Axl Rose. Take the song down an octave vocally, it still sounds great.
It's always an underrated skill. We've seen it done well so many times that we forget that it's a real accomplishment.
It took me years just to be able to strum and sing😅
I've been playing guitar going on 30 years. Decided last year I'd start singing. I should have started years ago. It's difficult but if you do it every day you see improvement. I still wouldn't get on stage and do it. Even if I am a good guitarist, throw my shitty singing on top and it doesn't matter.
Starting with verse #2 was a good strategy: It brought us closer to the end 😁
😂😅😮😊
Lmao!!! 🤣 🤣 🤣
Hahaha
He lands up singing verse 2 again though lmao
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Singer sounds like Axl today 😂
😂😂😂
*better than 😂
The kid wasn’t that bad. Motley Crüe should hire him and upgrade their vocals
Only better 😂
Tbf, he's always sounded absolutely horrible
That child is not mine
I thought that was Yoko at first.
Fun fact: This is an old video from a very rural part of India, from the capital Delhi, you'll need to take 2 planes and another 12 hour ride by road just to get to this very place and 2G internet was just introduced, TH-cam was never heard of and only few people were familiar with the internet. They probably figured out all the lyrics and chords just from hearing alone, from magnetic cassette and CD. All the suggestions were fantastic but you have to understand the reality of their situation, their access to any information, gears and equipment during this time
You're right - that context is important. Maybe they'd never seen a rock band perform this song well, and they didn't have a standard to know how they sound? And maybe playing with Western tonality and rhythm is like a second language? I don't think anyone in the Middle East would like my attempts at playing maqams.
Idk practice is something that is universally recognized
I noticed right away that English was probably not his first language or main language which might have influenced how he perceived and sang the song. More like he was doing an imitation than actually feeling it.
Bass player held it together like in most bands.
Aye, once they got into their stride, him and the drummer were reasonable enough.
Bass players are the backbone of rock :) It was nice to see the rhythm section holding it together while everything else was catasrophically falling apart around them.
The street lights are on , do you know where your bass player is at.
I have't seen this clip before but that's what I thought through this whole video. Bass is holding it down.
@Mars-mr3om then how do they play so many 5ths?
The epic restraint you display by not straight up roasting these guys upon first chord is admirable!
It's unforgivable going out on stage with a guitar that out of tune
i was still impressed by them going through the whole sound problems unimpressed. no one stopped, everybody kept going until they figured it out
Idk…I would say the solution is to just give it a restart at the first hit of that rhythm guitar. Coffee break…tune to the guitar and turn up the amp.
Then again as John Mayer once said when he had to restart ‘Your Body…’-
“This is a lot of pressure! I have to play this THAT much better to justify me restarting.” Now, Mayer nailed it. I’m not sure it was gonna get all that much better for this band lol.
Rock on!
Exactly right - in real performance situation,plough on.And they didn't crumble when many, many would have.
Yes! One of the most important lessons a new band must learn is to not let mistakes stop the momentum. Commit to a tune from start to finish.
I remember the first time I played for a crowd. It’s not easy. I applaud their bravery
And it's always when we're young, unpolished, and sound as awful as we ever will! My first gig with my high school band was a nightmare, but 42 years later I see how funny it was! So many people showed up! Campus security estimated over 2,000. (It was a Freshman Week party at a college dorm, apparently the only one that Friday night.) We were scared sh*tless! We played everything so fast we finished our 4-hour set in less than 2 1/2 hours. We sounded epically horrible, but I think they thought we were just playing irreverent punk versions of pop & rock songs (like Hotel California... yeah, ikr?). They wouldn't let us quit either after 2 1/2 hours, so we just played our first 2 sets again. That was 1982, and to this day that's the biggest crowd I've ever played for.
This is insanely tough to watch for me. The secondhand embarrassment is un-be-lievable! Love this series.
Let's all hold hands and form a cringe protection circle! We can all hug when it's over....
the singer sounds like he's going for a dead Kennedys thing
Not to mention, the singing is physically pretty painful entering the ears due to involuntary squinting, crinkling of the forehead, and brainwave disruption.
This was one crap performance. But we are missing context. Maybe it was at school where they were trying their best, etc. It's ok. Especially if band is aware of their skill level.
Sad thing is there are people who are not able to evaluate themselves. One of those "I can do anything and I'm the best at whatever I try" people. And they used that "I'm offended" bs, etc. Be offended, I don't give a damn. That doesn't make you know how to play. :)
These guys sound like they hadn't practiced the song too much and then got rushed onto the stage without a sound check.
You are being extremely kind and empathetic with this band. You are a truly a saint. 😆 I would not share your kind words when analyzing this disaster.
A saint? He's been low-key trashing them the entire time.
Everything he said was accurate.
WWSD? What would Simon do?
@@J.C... Uhm...no???
@@J.C...where?
I thought the first video gave them a lot of credit and highlighted some true highlights! This is vital information for people trying to get on stage for the first time 👍
Please continue this series. These are great. You have been very respectful in your critiques.
I love the series, really reminds me of when I started playing live aged 13 - soooo many mistakes... I wish I had someone like you to help me correct my bads. Your criticism is a constructive one, very helpful I think
I love this series so far. Rick Beato started a couple of episodes like this but from a producing perspective. I always find invaluable insights from these kind of series. I look forward to the next one!
Mike this is a great series/idea. When I started playing in activly gigging bands in about 1987 🤦♂️. This kind of advice just wasn't so readily available. This could be extremely helpful to beginning bands. It took years to get the live performance skill down, thru trial and error. What you are doing is not a Criticism it's technically a Critique. If some are calling that out, possibly they have too thin of skin or too big an ego to deal with the the vast amount of things that can and do go wrong. My worst show ever was about my 500th or so. Keep up the great content! Thanks.
great critique. Need more critiques like this. This is where musicians who are just starting out and have no experience can learn a whole bunch from an experienced band player. Thanks for putting this out.
Hi Mike. This is a great series, thanks for putting in the work for us to learn from. As far as the critics go, don’t let them get in your head. You’re one of the kindest and most humble guitarists on TH-cam. You certainly have the chops! I’m 60 years old and have been playing for 50 years and learn from you all the time. Thanks for putting yourself out there for all of us.
What a great series! I don’t even play in front of people, and I am learning a lot. Thanks and happy new year!
My sisters husband is Vietnamese, and this is exactly how he sings 😂
😂😂
Waaaaaaa😂😂😂😅😂
Hahaha
No one is above the cringe - we’ve all been there. As said, you just have to make the mistakes and move on. Important to note is what is inside and outside of the band’s control. Obviously engineering issues and technical difficulties can’t always be helped, but your balance internally as a band is critical. Making sure your volumes and frequencies are balanced as much as possible just makes the sound tech’s job that much easier and your setup at the venue that much smoother. If you sound good on your own, you’ll sound good on stage (usually 😅)
Yes...we have all been deep in Suckville. We must just strive to do better next time...
I’ve actually heard bootlegs of Axl that you’d think was that dude.
Haha, maybe this singer learned the songs off of bootlegs after Axl lost his voice.
I really like this series and appreciate the respectful criticism you provide.
Being said, this gave me William Hung from American Idol vibes
You know what I hate the most? As a lead guitarist I work my ass off to learn all the tricky parts and sort out tons of details. I have to work on my sound until I find the right tone for the song. Bass players and drummers usually do some heavy lifting of their own. But then your typical rhythm guitarist comes over, "Nah, man. I'll just strum through some cowboy chords." And some of them are really heavy-handed, with no dynamics, no nuance, so they stick out like a sore thumb. Why the no-effort attitude? Is it because any fool can play a bunch of chords? I just don't get it. That's exactly what we see in this video as well.
This is why I spend as much time on rhythm as much as I do on lead. Studying jazz and loving Keith Richards has taught me you can improv with voicings or different rhythm styles.
i have the opposite problem me a bassist and a drummer will put together a section with really cool chords and get it as tight as we can and then a lead player will show up with an amp that's way too big and improvise some sloppy pentatonic bs over it with WAY too much gain and act like he added something
Former rhythm guitarist here, no idea why so many guitarists just ignore that. Not just rhythm guitarist i might add.
"I sing and no one else does, so I just get to play whatever I want"
These guys are a dime a dozen, only acceptable behavior if their singing chops are great.
Yep that's what it is. Hey, and as a bassist, some bassists do the same thing.
Sound tech and cover band musician here.
It's pretty common to put the snake head beside or behind the drums to hide it, especially on a larger 16 or 24 channel analog snake. The guy walking back by the drummer to fix the guitar amp mic was likely checking the patching of the mic to ensure that it got plugged in. This has the feeling of a show that consists of multiple acts and built on entry level or volunteer labor. Patching mistakes easily happen, particularly when there is insufficient time between acts for a line check.
Kudos for the quick thinking in grabbing a functioning mic rather than trying to troubleshoot the existing line. The sound tech was smart in that he muted the vox mic while it was being repositioned to the amp, rolled the gain back, then brought it into the mix protecting the PA system and the ears of the audience. Also, big credit is due for managing that boomy midrange feedback, especially in a very acoustically live environment.
Also, the bass vocal effect...I can almost promise he's using a voice effect box with an octaver on it to drop to the proper register. It has a very cheap guitar pedal sound to it and is not set to fully wet, further exposing the delay in the digital processor. I've tried similar things when I was starting out. Then I realized that 99% of voice processors suck unless you're really good with the setup of the effects banks and are working with a good PA and great sound tech.
As someone who really liked the first episode, I am happy to say that I enjoyed this one just as much. Funny how the frontman is the one who ruined the band in both videos.
It’s always the case
I was at one of the few performances of GnR where they finished their set and walked off stage on a positive note (Axl said it himself, he normally gets mad and storms off stage). I did not see Axl ruin the concert as the frontman that time, but he was always notorious for his lack of professionalism. The Metallica incident (Axl again) is a great example of how the frontman can really mess it up.
@@sw4610How many times has axl actually walked off the stage before finishing the concert? I here this a lot but haven’t actually seen it as commonly as people say it happened. There must be a compendium for that kind of thing somewhere
Good point. This is why some of the very best bands are based on their front man more than the ability of the others.
3:27: and this is why I prefer to NOT go through a PA system. Have to trust the sound tech to know what they are doing and they often don't.
The singer not being a native speaker is the least of his problems.
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂
Excuse
I died at least 3 times while watching this 😆 partly because I'm sure that GNR have performed like this at least once 😂 At least no fights broke out on stage 🙂
I was there .
I die listening to the song. 😂
😀😀😀 I knew this people (band or just a group of friends) not personally though, we're the same community. This video has been circulating the internet for over 10 years at least, I think.
I like this new series, and I think you are handling it very good, being very respectful and still honest and to the point. I still can't help and feel a bit sorry for those kids. My first band was even worse when we were starting around that age, and I'm very happy that neither camera phones nor TH-cam were a thing back then. I wonder if the possibility to end up being embarassed before thousands of people might have a chilling effect on highschool bands these days.
hahahaha those are my friends from MIZORAM (INDIA) 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 very old video
Where are they now with their music
Did they continue playing rock music? Best wishes from Minnesota!
Where did they go?
love this series. These guys need to hear this from someone they can respect
i can tell you know your craft very well... and that you are very generous, composed and very kind.
The singer starts off sounding like the spawn of Yoko, then transitions to an Adam Sandler voice.
I was picturing the Emperor from Return Of The Jedi.
The fact that this guy is analysing this seriously is even funnier! 😂
I really think this is a great series. Don't stop.
They sounded like they were playing a new wave version at the beginning.
I spent a few years as the lead singer in my church band (replacing a not-good chorus), playing with a pair of talented jazz musicians (drums & piano). I'd been playing guitar for almost 20 years when I started, but having played entirely on my own, and never having lessons, it was difficult for me to play with a band, especially when they were expecting me to be the band leader. Vocally, no problem, but getting the guitar to work was a STRUGGLE. As such, I have some advice on how to approach a situation like this.
First off, it's important to be able to admit your limitations, and not get down about them. There were plenty of times when I just could not figure out how to get comfortable with a guitar part (especially since I was often adapting piano arrangements, while the pianist took a jazzy improv approach), and I would simply make the decision not to play for a song, or to only play guitar during particular sections. My bandmates were very supportive of my playing, and would sometimes argue with me to keep giving it a try, but I stuck to my guns and did what I felt was best for the song. If the guitar was getting in the way of me being able to confidently sing the song, then the guitar went back on the stand until the next song. Simple as that. What doesn't work is what we saw here, where he was coming in and out not with distinct section changes, but haphazardly in the middle of sections. Either play or don't. Both are valid, but you have to have the confidence to choose and stick with it. If you're going to be in-and-out during the song, do it with purpose.
Building on that point - and this is something that I think a lot of musicians should hear - it's okay to play something different from the original recording. What matters is that the BAND sounds good. Listen to what your bandmates are playing and tailor your part to fit theirs. That's especially important if you are less experienced/comfortable than those around you. Listen to what they're doing, and feel out what you can do that will ADD to what's already there. In this case, where the rhythm guitar isn't going to be a driving presence (with the drums & bass carrying the song's momentum), a nice approach would have been to focus on more selective big hits, and letting the chords sustain, rather than clumsily strumming through them. That would let the arrangement breathe a bit more, while still adding that dynamic texture to the chorus. Then for the outro section, where you want to build the intensity, maybe go to power chords and a straight 8ths driving rhythm. Keep a steady attack and let the drums & bass do the accents and subdivisions. Dynamically this song and many others work just fine with drums, bass, and lead fills in the verses (and the post-chorus solos, which are the same thing), so it's totally fine to drop out entirely for those sections. Like I'd said above, though, you've got to COMMIT to not playing just as much as you commit to playing.
Lastly, and you touched upon this, trust the microphone to do its job! As a singer who has also done some amateur audio engineering I cannot stress this enough. Think of how you'd sing a cappella in your bedroom, and do that straight into the mic from about an inch away. I would always tell people who oversang that they weren't singing to the room; they were singing to the microphone that's right in front of their face. Don't push, don't yell, and certainly don't grab the dang thing. Just sing to the microphone and trust that it will amplify your voice, even if you don't hear it.
I actually had the experience just this week of playing an open mic I hadn't been to before, hearing the people before me sounding well balanced, then getting on stage and discovering that while there was a guitar amp behind me, there was no vocal monitor at all. So, while I was bathing in the sound of my guitar, I could barely hear my voice. I didn't try to compensate, though. I just listened where I could to catch that I was in tune, and sang using my normal voice, the same as I would unplugged in my living room. And you know what happened? I got compliments from a whole bunch of people, including the organizer who set the levels, on how good my voice sounded. I trusted the mic, and it did its job, even if I couldn't hear it.
That's why we practice how we play, and play how we practice. Get the reps in the right way, and you can play through any situation.
Nice way to tackle this constructive criticism. Cool video.
Obviously this band practiced and went on stage to do their best. Huge respect for that. It is not easy at all.
Yes, things to improve, but getting up there on stage is a step not many will even try
I could never play in a band if I was that bad
Hopefully someone will point the band to this review, it's solid advice that doesn't try to rag on it.
This is epic! 😂I want this one on Spotify. Absolute ripper of a track
The whole time I was feeling what James was feeling the first time he jammed with Lars. I bet the singer/rhythm guitarist has a great record collection like Lars did. 😁😁😁
Thanks for appreciating the effort of the bassist. He is holding the fort with the drummer.
This looks to be a high school talent show thing. There is no sound engineer. "Mom can we get some Guns & Roses?" "We have Guns & Roses at home."
Guns for sure 💀
Course there's a sound engineer! That's the person setting up the mics and PA and mixing the whole thing
This guy must be the most respectful guy ever 😂
Great T-shirt. I remember the old tdk vhs tapes. As for the band, at least they are giving it a try. They are probably having fun too and that's important. If they keep practicing and work out these issues they'll be much better. At least these guys have a band and are playing for an audience. That's more than I can say for myself at this time 🙂
2:13 I don't think it was so much that the guitar was out of tune as it was the bassist hitting the wrong note.
Great video. Musicians really need to record themselves individually and as a band. Listen to yourself playing the songs so that you know whether you can perform a song individually and as a band or not. Doesn't have to be fancy. Just a phone recording during a practice session should be good.
Being a sound engineer and working with starting bands many things they did would drive me nuts. Of course bad equipment quality is always a struggle. Important to always do sound check to make sure all mics and cords are functioning properly. Good points made and appreciated the positive vibes. Love to encourage all starting musicians and keep the music alive ❤
Sometimes, our band plays a game called Kamikaze Karaoke with our audience. An audience member gets up with the band and tries to sing a song with us. Thing is, they think the stage sound is the same of FOH. The look on their face is priceless when the song they can do so well with a recording suddenly gets much harder when they're with a real band.
Lol! That's a great lesson. VERY different on stage, with live musicians. I never played in a band, but started going to open mike blues nights. The first few times were 100% horrible, humiliating and terrifying! That said, everyone there was so supportive and encouraging that I was able to keep trying.
That's evil. Love it
Anyone saying that you’re making fun of these bands is way off base. First, these videos are available to the general public as they have been posted on the internet for anyone to see, these are not private videos. Second, since these videos were made public, it’s fair to say that the people involved are aware of the nature of the internet and the criticisms they may receive. Third, nothing that you have said is untrue about these bands. We all have ears including the band members themselves and can hear the issues that you’ve pointed out with these bands. Not once have you made fun of any of these bands. Simply pointed out the obvious. I really enjoy these kinds of videos because it really helps us musicians understand what we do better and makes us more aware of things we might not be focusing on when it comes to playing and performing. There’s certainly been times during my tenure as a musician that I’ve been the one who is holding back the band for one reason or another and I certainly would have liked it if someone had been willing to tell me straight about the things I could have done to improve. But I had to learn the hard way by critiquing myself by watching my performances. Keep up the great work and thank you for bringing us this series!
Definately a good thing with the review. When a musician (and a band) steps on stage, you had better be practiced, polished and together. If you love your craft, then you love to play AND love to practice and rehearse. If you don't, you can bet the audience will know it.
In the vocalists defense he’s covering axl circa 2023 therefore his vocals were spot on
😂😂 maybe you cant laugh at them, But I certainly can 😂😂😂
The sweet child cover was from some decades ago when there was no internet, no way they knew the lyrics, and if anything, you should give them props for knowing GNR back then. It's from a remote part of North East India
New singer. There I fixed it. Lol
Merry Christmas Mikey! 🎅🤘🍻
As a musician/producer, these are excellent tips - especially the lyrics tip. Usually more is learned from seeing mistakes.
The bass player could play but it's a shame he didn't play the intro bass part. It's a classic element to the intro.
I think he DID play it?
@@michaelmiami Yes he did, you can barely hear it and if you watch you will see him playing it. If you remember like Mike mentioned, the sound engineer only made the bass player louder later when he realised he was too soft
He plays it, but an octave lower than the original. Should start at the 12th fret.
Very polite and professional Mike, don’t change buddy 👍🏻
I can't help but feel bad for that lead guitarist.
Nobody noticed that bass intro was being played an octave below where it should have been?
Awesome job Mike. Favorite part how you memorized lyrics. Really like the series. Keep it up.
I filled in on vocals while a friend’s band auditioned bass players. Midway thru “Sweet Child,” I completely blew my voice. Props to this guy for even trying, but there’s never shame in dropping it as many keys as necessary to pull it off. I wish Axl would at this point.
As an adult i often would get annoyed if someone close to me point out the weaknesses seen in me but as time goes by i agree they weren't wrong and i'm indeed very much humbled cos the weaknesses made me change into a better person today.Thank you!
Keep this series going mike! Its quite informative and some good insight
Your short guitar solo with the Wah demonstration had awesome tone and feel.
We love this series, keep it up!!!!
Great show!
Really liking this series! I appreciate the way you are critiquing these bands, not bashing the individual players, but giving solid advice for improvement. As a fellow guitar player, I can get caught up in my own world, so I am loving all the extra tips and nuances, from stage presence to the importance of sound engineers, etc. Keep em coming!
Sometimes it's hard for musicians to understand what it takes to vibe with others. It's easy for some musicians with the experience and a breadth of styles, but for others it takes time together making mistakes then adjusting. Liking the series.
Really digging this new series 🤙 Have a Merry Christmas Mike!!! One last livestream for 2023?
As a bass player, I'm glad to see the bassist isn't the weakest link for a change. Besides all the technical issues, I think their biggest problem is the singer trying to sound like Axl Rose instead of just himself.
Bass players don't pick up the instrument to be cool or show off. We're supposed to be the responsible adults in the group who actually focus on the music :D
Love this series 🎉❤💀
I remember playing Billie Jean and the bass player forgot his starting point for the riff, and he must've covered every fret trying to find it during the song whilst shouting to the drummer to ask the guitarist the key of the song or the chords, who in turn had to shout to ask me on keys, and we had to shout the chords back to him via the drummer , he finally got the bass riff in the right place on about the final 8 bars of the song. I played in a lot of bands with the same drummer and bass player , and they were the tightest engine room you could imagine, we had a 70s funk disco band with 3 girl singers at one point and to work with them on that was a treat, especially a lot of sister sledge stuff, and car wash with the slap bass fills was a joy to play with
🎵 OOF OOF OOF oh Sweet Child of Mine🎵
I ran sound for a battle of the bands once. It was put on by my small town church youth group. So with zero budget. We had a PA which could do vocals… and that’s it. Sound check was the first song for each band. That by the seat of your pants life… this video reminded me of that.
Can we give the drummer and bassist major kudos for holding everything together? 😂 *Edit* 12:40 Ah... there we go!
I can't remember all the times I've messed up on a gig. Forgot lyrics, broke a bass drum head. Broke a kick pedal. The snare cable broke. Etc etc. I've learned the hard way to be prepared for anything.
Didn't expect to see son of Yoko Ono doing Guns N Roses. 🤷♂
Within the first 60 seconds, “people tell me not to make fun of other people… so next episode I’m making fun of MYSELF!” 😅 legendary 🤘🏼
Mike, please please fix this band! 😂...
when i got out of the army my buddy and i started a little cover band. We sounded pretty good, at least on our set ups at home. One of our first gigs was at a big pasture party. We set up on two big flatbed trailers playing through generators. We had no clue what our instruments would sound like through the generators. It was pretty rough. All you could hear were the bass and drums. My rhythm guitar was louder than the lead, and the singer you could barely hear at all. It was a trainwreck, but such a blast. Definitely a learning moment.
Yeah totally, first show I played I had to play through someone else's amp (and settings) and we didn't get a soundcheck either - I had to correct for a scooped jangly tone as I played, which was uh fun. I think at our 3rd show the singer/lead guitarist soundchecked normally, then during the first song he blasted all his pedals and got turned down to bee-in-a-jar levels for the rest of the night. You can practice forever but actually playing shows is a big part of the learning process! Definitely feels like a bit of that's going on here
Very Informative and educational. Thanks.
As a beginner guitar player, I love this series! I think it's fresh content as well as learning from it. I mean C'mon we all make mistake's on the reg. Great series, ignore the hater's bud.
I noticed that a lot of people here are either angry at you for making fun of a band or upset that you're not making fun of them hard enough. I'm not sure if they get the point of the video...
I love this series and your respectful, open-minded approach to pointing out a band's mistakes (which I'm sure other amateur bands make all the time). I've never played in a band (not yet, at least), but even I feel like I'm learning something from these videos. Please do more of these!
They are from Mizoram.A local guys that aren't real musicians. When I first saw the video years ago,I laughed but it has been like more than a decade and as a musician and a teacher I can't laugh at people who just try their best and I feel kinda sad whenever I see this video coming up again.
Speaking of wah, I have a Guitar World magazine from the mid 00s and it has an interview with Slash. He mentions in the interview that he never used a wah pedal and I got so mad at this. Dude out here trying to insult our intelligence and I've had a vendetta against him since.
I remember playing New Years Eve and a local ambulance and fire station was sounding out of my amp all night at a really loud volume on stage every time they had an emergency! Nothing we could do so we just did the gig.
do more this is a cool series
I’m denying it if any of my old bands are on here.