I like how he works to be clear and is not full of himself, yet he's one of the finest guitarists. His remark that he and his mates would actually absorb more of the feeling behind the music, by really listening with great concentration, is borne out by his memoir "One Train Later". Very honest and funny, it reveals so much about the arc of a hard working young musician finding his voice.
I think Andy is spot on about learning by ear. You absorb the music in a different way than you do by, say, reading tab (or standard notation). It's difficult to convey nuance in written notation, and it's almost impossible to convey tone, but when you just listen and absorb, you really get the essence of the music. Have loved Andy's playing since the first time I heard him. Wore my Police records out as a kid learning bass & guitar parts :-). Thanks for posting this!
This guy is so knowledgeable in guitar playing and in music in general. It's certainly worth listening to his insights and take it to heart. Watch the whole series!
anyone who has ever touched a guitar, wanted to learn, or anything else could learn something from Andy Summers. An encyclopedia of knowledge that does not diminish the passion and just the "because I just like it" factor one bit! amazing video to watch.
Thanks so much for sharing. I’m just discovering this interview. I love that in his opinion of “standard” jazz guitar chord voicings, he actually knows them and can play them well. It reminds me of how Picasso mastered classical art before he became an abstract artist. I’m not saying you can’t start from an abstract vantage, but I feel having a ground base can give more meaning to the dynamic extreme, or give you the vocabulary to express yourself in ways you may not have otherwise.
I'm not a big fan of The Police at all.. However, I respect great, tasteful guitarists, and I think Andy Summers is fantastic and has an ear for what sounds good. He's definitely wonderful at what he does.
Thank you for your playing. You, Sting and Stewart gave me lot of living energy. Would you show us how to play more songs from Police? Thanks. Rudo from Bratislava /Slovakia/
It's been annoying to have spent all that time in the 80s figuring out what Andy (and Johnny Marr) were playing off the vinyl (actually I would tape it to cassette and play the cassette over and over), and now to go on youtube and find out that I was completely wrong!
i agree with that, though i think tabs can be useful to check your work or see what other people are doing...i must say that regarding the way andy teaches how to play "de do do do" in the lesson with the green guitar, i honestly hear the main riff differently on the recording than he teaches it in that vid! that said, i don't believe note-for-note is always the best solution either. A recording does not necessarily define a song forever, it is just the version that was played at one time.
Regarding Mr. Summers' comments at 4:04 finding sound of your own: a good grounding in music theory can help you construct your own licks; it can help you learn diatonic harmony and learn when/how to ditch it. Studying composition can shed light on ways to create variety in your playing. I'm an "ear" player too, but this work has upped my creativity/individuality.
Andy and JPJ should do an album with Neil Peart. That be like playing Centipede at 7 11 after getting burnt out in the woods in 1984. Andy's hot licks video is choice also. Super musician.
If you want to sound like Andy Summers first you need to buy a sh**load of effects pedals. Purchasing every Echo/ Delay/ Flange/ Chorus/ Phaser Electro-Harmonix has ever released would be a good start. EH Electric Mistress Flanger, and one of their high-end delay/reverb boxes will give you a good start. But not to take away from Summers playing--as he says, you can get lost in effects. It's a fine line you have to experiment with. and summers palm muting is VERY advanced.
Shields was smart in that the effects were used in the service of emotion; if the effects enable you to convey what you are trying to do better - or give you that widescreen canvas that you need your music to be made in order to reach its potential - then that’s a great thing. If, as a result, you become known as the “effects” guitarist, then that’s a small price to pay; say what you like about the Edge, but he has a very distinct identity that is in part due to effects.
I miss the days when most guitar players learned how to play by sitting on the corner of a street with a few beers a few good friends that also played guitar. There wasn't any books but it was a lot more fun!
Sting formed almost a jazz band, Copland plays with a jazz-rock band, now Andy is talking about how he is into all kinds of music: jazz, brazilian etc, etc. That gets you thinking, why did they even split up, if they all three were going in the same direction? :)
Summers has no shortage of ego either...All bands, in many ways, are on always on the verge of breaking up... just spending that much time with anyone is a strain on the nerves...but it's hard for a collective of musicians to remain in sync in where they want to be musically...where they want go musically. Honestly a lot of what keeps successful groups together is the money and buzz of the stage...but when enough money has been made and playing the same songs night in and night out becomes pure tedium...well it's time to move on. @@aquamarine99911
I have been saying that for years, effects are fine in small amounts, I have 1 vox wah, 1 ts808 tube screamer, & that is my effects lol, I don't like endless pedals sapping up my amps tone, cause that's what it does, it swallows all the goodness out of a good tube amp, a lot of the older players are now using very few effects, you have to side with experience every time, I don't even use the gain on my tube screamer, it's used as a boost, more 2 compress, it does a better job as most compressors
Blues Man so you're an SRV wannabe? you can't be much of a musician if you stubbornly and steadfastly base your entire musical identity around one or two influences (Hendrix and SRV) I've never heard an SRV clone that didn't put me to sleep.
"Tone" is a very uninformed term used by the lazy - the correct term is (and always has been) TIMBRE. "Tone" is nothing but a substitute term for the low-pass filter on your guitar. The word "tone" is used ONLY because four letters fits on a knob much easier than "low-pass filter" does. MYSTERY SOLVED...now go practice your warmed-over-for-the-millionth-time *BOARING* pentatonic SRV licks - and like it lol.
Your comments about the Police are way off base, "Blues Man." Just because you don't have the ears for their music doesn't mean they're not great and original.
He's just a troll making a relatively weak effort at trolling. When the troll making the post is more emotional than any of the replies...well, you know it's a fail.
@daddariostrings I agree. It was just a shame to see Andy Summers himself criticising some styles as 'less interesting' or 'old fashioned'. I like a lot of Andy's work, but personally, I am more inspired by the playing of many of the guys that came before him.
Jeebs - this is from 2010 (footage from 1999). We've since really improved our audio on our videos. You can head to our channel to watch more recent videos.
@@daddarioandco, you're good, great content from rock gods could come on stone tablets and those who desire the knowledge will get it. Hell, the recordings of Wes Montgomery that Mr. Summers references as a learning tool sounded horrible. Only matters if you let it.
some of it is true, but making out that only new stuff or out of the norm stuff perks the ear up is pure horse shit, I went to to SRV and double trouble just before SRV passed, & my ear was perked from start2finish, he played blues like I have never heard, it was 120% from start 2 finish, I listen to police many times as my day was a big fan, my ear never perked liked that, it always sounded to space age for me, almost boaring, I find police boaring on a hole, hendrix & SRV nerver maid me board
Dude it must suck being so naive and close minded. Andy is clearly capable of playing that type of stuff if he wanted to but I think he would be *bored* (take notes on spelling) if he only played those same old blues licks. Really I'd consider him a better guitar player because he is more versatile and has more technical ability. But also hes just a different type of player.. hes not into the excessive antics and showmanship of a hendrix or srv..
Agreed. There's that famous DiMeola harangue where he derides the notion of one note having more power than a whole slew and to your point,SRV could kill any guitar player ever with a single note. He was unique in that way. Lots of other guitar ears and styles but that guy was plugged into some cosmic force that made him invincible,one note or one hundred,no difference..
best thing is the Police are one of the most boring bands I have heard, the drummer is great, but the rest is to space age, it's as if their is no feeling in the music, SRV had soul, he oozed it, and I never get board listening to Hendrix or SRV, they are 2 of the most entertaining players ever, blues is not easy when played right, I would love 2 see andy play like either of the 2 mentioned, what horse shit eh, when people say his name & don't look puzzled, then he can talk, SRV everyone knows
Blues Man lolllllll Andy summers tone and style defined an entire decade. Underplayed, supplementary guitar lines with lots of chorus, reverb and delay. Fa'afa.
Blues Man i know this is old as shit. But Andy Summers and SRV are two different worlds. As much as i love SRV and Hendrix. You should learn to listen to other types of music. Not just bending the string, since the most interesting thing about srv and hendrix was their rithmic style
There was time context to the success of The Police. It was chart-topping pop of the period. Everybody knocks music, films, you-name-it, from the prism of the present and their own experience - among them The Beatles... You had to be there, you had to experience the element of surprise. Hendrix blowing fresh from my radio in '67 was astounding at the time. Nobody since will relive those kind of experiences the way we did, as it happened... Same with The Police... (although I'm not actually bracketing them with Hendrix!!).
Blues Man U don’t understand jazz or fusion music it’s clear , your a blues minded player and that’s fine . The police were their own unique fusion of styles and still are loved and respected by many millions across the world . Andy summers is a brilliant player especially Rhythmically . Truth is theirs many guitarists out their who only care to play fast notes and their mediocre at Rhythm playing and phrasing
Quiet genius. Underrated and under appreciated. Always plays what’s best for the song, not what will get him attention.
Andy Summers is underrated by exactly ZERO people who know even the tiniest about music.
@@ivanjulian2532you’re both correct ☝️
I like how he works to be clear and is not full of himself, yet he's
one of the finest guitarists. His remark that he and his mates would actually absorb more of the feeling behind the music, by really listening with great concentration, is borne out by his memoir "One Train Later". Very honest and funny, it reveals so much about the arc of a hard working young musician finding his voice.
Thank you for mentioning his biography. I ordered it right now.
I think Andy is spot on about learning by ear. You absorb the music in a different way than you do by, say, reading tab (or standard notation). It's difficult to convey nuance in written notation, and it's almost impossible to convey tone, but when you just listen and absorb, you really get the essence of the music. Have loved Andy's playing since the first time I heard him. Wore my Police records out as a kid learning bass & guitar parts :-). Thanks for posting this!
Spot on!
Agree with you on this
This guy is so knowledgeable in guitar playing and in music in general. It's certainly worth listening to his insights and take it to heart. Watch the whole series!
anyone who has ever touched a guitar, wanted to learn, or anything else could learn something from Andy Summers. An encyclopedia of knowledge that does not diminish the passion and just the "because I just like it" factor one bit! amazing video to watch.
guitar genius, one of the masters of the universe.
Thanks so much for sharing. I’m just discovering this interview. I love that in his opinion of “standard” jazz guitar chord voicings, he actually knows them and can play them well. It reminds me of how Picasso mastered classical art before he became an abstract artist. I’m not saying you can’t start from an abstract vantage, but I feel having a ground base can give more meaning to the dynamic extreme, or give you the vocabulary to express yourself in ways you may not have otherwise.
This dude was and is a major influence since 1978. Thanks to my uncles record collection... in 1978.
Yessir. Him and Eddie Van Halen changed rock music in 1978. Two different things but I love them both. Two kickass guitar players
One of my favorite guitarists ever. Love him and the police
He's my great uncle 👍
;) unfortunately, this video was taken back in 1999. The footage is too good to delete, even though it seems a tad pixelated
Perhaps poorly copied from a VHS???
Keep it up. It’s valuable stuff. I’ve subbed
Looks fine, sounds fine - great interview. Very valuable - thanks!
I first saw this video about 10 years ago.
Andy's one of my favorite guitarists and is a very cool dude!
Great interview!!! Thanks for uploading!
andy it tops; definately one of the world's greatest;
I'm not a big fan of The Police at all.. However, I respect great, tasteful guitarists, and I think Andy Summers is fantastic and has an ear for what sounds good. He's definitely wonderful at what he does.
You should listen to Sarabande with Jon Lord. My favorite piece is Gigue, where Andy plays guitar. Different style of music, very tasteful.
In the presence of greatness.
Thank you for your playing. You, Sting and Stewart gave me lot of living energy. Would you show us how to play more songs from Police? Thanks. Rudo from Bratislava /Slovakia/
I really love this guy since So many years
Andy has spent too many yrs in The U.S.
I can understand every single word he speaks lol !
can't believe that he's one of three in the band that use to punch each other. what a great guy.
It's been annoying to have spent all that time in the 80s figuring out what Andy (and Johnny Marr) were playing off the vinyl (actually I would tape it to cassette and play the cassette over and over), and now to go on youtube and find out that I was completely wrong!
He knows Jazz chords, but he doesn't swing like a Jazz cat.
I, like Andy, love Pick Up, Amp and Valve Ice Cream too. The original and still the best. With gravey on top obvs.
He played the first chord in Zoot allures
I heard that too!
Yeah most video on the net in 1998 was played in smaller windows so didn't look so grainy then.
He's SO spot on at 1:20.
A PICKING GENIUS!!!
fantastic interview
he has a huge guitar collection
Absolutely. Over 200, I believe. His post-Police music is wonderful too 🙏
Andy you are Great!
i agree with that, though i think tabs can be useful to check your work or see what other people are doing...i must say that regarding the way andy teaches how to play "de do do do" in the lesson with the green guitar, i honestly hear the main riff differently on the recording than he teaches it in that vid! that said, i don't believe note-for-note is always the best solution either. A recording does not necessarily define a song forever, it is just the version that was played at one time.
The master
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about your taste for quality music.
This is so fucking good.
FANTASTIC!
Regarding Mr. Summers' comments at 4:04 finding sound of your own: a good grounding in music theory can help you construct your own licks; it can help you learn diatonic harmony and learn when/how to ditch it. Studying composition can shed light on ways to create variety in your playing. I'm an "ear" player too, but this work has upped my creativity/individuality.
Thank you for sharing these videos. Have you thought about posting these Andy lessons with better quality?
I'd like to hear some lesson of "Sarabande", especially "Gigue". That would be nice.
Andy and JPJ should do an album with Neil Peart. That be like playing Centipede at 7 11 after getting burnt out in the woods in 1984.
Andy's hot licks video is choice also. Super musician.
great@ what amplifier and speaker did Andy Summer use to record Message in a Bottle in the studio?
awesome.
very good indeed thanks.
Those open-string chords are classic David Gilmour.
1:38 The Californication chord 🤷♂🎸
I love the question about how the internet has affected guitar playing... in 1999!! If only they knew...
If you want to sound like Andy Summers first you need to buy a sh**load of effects pedals. Purchasing every Echo/ Delay/ Flange/ Chorus/ Phaser Electro-Harmonix has ever released would be a good start. EH Electric Mistress Flanger, and one of their high-end delay/reverb boxes will give you a good start. But not to take away from Summers playing--as he says, you can get lost in effects. It's a fine line you have to experiment with. and summers palm muting is VERY advanced.
this video turned ten years today lol
"You can lose a lot of identity with effects"
Kevin shields : .........
Shields was smart in that the effects were used in the service of emotion; if the effects enable you to convey what you are trying to do better - or give you that widescreen canvas that you need your music to be made in order to reach its potential - then that’s a great thing. If, as a result, you become known as the “effects” guitarist, then that’s a small price to pay; say what you like about the Edge, but he has a very distinct identity that is in part due to effects.
Andy (wrist breaker) summers
📈🔭🤠 amazing guitarist
master total !!!!
Where did you get those vids! Great, great, great stuff!
He was a bit of a muso compared to most new wave players back then. Had great feel with it tho.
I miss the days when most guitar players learned how to play by sitting on the corner of a street with a few beers a few good friends that also played guitar. There wasn't any books but it was a lot more fun!
great stuff!
@username91ification - You forgot James Honeyman Scott!
Fair enough!=)This footage is too good indeed=)
hmmm, under rated guitarist
Yep..too many effects is boring in the long run...unless you’re the edge and married to the delay...great wise words here
Sting formed almost a jazz band, Copland plays with a jazz-rock band, now Andy is talking about how he is into all kinds of music: jazz, brazilian etc, etc. That gets you thinking, why did they even split up, if they all three were going in the same direction? :)
Because Sting and Stewart as personalities are just too annoying to be together in a band. A band can handle one asshole, but two makes it too hard.
Summers has no shortage of ego either...All bands, in many ways, are on always on the verge of breaking up... just spending that much time with anyone is a strain on the nerves...but it's hard for a collective of musicians to remain in sync in where they want to be musically...where they want go musically. Honestly a lot of what keeps successful groups together is the money and buzz of the stage...but when enough money has been made and playing the same songs night in and night out becomes pure tedium...well it's time to move on. @@aquamarine99911
I have been saying that for years, effects are fine in small amounts, I have 1 vox wah, 1 ts808 tube screamer, & that is my effects lol, I don't like endless pedals sapping up my amps tone, cause that's what it does, it swallows all the goodness out of a good tube amp, a lot of the older players are now using very few effects, you have to side with experience every time, I don't even use the gain on my tube screamer, it's used as a boost, more 2 compress, it does a better job as most compressors
Blues Man so you're an SRV wannabe? you can't be much of a musician if you stubbornly and steadfastly base your entire musical identity around one or two influences (Hendrix and SRV)
I've never heard an SRV clone that didn't put me to sleep.
"Tone" is a very uninformed term used by the lazy - the correct term is (and always has been) TIMBRE.
"Tone" is nothing but a substitute term for the low-pass filter on your guitar.
The word "tone" is used ONLY because four letters fits on a knob much easier than "low-pass filter" does.
MYSTERY SOLVED...now go practice your warmed-over-for-the-millionth-time *BOARING* pentatonic SRV licks - and like it lol.
@outtacastatv hahaha!
I checked on line to buy a guitar. I checked the Andy Summers telecaster which eventually costs a bit less than 8000euros. No comments
Yeah better off buying a Am pro tele and modifying it yourself.. and save 7000$
Your comments about the Police are way off base, "Blues Man." Just because you don't have the ears for their music doesn't mean they're not great and original.
He's just a troll making a relatively weak effort at trolling.
When the troll making the post is more emotional than any of the replies...well, you know it's a fail.
Andy Summers is entitled to his own opinion, too.
Rumour has it that this was filmed with a potato.
Actually recorded on broadcast quality video probably Beta-cam. Then converted to VHS for consumer. Then converted to digital from an old tape.
@daddariostrings I agree. It was just a shame to see Andy Summers himself criticising some styles as 'less interesting' or 'old fashioned'. I like a lot of Andy's work, but personally, I am more inspired by the playing of many of the guys that came before him.
Why all videos with rock stars lessons were filmed with a potato?
Always think it's hard work for a guitar player in a three piece band ...
dangit Andy, those hideous wipes.
So many questions I'd like to ask Andy.
I hope he is wealthy after all he put in.
Andy How do feel about your ancestry? from J.Paul Hawthorne
Or, they could say 'f*ck tab' and learn to read music. Which might tell them quite a lot.
This tutorial, isn't in 4k... don't like it😎😆
Was he self taught? He sounds very knowledgable. I'm not a musician.
Still living off ‘Message in a Bottle’ ? Bit sad.
Such shockingly bad audio for a music-related media channel. The Andy Partridge interview is the same way.
Jeebs - this is from 2010 (footage from 1999). We've since really improved our audio on our videos. You can head to our channel to watch more recent videos.
@@daddarioandco, you're good, great content from rock gods could come on stone tablets and those who desire the knowledge will get it. Hell, the recordings of Wes Montgomery that Mr. Summers references as a learning tool sounded horrible. Only matters if you let it.
some of it is true, but making out that only new stuff or out of the norm stuff perks the ear up is pure horse shit, I went to to SRV and double trouble just before SRV passed, & my ear was perked from start2finish, he played blues like I have never heard, it was 120% from start 2 finish, I listen to police many times as my day was a big fan, my ear never perked liked that, it always sounded to space age for me, almost boaring, I find police boaring on a hole, hendrix & SRV nerver maid me board
Dude it must suck being so naive and close minded. Andy is clearly capable of playing that type of stuff if he wanted to but I think he would be *bored* (take notes on spelling) if he only played those same old blues licks. Really I'd consider him a better guitar player because he is more versatile and has more technical ability. But also hes just a different type of player.. hes not into the excessive antics and showmanship of a hendrix or srv..
*NEWS FLASH* = nobody here gives half a turd that you wish to bang Stevie Ray Vaughn's blue, skeletal bum.
Agreed. There's that famous DiMeola harangue where he derides the notion of one note having more power than a whole slew and to your point,SRV could kill any guitar player ever with a single note. He was unique in that way. Lots of other guitar ears and styles but that guy was plugged into some cosmic force that made him invincible,one note or one hundred,no difference..
no need for modern medicine to devise a new anasthetic, listening to Andys voice is a terminal bore almost resulting in a semi- cataonic state
Yeah cos the sound of his voice is more important than what he's saying... 😑
best thing is the Police are one of the most boring bands I have heard, the drummer is great, but the rest is to space age, it's as if their is no feeling in the music, SRV had soul, he oozed it, and I never get board listening to Hendrix or SRV, they are 2 of the most entertaining players ever, blues is not easy when played right, I would love 2 see andy play like either of the 2 mentioned, what horse shit eh, when people say his name & don't look puzzled, then he can talk, SRV everyone knows
Blues Man lolllllll Andy summers tone and style defined an entire decade. Underplayed, supplementary guitar lines with lots of chorus, reverb and delay. Fa'afa.
Blues Man i know this is old as shit. But Andy Summers and SRV are two different worlds. As much as i love SRV and Hendrix. You should learn to listen to other types of music. Not just bending the string, since the most interesting thing about srv and hendrix was their rithmic style
There was time context to the success of The Police. It was chart-topping pop of the period.
Everybody knocks music, films, you-name-it, from the prism of the present and their own experience - among them The Beatles... You had to be there, you had to experience the element of surprise. Hendrix blowing fresh from my radio in '67 was astounding at the time. Nobody since will relive those kind of experiences the way we did, as it happened... Same with The Police... (although I'm not actually bracketing them with Hendrix!!).
Blues Man U don’t understand jazz or fusion music it’s clear , your a blues minded player and that’s fine . The police were their own unique fusion of styles and still are loved and respected by many millions across the world . Andy summers is a brilliant player especially Rhythmically . Truth is theirs many guitarists out their who only care to play fast notes and their mediocre at Rhythm playing and phrasing
Who said anything like claiming that "blues is easy"?
Blues is SIMPLER than most genres, yes. But easier...no, not at all.