Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: _tom_ on April 08, 2006, 10:29:31 PM
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Recently I get bored of playing guitar after probably 10 minutes, I just cant think of anything to play, all I really do is play a load of riffs I made up, pentatonic noodling, and thats about it.. I dont really know how to get out of this rut, but it sucks to be honest. I dont see how people can play for hours on hours, what the hell do you guys do to keep entertained?! I was watching a TG Brian Setzer guest lesson thing and he does some cool fingerpicking stuff that I'd like to learn, any ideas for sites that can help me learn this kinda stuff, like how the little riffs are constructed or whatever etc? Also, Indy has got me into surf guitar, what kinda scales are commonly used in surf, coz the usual pentatonic just aint workin for me :lol:
Cheers!
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Dunno bout surf guitar but surf orientated :)
I spent time in a certain American Island chain long ago (as diver) and could'nt help but get into surfing.
Then saw the movie "Endless Summer II" and loved the soundtrack which was Gary Hoey. Maybe try looking at some of his tabs?
Just a suggestion (maybe too modern surf though :)).
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get an acoustic and write some songs. thats all i seem to do now, im so bored of electrics. use capos, alternate tunings, whatever, experiment.
also listen to music you wouldnt usually listen to, i recommend the lemonheads and the talking heads...
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I allready have an acoustic, its still boring to me :? I dunno, its cr@p..
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Here's what comes to my mind:
Listen to different kinds of folk music and try applying the melodies to guitar.
Listen to singers like Alicia Keys and learn their phrazing on guitar.
Listen to classical music and learn how to be 'melodic' in a cleaner way.
Learn some jazz standards without wanting to improvise. Just the chords and the melody line.
Have sex.
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Here's what comes to my mind:
Listen to different kinds of folk music and try applying the melodies to guitar.
Listen to singers like Alicia Keys and learn their phrazing on guitar.
Listen to classical music and learn how to be 'melodic' in a cleaner way.
Learn some jazz standards without wanting to improvise. Just the chords and the melody line.
Have sex.
Jazz standards eh.. can you elaborate on these? I have no idea really.. I remember this guest lesson in TG again, by Johnny A doing some cool things, I might try and re learn em.
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Sometimes i try and learn a classical piece. Last one i did was Canon in D. I learnt it with tab and by ear because alot of the tab wasn't right. So it'll be good for developing your ear plus it's pretty exciting playing a classical piece.
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Ok I'll try some of Canon in D, there was a good one in total guitar (yet again!) that was tabbed, I'll have to find that one.
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find songs you love that don't have guitar (i know for you there aint many tom), and write guitar for it. nothing rocks harder!
Also play some dick dale, ubangis, monsters from the surf, tornadoes, surfaris, beach boys, ventures, shadows etc. join the surf, dude! 8)
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Pick a song and revamp it. The best songs are ones with simple chord progressions and no riffs; they're challenging to make interesting. Write a cool riff for it. Figure out a more interesting rhythm arrangement.
Then change the feel of it and do it again. So if it's a straight beat, make it swing this time. And vice versa.
Make sure one of the arrangements calls for extended chords and then try to fit passing chords in there too.
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Right I gotta find a song that I like with no guitar in now... this could prove tricky :?
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Find new people to play with. New ideas from new people can do wonders for your motivation.
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I'd echo what the Badger said- listen to stuff you wouldn't normally listen to. You don't want to go too far at first as you might lose interest. Have to listened to Robben Ford for example- he takes blues a little way off but not too far- you might not be a blues lover but the point I am trying to make is that it is rooted in one genre( I thought only film critics used the word genre) but enters another-if not Robben Ford then someone similar-great guitarists tend to be those who draw influence from different areas and fuse them into their own style. You mentioned Brian Setzer -wonderful player- possibly different from what you may have worked on before- even if you don't go the full hog, it could add elements to your playing. Ratty will possibly elaborate as I think that he is a big fan of Mr Setzer. I know exactly how you feel Tom-Ilove guitar but tend, these days not to get the time I would like to work on and develop new things.I use guitar to song write- apart from the covers band. Sorry, I am waffling again!
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Tom I'm in the same boat as you, I've been playing guitar for like 10 years now and I used to be obsessed and play like 6 hours a day, but now its quite often for days to go by without me even touching a guitar. I've started an 80s pop/rock/metal band to try and inspire me to get back into it properly.
In my opinion people get bored of guitar when they feel it is a chore to do it, practising scales and stuff aint fun. Just learn sections of songs you like, no point in learning a whole song unless youre gonna perform. Maybe try another instrument as well, I started piano about 5 years back and its gotta be one of the most satisfying solo instruments and its good to learn theory on.
Peace
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Jazz standards eh.. can you elaborate on these?
http://guitar-primer.com/Charts/index2.html ;)
The melodies are simple, and it's an interesting challenge to find out how to play the chords, if you don't know some of them. Here's a little help:
http://guitar-primer.com/Concepts/Z-00.html
Learning the chord progression usually gives you a picture of the mood of the song. Blue Bossa, How Insensitive, and The Girl from Ipanema would be a nice start. Having learnt a few standards you'll have a lot of new ideas, both progressions and melodies.
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Thanks alot for all the help, I guess I have some ideas of what to do now! Peterku, I'll check out those songs you recommended, and 38th I'll have to find some Robben Ford, I've always heard of him but never listened to him.
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I'd also suggest having a listen to some North African or Eastern influenced stuff, that is away from the usual 'western' scales.
Try some John Coltraine too.
Rob...
Not that I can play any of it as I still can't get my head around it :(
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And, alas, the best inspiration I find comes from playing with other people when they're all actually listening to each other. This, is, alas, a tough condition to fulfill, it seems ....
But, man, even when it's just you and one other person with a couple of acoustics, and you've all got your ears on, you can keep a lively musical conversation going for ages without even trying! :)
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learn bass!!
learn ukulele!!
learn Banjo!!
Learning another instrument is so cool, especially when you can play with guitars and have banjo solos...lol
Ever heard that banjo vs guitar song from that western film, "Deliverance"...Its fooking amazing.
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Yeah I've heard the Duelling Banjos song, its so cool!
I want to learn bass actually, each time I listen to Primus I wish I had a bass lying around to try and learn some of their riffs :P
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Yeah I've heard the Duelling Banjos song, its so cool!
I want to learn bass actually, each time I listen to Primus I wish I had a bass lying around to try and learn some of their riffs :P
Les Claypool has a thing for the Dueling Banjos riff on bass, speaking of these things. I've heard recordings of him poppingit into the middle of "Thela Hun Ginjeet" in the Frog Brigade performance at the first Bonnaroo fest, and he also drops it into "Greasy Granny's Gopher Guts" on the Gov't Mule Deepest End DVD.
I started on guitar, later taught myself a bit of bass, and now probably play bass better. :P I've also taught myself a bit of mandolin :) though I've not had an opportunity to have a go at banjo ... yet! :)
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Jazz standards eh.. can you elaborate on these?
http://guitar-primer.com/Charts/index2.html ;)
The melodies are simple, and it's an interesting challenge to find out how to play the chords, if you don't know some of them. Here's a little help:
http://guitar-primer.com/Concepts/Z-00.html
Learning the chord progression usually gives you a picture of the mood of the song. Blue Bossa, How Insensitive, and The Girl from Ipanema would be a nice start. Having learnt a few standards you'll have a lot of new ideas, both progressions and melodies.
I just looked at Blue Bossa and the music transcription scares me, I have no idea how to read music anymore (although I played piano when I was younger, I've forgot it all)
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Learning bass is a good idea Tom. I consider myself to be a bass player though I have always played guitar too and the two have combined quite well and have each helped with the other. A lot of guitarists think bass is easy ( and indeed, to some it is) but there is of lot of rhythmic aspects to bass that can really help a guitarist with phrasing. Carlaz is absolutely right regarding listening out to people you play with. Meandering slightly away from where this started, playing with others can inspire you to places you might not have gone-by learning bass you seem to find yourself listening to everything else that is going on ( rather than some guitar players who are only interested in showing the world how fast they can play- no-one on this forum would ever do such a thing I know :wink: ) if only to ensure you don't overkill it. Leaving space can be one of the best rhythmic devices. I know that Ronnie Wood might not be the first guitarist that would spring to mind when the word "great" is used but if you listen to his stuff with The Faces (i.e. post Small Faces era) his rhythm playing is spot on- Ronnie was a bass player beforehand.
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Yeah I dont think bass is easy atall, I've played on a few mates basses and struggled to fret the notes as well as I do on guitar, I'm not used to the spacing inbetween the strings :lol: I'll have to find some stuff by The Faces then I guess. Cheers for all the help, I guess now I just need to learn how to read music :P
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You could try the following for some suggestions in taking your playing in less predictable directions though you may have to install the vox ware codec for the windows media player.
A many of the suggestions are chordal (using augmented or suspended) and basically surprising yourself. Unfortunitely there is only 2 lessons not the 4 advertised.
http://www.guitar.com/VideosMain.aspx?ParID=X
Also have a look at the Roger McGuinn lesson for incorporation of banjo techniques (amongst others on a 12 swtring ;) ) and the Reeves Gabrels for use of vibrators.
Rob...
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+1 on the space thing -- this becomes really important when you're in a band with more people, too. The little band I play in started out in a "power trio" configuration, where the bass actually has a fair bit of work to do filling in the sound. Later, we added a keyboard, which meant the guitar and bass both needed to leave more space (not something that comes naturally to many guitarists ;)). In a 2-guitar/bass/keys/drums lineup (or something even more complicated) the need to play fewer notes -- while listening even harder to figure which notes do need playing -- becomes even more important.
And +1 on bass being fun :) though I have a very "guitaristic" style of bass playing, partially because of my background as a guitarist and partially because many of my favorite bass players themselves started as guitarists or were at least also familiar with guitar.
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I had the same situation, and after 17 years of more or less playing the guitar, I finally looked out for a teacher. Now I'm once a week with this London GIT graduate, who forces me to learn intervals, play 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 notes per beat in 40 bpm accurately and all that stuff, and it's opened me to completely new horizons.
Though I think jamming with different people is the better option.
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there is of lot of rhythmic aspects to bass that can really help a guitarist with phrasing
Drumming, obviously, is good for this as well. If you're gonna learn another instrument I recommend drums. There're lots of fun, too. :)
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there is of lot of rhythmic aspects to bass that can really help a guitarist with phrasing
Drumming, obviously, is good for this as well. If you're gonna learn another instrument I recommend drums. There're lots of fun, too. :)
I have a drum kit allready and I'm ok on them, I can fit a rhythm to most songs when I've been playing with mates :)
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Can you sweep pick? I found this was the thing that got me out of my rut, it is such a cool technique. I have just tried to learn as much as possible, this came about from giving guitar lessons and not wanting to find myself upstaged by some 13 year olds. Seriously, I find the guitar a infinite wealth of techniques and secrets, I dont favour any one style any more(which makes the GAS harder to cope with) and get a serious pleasure out of playing everything that I can. Funk is also a low pressure style to master, great fun and so natural its unreal.
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Nope I tried it for a while then got sick of practising and getting nowhere.. maybe I should try it again sometime though. Can you recommend some good funk bands to check out?
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Well I played along with some Parliament stuff for the best part of an hour earlier today (ahem yesterday!) which is pretty fun. It's like a test of stamina as well, 'cos you're playing the same freakin' riff for 5 minutes at a time!
I think it would improve anybody's rhythm playing, 'cos even though the riffs are quite basic, you've got to nail it over and over perfectly, and by the end you're totally zoned in.
PDT_027
To be honest I can't see how anyone could just sit down and listen to funk, you've either got to dance to it or play to it.......if you're up for doing either of the above _tom_ then Parliament get my vote!
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Chic...(I think thats how its spelled)and belive it or not "Stayin alive" is a killer riff to nail and sounds awsome if you chuck in some percusive attacks on the strings between notes. As for sweep picking, there is a really good instructional video by Marc Seal on ultimateguitar.com, its a pick and grin "Steal this video" special and it explains it perfectly. Good luck, sometimes you just need something exciting to bring it back.....also for me chopping gear and playing new guitars/amps helps.
The rythm guitar on rappers delight buy the Sugar hill gang is a fantastic piece to learn very groove orientated and I think that was a Chic riff.
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Something I've been doing recently is going to the iTunes shop and listening to the clips of songs there. Then I work them out on the guitar. It's good ear training stuff, though most of the songs are quite basic, four chord jobs.
It's good for those moment when someone spots you with a guitar and says play me something! Cause these are the kinda songs they're gonna wanna hear and I don't really listen to the radio and I certainly don't buy the CDs.