The Official Guitar Thread - Page 9

Tenks · 06-09-2009, 06:47 AM

So my new technique is to play the Star Spangled Banner once at normal speed, double that tempo, then double it again. I'm actually getting fairly decent at performing it at 4x the normal speed. I needed to get better at moving around and plucking certain strings and it is helping me tremendously. The actual fretting in the song isn't anything spectacular but its fun.

Anyways I'm starting to learn Paranoid by, of course, Sabbath. Not really that hard of a song at all until the solo just alot of palm muting and power chords with the infrequent legato and string skip. Any other recommendations on a fairly well known song like Paranoid that I may pick up next?

Occido · 06-09-2009, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenks

So my new technique is to play the Star Spangled Banner once at normal speed, double that tempo, then double it again. I'm actually getting fairly decent at performing it at 4x the normal speed. I needed to get better at moving around and plucking certain strings and it is helping me tremendously. The actual fretting in the song isn't anything spectacular but its fun.

Anyways I'm starting to learn Paranoid by, of course, Sabbath. Not really that hard of a song at all until the solo just alot of palm muting and power chords with the infrequent legato and string skip. Any other recommendations on a fairly well known song like Paranoid that I may pick up next?

If you're up for the challenge. Crazy Train has some really fun riffs in it.

Tenks · 06-09-2009, 08:08 AM

Yeah JamPlay does have a tutorial on Crazy Train but I think that maybe a bit out of my skill level. I'll check out the tabs and see what I think.

-edit-

Nm it was Mr. Crowley. I'd also like one in standard EADGBE tuning but I know those are somewhat rare.

Occido · 06-09-2009, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenks

Yeah JamPlay does have a tutorial on Crazy Train but I think that maybe a bit out of my skill level. I'll check out the tabs and see what I think.

-edit-

Nm it was Crazy Train. I'd also like one in standard EADGBE tuning but I know those are somewhat rare.

Something in EADGBE
Naked Ladies and Electric Ragtime

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Doors - Roadhouse Blues

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Seventh · 06-09-2009, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenks

So my new technique is to play the Star Spangled Banner once at normal speed, double that tempo, then double it again. I'm actually getting fairly decent at performing it at 4x the normal speed. I needed to get better at moving around and plucking certain strings and it is helping me tremendously. The actual fretting in the song isn't anything spectacular but its fun.

Anyways I'm starting to learn Paranoid by, of course, Sabbath. Not really that hard of a song at all until the solo just alot of palm muting and power chords with the infrequent legato and string skip. Any other recommendations on a fairly well known song like Paranoid that I may pick up next?

+1 for Crazy Train, it's a decent mix of chords and picked notes that'll give your hands a workout.

If you're practicing these and changing tempos, do yourself a huge favor (if you don't already) and get yourself a metronome so that you know what BPM you're comfortable with. It'll also give you something tangible to shoot for. One of the best sayings that any of my guitar teachers ever told me was to go for "relaxed precision". It's a lot easier to nail stuff cleanly if your hands are relaxed. It's also hard to get used to, because especially when learning new bits, most people tend to stiffen right up.

If you're at all into 80's metal, Dokken has a ton of fun and relatively easy to play tunes (Kiss of Death, for example), and you can never go wrong with the oldschool RTL/KIA era Metallica catalog.

Tenks · 06-09-2009, 08:02 PM

I never formally thanked you for all your help with my guitar choice Seventh, so thank you. You've been a big help.

As for "relaxed precision" I attribute my my natural aptitude for this thanks to Guitar Hero/Rock Band. My finger dexterity and stretching is at an advanced guitar player level despite only jamming for a short period. For any people who say GH/RB is 100% worthless for guitar translation I would have to disagree with. I'm also getting very good at plucking the correct string when I need to, which was a hurdle for about two weeks now.

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread beyond it's purpose but I do appreciate all you guys who are much more knowledgeable than me giving out advice in a very relaxed and non-confrontational or elitist way.

Zarcath · 06-10-2009, 06:49 PM

bought this today.

SCHECTER C-1 GUITAR ACTIVE DUCAN DESIGNED PICKUPS WHITE - eBay (item 120432144812 end time Jun-10-09 17:38:16 PDT)

Tenks · 06-11-2009, 01:03 PM

I just got the official tabs for Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band 1 from ebay/amazon. Should be fun, here's the list

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

AlexTheDictator · 06-11-2009, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenks

I just got the official tabs for Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band 1 from ebay/amazon. Should be fun, here's the list

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

There's a lot of really fun songs to play in that list. Black Hold Sun, Welcome Home (especially the jamming ending), Barracuda, La Grange, The Seeker, Welcome to the Jungle, Detroit Rock City are all fun songs.

Tenks · 06-11-2009, 01:21 PM

Yeah I'm anxious to get them. Together they ran me only like $40. For like 60 songs thats not bad I don't think.

I'll start with a few easier songs like When You Were Young, Barracuda, Maps, Learn To Fly and hopefully someday graduate to Cliffs of Dover

Seventh · 06-11-2009, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tenks

I never formally thanked you for all your help with my guitar choice Seventh, so thank you. You've been a big help.

As for "relaxed precision" I attribute my my natural aptitude for this thanks to Guitar Hero/Rock Band. My finger dexterity and stretching is at an advanced guitar player level despite only jamming for a short period. For any people who say GH/RB is 100% worthless for guitar translation I would have to disagree with. I'm also getting very good at plucking the correct string when I need to, which was a hurdle for about two weeks now.

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread beyond it's purpose but I do appreciate all you guys who are much more knowledgeable than me giving out advice in a very relaxed and non-confrontational or elitist way.

You're very welcome bro.

I've run across my fair share of elitist guitar players, especially in the 5 years that I ran sevenstring.org, and the one thing they have in common is that they're all full of shit.

The great thing about guitar, and music in general, is that the only way to get better at it is to work your balls off at it. The upside is, there's this breaking point where all of a sudden the shit you play is exactly what you want to hear. The first time that happens is just the absolute coolest feeling in the universe, and suddenly it's less work and more of just a really fantastic way to spend your free time. I don't know of anything else that I do that's even half as rewarding as this.

I've never been one of those anti-GH guys. I get a little riled when people say it's the same as playing the song on an actual instrument, but it's bothering me less and less because just as you said, it is definitely building up your hand strength and accuracy, and that's key to playing anything cleanly.

One thing that I can toss out as a tip is to get your pinky into the game early, and the best that I've found, and what I try to tell the guys I give lessons to, is to play all of your power chords with it instead of your ring finger. Not only will it be less of a stretch for new guitarists working on building up dexterity, but once you get it strong enough you open up a ton of other chords and voicings by having a pinky strong enough to fret additional notes on top of your normal arsenal of chords. A good example is just an add9. I won't bore you with theory, so basically it's just a double power chord, eg instead of:

-3 (index)
-5 (ring, or pinky)

You'd fret

-3 (index)
-5 (middle)
-9 (pinky)

It's just one quick and dirty way of spicing up a standard power chord, and the voicing is gorgeous with distortion or without. Just always be looking for ways to incorporate the fingers you aren't using for fretting chords. Don't worry what chord you're actually playing, just take your comfort chords, plop your free finger(s) around on the frets, give it a strum and you'll end up finding all sorts of stuff that works great for you.

I wish I had a better quality, better example to post up than this, but you can see how I fret power chords and play (0:38) the add9's (0:43) in this video. Pardon the middle fingers, it's just something I threw together to bust on a buddy of mine who was working on palm muting (hence the middle fingers and such).

Kiely · 06-12-2009, 04:47 AM

Cannot stress pinky exercises! Mine fucking blows, after a couple of years of ignoring it it's like i've just picked up the guitar for the first time and have 15% coordination speed and strength. I'm finding it a bottleneck for me in terms of progression, so most of my time is spent doing silly 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, legato exercises up down across fretboard, 1-3-4 2-4-5 etc.

Occido · 06-12-2009, 06:12 AM

Pinky exercises were and still are hard for me. When I was younger both of my pinky's were damaged and now both of them are curved. They curve in and it makes stretching to hit a note harder for me. Can do it.. it's just an inconvience.

Tenks · 06-12-2009, 06:33 AM

The metal guitar instructor on JamPlay is huge about pinky use. Not to beat the dead horse but since I've been playing GH/RB for so long my pinky is fairly strong and coordinated. It still is the worst finger but it isn't too bad.

Ironically, since my girlfriend claims most metal guitarist don't know the theory or underlying depth of what they play but this guy demands you know all this. It is actually quite refreshing. His first lesson wasn't power chords, bending or HOPO it was going over all the notes on the guitar and major chords.

AlexTheDictator · 06-12-2009, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seventh

One thing that I can toss out as a tip is to get your pinky into the game early, and the best that I've found, and what I try to tell the guys I give lessons to, is to play all of your power chords with it instead of your ring finger. Not only will it be less of a stretch for new guitarists working on building up dexterity, but once you get it strong enough you open up a ton of other chords and voicings by having a pinky strong enough to fret additional notes on top of your normal arsenal of chords. A good example is just an add9. I won't bore you with theory, so basically it's just a double power chord, eg instead of:

-3 (index)
-5 (ring, or pinky)

You'd fret

-3 (index)
-5 (middle)
-9 (pinky)

It's just one quick and dirty way of spicing up a standard power chord, and the voicing is gorgeous with distortion or without. Just always be looking for ways to incorporate the fingers you aren't using for fretting chords. Don't worry what chord you're actually playing, just take your comfort chords, plop your free finger(s) around on the frets, give it a strum and you'll end up finding all sorts of stuff that works great for you.

This is true for almost any style of music, too. I used to be really into metal, but I'm not really that great of a metal player. Funk on the other hand is my calling. Having a pinkie that you can use to add in 7's and 9's on top of chords is a blessing. Keep your pinkie strong. When learning stuff in the beginning you probably won't need it as much, but once you get higher levels you're definitely going to want it - especially in sweep picking and arppeggiating chords.

06-10-2009, 06:49 PM	#127 (permalink)
Zarcath is a little tea pot. Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Carlsbad CA Posts: 6,465 +75 Internets	bought this today. SCHECTER C-1 GUITAR ACTIVE DUCAN DESIGNED PICKUPS WHITE - eBay (item 120432144812 end time Jun-10-09 17:38:16 PDT) __________________

06-12-2009, 04:47 AM	#132 (permalink)
Kiely He who dares, wins Rodders. Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 1,225 +8 Internets	Cannot stress pinky exercises! Mine fucking blows, after a couple of years of ignoring it it's like i've just picked up the guitar for the first time and have 15% coordination speed and strength. I'm finding it a bottleneck for me in terms of progression, so most of my time is spent doing silly 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, legato exercises up down across fretboard, 1-3-4 2-4-5 etc. __________________ Ban deep thought.

06-12-2009, 06:12 AM	#133 (permalink)
Occido Don't get penisy Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Somewhere in the Mountains Posts: 2,856 -126 Internets	Pinky exercises were and still are hard for me. When I was younger both of my pinky's were damaged and now both of them are curved. They curve in and it makes stretching to hit a note harder for me. Can do it.. it's just an inconvience. __________________ When a man isn't busy killing another, he spends the rest of his time killing what resembles himself the most.

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