Guitar Player's Thread

[children of COB]

IIRC there was one, but as there were only a couple of drummers around, they just ended up here,

 

[umosay]

This is practically a 'musicians' thread anyway, lots of people post stuff not directly related to playing guitar, and non-guitar players visit too

 

[children of COB]

Yep, and we accept drummers too,

 

[marfal66]

and cowbell players

 

[children of COB]

Those are epic, as well as referee-whistle players

 

[Lowberg]

dont forget the washboard

 

[Earth Breather]

i play a mean penny whistle


i know a chick who plays the flesh flute


*insert one more cliche instrument sex innuendo*

but seriously I actually do play flute

 

[dreams_of_eternal_hate]

^same here

 

[marfal66]

I play piano and guitar.. And Homer pwns me in both.

 

[Mystique1721]

Me too! The cool stuff enters my mind when I'm alone, especially when I don't have a guitar in my hands (often on the toilet or while taking a shower )

But I have a new band for 3 or 4 weeks and it's a bit different. We wrote some cool melodies together and I never experienced this with a band before. I hope that I can show you people some recordings in a few months (they wouldn't appreciate it if I showed my recorded stuff here before it's "official").

But all in all, I'm not a teamworker, at least when it comes to the basic ideas.

same with my ideas. I'm better when I'm alone. I actually got a really cool melodic idea the other day while petting my cat went to the guitar, and figured it out right away, THEN tabbed it on GP.

Cool, look forward to hearing it. I mainly just find a riff/progression while playing guitar, then put it in GP and the rest of the song is done from there... without touching the guitar again

Yeah, i do it in a similar way. I write it out on guitar pro when i come up with it, and then try to play it on guitar, but most of it is written without the guitar.

I don't see how you guys can do that. I mean, I know it's not wrong, but it just feels wrong to me. I feel like all the riffs and ideas should come straight out onto the guitar (even if it comes in your mind first) and then be transferred to GP for practicing purposes or whatever. It shouldn't be the other way around (figuring it out on GP and then transferring it onto the guitar to learn it).

 

[eveningninja]

I don't see how you guys can do that. I mean, I know it's not wrong, but it just feels wrong to me. I feel like all the riffs and ideas should come straight out onto the guitar (even if it comes in your mind first) and then be transferred to GP for practicing purposes or whatever. It shouldn't be the other way around (figuring it out on GP and then transferring it onto the guitar to learn it).

I know what you mean, although I'm actually probably the same as them (writing stuff without the guitar). Although I wasn't really able to until I learned a bit of basic music theory (first year stuff). Perhaps it depends on that a bit (not saying you don't know theory ), and maybe also your musical background (how long you've been playing guitar, and how used to it you are).

 

[Mystique1721]

I know what you mean, although I'm actually probably the same as them (writing stuff without the guitar). Although I wasn't really able to until I learned a bit of basic music theory (first year stuff). Perhaps it depends on that a bit (not saying you don't know theory ), and maybe also your musical background (how long you've been playing guitar, and how used to it you are).

Yeah I see what you mean. Like some people are so advanced on guitar, they can "hear" the note by just looking at a particular fret. But that takes a looot of experience with the instrument, unless you are some sort of musical genius. I know theory also, and I can do as you guys do, write out a song on GP completely independent of the guitar. But again, I don't like how that works/feels. I'd rather express it on the instrument first.

 

[Swabs]

Jeff Loomis with his new ENGL, sounds great and has tight bottom-end to his tone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOPxRoTjRVE

These clips are from a Nevermore gig in Seattle a few days ago. Its just Jeff, so the overall sound of the band is really lacking. Escpecially in the Narcosynthesis vid, sounds like it is just him jamming with Van (drummer)

Damn their live sound really suffers now that they're missing a second guitarist... Fuck you Chris Broderick, fuck youuuuuuuu.


Well, to be fair, who in their right mind would reject a place in Megadeth?.. still :/

 

[dreams_of_eternal_hate]

Hey guys, sup?
Yo Mick, awesome playing dude, do you think it might be possible for you to tab this riff for me? As I'm just doing sweep picking it'd be very helpful for me, ktxhnbai...

On the other side I want to spray paint my dimavery, have you guys any experiences with it? Hints would be welcome too...(I'm also planning on removing the floyd and the original mechanics from it and it replace it with some gold hardware...)

bump

 

[inhe]

I don't see how you guys can do that. I mean, I know it's not wrong, but it just feels wrong to me. I feel like all the riffs and ideas should come straight out onto the guitar (even if it comes in your mind first) and then be transferred to GP for practicing purposes or whatever. It shouldn't be the other way around (figuring it out on GP and then transferring it onto the guitar to learn it).

The guitar is just an instrument to actually make the music, which means it shouldn't matter what instrument you compose on (if any), as long as you can play it when it's time to record, which i for one can.

Alot of classical composers wrote out stuff without playing an instrument while composing.

Yeah I see what you mean. Like some people are so advanced on guitar, they can "hear" the note by just looking at a particular fret. But that takes a looot of experience with the instrument, unless you are some sort of musical genius. I know theory also, and I can do as you guys do, write out a song on GP completely independent of the guitar. But again, I don't like how that works/feels. I'd rather express it on the instrument first.

What i've noticed is that if you try composing by just improvising riffs, you eventually just get the same shit all the time, because that's what you're used to playing. Where as on the other hand, if you hear the music in your head, you can get alot of different ideas, even un-guitaristic ideas, which can really turn out to be something cool.

 

[Mystique1721]

The guitar is just an instrument to actually make the music, which means it shouldn't matter what instrument you compose on (if any), as long as you can play it when it's time to record, which i for one can.

Alot of classical composers wrote out stuff without playing an instrument while composing.

It does in fact matter which instrument you compose on, because certain instruments have features others don't. For example, if you're writing a piece for piano, can you bend on it? do a vibrato on it? This is what makes each instrument unique. So different instrument = different possibilities of expression.
I know that classical composers didn't write their stuff out directly on the instrument, but that's because a lot of them had to write for MANY instruments e.g. 1st violin, 2nd violin, cello, piano, etc.

Anyways, when you actually have the instrument in your hands, it's much easier to express yourself and let the music come out. And even if the music is already in your head first, then by getting it down on the instrument first, you allow yourself more creativity than just tabbing on GP and trying to experiment by clicking the vibrato effect or whatever.

What i've noticed is that if you try composing by just improvising riffs, you eventually just get the same shit all the time, because that's what you're used to playing. Where as on the other hand, if you hear the music in your head, you can get alot of different ideas, even un-guitaristic ideas, which can really turn out to be something cool.

so you write out the un-guitarisitic ideas out on GP, as you are forced to do anyway I really doubt that improvising riffs all the time will lead to the same shit...I mean, look at bands in the "old" days...they didn't have a fuckin GP on their computer. Even Alexi still gets his ideas down on a real 4 track thing.

 

[Shadowalias345]

My pickscrapes dont sound very good at all anymore.

Would changing my strings fix that? (my strings are months old btw)

 

[inhe]

It does in fact matter which instrument you compose on, because certain instruments have features others don't. For example, if you're writing a piece for piano, can you bend on it? do a vibrato on it? This is what makes each instrument unique. So different instrument = different possibilities of expression.

I thought this was an understatement. You have to think about those features for the instrument your writing for. If i'm writing something for guitar, i wouldn't do wide intervall, piano like chords, just because they're just not possible to play on a guitar. But that doesn't mean that i need a guitar in my hand to figure that out.

Anyways, when you actually have the instrument in your hands, it's much easier to express yourself and let the music come out. And even if the music is already in your head first, then by getting it down on the instrument first, you allow yourself more creativity than just tabbing on GP and trying to experiment by clicking the vibrato effect or whatever.

That's true for people as experienced as Paul Gilbert and that kind, for the rest of us, i stand by my statement.

so you write out the un-guitarisitic ideas out on GP, as you are forced to do anyway I really doubt that improvising riffs all the time will lead to the same shit...I mean, look at bands in the "old" days...they didn't have a fuckin GP on their computer. Even Alexi still gets his ideas down on a real 4 track thing.

I don't really see your point here.

What i'm trying to say is that if try to play a riff that comes from your fingers instead of your mind, you'll end up with what your muscle memory has been taught to play.

If you instead think of a riff or a part of a solo, you can come up with much more interesting ideas, because the mind is alot of advanced than our fingers, when it comes to most players. Then there's the top notch players, as i mentioned before, that can practically transfer what they're thinking of directly to playing it, but that's just a small percentage.

So there you have it, that's how i do it, if the other way works for someone better, then there's no reason to complain, as long as you're happy with how you're doing something.

 

[dave100]

What i'm trying to say is that if try to play a riff that comes from your fingers instead of your mind, you'll end up with what your muscle memory has been taught to play.

Bingo. Thats what happens when i try to "improvise" a riff without having a melody in my head first.

 

[umosay]

It does in fact matter which instrument you compose on, because certain instruments have features others don't. For example, if you're writing a piece for piano, can you bend on it? do a vibrato on it? This is what makes each instrument unique. So different instrument = different possibilities of expression.
I know that classical composers didn't write their stuff out directly on the instrument, but that's because a lot of them had to write for MANY instruments e.g. 1st violin, 2nd violin, cello, piano, etc.

Anyways, when you actually have the instrument in your hands, it's much easier to express yourself and let the music come out. And even if the music is already in your head first, then by getting it down on the instrument first, you allow yourself more creativity than just tabbing on GP and trying to experiment by clicking the vibrato effect or whatever.




so you write out the un-guitarisitic ideas out on GP, as you are forced to do anyway I really doubt that improvising riffs all the time will lead to the same shit...I mean, look at bands in the "old" days...they didn't have a fuckin GP on their computer. Even Alexi still gets his ideas down on a real 4 track thing.

Well, everyone has different methods of composing - but at the end of the day, if it sounds good, it shouldn't matter. I always start off songs by just improvising riffs, and most of my songs are quite different.. but normally i just write something that i hear in my head, rather than actually playing.. as i'm sure a lot of musicians do.

Just for making demo's it's fine not to be able to play every instrument, except for guitar... all depends on what you have available i guess.

^ and yeah, Inhe - for melodies mainly i definitely have that muscle memory thing when trying to write with guitar the time. Sometimes i find it easier to write a melody over a rythym in GP or whatever.