Dammit to hell. I've been playing my ass off lately, trying, begging, hoping for that epiphany where it all just comes together. So far it's yet to hit me. I can play Five Magics pretty good, Symphony of Destruction is a no-brainer, Hangar 18 is fairly easy, and soon I'll start on Holy Wars and Tornado of Souls. But it finally dawned on me the other day that I'll probably never in a million fucking years sound EXACTLY like Dave plays it. You know why? He has these teeny tiny nuances and little tricks that he does to get his style, that is almost impossible to mimic unless he's standing right next to you showing you how. Yeah. That's gonna happen REAL soon. What the fuck ever. He even had to TEACH MARTY FRIEDMAN how to play some of his songs. Granted, Marty could play them well, but he couldn't get them down like Dave had them.
So I was standing there, baffled, brand new B C Rich V with that famous widow headstock that's so badass and the ultra-smooth and easy action...standing there wondering why the fuck his RHYTHMS are such a pain in the ass sometimes, much less his LEADS! Why the hell can I play almost everything Metallica can put out rhythm-wise...granted not EVERYTHING, but you get the picture...yet Megadeth's sound so simple, yet they are so complicated. And it's all little shit! The rhythms are standard chunka-chunka and speed metal riffs. Then I remembered...Dave's not a rhythm guitarist, not a "true" rhythm guitarist, by definition. Most rhythm guitarists, although extremely versatile and can probably double as lead guitarists(i.e., Iced Earth), usually back up the lead guitarists with atmosphere and, well, RHYTHM. Dave's technically a lead guitarist that's been filling in on rhythm for the past 20 years. Hell, most of the solos are his! Therefore, he incorporates certain aspects of his lead into his rhythm playing, creating a style that almost no one can duplicate. These are the tiny nuances that keep me from playing the songs like I want. That and I've only been playing for 3 and a half years, LMAO!
Any suggestions to speed up the process, besides practicing? I practice a minimum of 2 hours every single day. Any techniques? I think I should work on my sweep picking a little more. I've got a pretty fast right hand, but I feel that I need more control. Suggestions?
So I was standing there, baffled, brand new B C Rich V with that famous widow headstock that's so badass and the ultra-smooth and easy action...standing there wondering why the fuck his RHYTHMS are such a pain in the ass sometimes, much less his LEADS! Why the hell can I play almost everything Metallica can put out rhythm-wise...granted not EVERYTHING, but you get the picture...yet Megadeth's sound so simple, yet they are so complicated. And it's all little shit! The rhythms are standard chunka-chunka and speed metal riffs. Then I remembered...Dave's not a rhythm guitarist, not a "true" rhythm guitarist, by definition. Most rhythm guitarists, although extremely versatile and can probably double as lead guitarists(i.e., Iced Earth), usually back up the lead guitarists with atmosphere and, well, RHYTHM. Dave's technically a lead guitarist that's been filling in on rhythm for the past 20 years. Hell, most of the solos are his! Therefore, he incorporates certain aspects of his lead into his rhythm playing, creating a style that almost no one can duplicate. These are the tiny nuances that keep me from playing the songs like I want. That and I've only been playing for 3 and a half years, LMAO!
Any suggestions to speed up the process, besides practicing? I practice a minimum of 2 hours every single day. Any techniques? I think I should work on my sweep picking a little more. I've got a pretty fast right hand, but I feel that I need more control. Suggestions?
