“30-HOUR PATH TO VIRTUOSO ENLIGHTENMENT”NI990 ISAT DOWN WITH Guitar World for an interview. om which my 10 ‘Workout was extracted, When GW reeehtly asked meto revise the Workout, decided to rewrite the program entirely in order to Incorporate more of the wisdom ye gathered over the years, Trust have accumulated a lot of wisdom in 14 ye Decatuse what I have responded with is my new 90-fo ‘Workout. Compared mplete overview of elements thst ma from my eprieneTv found thre In geeral hes write songs; worling musicians who are claively accosted an de leated toa life with the instrument; and players who are intensely driven and Hee pussul 9 accomplish lint end stoic acs onthe {hace ae god you fn the fe oreo pic ves Infact, if there is any question ae to whether you should pursue the ‘direction ofthe third profile, then ry suggestion would be, Do noe; fits reserve for those who fee they have no coe buf to be intense, ‘There is question inthe mind of tho pliers: trucatists ate ‘compelled by thie desires, nd usually nothing eat stop the, Please note: Im not implying that one of these groups is Better than another or represents players who have § deeper love of ssi chan shose in the other groups. Ym simply creating groups (isiced on the desires SS NU Although the Workout is intended primasily for | {the third group of people, elements from the reg: | cof bene Btacxprte no ry aly prac Jin that respect, any guitarist ean oN » aspect ofthe Workout i =“ =N\WORKOUT PHILOSOPHY cover and Tothate Workout is not elk prose smeone else buts yb ping them become th 3 this program is geared people that love the challenge ofa dis sine curriculum and trly want to mi instrument. The concept behind doin ing—abend, a very slowly; ifyou mak s easy: start by playing some if, a scale, as and t¢ jerease the tempo. Eventvaly st ke gradually you'll be flailing a madman, This doesr't neces become a great musician of songwriter. Those are talents that can't be: bborm with therm or need to discover them sught; you're either within yourself ln this program. The tions. Ii aslyimpor tant that you gear up mentally for practice, gi, arsl, songwriting owhatever you're going todo. Understand that the atitude and frame of mind you have when entering ino focused Focus. Thisis BEFORE YOU BEGIN Tune yo or pli tune unless fora desired effec as working on aquartertone sc mp mentally endeavor is one ofthe few things you de have within your power, Remember: Ital he rind! You can basicaly convince yourself of anythi seule Kappes CATEGORIES ve eights divided the 30-Hour Workou 2. Scale ds 5. Sigh-reading omposing, inadditon, Ive arranged these categorie: mind thatthe amount of tm in your playing fel these c 5 the varie «thoroughly roun hat I will on! lining concepts het d disco jour own, There are plent books, CDs and DVDs on the market, ses, chords, dition, guitar la nation is et. OF course, | encourage you to explore oth sr categories, ideas and concepts not woned here. That's one of the great things about playing the guitar—there are essentially 0 rules, and a persons ability to be unique is rcourage and the Workout i geared toward playing, ¥ you decide you don't want to learn conven tional things, you may choose to replace one ‘or more of these categories with things that you're more comfortable with, Youll have to ‘come up with them, though One last note: When I was young practi. ing musician, would kep alog ofall thet Tspenton the instrument, with a specifi way, While this approach worked poy. I does, ur progress. ing did. guess was itmay not befor eve fe 7 ERC! - Finger exerity and ses are great for developing en performing ther, pace yourself with a metronome or ‘machine and start very siowly. It might help to {imagine how you want the notes to sound, then pe sound exacly the way you beat the head. used to do this, and isa great way to gain control over your playing I would also experi 3 lek positions, dynam atever you do, be sure to foeus on every single note you play. can't stress enough the impo There are licerally thous exercises, and they can all help you achiew diferent objectives. n this seeion, TH explain the following categories of finger exercises: + Linear Angular rm them over and over until they nso on Hammer‘ons and Pulloffs * Tapping + Sweeping + Muliple Pickingar/Alternate Picking Exercises I would advise you to tailor nd the style you're mo The dea is hings that are awkward play and then work or them perfcty, Uimately, you want your playing to be a reflection of wh hea in your head, LINEAR ExERCISES FIGURE 1 depiccs.a basi ln car finger exercise. It fl lows an ascending pattern ‘well simpy call “1-2-3 asthis refer tothe order in Which the fret-hand fingers (index, middle, ring, pinkie) are placed on each string (fret hand fingerings are indicated below the tab Jaqure). FIGURE 2 presentsan alternating variation on this drill. The fingering pattern follows the repeating Sequence 1-2-3-4, 2-3 4-1, $-441-2, 41.2.3. The alternating finger ing idea can also be played om a single string, 5 demonstrated in FIGURE 3. {find this drill to bea great exercise in position shifting The next steps to exhaust all other per mutations ofthe 1-2-3-4 combination, sveh 25 4-3-2-1,4.2-34, 1-3-2-4 whatever fo note sequence you fin awhward—and prac tice them ina similar manser we apply this fingering approach to three-note-per-string combinations, for ‘example 1-3-4, the result would be the three exercises showin in FIGURES 4-6. Of course, two-note-per-string patterns could also be used for linear pickin exercises, as demon strated in FIGURES 7 and 8. The exercise shown in FIGURE 7 willbe beneficial to those of you who may have problems switeh- Ing strings with the same fretting finger. Roll the finger over the strings as you switch from one tothe next to keep the notes from bleed- ing (ringing) into each other. ANGULAR ExERCISES An effective way to improve your string crossing technique {sto perform what call angular” exercises. FIGURE exemplifies what 'm talking about. The general idea is to take a fingering I 78 aurtax wontpattern inthis case 43-22, and work Angular/Economy Picking Exercises across the strings in single postin, asin ing one finger per sting and using sweep oF runes Jjacem strings) wherever poss ble. Ive included picking strokes above the ablature inthis exercise o guide you. Each sweep (indicated by an upstroke or dow stroke symbo followed by a bro line and tracker) should be performes single pick stroke, withthe pick being dragged across the strings n'a continuous movement. Since there are only three groups of four adja cenestrings (1-4, 2-S and 3-6), the entire angular pattern doesnt manifest itself until its played on ane ofthese string groups. When performing FIGURE 9, find it helpful wo visualize three imaginary strings on either side ofthe neck, as this provides point of reference for fingering the ist six and Inst ix notes of this exercise. With his approach, the progression of notes seems very natural. When I fret the First note (2) with my index finger 'm thinking in terms of . . the complete 4-3-2-1 pattern, with the other | three fingers (4-3-2) being on the imaginary strings, Thus, only che first finger is used. As the pattern moves across the strings all four fingers are eventually brought into play. Like ‘wise, as you run out of strings in bar 3, al fin gers but the fourth move off the neck onto FIGURE 10 isan angular exercise based on 123-4 fingering pase. Again ve inelud: ed picking stokes and fet hand fingerings feet | + - fboye and below the tablature to guide you should make ita little easier to devise exerci: ces based on other fingering patterns. For ‘example, an angular exereise based on a 1-3 2-4 fingering pattern would begin on th Esting and go 4, 2-4, 3-2-4, 1-3-2-4, as demonstrated in FIGURE 13. ‘Allocate the first 30 mi tice session to linear exereises andthe next 30 minutes to angular exercises. Try to come Legato Exercises oune 12 Up with your own exereises that suit your cnn) PURE 'purposes and use them interchangeably, Due tothe mathematical nature ofthese types of exercises, they re more easily worked out on ver than in your head (more on notating asic later. HANNER-ONS AND PULL-OFFS Thehamineron sa technique whereby ou picka noe (ether fretted or open, then sound a higher note on the same string by using one of your Freing fingers to ap he string ke ahammet. The pul off involves picking a ote, then sounding low tx not (ether fretted or open) onthe same Sting by releasing the it not'sreing finger, pulling the string slg in coward your palm {sou let go oft in ode to keep tvbrasng. Hammer ons and plloff seem to happen rurally hen playing single-noe ines, ut there ae parila effective ways to slate and strengthen these techniques. One efficient tray 10 do thisis to pactic performing ils. A tlt repid, continuous aeration baween two noes onthe same string, performed using hhammer-ons and pall-ffs in combination. “Aneffectve way to folate and perfect your hammeron and pall-offtechniquesis to prac tee playing wil for mn etende peo of time, suchas a minute. Begin by wing ‘between any ro notes that are a al step (one fre apary, sig your feting hans inex and dle ingers, ae demorstrated in FIOURE 12. -ow dothe sme thing, butadd a et beeen ihe wo fingers ee FIGURE 1).The nex step ‘would beto increase the distance between the fingers by another fe, shown in FIGURE 14 Now goback ad pay FIGURES 12-14 again, thistime using your index and rng fia gers (1 and 3), then tl benween your index Fingerand pinkie (1 and 4). Ofcourse, you could exhats all other finger combinations (2.3, 24, 34) and ryt putas many fers berween the fingers a possible (without hurting yourself), Each me you yo back these til drils, try adding sometime reach texereise (maybe another 10 seconds © 50), ALTERNATING FINGERS “Ty playing hammerons and pail off in various combina tions, using different fingers, ‘asin FIOURES 15-17. The soal in each casei make all the notes sound even and elear and ma ‘seamless legato fel TAPPING Ifyou’ interested in two: hand tapping, incorporate this ino your hammeron and pul lf practice time. The ee riques ae esse illy the same faher hand, the only difference Being that when you pol-off froma tapped note (a note hammered with one ofthe fingers ofthe pick ing band), you fick Ue string slightly side ways, away from youre, Use your ina ‘Tapping Exercises oun 18 ie) Poasensce tion to ereate tapping techniques that suit your syle, and try incorporating al the fine sgers of your picking hand on the neck. FIGURES 18-20 are examples of tapping exercises to got you started. FIGURE 18 isa simple drill designed wo help you master the basic technique of tapping on one string, ‘while FIGURES 19 and 20 require that you ‘rose strings, resulting in longer and more challenging patterns. In each of these ntter two exercises, the key isto move the fingers of your fretting hand quickly from string to string in tie to play cleanly the notes pulled ff from he tapping finger SWEEP PICKING Asstated care, sweep pick eb ings a technique whe id then you play one not another af an adjacent string in single upstroke or ud make sure you can hear every single note cleatly ia sloppy 9. The {unless the effet you'te goin J, hen gradually bring the spe key is cole goof each note with your fret ting hand immediately after you've picked it ‘order to keep it from ringing into the next note. Greate exercises that outline various chord shapes that you can sweep across, FIGURES 21-23 are examples of sweep picking togetyou started. Youll find i's easier to sweep across an arpeggio shape and not have itsound like a strummed chord if you ean finger each string individually with a different fingertip and avoid barring strings with your fingers, which makes it more difficult to mute the notes Ammediaely after you've played them. MULTIPLE PICKING ‘ASI mentioned eater, the best way co develo super man chops is to find things that are dificult and even akoward to play and then perform them slowiy anc perfectly. Asan exer, ry playing any given lik or phrase fest by alternate picking, then using onh lownatokes and, las, using only upst ‘You can also devise your own drills wherewill work with he ehord, you'll most likely sound like an idiot ‘Learn and play as many scales as you can, ‘every hey and position, none octave, two es or three octaves, Stat from any n0te ‘on the low Estring, then the A string ‘Make sure you play each scale forward and backward (ascending and descending). FIGURE 24 illustrates frecboard paterns forthe G major scale (GABCD EFA) and its seven relative modes, al of which comprise the same seven notes. The only difference in each ase isthe orientation of the notes around 2 different tonal center, o rt Practice any given scale/mode scale slowly at first and make sure it's perfect. you make a mistake, start over. Gradually increase the te jpoasyou completea yee. Listen carefully © ‘each note and foeus on tone. Before moving 0 Seale Exercises GURE 2 The seven mds of the G major sale GABE DEF ag” ge a OURE 26 major sain fourths 'fasterspeed, you should be able toruna scale up and down without fudging and notes Dont cheat yourself find it beneficial to watch my fingers inthe mirror and ryt get them to move gracefully, elegantly effotissly ‘or in whatever way looks and fets good. There are many things you can do with 8 seale and mode other than just run it across the fretboard, Forexample, you can play itin intervals, either melodicaly, as demonstrated in FIGURES 25-27, or up and down the neck fon two strings atthe same time, as depicted in FIGURES 28-30, These fist three exercis- ces are great for building technique in both hhands, while the second three help you fearn the scale on each string and gain earraining wisdom by hearing it played in harmony. To get twice the mileage out ofthese patterns, be sure to run them in reverse order as well ‘There are countless variations on these kinds of melodic and harmonic interval pat terns that you can practice. For example, You could tnke the pattern of ascending diatonic fifths rom FIGURE 27 and switch the order of every other pair of notes ro create a differ tent and mote interesting melodic contour, as demonstrated in FIGURE 31. Considering al the different seales, modes, keys, postions, inmervals and melodic parerns, the possibil ties are immense. te sal helpful to record yourself practicing + Double picking (picking each note rice) ‘Triple picking (.. three times) + Quadruple picking (.. four times) + Quintuple picking (.. five times) Practicing scales has many benefit, but the main focus of this activity should be on. ‘emorizing the gound of ascale and the mood ‘2 curran WORLD seals and then len critically to your efforts ‘This will enable you to mold your playing in the direction you want (Lever wanted 1 sourd too polished, and Yacually ‘worked on trying to sound grity and ontheedge.) ‘Thisisobviously aftr think bout when practicing simple seal, but }you don't have to do ital at once. Focus on different elements individually. Eve- 30-HOUR so PENTATONIC AND BLUES SCALES The five note minor penttonicxaleand its derivative, the sa-nate minor blues scl, form the foundation ofthe vorabulary frock ead guitar playing The minor pentatonic sal is ‘or atmosphere increas. Sing the notes you play to help internalize the tonality ofthe sale, and try to paint a mental picture of what the scale'sconality sounds like to you. Thisis one of che things you sight draw upon when you go to write or improvise musi. Beware, however, that when the time comes to take an improvised Solo and all you do s flail up and down a eale pattern because you know the notesFGURE 3 (major san ita mma ait ROURE 5 mir ie sae (FG AB BD) Bo pater & ea 3 a spelled “root, minor 3, 4,5, has distinctive sound and colo. 1 minor 7 The minor blues scale havea blase with scale reference is made up ofthese same five notes, ‘books. Some people enjoy fir plus the diminished or “lated class trips to Tahiti, but ust give fifth (“root minor 3,4, lat 5, 5, ne. good scale and fm in paradise. ‘minor 7"), FIGURES 32.nd 33 tics tha!) But serious ilustrate, in the key of E minor, e nso intrigued by the standard “box" patters fo que tonality of these two sales that every rock gui tarist should know. port me The minor pentatonic ‘couple of years ago I decided ro record 8 blues scale have arelacive major that compris- ive allum of compositions I wrote and per tothe same setof notes; the only difference is formed with my band in different part ofthe thac the notes are oriented around world As began this endeavor, which elm fa different root In each case, the ‘ated in muy CD Alive in an Ultra Word, Lset out Second note ofthe scale, the minor to compose material reminiscent of music third, becomes the new root note; indigenous tothe culsures ofthe co in FIQURES 32 and 33, this ‘ues | would be visting. As part of my new root note would be G. When research, Istudled the folk music of played over a G bass note the ‘each country and figured out the minor pentatonic scale seale(s) upon which much ofthe becomes the G major penta ative music was based. then tonicscale (GBD). ‘used the scales to compose a Likewise, the Eminor f sec of original ples. While blues sale hecomes the G based major blues scale (GA these Bh DE) when played compos: lover aG bass ote. tions on individ “Try putting the tal sales, frook great ‘minor and major pen tatonic and blues pains not to meander up and down the scale aimless in my melodies and improv Instead, Yemphasized the favor ofthe scales within the melody and the chords. SYNTHETIC. SCALES Asythete scales one yu anche up, or ane that doesnot fll QTHE. ino a portcular defined eatgory SCALES FPorinanee, could makeup a Asal can con fea that contains four notes and is tain om ow 0 12 Fpelled 1,4 fa, 7 Thave never oes with the 12 oe hisale, butt may have tone chromaricscle nme alreody, Whatever he case tncompassng every {could bald chord on this scale, oe within create melody and igre oot cave Tere are ho oimprows solo with mumerousseslest0 Furthermore, cold modulate ito hoor from, andeach diferent keys and ees harmonic seales through the same paces asthe G major scale we looked at earlier by playing them in various inter val patterns across the fretboard and upand down the neck, 4 ourTAR woRLD sextures by using the modes fram this sal Unimately, if were to stay within the param ters ofthe notes ofthis scale, 1 guarantee ‘would erate a unique aura, The more well-known “ther” seales Include die minor, harmonic mine, ‘whole tone, diminished and augmented se Geta good scale book and have a party CHORDS Ive divided chord practice into three 1, Memorization 2, Strumming tecliniques 3. Improvisation You can dedicate 20 minutes to each cate three days ofthe Workout, oF just focus on one different eategory for an hour each day MENORIZATION Leaen chords! Go buy a book that has all che basi chordsas well asall the weird ones. “Then set goa. For Jearn and memorize five new chords da. Listen closely and thougtullyto the sound ofa chord as you play the notes it compris, any to picture an image that it evokes. Take your tmeand memorize its sound. Learn a ype of chord quatity—such as snajor. minor, major seven, dominant seven, ‘minor seven_-in as many positions and voic ingsas you possibly ean. Sing the notes as you, play them to help internalize the sound of the chord, Figure out and understand why a ‘chord is called what it’s called. What scale degrees does the chord contain? You will teed to understand chord theory for this, (That will come later inthe “theory” section.) Inaddition, strum chords cleanly, gently, harshly, tenderly, brutally and s0 on, co get a sense of how they sound with every possible style of plait ‘You don't nced to know a ton of chords by name in order to bea great musician or song: writer Ihave heard that people like Jeff Beck, Allan Holdsworth and many others may not be familiar withthe names or the theory behind all the chords they play, but teach player fas such tremendous ears that, ‘upon hearing a chord, his mind opens up and he knows just what todo om his guitar. Uap pen tofind great satisfaction in having a complete understanding ofthe theory behind itall, Then agai, ve always wanted ital STRUNNING “There are many strumming techniques, and sumerous books and records can be used for study or as reference sources for these techniques. The most important hing fo keep innmind when strumming isto groove! After you've chosen a paricula strumming pattern toworkon, practice it endlessly with a drum machine or a drummer, At fist it wil bei tle awkward and sloppy. Focus on making itULTIMATE GUITAR INSTRUCTION on etd ‘re doing and By doing this while an really focus on lock Onice you'e locked er and tight re locke in with 10 feel real | use in, keep trying to lock You'll ow when yo rocve because it wi ‘Once you ger o ths pont periment by making the 1 lose and warm Yo in front ofthe beat, re playing along toa metronome chine, try to "bury" the lick right onthe beat; ora drum: By this mi Se liek wil sound as fits is appeared, since your atacks will cn” that they cover the cick. Being able | lock withthe beat and groove’ most rewarding around with (straight rock, &, reggae bihues shuffle and soon), but before you Jke sure you ean get through them | and tock into them. Play each INPROVISATION ique chord library The following technique = Play a conventional orf alternating ang it up ord ibeay. Take numbers pick ‘ent with all these things to come up with EAR TRAINING imagination and spend very lt warding exercises for train you play Dut you tunail you ean. * Singa note erence. Thisisa challenging drill that takes a tremen: dous amount of dis cline. Just imag: ine, though, how such your eas will Improve when you can do this Sing a harmo:mething simple like a fifths, then m third, a minor third, maar sixth a harmony part (like 8 id) perfectly to Unerst tedevelop, + Memorize the sound of diferent inter (One way to do this isto record yoursel playing an inter silence, speaking ts namme. Fillup a one-hour his wa, then Haten back and try to ape name each interval in the silence that follows a chord, and between the notes. After a moment of silence, announce the chord and its compo nent intervals * Transcribe every ar sols toc miplex ja when yor have some free ti instrument, write melodies using only your ie melodies * Make up your own eartraining nd keep a lg of your progress cI A ATA See pierces Eee peoseeerenr sence Pe eee rts pepe reel 90 ey mee low a few seconds of space yoks with you and sing the _ READING Music + Being able to transcribe your composi sspanding your musical palate When { was student at Berke College Music in Boston | decided 1 wanted t be the best sight-reader in the world. spent an summer do jing but sight read ing almost ev leaving the apartment only to times fo tosight-read every phone books. Atthe end ofthe sum reader atbes the most difficult Telieve the guita instrument on which to sight-read because re are limitations and many variables involved. Having said that, can provide The learning to read music well are being identify patterns and to look ahead as ork on these principles and things Beyond these will evertualy fall into place tips | recom d you do the following * Buy beginner guitar reading books to get idea of where the notes fall on the in ment. have never been 2 fat Ib, Although ‘overview of how to play a 5 reading gui whatever y day unt reading is real 30 this w Jasscal, jam ditch you can play t perfectly 5 you ike and re yal jut idemulying pa have completely mastered 2 and you'e capable of playing it flawlessly an with grea feeling, go ahead and play it many tore times and watch what happens. Build a repertoire of songs and play through each on very day, or on a regula basis at least. iy. This wll aid your and terrifying eve ok ae ability ts been proven toimprove your sight-reading ability sto attempt osight-read something ata strict tem po, such as with a metronome or drum machin d at the most effective way The key sto proceed without stop- ping or slowing down If you miss a note, oh well. Keep going asf you were giving a recital with oh and dwellon ve inished sicins. D the note(s) you mised until y the entire piece, then go back you missed. Practice sight reading apiece of usc at a tempo that's not going toms tess up every two measures. You'l be ama {how your sight-reading ability wil iy when you force yourself not o slow down ‘when you come to ticky sporar such as the clarinet, fl get jazz “fake” book an read through WRITING MUSIC instrumental pieces is one of the most rewarding things about ben ‘musician, There are many way about building a catalog (When Iwasa high schoo! fe ouean go ial ‘had an incredible music theory teacher named Bill \Westcot, He was tough! One of my assign ments was to come in every day with a newly written piece of original musi that he could play on the piano, Ithad to be completely tated and not just show chord symbols and melody, and ithad tobe written specifically for the piano, Having him play the music for was not only treat but tremendously educational If you'ee interested in learning how t0 rotate musi properly, the best reference book on the subject is Music Notation, by Gardner Read. I's an exceptional book, and outlines all the essential dos and don't. You may be able to find iby calling the bookstore at Berklee College of Music in Bosto Here are some recommendations for song writing/eomposing ‘Turn on a tape recorder and bang out ‘90 cUITAR woRLD d they can hit you at the most unlikely eapture them wi they present themselve * Write songs in lead sheet formet nd chord melody. There thar out change: ations and prope are books, such ine the ation for various instruments ofthe orchestra as well as more uneonventional instruments. Ge some manuscript or score paper and try ‘composing music for instruments oth the guitar. Study the range, tone, timbre limitations and notation for one instrument ata time, be it violin, harp or harmonica played through a Marshall tack vin Legacy stack) er musician that youcan “gel iter. leally, he or she may be ne who possesses certain skills that you sek, Ifyou have the right chemistry, creating music with another person can be avery rewarding experience + While ying in bed at night, try to make sup an endless melody that eontans a variety of instruments. Doing tis i truly liberating. nite creating instantaneously, and because there are no limitations to where you can go cor what itean sound like from events in their life to ir brain, they rereghtiste for being: 1 musician, {fel that if you're Kea language, i now to read and write it. Mar intimidated by theory, but it's not th cult, really; the system is actually people ar cal and straightforward, What confuses 2 Jot of people, | think, is having co struggle swith thinking in unfaiiar keys, such as A flat or F sharp. Bill Wesecot tau high school, but it waset unt ye music theory in took gultar Jessons fom Joe Satriani that ITearned how ro apply for oft to my instrument. There are ‘many books that teach music theory basic including notation, time signatures, key sig circle of fifths, chord theory and modes. {recommend that you tak thing you les ina ory book and figure a (1H ASS pee tat te rong $539 =a Corea ERE LA}JAMMING pee eae wees school of p< Real World Education Recording Arts Show Production & Touring Fol als the place to start To find out why 800.226.7625 fullsail.com YOU CAN GET THERE FROM > HERE 92 GUITAR WORLD best way to get tothe heart of th ret. I's a sometimes subtle, elu ice, but t's there, and there ar ay now, | usually build jen to, There are numerous ways you can do this. an also purchase prerecorded jam track conic devices, ike Korg’ €D, and some Pandora, feature built-in vamps you can play swith. (I never travel without my Pandora.) Focusing intensely on anything. form ofn ‘and, as such tial tin artistic abi t's difficult for hs the poten: ase 10, comprehension, imagina- lemist including yours truly) age. The keep the mi This, however, isthe only wa results. You need to meditate on what doing, and when the mind begins tow ry to pl it back “To that end, like to present various techniques for you to practice while jamming witha tape ora band, or jus sting in your ‘oom, First however, I would ike to make the following suggestions: Use ava of vamps that encompass ifferemt genres, grooves, keys and time sis: natures, By setting up specific parameters youl push your ferent ways of niques. This w really are onthe instrument bes forced to reach deep inside yourself and fi that push your musical buttons + When doing any ofthe following tech hique exercises, use them wo express the way various emotions fel to you: anger, oy, Ist, ria—whatever. Bach 0 audible counterpart: Beware, hoveve, that oly, paranoia, eupho: ‘secessfully transmit these e payche 1 your fingers, you may need to immerse yourelf i he emotion itself. This alon nendows focus, but itean aso an take e incredibly revealing fyou fel com pelled to focus more on negative emotions, try to keep things balanced afterall, you are what you pay, and wherever you take your ‘mind may no any dictate the type of art you also brainwash you inte beco i shuveype and incense, but this exercise ean build yourelf inc the kind of person you want tobe. i's also he! You find yourself ina particular funk (ue he ups and downs of ie), because itean help strengthen the mental tools you may need to pall yourself n a particular direction| VR St ‘IE aT 10 Pee GET LOW. Male re a2 Pee oe Preece Co ooo Tonos PCO O MC Oo PetCo ec) od eee eer or) Cay Pen ee ee ere) Pere er VIBRATO he amount of cont instrument. There are seve ady bent upward a half step, a wh step or wo whole steps. Many they can be more expressive wi the 12th free (che sen your guitar's bridge and nut), theiu oped out of singing off-key. Ye, whi bent note om the isoneofthe most 8 sically expressive sounds, one tha ger on the G string two frets ping sound of the pedal ste tures the listener and causes goose bumps. A higher. Strum both strings ake sure to practice bending vent note just has so much more attitude together, then quickly push the G hin the upper register and than its unbent counterpar string note away from hour and do nothing butbend _toraise its pitch up a whole steps Bend them up as far as that it perfectly matches the pitch ofthe make sure you zero in tunbent note on the B string E string up o A? Maybe if yo'te Zakk Wylde! that you want to hit f Inaddition: ‘ally to your pitch and stive for impe ending two strings atthe same HARMONICS {ntonation, (This comparable to what av rop bending ‘Do nothing but focus on playing harmoni rombonist oF slide guitar player ‘with anote ina bent position and foranhour. Experiment with different types ust do all the ime bi fer down or up, of up and then J techniques, including the following: Practicing unison bends wn. Push yourself + Play open string, or natural, harmon to train your Fingers and + Play bent noc toge iesby lightly touching any string with your fretting hand at various points along the string and picking it + Sound “artificial” harmonics by fretting ern es a note with the left hand and picking the Sri string witha downstroke while also “pinch ing” between the pick and righ Move the pick wer the pickups as do this to find various sweet spots: Try appl Be adventurous ent techniques for ing with distortion and wit bridge pickup on helps bring out harmonics, ce WHANMYy-BAR STUNTS ch." ike mine, you can pull up on it to make not go sharp as well as push down on it to make notes tur ito sheer blubber. Lean ab hello comes right back in tune. The setup is ve important. Try the following experiments + Play melodies by fingering only ene note of my whammy bar and it usually its pie Be "Play various kinds of harmonics an experiment with pulling and pushing the sounds. ‘whammy to produce ‘Try to create everything from nice, st jbrato on single notes and full chords to vio- seer warbling he lent sonic brutality xcophony. seem de acareer 0 of doing this.) ‘could go on forever, but [encourage you to create your own techriques. Your only eal guideline here isto do whammy bar things along period of Buy A Morley. PMS Oe a ORS on stopping. Sooner ot later you'l litle tessures an expressive instrument sits wide dynamic (volume) range Few people utilize the fll 185 Detroit Street Cary IL 60013 dynamic range of the instrument. You can bit www.morleypedals.com the then immediately sit ing extremely hard and forcefully, andboth of these thin 3 of three seconds, few whocan. Here area few way’ to practice: + Gradually go from oft to hard, + Create a strumming pattern that has sharp hits, ight strums and medias rhythmic things all in one of two bars + Play as loud and as hard as you possibly can without stopping for as long as you'e able to, Then do the exact opposite ‘Again, Ieould goon you get the poin To closeout this section, I've pulled together a number of ways you can setup parameter on the guitar. Try o do each ofthe without stopping following for an ho * Solo an one string only louble stops only (owo notes played together), then try doing with three, four, five-ond sx-note chords, + Solo on two adjacent strings only, then solo on two strings that have one, two, three tr four idle strings between ther, * Record a vamp that has a single bass note repeating und the vamp while limiting yoursel! to one par ticular mode or synthetic scale. + Playa choc listen toi then cose your to force you into making new dis: then improvise over and imagine a scene thatthe chord evokes. Thiscan be done witha melody ine, * ck one note and play tas mary diffe ent ways as you can for an hour. Make it und lke musi + Come up with at least ane sew thing a + Improvise with only one hand (your f ting hand), using only hammer-ons and pul offs to articulate notes, Make sure the notes sound good and clea, and na slopry + Play as fast and as cleanly as you can without stopping, + Play * Try fooling around wit ings. Inelude radically differen slow and tender as you can. ternate Try to evoke colors with chords your oor and touch it in many diffe tocreate unique sounds. REST Don't hurt yourself. If you need totake a break, then take one. You needn't feel guilty you miss a practice session. (Well, maybe a Tittle gil.) When you're young and have time to ili easier to pur in the hours. Keepin mind that your fingers have many tiny and intricate museles that, like any oth usd rate and heal threshold, and don't» to rest if your fingets really fel like they need it. F practice for 10 hours a day, and you should give yourself ample time to achieve ina ro play for such a long period oft ‘scem to have been blested with great nger genes. My fingers are long and nim ble, and they can take tremendous abuse Back when I was putting in many hours acticing, I could go for 15 to 2 . stretch, without any wrist, finger or forearm pain. A little muscle fatigue was about experienced, On the oceasions that I flr pain, {just worked through it, Today, howev fr, do not recommend this? T encourage every guitarist reading frkout tobe onthe alert for signs on musician ailment, such as tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, They can be very dangerous f not addressed. Two last notes on the subject. First, Ifyou want to maintain calluses on your fingertips, You need to protect your hands from getting wet for any Tong pecio of time. Second, pro penis. I you're doing loud gigs, put cotton or farplugsin them. (This may be nthis ave!) advice you get PLAY WITH OTHERS Share the experience of makin with others, if thar’ all you do, you're ntinued on page 159) prety good. me He Me eee Here at RainSong we make one super strong, great sounding, mean ass guitar. Our carbon/graphite construction and altention to detail allowed us to create a guitar like RET Cane oc ee a de Pee Ee ue Pei? Pee und campfire or hundreds of angry punks, a Ce au) Jt take our word for it, get down to your Teeaguitar shop ant try one for yoursel, We're prety sur you'll ages, Pe oe aes iSTEVE VAI (con. from pe 106) have not incorporated this concept into the body of the 30-hour eyce, but for me i's the most rewarding espect of being 8 musi cian. Making music, ike making love, can be Avery sharing, tender, touchy-feely, emotion. alexperienee,Itcan alo bea sheer expres son of other things ‘My favorite types of musicians io play with are those who know how to listen and inzeract ‘accordingly. To communicate musically you rust have the ability to allow others into your expressive psyche. To really let others in ean be am incimateexperienes. By the same token, you need tohave the abilicy ro lsten to others around you and interact accordingly. Mutual respect and a nonjudgmental atitude are some of the elements necessary neultivating the right chemistry wo make that magic Some of my favorite times in my life are the years that attended Berklee. earned alot bout myself uring that period. The school ‘vas filed wth young, budding, ambisious musicians, and the group of students hung out with became much like family. There were dif ferent musicians from all around the wor there, playing all ors of instruments, and they were enger wo explore, share and ‘communicate through music. Nothing can best that kind of atid and those kinds of moments, no mater hhow many hours you spend practic ing in your room. There were soe tremendous players tere, and bonded with people who have become elong fiends. ‘When I was in high schoo, was ina band called Rayge, and we played cover tunes by Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Queen, Deep Purple and others. We eventually started to do alot of origin music as wel. Our artiude in those ‘days was one of brotherhood. We went through many life experiences together, but the most important thing was the hand. None of us were selfish about sharing music when \we hit the rebearsal basement or the stage. We ‘went through many “coming of ge” experi ‘ences together, and a times those experiences were joyous, and at other times tragic. Regard- Jess, we aways had the band and each other ‘What Tm geting at here ishow important itisto play selflesely with others. Doing so ‘ll give you the opportunity to respect oth ers, experiment, open your eas, react and, of ‘ours, throw up on the gym floor after the ‘gg tthe high school dance. PISCOVERING YOURSELF This Workout and its methed may be high iyritciced inthe future for being “over the top," but I dont think there is any other way to hecomea virtuoso. This is nota class on guitar playing or songwriting (although itmay help inthe areas) bout path of discovery for the strong wile player The commitment it takes to become an elite vir: twoso guitarist snot unlike chat required to becomes champion in any other Feld. You must think breathe, eat and lve the instrument atvirualy every waking moment {and even while sleeping, when possible). You ‘must transcend the games your mind will play fon you and the excuses it will give you to ly off and take the easy road. You must contin ally bing the focus back to the instrument, ‘You may ind yourself being harshly criticized by other music cammunity people, or fiends, magazines and these that hang around on Sunset Boulevard obsessing over the nuances ofthe latest trends. This precisely the time ‘when you need to fearlessly stick to your vision, There are tet all along the way. Realize that i's allin the mind, and accept failure when dealing with things that are within your ability to contr Keep positive outlook on things and don't let your intensity turn you {into prick. Always compliment and Support your fellow musicians. ave dreams and hopes. By encour aging, complimenting and sup- porting those around us, we gain self-igniry, respect, friends, a healthy overview of Jour own work and an appreciation forthe efforts that others put in Fduring thee struggles. les okay to get discouraged at is never an option for a true artist I’ just notin their makeup. Think of music and the guitar when you're not even around an instrument. you'r ina quiet setting, imag. ine that you're playing and try to see your fingers moving while you listen to what's happening in your head. You can get better atthis as time goes by. Irs unbelievably rewarding and itean help you improve dras tically because you're not confined by your physical limitations. used to do this all the time, and | tll do, limagine things on the instrument that I can’t do, and then I work can do them effortlessly. “There are those who believe that God is manifest in everything, in the form of light ‘and sound. Some believe that chat light and sound need tobe discovered by each of us personally and alone. This ould be why we {are 90 fond of music, Creating music just by “willing” it in your head may eventually lead to jst listening to it happen in your head. Who the composer is and where the music takes you are for you to discover. PrscLaivER Becoming a rock star, a movie star, & ‘on them unt powerful executive, an elite athlete o a rich-and-famous anything is easy compared tw controlling the mind so that it remains focused without interruption on the music within. [do not claim to have that much it. Some people have an abundance of natural talent and more gifted in some areas than others, 'm hot naturally gifted; had to work very hard todevelop my chops and techniques. | know lots of players that are better shredders, cleaner players and better sight-readers than me, I've had students that showed an extraordinary ability to develop amazing technique but had redundant, dull ideas. Conversely 've had students that found it very difficult ro play anyth bur their ideas and sense of melody were contro, but 'm working inspired. And then there are those freaks that have ital [think being a musician and being able play an instrument is about the coolest rhing the world, Creating music (and especially playing the gu it’s based on pure passion, I's our birt is moet rewarding when an instrument and to create ‘Of course, you can toss the whole concept ofthis article and just doit your own way However, some things won't change. The amount of focus, passion are gong to be reflected in your at, Whacev x the ease, Lope you find your sou in it all. Thae'sthe payott.