Musicians check in here. If you play, tell us about it!

[bassnut]

A wise old musician once told me that when playing music gets in the way of your drinking, you know you've got a problem.

While I was up at that reunion I was able to meet up with a lot or the local musicians I hadn't seen since the '70s.
One of them, who used to be really talented, looked absolutely destroyed with neurological damage and old far beyond his years due to chronic .... use. It was really sad to behold.

 

[DerekUrban]

Welcome, Derek.

Another bass player!
We seem to outnumber all other musicians in this thread by about 4/1.
What's that about? Can somebody please explain this?

Is it that more bass players tend to be smokers and addicts?
...or is it that we're just smarter enough to gravitate to a safer alternative via e-cigs?

I'd say it has something to with Bassists generally being strange enough individuals to love the idea of smoking something that looks stranger than a cigarette to make people go "...Wha?" VPs are funky, and boy do I love the funk

 

[bassnut]

I'd say it has something to with Bassists generally being strange enough individuals to love the idea of smoking something that looks stranger than a cigarette to make people go "...Wha?" VPs are funky, and boy do I love the funk

Bingo.
This explanation works for me. Thanks.

 

[DaveP]

Quote Originally Posted by DerekUrban View Post
I'd say it has something to with Bassists generally being strange enough individuals to love the idea of smoking something that looks stranger than a cigarette to make people go "...Wha?" VPs are funky, and boy do I love the funk

Bingo.
This explanation works for me. Thanks.

Yeah, that's it ... it's the vapor. I use finger ease spray before every gig, that little can of silicone string and neck spray that I've always felt I needed to carry. I hate sticky necks. If the neck catches my palm on a slide up to a high fret, I have to go find some Pledge or something to wax it with. Over the years I've probably inhaled too much of the over spray.

 

[dopamine]

Drummer here! I've been playing since I was 8, and I'm 30 now. I play for a rock band here in Austin- we play out 1 -2 times a month, All originals. We're fortunate to live in a live-music-friendly town, so there are always plenty of opportunities. I also play in a more orchestral group, and recently played in a fleetwood mac cover band- we did the entire Rumours album! In the past I've played in a hardcore band, and other rock bands.

My bandmates (all social smokers) are all fascinated by the e-cig.

ETA: I own a Gretsch set from the mid-sixties, but usually play on a Ludwig from the 70s, as it can better take a beating. I'm a short girl, so I love to use extra-long sticks, like extremes and weckls.

 

[DaveP]

Drummer here! I've been playing since I was 8, and I'm 30 now. I play for a rock band here in Austin- we play out 1 -2 times a month, All originals. We're fortunate to live in a live-music-friendly town, so there are always plenty of opportunities. I also play in a more orchestral group, and recently played in a fleetwood mac cover band- we did the entire Rumours album! In the past I've played in a hardcore band, and other rock bands.

My bandmates (all social smokers) are all fascinated by the e-cig.

ETA: I own a Gretsch set from the mid-sixties, but usually play on a Ludwig from the 70s, as it can better take a beating. I'm a short girl, so I love to use extra-long sticks, like extremes and weckls.

Our drummer in the praise band at church uses a set of electronic drums. They sound OK but I like acoustic drums much better. If we play out somewhere on a gig, he uses his acoustic set. Some thing about real air movement from heads as opposed to a speaker creating air movement makes the difference.

 

[dopamine]

totally- plus I like to make all sorts of weird noises with my kit- like play on the rims, cymbal bells, etc. It's much harder to get different-sounding textures with an electric kit. BUt they certainly are more portable!

 

[DaveP]

Stage room is a biggie with our setup. There's a grand piano on one end that the lead singer plays and we set up around him on the back wall with the drummer in the middle.

We do a lot of Third Day and Chris Tomlin contemporary style music.

 

[DaveP]

Today is Les Paul's 96th birthday. Google has a logo in memory of Les with guitar strings set to different chords, dyads, and triads that let you play and record what you strum.

 

[Safira]

I was just going to post that Dave, I'm still trying to figure out the strings, but it is totally cool. We wouldn't have some of the greatest musicians today if it wasn't for Les Paul, he is still missed. Amazing man, and he must have had a very understanding mother.

I'm probably a little slow on this, but if you click under the strings you can use your keyboard. You'll then hear the "Do, Re, Me" (start with A, S, D,...) It's a major scale so you can easily take it from there if you know a little basic theory. You can create a back track and as you play it back solo over that too. But, it's still not the real thing, only one key and a little over an octive. But I love the idea, just not like my real guitar.

 

[DaveP]

They have the strings organized to play some chords and two note dyads and three note triads. I haven't tried to figure out the chords, but they sound nice.

 

[Safira]

yes, I was able to figure that out once I figured out what was going on. Once I understood their concept I thought it was a nice set up. Not quite as much fun as a real guitar with all those frets and different ways to play full chords, but still I'm seeing videos of people playing "Stairway to Heaven". Didn't they get the message, "no stairway".

 

[Safira]

I just noticed I can use my numbers too. Makes it easier to get the traid you want, press 135 or 137 and that's what you get.

 

[DaveP]

I just noticed I can use my numbers too. Makes it easier to get the traid you want, press 135 or 137 and that's what you get.

I played with it some more and found that the center 4 strings are a G chord. The top left 2 strings are a C E (part of the C E G - C chord). The right 3 strings make a D chord. So, you can strum G C and D using center, top left, and right.

 

[Safira]

Ah ha that makes sense, grouping for chords. I wonder if it's a G major scale with the D chord in there. (F#) I would have thought they would use the C major scale. (just because everyone does)

 

[DaveP]

Ah ha that makes sense, grouping for chords. I wonder if it's a G major scale with the D chord in there. (F#) I would have thought they would use the C major scale. (just because everyone does)

I haven't mapped it out, but as you hit the letter keys, you get the next note in a chromatic scale (G through G with sharps and flats). Then if you hit the L key you get an A in the next octave. The semicolon gives you an octave B.

 

[DaveP]

Here's a nice jazz guitar version of Paul McCartney's "Baby I'm Amazed" in jazz solo using the finger-picking style. I ran across it on YouTube. Give a listen!

 

[Morgythekilla]

Everyone learns the major scale and bar chords first. Keep going over and over them like an OCD maniac, and it will become natural in no time. As for adding 7ths, You have to streangthen your pinky, which will happen in no time as well. Try to press right above the fret, not in the middle, it will give a nicer ring. With your major scale, try kind of rolling your fingers to the next note, like youre tapping on a table, while obviously picking up, down, up, down simultaneuosly. It's like a swift wave, not individual ripples; but that will come when you can do it w/o thinkin. Good luck, guitar is super sexxxyy.

Just wondering what people might be working on. Seems to me with music there is always something new to learn right? So I was wondering if anyone else is working on something new.

I'm working on my major scale, I do it with 8th notes at about 75 BPM. But when I'm improvising with a back track I still can't quite sneek in to many 8th notes.

A shape barre chords, minor, minor 7th, and 7th. Getting that G string to ring on the 7th and minor 7th is tricky but I just have to take my time, I'll get it.

Song Jack Johnson "Gone" just because it seems like an easy song that I can get comfortable with the barre chords.

I'm still just a beginner, so I'm hoping you more advanced players are working on really cool things, maybe Tommy Emmanuel's version of Classical Gas. I don't know if I'll ever be able to play it like him in my life time but in about 5,10, OK 20 years I may just try.

 

[DaveP]

Learning scales just opens up new possibilities simply for the reason that you can visualize the patterns on the fingerboard. I remember a time in my life when I was hesitant to experiment during an improvised solo for fear of hitting a wrong note. Knowing scales allows you to branch out.

Chord theory combined with scale knowledge frees up the ability to actually understand chord construction. If you learn the intervals and their names, you can build a chord in any given position based on those intervals. For instance, if you know that a major chord is a 1-3-5 construct, making a flat 3rd or an augmented 5th is a simple matter of counting and remaking the chord. By the same method, you can look at a chord and figure out what it is. There's no more wondering about that crazy chord you came up with that sounds cool.

 

[DaveP]

Just to make things interesting, I'm posting a video from LogicalLeadGuitar.com. It's called "25 Riffs You Must Know". Lots of these will look simple and familiar to experienced players (they're the ones you picked off the original recordings), but for beginners there's a lot of valuable info in this series. Have fun!

Click the "youtube" logo on the bottom right to watch on youtube and check the sidebar for the next video in the series.