Speed Vibrato and Bending A Good Solo Composition vs. Playing The Music Industry Attitude Happiness and Success Balance Why I Created this Site Speed I believe that speed is a powerful tool in a guitar players arsenal and one that should certainly be developed. However, I believe that speed alone gets boring and monotonous. In baseball, a fastball seems much faster and has greater impact, if it is set up with a slower pitch. Likewise, it is difficult to show emphasis, if you always write with the cap locks on :). I also believe that fast things should sound interesting if slowed down. This separates speed for speed and speed for emphasis and emotion. I believe that a tasteful player understands when to play fast, when to play slow and how to intersperse the two extremes. Taken on step further, it is often said that a good player can say more with a carefully selected and well executed handful of notes than a less tasteful player can in several hundred notes.   Back to Top Vibrato and Bending In my opinion, vibrato and bends are what makes a guitar sing and separates a beginner from someone who truly has a command of the instrument. I really have a tough time listening to a player who doesn't employ tasteful bends, or one with a weak and shrill vibrato. Many people used to say that someone like Yngwie was just playing a bunch of notes, or that Van Halen was nothing without 2 handed pull offs and whammy bar. I hear something different. In my mind, these 2 guys had very distinctive left handed vibrato and bending techniques, that not only gave them distinctive sounds, but that conveyed emotion and personality.     Back to Top A Good Solo It probably goes without saying, but staying within key is fundamentally important to the trained ear, unless of course you are intentionally trying to attain some level of dissonance and sophistication. I hear many rock players who just don't seem to understand the concept of phrasing and resolution.  In either case, resolution is vital. In general, I try to resolve to the 1st, 3rd or 5th. As far as accentuation, I often will ride a note that doesn't fall on the 1,3,5: If I am leading up to the next chord. In this case, I often will chose the note just before the tonic of the next chord. or... If I am playing in a mode other than the Aeolian or Ionian.  Ionian and Aeolian are not very forgiving when it comes to note selection. However, for example, if playing over the Dorian chord, in addition to the 1,3 5 you can also accentuate the 6 as this is the note that differentiates Dorian from Aeolian (natural minor) and provides Harmonic color. It took me many years to fully realize this concept. or If playing over an extended chord, as these additional tones expand the palette. I enjoy a solo that implies and supports some sort of underlying melodic changes in its phrasing. This can be attained by the rules above. However this implies that the song has a harmonic structure and melodic changes. I typically don't enjoy solos that are completely oblivious to harmonic content of the underlying chords and even when playing unaccompanied, I try to hear chord changes in my head to imply some sort of context and direction. I also believe that a good solo section enhances the song, compliments the melody, and in some cases provides some additional harmonic direction. I am going to take off my guitar hat for a moment to say that I find that some songs really don't benefit from solos. If it doesn't add to the song, or worse detracts, I would rather not hear it.       Back to Top Composition vs. Playing I believe that someone who is a very good player is so in tune with the nuances and little details of what they are playing, that it limits their ability to see or hear the complete product. Look, I am sure that there are exceptions, but I just don't believe that there are many of them. What I mean to say, is that the best songwriters, are typically not virtuosos at a specific instrument, often generalists. I believe that it involves specialization, similar to the way that pitchers tend to bat last, or in the American league, have a DH hit for them:) It is difficult to be very good at a lot of things. Personally, I have a sort of split brain and go through phases. When I am in a compositional phase, I am not really focusing on minute details, I try to focus on the big picture. When I focus on the minute details (chops, etc.), I find it really difficult to compose something that would appeal to non-guitarists, and sometimes even other guitarists :) Back to Top The Music Industry About 20 years ago, I took my band to meet a producer. This guy gave us handouts of himself with Elvis and just about everyone else (dead or alive) that you could imagine. I don't know who he thought that he was fooling, as you could clearly see that a cutout of him was placed in the picture, and that this was run through a copy machine. I wish I still had his handouts. They were priceless. On our way out of the studio we noticed that his car had all of these pictures taped to the inside of the windows of his car.  It was quite humorous, yet sad, because this guy was clearly out to make a quick buck. Some time after this, I found in the East Coast Rocker for a band who had just lost a guitarist and was looking for a replacement. In fact, the guitarist is still playing with the same band that he left for, and is quite successful in this gig. I don't want to mention names, but lets just say that he made it, and is quite well known and respected. Anyway, back to the story... I went down to audition, but never got a chance to play for them. They "manager" told me that my hair was too short and I was too short, as the bass player was an inch taller than me (yeah right). Although they were not willing to give me a tryout, the manager did take a liking to me and wanted me to model in my underwear for a photo shoot. In addition to being a manager for the band, he said that he also was a modeling agent and that some of the kids/guys that had modeled for him even felt comfortable enough to take off their underwear. Wow, what a sicko! I wonder how many kids he has manipulated into uncompromising positions. I often question whether I should expose this guy's name on my site! I am appalled to this day! The music industry is less than approx. 1% of the size of the chewing gum industry, and there are an incredible amount of people who want to fill a very limited number of spots. This over-supply issue has fostered a counter-culture industry of individuals that will want to exploit you and your passion as they will make their living by taking advantage of you or worse, as in my second example. You have "producers", "agents", enterprising "musicians" who will offer to show you how to make it (for a fee of course). Interestingly, some of these people have managed to elude success themselves. Perhaps they can teach what not to do, but how in the hell can they show you how to make it? Here is the bottom line. If you choose this industry, do it because you love it. The odds of "making it big" are statistically very small. Surprisingly, some of the people who you would think have made it, are actually struggling. You need to protect yourself by not letting a dream cloud your judgment. You need to be critical and maintain a healthy sense of skepticism. For everyone who is sincere in their concern for you, there are probably at least 5-10 others who aren't. Not everyone that you will meet will be as obvious as the guy with the poorly doctored photos. You need to also realize that luck and timing are critical aspects of success and unfortunately beyond your control.   Back to Top Attitude Arrogance impedes the ability to think clearly and objectively. There is nothing that will prevent you from improving than the thought that your are already great. Musicians who spend time talking about how good they are, typically make bad team players and most of them really aren't that good. A certain degree of self confidence is necessary to be a good performer, but there is a fine line between healthy self esteem and arrogance, as arrogance typically hides deeply rooted insecurities. In High School I used to know a guitar player who developed a major beef with me. He had started playing guitar years before me, but probably could not contend with the idea that I had maybe (all subjective of course, as everyone is unique) surpassed him in playing ability . I would hear that he would go out of his way to say all kinds of negative things about me and my playing. This behavior even continued on after High School, as I would hear stories from other musicians. I finally diffused this situation by taking the high road. I was at venue where his band was playing, and made a point of telling him that he and the band sounded good. Why not? They did. He played well. I didn't really care who was better and I never said anything bad of his playing ability. Musicians can be so insecure. I knew another "Guitar Player" in high school who was a year or two older than me, had ability, but more than that, a lot of theoretical training. If you had a conversation with this guy, it wouldn't take you too long to know that he clearly thought that he was "it" when it came to guitar. He would compare himself to other guitarists in our area and talk about how much better he was. Our "friendship" ended when he started getting condescending with me and started putting down another guitar player, who was a really good friend of mine (and in my opinion extremely talented). Why did he feel the need to put others down? He was insecure.. Sure he had a lot of training. In my opinion he was an OK player, though with that attitude would never get much better. Why improve if you are already "great?" I once played at a gig where the sound man was a guitar player, whose act was on last. My friends and family (one of them actually a sound engineer), told me that they couldn't hear my solos. Yet, when the sound man's band came on, he was jumping around the stage like "Joe Rockstar"... and of course you could hear his solos (as his solos were louder than the rest of the band). I was not too impressed with his playing and he really looked kind of foolish (in my opinion - but then I can't stand conceited, self important Rockstars). He was arrogant, but not self confident, and I believe that he didn't want me to be heard, because he didn't want to share the "limelight." About 10 years ago, for a local community organization, I was offered a spot in a band playing bass . I declined, but later one of the band members took me aside and told me that the guitar player knew of me, and wanted me to play bass because he was afraid that he wouldn't have all of the solos if I was also playing guitar. To summarize my thoughts here.. If you think you are very great, perhaps you should step back and reexamine yourself. You are hurting yourself as it is highly likely that you aren't as good as you think you are and you won't improve until you learn humility. Furthermore don't dismiss others. When you put someone down and completely dismiss their skills, you will not be able to learn from them. Let's face it... everyone can do something better than you can. If you want to improve, learn humility, learn how to recognize and appreciate others. In 8 words... stop being a jerk and get over yourself. In addition to my views on arrogance, I am a firm believer in the idea that every problem creates an opportunity, and that a true loss is a bad situation in which no good is realized. Thus, if we are smart, we will find something good out of everything bad that occurs. Often this can be a lesson learned or an opportunity realized. Don't let any situation become a complete loss. It is not fair to yourself or those who care for you. How does this relate to this site? Well, some of the greatest works of art and music came at the cost of great pain and suffering. Be it the works of Tchaikovsky or even the Blues, there was a way to transform suffering and despair into something else. To summarize, I believe that music and other forms of artistic expression are very effective in allowing one to heal the soul and thus can be considered a process, as well as a product. This is why, (providing that we are not harming ourselves or others), I do believe that we shouldn't entirely let the passions in our lives get away from us. I am not talking about children or relationships, as of course these need to be integral in our lives, if we have them of course. What I am talking about, are those things for which we don't need others, things which we love, that make us really feel alive. To the people who say, I don't have the time for these types of things, I am compelled to think, "well how many other things do you do in life, that you really don't need to do?" and "How many of these things that you feel are your responsibilities, only matter to you?" In truth, most people would have the time to play, they just have a different set of priorities. Yes, to a certain degree, this happened to me, but perhaps I can look at it and say that this was necessary in order for me to gain a better appreciation.     Back to Top Happiness and Success There are entirely subjective terms. Too many people try to derive happiness from externalities. We need to stop trying to "win the lottery" as happiness comes from the inside out. Many people are of the assumption that specific success will bring happiness. However, I tend to believe that this is opposite way of thinking. I think that we need to define success. I believe that there is success in completing a specific objective and success in a general life sense. The two are can be intertwined, but they shouldn't be confused. Let's face it... Things such as financial financial prosperity are meaningless if you are working 14 hours a day, and don't have time for yourself. To summarize, you will successful on one level, but failing at the more important level. I know many people who have very large homes, fancy new cars, expensive toys, and the like. They surround themselves with "things" hoping to be happy, only to find that this is not what they are looking for. In life, we need to try and find the less tangible things that make us truly happy and try to incorporate these into our lives. In fact, in a general life sense, happiness brings success.     Back to Top Balance As mentioned previously, financial success has some degree of importance, but this is not an end to itself. At its most basic, it is really a means to allow you to live your life in the manner in you wish, and provide for, for example, your children, accordingly. I think that many of us get caught up in this vicious cycle, whereby money and career becomes a mean to an end. Family is very important, though I cannot spend all of my time with my family. As much as I love them, I need to be a complete individual. If I am not, the quality of our time together will be seriously degraded. In addition, I need to do other things in life to provide for them. Self fulfillment, such as doing the things that I enjoy, that make me feel whole are very important as well, but I really couldn't get there if this was all that I strived for. From the perspective of, and of course if you believe in, Maslow's Hierarchy, one cannot achieve self actualization, which is the pinnacle of existence, until the lower levels, such as food, shelter, etc. are attained. My Dad once told me a story about a man, who throughout his life, was consumed by his career aspirations. Somewhere around the age of 70, he got married and had a child. Shortly thereafter, while visiting my Dad, he wept about the fact that he didn't realize all that he had missed and that he only had a short time left to appreciate these things. In summary, we are all going to die someday. On my deathbed, I am going to want to know that I lived a good and honest life, and that I have accomplished the things in life that really mattered. Everyone wants to make a mark on history as somehow this gives us a sense of immortality as I don't think that anyone wants to be forgotten. Honestly, I think that we need to set our sites a bit lower and realize that we are part of something much larger than us and I think that we should concentrate on having a positive impact on the lives of those around us.   Back to Top Why Did I Create This Site? After I started playing again for a couple of months, I had come to the conclusion that I wanted to do something. I started scouring the Internet and found an add for a band looking for a guitarist. I thought about it about, and after some consideration, mustered up with the nerve to call. The band was primarily a cover band, but they seemed pretty decent. I had a nice conversation with their sound engineer, who was fielding calls for the band and he indicated that they had already found a guitarist, but that if I were interested, they need a fill-in every so often. He told me to send him an email with my contact info, and that he would reply with a set list. I sent the email, but never received a reply. I realized that I may be suffering some type of credibility issue, in that I really did not have any type of way (aside from going to an audition) to illustrate what and how I play. This was when I first realized that I might want to consider getting some type of presence on the web. I continued to mull this over for a period of time before I finally decided to "bite the bullet." This is one reason why I decided to do this. In actuality there are many reasons and I don't honestly think that I know all of them. Some of the more prominent reasons, are that it is enriching to share a passion with others. I also feel, that although I may not be the greatest or anything like that, that I do have some valuable information to share. I am not in this for the money and I would really find some level of personal gratification, if what I have to share benefits someone. This is really more about attaining some sense of self-actualization and this experience will help me to grow and come to terms with a lost dimension of who I am and from where I come. It has actually led to the re-kindling of old friendships as I have been contacting prior band-mates, as well as friends, and have been asking them to go out there and take a look. It brings back many good memories, and I find that many people are coming to similar junctions in life. As we go through life, we often let pieces of ourselves die. At the very least, my friends have told me that this site has helped them. What more can I ask for? I started to create a guitar site. As I started coming up with the material, I experienced many emotions that were tucked away and some of these, I really did not know existed. In the past, I think that I lacked perspective and thus the capacity to understand. As a result, this site became more than a site about guitar or music. The guitar can be substituted for a passion in life, that you put aside, when "it was time to grow up." On some level, I think that we all do this. What I am talking about, are things like art, sports, music, charity... whatever it is that you once enjoyed and made you feel more complete before you became too busy. There are many layers to the message of this site. At the most basic level, it tells a story in pictures and sounds of my life in music (somewhat abridged of course). It also talks about my perspectives regarding music, playing and discipline. At a deeper level, it discusses some of the factors, as to why I left music. At a very deep level, it goes into insight regarding self-actualization, family, career, and how this lack of balance leads to a sense of being unfulfilled. After I registered this domain name and published the site, I found that there was a fusion guitarist in Japan who goes by tkguitar. I heard some of his recordings and was impressed. I also saw that there is some dude in Michigan looking for dates who also goes by this name. I found a couple others as well. Man, I had no idea. Perhaps I should had done a bit more research before choosing this site name :) What's done is done.     Back to Top