What makes a guitarist great?

May 11, 2012

You've learned the basics and you've learned or at least read up on the intermediate and advanced techniques. Now, I should tell you some of the most important advice I could give fellow guitar players.

No matter how technically advanced you are as a guitarist, that doesn't necessarily make you a great musician. What's important is to listen to all your favourite bands/artists/musicians and listen to all the leads and rhythms and figure out what you like about the way they play. Developing your own style often comes from wearing all your influences on your sleeves (or as patches on your denim battle jacket, figuratively or literally) and taking all the best aspects of your favourite players to shape your sound. You have to emote, work on the feel of your playing, make use of phrasing and vibrato, develop an ear for rhythms and melodies, and use all that to develop your own style.

Thou shalt not steal they say; sure it's important that you find your own niche and set yourself apart from other players. You shouldn't be a clone of your favourite player unless you want to spend the rest of your career in a Van Halen cover band. That said, there is a second commandment; thou shalt steal as much as he/she sees fit from each player they listen to. If you can mimic several guitar players playing styles and tones, you develop versatility in your own playing style. You can even go as far back as to listen to players who influenced your influences for even more licks.

Find a guitar you love. More specifically, find a guitar that suits your playing style and makes you want to play. There are many factors to look into when buying a guitar, such as electronics, hardware, and tonewoods, but overall, you want a solidly constructed guitar that plays well and feels good in your hands. What you like may be different than what others like as well. For example, I can play bolt on necks, set necks, and neck through, so I have no real preferences for neck joints. Lots of fast players like thinner tapered neck shapes, yet I prefer a neck shape with some chunk to it, though I still like being able to smoothly and quickly transition up and down the neck. I use fairly light strings because I like to bend a lot, though others prefer heavier strings because they sound chunkier. The string height or action also makes it easier or harder to play depending on your style and grip. The size of the frets may be a factor as well. The scale length of the neck can benefit your playing style. For example, a Gibson Les Paul has a shorter scale length than a Fender Stratocaster. The Gibson scale neck may provide easier bending ability, though the Fender scale length may provide more accurate bending. The weight to the guitar may increase tone and sustain as well. I come from the Jimmy Page school, where I tend to play Les Paul style guitars with lots of weight to them because I find them easy to play and get a good sound out of them, whereas some, like Richie Blackmore and lately Jeff Beck, may play a Stratocaster style guitar because they like to put up a fight with them. Either way, the guitar itself becomes part of your playing style.

Vibrato is very important. What you want to remember is to slow your vibrato down to a point as to where you can hear the pulse of the note. Slow and wide is good for sustained notes, fast and thin is okay for short notes, but if your vibrato sounds too fast and wide, it loses all sense of control. Also note, not every note needs vibrato, just the emphatic ones. Phrasing is also very important in creating melodic and memorable solos and lead lines. Proper phrasing should sound like a breath if fresh air or a pause for effect in the middle of your playing. Say you're playing a fast lead lick, then you end it off with a sustained note, and you end the phrase by giving that last note a slow and wide vibrato, or maybe the vibrato starts of slow and gets faster or wider the longer the note is sustained. Then you move on to the next lick and do the same basic thing. Slowing your playing down is another thing you can do to emphasize notes and melodies.

Remember, back in the 1960s and 1970s, there was no such thing as guitar techniques. Everything played on guitar was part of these influential players' individual styles. Think of guitar techniques as phrasing tools or melodic motifs instead, and you want to learn to integrate these motifs and phrasing tools into your playing.

Even More Electric Guitar Tips!

Now that you know a thing or two about playing guitar, here's some more intermediate and even a few advanced tips and tricks of the trade you could find useful.

1) Tremolo picking, otherwise known as rapidly alternate picking. Basically, picking up and down as fast as possible, thus playing the fretted note repeatedly in succesion. This technique is often used by Dick Dale, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Edward Van Halen, and was the basis of main riff in the Iron Maiden song Wasted Years. Tremolo picking is also common in mandolin playing and flamenco guitar and the technique was picked up from violin players rapidly running the bow back and forth across a string. It sounds as if the player is letting one note ring, but that note is broken up in a staccato sequence. Try to make each note sound as even as possible.
2) Diatonic scales. Since we spoke about major and minor pentatonic scales, I should tell you about the major and natural minor diatonic scales, also known as the Ionian and Aeolian modes. These scales involve a full seven notes. In solfege terms, the major scale is do re me fa sol la ti do and the natural minor scale is la ti do re me fa sol la. In terms of steps, The major scale is Tonic, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step, and the natural minor is Tonic, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step. In scale degrees, major is 1 major2 major3 perfect4 perfect5 major6 major7 1, and minor is 1 major2 minor3 perfect4 perfect5 minor6 minor7 1. These diatonic scales are considered the most used scales in music and the natural minor is highly popular in heavy metal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatonic_scale
3) Harmonic and Melodic Minor. The reason I refer to the minor scale as the natural minor is because it is the naturally occurring minor scale of the key, no accidentals. Now there are two other forms of minor, the harmonic minor and the melodic minor. The harmonic minor has a raised or augmented scale degree 7, or a major7 rather than a minor7. The raised 7th acts as a leading tone, which is supposed to lead to the tonic. The melodic minor has a raised 6 and 7 or a major6 and major7. In key signatures, neither the harmonic or melodic minor are naturally occurring and both require accidentals. They each have unique and exotic sounds to them and are often heard in heavy metal, classical music, and neoclassical shred.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_scale
4) The blue note, also known as the tritone. The tritone is three whole steps from the tonic, or a raised or augmented scale degree 4, or a lowered or diminished scale degree 5. This is often used as a passing note in blues, rock and roll, and heavy metal lead guitar melody lines. The blues scale is nearly identical to the minor pentatonic scale, but it includes the blue note. This is probably the most used scale in blues and rock music. The first heavy metal band Black Sabbath are known for their use of tritones. Tony Iommi's guitar riffs would often accentuate the tritone for both a bluesy effect and an ominous and semi dissonant sound. Historically, the tritone was banned from compositions and deemed "the devil's interval" due to it's characteristic dissonance. Now it can be used to create soulful and flavourful guitar solos.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tritone
5) The Modes. These are exotic scales used often in progressive rock, jazz, fusion, classical, neoclassical shred, and certain types of heavy metal. The secret to the modes is playing the major or minor scales and moving the tonic and key to a different scale degree. There are many historical modes, but the naturally occurring ones are the most common ones we use in present day. In scale order, the naturally occurring modes are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian. For example, if you took the major scale,  put the tonic on scale degree one, it would be the Ionian mode, with the tonic on scale degree two, it would be the Dorian, on scale degree three, it would be the Phrygian, and so on.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_mode
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Properties_of_musical_modes
http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/node/800
6) A guitarist walks into a dive bar. Ouch. Bad joke, or useful guitar tip? Take a look at the bridge. Some guitars come equipped with a dive bar at the bridge, also known as the whammy bar, the tremolo arm, or the vibrato bar. The dive bar can be pressed up and down lightly to create vibrato, or it can be pressed down hard to dramatically lower the pitch, also known as a dive bomb. Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Eddie Van Halen have famously used the dive bar. Some guitarists like to shake the dive bar while trilling a note to create a warble effect. Some play a pinch harmonic or a natural harmonic and shake the bar or dive bomb. Some dive bomb and then scoop into a fretted note. Some tremolo bars, such as the Bigsby are more suited to subtler vibrato, and others such as the original Floyd Rose are equipped with a locking nut and bridge for tuning stability so you can do the most outrageous dive bombs and stay in tune. Some tremolo bars are floating bridges and thus can be used to both drop and raise the pitch of the strings, but floating tremolos can have less sustain and thinner tone, whereas flush mounted tremolo bridges have the same sustain and tone of a hard tail bridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibrato_systems_for_guitar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floyd_Rose
http://www.floydrose.com/
7) Playing with a slide. Blues and rock guitar players are often known for playing bottleneck or slide guitar. I've already told you about sliding up and down the neck with your fret hand fingers, and now I'll tell you about using a slide. A slide is a cylinder in which you can fit any one of your four fingers in and use it to slide up and down the strings, usually worn on the second, third, or fourth finger. Duane Allman, Mick Taylor, Keith Richards, and Robert Johnson are known for playing slide guitar and you can hear Slash play slide in the solo for Rocket Queen in standard tuning and throughout the song Bad Obsession in a form of open G tuning. Eddie Van Halen plays slide in the song Dirty Movies. You should try your best to mute the strings while using a slide because it creates a lot of string noise.
8) Alternate tunings. Open tunings are mainly used for slide guitar playing so you can slide all the strings in tune with each other, though some player slide in standard tuning as well. Open tuning means tuning all the strings so each string is part of a chord. For example, open E would be tuned from the sixth or thickest string to the first or thinnest string as EBEG#BE, open A would be tuned as EAEACE or even ACEACE, open G would be tuned as either GBDGBD or DGDGBD, which is the tuning used by Slash on Bad Obsession and used by Keith Richards with or without a slide. Keith Richards doesn't use the sixth string, therefore his tuning is GDGBD. Jimmy Page has used DADGAD for songs like Black Mountain Side and DGCGCD for The Rain Song in the studio and EADADE for the same song live. Drop D tuning is just tuning your sixth string down a whole step from EADGBE to DADGBE. This has been used by many types of players from Neil Young in the song Cinnamon Girl to more extreme metal and nu metal players for it's lower, heavy, bassy quality, thus they also often use sven string guitars and detune them. Classic heavy metal and hard rock songs in drop D include Unchained and Sinner's Swing by Van Halen and Lay it Down, You're in Love, and Lack of Communication by Ratt. Tuning down a half step flat to EbAbDbGbBbEb is common, and has been done by Jimi Hendrix, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, Ace Frehley, Eddie Van Halen, Joe Perry, Randy Rhoads, Warren DeMartini, George Lynch, Slash, and Stevie Ray Vaughn. It loosens the strings and allows for easier bending and some would argue it sounds crunchier. Tuning down a whole step to DGCFAD is also common and is done by Mick Mars of Motley Crue, and you can sometimes hear this tuning used by Randy Rhoads, Tony Iommi, and Criss Olivia of Savatage. Ian Chains of traditional heavy metal band Cauldron tunes to CFBbEbGC as well as Criss Olivia which is uncharacteristic of traditional heavy metal, which uses mostly standard tuning or down a half step. Alternate tunings allow for playing in different keys and different chord voicings. The disadvantages are that it may be hard to get used to when you've been playing in standard tuning and that you may have to go up or down string gauges.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar_tunings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_D_tuning
9) String skipping. Instead of playing linear scalar runs up and down a pentatonic, blues, or diatonic scale or mode, you literally skip strings and jump ahead to a note further up or down the scale. This was popularized by shredder Paul Gilbert of Racer X and Mr. Big. You can also hear Slash play this in the main riff of "Sweet Child of Mine." I'm not personally that good at string skipping, so Wikipedia will probably explain it best. Here's where you start heading into extreme metal, jazz, and neoclassical shred territory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_skipping
10) Sweep picking. This technique was popularized by neoclassical player Yngwie Malmsteen. A lot of shedders use sweep picking as a cop out, but it can be used quite tastefully when done right. To sweep pick, you pick down or up across the strings in one sweeping motion, often while playing an arpeggio. I'm no good at sweep picking, but I do sometimes rake the strings. Raking is one way sweeping and often with muted strings for a percussive effect. Practice raking muted strings, downward or upward, then practice raking arpeggios, then move on to full up and down sweeps.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweep-picking
11) Multi finger tapping. This technique has been used by primarily shred guitarists. It involves fret hand hammer ons and pull offs forming the bass notes and pick hand tapping sometimes involving all four fingers forming the treble notes. Eddie Van Halen would often attach a board to the bottom of his guitar to raise it to a horizontal position in order to play the guitar fretboard like a piano. Stanley Jordan, acoustic guitarist Andy McKee, shedders Buckethead and Bumblefoot, and Reb Beach(of way too many bands) have very highly developed tapping styles. One thing Eddie Van Halen did very differently from his early schtick was the recorded intro to Mean Street, in which he used tapping purely rhythmically by tapping the top two strings with his first finger and the bottom string with his thumb and muting with the left hand, then going on to tapping harmonics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapping
12) String muting. The gift and curse of electric guitar is it's sensitivity. It's designed for total ease of use and is thus much easier to play than a classical guitar and arguably easier than a steel string acoustic, but due to it's highly sensitive nature, it picks up extraneous string noise and more mistakes than either classical or acoustic. No matter how well you can play or how many techniques you know, without proper string muting it will cause extraneous string noise and sound sloppy. Basically, lightly touch the strings that aren't in use with your fretting hand or press down with your pick hand palm to mute the strings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_mute

Now that I have told you about oh so many guitar techniques, and you can tell me later if I've missed any, I should let you know something. Playing electric guitar isn't about having perfect technique and there's no such thing as good or bad technique. Playing guitar is more about the sound. Does it sound good? In that case it works. Does it sound bad? In that case it doesn't unless you use it to your advantage like Eddie Van Halen. Having "good" technique may make it easier and more comfortable to play guitar, but having "bad" technique can be part of your guitar playing character and feel. Also, you may be able to shed and use sweep picking and string skipping really well, but can't bend or slide and stay on key. Work on making your playing more tuneful and soulful, more passionate, dynamic, and melodic as opposed to just shredding and showing off. Try working on individual techniques one by one until you have gotten good at one, then move on to the next. This is a great article about just that.
http://www.dinosaurrockguitar.com/new/kb/playing/technique/learning

Electricity!

Okay, you've fooled around long enough with your momma's cheap Yamaha acoustic guitar... or maybe you've bought yourself a Martin, Taylor, or Gibson, you lucky duck. Now you want to learn electric guitar? You want to play the blues, jazz, rock and roll, and heavy metal? Strap yourselves in then and prepare for a wild ride!

1) Remember everything you learned on acoustic or classical guitar. Electric guitar plays the same, has the same tuning, fretboard, chords, and notes as classical and acoustic guitar! All the fretting and strumming techniques are the same!
2) Forget everything about acoustic or classical guitar. What? You just said remember everything and now you say forget everything. Let me explain. They are all basically the same instrument. The frets and notes are the same, the tabs and notation are the same, the chords are all the same. That said, the electric guitar has a narrower neck and a narrower fretboard, thinner nickel or steel strings, and lower action. The electric guitar was designed for the most ease of use. You can get away with bad technique a lot more on electric guitar than acoustic, and a lot more on acoustic guitar than classical. The pickups and amplifier will literally pick up and amplify all the notes you are playing so well, some notes that would sound dead on a classical guitar and slightly audible on acoustic sound vibrant on an electric. For example, strike an A chord just fretting with one finger, then try striking it with more proper technique. One should sound just as loud and vibrant as the other!
3) Good tone starts at the fingers. Just because you can get away with bad habits on an electric guitar doesn't mean you should always use them. Clean fretting will result in crystal clear notes and bad fretting will result in dead or unintentionally bent notes.
4) Don't ever forget the power chord. Remember when I said these very simple two note chords sound HUGE? Now that you're plugged in to an amplifier and you probably have some sort of distortion or overdrive, you can hear why they're called power chords. Play one and leave it ringing. The fifth interval with the added sustain of the amplifier has loads and loads of power. It shakes the ground. It gets people moving. It kicks lots of ass! The best part is that it's not difficult at all!
http://www.guitarsforrockstars.com/index.php?beginners/difference-between-electric-and-acoustic-guitars
5) The pentatonic scale is your friend! This is a simplified version of the diatonic scale. It involves five notes as opposed to seven and it exists in major or minor forms. If you remember solfege, or do re mi fa sol la ti do, think of it as do re mi sol la do for major pentatonic and la do re mi sol la for minor, or if you think in scale degrees, think 1 Major2 Major3 5 Major6 1 for major and 1 minor3 4 5 minor7 1 for minor. It's easy and fun, and it's the meat and potatoes for blues, rock and roll, and heavy metal lead guitar playing.
6) Remember the picking hand! Okay, you've learned chords where you strum across all six strings of the guitar, or maybe five or four, from the bottom string to the top, from the top string to the bottom. You've learned about power chords and strumming only two strings at a time, and stacked power chords where you strum three or even four at a time. Now to start picking single notes. Instead of strumming from the shoulder or elbow, try strumming with the slightest wrist motion as possible. Now on to palm muting. It's a technique in which you rest the picking hand palm on the strings near the bridge of the guitar. Try playing a note or a chord. It sounds way more percussive! Play that on an electric guitar with overdrive or distortion and just downpicking and it sounds freaking heavy!Try going through a pentatonic lick just downpicking. Now try it with alternate picking, or using both downward and upward picking motion. Remember the very slight wrist motion.
7) Forget the picking hand. Instead of downpicking, uppicking, or alternate picking, you can hammer on from a lower fret or an open string to a higher fret or pull off from a higher fret to a lower fret or an open string. Pulling off sounds best when literally pulling you finger downward off the fretboard. That is called legato technique and can give your guitar playing a very smooth sound. Picking a note, hammering on, and pulling off quickly is called a trill. Often, guitarists hammer on and pull off very quickly many times, making a series of trills on the same note. this can be used to great effect. Alternate picking and legato technique can be combined for a wide array of sounds.
8) Two hand tapping. This is a technique popularized and perfected by hard rock guitarist Edward Van Halen, but also used by Jazz guitar player Stanley Jordan, KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, Queen guitarist Brian May, Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads. The way Edward does it it by tucking his pick in his middle finger and hammering on and pulling off the fretboard with his pick hand index finger. This can lead to many combinations with hammering on and pulling off to virtually any note on the fretboard! This can also cause a great leap forward in playing speed! Other guitarists tend to tap while holding a pick or tap with their middle finger. Tapping with fingers sounds more smooth and legato, where tapping with a pick sounds more aggressive. You can even tap on to the fretboard and slide up and/or down the string!
9) Harmonics! Choke up on the pick. I dare you! Now pick! Your guitar just squealed didn't it? That's called a pinch harmonic, and it sounds different up and down the string and with every fret. That's one way to spice up a guitar solo. Now hold your finger over the twelfth, seventh, or fifth fret wire on any string. Now pick that note. It rings nicely like a bell, doesn't it? Those are natural harmonics. Now try fretting a note. Now tap with your picking hand 12, 7, or five frets above that note right on the fret wire, straight up and down, as quickly as possible! It rings like a bell again. That's a tapping harmonic. Thanks to the sensitivity of the electric guitar, you should have no problem hearing examples of these.
10) Bending the blues. One technique that is the bread an butter of any electric guitar player is string bending, a technique that is so easy yet so essential! You simply, and very literally bend the string! It can shift the pitch up a half step, a whole step, some can even bend strings up to two and a half steps without them breaking. Push it up toward you or pull it toward the ground, however you prefer! Actually physically bending the notes gives your guitar playing a true sense of feel. It adds lots of flavour to your soloing. I say learning how to bend is when I became a true guitar player. Caution, though string bending can be done on a steel string or even a nylon string acoustic guitar, the higher action and heavier, thicker gauge strings cause a lot more string tension, thus they are a lot less bendable. Be warned, you could break a string or a finger.
11) Vibrant vibrato. Shaking the string with your fret hand finger or wrist helps to sustain a note and make it sound more dynamic. This type of vibrato works well with string bending. Another, more subtle form of vibrato is sliding your fret hand finger up and down or even in a circular motion between the fret wires. George Lynch of Dokken and Warren DeMartini of Ratt are two guitarists known for their vibrato, often sliding their fingers across frets up and down the fretboard for a very wide vibrato. It can be overused and can throw chords out of tune, but it vibrato sounds fantastic for single note leads!
http://www.guitarplayer.com/article/mr-scarys-soloing-secrets/6482
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdSmnkLIBxI
12) Slip and slide. Like bending, sliding involves just that, sliding your fretting hand up and down the fretboard. Be very careful, always practice sliding up or down into the right note! I have overshot and undershot sliding notes many a time. This is often referred to as a glissando technique. It adds lots of feel to your playing as well, and those who can slide right, sound very dynamic!

I believe I've covered the basics of lead electric guitar. If I haven't bored you yet, stay tuned for more guitar tips!

Now onto actual guitar tips!

You still want to learn to play guitar? You brave souls.

It's dangerous to go alone. Take this! (Pulls out an extra set of strings and a handful of picks. Also, awesome Zelda reference!)

1) Learn on acoustic. I learned on electric and it's done well for me, but learning on an acoustic guitar gives you a more rhythmic feel. It all starts with knowing how to strum simple chords. Besides, acoustic strings are thicker and have higher action, so it will make your hands stronger and electric guitar playing will come that much easier.
2) Never underestimate the power of the chord. Keeping rhythm and playing chords are both important as a guitar player. Since I learned on electric, I am more comfortable playing leads than I am with chords and rhythms, which are the bulk of what you will probably be playing. It might not sound as cool, but it's essential. Make sure you know how to play C, D, E, G, and A chord shapes as well as D minor, E minor, and A minor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_chord
3) Barre chords are your friends. Once you know the basic E, A, and D shapes and the parallel minor forms, you can use the same shapes (Mostly E and A, but the first three notes of a D chord in barre form can act as a power chord) in any key by moving them up and down the neck and barring the strings with your first (index) finger. The barre acts as the nut, so the bottom note of what you play should be the root of the chord. It's much easier to explain on Tabulature or a chord chart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barre_chord
4) Having trouble with barre chords? Can't stretch out that first finger? Use a capo. It acts as a nut and is used to play songs in different keys higher up on the neck. Unfortunately, if you want to travel anywhere on the neck, work at those barre chords.
5) Turn on the power chords. These chords are really simple. They only involve the root and the fifth of the chord. Try making a barre chord and only using two fingers and striking the bottom two notes of the chord. It sounds huge! That is the secret to playing rock and roll rhythm guitar and travelling up and down the neck quickly. They can also be played inverted with the fifth on the bottom, or played with three notes by adding a root on top of the fifth (Root, fifth, root) or to sound really heavy, even playing with four notes by adding a fifth on the bottom (Fifth, root, fifth, root)! Reccomended for playing on the sixth and fifth strings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_chord
6) Watch your fretting. I learned this tip recently actually, I always used to fret in the middle of the wooden space between frets. However, I learned that if your finger is in the direct middle of the wood or closer to the lower fret or the nut, the pitch could waiver a little. Press your finger up close to the metal fret wire that you are actually fretting for the most accurate pitch and tone.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fret
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpuxG8xYu5k
7) Get a grip. The best fretting hand grip for when you're playing guitar, especially for chording and especially on acoustic and classical guitar is one where your fingers are arched (except the first finger when barring) and the thumb is at the back of the neck. Also, you should lead with the thumb while shifting chord positions. I learned that from playing classical guitar; when you're shifting positions and the thumb is dragging behind, it flattens out your fingers and makes it hard to fret difficult chords. Try leading with your elbow as well. However, old habits die hard and a lot of people, myself included, do the baseball bat grip let their thumb wrap around the guitar, and to be honest, it works for bending strings and you can even fret bottom notes with your thumb! Even the best guitar players can have imperfect technique, but I'd recommend learning good technique before you fall into bad habits, then developing your own style.
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/id-87604.html
8) No deathgrips! Unless you want to damage the fret wire, the fretboard, or your fingers, don't press too hard, just enough that you're audibly pressing down the notes.

Beginner and Intermediate Guitar Tips

For anyone wanting to learn to play guitar or in the process of learning guitar.

I'm Wesley Rose, guitarist and bass player extrordinaire! I've been playing guitar since 2004 and even though I took a few years of leassons, I am mostly self taught, in that I figured almost everything I needed to myself. I thought I'd share my knowledge with the world. I'm not going to be your teacher and tab out everything for you and tell you exactly what to play and how to play it (Besides, I don't have guitar pro), but I will give you some cool tips and advice. Any other questions, I may answer in a later blog!

Here's some basic advice for people wanting to play guitar. Before you get started, remember:
1) Playing guitar will not guarantee you a girlfriend. Right now, the girls are mostly into hip hop, country, folk, and dubstep/techno/house. They may come around if you're an all around nice guy and maybe playing guitar will make you more open and confident, and maybe they will even like how you play (She's a keeper... just kidding). Also, don't write a song about a specific girl if you don't want it to come back and haunt you later. If it sells somewhere down the line and makes your band popular, that's fantastic, but if it doesn't, it could cause some turmoil.
2) Playing guitar will not guarantee you popularity. Once again, hip hop, pop, and dubstep/house/techno are what's popular. If people look beyond musical differences and like you for you, those are true friends. If they like the same music as you and share similar interests in other things as well, but they think you're an asshole, that's too bad for them (If they like your music, have the same interests, and like you for you, they're keepers!). I'm a lot less popular than some, but more so than others, and I find University and Adulthood is less of a popularity contest. Once you start judging others for the colour of their skin, their clothes, their hair, their music, or their religious beliefs, you alienate people, though it can be hard not to.
3) Playing guitar will not guarantee you a band. You might think you're hot stuff early on because you can play some licks, but being in a band requires knowledge of rhythm, melody, and chordal harmony (very basic theory) to become part of a cohesive group and make competent music. It also requires you to get along with your bandmates and follow their vision, or maybe they're open to suggestion and will play one of your songs or create a song out of one of your riffs.
4) Being in a band will not guarantee gigs. I got very lucky with Whiskey Rose. They seemed very incompetent at first and I knew nothing about bass at the time, but I listened closely, followed the chord changes and rhythms and everyone was impressed, then at our first show at a wedding, when we were unsure about when to go on and just threw our amps and drum kit in the middle of the hall, we had somewhat of an idea of what we were doing. That said, we only jammed twice before and we weren't very good, but it was a learning experience. By the time we got our first real gig at DV8, we really rocked. In order to get gigs, you must be very assertive, you must practice until you sound really cohesive and always be in touch with the bar promoters to make sure you get booked.
5) Playing gigs will not guarantee you money. I'm currently broke after jamming and gigging almost weekly. All the money we made from gigs has went to either keeping our favourite bar open or towards renting jam space, making t-shirts, and now pressing a demo. Once you sound great and build a fanbase, more people will be coming to the show, thus, you will see more money. Once you start selling t-shirts and stickers and patches and demos and whatever else, you may have to invest into getting them made, but eventually you'll start seeing even more money.
6) Musical ability will not guarantee you a job. Getting a job and keeping it takes MUCH patience, quick learning and thinking, lots of knowledge and skill, a good resume, a good first impression, or all of the above. Most likely, you will also be hired based on experience as well. Let's say you want to work at a music store. Do you have any retail experience? How well can you handle the pressure? I'm assuming you know a lot about guitars and music? Other musical instruments? Did you look like a street urchin when you walked in the door? What does your resume say about you? What life experience can you apply to working?
7) Just because you have been playing a musical instrument for a while does not make you smart enough for university. If you're willing to handle all the classes and study and put effort into your schoolwork whenever possible, do it. A degree is worth a lot! However, if you can't handle the class workload and you'd rather work at your job and make some money little by little and work your way up, that's fine too.
8) Always have a fallback. Being a musician has worked out for many. By putting effort into it, they've earned all the money and fame and perks they desire. However, many have put all their effort into the music and are only popular on Youtube or Myspace or Reverbnation or whatnot, or they may be still playing the club circuit and aren't quite making a living that way. In that case you could either wait for the opportune moment to get a record deal, or make your living from your day job. Gig money could always go to your guitar or amp collection and the rest can go to rent, bills, food, taxes, and entertainment. Savings are important as well.

February 17, 2012

It looks like I'm long overdue for another blog. Well, I just finished a midterm exam in music theory and even though I still have some unfinished homework to hand in, I think this weekend I just need to relax, de stress, and have some fun. To start that off, I thought I should write another blog entry.

This is the story of my rock and roll awakening. I wasn't always a rocker, let's be honest. Shocking isn't it? When I was really young, my mother would play Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Pachelbel, Vivaldi, and other classical music. By the time I was starting grade school however, I thought I should listen to something more modern.
I unfortunately thought boy bands were for boys, so I wanted to listen to the Backstreet Boys all the time. It was safe and enjoyable and catchy music. Even back then, I found rap music boring and my parents hated it for the message and the lack of actual singing. Techno went from cool to annoying very quickly. My mother also played a lot of Beatles music for me, but it wasn't until I was 11 years old that I started to get into them. I discovered Elvis then as well. He was the first true rock and roll artist that I really listened to.
I started listening to a lot of older music, especially 80s music and found myself particularly fond of anything with electric guitar. Once I turned 13, I was becoming less interested in pop music and more interested in the music of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. I was also becoming less interested in video games and being a nerd, and more interested in learning about good music. I'll admit, glam metal and hair metal and even cheesy lite rock played a big part of getting me into rock and roll and heavy music, but something happened on my 14th birthday that changed my life.
I played an acoustic guitar earlier and said to myself, "Self, you should learn to play this." I asked for a guitar for my birthday and my half brother Andrew promised me something that I'd like. That night I couldn't sleep and my sister took me downstairs to show me what my parents bought me and it looked huge. When I woke up, the huge package was presented to me and I opened it and saw a electric guitar and an amplifier. My brother then gave me his gift; it was a CD of Van Halen: The Best of Both Worlds. I listened to all the tracks over and over and I loved it! The first song I wanted to learn was Panama and I eventually wanted to play guitar solos the way Eddie Van Halen could! I said to myself, "From this day forth, you will be known as Wesley the guitar player, and you will appreciate hard rock and learn to play hard rock as best as you can." So you could say Van Halen was my true rock and roll awakening.
I've come a long way since then. I went through several phases. I went from liking anything with guitar in it to being weaned off of pop punk and modern rock because classic rock had that much more passion. I went from considering heavy metal a mess of noise, mostly from what my brother was listening to, to realizing a lot of bands I started to like were considered heavy metal at some point. I went from listening to what my parents listened to or let me listen to, to developing my own tastes. Most importantly, I learned to accept and live with my nerdiness and I transformed from a scared and shy little kid, to a confident, more socially active teenager, to an intelligent and ever learning adult.

February 7, 2012

I have decided that my last two blogs were a tad emo for my blog so I should lighten the mood by writing something fun!

How about, Wesley's Favourite beers?

Here's a list of some of the beers I've tried since I started appreciating beer that have left an impression:
Guinness (Ireland)
Killkenny (Ireland)
Boddingtons (England)
Newcastle (England)
Fuller's London Pride (England)
Greene King IPA (England)
Innis and Gunn (Scotland)
Leffe Blonde (Belgium)
Erdinger Wiessbier (Germany)
Rickard's Red (Canada)
Rickard's Dark (Canada)
Alexander Keith's IPA (Canada)
Alexander Keith's Red Ale (Canada)
Alexander Keith's Dark Ale (Canada)
Big Rock Traditional Ale (Canada)
Alley Kat Full Moon Pale Ale (Canada)
Amber's Sap Vampire Maple Lager (Canada)
Amber's Australian Mountain Pepper Berry (Canada)

That's all I can think of right now. I will probably update this post later, or make another blog entry of even more great beers!

For David

David Supina, son of Greg and Dawn, brother of Jesse and Zachary.

No matter how much you think you aren't appreciated, you are loved by your friends, your girlfriend, and your family. Over the years I have known you, you have brought yourself out of your introverted shell, became more and more social, and made many true friends, as have I. You have a brilliant mind, a wide range of interests, and your musical ability improves each time I see you. You believe in God, and I'm sure he believes in you, because he's on your side for sure.

Tell me, my friend; Why would you let one person's comments get you down? What drives you to get so stressed until you can't take it anymore? Many people support you, and in turn they seek your support. If one person doesn't appreciate you trying to do the right thing, why should they matter? Not to sound cliche, but remember, those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. If you care for someone, you should compromise. Not everyone will see things your way, and you won't always see things their way either. Besides, women can be fickle and hard to understand, but since you have a girlfriend who loves you already, why should it matter what some other girl has to say?

Never stop trying to do the right thing. Not everyone may appreciate it, but you should never have to feel under appreciated. You have come so far. I have to say, I admire your ambition. You learned to work yourself hard and aim high, even at the risk of being overworked and caving under pressure. If you believe in God and believe he has a plan for you, why worry? Just know that you are loved and respected and one day you will go far.

For my Father

John Cornell Dover, son of John and Ida, husband to Carol, father of John Andrew, Wesley, and Sydney.

Take a look at yourself now, you're exactly where you wanted to be and where you deserve to be. You've finally moved out of the great plains and into the Pacific coast. You've been promoted to the point where you're the boss. What about me, though? I'm still living off Mom, I can't find a job, if I had one, chances are rent and utilities would leave me broke. I'd be choosing between food and shelter, and I'd probably choose food. Heck, I may end up choosing a guitar or amp over rent!
My studies have gotten me nowhere thus far. I can't focus, studying has become a chore, my social skills have skyrocketed, but my once strong work ethic has been compromised. Should I have taken music? It was the only thing I knew I was good at back then. That said, I was playing guitar for about four years at the time and haven't done much else in terms of music. I didn't take piano or violin or voice for ten years or so, I haven't taken any royal conservatory, I only knew basic theory. I could carry a tune or recite rock and roll history like nobody's business, but I'm illiterate when it comes to complex music theory, and it just gets more and more confusing with each class. Everyone else in class can look at it, do all the math and guesswork in their heads and figure it out in seconds, leaving me in a trail of dust.
What is it? Was it because your life was so much harder than mine that made you work harder for what you desired? What's keeping me from simply getting an arts degree? What's keeping me from even getting a job? If I've never worked this hard in my life, how can I train myself? I'd give anything to have your skills, your credentials, your work ethic, your ambition. I'd give anything to be able to settle down and start a family within the next ten years. I just don't know where I'm going or how I will get there. I'd give anything for your sense of direction. I love you, and I'm glad you came home, even if just for a weekend, but there are so many questions that have gone unanswered. I don't want to grow up as a lazy spoiled brat. I want to fight for what I want.
What I'm saying is, I appreciate what you do for us Dad. I appreciate it more than you could know.

February 6, 2012

I woke up this morning after seeing a movie with a couple of my best friends, and I said to myself, "Self, you haven't written a new blog entry for days," so I decided I should write two blogs today, one for my Dad, who came back to Edmonton for the weekend after moving to Victoria, and one for David, one of my best friends who needs all the love and support he can get right now.

February 2, 2012

I just had a realization! It's only one hundred years until the year 2112, the year of the classic Rush album!

In other news, I've come to a point in my life where I'm pressured by society to grow up and become a responsible adult, and lately it's become very apparent that I haven't quite been ready to meet those expectations. Does that make me lazy? So far I've had a hard time with organizational skills as well as getting motivated and focusing on schoolwork or even getting interested in schoolwork, especially considering I haven't had much of a social life before high school and since becoming more social, I've been taking all the friends and socialization I can get and that became a priority for me. That's when I met Zachary, one of my best friends now. He personified the stereotypical artist. He was seen as lazy by society, but in actuality, he was working on his craft and working on being a better human being because of it. He didn't fit into a school or work environment, but he realized that quickly and focused on his art and learned all he needed to know in life from life rather than an institution and it served him well so far. With me, I was never much of a slacker until now. Why now? Is it because I want a social life? Is it because I thought once I was done with high school, I was done with schooling? Is it because I'm simply not wired for University? Is it because even though I understand music in great detail I have no clue about music theory? Maybe it's because I decided to become a music student when I've only been playing guitar for four years at the time and everyone else has been playing every instrument all their lives?

It could be any of those reasons, really. To be fair though, I'm only 21 years old, I'm still young. I've had two steady jobs in my life. My first one lasted two years, then it took me three years until I found my next one, which lasted only two months, but I got more shifts per week out of it anyways. I haven't been able to find a job since. I always hand out as many resumes as I can, get a call from only one place, go to the interview as said place, and never hear back from them, not even freaking McDonald's! There are four things I know I'm good at; cooking, playing video games, playing guitar, and remembering otherwise useless information about music, or guitars, or films, or games, or even food, and so far I haven't had a job which requires much of any of those things. I've only ever washed dishes.

Part of me blames myself for not working hard enough in my formative years. Schoolwork came easy to me in Elementary and Jr. High, so since then, I felt like life was a free ride as long as I could use my own mind to my advantage. That said, there were a lot of things that never came easy to me, like physical activity, or music theory, or women. Guitar came easy to me in Jr. High and high school, yet piano still doesn't come easy to me.

In the end no one is really to blame. As my friend Zachary told me, working on the skills you do have isn't at all lazy, and I shouldn't be ashamed if it takes me a little longer to get settled. Everyone works at their own pace. After honing my skills playing guitar and singing and even playing harmonica, it took me about six years to get two band auditions as a singer and both times I had to leave abruptly due to school. Then I joined Whiskey Rose. I picked up my half brother's bass and took it to the audition, and I was not very skilled at it, but I picked along, held down the rhythm, and followed the chord changes and became an official member, and now I love bass! I made sure that I made time for the band and made sure the band knew my work and school schedules and it's worked out ever since! So working on the skills I had have paid off!

I still have lots of things to work on in becoming an adult. I need to build study habits, practice habits for my instruments and voice, becoming more physically active, eating habits, learning to drive, paying the bills, keeping a steady job and not caving under pressure, learning to live on my own, and especially socializing. In the end though, as much as there is pressure from society, I realize that I have to work at my own pace, because society can't change my life, I have to!

January 31, 2012

Here's a list of some of the more memorable venues and gigs we've played around Edmonton.

DV8 Tavern, almost every weekend.
The Pawn Shop, opened for Cauldron!
New City Legion, opened for Skull Fist!
Brixx Bar and Grill
Wunderbar
The Haven Social Club
Rendezvous Pub
Some wedding in a hall, our first gig ever! It was a gong show!

There are plenty of stories from each of the gigs as well, for example the time I almost fell asleep on the pool table at DV8, hanging with Cauldron and Skull Fist, lending Stinger's bassist my rig, Ezzy jumping off the stage at Wunderbar only to knock down Wolfsons' merch table, me smacking a guy in the forehead with my headstock that same show, losing my Whiskey Rose T-shirt by putting on my Cauldron T-shirt, and many more that may or may not appear later in the blog.

To Be a Rock and Not To Roll

If you've noticed, I don't usually refer to rock music as just rock, but rather the full title of rock and roll. Why is that? I guess it's because it sounds more dynamic! But what really separates rock and roll from plain old rock musically? Some say the first real separation between the two came in the mid to late sixties when the original rock and roll era of the 1950s and early 1960s gave way to the harder edged styles such as garage rock, psychedelic rock, and acid rock of the later 1960s and the creation of hard rock. However if you asked me, I would give you the same reason as I did for the reason I use the term rock and roll more than just plain rock; It sounds more dynamic. When I say rock and roll, I'm usually talking about the best, purest, most dynamic, most unadulterated forms of rock music. For example (and this is just my opinion, bear with me), Van Halen is hard rock, but I still call it rock and roll because it's dynamic! Van Halen makes me want to bust out the old air guitar and practice my Eddie Van Halen stage moves, it makes me want to sing and dance like David Lee Roth. On the other end of the spectrum is bands like Nickelback or Linkin Park who, even though they are rock acts, are so joyless and bland that they aren't what I would call true rock and roll. Remember, these are my thoughts as a fan and I'm no expert, but I believe Lemmy Kilmister once said in the song Overkill, "Rock and roll ain't worth the name if it don't make you strut!"

January 30, 2012

So, what does it mean to be in a rock and roll band? Well, if you have a guitar or bass, know your basic chords, power chords and pentatonic and blues scales in any key, and know basic theory and aural skills, you're probably good enough to be in a rock and roll band, a glam rock band, a punk rock band, or even a heavy metal band. Same if you can play a drum kit or sing somewhat. If a band needs a keyboardist, even basic chords and scalar runs are often good enough. Rock and roll is at its core, simplicity in music. What makes a truly great band however? Is it thinking outside the box, more technical and progressive instrumentation, faster guitars, more drum fills, and higher pitched singers? Many metal bands need fast and technical guitarists, bassists, and drummers and high pitched or low growly vocalists, but what makes one better than another? Is it in the lyrics? Is it all in image and attitude? Do leather clad beer drinkers sell as many records or score as many fans as cross dressing glam rockers or post apocalyptic heavy metal warriors? Does that make the music better? To be honest, it's all part of the musical experience, but none of it truly matters if there's no heart to the music, if you can't feel the passion and effort put into the music. The fastest most technical guitar players may not have the feel of a true rock and roll guitarist, the most powerful singers with the widest range may not be the most expressive, and the fastest most technical drummers may not have the most character, and the best lyrics may lose sight of the music. Is it the sex, drugs, and drinking lifestyle? I'd personally say no because I tend to avoid all that even though I'm still attracted to the music.
What I think it means to be in a rock band is more than just dressing in leather and denim and high tops and drinking beer or whiskey (or is it whisky? Well, Jack Daniel's is American...). That's just what the bands do. What being in a rock and roll band means is going out there, having fun on stage, and expressing yourself through music, no matter how simple or complex, and using that music to unite people, to make them happy, sometimes even to share your sorrow, to make them dance, to give them hope and courage, to make them fall in love, to move them in ways you would never have known you could. Rock and roll has become more than just a type of music, but rather a faith. The stereo or bar or arena has become a church, and the fans are bonded by their faith. The band or artist has become a choir, singing of the glories of music and spreading its music throughout the world. Presently, the true rockers are merely preaching to the converted, for guitar music has been pushed out of the mainstream and pre made, prepackaged pop and rap music became the order of the day. That said, there are still those out there, those who go to rock bars and listen to live music, those who support the local underground rock scene, those who collect vinyl records rather than download MP3s, those who care about genuine music without the gimmicks of modern technology, those who would pick up a guitar and play rather than pick up a knife or gun and cause trouble. If rock and roll is unpopular, how come there are still so many who love it? I believe it's because it's genuine music, written not usually by professional songwriters but by the musicians themselves. It doesn't matter what race, creed, religion, or financial background you come from. It should be enjoyed by all. What started out as working class music for working class people has become timeless music for all people, then gone back to its working class roots once it fell out of popularity. With that said, more young teenagers have started listening to classic rock stations or their father's or uncle's record collection and true rock and roll has seen a resurgence among the youth, which gives me hope for the future of good music.
What is rock and roll? It is an art, a science, a mathematical equation, a society, a state of mind, literature, faith, expression, love, hate, fear, courage, sorrow, joy, drunk, sober, poetry, motion, image, attitude, heaven, hell, and of course music. Rock and roll is everything in life.

Prologue

January 30, 2012

Hi, I'm Wesley. Here's a few things you might like to know.

Well, I started a blog for the first time in my life. I've decided to start a journal of my adventures. Hopefully it will become a rock and roll biography, but I doubt that will ever happen. Haha.

To be specific, I wanted to talk about certain aspects of my life, mainly my duality as Wesley Dover, the hopeless romantic choir boy college student who's a closet nerd, a rock and roll fan, and an all around good guy, and as Wesley Rose, the beer and whisky drinking bass player of Whiskey Rose, the guitar hero, the rockstar, and the the leather and denim clad bad boy. The question is, how can those two coexist? How does college life differ from being in a band? How does performing in churches compare to performing in bars? What makes choir girls different from groupies (Spoiler; It's self respect!)? Where do the two lives intersect and cause conflict? What road should I choose in the end?

Here is where I shall post the tales of the best and worst gigs, drunken bandmates (Or choristers even!), matters of the heart, my personal growth, and the places and people we all run into.