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.
Friday, February 17, 2012
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
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!
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.
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.
Monday, February 6, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
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!
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!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)