I'm onto that Jesse! And thanx all 4 the kind words lads, looking forward to getting a few new ones out there on the good ol' GMC!

Ah thanx a mil Marcus me too !

Yeh I wrote to Kris last night on that and I'm 'rarin' to go' as we say here in Éire - that's Ireland btw . As soon as he sends me the token I'll be smokin'! lol

I have a load of lessons I've had in mind for ages just couldn't get around to do them. But I'm a-ready now and absolutely dying to get back into it. Don't wanna sound 2 soppy but I missed all the goings on here + you guys ... aah .

Had 2 sort out a few PC problems too. But I'm on on top of them at last. Codec probs and nasty stuff like that, hard to track down. And also my PC is in English these days not German which is a help I have to say. Ja ich spreche ein bischen Deutch aber nicht viel .

Yeh the whole site and forums etc looks great, I can see the major progress. When you've been away from it a while it comes back at you! Looking forward to going through it all.

I'm gigging away here to with a m8 of mine and got back into that too which has been a long time on the wish list. Picked up a Vox Tonelab recently, its neat. Needs a bit of work to get the sounds sorted but getting there. Oh and I treated myself to a Boss BCB Pedal Board to house all my pedals and they all fit in perfectly. I used to make my boards but have been through a few. Generally when traveling I'd strip them down cos they were usually too big to be moving around on flights etc. But now I'm Mr. Neat .

And your good self?

Yes Way . How goes it Mr. C! Hows tricks? hope yer keeping well ...

Yeh its been a while but I was a very busy lad and had to sort out a few things. But I'm back in the zone of reality and 6 stringdom!

The ol' place here is lookin' well!

Yo JVM!

The boy's back in town!

Cheers Asphyxia Feeling

I'm adding a new one today and hopefully part 2 of it on Monday or so coming. The second part moves into playing the chords up the neck (barres) and moves away from the first position open string chords and that area of the neck.

It also moves onto playing the chords in a lead/arpeggio style which the series is building up to. So getting there as they say .

Thanx 4 the post and talk 2 ya soon,

D

Hi Swingline

Sorry for the delay in answering your query, as Kris mentioned I've just moved to Ireland from Switzerland so things are a bit topsy-turvey at the moment .

Btw, I mention the term 'Valves' below, but just to mention that these are called 'Tubes' in the States and elsewhere I'm sure. Same component, different name. Also the term 'Trannies/Tranny' refers to 'Transistors'.

There are different types of amps and they are broken up into 3 main categories:

1/ Valve/Tube Amps
2/ Transistors Amps
3/ Hybrid Amps.

A good guidance rule to use is to make your decision on what type of music you want to play regarding choosing a Valve or Tranny amp. This is the main criteria you should use when choosing.

My take on it in general would be this. With a valve amp you can get all of the transistor amp sounds available more or less. With a tranny amp, it's a difficult if not impossible job to to get the same warm 'valve lead tone'. This is a very heated and contentious point causing lots of debates amongst guitar players over the years.

I think the upshot of it all is, as mentioned but worth repeating is, make the decision on what type of music you want to play. Apart from the obvious expenses and what you can afford of course. Now this may sound a bit obvious but it's quite common for players to choose the wrong type of amp for the wrong styles of music. It's a bit of a learning curve I guess.

I would first suggest to you that if you are playing Rocky/Blues lead guitar along with heavy rhythm I would strongly suggest that you invest in a Valve amp. They give a much warmer tone in the lead department than the transistor amps due to their inherent nature and the way the signal is processed.

The clean tranny sounds are excellent in particular and there ARE great lead sounds to be had from a tranny amp, but getting that 'warm' lead/overdrive tone is difficult. But with some styles of music this 'warm' lead tone is not required. Sometimes a searing and cutting lead tone is what is required, so a Tranny amp is perfect here.

On the down side to valve amps, they are expensive compared to the trannies and you need to replace the valves every half year to a year depending on how much you gig the amp. Saying that, some players just leave the valves in for years and it suits them fine. It's not a clear black and white situation. Also they tend to weigh a ton - ask my aching back .

But for myself I think these compromises are worth it in the tone that is given.

There are so many amps out there these days that another type has come into the mix and these are called Hybrid amps. They are a mixture of both technologies, both Valve and Tranny. Then you have the likes of the mighty 'Pod' which simulates many amps at the touch of a button. But these, as the makers themselves have termed are 'simulations' and not the real thing - although some seriously excellent sounds are to be had from these units without doubt. Many pros in the game use this type of gear.

So a clearcut answer is not really possible to give here as every player has his own personal tastes on what music sounds are needed and sound best.

So to give a basic guideline I would suggest a Peavey Classic 50w (Valve Amp) which is what I use myself as my main amp. It's got 2 channels, clean and dirty, a reverb unit built in and footswitchable channels (which is a must for live work). It's pretty versatile and will cover most sounds you would need. You can add an extra speaker to it if necessary.

For Rock or heavier stuff I would suggest looking into the Marshall DSL 100 (as used by Gary Moore among others).

Also I would suggest to you the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe valve amp - great sounds out of it.

Line 6 do some pretty good stuff too of course, but I think they lean towards more ' modern' sounds as opposed to 'Vintage' ones. And also I would recommend the Vox 'Valvetronics' range.

Once you have a good amp sorted, you will need a good effects units to give you many different sounds especially if you are doing covers or need more that just a clean/overdrive/distorted sound. This too is a world in itself regarding choices available.

My off the top of my head suggestion here would be most Boss stuff. Or the Line 6 Pod is a great unit, but whatever effects unit that you might go for, get the basic guitar/amp setup right first and THEN get an excellent effects pedal.

Another unit I would recommend is the Vox Tonelab and similar Vox units. They have a new electronics setup in these units that does an excellent job at getting a valve 'warm' tone.

So I hope this helps you make the right decision and has helped out. I will keep an eye on this post and try to help out with it if you have any more q's on it.

David

Well basically he surprised everyone and our ex Thin Lizzy drummer, Brian Downey, by turning up un-announced one Friday night just before our gig! It was in Dublin's infamous boozer, Slatterys of Capel Street, and the band was called "Talk to Strangers", a Blues-Rock setup. Big Hi to all the "Strangers" Pat, Peter, Brian n' Joe and all the Slatts gang too.

Can you imagine? I was alone in the upstairs bar, about 2 hours b4 kick-off, after setting up my gear for the gig that night, and stuck into me tuner.

I heard the door open, I looked up ... and the man himself was standing there with guitar-case in hand, and said ... "Hi, is Brian 'ere yet?". Talk about the unexpected happening!

As you might guess, we had a great gig that particular evening, and Gary got up near the end to play a few tunes with a lovely old gold Les Paul (once Peter Green's so the story goes).

As a point of interest to us geetar players, guess what guitar effects/pedals he had with him? A Boss Overdrive and Delay! Ha-ha, if that's not a strong enough endorsement, what is sez u ?

I vaguely remember there was plenty of before and after-hours beers (the best time), and jammin' in Slatts that night. He even demonstrated some of "The Loner" to me (it had just been released), when I cunningly asked him to try out my then new Squire Strat. I still have the strings somewhere, but unfortunately the Strat's gone.

A friend of mine (another Dave) who's a bit of a joker, even done a little party piece on him later when we were all downstairs doing the after-hours thing, when he came up to him with a red book (it was a red folder actually but close enough) and said (in a great Eamonn Andrews impression he did), 'Heh-heh Gary Moore, ya came over here tonight to see Brian and do a few numbers at the gig but little did ya know ... 'cos tonight Gary Moore *'This is Your Life'.

With that everyone burst out laughin as we all knew this little trick of Dave's. Gary looked a bit bemused by it all and didn't know where to look and said 'I'm only here for the beer' .

When I woke up the next morning with a banging head I had to ask myself 'was that a dream last night?". But nope it wasn't and I had the hangover to prove it lol.

*'This is Your Life' is/was a big TV show in UK + Ireland where famous people get surprised by Eamonn Andrews and then the program tells the chosen 'victims' lifestory and all the people involved in the persons life are there. So it's a big surprise show that everyone knows about beforehand except the subject.

FanTABulous!

That was good stuff Andrew, particularly liked your ' Mystery Tune' idea + the old medieval pic Kaneda contributed looks great.

Anyways a fine lesson to help players with the old 'golf clubs swinging on a fence' condition .

D

I distinctly remember my first 'airing' to a song by Thin Lizzy called 'The Rocker'. I had an unrolled steel coathanger for me guitar, and practised in a wardrobe-door mirror.

I started on the single version, and then later advanced it to the full 5 minute album version complete with a stunning 3 min or so guitar solo .

This progressed onto actually getting an electric and gigging the song live in a bar in Dublin many years later. I owe a lot to that band hee-hee

Good call there. I love his first album and my fave track from it is called 'All the Children'. Here's a link to a live version of it on the Toob - it's more or less note for note. Some ridiculous runs in there and so melodic too.

http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=e7-lSpLaCSw

D

I mention to students Andrew that if they come across two major chords one after the other in a song, it's the IV and V chords of the key. Well in diatonic progression of course but most of them are using this.

I make them learn the basic chord families first, and then it's an easy enough matter to get the tonic/home chord once you have the IV + V. After I have DRILLED the 1 IV V's into them .

But yeh, hope this helps it's not an easy one.

D

Hi guys better late than never eh . I just found this little thread a little while back so HI! .

David

Hi all

I agree there, I think it would be a great addition to add and as the site is growing it would be an absolute necessity I reckon.

For example, I couldn't find a lesson last week I wanted to look up (I had made a mental note of it to check later) but I couldn't find it. Pavel had mentioned it I think, so I wrote to him and he gave me the URL - cheers P.

Also I made a note of this post on the forum yesterday and was going to mention it to Kris:

Post From: kahall 29th April 2007

Member

Hey, I am pretty internet savvy, but now that you have removed blues lesson 2 from the main page how do I easily navigate to blues lesson 1 and 2? I love the site but I have a hard time finding things once I have seen them and want to go back to it. Am I missing some kind of site map somewhere?

So I think it's a bit of a must at this stage already and we can all see the future here .

D

p.s. that's a healthy visitor number you have there Kris well done! The site deserves it!

Sounds interesting Kai, look 4ward to your 1st lesson. I had a look at your MySpace page - good stuff. Viel Gluck btw . D

Gotta agree with ya there JVM - HUGE fan here since a long time . You hit the nail right on the head with your melodic Rock/Everything description above.

I come from Dublin meself and the lads are still mega over there of course in the hometown - deservedly so! Philo is sorely missed .

D

Yup I've heard rumours, stories, legends and tall tales about them but I never seen one - like the Yeti . Sounds a bit expensive that price tag just to move a bit of air lol.

But I believe they're the biz - must be if the guys mentioned use them, but to justify that price tag hmm. You could buy a lot of things with 50 grand - send me the money and I'll do a live experiment on it if you like .

D

Big Hi and welcome to the GMC Muris. Your site looks terrific and u sound great too! David

Hi Pantalaimon

I think that issue is being addressed at the moment at the GMC. I myself have contributed a Country, Bluegrass, Pink Floyd/Blues and U2 lesson and am trying to diversify on styles with a few different ones coming up.

Recently GMC has brought aboard some great instructors in new genres such as for example Ben on the Jazz.

I think if you give it a little more time you will see those lessons you spoke of. Personally I do intend to tackle some of the ones you mentioned. I like the different styles myself and I think you have a good point - it's happening though at the GMC as we speak in my opinion . There are a VAST amount of styles out there and I'm sure many will be added as we go along.

David

***

p.s. Oh and you hit the nail on the head there about "metal and neoclassical/though I will also admit that they are very good for teaching technique". That's very true. And bear in mind that you can improve on taking some of the techniques demonstrated and applying them to other styles. That takes time but it is something well worth exploring for a player.

DavidO
www.uni-guitar.com

***

Well I have to be honest and say I'm not too familiar with the Cults catalogue. Not sure if they're that big over here in Europe?

BUT, a firm favorite of mine for many a year now has to be "Don't Fear the Reaper". Brilliant song and some fine guitar playing in that absolute classic!

I think the intro was one of the first riffs I ever tried to learn . The break in the middle with the solo is inspired! I just listened to it up at Youtube and it still sounds spine-tingling! Hard 2 believe it's 31 years old!

I'm gonna plug in my guitar and play the riff now! ... seconds later ... I just did and it felt good

David

I agree with JVM there - spot on. As in you should stop playing immediately if this occurs. But don't be alarmed, it can be normally be avoided with a good warm up sesion first. It can cause you problems if you do any damage to your hand muscles, even permanent damage. Btw, it's normal enough to experience discomfort like this in the early stages.

It helps if you think like an athlete who would never go straight into a routine without first warming up.
For the moment I would suggest you limber up your hands with a basic routine before each playing session.
Here's few exercises that will help.

Before each playing session:

Shake your hands from the wrist, then the arms from the shoulders to loosen them up first. Do about 20/30 seconds of this.
Massage each hand for a few seconds, shake them again from the wrist.
Open and close both hands from a fist to all fingers spread, about 10 times.
Bend your fingers back by pushing them one at a time with the other hand - GENTLY! No need to over-stretch them, remember just loosen them up, don't break them whatever you do .
Shake hands again from the wrist.
Make a fist, hold your wrist and twirl your hands clockwise 10 times, then anti-clockwise. Then do the other hand. Do this twice for each hand.
Shake hands again from the wrist.

Your ready 4 action! The whole routine should take around 4 or 5 minutes.

IF the pain or cramp occurs still after this workout, you need to get a specialist to check it over. It more than likely will disappear after this routine, but do not under any circumstances keep playing if it doesn't, I'm sure it will be fine though.

I'll see if I can come with a good warm up routine for a GMC vid.

David

P.S. Hand cramps and pains like this at early playing stages are frequent enough if you are playing an acoustic guitar with a high action. It's much easier on an electric but can still happen. Use the same warm up for either instrument.

Great post Rock - yup those tube amps can sure pack a lethal wallop, even as you say, unplugged!

David

Hey Gen I'm not too far from you (well same country anyway . I live in Zurich, in a small little place called Mettmenstetten.

O.k. I originally come from Dublin in Ireland, the missus is Swiss!

David

There's a Bluegrass/Chet Atkins style lesson I've put together which should be live tomorrow I think you will like. He was a superb player Chet Atkins, sure was!

Say hello to your Grandfather from another Chet fan in Swirland wontcha !

David

***

David Ø
www.uni-guitar.com

Hi Pavel

I'm starting to think that there's probably more countries in Europe use that than don't. It was really a new one on me coming from Ireland. As I think I said b4, the only reason I came across it is that the wife is Swiss and we live in Switzerland which is how I found out about it.

So far on my list I have Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and Croatia using it. I'm sure there's a lot more!

I think most people in Ireland + England don't know of it as they mostly never would come across it as a rule.

Well whatever they're called I like the "B" note - where would we H without it? .

David