new member

everyone give a shoutout to our newest member: Andrew from Nashville.
you can learn a bit about him on his facebook wall
Andrew, feel free to post anything you think of... and you can post comments on older topics too as most of us keep up with all that... have fun!

Show your Original lyrics

I was thinking that most( if not all) on this blog write original lyrics or poems. so why not share them. this might be very uncomfortable for some but, i think that we have to put ourselves in uncomfortable places to make us better or at least get us to be less critical of our own work... so what do you think? should we set up a separate site where we could download songs we've created or what?....give me your thoughts.

Gear: Guitar Amp?

In my quest for a cheap Fender Tele I was also thinking about getting a new amp. My current amp is a Crate GX65. Nothing spectacular about it. Nice reverb, nice crunch, just nice in general. I want something that excites. I like some of the Fender tube amps that I've played at Guitar Center and I've been researching "boutique" amps. Soldano is mentioned alot.

What are your thoughts?

Gear: Guitar Materials?

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts/preferences are on various guitars/guitar components. What do you like/dislike?

LIKE
Maple Neck
Maple Fretboard
Ebony Fretboard
Fixed Bridge guitars (no tremolo)
Ovation Guitars (i have the 2078T)
Ibanez Guitars
ESP Guitars (Ibanez/Jackson wannabe but cool nonetheless)
Fender Telecaster (love the tone and feel)
Jackson Guitars (i have a Jackson Professional with a custom Warmoth body. Also, I prefer the Jackson Flying V over the Gibson.)

DISLIKE
Gibson Guitars (in general, I don't like the feel. Feels clunky and the neck width and diameter just aren't comfortable for me. I had an Epiphone Flying V back in the day.)
Guitar neck painted same as body color (my hand sweats and sticks to the neck)
Locking neck / Locking bridge Tremolo system (only big $ system actually stays in tune)
Fender Stratocaster (love the tone but to me this is the Ford Taurus of guitars...boring)
Rosewood Fretboard (once you go Ebony or Maple you'll never go back =)

My next purchase will be a Fender Telecaster. I actually like the cheaper Squier version $200 and the $500 or less Fender version both with Maple Neck/Maple Fretboard better than the $1000 and up models. The tone on the cheaper models is just as good as the high dollar models.

Music Theory 101 (This is a Blues Riff in B Watch for the Changes and Try to Keep Up).

Lately, I am starting to have a greater appreciation for guitar since I have been messing around with the piano. As Scotty had mentioned, I took a music theory course a couple of years back taught by a fun-sucking taskmaster named Generalissimo Lydy. In the course we learned that a major scale is: Whole step (2 frets), Whole step, Half step (1 fret), Whole step, Whole step, Whole Step and Half Step from your bass note (a minor scale would be W, H, W,W,H,W,W). Therefore, all the white keys on a piano are in the key of C. Whereas with the guitar it means all the normal notes (no sharps or flats) are in the key of C. However, if you did the major scale in A then C, F, G would be sharp. Further, music nazis name these notes in a major scale as (using the C major scale as the example):
I or Tonic (C) is the key note.
ii or Supertonic (D) establishes the Dominant as the secondary tone.
iii or Mediant (E) is the middle note in a triad (the three notes that make up a chord).
IV or Subdominant (F) is considered a good harmony note to start with since it is not in the triad.
V or Dominant (G) is the running mate of the Tonic and is also the third note of the triad to make a chord therefore C, F & G make up a C major chord
vi or Submediant (A) is the note that passes to the IV or ii. It is the second chord in the example passing to the IV.
vii or Leading Tone (B) is the note that music theorist say a song cannot end on cause it "naturally" directs you towards the Tonic note. It's the third chord in the example.
VIII or Octave is the same note as the Tonic only higher or lower. If you ever see the notation 8va or 8vb that means they want you to play the note higher or lower than the notated note.

Finally, the reason some of the roman numerals are lower case is because those chords in the major scale are supposed to be played as minor chords and the vii chord is diminished (which the fifth is flatted). Which means if you are playing the chords in the C scale it would be: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, B dim (A scale would be A, Bm, Cm#, D, E, Fm# and D#dim which most guitarist simply achieve by capoing their guitar and playing like they are in the key of C). The reason I am boring you with this is because from this base we can get into some interesting conversations about scales, modes (Mixolydian, Dorian etc), and general theory and rule breaking of this theory that makes music unique. Also, I would like to know when you're making up songs do you follow any music theory or do you just wing it?

Anyway here are some songs in the key of C:
Dust in the Wind
Let It Be

technique: gettin picky with it

there is a nice article in the latest issue of Sweetwater's guitars & gear newsletter concerning an easy way to tweak your sound on guitar. check it out HERE.