I don’t feel like I know much theory, either. I know that the spacing of the notes within an octave is a mathematical compromise to approach some idealized intervals, and I kinda know why, and that there are other ways of doing it; but that’s about as theoretical as I get.
What I do know is that the second space up from the bottom of the staff is A (second fret on the G string). For about the last six months I’ve been playing that with my second finger. It’s gonna take a little while to break that habit, and I’m not sure yet how I’ll get my brain to shift positions when my hand does.
When I first started learning from this book, there was one thing that kinda caught me off guard. I used to play viola, and the intervals between the strings were such that the open notes were all on the spaces within the staff. It seemed weird at first that the guitar didn’t follow that pattern, but it’s almost second nature already.
Makes sense. I definitely base my learning and language on the layout of the guitar. The fact that, as was discussed in a thread a few months ago, many rock and blues tunes are in E and A to take advantage of open strings and other position-specific qualities (e.g., pull-offs and hammer-ons, drone strings, etc.) is the vocabulary I depend on, most guitarist are comfortable with and most other rock players pick up along the way because they have to deal with theory-impaired guitarists like me so much!
The Detroit Death band is good. Reminds me a lot of Radio Birdman.
I would advise anyone who likes this music to snap up a copy of the album NOW, before Chuck Schuldiner’s estate sics a lawyer on the record label with a cease & desist order.
See, when most people want to listen to Death, they are expecting to hear stuff more like this.
“Good little article” - I don’t know if I should feel like I just got patted on the head or enjoy that fact that one of our resident punk/metal experts didn’t find any glaring errors or issues with it! Since I totally respect your opinion in such matters, I will go with the latter.
Really? Open strings are frowned on for the violin and viola because you can’t play a vibrato. The only problem is that to play it with a finger you drop down one string and use the fourth finger. That’s a bit of a reach with the weakest finger, though. I was never very good at it on the viola, but I can hit the F# on the D string pretty consistently by now.
Violin is a lead / melodic instrument, almost purely so. Guitar shares strings with a violin, but is obviously a chording instrument - and was so for the main part of its history until amplification re-set the balance between chord and lead work.
With chording instruments, yeah, it is all about open strings - you want the sustain and resonance that open strings bring as you deposit a layer of sound into the foundational rhythm of the song you’re playing so you single-note melodic types have a context to be heard within…
…I swear, we rhythm types have to do all the work…<grumble, grumble…;)>
Dude, don’t even pick on the viola players, here. One more waltz, or Pachelbel’s fucking Canon, and I’ve taken the C string off my viola and garroted somebody with it.
Just thought I’d chime in to say I’ve been really concentrating on two areas of my playing lately - alternate picking and modal playing.
Alternate picking is very frustrating. I’ve been playing for more than 30 years and this one piece of my technique is average at best. I’ve been playing with a metronome and trying to get my speed up, but all my drills are stuck at 103 bpm’s. I don’t think I can get any faster than that. But I’ll keep trying…
Being mostly a blues influenced player, I never really used the modes much. (Dorian, Mixolydian, etc.) But now that I’m using these scale patterns in my alternate picking exercises, I’m starting to understand them better and learning how to incorporate them into my style. They really open up a lot of tonal possibilities and make for much more interesting lead lines…
I’m at a point where I’m trying to memorize the frets and notes and notes on frets. I sort of dig chords, but I’m not understanding them. I want to be able to look at a note and play the fret without thinking. More practice!
I am not getting enough playing time to push things forward, but I am keeping my edge reasonably sharp. We have a dance gig at the local club this weekend which should be fun - worked up a new lead for Brand New Cadillac. Our unplugged line-up was auctioned off for a couple of house gigs (a couple invites a few friends over and we perform in their house) so we got over $6,000 for the local Art Center. Pretty cool.
**BigShooter **- I envy your ability to work through theory; I just can’t do it.
My learning has slowed waaaay down because of work. I didn’t touch it all last week - I’ve been home long enought to eat, sleep, shower, shave, and leave again for seven days straight. Then, last night, after paying bills, I picked it up for a few minutes just before going to bed. I played through the open chords I’ve learned so far, A, D, E, G and I picked through a few first position scales and a couple of melody drills. It seemed to take about 20 lbs of frustration off of my shoulders.
I don’t care if I ever learn to play a complete tune on the darn thing. It’s worth its purchase price if I can pick it up an change my attitude from time to time.
Don’t really think of it as “theory”. It’s more like just learning some new scale patterns and knowing when best to use them. For example, the Dorian scale seems to fit best over the minor 2nd (ii) or major 4th (IV) chords of a key. So if, I’m in the key of A minor, I can switch from the pentatonic or blues scale to the Dorian if the chord progression goes to a B minor chord or a D chord…
I also learned that the Dorian and Mixolydian modes are actually the same patterns - just moved up a fourth. So A Dorian is the same as D Mixolydian. Plus, Mixolydian tends to sound best over the perfect 5th (V) chord. Cool…
“Theory” would be more about WHY what I wrote above works. Of that I have no clue…
You already lost me ;). To me, I anchor on the Blues Pent, but have some basic mental notes about what other “Accidental” notes I can toss in depending on where I am over the chords being played. Folks tell me I am throwing in a modal approach or adding a flatted X or a diminished Y, but I just think of it as that cool, slinky note or riff that I know I can tuck into that one spot during a solo…
Interesting. I learned about that from a jazz playing friend years (and years) ago. It never occurred to me that there was a name for it. But yes it does make transcribing easier.
Hey, I just got around to this. Nice article! I’m not sure I’d describe it as “Hendrix singing punk”, but definitely a very unexpected sound for 1974. The drums have a really nice dialog with the guitar & bass going, really powerful. The vocals are angry, especially in “Rock n’ Roll Victim”, spitting out the lyrics in a “screw you” way – pretty punk.
Re the recording - definitely crude. I hear multitracking (hand claps, two guitars, etc) in those recordings, so it wasn’t like it was just a mic in a room where the band played. Was it really just the three brothers? Were there other members?
Anyway, cool coverage on a band nobody ever heard of that was really ahead of their time. Thanks!
But I’ll keep trying…