LESSONS INTRODUCTION
Lessons from the world’s greatest teachers and schools...
Music editor Jason Sidwell introduces another packed-to-the-rafters lessons section.
Assumptions can be problematic. One assumption is that Tom Morello always uses his bridge pickup. Nope, rarely ever as he’s a neck pickup rock riffer. The other is that guitarists naturally have great rhythm. Hmm. I and many GT writers have heard (and said) this quite a bit over the years; “Yeah, they’re okay but their timing is a bit off.” My perspective on this is that many think that studying scales and soloing techniques is the route to excellence. The vibe is: study the lead guitar stuff, let the rhythmic stuff exist on its own accord. But at its worst, gigs can be lost or bands weakened due to questionable timing.
Even if this doesn’t resonate with you (record yourself and then ask yourself again), we’ve presented you with one our most in-depth GT articles; The Art Of Timing (page 28). It’s not focused on basic timing issues but rather uncovers rhythmic subtleties (straight to full swing and all in-between) that make musicians stand out. Partly fuelled by his PhD study and partly what we all at GT have witnessed, Milton has written an insightful article that will 1) make you aware of the macro components of rhythm, and 2) provide routes to getting these skills yourself. For the following lessons keep your ‘timing excellence’ agenda to the fore. Check out the first two examples on page 56 - Judas Priest and The Carpenters (GT is nothing if not eclectic!). They’re labelled ‘easy’ due to the physical technical requirements, but how good are the offbeat pushes and note lengths next to the accompanying audio? Play and see! Mixing between eighths, 16th and sextuplets isn’t that easy so the rhythm guitar part in our Aerosmith rock article (page 62) is probably its most tasking aspect. Can you make it sound good with a solid rhythmic pocket? Further in, we have an extended acoustic article dedicated to the late and great, Glen Campbell (page 72) - there are some simple chord shapes and straight rhythms to play until a change to a hemiola rhythm (3 against 4 feel). Can you make the transition well enough and then keep the picking stamina going? As the saying goes, excellence is in the detail. This issue, I’d recommend digging deep with a pronounced rhythmic agenda so that any assumptions you have regarding your ‘feel’ are well founded. Happy picking!