HINTS AND TIPS?
I’m 25 and teach music part time at high school, and gig fairly regularly in some production shows and do some ‘gun for hire’ gigs around town. Through these experiences, I have gotten to know and work with one of Australia’s premier session guitarists who is currently mixing my band’s original album.
While recording, there were some songs which I felt that what I was playing wasn’t working for the song, or couldn’t find the right approach. And so, in an effort to keep the project rolling, I put in a call to my guitarist friend and asked if he would have a go. He obliged and we went to his studio for him to lay down some tracks.
One of the difficulties I was having with a particular song was with the rhythm part. It sounded clunky and too bulky. He had a listen and within moments found the issue. He said, “Ah, you see this chord shape you’re playing, take the 3rd out of it. In this position the 3rd is always a little bit out of tune”. He then replayed my rhythm part with the new shape (same ‘F’ shape at the 5th fret but with the third string muted) and it immediately sounded clearer. This advice was not learnt in a book, but was the result of years of experience. I think details like this help to take someone’s playing to the next level.
This got me thinking if GT would consider doing a column on tips like this? Possibly where all of the tutors could add either a practical, theoretical, gig, recording or gear related tip from their experiences. I know GT did something similar in issue 200 (I’ve been a subscriber since issue 119!) but I just thought my above experience was worth sharing and that maybe something like a tips column could be featured more regularly if possible.
Thank you very much for all of the wonderful articles so far and keep up the phenomenal work.
Ross, Sydney, Australia
A great letter, Ross (even if I had to edit it back a bit!). And indeed a very good point well made. It’s incredible what years of experience in the studio and indeed playing live can give us. That 200 Tips issue was great fun to do, and we have indeed pondered ways to incorporate similar ideas on a more regular basis. Even a half-page column in Front End might be a great place to include tips from our fabulous roster of players and friends.