Hello, and welcome to my sixth (Count 'em! Sixth!) column. here I'm going to show you how to have some fun with your guitar and to break away from your strumming and picking. Perhaps you're a bedroom guitarist who's getting bored, or a Professional Punk fed up of three chord songs. Maybe, perish the thought, you just can't be bothered playing guitar any more because you think it's dull. Even if you're just looking to advance yourself musically, this guide is for you. Below are some great ways to have some fun and create new interest in learning playing guitar, so get your tab books, wah-wah pedal and a Kiss record and read on.
Challenge Yourself
It's really easy to get stuck playing all the easy songs, isn't it? Do you find yourself only downloading the chord sequences from UG? Do you skip past the Hendrix tabs in guitar magazines? I know I did for a long time, I even refused to try and play things like Stairway to Heaven because I figured that I could never play it. But let me tell you something about Stairway To Heaven, it's the easy hard song. Apart from a few bars of the solo, there's nothing really that hard about Stairway. The moral is, just because it was played by someone called Jim (be it Hendrix or Page) it doesn't mean you should give these songs a wide berth. Even if you may not succeed, you may be surprised about how easily you can pick up these guitar parts, and it's more fun than playing Wonderwall for an entire year because you're too scared to advance.
Get Some Effects
What's between you guitar and your amp? Nothing? You're looked at as a guitar freak now, as it seems everyone has at least one effect pedal. It took only 2 months before I picked up a Wah-Wah pedal, and a year before I got me a nice big Multi-Effects unit. The use of effects to sculpt your sound is like learning a new instrument, especially for devices such as delay and Wah where you really need to work out how to use it to produce new sounds. From reverb on She Sells Sanctuary to reverse delay on Give It Away. From Tom Delonge's distortion to whatever it is that Tom Morello has on his pedal board, effects are the best way to spice up your sound.
This goes for acoustic players as well. Those with electro-acoustic guitars probably don't want to use distortion, but they could benefit from a phaser or delay pedal. Something as simple as an "Aphex Acoustic Xciter" to drastically alter the tone of the instrument without muddying up your sound. In short, new effects and sounds are a great way to inject some life into your playing. Unless you're one of those acoustic purists with no amplifier...
Experiment
Whether you're finger-picking or playing with a violin bow, playing in new and sometimes bizarre ways is a great way to put colour back into playing. The idea of experimenting can be broken down into two groups:
The Way You Play:
Which of you can finger-pick? Can anyone play slide? For the bassists among us, who has nailed slap bass? Such techniques are being left behind and guitarists are beginning to rely on effects to alter their sound. In twenty years time, someone will pick up yet another bolt, start to play guitar with it, and think that they have invented "Slip Guitar"! Don't let that happen, learn to play slide and finger-pick.
And why leave it at those tried and tested workhorses? There are a multitude of ways to play guitar in odd ways, the best example of which is the weird sounds you can hear on System Of A Down's "Psycho". The screeching sounds nearing the end of the song were produced with a vibrator, a rather unorthodox technique! You don't have to go to a sex shop to find alternative plectrums, but everything from violin bows to a power drill can be used to produce weird noises that Brian Molko or Matt Bellamy would be jealous of.
"Wierd" Tunings":
Standard EADGBE tuning is so uncool nowadays, isn't it? Most bands now are using drop-D, which is pretty controversial with all you rockers, but why shouldn't they? Just look at some of the chord shapes you can produce with in drop-D which would not be possible in standard tuning:
D A5 C/D Ddim G/D Cadd9
e|-2------0----1-----15---12---
B|-3------1----0-----12---15---
G|-2------0----1-----12---12---
D|-0--7---2----0-----12---14---
A|-0--7---3----2-----14---15---
D|-0--7---0----0-----12---12---
Sure, drop-D tuning encourages the use of powerchords, which can become dull, but it's not the only alternate tuning, you know. Take a ganders at some of these:
E A D G B E | Standard Tuning
D A D G B E | Drop-D
D A D F#A D | Open D
E B E G B E | Open E minor
B E A D G B | Seven String Replication
E A B G B D#| Used in "Coldplay: Yellow"
E A E A C#E | Used in "The White Stripes: Seven Nation Army"
There are a few advantages and disadvantages of retuning, but one statement falls into both categories, you have to re-learn everything you know about theory, because none of your chord shapes and scales will work. However, since what we are trying to do is to create a new spark of interest in the instrument, having to re-learn and improvise is exactly what is required and so odd tunings is a good way to experiment.
Make a Backing Track
Soloing is sooo much fun. Learn a few scales and you can improvise for hours. Unfortunately, after a while, it can get a little dull if you've got nothing to improvise with. That's where the backing track comes in. 10 or 20 minutes of non-stop music with no lead lines or vocals for you to widdle all over, how can you resist? Now, you can buy them, and get them free on magazines, but if you can't or don't want to, then you can always make your own. If you have recording software, or a a studio, then all you need to do is lay down some drums and a chord progression to build a riff on, heck I'll even throw down two right here for you:
A Metal progression in E minor
240bpm
|E5 |E5 |E5 |D5 |
|D5 |B5 G5 |E5 |C D |
A Punk Pop progression in G major
130bpm
|G |D/F# |C/E |D/F# |
|Am7 |Bm7 |Cadd9 |Dsus4 |
Fruity Loops or Cubasis can let you record a progression or riff and then loop it. Add drums and maybe a drum fill here and there to build into a loop (you can use these in your solo to build into a really cool lick) and then burn to a CD and riff away. Have fun!
Try a 7/8/12 String
What are these guitars is the first question most of you will be asking. Well, in their standard forms, a 7-string has an extra B string below the low E which is how certain nu-metal band get those bowel-worrying lows (the equivalent is a 5-string bass with yet another extra B string). An 8-string comes in many varieties, 3 bass strings and 5 guitar strings is most common, but then such instruments are quite rare.
Then there is the holy grail of all strummers, the 12-string, where every string is doubled and tuned an octave higher except the high e whose twin would snap and so is tuned to the same note. A 12-string has a similar, yet completely different, effect to chorus effects and can be heard on many a guitar album.
The reason I mention these guitars here is that, like re-tuning, having a bunch of extra strings to play with causes you to re-learn and challenge yourself. The best bit is that all three can allow you to make sounds that are completely impossible on your standard 6 string and, in the case of an 8-string with its bass/guitar mixture, allow you to orchestrate most of a song from one guitar. Definitely worth trying out even if you're not bored, I recommend adding at least one of these to your collection so you don't turn to drums, or even keys, when you really can't be bothered with your "boring" old Les Pauls and Strat-o-macasters (as if).
Learn Some Theory
Who knows their Phrygian modal scales by heart? Who can play a Dsus2add9#11? Who could tell me what the 5 fret natural harmonic on the D string is? (Actually, I would like to know that.) You see, learning your theory can make everything a lot easier, and can give you a break from all the boring searching through chord charts and lists of scales while writing. In fact, knowing your theory can unlock the fretboard in such a way that, with all 300 ways of playing that shift from D to G, you can never get bored of trying different ways of reworking a simple riff or progression. Punk purists will disagree, but 3 chords and the truth is very much gone and even bands like Blink 182 and The Offspring, famed for their simplicity, are pulling out their Japanese scales and bassline chords from the cupboard marked "Do not open until the rock revolution".
Y'see, your theory, however boring it may seem on its own, is really the key to become a really good guitar player and sooner or later, without it, you'll get bored of open chords and standard pentatonic scales. With a little knowledge on your side, the world of guitar is your oyster.
Make Some Modifications
Maybe you're just bored of the guitar you have. Well, maybe some spring cleaning and redecorating is on order. Here's a quick guide as to what you can do to make it more attractive:
Low-end Modification - New Makeup
To change the way your instrument plays, I recommend a set up. You'll be surprised how much more playable an instrument is once a professional has moved all your pickups around and set your intonation and it shouldn't cost much at all. As for "redecorating", buy a new strap or a handful of stickers to customise your instrument.
The Grey Area - A Haircut and Some Fake Tan
Some inexpensive new pickups should do the trick. On a strat type guitar, a humbucker might be an option, but otherwise you could always enter the realm of built in effects. A simple, practically unnoticeable switch can control a tiny fuzz unit housed inside the body of your guitar which can. You can pick one up for £15 from most guitar shops and attach it to a coil tap so some may not even notice you've changed anything.
As for changing the way you look, how about a shiny new scratchplate or some chrome tone pots? You don't want to get into repainting your guitar, but giving it a good clean will definitely help. Just don't use bleach.
High-end Modification - Plastic Surgery
Matt Bellamy and John Lowery (Marilyn Manson) have the best sight for crazy guitar ideas! Some of the built in effects featured on the Bellamy signature models are quite inspirational. Meanwhile, the John Lowery reworking of the Telecaster is inspirational, I wouldn't even recognise it if it wasn't written on the headstock.
New necks, extreme paint-jobs and built-in Phasers, Flangers and Wah-Wahs are some more expensive adaptations of your standard 6-string electric which the enthusiastic modifier may wish to attempt. There are also some more expensive pickups you can purchase, or you could try a new bridge and matching tuners, dials and pickup covers. However, this can be expensive, so try not to run around with credit-cards buying every set of EMG pickups you can find.
Branch Out Musically
I know what you're thinking, I've used the same one twice. Well, maybe, but I think that the way that people restrict themselves to one genre is unfortunate. There's two reasons why you should play all different types of music, the obvious one being that you will get bored.
Then there's the less obvious reason. We jump 10-15 years into the future and you're at a party, a wedding party. Some drunk guy shouts "Hey, Bob/Bobella can play guitar, let him get up on the stage and play for us!" and all of a sudden, you have a major problem. You get up on the stage, fiddle around with the band's amp settings and then, with as much clarity, romantic emphasis and passion as you can, you play a high-gain, overdriven Slipknot riff. OK, so it would be hilarious, but I guarantee you that when the new couple are divorced in 6 months time, you won't be invited to either of their next weddings (unless you're marrying one of them).
If you stick to one genre, then you limit yourself to what you have to offer to other people when playing live. More importantly, you limit yourself and this can result in boredom, unless the only reason you bought a guitar was to play that high-gain, overdriven Slipknot riff in order to break up newlyweds and collect the pieces for yourself!
Try Writing and Composing
There are few things more rewarding than watching the gem of inspiration you had at one in the morning turn into a song the next day. Playing really difficult guitar music is not match for playing something that you created yourself, and so concentrating on your song writing can be either a way to force yourself to play guitar, or a way of using your guitar playing "skills" as a tool, or an aid to stardom.
Find Some Other Bored Musicians
Most musicians agree that the best thing about their job (bar money, groupies and free stuff) is playing live. Anyone to go to a Chilis or REM concert can see that getting on stage to play to huge groups of fans is what they live for. Unless you're that comedian/ventriloquist/trainer of dancing platypuses which warms up the crowd, then the only way you are getting on-stage is if you get good at guitar and pull your band to the top of the entertainment food chain. All I can say is Good Luck.
Read This Column... Twice
If you have read this entire column and you've not been playing guitar as enthusiastically recently then I hope that in some way you rediscovered the enjoyment that being good at guitar (or even being crap at guitar but pulling through) you can provide yourself and others. Now, with the ending bull-s*** blurted out, my closing advice is this: As long as you're having fun, then you're playing perfectly, but if you're not having fun, then don't quit straight away. Instead, try and see what's making you fed up of playing and then see if you can make it enjoyable again.
- Geldof the Grey (more columns, email)
P.S.: Please post comments and tell us how you got out of that rut you were in where you only played about three licks for a month. :)
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