Dimebag guitar solo age 18

Check out Dimebag when he was a youngin, absolutely amazing. It makes a guitarist want to either play until their hand falls off, or just quit.

Oh, what a world!

Ok ok, I decided to take an early Thanksgiving vacation, thinking I would be able to relax at my folk’s house, and get some quality posting in. Little did I know, their internet connection was recently disconnected, and I was stuck in smallville Minnesota without a way to update my blog. So I figured the best thing I could do would be to sit down with a notebook and write out my soon to be blog entries, along with writing and remembering guitar licks so that I could put a few more Rockin Recordings and Podcasts up. So they have all built up over the week, and now that I am back to technology I can transfer them from my notebook to here, sorry if it is a few too many posts at once, but there is no other way man!

Drop the pin, throw the Light Grenades!

Incubus, one of my favorite bands, has a new cd that is being released today. It is titled Light Grenades and the first single released is called Anna Molly. By the sound of the first single, they are picking up right where they left off from there previous album, but knowing them they have found a way to reinvent their sound again, exploring a whole new world in music. That is what I appreciate most about them, they keep changing their styles. They started out as sort of a thrash jazz band, and then moved their way closer to a funk heavy metal group, then on to lighter soulful rock, continuing to a soothing yet screeching alternative, then on to an experimental lash out jamband, which brings them to where they are now. I am not sure what they have in store for listeners now, but I am anxious to find out. Their guitarist Michael Einziger is what I believe is one of the most underrated guitarists out there. His licks are catchy but skillful, and his solo’s draw you deep within the sound. To me his works sound like a mix between a new age Jimmy Page and Tom Morello, but his are unique nonetheless. He has the crafted songwriting talents of Page, with the experimental groove like Morello. If you want a good example, find a way to listen to their last album, A Crow Left of the Murder, and listen to track 6 titled Sick Sad Little World, and track 9 titled Priceless. If you haven’t been a fan, these tracks might at least build some respect and show that they are not the screaming girl fan based band that you might believe. Or you could always go to their Official Site, enjoyincubus.com to get a better scope into their group. They have everything from photos to tour dates, and a link to (sigh) their Myspace page.

Top Five, let's hear it

Who’s your favorite and why? I am talking about musicians. I am asking who you believe is your top five vocalists amongst the music world. I will have more postings down the road for top five guitarists, drummer, bassists, etc… But this one is all vocals baby. I want some feedback on this as well. Your picks can be for whatever reason you hold, whether it is something like raw vocal talent, or songwriting capabilities. My top five will not be in any order, so here we go. First off, Freddie Mercury, amazing tenor and an uncanny ability to produce harmonies. It is hard to find any harmonizing vocal sounds like that on any Queen album. Brandon Boyd of course, if you knew me, you knew this was coming. Incredible range, amazing songwriter, ability to reinvent sound, and near perfect live performances make this man land in my top five. Moving on to a very well known amazing vocal artist, Robert Plant. Screaming highs and songwriting skills that helped mold Led Zeppelin into the legend that they are today, and will continue to be tomorrow. Bob Dylan is quite possibly one of the best songwriters ever, his vocal talents though were not anything special, but it shows that you don’t have to hit ridiculous notes to be considered a great vocalist. Tool’s front man, and A Perfect Circle’s, James Maynard Keenan wraps up my five. Incredible lyrics and a voice that holds some of the most dedicated fans in the world, believe me you do not want to insult Tool in front of any fan. The thing about these artists is that one knows after hearing one or two words who the vocalist is. They are very unique and distinct, and have earned their way to be known as great vocalists. I bet you thought I would start off with top five guitarists, hah!

Wanna be a Guitar Hero?

Many of you may be familiar with a video game known as Guitar Hero, well they have just come out with a second one titled Guitar Hero 2, clever I know. Anywho I have the luxury of being good friends with my neighbors, and they have the luxury of being able to afford both of these games. So once in a while I step over next door, and if they aren’t playing it at the time, which they usually are, it doesn’t take a whole lot to get them to fire it up. The game controller has five “fret” buttons, a strum bar, and a whammy bar. It is basically a guitarist’s version of Dance Dance Revolution. The fret buttons are different colors, and during songs you have to hold down the corresponding button, or buttons, and strum the bar. You get more points for chords, flawless streaks, and using the whammy bar. The concept that I want to throw out there is that this is actually a decently effective training tool towards picking up a real guitar. It teaches you note related hand eye coordination, and what I think helps best is the rhythm. Your strumming has to be right on, and rhythm is a vital part of guitar playing. Another thing I would recommend doing is learning a song on the game that sounds like it should be learnable on real guitar. Learn it note for note, chord for chord until you have mastered it on the expert level. Then pick up your real guitar and sit down and try to study tablature or notation to that song. You will find that the song comes along much faster, because you already know the rhythm and how many notes go where, it is just about translating it onto your real fretboard. I am not saying to do nothing but play the game by all means, but I am saying that it can most definitely be more that just a video game. Just click this for Guitar Hero's official site.

Help!

This may seem like an unusual post, but as you can tell I am very interested in the precision craft of guitar design and construction. Guitar builders, or Luthiers, have to know so many details to create even the simplest guitar. There are a handful of noteworthy schools that teach this craft, and we actually have one here in Minnesota. What I am asking is if anyone knows how to find what the job outlook looks like for luthiers. I have attempted at emailing some of the well known companies about it but the responses I have received are not what I was looking for. I would like to know what the average luthiers bring in. I know that if you are looking for a career you should do what makes you happy, but what makes you happy might not put food on the table or a roof over your head. Any info would be helpful.

Senior Recital

Attending the Senior Recital of Jonathen Woods was a truly unique experience. There was so much creativity and abstract art that I don’t know where I should begin. Well it started off with a quartet, a piano, a clarinet, a flute, and another brass instrument that I am unfamiliar with. The melodic lines played with seducing. No major or whole sounding scales were played. I am not positive if any scales were played in general, but the harmonies were brilliant. The composer experiments with every kind of harmony. Everything was homophonic in texture. The music was soothing, yet questionable. The pieces to follow all had that same feeling to them. There was a solo violinist, and a slide guitarist with digitally mixed accompaniment. There was a spectacular use of the four speaker panning during the slide guitar piece. There was one in particular that was my favorite. The digital composition seeping out of the speakers while a man was in the spotlight molding on a clay wheel! At first it was odd I admit, but the more and more I watched, the more mesmerized I became with the sound and the site as a whole. The sounds kept speeding up and building and building until they reached their peak, just as the tower of clay spinning kept growing and growing up and up until it reached its peak. Then silence came, and the clay pot fell back into an unshaped pile. The combination of manipulated noise and thrilling site made me feel like I was the clay pot, being tossed and turned, shaped and carved by the music. The music stops, and so do I. There was another piece that caught my attention, and had me wanting to point out every little detail to a friend that I had brought along. It was a trio of percussionists. They circled around a wooden xylophone, and metal xylophone, and a pair of timpanis. Each one of them also had a bow, yes that is right I said bow. They used the bow to stroke one of the planks on the xylophones, making very soothing hums both alone, and with accompaniment. There was also cymbals lying atop of the timpanis. They were lightly struck creating a hollow chime that had a little bit of rumble to it. Those cymbals were taken on and off, to the T’’S were used normally as well. Overall some very experimental composition, but very well done and very intriguing.

Podcast/Rockin Recording

A new day and a couple new recordings for you to listen to. Since my mic's weren't cooperating with me, the Weekly Podcast is by an artist known as the Bamboo Demon, recorded in a dorm room while I was attending Hamline University, and the Rockin Recording is something I threw together earlier, you know where to find them, enjoy!

Lucille

Ok Ok, I just couldn't help but touch upon the famous Lucille. If you are not aware of who's lovely lady this is well it is the one and only Riley "Blues Boy" King. B.B. King has been playing Gibson guitars for over 40 years, and finally in 1982 he and Gibson merged and Lucille was born. Now Mr. King has gone through many Lucille's, not just one. I read an interview with Guitar Player Repair Guide that has B.B. saying he is on Lucille the 15th. Some have been stolen and some given away. I also believe that he claims a few have saved his life. Either way it is a gorgeous instrument and taylored to the likes of B.B. King. Probably the most peculiar thing about Lucille is that it is a thin lined semi-hollow guitar, with no sound holes. He thinks of it as the big brother to the les paul. For the sake of not repeating alot of good info, check out Gibson's Official Lucille Site. B.B. Likes to wind just about all of each string onto lucille, which looks more interesting than it sounds, but Lucille rarely comes out of tune. He also says that he does all of the restringing himself. Lucille has a bit more narrow neck than standard, and also his relief is a bit higher than normal. This means that his strings are a little bit higher off of the neck of the guitar than what is considered standard. This probably helps account for some of his famous bending abilities. Lucille is one of most famous guitars and B.B. is well known for his amazingly influential and monumental musical talents, and for being one the kindest hearted person you could possibly meet.