GuitarFlame.com - Guitar stories from a semi-pro guitar player - Latest Comments

Re: Sungha Jung, no larger than his guitar

Cameron — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:48:24 -0000

2 things here with me, 1 is im not sure about this kid but cant explain why and 2, oh boy i wish i could play like that.

I think we all agree he got a career in music even if he just a session musician.

Re: Sonny Landreth, A Master Of The Cross Style Slide Guitar

Josh — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:30:24 -0000

I've been a fan of Landreth for a number of years. He's fantastic! He recently passed through Nashville, and unfortunately I wasn't able to catch the show. I bet it would have been great. Thanks for posting these videos!

Re: Stanley Jordan playing Autumn leaves

Ovidiu — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:42:10 -0000

Good choice, man, I wouldn't put that suit on me either ;-)

Re: Stanley Jordan playing Autumn leaves

Cheap Guitars — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:36:33 -0000

If the suit is what it takes to play like that.......then I will have to pass! I'll just have to live with the way I play.

Re: Stanley Jordan playing Autumn leaves

Ovidiu — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:28:13 -0000

I thought so...

Re: Stanley Jordan playing Autumn leaves

Daniel Lehrman — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 10:49:01 -0000

It is the suit!

Re: Stanley Jordan playing Autumn leaves

Cheap Guitars — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:32:08 -0000

How does he keep what each hand is doing straight?

It's hard enough playing one guitar.

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

Ovidiu — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 13:04:15 -0000

Good point, grasshopper.

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

grasshopper james — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:07:39 -0000

This is a very tough question. While many such as SRV, Buddy Guy, BB, EC play 12 bar blues, they do bring on a unique sound and touch.

The question should be, "how to play 12 bar blues without sounding like a 12 bar blues".

Just my 2 cents.

grasshopper james from http://guitarbites.com

Re: Stanley Jordan playing Autumn leaves

Ovidiu — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 06:54:30 -0000

I think we have the same fashion taste ;-)

Re: Stanley Jordan playing Autumn leaves

Anne — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 00:56:55 -0000

Thanks for this video! I had to watch it a few times before I got it, and even then I didn't :-)
(Don't like the suite either)

Re: SynthAxe, the mother of all MIDI guitars?!

Ovidiu — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 04:57:43 -0000

So I understand you play it well, otherwise you wouldn't have bought 2 of them, right? Can you make a video and submit it here? It would be interesting to watch, or a personal review!

Re: SynthAxe, the mother of all MIDI guitars?!

Richard Hilleman — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:41:52 -0000

Believe it or not, I own two of them. (If you want something this old to work, you need two.

It is just the most expressive Midi guitar Controller ever made. To get the full function out of it you need a synth that gets the most out of it. It is from the era of DX7's, Fairlights, and Allan Holdsworth's favorite, the Oberheim Expander.

Clearly, this is an investment in money and time, but it is a peak experience. The core to it's implementation is a wired fretboard and small pickups that read string bends. There are string triggers, but I find the keys or just using both hands on the fretboard.

Obviously, this isn't really the answer for the average player. There is another alternative. Harvey Starr's Ztar has a lot of the same capabilities in a much more modern (and reliable) package. In addition to the left hand capabilities, you can cord on a single string. The missing capabilities are mainly around string bending. Midi is very ineffiecent at managing pitchbend, so this is an reasonable tradeoff.

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

Ovidiu — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:25:00 -0000

I think I didn't explain it well, see this post, I think you'll get my point http://www.guitarflame.com/...

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

wullie — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:55:53 -0000

Picking up on the "not sounding like yourself" theme, i think as a guitarist you should strive to sound like you in any given format, having a noticeable sound and style, something that people will remember you for.

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

Ovidiu — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:05:11 -0000

It may be, I guess that if you play over an over on I IV V progression you develop some standard licks that you automatically insert into your playing. A few months ago I had here a post about repeating yourself and trying to not sound like...yourself and constantly trying to find and discover new lick so you never repeat yourself. Playing slow is a first step to this, I guess.

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

wullie — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 13:35:29 -0000

One of the biggest pitfalls for longtime players of the blues and particularly the I, IV, V format is the tendency to fall into your collection of fast licks and play on automatic. My wife pointed this out to me after hearing me at a gig some time ago. After that I started to deliberately slow down and inject more feel into the standards rather than all out look at me i am playing fast!!

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

Ovidiu — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:41:32 -0000

@Dr J: I don't know the album, but I will try to listen it if you pointed me to it. I have thought about reviewing albums but I said that it's not for me, honestly, I have really paid some thinking to this, because I have here in Romania a few examples and I have always considered those guys people with a vast musical culture. I have my own "musical culture", if you want, larger or smaller, depending on where you look from, but I don't think it is large enough to allow me to judge other people who did more than me, even if sometimes I can't help it and I make judgment of one artist or another. I'm only human and I have my opinions. However, it is more to it when reviewing music, I think, and you hold a responsibility. Plus that sometimes I get excited quite fast about one song or another and this is never a good thing when writing reviews ;-)

@Stratoblogster: I have listened some old music, but not that much that I could follow it's development, as I was saying a bit earlier, I have my culture, but I can't say it's wide and covers all aspects I would like to. It's my own and it's quite fragmented, you know...However, I had a friend once that used to make judgment of music of the 50's, 60's, music that I didn't listen that much, and I was always amazed of how deep he went into judging music and comparing it to what other have done before it, as in 40's, 50'...

I will look for that video you speak about of Bonamassa and Trout on YouTube

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

Stratoblogster — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 12:16:47 -0000

I think about melody and progressions which support the melody. If the melody, chords and progressions hit me emotionally, I chase after it. If it also aligns with my Blues sense, I try to synthesize it all as best I can. Remember that Jazz comes from Blues, so don't try to consider Jazz as an "outside influence" of Blues. Go back to earlier Jazz where it's more identifiable with Blues, then move forward. But find a place where YOU recognize Blues shifting into Jazz. Those places exist because Blues is the root.

"J" is so right about Bonamassa! Another is Derek Trucks. Both Bonamassa and Trucks are incorporating Jazz and even Eastern & Celtic influences into their music. But both anchor firmly to and from the Blues. But without getting too technical, I think they both also place melody & emotion at a very high priority.

There's a youtube vid of Bonamassa and Walter Trout trading solos on stage. Trout is eventually cycling through all his fastest runs, while JB still pauses here and there to phrase melodically or hold single notes. JB could out-shred Trout no problem, but he steps back and plays musically. So instead of resulting in a cacophony of 16th note craziness, JB continues to breathe.

Sonny Landreth's October PG interview mentions being a horn player and bringing that breathing aspect to guitar playing. In other words, sing a guitar solo as if you were taking breaths.

So don't separate your guitar solos from how you would sing. Then I think you're playing closer to the heart.

This is great stuff!!

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:38:37 -0000

Have you heard John Bonamassa's album Sloe Gin? It's all over the place! Some would say it crosses boundaries, others would say it extends them. Ever thought about reviewing new guitar albums?

Re: Stanley Jordan playing Autumn leaves

Ovidiu — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:32:36 -0000

Yes, I have also loved that version of Stairway to heaven, it's something else, as anything he plays, to be honest. The suit, well...I just don't like it ;-)

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

Ovidiu — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:29:39 -0000

From your comment I understand that you should play blues with an outside influence, like jazz, in this case, right? Indeed, if you do this probably will sound more interesting and exactly the mixture will become interesting and give you your trademark. That's exactly why I love Andy Timmons (again, not blues, but serves my points)

Re: How about an aluminum guitar?

Ovidiu — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 03:26:48 -0000

Well, so you are one of the lucky people that really saw these guitars. Did you play any of them?

Re: Stanley Jordan playing Autumn leaves

Guitarkadia — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:56:02 -0000

The suit is an 80s thing. :)

I got into Stanley Jordan after a friend played his version of Stairway to Heaven. This is a great version of Autumn Leaves. I must say I never get tired of hearing different takes of this tune. In contrast, check out Joe Pass's version...from his Unforgettable album.

Thanks for the video!

Re: Can you still be original playing blues nowadays?

Stratoblogster — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:53:01 -0000

Great post and thread! You're becoming the next IG!

There really are a lot of faces to the Blues. If you listen to a good Blues program, i.e. Sirius Satellite's CH 74, you'll hear lots of variety. I don't know if everyone can subscribe to that. But there's also a lot of online stuff, like Pandora.com, where you can create your own stations which Pandora then builds from. Soon, you're hearing all sorts of great music.

An important thing to note about Robben Ford, is that he's an accomplished Jazz musician, an alum of Miles Davis, who can step outside and do all sorts of turnarounds on the harmonic scale. Larry Carlton is another player who can use Blues as a spring board into other musical areas then turnaround back into the Blues like he never left.

So another suggestion might be to play any kind of music with a Blues FEELING, and make it your own Blues.