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New direction

2011-02-01T03:27:00.000-08:00

So here we are, already into the new year, and the first month gone!
So what has been happening in my guitar playing?...not a lot really!
I have been moving home and have now moved onto a narrow boat with my wife, Gummy the cat (she has 1 tooth) and my dog Ben!
We decided to take a change and have an adventure while we are still young enough to enjoy it!
The studio I worked from at my old house...is no more! but I now have a nice shiney new one, with more space,scope and GEAR!
I haven't played seriously for about 6 weeks. There were times when I would have been pulling my hair at at the prospect of a long lay off from my beautiful Ibanez jem!
Dont panic if you are ever in this position. Most guitar players at some time need to take a break, its good for muscle memory! If you are constantly struggling to master a new riff or style, taking a break for a few days can be the cure to help you move up another level. It can also re-inspire your drive to practice again.
I know within a couple of weeks I will be back to where I was before with my playing, I will probably have gained some too!
In the mean time I will continue to build my new studio and fit in the guitar practice as and when...and I wont stress!
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Get that live sound right!

2010-11-20T05:46:00.000-08:00

I work with my music constantly. It maybe recorded or live, it doesn't really matter. I maybe writing/recording or performing, depending on my schedule.
I have recently been to a few concerts, and I am totally knocked out by the sheer poor sound and live production I am witnessing with some of the biggest bands around!
As a producer I am constantly working to a very high digital audio standard, and when you listen to modern music from any genre, the audio quality is stunning.
How ever I just don't understand why the modern approach to clear accurate sound has not transferred to live audio. I know that room acoustics play a hugh part, but if I was performing in front of 5000+ crowd, I would make sure the sound was as good as possible. This is relatively easy to achieve these days with time aligned pa rigs and quality processor's.
It seems to me that most massive live acts don't get it right! I know the sound rigs are contracted in...but if I was paying for them to tour with me...well frankly I would sack them, and get somebody in who can deliver.
All the major players seem to be stuck in the "louder the better" old school way of performing. I find the live work I do, I always get a reasonable sound...some venues are harder than others, but I always try and give quality rather than quantity when performing.
I think some of the big acts around are sloppy, poor and this is why they play so... loud...to mask the errors.
Their studio tracks are fantastic, so why not try and replicate as good a sound as possible live! ITS EASIER THAN THEY THINK...or is it just about selling tickets and grabbing the cash..mmmm free guitar video lessons
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How it all started for me..my influences in guitar

2010-10-04T07:59:00.000-07:00

Hey!
Most people that take up music, have some sort of history in the family of playing an instrument or singing etc. In some cases, Mom or Dad were even in some crazy band when they were younger. This stokes the fires, and is an inspiration to most children to start them on the road to playing and performing.
It can be quite rare for a child to start playing with out this peer guidance. However, I was that exception to the rule, and I am quite sure there are a lot of musicians who started a similar way.
When I was a kid my parents always had some sort of music on...my Dad was, and still is to this day, a huge Sinatra fan...my Mum Johnny Mathis. They played their records on the radiogram, so I was always around big bands or swing music.
For me, my music was supplied upstairs by my older sister. She was a big David Essex, and Osmond's fan, as well as the Bay City Rollers. I however remember hearing The Who's "Pinball Wizard" and thinking, "what was the awesome sound," later discovering it was an electric guitar. I then kinda grew up with glam bands on the radio and TOTPs. Bands like The Sweet and Mud were huge glam based bands that all used those awesome electric guitars.
I remember strutting my stuff around my bedroom, practicing my air guitar shapes, and wishing I could do it like the guys on TV. Even with all this going on, I never had the urge to ask my parents for music lessons. It just wasn't done, and they probably would have said no, as it would have been a luxury.
I do remember at some point, an old upright piano appearing in the front room, this was for my sister to practice her piano lessons, which she attended for a brief period. I don't know to this day what was behind this, but the piano didn't seem to stick around for long, and neither did my sisters career as a pianist.
When she left school she got a job in a department store called WOOLWORTH'S. This shop had a very basic collection of electric guitars made by Audition! When my sister was working, I would walk through the store and always stop at 2 places. One was the record section, and the other was to look up at the guitars hanging on the wall.
One day big Sis came home with some news about something that literally would, and did change my life forever!
"They are selling the guitars off cheap at work" she said in a mealtime conversation.
"how much"! was my reply
"£5"!
I couldn't believe what I was hearing...Woolworth's selling their electric guitars off for £5 each!
Even I probably had that much saved in my piggy bank.
My Mum and Dad then asked if I would be interested in one. I jumped at the opportunity....not only to get my dream cool electric guitar, but also save my £5 in the process!
Next day I was the proud owner of my end of line Audition electric guitar. This made my pretend playing so much easier in my bedroom.
It was a couple of days after that I began to realise I had to maybe have ago at learning a tune on it. This seemed quite a challenge for a musically naive 13 year old kid. The only song I ever heard played in our house was "Bless this house" which my Dad played on the piano from memory as a boy ( and can still play 70 years later).
In my home town of Northwich, Cheshire, UK, there was an old established music shop called "Gorst and Oakes". They sold instruments and music books, so that had to be my first port of call with my saved £5.
I discovered a book called "Play in a day" by Bert Weedon, this was the start of it all!
I remember being quite daunted by this book, however with a few days behind me I was off and running.
I busked a few songs over the next couple of years...then another revelation happened!
In 1979 Atlantic records released an album by Aussie rockers AC/DC called "Highway to Hell" I had never heard anything like it before. It was a bit like the glam stuff, but with cooler guitars and lyrics with more innuendo's than anything I had ever heard!
This constant reference to women, wine and rock and roll had me hooked.
I remember the great thing about this album was I could actually play some of the songs, and this was the defining thing in my life as a guitar player.
It generated in me, this approach to practice to get good, instead of coasting along like all my mates......and boy did I practice! sometimes 10/12 hrs a day!
I suppose that most musician need some form of eureka moment, to force them to knuckle down and learn and improve. It has to be a driven thing to succeed, and I suppose that applies to most successful people in life.
If you work hard you will create the chances to progress. As one door shuts etc...YOU MUST PERSEVERE TO REACH THOSE GOALS...REMEMBER ONE DAY ONE OF YOU WILL BE FAMOUS!
Look at every opportunity that comes along in life, the choices are all yours. Your future can and is LITERALLY IN YOUR HANDS!
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Day 1... 9.45am 27/9/2010 Mondays practice

2010-09-27T01:44:00.000-07:00

ok,
here goes!
I take the dog for a walk just to get my creative juices ready to flow. However its BEN the collie who seems more ready to flow than myself...especially at every lamppost!
As soon as we are both walked its into my studio to start the days tasks. On the menu today I have my first pupil at 11am. Her name is Maggie and is a seasoned singer she currently has vocal lessons and is working on some vibrato techniques. I have prepared her lesson and all my others for the day which are: Emily vocals, Rochelle Vocals, Paul, guitar and Alan guitar. Em is relatively new to singing and I am still raising her vocal fitness levels...Roch already gigs in a band but needs some more confidence...so we will spend time in front of the mic. Paul is into some killer rhythm riffs and Alan is just about to take his first Theory and performance exams ...at the age of 49! so you are never to old to learn!
All done so now its onto my own 2 hour practice session for today . The thing I have neglected the last few days is my legato playing. For those of you not sure what legato is it is mainly left hand fingering consisting of hammers and pulloff's with no or little use of the pick. The term legato means smoothly.
My exercises will consist of 2 string patterns with 3 notes on each string. I will finger frets 5,6 and 8 using fingers 1,2 4 then swap to frets 5,7,8 using fingers 1,3 and4.
The pattern goes like this on the B string 5,6,8,6,5,6,8 then move to the E string and repeat. I will then use the same exercise after half an hour but fret fingers 1,3 and 4 so it goes B string 5,7,8,7,5,7,8 and then again move this to the E string . Do this exercise for 30 minutes again. Repeat the whole 2 exercises again till you have done 2 hours.
I set my metronome at 50 beats per minute and I play 1 note per click. this might seem very easy and slow but it will build quality and speed and accuracy into my playing. I will also use a clean sound...no fx and a very soft touch with NO TENSION !
After the 2 hour session that completes my gtr practice. I then jam for about 20 minutes over various tracks and apply as much legato as possible.
The remainder of my time goes on some production work for various clients and I will try and work on the new record label web site which is currently under construction.
Not a bad day really.
Keep up the great work and catch you on my next blog
Regards
Chris
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www.guitar4hire.com

2010-09-25T05:42:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog!

I have been playing guitar professionally for a number of years. As I get older I often wonder if I will be able to play my punishing guitar routines or will the dreaded age related joint issues get me!

I have had to re-train my whole approach to the long practice session associated with being a professional guitar player. When your joints are younger eg: teenager, and all you want to do is rock out for 25 hours a day, you don't appear to have any issues, however, over the last 12 months or so I have developed an ache in my index finger knuckle. After a lot of careful monitoring I have discovered that this is purely down to excess tension when I play and not when I practice!

Transfer how you practice to how you play!

Most long term guitar players know that they need to be totally relaxed and have a very soft touch on the fret board...this usually goes out of the window when you play your tracks or are gigging. Try and maintain thjis soft technique all the time and over the years you should be able to play great!

Remember its all about QUALITY NOT QUANTITY.

Regards

Chris (craggstar)
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www.guitar4hire.com