Ok, I'll admit it. for years I just played through whatever. I didn't care what amp (I didn't even care if it had tubes), and a guitar was a guitar to me. Effects? whatever. If I used them, it was whatever was around.

I've been a late bloomer in ALL aspects of music. My learning, my understanding, my concept. To put it plainly - I have been a very slow learner.

Don't get me wrong, I practiced ALL the time. 4,6,8 hrs a day for many many years. And took any and every gig and tour that came me way.

As I started to do session work, I started wondering why my tone never sounded so great. Once in a while things were cool.

Then, one day I felt like plugging into a 70s 'silverface' era Fender Vibrolux reverb. That is what started it. It began an...obsession with tones. I started trying different guitars, finding the value of a good Les Paul (I was a Strat guy for years). I started experimenting with different guitars and different amps, and combos of each (Strat and a Marshall, Les Paul and a Fender Deluxe).

I really began to learn about the history of amps, how they were made, what gave each its "mojo" and why I didnt seem to like any new production amps(don't get me started!) - I do however like a few Boutique companies).

Yes, this led to researching guitar rigs of other guitarists. Finding out what the EDGE used on the early albums, what Carl Perkins used, how different rock guys ran things. I do not attend a concert without seeing what is being used. Its all important education.

And yes, it turns out getting tones and sounds involve pretty big problem solving. It gets very creative how you arrive at a sound.

Things you may consider...."Hmm, I wish the tone was a bit fatter, but dont want to lose the mids I have.....the delay is too much when the amp gets driven, but is fine on a 'clean' tone....I need a crisp clean sparkle tone, but I also need that British GROWL for my leads....the problems go on and on. And they need to be solved. The more you notice sound, the harder it becomes.

Let me stop here for a second and reassure you that I still stand by my claim that TONE is 70 percent fingers. But, 30 percent is a LOT! In fact, having great finger tone is what will bring the best out of your gear.

Lately I find myself messing with different speakers, tubes, amps, effects, guitars,..just different setups and combonations.

I still use what is right for each gig..amp wattage, for example, should be taken into account.

I am doing a lot of gigs lately. I will share one rig I have been happy with for all of the Mike Previti and This Side of Seven Shows (I am using the exact same setups or both)-THis set up doesn not work for some of the other projects I am doing, tho. And I am still searching for the rig for MY project. Although, I think I might be really close.

Guitars:

Fender Jazzmaster G&L ASAT semi hollow w/ F hole (and P90s)

Amp:

Marshall 1974x custom shop handwired 18 watt combo pumped through a Divided By 13 2x12 cab (Loaded with a Celestion Blue and a Celestion G12H30).

Effects:
Guitar-->Ernie Ball JR. Volume Pedal(Boss TU-12 tuner)-->Maxon Rotary Phaser--->TC Chrous/Flange/Pitch Shift--->Fulltone Fulldrive--->Ibanez analog delay--->Line 6 Delay pedal----AMP
Glass and Metal Slide

Feel free to email me for GEAR talk. I am still learning-this is a journey and still trying things out, but always love to discuss rigs, or potential rigs.

Over the past 2-4 years I developed hand problems due to overuse. I played gigs in pain, or with hands too weak to pull off what I wanted to on the instrument. Also, my constant state of anxiety was getting worse over time. I beat an extreme panic disorder years ago, but it seemed that it was all creeping back.

SO, what was going on? Everywhere I went I was tense, jumpy, dizzy and nauseous. Not a fun way to live. I also cut down on my practicing. WAY down. I tried all kids of therapy for my hands. Nothing really worked. It got to the point that I had to take Benzodiazapines (that can function as a muscle relaxer) on more demanding gigs to get my hands working correctly. I really don't reccomend this at ALL!! THis was my big downfall and a true sign I had a big problem.

A friend at Berklee had told me of a guy named Richard Zukowsi in western Mass that did something called “Structural Therapy.” Basically, its pressure points manipulated by the hands. I can’t go into great detail, but it’s a type of massage, perhaps closer to Shiatsu and deep tissue tendon work. But, there is a specific stretch series that has to be done every day. Important ‘homework’ for the patient. Plus, heat. Lots of it to keep the muscles loose.

Part of the therapy was to change my diet. The first step – Give up sweets all together. AHHH!!! Richard told me sweets (Cookies, cake, candy etc), are like poison to some people. It spikes your blood sugar. When your body gets over the initial ‘high’, it crashes. This is bad for your central nervous system and hard on your muscles and tendons. It messes with brain activity. The next step was to eat a ton of whole grains(home made wheat bread, brown rice, wheat pasta).

Anyone who knows me realizes I am a junk food junkie. But, I gave up the stuff cold turkey. 5 weeks into I, I was still craving chocolate. I mean, really bad. I would lay awake craving my ‘fix’. This is one of the more difficult things I have done.

All I can say is, the difference is SCARY. My anxiety is gone. I mean, GONE. My mind is working much better. My moods are more stable. In short, I have my life back.

Sugar? I know, I wouldn’t have believed it either. People have told me before, but I ignored them.

I am still learning what I can and can’t eat. Basically, nothing with sugar in the ingredients. No corn syrup. Certain pasta sauces(I try to stay with olive oil toppings). No ketchup (I found that out the hard way). I just started reading ingredients.

Anyhow, I am about 6 or 7 weeks in on this. Its very hard, but the rewards are amazing. Remember, this means NEVER having sugar. You can’t have a piece of chocolate once in a while. No reward for good behavior.

As for my hands, they are doing far better. I have stuck with the therapy for 2 months an its actually working.
Finally, if anyone out there wants to discuss this further with me, please email me. I am still learning. I’d be happy to share anything about this with you. Or, if you have more info for me, PLEASE let me know.

Criteria


I’ve always wondered why some people can have a totally different take on the same piece of music. Or, why I will hear a CD, not like it, but pull it out 2 months later and love it. Why people discount a song, band era or what ever.

Now that I’ve done my new CD I think I am getting it a little bit. This is just a theory.

When listening back to the live show I would go back and forth about if it was good or not. One day I would think, “the band has a great vibe..” another I would think “the solos aren’t as screamin’ as I hoped” another I would think “I’m happy with the solos,” Either way, I would hate, love or tolerate it depending on the day.

Then, I would realize that every time I listed to the show, I would have a different set of “criteria” - a standard on which a judgment or decision may be based. “Standard” in this case does not mean high or low as in quality. Its more a person’s projection of what they feel is important or what defines ‘good’ in this case

In the case of music, this plays a huge role in what people hear. For example someone’s criteria might be, “Its not a good song unless It has a good beat I can dance to. And, it has to have words.” So, this person has a set of values they will consider every time they hear something. A way to gauge if it’s good or “totally boring.” If the song does not include these things, they probably wont like it.

I find that I can listen with other people’s criteria. For this live album, I wanted a raw, club sounding album. Mistakes or small clams were NOT fixed. They listener got exactly what went down that night, no changes or overdubs. I had set my own benchmarks for this particular project.

But, I would listen pretending a big producer was checking it out. I would figure they would listen more for complete precision. Well, since there are small clams here and there or a slight intonation problem somewhere else, I thought that a producer type might hate this CD since it’s not ‘perfect.’ I know most bands edit the hell out of live albums and fix all the mistakes in the studio. Lucky for us, there were only minor things in the performance.

If someone was listening to my CD that is a shred freak, they might get bored because the performance isn’t filled with constant fast and loud playing. So, under that criteria, this album might be lame. Ultimately, I had to realize that for THIS PARTICULAR album, I felt we hit it right on the money. It is exactly what I wanted to put out next and realize not everyone would love it. It simply is not everything. It’s merely a snapshot the band’s performance of specific material that one night.

It’s probably why fans get so angry at bands that put out an album that isn’t like “The old stuff.” I have been guilty of this. I remember when Toto put out “Kingdom of Desire.” I put it in and it was hard drivin’ rock with bone-crunching guitar rffs. I wasn’t expecting that since that was never their sound in the past. I hated the CD at first. It was like thinking you were taking a drink of milk and its actually Pepsi. I may like both, but the Pepsi tasted vile since I thought I was drinking milk. In time, I grew to love that Toto CD.

Anyhow, I love a huge amount of music. I would recommend people listen to as much as they can. I mean, way beyond the radio and MTV. Ask around, try new stuff. Add to and change your list of what makes something great. You can improve your ability to listen to other stuff by being exposed to it more often. The old saying “It is what it is..” Try to think what the artist was going for and if they succeeded. This goes for pop radio too. You might not like some of the pop out there, but listen to it with open ears and say, “Hey, they were going for ‘x’ and they did a great job achieving that.” Or, decide that they fell flat. Either way, If it wasn’t supposed to be high art, then don’t judge it as high art. Britney Spears is not a great singer, but she is a great entertainer. If its not in-your-face screamin rock, then don’t judge it as if its supposed to be. Dig in and LISTEN and see what IS in there. You might not come up with much (I am obviously not saying everything is great), but you’ll get more out of music if you really listen with open ears.

Ok,

I didn't have any great ideas for a column recently, so I thought I'd share what I have been working on and listening too lately.

Most of this came about when I had to gear up for the live show I did with great guitarist Don Lappin this summer. I also realized I was going to be doing a live album soon after. My playing has felt stale for a couple of months, so I started a new practice routine.

I came up with stuff I would work on every day to get new musical ideas flowing. I also set aside more time to sit down and LISTEN to music. REALLY listening to music over and over ingrains musical ideas, themes and textures into your mind. I consider it a form of practicing. Albums that I have been listening to a lot are:

John Coltrane "Crescent" - Maybe one of my fav Coltrane albums. His phrasing and his execution of lines really gets me. I have been transcribing his solos from this album too.

David Sylvian/Robert Fripp "Damage" - A GREAT live album. Cool guitar sounds and textures. I am getting more and more into different kinds of guitar textures, and this is a nice album. Sylvian is so great, I'd check out "Gone TO Earth," and "Dead Bee's on a cake" as well.

Jimi Hendrix "Live at the Isle of Wight" - Late Hendrix stuff(circa 1970) is unreal to me. His tone, vibrato, vibe and note choice hasn't been matched to this day.

Herbie Hancock "Gershwin's World" - An eclectic album. Herbie is a true jazz musician. I have always been into his angular playing and ideas. Great stuff here.

David Douglas "Strange Liberation" - Reminds me a bit of the 70's Miles Davis stuff, which I LOVE. Great playing and very interesting compositions. The solos that are played on this album are refreshing. Lots of surprises - this is good for the ears!

Lately I practice improvisational ideas on my own songs. I have not really worked on real book tunes for a while. I just kind of explore starting phrases in different places, different rhytmic figures in my soloing and using different pitch sets(or cells) to use over chords.

Besides working on improvisational ideas for my own songs(and working on my own songs), I have been working on the Bach violin Sonata "Giga" for 3 months now.

Anyhow, please excuse the informal journal entry. It was just a "thought".....

Getting focused

I think most of us have trouble getting focused on self-improvement ‘projects’. Whether it’s going to the gym to get in shape, or practicing an instrument. I find it’s all the same.

First, let me get a bit more specific. There is a difference between the person that goes on occasional walks for excersise, and the person that spends 45 min/4-5 times per week at the gym. There is also a difference between picking up an instrument and noodling around for fun and focused work on improving weak areas of playing. I hear people tell me they practice 3 hrs per day. In some of those cases it turns out they just ‘jammed’ around and noodled with what they already knew for 3 hrs. Playing any instrument in any form is good and will improve you a bit. But we are talking about REAL improvement. Remember the difference between the person that takes a 15 min walk 2 times per week and the person that hits the gym for 1 hr - 5 times a week Each are beneficial, but one is truly going to make a life change.

In this essay, I am talking about the out of shape person that is gonna make a life change by working hard at the gym consistently. Truly improving yourself is a very hard task. We make excuses or fool ourselves that we are making a change for the better. But, many of us are not. “I’m a bit too tired to sit down and work on scales,” “I walked up a few flights of stairs at work, that should be good enough,” “I played through those chords 2 days in a row, I need a break,” “I’ll get started on that after I watch this show..” etc etc. We’ve all used them at some point.

This is a subject close to me. In school, I was told I had ADD, and other processing problems. Sounds like a great excuse to say “I can’t do that, I have processing problems.” Sure, focusing is very hard for me. And, I am SURE it’s hard for a lot of people. But, they are still excuses if I used these labels to avoid work and improvement. I didn’t want to show up to every gig and explain to the other band members that, “I have ADD, so that’s why I suck.”

I guess I can offer a few thoughts on getting focused. I worked myself from a person that made every excuse not to work to a person that practiced (not noodled) 4-6 hrs per day.

At first, any task looks too big to handle at the beginning. In music, you discover a lot of weaknesses in your playing. “Wow, I need more chops, to know all these chords, better tone, better feel, and my reading is weak – My blues playing is weak, I can’t improvise, I can’t play changes…” This list is just an example. Everyone’s ‘list’ will be different. In fact, the examples I pick out in this essay are JUST EXAMPLES. Everyone’s will differ. In the case of exercise, we might shiver at the fact that we have to begin to lose 30 lbs starting tomorrow.

The first thing I did was buy a blank notebook. At the top of the page, I would write out 4 things that I wanted to improve on in the next 4-6 weeks. Lets say = “Reading,” “chops,” “solo guitar playing,” and “playing changes.” Then, I would find something SPECIFIC to help each of those. “Sight read out of Melodic Rhythms Book,” “Transcribe and play Charlie Parker solo,” “Write, and master, a Chord solo to ‘In You Own Sweet Way’,” and “slowly outline changes of ‘In your Own…” with arpeggios in different inversions and different parts of the guitar.” Important: don’t veer from these tasks. These tasks are your focus. When 4-6 weeks are done, pick different stuff. But, see these things through for a wile.

Now, the key to improving these things is consistency. Its IMPORTANT that each of these 4 things are practiced EVERY SINGLE DAY. I would write the date in the book, followed by everything I did on that day. This is how I would keep track of what I was REALLY doing.

The first big problem - What about the days you feel you just can’t bring yourself to practice? I found just physically picking the instrument up and playing some chords or licks can get the ball rolling. Once I get the guitar in my hand, I’m usually ok. But, before that point, it feels hopeless.

The next thing is practicing in small doses. So, I convince myself I will sit and practice one thing from my list for 15 min. Once I do that, I write that in my note book. I can come back an hour later and practice the same thing for another 15 min. That adds up to 30 min. Perhaps later in the day, I can sit and practice cause I know I already have some work done. Maybe I work on another item from my list for 30 min. Every time you work on something in the day, write it in your book. Those small doses can add up to 4 hrs at the end of the day. You don’t need to work for 4 hrs. If you gave each task 15 min, you still worked on everything on your list that day. In fact, set that small goal for yourself at the start. “For 7 days, I will practice each of my 4 ‘tasks’ 10 min a day.” Hey, we can do that! We can fit 10 min here and 10 min there. At the end of the day, 40 min - easy!

Maybe next week give 15 or 20 min on each thing per day. You are building your attention span. Take it slow. You are still getting benefits from practice if you do each thing every single day. The pay off is noticeable even when you only practice 40-60 min a day. Be patient with yourself. Stay consistent, but give your attention span time to build.

Basically, I had to realize how I learned and what was going to work for me. I knew I was not going to be able to focus 6 hrs every day to start. I also knew I wasn’t going to be able to run 3 miles every day at first. Have you ever seen the movie “What about Bob?” Bill Murray and Richard Dryfuss starred in it. Hysterical! I am loosely quoting Dr Leo Marvin (Dryfuss), a psychiatrist that wrote a book called “Baby Steps” and was treating a multi-phobic character named Bob Wylie(Murray). “Bob, there is a brilliant new book out called ‘baby steps’. It means setting small, reasonable goals for yourself. For example, instead of thinking about what it will take to get all the way home, just focus on getting out of the door of this office. Then, focus on what you need to do to get to the elevator, and so on…..baby steps.”

Thoughts

Hello there. Welcome to my first THOUGHTS section. This is a space for me to talk about music (perhaps practice tips, musical ideas, or even what I am listening to). Hopefully some topics will encourage you to write as share YOUR thoughts with me. I will try to update this section every week or two. It all depends on the feedback I get from you. In fact, I am open to suggestions on topics to write about. We’ll see how it goes.

Influence vs Imitator

This subject comes up a lot. It’s a question in which many Berklee students hear different answers. The question? “If I learn other peoples solos or listen to other people’s music, will it ruin my own creativity?”

Some experts argue that it WILL ruin your voice or make you a copy cat,
void of your own style. Some people I respect share this view. And, depending on who you are and where you are in your development, this statement might be true.

I heard Wayne Krantz give a master class the other day and he said, “I don’t really listen to music. I’m kind of a sponge and would end up imitating what I heard.” For Wayne, I can see his point. He defiantly has a unique sound and approach. He’s really onto something and for him, this works. But, we should remember, this is where Wayne is NOW. I am sure early on he did some imitating. After all, he was on the Steely Dan tour and has been a working musician for many years. If he played totally obscure, he wouldn’t be invited to play as often.

To work, you need to be able to play styles. If someone offers you $300 to play a function with a smokin’ band, you better know some tunes and how to play the style. If a Singer/Songwriter wants you to play on their tour or CD, you better know how to play in that setting. If a producer wants you to play a track on a song, you better understand what makes the songs work with whatever instrument you play. I am someone that wanted to gig all the time and not have a day job. This involved learning STYLE and imitating. This doesn’t mean you lack style or a voice. You can separate the two and work on your own stuff outside of the working world. Plus, you can be tasteful in all the settings but add your own flavor in the working world.

I have also heard a great player (who will go un-named) say, “Why would you learn someone elses solo? You’ll just play those licks over and over and be an imitator.”

This idea may have worked for some great players. But, it might be a poor way to learn music for many (especially if you are just learning a style). I’m an example of someone that listens and transcribes a lot. Sure, I haven’t re-invented the wheel. It’s my goal to play great music and have a unique voice, but not to “re-invent the wheel.” It’s also hard to claim you have no influences. We all hear music and are influenced by people we jam with and perform with.

Bill Evans, in my opinion, is one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. He certainly had a very unique sound and touch. He still influences countless musicians even 24 years after his death. He once said “...I had eleven piano students, and I would say eight of them didn't even want to know about chords or anything - they didn't even want to do anything that anybody had ever done, because they didn't want to be imitators. Well, of course, this is pretty naïve.”

Some of my own examples - My time feel was (and still is) greatly enhanced by transcribing and playing with Sonny Rollins, Herbie Hancock, Wes Montgomery and Charlie Parker(and other) records. Matching the groove of those players opened my time up. It was a lot of work to understand that way of playing eight notes, quarter notes behind the beat-especially coming from a rock background. There is no way to discuss this concept. You have to hear it. It’s a FEEL and not a math equation.

Speaking of time, I consider Herbie Hancock to have some of the best ‘time’ out there. Plus, a lot of the stuff he plays makes me hear time in a new way. I transcribed a bunch of his solos and played guitar to the CDs note for note. It opened a new world of phrasing. From there, I would write my own solos with my own rhythmic ideas (inspired by Herbie) and develop it that way. I still work on my time and phrasing like this.

When I wanted my lines to be more ‘angular’-or, have bigger intervals- I transcribed Chick Corea and McCoy Tyner solos. I still do this. I check out the devices they use and try to use those concepts in other situations. Plus, I needed the ‘chops’ to play bigger intervals on guitar. The solos serve as ‘pieces’ to develop the intervals.

To wrap it up, listening to Hendrix really helped my vibrato, listening and coping James Brown and Meters stuff really helped my funk vocabulary and groove, listening to pop records really helped me learn how to play texture. Once I listen and learn I sit down and try to make it MINE. I have a lot of influences from many different genres. Do I sound like one particular player? Does this mean I can’t come up with my own ‘stuff’? Of course not! And, I love music deeply. I would be devastated if I couldn’t listen to it!

Bill Evans said, "First of all, I never strive for identity. That's something that just has happened automatically as a result, I think, of just putting things together, tearing things apart and putting it together my own way, and somehow I guess the individual comes through eventually."