Newsletter Vol. 3 # 27 – August 01, 2006

Greetings,

Welcome to Volume 3, Issue #27 of Guitar Noise News!

In This Issue:

• News and Announcements
• New Articles and Lessons
• Guitar Noise Staff Picks!
• Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow
• Email of the Moment
• Forum Findings / Buried Treasure Of The Internet
• Emails? We Get Emails!
• Tutorial Tips
• Event Horizon
• Reviews
• Off Site Sightings and Works In Progress
• Random Thoughts

News And Announcements

Welcome to the August first edition of Guitar Noise News.

Our big news is that, in a few weeks, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Bass Guitar will be out in bookstores. September 5 is the “official” date I’ve received, but from what I’ve heard about publishing, plan on giving or taking a few days. It seems only a year ago that I just got the contract to do write this tutorial book – actually it was only a year ago! Amazing how fast they put these things together.

Because my writing this book could not have come about without the support of Guitar Noise and the readers of this site, Paul and I want to show our appreciation by giving away twenty autographed copies of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Bass Guitar over the course of the next few months. Details for the first giveaway will appear in our next Guitar Noise News. In the meantime, if you’d like to preorder a copy from Amazon.com, you can do so by following this link.

New Articles And Lessons

Repetition Rocks
by Doug Sparling

Our favorite arranger of Celtic music takes a short summer vacation and brings Guitar Noise readers a little bag of rock guitar riffs based on repeated phrases of notes. These are easy, fun and will add some spice to your soloing. Enjoy!

Legendary House
Some Notes On The House Of The Rising Sun
by Colette Dumont

Colette Dumont makes her long awaited return to Guitar Noise, bringing a bit of historical background to light on this well known song.

Money
A Song for Beginning Bass Guitar Players
by David Hodge

In celebration of his soon to be released book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Bass Guitar, David has put together a couple of bass lessons exclusively for the readers of Guitar Noise. Learn how to play this classic Pink Floyd song. It’s as easy as counting to seven (and occasionally eight)!

Exploring Music With Darrin Koltow

Do the Bump

This tip will have us exploring that funky difference in tuning that you find between the B string and the G string. Sometimes it seems like the guitar would be so much easier to play if all strings were tuned a fourth apart.

Specifically we’re going to learn how to transfer patterns — including chords, scales, whatever — across strings. We’ll start with a C major chord spanning strings two to five. And we’ll try to turn that into an F major chord, showing up on strings one to four.

Here’s the C major chord just mentioned:

|------|
|-5----|
|-5----|
|-5----|
|-3----|
|------|

Now let’s bump it up (in pitch). We’ll go to the next string that’s higher in pitch. The root is going to be F. So it’s going to be some kind of F chord, if we transfer the pattern exactly from the C major chord. But we also think, “Okay, we got that B string tuned different from the other strings…so what am I going to have to do to turn the ‘F Something’ chord into the F major chord?” Here’s the pattern shifted up before we’ve made any change to it:

|-5----|
|-5----|
|-5----|
|-3----|
|------|
|------|

That turns out to be an F major 7. So, we came pretty close to our goal of the same exact kind of chord as the C major, didn’t we? They’re both major chords. But the F chord is a major 7, which is not exactly the same as a plain old major. Here’s the adjustment to make it a plain F major:

|-5----|
|-6----|
|-5----|
|-3----|
|------|
|------|

Notice carefully where the change was made: the B string. And that’s going to be true for any pattern we want to bump up to the next string: whichever note got moved from the G string onto the B gets moved up one fret. And that’s the ONLY change you need to make.

The tough part comes, sometimes, in trying to work out a fingering for the bumped shape.

Next time, we’ll Bump it Down. Thanks for reading.

Darrin Koltow

Email Of The Moment

David:

I ran across the guitarnoise.com site today quite by accident and note that you commented you had a Seagull 12-string (among others) in one of your articles.

I just put new strings on my Seagull 12 (acoustic) yesterday, and had heard all the stories about tuning down 1/2 or a whole step (or more) and did tune down one whole step and used a capo on the 2nd fret when I played.

I’m not very good on the 12 (yet) – so am curious as to this ‘myth’ – as you suggest it doesn’t seem to affect any of your instruments through your years of playing. I also heard that by tuning down it helps lower the action, and/or make it ‘easier’ to fret.

Do I understand that you do not tune yours down, other than when messing around with alternate tunings?

I just signed up for the Guitar Noise newsletter and am looking forward to visiting this site again.

Thanks for writing. I don’t know how many of my articles you’ve read, but started out playing guitar on a twelve string. It was a right handed Ibanez, which I restrung to be lefty. In the past thirty plus years of playing, I’ve owned Ibanez, Martin, Ovation, Seagull, Raven (an electric) and Guild twelve strings and I always have had them tuned normally. Never a problem.

I think that, in the past, many twelve strings (and other cheaper guitars) suffered from quality control issues. As technical improvements have advanced, there have been less issues with things like truss rods and neck warping. They can still be there, but it’s less likely to happen to today’s guitars.

Tuning down simply lessens the pressure on the neck. It doesn’t really affect the action. It shouldn’t, anyway!

I will say, though, I still know a number of people who use lowered tunings. Most of the twelve string owners I know don’t. For whatever that’s worth. There are a number of threads about this on the Guitar Player’s Forum page, if you’d like to read other thoughts on this matter.

Hope this helps. Thank you once more for the email and I look forward to chatting with you again.

Forum Findings / Buried Treasure On The Internet

Sometimes it’s important to know that what applies to one musical instrument can often translate well to guitar. The internet is full of all sorts of sites and thinking that all your answers can be found in any one place usually leads to missing out on a lot. So it was with a bit of joy that I recently found myself directed to a violin site that had a wonderful page of practice tips.

A hearty thanks goes to Arjen, one of Guitar Noise’s readers from the Netherlands (and I can use the plural because I know there’s at least two!) for this link and for being thoughtful enough to post it on our forums for others to use.

Emails? We Get Emails!

Mr Hodge,

Just wanted to thank Guitar Noise for the recent Irish Flatpicking lesson by Doug Sparling. There’s a lack of this kind of tuition anywhere, so it’s nice to see it.

Hello and thanks for writing. We’re pleased to be able to present Doug’s lessons here at Guitar Noise and I’m hoping he’ll be writing a lot more of them in the months to come. And while his latest lesson isn’t in the Irish flatpicking genre, I do hope that you enjoy it just as well.

Tutorial Tips

This one’s a bit of a conversation – it actually takes place through several emails and a note on the “Lessons” page of our Forum, but I think it’s important as it demonstrates some things we talk a lot about in the various lessons here at Guitar Noise:

Hi David,

I’ve been a huge fan of your lessons on Guitar Noise since I started playing guitar about a year ago. Anyway, I’ve been reviewing “Riders on the Storm,” but I had a couple of questions:

1. What fills and arpeggios do you use at the end of each shuffle (both Em and Am), as well as after the D to C transition?
2. When you put all the parts together, I see you start out using Em shuffle #1 (or something similar to it). Which Em shuffles do you use after you play the Am line and the D to C transition?

I showed my friend (who’s been playing guitar for about 25 years) this arrangement of Riders and he said it’s the best arrangement he’s ever heard for it. He even mentioned that it’s probably better than the original song! He’s going to work on this lesson as well to learn your arrangement.

Thanks for all your work David. You’ve been an absolute huge help.

Hi

Thanks for writing.

Those particular fills, if you’re referring to the ones on the final MP3 in the lesson, are simple pull-offs on the G and D strings:

E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
G - 2 (P) 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D - - - - - 2 (P) 0 - - - - - - - - - - - -
A - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

They’re simple to play, easy to finger from the chords in question in the shuffle pattern, and, as you’ve noted, add a lot to the sound.

Most of the “fancy fills” in the final MP3 are either this one or using an arpeggio pattern instead of a strumming pattern to vary the sound of the chordal riffs. Thing is, I know it’s very likely that I just played what ever happened to my fingers. That’s the problem with playing ad lib. But when I record something straight from the TAB it tends to sound more mechanical and less like how I play. So I often just see what happens. That’s part of why I tell folks not to worry about copying TAB exactly.

And that’s a lot of my answer to your second question, namely that it’s not a specific shuffle that I wrote out. Rather it’s a combination of ideas taken from what’s written in the text as “Em Shuffles 1, 2 and 4” (at least, I think so! ) I dug out the hard files so I could listen to them and, taking the basic ideas, you can break it down this way for the first measure:

 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
E - - - - - - - - 0 - - 0 - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - -
B - - - - - - - - 0 - - 2 - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - -
G - - - - - - - - 0 - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - -
D - - - - - 2 - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And this way for the second measure:

 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
E - - - - - 0 - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
B - - - - - - - - 3 - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
G (S) 4 - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - 2 (P) 0 - - - - -
D - - - - - - - - - - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - - - 2 (P) 0 -
A - - - - - - - - - - - 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
E - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is, at heart, the base that I’m using for what we’ll call the “hybrid Em shuffle” in the MP3. But it changes a little each time as well. If I were to sit down with a recorder right now and try to do this MP3 again, chances are very likely it would be different. Not very different – a change of an arpeggio here or there, more of a stress on a particular strum, I might hit a percussive stroke sharper (or not) – but different all the same.

The point of this “hybrid shuffle” is, again and always, to get the reader into not going by “the book,” but rather to explore ideas on his or her own. This may sound kind of strange, but I don’t want to teach people to play like me. I’d much rather they find out who they are and then play like themselves. We’re all a combination of styles, ideas and techniques, all of which are changing all the time.

Don’t worry about copying me. Instead take some time and play around and hear what you come up with. It’s bound to be just as good. Maybe even better!

Thank you again, not only for writing but for all your kind words as well. And for passing along the kind words of your friend as well.

Looking forward to chatting with you again very soon.

Peace

Thanks for your help on the Guitar Noise forum. I can finally add “Riders” to my repertoire of songs and it sounds great.

As I was listening to your “Riders” sound files over the last couple of days, I did notice that you like to combine the shuffles to make “hybrid” shuffles. I decided to do the same and each time I play the song, it’s a little bit different, which I think makes it more interesting. Usually when I first start your lessons (especially “Riders”), I try to play similarly to your style to get the gist of the song. I think your version of the song gives me a great base (and more!) to experiment with and try different things. Thanks!

Event Horizon

Today and Thursday, you can catch Hap Hazard, band of Guitar Noise forum member Bish, performing at the Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport, Iowa. Friday, August 4 finds them back at their old stomping ground, the 11th Street Bar and Grill and you can also catch them Saturday August 12 at the Bettendorf (Iowa) J.C.s.

The David Ray Band with Bob Bartlett plays every Wednesday at the Rustler’s SteakHouse in Porterville, CA from 6:00-9:30 outside on the deck during the summer.

And I’m pleased to announce that GN’s Vic Lewis will be taking part in the Newton Music Festival

And tomorrow, August 2, GN Forum member “millard” and his band, The Marsh Mellow Stone Band, will be playing at The Blue Cafe in Long Beach, California at 11PM. You can see them again at diPiazzas in Long Beach, California from 7PM-9PM on August 15. They do originals and some covers of late 60s/early 70s songs, sticking to the sort of cosmic and groovy side of things.

If you’re in the neighborhood of any of these shows, drop in and meet some of the people you’ve been chatting with online. And be sure to say that I say hello!

Finally, I’d like to take a minute to wish GN Forum member “Geoo” the best of luck playing at his recital on August 19, somewhere (I believe) in Norman, Oklahoma. Every show is precious and I hope you have a great time playing!

Reviews

Robert Fripp: Exposure
CD Review by Jimmy Caterine

A re-issue of the classic 1979 album from Robert Fripp, as diverse a work as you might ever hope to find. With outstanding contributions from Daryl Hall, Terre Roche, Peter Gabriel, Tony Levin and many, many more.

Off Site Sightings And Works In Progress

The September 2006 issue of Acoustic Guitar Magazine should be out at your favorite local music store, bookstore or magazine stand. Inside you’ll find a wonderful interview with Merle Haggard, an exclusive fingerstyle lesson with Pierre Bensusan and many other articles and lessons of interest. “The Basics” section had a new lesson of mine, called “Harmonizing Your Bass Lines,” which also contains an original arrangement of the old spiritual Come And Go With Me. If you can’t find Acoustic Guitar magazine anywhere else, you can also find these and many other articles and lesson at their website, www.acousticguitar.com

Random Thoughts

Last month I noted that we had a short newsletter and then someone wrote me to say that it was more than six pages long!

Be that as it may, I’d like to take a moment to ask a favor of all of you. Paul and I are often getting emails from readers asking how they can be of help to Guitar Noise. Sometimes they want to donate money, sometimes contribute work.

One thing that we’ve not talked a lot about is our affiliate sites, especially those through the Guitar Noise store. Take the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Guitar, for instance. If you do decide to purchase this book, whether for yourself or a friend, using the link here at Guitar Noise will provide a kick back to this site. Likewise whenever you go to a place like Amazon.com or Sheetmusicplus.com and place an order. So, please try to remember that when you want to make an online purchase, try to go through us here at Guitar Noise.

As always, my thanks go out to all our readers who have made this site such a great place for everyone to come and learn about music and the guitar. You’ve built a wonderful, worldwide community here and each and everyone of you should be proud of your contributions to it.

Until our next newsletter, please stay safe and play well.

And, as always,

Peace