How to be a better player

[guitarmike]

My first love in music is metal, other than church (where I metal up everything ) it is all I play. Recently my son (drums) and I were asked to play 4 hours of country/pop/rock at a campground over Memorial Day weekend. While practicing the music I have been forcing myself to play as close to the original as possible and it has been very inspirational.

I was in a slump and playing outside my comfort zone has really helped me get refocus my practicing. If you are in a slump give this a try, maybe it will help you too.

 

[Mailman1971]

Funny you mention this. We were just talking about the very thing last nite in a jam session.
Normally when we do a Kiss Song or AC/DC song.....we tend to 'metal' it up.
But we were doing Problem Child and were trying to play it as close to the studio version as possible.
Boy....was that an eye opener.
So used to flying off on the song....it was weird to just play it 'normal'...
sounded alot better. Wasnt as fun though.

 

[Mudder]

It's amazing when I try to play close to an original and realize how much less gain it has. I'll have friends call and say "dude, I can't get Communication Breakdown to sound right". They do a double take when I tell them to cut gain in half or switch to the clean channel driven hard. Lots of open space in originals too that I tend to fill up strumming or chunking along.

 

[Shark Diver]

Recently my son (drums) and I were asked to play 4 hours of country/pop/rock at a campground over Memorial Day weekend.

How cool is that! That must be amazing to play together


+1, to what everyone has said so far.

 

[guitarmike]

Here we are in the Maiden tribute band:



It is real cool

 

[kasperjensen]

It's amazing when I try to play close to an original and realize how much less gain it has. I'll have friends call and say "dude, I can't get Communication Breakdown to sound right". They do a double take when I tell them to cut gain in half or switch to the clean channel driven hard. Lots of open space in originals too that I tend to fill up strumming or chunking along.

That's the Gospel Truth right there.

 

[lessarti]

Less is more, that applies to everything and gain included ! lol

I find sometimes playing on amps or modes/channels that have a 'plexi' level of gain really inspires me to play more tasty or less 'wanker fill'.

 

[lyres requiem]

less gain = more tone in just about every way IMHO... Hell I grew up on 70 ampeg VT amps - hardly any gain unless you wanted to go deaf, but then you needed a big muff PI to do anything more... you could really get a good Malcom Young sound with just a bit of drive from an boss OD1.

 

[Bob Savage]

Learning music from anybody, even within the genres I lean towards is outside of my comfort zone. My new inspiration to play has me learning covers. I want to learn 100 of them. It's going slowly right now but I've got a goal and I already think it's making me a better player. This is outside of other adjustments I'm making including the use of guitars other than super strats and some other adjustments.

 

[Heritage Softail]

A guitar teacher many many years ago said to learn melodies. We took songs from Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The Way it Is, Mandolin Rain, Every Little Kiss. Lately, failing miserably at learning Chicken Pickin. Very hard.

 

[9ball]

Funny you mention this. We were just talking about the very thing last nite in a jam session.
Normally when we do a Kiss Song or AC/DC song.....we tend to 'metal' it up.
But we were doing Problem Child and were trying to play it as close to the studio version as possible.
Boy....was that an eye opener.
So used to flying off on the song....it was weird to just play it 'normal'...
sounded alot better. Wasnt as fun though.

Try the powerage album lol. I grew up on ac/dc. Starting to try to.emulate the tone/feel of some of that old stuff is what got me into wanting a better tone to work with in the first place. For me it has been fun though. I've gotten more into good blues tone and better technique

 

[Mailman1971]

Funny you mention this. We were just talking about the very thing last nite in a jam session.
Normally when we do a Kiss Song or AC/DC song.....we tend to 'metal' it up.
But we were doing Problem Child and were trying to play it as close to the studio version as possible.
Boy....was that an eye opener.
So used to flying off on the song....it was weird to just play it 'normal'...
sounded alot better. Wasnt as fun though.

Try the powerage album lol. I grew up on ac/dc. Starting to try to.emulate the tone/feel of some of that old stuff is what got me into wanting a better tone to work with in the first place. For me it has been fun though. I've gotten more into good blues tone and better technique

Yeah.....Powerage!
Whats next to the moon is one of my favorite AC/DC songs!

 

[kasperjensen]

A guitar teacher many many years ago said to learn melodies. We took songs from Bruce Hornsby and the Range. The Way it Is, Mandolin Rain, Every Little Kiss. Lately, failing miserably at learning Chicken Pickin. Very hard.

I know, right? Damn chicken pickin. So cool though.

I have by no means got it down, but it's getting better. First step was holding the pick right, then I started just using it every once in a while for normal stuff. Playing acoustic and whatever. So I found it was about gettin used to it. Now that I feel the concept is feeling more natural I am gonna start actually trying some real chicken pickin.