Here’s a tip for the beginning guitar player, the one who is starting to get discouraged, the one who might give up. Go grab a pair of shoes and put them on your feet. Tie those shoelaces, and really think about how you do it. Then come back and read the rest of this blog.
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OK, your back! Boy, remember how hard it was to learn to tie your shoes when you were little? Remember the pride you experienced after finally tying those sneakers on your own?
Actually, no. I don’t remember either. I’ve forgotten what that felt like too. We take it for granted. We tie our shoes everyday without anxiety, without frustration, without thinking about it…
Van Halen Nike shoes, awesome.
I want to remind all of you beginning guitar players that learning to play guitar can (and will) become the same! If you keep at it, you will one day forget how hard it was to learn, like tying your shoes. The problem is the learning curve to guitar mastery is higher. Guitar playing requires a physicality and mental prowess, and these two things need to work together.
The physical part? Your fingers’ muscles need to get stronger. Your fingertips need to develop callous. Your two arms and your two hands need to develop the fluid motions of working together. The mental part? You need to learn chords and scales. You need to learn how to read at sheet music and tabs. You have to learn a new vocabulary, the vocabulary of music theory.
Then you need to put those two things together, and stop thinking about it all when you play! If it was easy, everyone would do it. But it’s not easy. None of this is automatic at first. Your brain needs to tackle these concepts, and it will.
Just remember this the next time you tie your shoes, that strumming the three chords of “Sweet Home Alabama,” playing the opening riff to “Purple Haze,” or soloing a pentatonic over “Layla” will one day be automatic.
Tying our shoes is our daily reminder that what is hard now will be easy after practice.
Yes, guitar players, we need to have extra capos. Just like extra packs of strings. And backups for the extras.
Have one in every acoustic guitar case. Have one in your glovebox of your car. Have one separate for practice at home. Just don’t simply survive on one capo. Why?
I learned the hard way when I was just getting started. Aaron Noone and I were hired to play an island party in the Fenton area. I think it might have been our first or second “real” (that means paid) gig as a duo. A pontoon boat had to transport us and our gear to the island where we were performing to an excited crowd celebrating the Michigan/Michigan State Football team seasons.
So we get step up, are about to start, and I realize I had forgotten my capo. Yep. I had hitch a ride on the pontoon boat to get back to my car, drive home, and cause a late start time. (Sorry about that Aaron!) An hour and half later when I arrived with capo in hand, the island partiers were getting antsy. One of them said, “Wait, the hold up was for that clamp thing?”
Yep. The capo is that important to the acoustic player. Keep extras. Everywhere.
OK, sometimes a great acoustic arrangement can be found with little practice, but usually this isn’t the case. Most bands can’t pull off spontaneity if they are working out of their comfort zone. (Jazz musicians and jam bands practice improvising!)
Drummers who only play a kit shouldn’t assume playing other percussion items is easy, either. Without practice of technique, those bongos can become monotonous at best, awfully distracting at worst.
The skill of taking a full song and stripping it down to a great acoustic performance often lies in the percussionist. For example, Ari Hest is on tour with only a drummer, Doug Youl, and these performances are amazing! A whole new canvas comes to live when Yoel plays a kit and percussion with his hands. I saw them live at the Ark last month and left inspired to the possibilities of videos.
Check out some videos of their 2011 tour:
Video 2: Sunset Over Hope Street
Yes! Even metal bands can create acoustic versions of their songs. At least song of their songs.
The key lies in the songwriting. A versatile song is one that stands on it’s own, with or without fast, distorted guitar or double bass drums.
My friend Les Zaldor (of Zaldor’s World podcast) and I saw Seasons After play at Bullfrogs Bar and Grill in Redford, MI years ago. They blew us away with an acoustic set.
After the show, Les and I were talking to the lead guitar player. He admitted, “We’ve never really practiced these acoustic arrangements. The label booked a few radio performances for us, so we simply had to do them acoustically. We just winged it and it turned out OK…”
I was floored! What a great example of an uncomfortable situation becoming the catalyst for a fresh take on metal songs!
An acoustic version of a song can be a breath of fresh air or make a song flop like fish out of water. I’m not sure what the secret is. Iron and Wine made Postal Service’s electronic “Such Great Heights” a folk beauty. Then there are other acoustic versions that are rushed together.
Which brings me to a recent video I found of the Script. I really, really, really love this band. The hooks they write are infectious.
People have been requesting The Script at my cover gigs at Stout and Lu & Carls recently. This insired me to search for an acoustic version of the song. I came across this clip filmed by Billboard Magazine:
Honestly, this isn’t their best performance. No biggie, but I can tell the singer’s voice is tired. (Have you seen their touring schedule? They need a rest!)
This reminds me of a tip Roy Caldwell told Aaron Noone and I years ago when we started gigging three nights a week. He said, “Change the key of those high songs! Down tune your guitar a half-step or whole-step.”
A half-step goes a long way. It can help save the vocal performance, stop the singer from pushing.
Plus, a keyboard player probably doesn’t even need to relearn the chords. The digital transposing options can take care of that!
The Script will find that great acoustic arrangement soon. I wonder if it will be a half-step lower than written?
