The Weekend Read for Feb. 20th through Feb. 27th

I must say there was a ton of good stuff out there this week.

Acoustic Guitarist Blog - Tommy Emmanuel a giving an Acoustic Blues Guitar lesson in the key of E, it’s called Stevie’s Blues, as in Stevie Ray Vaughan. Tommy Emmanuel Guitar Lesson

Blogging Muses - The more you can identify and reach out to your fans the better off you’ll be. Viral Marketing – What’s Really “Real” About It?

Jem Site -  I had a particularly good practice day yesterday where everything felt right. Zoning Issues

Guitar Lifestyle - Suhr Guitars was recently profiled by Apple because of the fact that Macs are used in almost all phases of the Suhr guitar and amp building process. Suhr Guitars Profiled by Apple

Guitar Noize - This has to go down as one of the most bizarre guitar accessories I’ve seen in a while. Watch out Yngwie its the Shred-O-Meter!

Guitar Flame - OK, I know we all have this thing with looking out for new and impressive guitars, it’s like guitar porn as one of you guys said once. Chameleon Guitar…And A Bag Of “Sound Boards”!

GuitarPlayerZen - You’re looking at Guitar Player Magazine and every other page depicts a guitarist holding a shiny new guitar or standing in front of a new half stack with some killer new pedals. So You Want a Guitar Endorsement?

Not Playing Guitar - Guitar chord practice tables are an easy and effective way to track your guitar chord playing skills. Guitar Chord Practice Tables

Strat-O-Blogster - Not only a great opportunity to include "purple Sperzels" in the same sentence, but I get to hack the Skittles tag line as well. Tricked Out Guitar is blowing these out as part of their new store site. Tune the Rainbow With Sperzel Trim Lok Colors

Guitar Answers - Dating Your Guitar By The Serial Number 

Have a rockin' weekend

Sarge

The 5 Musical Terms of The Day

Knowledge is Power 

Una corda - Soft pedal.

Variation - The manipulation of a theme by the use of melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic changes.

Whole note/rest - A note/rest equal to two half notes and four quarter notes.

Accelerando, accel - Gradually faster.

Balance - The harmonious adjustment of volume and timbre between instruments or voices; it can be between players or vocalists or electronically while recording or mixing.

Tip of The Week - Learn Gradually and Have Realistic Goals

Musicians Tip of the Week

Don't try to play a lot of things you aren't ready for. Be Realistic about your capabilities as a beginner and learn gradually. If you progress at a steady, methodical rate, your technique and control of the guitar will become solid as you advance. Strive to master each new technique, chord or scale before moving on th something else. Attempting things that you're not quite ready for can discourage you instead of inspire you to play.

Changing The Feel of a Song - Guitar Lesson with Backing Tracks

By altering the strumming or picking pattern of a chord progression, you can dramatically change the style. I want to show you how to take a simple chord change and use it to play many different genres of music, all against the same bass and drum backing track. This demonstrates the power of the guitar and it's ability to dictate the feel of a song.

For each style, we'll use the same four barre chords. The progression is in the key of Am. Since all of the chords are movable chords, you can transpose this entire progression to any other key.

Rock

This is a standard rock rhythm using the notes above. Play eight notes using all down strokes.

Rock Feel - John McCarthy 

Metal

Now play the same progression in sixteenth notes using alternate strumming to get that fast. heavy metal feel.

Metal Feel -  

Reggae

Reggae uses all upstrokes. Following each upstrum of the pick, mute the strings with with your picking hand in time and on the downbeat to give it that reggae feel.

Raggae Feel -  

Ballad

This is a rock ballad picking pattern. Fret and hold each barre chord, and downpick the notes individually. Let the note ring out together for the duration of each measure.

Ballad Feel -

Backing Tracks

This backing track is so you can hear how each style sounds against a bass and drum backing track.

All 4 styles with backing track - Unknown Artist
This backing track is for you to practice over with each style.

backing track only -

For more great lessons you can search the blog here by typing in guitar lessons (or bass lessons) and be sure to check out the main Rock House site at www.rockhousemethod.com

The 5 Musical Terms of The Day

Knowledge is power!

Pacato - Calm, quiet.

Quarter note/rest - A note/rest one half the length of a half note and one quarter the length of a whole note.

Rallentando, rall - Gradually slower. Synonymous with ritardando.

Sanft - Soft, gentle.

Tanto - Much, so much.

Michael Padget DVD with Rock House - The Scoop

With all the excitement around Rock House HQ over the weekend about Michael Padget of Bullet For My Valentine being in the studio making a new instructional DVD, I just had to find out what was going to be on tap with one of the next DVDs in the Rock House library of Learn Metal Guitar. So I went right to the source and talked to John McCarthy about the content they were going to have Padge bring.

John told me that with this DVD series they are concentrating on bridging the gap of learning to play at an advanced level. I thought this was a good move, there are many of us that are kind of stuck in the beginner to intermediate stage or performing. The news of helping you make the leap to being an advanced player using some techniques taught by Padge made my ears perk up.

You can look forward to learning the scales that Padge likes to use. He seems to favor scales in Em. He will also be talking about and showing you how he uses chords and voicings using suspended and 9th chords.

John commented that an intermediate player can easily use a basic 4 chord metal progression but this DVD will show you how to take that a step farther by showing exercises for pivot rhythms along with open string and six note chords, just to name a few. Padge will also show you some mind blowing techniques for tremolo picking and some single note runs.

The DVD will feature a little secret that Padge uses when developing a song. Basically how he creates an intro to a song followed up with how he takes that into the body and then the chorus of the song.

This is one series of DVDs I'm looking forward to using. It sounds like once again John and Joe are producing a DVD with lessons with content that guitarist can really use.

On a side note the DVD lessons featuring Oli Herbert of All That Remains are set to be released within the next few weeks. John is sending me some info on that and I'll let you all know what's to come with that series. Also, slated to be in the studio next week is Buzz McGrath of Unearth and toward the end of March Gary Hoey will be in production with his long awaited instructional DVD series.

Keep up on all the happenings around Rock House, their instructors and free lessons by sub scribing to The Rock House Blog at http://feeds2.feedburner.com/RockHouseBlog and be sure to check out the mother site www.rockhousemethod.com

More info on Michael Padget can be found at www.bulletformyvalentine1.com or www.myspace.com/bulletformyvalentine

Wampler- Bad Dog Distortion Review From Tony Pasko

Tony Pasko is The Rock House Methods resident gear guru. He hosts a regular question and answer section at Rock House called GEAR411 where people can write to him about questions they may about gear, guitars, amplification, recording and pedals. Tony is one of the most knowledgeable people in the business. You can check out GEAR411 at www.rockhousemethod.com

Now onto Tonys review.

 

I told you that my product reviews wouldn’t be the same old stuff you have seen over and over. I am trying to shed light on companies and products that I feel get overlooked or no press at all, but have really good products and ideas. This review is a prime example of what I’m talking about. Johnny Hiland and Brian Wampler are two shinning examples of major talents joining forces and making a really good product for the sake of making good music.

Johnny Hiland is one of those guys that when you see or hear him play your mouth instantly drops to the floor. His playing ability is way beyond most guys that we call guitar gods now. Let me put it this way: If you took Danny Gatten and Joe Satriani and molded them into one guy? You would have Johnny Hiland, he’s that good.

Brian Wampler has this website where he sells custom pedals, and does mods on pedals etc… His videos are cool and the pedals seem to sound pretty good, but in the sea of everyone making their own pedals his pedals can get overlooked. I am here to tell you DO NOT OVERLOOK WAMPLER PEDALS!!!

I met him at a NAMM show and was very impressed by Brian, he is a very friendly and approachable guy, and most important he is a good guitar player. Believe it or not there are companies that make musical gear and don’t even play an instrument.

Now that you know all players involved let’s get to this pedal. The Bad Dog isn’t one dog it’s like two Pitbulls in a box. I either own or have played 95% of the distortion pedals in the market today, and I am here to tell you that this pedal is different from mostly all of those pedals at any price.

I spent the first hour of playing this pedal messing with the knobs. When I demo stuff I like to see what capabilities I’m working with: How do the knobs feel, how much sweep do I get in the frequency, if I turn the gain all the way down what does the pedal do? The reason for this is that pedals for the most part are designed to do one function, and the knobs just give you a variation of that one thing. This is not a bad thing for the most part, but again I like to see how versatile a unit is so I know what amps are going to like the pedal and what guitars are going to sound best etc…

The pedal looks and feels like a custom pedal, right out of the box you know you have something that was made by a human and not a machine. The knobs feel sturdy and they sweep with a bit of tension, letting you know this pedal is made from quality parts. The jacks and footswitch are all good quality as well. If this impresses you then you’re in for a wild ride because all the cosmetics are really just the icing on the cake.

The Bad Dog can’t sound BAD you can make it sound ugly, but not bad. Here’s what I mean. Gain“1” gives you a slight break-up like an 808 but with a slight bump in the high mid section. Gain”2” gives you a bit more distortion like a DS-1 but with a slight low mid bump. This alone would have made the pedal cool, but they didn’t stop there. Now at first I wondered why they didn’t put two footswitches on the pedal because when you see two gains, you think, “Hey I might want to toggle between those two.” But Johnny and Brian take you in another direction. The gains by themselves sound good, but the two running together sounds great and gives you a thick, rich complex tone that isn’t only crunchy, but clear and punchy at the same time.

Not to get off track here but I have to tell you that this pedal does something that I have never had a pedal do before. I tested the Bad Dog on my 18 watt Marshall. It’s a pretty simple amplifier and it doesn’t have any real bells or whistles other than it sounds like a real good vintage Marshall. The Bad Dog cleans up like no distortion pedal I’ve ever owned and I was able to make my Marshall sound bright like a Twin, or darken it slightly and get some pretty convincing Deluxe tones out of it.

This is why they put a presence knob on the pedal. You will use this knob way more than you ever would think you would. It adds so much clarity and punch without ever thinning your tone.

To go back to what I said before about turning the knobs you will find that all the knobs give you so much dynamic range, unlike most pedals the range is very small, or so extreme that you can’t ever dial in the right frequency mix, this pedal isn’t like that. The presence knob sweeps from bright to dark, and there is enough range there to adjust depending on the type of amp you are plugging into. Only guys that tour, or do sessions, or play through a lot of different amps would think of these kinds of subtleties.

In the industry today companies keep making products that only fit into a category. “We’ll make this distortion box for metal heads, or this distortion is only for the blues guitarist.” They do this because of marketing dollars and what’s the easiest sell through, how can they make the fastest buck. This is not that product. There is a sound in this pedal that I guarantee 99% of the guitars players out there will like, because we all like to sound good at the end of the day and this pedal just sounds good.

Not to over look the bass and treble knobs, they do exactly what you think they do, if you have a strat that’s a little thin? The bass knob will thicken it, and the treble is a bit sharp sounding on a strat, but on a tele or les paul it’s great. The treble also adds a hint of compression so you should have no problem getting out all your chicken picken licks out.

Finally, I saved the best for last. If I told you this in the beginning of the review? You never would have read the rest. Here’s the setting: With both gains turned all the way up, the presence on 2 o’clock, the bass at 12 o’clock, and the treble at 11 o’clock. Remember I’m plugged into an 18 watt Marshall, and with my Wolfgang guitar. I nailed Eddie Van Halen’s tone from Van Halen 1 and 2. This claim has been made before but Wampler and Hiland deliver the real deal.

I love with this pedal and it proves the point that when you go out of your way to make a good product for the right reasons; musicians will support it. Please go out of your way to give this little pedal a chance, and take a listen to Johnny Hiland he is defiantly a talent not to be overlooked.

Thank you,
Tony J. Pasko

www.wamplerpedals.com

www.johnnyhiland.com

Specs

* High grade film capacitors and resistors picked for their superior sound and response
* Completely true bypass
* Super bright LED
* Controls: volume, gain1, gain 2, presence, bass, treble
* Each gain controls a different frequency spectrum
* Very pick responsive - play light and it's clean, dig into the strings and it gets nice and dirty
* Very versatile - low gain, high gain, tons of eq options
* Smooth and tight distortion
* Sounds great with a tube OR solid state amp
* Sounds great at low OR high volumes
* Powder coated durable finish

Currently, there is a 2-3 week wait. This means that from the day of purchase, your pedal will ship in about 2-3 weeks.

The 5 Musical Terms of The Day

Knowledge is Power

La - In solmization, the sixth degree of the major scale. Also, the first degree of the relative minor scale, e.g. a is the sixth degree, or la, in the C major scale and the first degree of the a-minor scale.

Ma - But. Used with other words, e.g. lento ma non troppo, slow but not too slowly.

Nachtmusik - "Night music." A serenade.

Octave - The eighth tone above a given pitch, with twice as many vibrations per second, or below a given pitch, with half as many vibrations.

Pacato - Calm, quiet.

All That Remains to perform at Golden Gods Awards

All That Remains will perform on America's first-ever hard rock and heavy metal music awards show, the Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards, on Tuesday, April 7th at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles, which will be broadcast on MTV2 as a one-hour special debuting Saturday, May 2nd!

The Revolver Golden Gods Awards will be hosted by actor/comic Brian Posehn (The Sarah Silverman Program) and feature additional performances by Killswitch Engage, Hatebreed, Suicide Silence and a special guest to be announced soon, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award tribute to rock legend Ozzy Osbourne. The evening will also feature special appearances by Motorhead’s Lemmy Kilmister, Glenn Danzig, Maynard James Keenan, Chuck Billy and Eric Peterson of Testament, Protest The Hero, Marta from Bleeding Through, Isis, Brendon Small from Dethklok, WWE wrestler CM Punk, and many more. The Revolver Golden Gods Awards are created by America’s leading heavy music magazine Revolver and made possible through the support of title sponsor Epiphone Guitar and presenting sponsor Honda, along with a number of other sponsors. As the home of Headbangers Ball, the longest running show on the network, MTV2 will serve as the exclusive broadcast partner for the one-hour Revolver Golden Gods Awards special on May 2nd.

 

All That Remains features Rock House Instructor Oli Herbert, whos New Rock House Methods Instructional DVD is due to be released in a couple weeks.  Check the news at www.rockhousemethod.com for news about the up coming release or check here at The Rock House Blog.

Source: http://www.allthatremainsonline.com/

FREEKBASS - New Pictures Up on My Space

FREEKBASS must have a good friend in the photography business. Scott Peterson has taken some snappy pics of the highly acclaimed Funk Bassist while performing at The Mouse Trap in Indianapolis, Indiana.

You can check 'em at FREEBASS @ The Mouse Trap

New Video Interview with Marc Rizzo at Metal-Online.com

Live Free Music from The Limit on Their Pod Cast Page

Rock House artist/instructor Mark Daniel and The Limit have taken their business to the next level.

Announcing on their web site (www.thelimitmusic.com) that they launched NEW LIVE FREE MUSIC on their Podcast page.

You can download for FREE:

#1 Brand New Bootleg Live album featuring Bob Chmiel’s Drum solo, THE LIMIT reviewing Stone Temple Pilots’ “Unglued,” Cream’s classic “Sunshine of Your Love,” and more….

#2 Assorted studio tracks

#3 All the Lyrics to “REINVENTING THE SUN.”

YES, FREE…be sure you log into: www.thelimitmusic.com
 
Why?... Because they believe their fans are awesome and they love ya.

The 5 Musical Terms of The Day

Knowledge is power!

Fa - In solmization, the fourth degree of the major scale.

Gig - A job for a musician.

Half step - The interval from one pitch to the immediately adjacent pitch, ascending or descending, e.g. c-c ; e-e ; b-c. The smallest interval on the keyboard.

Impressionism - A musical movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Inspired by the French impressionist painters, the movement had its impetus in the music of Debussy and Ravel.


Key signature - The sharps or flats placed at the beginning of the staff to denote the scale upon which the music is based.

The 5 Musical Terms of The Day

I'm adding a new feature to the blog called The 5 Musical Terms of The Day. Each day here on the blog I will post 5 musical terms to help you with better understanding with your musical terminology.

There are so many words in the musical dictionary it'll take.......a long time before they run out so check back everyday to expand your knowledge of music.

Knowledge equals power!

Absolute - Absolute music. Music which is inspired by itself rather than extra musical implications such as the stories legends of "program" music.

Baby grand - A small grand piano.

Cadence - A chordal or melodic progression which occurs at the close of a phrase, section, or composition, giving a feeling of repose; a temporary or permanent ending. The most frequently used cadences are perfect, plagal, and deceptive.

Da capo, D. C. - Return to the beginning.

E - Italian word meaning "and."