Recently I've noticed a whole new crop of exceptionally talented teenagers who are already so far beyond what me and my peers were doing in our teens it makes me dizzy. However, the day is right around the corner when being young and good is going to evaporate, and then it will just come down to whether or not you are any good. Being young and good is a positive, but the window of using it to your advantage is closing and maybe you want to play for more than a few years. If you play for as long as I have, and I was one of those "for his age he's amazing, a prodigy!" (I wasn't a prodigy.....see fans) it will be but a blip of time on your career path. The bulk of what you do will be stacked up against the best in the business. Basically you're in a competition with the people who influenced you.
Many people find it hard to take advice, and there are usually a whole lot of people who want to give it out. Evidently I'm not an exception. Note that I make a distinction between being an artist and a working musician. I'm addressing the wanna be working musician at about 16 years of age here. This is what I would tell myself if I could go back in time and talk to me and my band mates....which is a bit of a joke since I doubt many 16 year old hot shot players and singers will either take that time to read all of this or have any reason to be stumbling upon reading what I have to say. But I was asked to judge a battle of the bands and as I watched and judged I thought to myself, I've got to write this stuff down.
First off, always play and or sing it like you mean it. Try all the time. There is never an appropriate time to phone in your performance, besides you never know who is watching. There are often quiet unassuming people out there with really good taste paying attention. In a cover band, when you're learning a song, try to at least start by doing exactly what it was the original artists did to have a song good enough that now, you're learning to copy it. Odds are your reinterpretation is a "less than", experience for everyone else and your embellishments are not needed and probably not very good. Ever heard the expression "reinventing the wheel"? You're not doing that are you?
First off, always play and or sing it like you mean it. Try all the time. There is never an appropriate time to phone in your performance, besides you never know who is watching. There are often quiet unassuming people out there with really good taste paying attention. In a cover band, when you're learning a song, try to at least start by doing exactly what it was the original artists did to have a song good enough that now, you're learning to copy it. Odds are your reinterpretation is a "less than", experience for everyone else and your embellishments are not needed and probably not very good. Ever heard the expression "reinventing the wheel"? You're not doing that are you?
That said, I think the greatest obstacle to young bands sounding good is often, players over playing.
Guitar players; To start with nobody really cares or notices the difference, other than the visual, when you change guitars from one song to the next, so the only justifiable reason is that you broke a string or you need a different tuning, otherwise, unless you can do it really quickly, it's probably unnecessary, and it's a lot more gear for everyone to haul around. Oh, it has a different tone? You think that has enough of an impact at a live gig do you? OK if you must, do it as fast as possible.
Pedals. You really don't need that many. I know, I'm guilty too, but I'm telling you, a cranked up amp usually sounds better than a distortion box. Simple is better, all around. Half the time the pedals just make it sound mushy....I'm talking live. And distortion? You're probably using too much. Play with the amp cleaner and play a little harder and use heavier strings and perhaps a heavier pick if you really want it to rock. It's true. It is in the hands, period. You can't use a wimpy pick and wimpy strings with a light touch through a distortion pedal and expect it to sound like rock. Rock has energy, so you have to put energy into it, in order to make it rock. Sitting in a bedroom gently stroking a guitar through a heavily distorted amp won't transfer into rock in real life. Most of the guys whose playing you like, dig in. Trust me. Wimpy attack, thin strings, equals thin, wimpy sound. You need to move air, and that is done with more mass and intensity. Now I know there are examples of guitar players that use thin strings and thin picks and sound great, Billy Gibbons springs to mind, but I would say they are exceptions. They are already professionals to start with and their technique is very accurate. I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about guitar players in general that have trouble cutting through the mix. You can back off on your attack as you get better and you'll have a better idea of what the limits are.
Solos etc. Few people care about solos beyond other guitarists. People like them enough, but then they move on. Solos can be a nice departure especially if you include melodic elements or add some kind of excitement factor, but they're more of a side dish than a main course. Truly. Don't believe the hype. Yes there is an entire industry built around pedals, amps, guitars and solos all aimed at you and hot guitar. To a hammer, everything looks like a nail and it's in the best interest of music gear manufacturers to sell you on the next great pedal or amp. Are you really interested in playing almost exclusively for male guitar players? How many girls are at a Joe Satriani concert? There are probably some, but it's probably mostly guys that play guitar. I'd be willing to bet that of all the girls that don't play guitar few even listen to guitar player records let alone pay money to see them live unless they're attending with a boyfriend. I'm not saying a Joe Satriani isn't thrilling. I'm saying you don't always have to be technically focused to be of value, and the general public is who I suggest you be aimed at. If you want to aim at selling your stuff to guitar players, you'd better be ridiculously good. Otherwise you're going to be a medium version of the same thing. Joe Satriani lite. Bad idea. Play to the general public. They like songs and a beat you can dance to. Yes hot guitar is great, but don't overlook the big picture and how it fits into music. Guitar playing is a part of a whole. As a main course it lacks real nutrition.
Rhythm guitar etc. This is so important you just can't believe how important it is. It's the cornerstone of guitar playing assuming you agree that it's song based music that moves the general public. It's hard to be a good rhythm player. Many players rush and lose the groove or just don't dig in. Play simply and cleanly and resist, resist, resist, adding all kinds of extra shit. Too many licks between chords, licks that step all over the vocal, licks licks licks, enough already! It doesn't matter if it's good for you, that you've come a long way in your playing. Nobody else cares about your personal struggle to play well other than perhaps your parents or maybe a teacher. The public just wants the real thing done really well with real feeling and the assumption is you'll have chops and be good. So start by playing in time at the proper tempo with restraint.
And try not to be keeping the groove going by doing all sorts of chunky time keeping stuff in between with the pick. Play more like a keyboard player in this regard. It's on or it's off. All that, in between time keeping crap, contributes to making it sound messy. Try to hear the meter in your head. Listen to Angus and Malcom, their rhythm. Clean, fat, sharp attack. I know playing rhythm isn't as sexy as playing lead but it's got more value in terms of helping a band to sound good. If you play solid rhythm more people will want you in their bands. Songwriters, singers, bass players, drummers, good ones, all will like working with you. In fact everybody likes working with guitar players that can hold it down and not be in your face all the time. You'll get your chance to play some hot licks, until then you've got an important job to do. Playing guitar on songs. There isn't a demand for hot soloists. Someone might be looking for a lead guitar player, but secretly they're hoping that you aren't going to show up and be all Yngwie or Steve Vai 'd out. It's boring when guitar players are all about soloing, especially over blues progressions. They'd rather you be a parts player, capable of letting it rip in the right moment yes, as an addition to a song, a vocal and a point of view. Try to play melodies when you solo.
And turn down during the verses, and not with a switch, just use the volume knob on the guitar. Get really well acquainted that volume knob. Dynamics are very, very important. Leave some head room to get louder. Learn to at least sing back ups. That's more important in the long run, than the ability to play licks. If you think songs exist as a platform for soloing.........you're wrong. Get your priorities straight.
It's a bitter pill to swallow, especially if you've put some serious time into learning to play, to realize that although you thought a whole lot of people bought Dire Straits records because of the great guitar playing, the fact is, the people who recognize the great guitar playing are in the minority. The bulk of the people who bought Dire Straits records, liked the songs. It's a huge plus that the performances are so great, but without the songs the interest factor drops way off. I'm not saying don't practice or learn to play licks. You need to learn them and you absolutely need to practice, but unfortunately the hours and hours and hours of time you put into playing are so you can get good. And then when you've gotten good, you'll only do a little of it. It's hard not to want to show off when you're sounding pretty good, but it's of big value to resist if possible.
It's OK. Think about a factory that makes after dinner mints. I'm guessing there are huge expensive machines made to produce a simple after dinner mint. Whole crews, engineers making serious money, buying property, getting bank loans, hiring lawyers, constructing buildings, taste testers, chocolate makers, mint flavor production facilities, water lines, electric lines, heating systems, phone systems, employee lounges, employee lounge furniture, secretaries, all so they can produce a simple after dinner mint. That's what your time spent practicing is like. When someone pops that after dinner mint in their mouth, they aren't interested in all the machines that produce them, or how difficult it was to get the financing for the mint o matic. They just want to eat the mint, enjoy it for a few seconds and move on. That's the value of your licks and solos pretty much. Regular folk like songs and vocals and a beat you can dance to. And regular folk will be your bread and butter, like it or not. I'm not talking about jazz. That's a whole different subject. That's all about soloists and it's all turned around.
I'm talking here about playing guitar in people pleasing rock music songs. Take a good look at music fans and the people that buy CD's. How much do they care or notice that your Les Paul is a rare one? They don't care one teeny tiny bit.
Do not aim exclusively to please other musicians. If you're any good, they will come around anyway, and they will applaud you for your restraint.
Drummers; That double pedal? It has really limited value buddy. 60% less please. Easy on the fills, don't step on the vocal. You're speeding up when you do that fill, so please, use sparingly. Oh you're Neil Peart? Sorry, didn't realize. My mistake. And if you're learning a cover, again, get the real tempo in your head and try to cop the exact part the original guy played, at least to start with. It'll be harder doing what the original guy did than doing your own thing. And not harder for the reasons you think it's harder. Harder because of the restraint and accuracy needed to evoke the original groove. He didn't speed up during his fills and he didn't play gratuitous fancy double kick drum licks either. I can't tell you how many times I've suffered through "Play That Funky Music" on a gig and it was so unfunky it was sad. Speaking of, if you find yourself in the unfortunate position of playing " Play That Funky Music" for the thousandth time, you owe it to the rest of us to at least do like the name says and make it funky. It's slower, simpler and drier sounding than you think. I know, the guitar player starts that one but reel him in. Same thing with Brick House. Never played Brick House? You will. It's slower than you're feeling it. AC DC too, that stuff is slower than you think. Fat and heavy. Not sprightly and eager. Oh, you're doing covers but with your own twist? Why? Oh, I see, the original was hit n' all but your version is different and actually better in some ways? Kind of like how the Red Hot Chili Peppers doing "Higher Ground" is better in some ways than Stevie Wonder? OK, go on Groovesharkright now and listen to both back to back. That's the Chili Peppers, who are really good players doing a cover. And so to recap, it's your feeling that doing the song with your own twist, albeit an amateur one, is actually sort of a fresh take on something so familiar? It's not. Cover bands aren't really about you, they're about the people who want to dance and party and the closer you get to replicating the original the better they will think you are. And you will benefit by learning how all sorts of different drummers felt things.
Singers; Sorry, I know you can't hear yourself cause we're too loud back here. It is rock music however, so you might need to either sing with more presence, (better) or get in ear monitors and we will try to turn down a little. But I'm not sure our volume is an excuse for singing flat. I think that's something else. And truly, the rest of us need to understand, you are the most important person up there. I'm not being facetious. It's fact. But the hand held percussion? Tambourines and shakers etc? There are full time professional percussion people, that do nothing but play those instruments, really well, so you would be served well to think twice about how necessary tambourine is on every song played by an amateur. Knowing how to make a sound out of it doesn't qualify you as a percussionist. Usually it's used sparingly for accent and often it's a part and not a non stop rattling, and it has to have a groove. I'm sorry if you need something to do, but the base music is built on is silence. Then you add stuff as needed, so non stop extra percussion is over playing. And speaking of unnecessary, bad back ground vocals from the rest of the band don't add, they detract. Help sort out who is singing off and if it can't be fixed then gently get them to stop, but don't ignore it. While we're on the subject of you.....I know you're a front person and you like to be the center of attention, and the audience likes it too. That's good, someone needs to step into those robes. But that doesn't mean your every amplified utterance is worthy of our attention. Try to resist asking "how everyone is doing tonight". You aren't really listening, you don't really want to know how everyone is doing tonight. You just want them to yell out and prove to you that they're paying attention. Or you're filling space because you feel awkward. Either way it's disingenuous. If you really wanted to know how everyone is doing tonight you wouldn't ask them all at once. I know, you're thinking, "Oh c'mon, Robert everybody knows that when a singer asks "how's everybody doing tonight " they aren't really asking. It's just a custom. Everybody does it" I don't think you can afford to fall back into default behavior. You're up against the best of the best. Be real. You should love the sound of your own voice, but talking too much on stage, " in " jokes, or lengthy explanations of where you were and why you wrote the song? Unless you're a hit already, save it. It's not working and it makes you look pompous. Further more, only the most clearly stated announcements over a low budget PA system can ever be understood by the bulk of the people. You do not have their undivided attention. Just run one song into the next, then you won't have to talk so much. And if it's the guitar player changing guitars? See above.
Keyboard players. On a keyboard sound that isn't a piano, in a band, I think you need to do less left hand stuff. We have a bass player for that. You would do well to view playing in a band differently from accompanying a singer solo. Otherwise we love you, and if you're any good, you're hard to find. But play parts in a band. Don't play the song as if the rest of the band isn't playing. It quite possibly sounds messy. If you play the parts you play, when the band is not playing, and it still sounds like the whole song, you might be doing it wrong. You don't need to keep the groove going with your left hand all the time.
Bass players. Well if you're any good, and that means you have a great groove and play with conviction and don't speed up or slow down my only suggestion is, please slap and pop sparingly...in a rock band. Otherwise you can get away with a lot if you want to, especially if you have a guitar player that isn't over playing. That said, it's safer to keep it simple, but by all means explore the chords.
But when you drop out to fiddle with something, the whole bottom drops out, so wait 'til the song is over if possible to tweak that crucial amp setting. Hammering on is not the same. Tell your drummer the same thing. We notice when you play with one hand to adjust something. Can it possibly wait 'til the song is over? Would you do that if you were recording live? You know, someone might be recording you live.
Sax players, harp players etc; You can't really play chords unless you're organized in a group. That just means you have to do something else, like nothing, when you aren't needed. Gratuitous percussion? See above under singers. You're usually playing solos and some parts, so no need to keep busy trying to seem valuable. Honestly, if you're not playing at the moment not many people are paying attention to you so don't sweat it, just stand or sway there and listen to the band. You are already valuable, because we can't play your instrument. In a serious, professional band you won't get to play anything that isn't pre thought out other than perhaps solos. Think about that. Serious professionals won't let you free associate on your instrument....unless of course it's one of those serious professional jam bands with an emphasis on free brass expression like umm.......can't think of one.
Noodling. You know what noodling is don't you? Fiddling around on your instrument. It's different from serious practicing. Lots of players noodle and it has value. We do it all the time when an instrument is in our hands. For example; it's a rehearsal and you have a riff or progression and you aren't sure if you want to officially present it to the rest of the band, but you'd like them to sort of over hear it, so you play it, hoping someone will say "what's that?" because they like it. I know songs have been written that way or cover songs added to the set because of it. But on stage or sound check think twice. Yes, you need to test out your volume etc, but to then continue it becomes noodling it looks like you want to strut the stuff you don't get to play within the parameters of the songs or the band. Your motives are mostly transparent to professionals. And house monitor guys, sound guys and your band mates now they have to yell their communication over you. Definitely do not noodle while a sound guy is putting a mic in front of your amp etc. They hate that, and you would too. If you're any good they'll probably hear you later when you play anyway. But by noodling at volume you're not adding to the smoothness of the business at hand, you're now making it difficult. There is a lot of resisting you have to do as a professional musician. Resisting playing extra shit and having faith that the people you're working with already think you're good. And you don't really need to warm up at volume if you're a keyboard player, guitar player, bass player or drummer.
On any gig where the public is in the room where you're setting up noodling is very naughty. Do not do it. Hearing an orchestra warming up is exciting, yes, but to me that's a different context. I think noodling in the presence of the public on the types of gigs rock musicians do borders on rude.
Regarding fans and friends; This is especially important if this is an unfamiliar concept to you, but they can't be trusted. They tell you what they think you want to hear, and then they exaggerate on top of it. Don't believe it! They're in your face, they want you to like them, they like you, they're impressed that you're up there doing it and they aren't. They want to like you, in advance. They might faithfully come to lots of gigs, but that dynamic is loaded with other factors that extend way beyond a stranger simply being drawn to a particular specific song, sound or band. And will they follow through? Odds are, if they're a friend, once they've made the effort to see you they might feel like they paid the bill, especially if there isn't much in it for them. Will they actually track down buying a CD of your original music? Will they make plans around your upcoming gig? They're wonderful and they make the music business go around, but they're fickle. And they like other artists too. Never take them for granted and don't believe everything they tell you about how they feel about your music when they're in front of you. They're just being supportive. They say things like "definitely let us know when you're playing again!". They tell you they're your biggest fans and that they listen to your CD all the time. They'll borrow pens and write down contact info on cocktail napkins, in order to be notified about when and where you play next or where to buy a CD. Bless them, but a lot of what they say is bullshit. They'll tell you you're their favorite singer or drummer or guitar player etc but the fact is, their real favorite is a professional that they'd rather be seeing if they only had the money or tickets. You might be only better than nothing to them. They don't owe you a thing, not honesty, not undying support, nothing. You owe them. They are the consumer, you are the merchant.
Write songs; You would do well to try to write songs as much as possible. The entire music business is built upon good songs. This will always be your trump card. Start writing about anything and everything. The more real or personal, the better in my book. At the very least, try to come up with catchy riffs or sections and progressions and then be open and willing to work with others. And try not to cling too tightly when you do work with others.
I want you to go forth and Rock, and if you do it better, it's going to help everyone. Just zoom out of your reality and take a cold calculated long look at yourself from the outside and don't cut yourself slack or make excuses. If you sing or play badly on your live recordings, your excuse, whatever it may be, is an excuse and nobody else cares why. You're judged by the public on results, not efforts. Stack yourself up against the best. I certainly don't know it all and I would do well to take my own advice too, in fact I have. Writing this has helped me trim out some of my own bullshit and clarify my own motives. And after I wrote the first draft I even got rid of my distortion box.
