September 30, 2011 by John.

Album Notes

Peter Gabriel – So

            For me it’s difficult to really categorize Peter Gabriel and I like that fact. He’s got some super popular songs that put him in high rotation when the “M” in MTV still stood for “Music”. So is he a “pop” artist? The high level of musicianship on his albums might suggest a “progressive” label much like Rush or Yes. This is another reason I’m not a fan of labels and categories.

            First off, I think this is one of those fantastic “complete” albums, one that can and should frequently be heard as a complete work from beginning to end with no disruptions or any “shuffle” buttons. I also recommend listening to it on the cleanest source you can get. My dad wasn’t very musically inclined, but he did give me some great advice that still holds up today with all of the technology that has changed the way we find, purchase and listen to our music. He said, “Spend some money and get yourself a really great pair of headphones”. He was right. If you don’t have a studio quality environment, you can really get the music into your head with a great pair of “cans”. I’m not talking about those white earbuds, I’ve got a bunch of those and they are fine for something portable and convenient. Go get yourself some nice headphones.

            So, I’m just going to throw in my 2 cents as an educated and professional musician. These are my own observations and you may or may not agree with them. Whichever way you look at it, remember – you are right. Music is an art form and a form of communication. This is just how I see it for myself.

            Red Rain: It’s in E minor which is a great key for us guitar players! We LOVE E minor! For the most part, the verse is an E minor groove. This is a great example of being able to create melody over a single chord. I do this kind of idea frequently with clients. If you are a guitar player, or play any melodic or harmonic instrument for that matter, I suggest learning the vocal melody to this song. It will open up melodic possibilities to you and also show you how the writer is using scales, triads etc in order to create his melody. The chorus is a standard progressions in a minor key – VI / VII. Something else you practicing musicians should be familiar with. It’s a funny coincidence to me that so many Judas Priest and Iron Maiden songs use the exact same chord progressions but create totally different styles of music.

            Sledgehammer: a huge hit for Gabriel. E flat Mixolydian this time. It’s a major scale with a flat seventh. Once again – learn the melody on your instrument and it will teach you things. “You could have a steam train, if you just lay down your tracks”. Hmm… think about it.

            Don’t Give Up: If you don’t know by now, I have playlists in my iTunes that are for specific musical examples – songs that use modes, certain chord progressions, odd meter etc. This one is in my playlist for odd meter. It’s ¾ time. To me, ¾ can be quite powerful. It makes you think a little about the timing and it also pushes and drives the song. I think the time signature really drives the song even though the dynamic is very soft. So the combination of “drive” from the time signature and “passion” from the soft dynamic and the fantastic vocal performances to me equal “powerful”.

            That Voice Again: C# Mixolydian for the chorus, and C minor for the verse. The progression for the verse is very close to All Along the Watchtower. In fact try playing the solo for Hendrix’ version of “Watchtower” over the verse. This songs tempo is a little quicker, but not much.

            In Your Eyes: Bm for the verse, E Mixolydian for the chorus. Are you starting to see some recurring patterns here? There’s such a tremendous value in analyzing your favorite artists albums, not just one or two songs. This gives you great insight into the songwriting characteristics that make them your favorites. Maybe you like the artists so much because whether you know it or not, they are using your favorite scales or modes, progressions and musical ideas. Hmmm …more food for thought.

            Mercy Street: If you don’t know the meaning behind the song, Google it and read about it. Then listen to the song again. The key is C# minor. Notice how the verse melody cascades its way downward to eventually land on the root note at the end of each verse phrase. When he reaches that note, I feel his performance is indicating a sense of surrender or resignation. Is this a part of how Gabriel communicates the sadness in the content? Just an observation. It’s a brilliant track, dark, but brilliant.

            Big Time: G# minor. If you take the notes in the bass line and the notes in the verse melody you essentially get G# Dorian, for a little while. Listen to the chords changing making it Aeolian and Dorian. Notice how he can use some nice key changes and still make the song flow without any disruption to the flow. When you can do this in a pop song like this it’s fantastic. At the end of the song his descending melody “big, big, big …” skips right over the 6^th, which would define the key as Dorian or Aeolian. But he goes right around it. Pretty cool idea.

            We Do What We’re Told to Do (Milgram’s 37): Wait, this was 1986 right? Before the terms “techno” or “emo” were used? Nice example of how you can create a terrific track and still have no definable verse or chorus. The track almost sounds incomplete, like you’re waiting for the rest of the song, then it fades out.

            This is the Picture (Excellent Birds): Ok, so what do I want you to notice in this song? Essentially it’s F minor, but what is the other twist that he’s used already once before on this album? It’s in the chorus. It’s the use of ¾ time again. Notice how it goes back and forth between 4/4 in the verse and ¾ in the chorus.

            “So” there you have it. Peter Gabriel’s So. I hope you enjoyed my take on the album. Maybe you’ll hear some different things in it the next time you listen to it. Maybe some of these ideas will find their way into your playing and writing. Thanks for reading!

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May 16, 2010 by John.

If a golfer changes the angle of his/ her swing by just 2 millimeters, the trajectory of the ball changes a great deal. It doesn’t seem like much in the beginning, but over the distance of a few hundred yards, the ball has a completely different destination. It could mean the difference between being on the green or in a sand trap. Lance Armstrong is known as “Mr. 2 millimeter”. That’s because he can tell if something on his bike has been changed or adjusted even by the smallest of margins, sometimes as little as 2mm. It may seem like no big deal, I mean come on – 2 lousy millimeters? But, I’m not about to tell him that 2 millimeters is no big deal. He’s got seven Tour de France victories that say otherwise. College basketball Hall of Fame coach John Wooden told his players that all they had to do was to improve by 1% each practice session. To me that’s another variation of “The 2 Millimeter Rule”. His winning record speaks for the results.

It’s in those 2 millimeters that the magic happens. That’s where you can really make the difference. It’s here where you set the course for your outcomes. Whether its changing the angle of your pick or going the extra distance and practicing for an extra hour every day, find ways of getting an extra 2 millimeters out of your playing. Find ways you can make improvements, even the little ones that seem like no big deal at the time. Every 2 millimeters counts!

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November 11, 2008 by John.

Straplocks, a string winder or two, a chromatic tuner or an extra if you only have one, a couple of tuning forks, a metronome, earplugs (there! I said it!), and maybe a footstool. These are some things that should be on your shopping list for the next time you are at your local music store. Let me give you some thoughts on each item.
Straplocks: $15 - $25. This could very well be like cheap insurance for your guitar. These simple gizmos could save your precious axe from taking a bad fall and becoming seriously damaged. I like Schaller straplocks and use them on all of my electric guitars.
String winder: $.99 - $6. Who wouldn’t want to spend a buck to save time and wrist cramps when changing strings? Also most string winders have a notched edge, which is needed for the string pegs on acoustic guitars.
Chromatic tuner: $10 – 100. I have one in my rig at home, one in my acoustic guitar case and one in my gig bag that has all of my small stuff. As far a small, trustworthy chromatic tuner goes, I like the Korg CA – 30 for about $20. They are accurate and the interface is easy to use.
Tuning fork: $5 - $7. You can find them in all sorts of sizes to fit your budget. It’s good to be able to tune with a tuning fork. It develops your ears and they never lie!
Metronome: $10 - $100. Anything more than the Korg MA – 30 for $30 is too much in my opinion. I’ve never used any of the fancy features that some metronomes offer. Just get something that is easy to listen to. A drummer I worked with had one that was the size of a credit card. I thought, “Wow, cool!” until I heard it. It chirped like a smoke detector on a low battery. It was awful. I could never use it. Keep it simple and it should last you decades. I just bought a new MA – 30 to replace the Quick Time dial operated metronome that I’ve had since 1983!
Ear plugs: $1 - $20. I don’t really have to get into this do I? You can get some “foamies” for around a buck a pair or even less, or get the ones with the special filter for around $20. Foamies will block noise and protect your hearing. I use them at the Indy car races or when I want to sleep on an airplane. They are great for softening loud noises. I also carry the ones with the specialized filter on my key ring. That way I will never be without them. I use those at concerts and band rehearsals. They have the effect of lowering the volume while protecting your ears. Sound is clearer with these as opposed to the foamies, which makes listening to music sound like you have a pillow over your head. Please, protect your ears. You can’t buy new ears anywhere, so protect the ones that you have.
Footstool: $7 - $10. This is a nice idea to help make you comfortable when playing for long hours. I’m not suggesting that you sit like a classical guitar player. If you want to, then do it. If not, at least try using a footstool to help with your posture. Raising the foot that your guitar rests on will tuck the instrument into your body and help to stabilize it. Give it a shot.
Hopefully these ideas will help. I’ve found them to be great investments. For a small price, you can protect your guitar from dropping out of your hands, save time and energy when changing strings, stay in tune, keep better time, and save your hearing and your back! Rock on!

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November 11, 2008 by John.

Consider the direction amp companies are going today. Digital amps are really popular, and for a reason. To keep this discussion down to a reasonable length (I could go on and on about this stuff!), I’ll try to give you what I think are benefits and drawbacks to each category of amp – tube, solid state and digital.
First let’s talk tube. The good news for us consumers is that there are more and more amazing amp companies coming out these days. Every year at the NAMM show I walk the floor with my right hand man Pete, and we see and hear more and more fantastic amps every year. If you want that warm, rich distortion and bold clean tones, then a tube amp is for you. Well known tube amps include the likes of the Marshall plexi, Marshall JCM 800, Fender Twin, Fender Blackface, Mesa Boogie, Vox AC 30 as well as many boutique amps like Soldano, Bogner, Deizel, and more. Tube amps generate their big rich tones from the heat of the tubes. This makes them slightly more fragile than solid state or digital amps. They also require a little more maintenance, but if you ask me it’s well worth it!
Solid state amps tend to offer sizzling saturated distortions and sharp clean tones. They are a little more physically stable than tube amps since you don’t run the risk of damaging any glass tubes. Dimebag Darrell from Pantera was well known for using solid state amps to get his trademark tone.
Digital Amps. Now that discussion could go on for a long time! I think they rate high on the “bang-for-the-buck” scale. Many of them can “model” or imitate many classic and modern amp tones. You even have many onboard effects to enhance your tone. Many of them offer onboard reverb, delay, phase or flange, and other standard effects. They are great for recording. You can plug direct into a board or interface and you’re done with your set up. No fumbling with trying to find a good mic placement. No need to crank your amp up to 10 just to get a good tone out of it. Of course the purists reject the idea of modeling an amp through digital technology and say that the modeled sounds don’t sound like the real amps. Here’s my angle on this view. I agree. They don’t sound exactly like the amps they are trying to model. But they come pretty close. How close? Say 75%? 80%? Now let’s do a little math. If a digital amp offers 16 or more amps that are modeled and they sound about 75 – 80% like the real thing, they have onboard digital effects and is programmable, that sounds pretty good to me.
As for my gear, I love my Line 6 Flextone 2×12 amp. I use it for recording, performing and when working with clients and students. But don’t get me wrong, I love my Marshall JCM 800 and wouldn’t trade it or sell it for anything. Some of my friends sold their JCM 800’s when the rack mount pre-amp phase hit. Now they regret that decision. There’s nothing like the sound of a JCM 800 or any other great tube amp for that matter. I also have a Laney HD 100. The Marshall and Laney are great rigs, but they are big. When I want variety of sounds and effects in a compact package, I use the Line 6.
It’s a great time that we are in. There are lots of choices, maybe too many! I think that it makes it better for us, the end user. We have many options to choose from. Think of what is most important to you. Is it versatility? Is it pure rich tones? Built in effects? Easy to use when recording? Keep these factors in mind when shopping for a new amp and please, play as many different amps as you can. You’ll be amazed at the sounds that are out there!

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August 31, 2008 by John.

So you’re thinking of buying a new amp? Oh what a great day when you get to go amp shopping. I frequently have conversations with my clients and students about this subject. I love talking about gear! Here are some ideas to think about when you are considering buying a new amp.
Let’s say that you are an intermediate player. You’ve been playing for a year or two. You have a small practice amp that sounds great in your bedroom or garage, but when you play with a drummer, it’s not loud enough. I would highly recommend getting a 2×12 amp so you’d have enough power to play in any band situation. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the term “2×12”, this means that the amp has 2, 12-inch speakers. So of course a 1×12 has one 12-inch speaker and so on. I believe that a 2×12 should be your goal. This will ensure that you have an amp that you will never “outgrow”. Meaning you will never need more power. You may catch the “gear bug” like me and want to add more amps to your collection! But you want to get an amp that will last you forever, or for as long as you want to keep it. My first amp was a Peavey 1×10. It sounded great for practice, but it couldn’t keep pace with a full band. My second amp was a Marshall JCM800 100 watt half stack. My dad bought it for me in 1986 and I still have it to this day. Now when thinking about wattage, I really believe that most 2×12 amps will have plenty of wattage for you. Therefore I won’t get into how much wattage you’ll need for each different situation.
In another article, I’ll talk in more detail about the differences between half-stacks, full-stacks, and 2×12’s and more. For our amp shopping today, we’re going to be looking at 2×12 amps. Now, let’s get back to our amp shopping! I recommend figuring out what your budget is going to be. I suggest $700 and up for a 2×12 amp that’s going to stay with you for a few decades. Find a guitar store near you that has lots of variety in brands and size in new amps, maybe even used amps. Bring your guitar along and play every 2×12 amp that seems cool. By playing your guitar through the amps, you’ll know exactly how it will sound and feel.
Another thing to consider is digital vs. tube amps. If you’re looking to get some built-in effects, you can look at the digital amp companies like Line 6. Standard effects such as reverb, delay, flanger, and more are built in to the amp and can be a nice bonus. I’ve got a Line 6 Flextone II and I love the versatility that it offers. If you want to get a tube amp, you could be looking at a great sounding amp with only a few different tones. That doesn’t mean that you should pass over looking into a great Marshall, Fender or Mesa 2×12. These are the classic amps that the digital amps are “modeling”, or trying to sound like.
After playing through a few great new amps, go home. That’s right. Don’t buy anything quite yet. Let your experience sink in a little. The rest of the week you’ll be thinking of those amps and comparing them in your head. After a couple of repeat visits to the guitar shop, you can narrow down your choices and make a decision. I think it’s better to spend a couple of weeks thinking about it rather than fall into an impulse buy. Remember that you want to buy an amp that you’re going to love for years and years. Good luck!

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August 31, 2008 by John.

So it’s been a little while since I’ve checked in on the blog. Here’s what’s been going on. I just finished filming lessons for the new project. The project, as you might already know is MOLLY! It stands for Monster On Line Lessons for You. The lessons are in the editing stage and will be ready for you to check out really soon. I’ve also got some great friends to endorse the Monster Guitar Method DVD’s. NAMM ’09 plans are being made and we’ll be sure to keep you updated on that as well. Stay tuned for more articles to be posted in the blog section as well. Lots of fun and interesting things are on the way!

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November 30, 2007 by John.

Hey there all monsters and monsterettes! Great news to report - the new website is up and better than ever! It’s got tons of great resources to help you learn how to play guitar and fine tune your playing skills, as well as some cool new stuff. Be sure to check out the resources like the tuner, online metronome (or as we call it “net-ronome” …get it? internet), and fun stuff like podcasts and of course this blog section. Also, if you’ve ever had trouble changing strings on your electric guitar, acoustic guitar or electric guitar with a Floyd Rose bridge, there’s a great new page showing you step-by-step how to do it right! I’ve been getting some requests for more t-shirts and hats. I’ll be reordering some new swag soon. I’ll be sure to post some news when it arrives!

If you haven’t done so already, please sign up for the tip of the week. You’ll get some of my angles on approaching your practice. These tips are a lot about the approach to learning how to play guitar, and also give specific ideas on certain techniques etc. When you sign up for the tip of the week, rest assured that I will definitely not give out your email address to spammers!! I do not sell email addresses to anyone! I wouldn’t want anyone giving out or selling my email address to spammers, so I won’t do it to you.

There’s some great testimonials - video and written, from some of my clients and customers. These are people that have learned how to play guitar from me personally, through the Monster Guitar Method DVD’s or through my Elite Performance Coaching. There’s even a clip of me on Dr. 90210! It was a kick doing that gig. Lot’s of fun. Dr. Rey is really a cool guy. Honest!

That’s it for now, more news later!
John

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November 30, 2007 by John.

Great albums. You don’t hear too many truly great complete albums these days. I think the music industry has shifted towards the three minute radio-friendly hit song and away from the art of created musical ideas. Gone are the days of Bohemian Rhapsody (5:54), Stairway to Heaven (8:03) or even Freebird (9:07). These are all timeless classic rock songs and yet it will be difficult to find artists these days getting songs over 3:30 played on the radio.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite complete albums. The kind of album where you don’t want to hit “shuffle” when you listen to them. There’s more, but these are some of my favorites. Do yourself a favor and check out some of these albums. Listen to them from beginning to end, you’ll enjoy the ride!

AC/DC – Back in Black, Highway to Hell
Aerosmith – Get Your Wings, Rocks, Toys in the Attic
Foo Fighters – The Colour and the Shape
Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage
Judas Priest – Sad Wings of Destiny, Screaming for Vengeance
Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy
Metallica – Master of Puppets
No Doubt – Return of Saturn
Oasis – Be Here Now
Ozzy – Diary of a Madman
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon, The Wall
Queen – A Night at the Opera, II
Radiohead – OK Computer
Rainbow – Blackmore’s Rainbow
Rolling Stones – Let it Bleed
Rush – Moving Pictures, 2112, Signals
Stabbing Westward – Darkest Days
Stevie Wonder – Innervisions
Stone Temple Pilots – Purple
Ted Nugent – Tooth, Fang & Claw
U2 – Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree
Van Halen – Van Halen, Van Halen II
ZZ Top – Eliminator

Enjoy them!

John

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November 30, 2007 by John.

Hey there all you monster guitar players! I just want to tell you about something new that’s in development. I’ve created the next line of products that will be available quite soon. Here’s the scoop. If you want to learn how to play guitar online, this is being developed for you! Let me tell you about MOLLY! M.O.L.L.Y. stands for Monster OnLine Lessons for You! These will be downloadable online guitar lessons of all different topics. Feel free to make requests for specific subjects; if there are enough requests for a topic, I’ll do it. It’s that simple. If you want it, you’ll get it! Right now, I’ve got about a dozen great titles to start with. You’re going to love them!
When learning how to play guitar online, you want something that’s going to be comprehensive, easy to follow and loaded with quality content and information. MOLLY! is the answer. I’m so excited to get these lessons up and ready for you to check out. I’ve seen lots of products that try to show you how to play guitar. Students are continuously bringing me DVD’s, books, websites and other things that try to teach you how to play guitar online or how to play guitar in another way – through a book for example. Some are good, some are bad and some are just really confusing! Those of you that are familiar with the Monster Guitar Method DVD series will understand that the MGM method is always clear, fun and loaded with really cool ideas. MOLLY! will be no exception.
Stay tuned and be sure to check in frequently to get the latest info on when our how to play guitar online lessons will be released.

Ciao for now!
John

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October 10, 2007 by John.

Welcome to the Monster Blog! This is where I’ll be posting the latest developments in products, give more news about the latest happenings, and also give you the opportunity to voice your opinions and share ideas. I’ll also post details on special deals and offers for discounted or even FREE stuff! So stay tuned and check back frequently to find out the latest!

- JMD

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