Here it is, the next step in my plan for fretboard domination!!!

Except I need your help.

Now for getting out of the box, I’m looking for a good DVD or book on pentatonic / blues scales and licks. I know the theory, and I’m not completely in the box, but my ideas are stale. What I need is some good material that shows how all of it can be put together, so as to effortless and smoothly move around the entire fretboard. I’m open for suggestions here as I have not found a thing yet to help me with this. I’ll just start getting the muscle memory happening by playing the scales but any guidance is appreciated.

Has anyone got any suggestions on material that is really good here?

Last time I talked about what I was going to do on my journey of guitar self discovery. For my favourites, that is easy. Picking the songs was not so easy though. The songs I have picked are probably not necessarily my favourites, but I think have some of the best playing by that artist and are most indicative of their style. So what songs are they?

Slash - Paradise City
Sure, the obvious choice was Sweet Child, but c’mon!!!!! Slash just rocks and Paradise City has all the little intricate fills and a killer, KILLER end solo that is some of the Great One’s finest work.

Gary Moore - Midnight Blues
As far as I know this is a covr and I’m not sure who it was originally by, but Gary has done this now on two albums, and the version I want to do is the second one from his 2006 album Old New Ballads Blues. This is the slower version of the song and some some beautiful slow blues guitar that I feel Mr. Moore is very under rated. One of the best parts about this song, and gary’s playing in general, is the use of dynamics. Changing guitar setting while playing something I have only recently started doing and this song is full of subtle changes.

Rich Robinson - Sting Me
It was this or Remedy. I love the Black Crowes and gain the obvious choice was Conspiracy or Hard To Handle. But this song has got some great guitar lines weaving in and out of the chord progression and has everything in it a blues track should have.

I’ve got these songs and now just to find some tabs. Next stop, breaking out of the box.

I’m in the process of getting a new band together. It’s been a while since Sledge finished up and I want to get back in the game. Unfortunately, with full time work and getting my own business off the ground, as well as some other projects I have found my chops to be severely lacking. Not that they were brilliant to begin with, but I got by. Lets just say I was better than the average Joe.

Anyway, I need to get back there, and I want to be better than ever. Call it an ego thing, but my fellow guitarist in this band is a natural player. A pure ear player who can hear anything and work it out almost note for note. I’ve always been more of a feel player and that is why we have always complimented each other’s playing. What I want to do is make this a genuine two guitar line up even if I am handling the singing duties.

To that affect I am developing my own goals for getting back up to scratch and beyond, and have developed a plan to get there. Hopefully showing you how I am going to approach this will help you with planning your own regime, or you may see some serious flaws with mine and point me in a better direction. With a busy schedule (fiancé / full time work / part time business work / gym) I need to find some quick drills that I can do that I know will help.

Before planning your practice tasks you need to know when you can play. During the week I know I can squeeze in at least 30 minutes a day for basic exercises. That doesn’t mean only 30 minutes, it’s a minimum. Three night a week I go to the gym now, so the other two nights I can basically play for as long as I want. But 30 minute drills are the goal for my schedule.

So what do I want to learn. That my friends is the question. You will have your own mission, but mine was clear:

1. Get out of the box - lets finally use the entire fretboard
2. Learn from the greats - Pick three of my favourite guitarists and learn a song from each that best sums up what I like about their style
3. Left hand wizardry - get my left hand working the way it used to

Now I just have to find the tools to unleash the guitar monster within. I’m going to tackle these objectives in reverse order, so next time I’ll share with you my personal guitar idols and what songs I have picked.

Image from : idiotjenn

One thing about blogging is that you really need to find your own way of expressing yourself. This blog has been through many changes, both in design and content, and I think now thanks to a bunch of other projects that I know what this blog needs to be.

You may have noticed that the latest few posts have not really been “gear news” type posts, but rather more rambling thoughts brought about by the latest news. This is where this blog will be heading. This will be more my thoughts on guitar and guitar life, including a new section I will be launching as I fully jump into a new phase in my guitar education. With a new band on the way (eventually) I need to get my chops back up to what they used to be, so I’ll be sharing that journey on this site. There is no point in there being another guitar “news site”. There are way too many and I’d rather chat than report.

I have also been working on another site which contains blogs by several people on ways to be a better musican from all points of view. There I’ll be discussing how the band is progressing. I have another great guy Dan, who has tons of experience both live and in the studio that he will be sharing, and another good friend Ian will be discussing the dark side of PA’s and electronics that musicians need to know about. By the way, if you feeling like contributing let me know.

The site is not quite finished but feel free to check it out. I hope you all stick around here as well and enjoy what I have planned.

It seems lately that every week sees the release of new signature or inspired by limited edition guitar hitting the market. Just recently there has been the Slash and Steve Jones models from Gibson, Fender has just released an Elvis Costello signature model. I can’t help but wonder if these guitars are marketed at players or collectors.

As a collector, I see the appeal to some extent. I used to collect Kiss memorabilia in my younger days, and the Holy Grail was an Epiphone Ace Frehley Les Paul (which funnily enough Rossco just bought). However, as a guitarist, I was let down by the guitar (FYI, Rossco loves it and hopefully can pull himself away from it long enough to write something about it).

To me, it doesn’t matter whose name is on the guitar, or who plays a particular model. If I don’t like the feel of the guitar, or I don’t “connect” with it, no level of endorsement will sway me to convert. I’d really like to hear what people think about the new wave of signature guitars and your experiences with them.