The Musicians Thread

[CaptainCalcium]

being in a band with the purpose of jamming to make new stuff up gives you a lot to spark off of and bounce around within the band, and there's some pressure to keep it together with a good rhythm/bass section, and developing a quick ear for resolving dissonances and moving in and out of rhythm to keep it interesting.

For me this is the most important thing as a musician: learning how to play with others. I know guitarists who spend hours every day learning scales and solos note-perfect, but dont know how to play and improvise with others. When you get used to a group of people, feeding off each others individual styles and improvisations, that is much more important than the technical side.


In other news, my band got back the (extremely) rough mix of our new ep, and im strawberry floating psyched with what weve got. As soon as its fully mixed ill put up a link.

[Victor Mildew]

Nothing beats playing with a band and you are all almost telepathically taking cues from each other.

To add to above, a mate of mine spends most of his spare time learning Led Zepp songs to the point of obsession, playing along with the records to an extremely high standard. When it came to jamming with us he fell to bits and couldn't even hold a simply 4/4 rhythm together.

[skarmachild]

Im trying to learn what scales are but I just don't 'get' it. I have a book and everything, is it the rhythm of loud strums vs soft or what? AH, internet u help

[Archaeon]

Im trying to learn what scales are but I just don't 'get' it. I have a book and everything, is it the rhythm of loud strums vs soft or what? AH, internet u help

are you serious?

[skarmachild]

Im trying to learn what scales are but I just don't 'get' it. I have a book and everything, is it the rhythm of loud strums vs soft or what? AH, internet u help

are you serious?

yes... im reading a book and it makes no sense to me. maybe the books poorly written or im just dumbbb... someone explain it to me in simple terms... maybe i know what it is but just dont know the tterm for it? I DUNNO STOP GANGING UP ON ME

[Pred]

Im trying to learn what scales are but I just don't 'get' it. I have a book and everything, is it the rhythm of loud strums vs soft or what? AH, internet u help

are you serious?

yes... im reading a book and it makes no sense to me. maybe the books poorly written or im just dumbbb... someone explain it to me in simple terms... maybe i know what it is but just dont know the tterm for it? I DUNNO STOP GANGING UP ON ME

http://www.justinguitar.com/en/SC-009-BeginnersScaleFAQ.php

[skarmachild]

Im trying to learn what scales are but I just don't 'get' it. I have a book and everything, is it the rhythm of loud strums vs soft or what? AH, internet u help

are you serious?

yes... im reading a book and it makes no sense to me. maybe the books poorly written or im just dumbbb... someone explain it to me in simple terms... maybe i know what it is but just dont know the tterm for it? I DUNNO STOP GANGING UP ON ME

http://www.justinguitar.com/en/SC-009-BeginnersScaleFAQ.php

THANKS. favourited to read tomorrow (:

ive just been learning chords that sound alright together on practice.

E > G > not-sure,made it up chord (imagine an Em chord but ( 2 X X 2 X X ) instead of ( X 2 2 X X X ) > Em

[Squinty]

Nothing beats playing with a band and you are all almost telepathically taking cues from each other.

To add to above, a mate of mine spends most of his spare time learning Led Zepp songs to the point of obsession, playing along with the records to an extremely high standard. When it came to jamming with us he fell to bits and couldn't even hold a simply 4/4 rhythm together.

This is me (apart from the high standard thing). I programmed a straight 4/4 beat last night and I couldn't play along to it

[Green Gecko]

Im trying to learn what scales are but I just don't 'get' it. I have a book and everything, is it the rhythm of loud strums vs soft or what? AH, internet u help

are you serious?

yes... im reading a book and it makes no sense to me. maybe the books poorly written or im just dumbbb... someone explain it to me in simple terms... maybe i know what it is but just dont know the tterm for it? I DUNNO STOP GANGING UP ON ME

http://www.justinguitar.com/en/SC-009-BeginnersScaleFAQ.php

THANKS. favourited to read tomorrow (:

ive just been learning chords that sound alright together on practice.

E > G > not-sure,made it up chord (imagine an Em chord but ( 2 X X 2 X X ) instead of ( X 2 2 X X X ) > Em

btw an X denotes an unplayed/muted note in tab, a 0 is what you're looking for to denote an open string. I.e. no note is fretted at all.

You're probably hearing a mix between a B and E chord which can work as B is the relative minor of E in a cycle of fifths. This is to do with the Western harmonic tradition of cadences which is theory you probably don't need to know or want to know yet.

Scales are just notes that sound "right" together as conventionalised through the history of Western music. It's actually pretty arbitrary and you don't have to learn them at all unless you're aim is to play Western pop/rock music and nothing else. But that's a bit left field.

Alternatively just play random stuff until you learn what sounds good to you. Plenty of people do that. I did but I was obviously informed by playing a gooseberry fool load of classically-based music and blues, but I only studied scales for about 1 day.

[skarmachild]

ah, wrong way round. i meant O's instead of X's then, get them confused. definately need to learn more chords and stuff. i wonder if the strings will make a big difference to what the sound is like, deffo think the strings are on their way out...

[Green Gecko]

If the strings are darker in colour and wearing down to copper then that will affect their tension and sound, it will also start to affect pitch accuracy and they will become less comfortable to play.

They really need to go when they start splitting/uncoiling. Strings can actually last for a about a year but you should never really leave them on that long. 3 months is probably the absolute longest you want to use the same set of strings unless you hardly play or you want a deliberately dull sounding instrument, and that's on a good guitar.

On a steel/electric you're also more likely to get sore fingers or cut yourself on strings with build up of calcium deposits / oxide or even rust. You should wipe down your strings frequently to prevent them reacting to the natural oils & acids on your fingers and other crap.

[skarmachild]

it was a 2nd hand one, so they probly need replacing asap id imagine. ive had it for about 3 months or so myself.

[Green Gecko]

It should make a world of different to the quality of sound and playability.

[skarmachild]

awesome, ill pick some up tomorrow (and maybe a 3ds lol), been getting a lot of feedback on it (accoustic). really need to save up for a proper guitar, BUT - house comes first!

[smurphy]

I used the same bass strings on my first bass for nearly two years. Touch them and your fingers instantly stink of metal/horrible sweat.

Bass strings are so strawberry floating expensive. A set is like £25.

[Green Gecko]

I once bought some for my bassist because his were literally bent after he went mental and started slamming a beer bottle on the frets during one song.. but couldn't afford any new ones. Such a waster.

[Pred]

The intonation on my guitar definitely needs adjusted. It's annoying that it sounds out of tune when the strings are in tune. Is it something that I could easily do myself or would I need to take it to a shop?

[Green Gecko]

Is it an electric or acoustic guitar?

[Pred]

Electric. I'd imagine that would make it slightly easier?

[Green Gecko]

Yes. What kind of guitar is it, what is the bridge design ie strat, tele, les Paul, ibanez, Floyd rose etc