Rodan

When I was 12 or 13, I began taking lessons from my cousin, who says now that she was just a few lessons ahead of me! She had a thing for Blues and showed me the pentatonic scale, some Stones, Freddie King, Zeppelin and Aerosmith... Her brother also played, but at a pretty high level, and showed me "Godzilla", "Flying Turkey Trot", "Rock Bottom", "Emerald" and a few other tunes right square in my sights. From that point, I began pulling things down by ear - "Dr Music", "ETI", some Sabbath - and gradually, plugging pentatonics and half-step/whole-step wandering into key signatures, for something close to lead guitar. A couple of intriguing scales from Mel Bay books gave me more models around which to tune my ear to melody. But I was playing 2-string power chords for everything. I was slavish about playing things cleanly, mimicking inflection really studiously, but it took me a long time to feel comfortable playing full, or even 3 and 4 string chords. I'd say the problem was part underdeveloped technique, part lack of instruction and part desire to play Sabbath/UFO/BOC and other metal the way I heard it emotionally. My lack of chordal sophistication has become less problematic, bit by bit, but it STILL dogs me, quite honestly. My college bands were alternately drudging and great. Some of the time, I was the Private Perfectionist compensating for a drummer and bassist who couldn't play...together and other times, later on, I got to play with several guys WAY above my level. The latter context allowed me to relax and push mySELF a bit more. These days, I make some use of web tutorials, but spend a lot of time figuring out melodies (from almost any source) that appeal to me. More than seeking out learning (I've never even had a designated, drop-D guitar), I fight against my limited chord vocabulary to try and put actual music together. All the same, guitar is probably my better voice, even now. Geez. True confessions. Hope some of this resonates, anyway.

I can defend anything that I like, with or without reservations. But I don't often tell the dudes that I love October Project or Regina Spektor or things of that ilk.

Ah! ^ Y'remind me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wuMEaB1gBY Mogg is a little pitch-y, but the guitar part is surgical aggression!

Song lyrics may come close to describing a bummer I'm feeling, but it's often the music that resonates more closely. In fact, music is most often an enjoyable distraction for me...if there's a particular reason I'm putting it on. Along mourning lines, I could go straight to something wistful and elegant, like Stan Getz' version of "Blood Count" or "Speechless", by Weather Report. Both marry sadness to beauty - and that experience kinda transports and gives me a bit different focus... Other times, just gimme a bit of Allan Holdsworth - or another really profound virtuoso - for that wide-eyed, life-affirmiing exhilaration. Music is almost always THE therapy for me, though it's a matter of how I'm wired than a specific cure... BTW - I wonder if "Just Another Suicide" by UFO was one of the all-time cheeriest SOUNDing songs on purpose.

How about a bid further into Art Rock obscurity? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHNVsoBtpdA

And they keep popping to mind...

Ah - forgot about Let it Bleed and this cut -

Didj'all notice that the first guy was doing those kitchen-clean tapping runs with no damping device? I mean, REALLY clean...and he COULD've put some felt down by the nut... Nice!

My Cool Girlfriend came up over my shoulder and said, "What is that?" So, yes - it definitely communicates, musically. This performance shows real dedication to the music, itself. Pretty cool!

Sorry to make a pile, but this is a good topic! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4omAQje1IA

Actually, this one's good for about 37 seconds, at least... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oZPTlI3MEo And I know - a "song" has to have lyrics...STILL -

Cool. As. Hell. Enjoy the bonding sessions!

Late to the party and not decided about the sequence, here (R to L, should the wah follow the volume...?) but this is ebbyting, to now.

Tearin' that up, my good man! SD have to know they have a great clinician!