Jeff Beck, Finding Time to Practice, Picks, Hendrix and more
Welcome back to another issue of Six String Sunday, from Chasing Sound. It's been a fun week, and I've spent the majority of it in the fun state of Texas. It's always a nice change from all the hustle and bustle of New Jersey and the metro area.
Even though I've been traveling, I've had lots of time to focus on writing, so I was able to publish a couple of posts to the site, and still stay active on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Thanks for all the likes, hearts, and more! Let's get right to the links.
What's the best pick out there? - Early on in the week I wrote a pick review of some big and indie pick manufacturers. I covered Jim Dunlop, Red Bear, Howling Monkey, and Gravity picks. If you're looking to change up your playing a little bit, try a variety pack from any of these guys. I did, and it really changed the way I play.
I've used Dunlop Tortex's in .88 gauge for so long, but after trying the Gravity, Red Bear, and Howling Monkey picks, they really changed my perspective. I can't get enough of the Red Bear's, whether that be their Big Jazzer or Guthrie Govan signature model. Plus the colors they come in are great. You can tell that these are well made.
Go check out the post, and decide for yourself. Your pick actually does make a difference in your playing, and you might find yourself using multiple different picks for different occasions!
How to find more time to practice and play - I'm part of a bunch of different guitar related Facebook groups. In one of them, a person asked what people were struggling with on guitar. One of the biggest concerns that came up was how to find more time to practice and play the guitar.
I wrote up a post mid-week about how to do just that. With everything from getting mindful about your practice schedule, to visualizing, actively listening to music and more, there's lots of great info packed in there. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Habits of Hendrix - Tyler Larson of Music Is Win has been doing a fun "Habits of" series on his YouTube channel. He's covered a lot of different players at this point, from John Frusciante to Slash. His latest "habits of" has been my favorite so far. It's on none other than the legend, Jimi Hendrix.
Rather than learning exact licks or grabbing exact tones, Tyler shows you how to get the overall feel of the player down. A large task when talking about Hendrix, but he did a good job!
Chops builder - I'm constantly working on the mechanical side of my playing. I'm always striving to be able to play whatever I can think of in my head. Many times that gets hindered by the mechanics of playing.
The editors at Guitar Player magazine had a really good post go out at the end of February that's sure to kick your butt into high gear when it comes to chops. It's called the Ultimate Chops Builder. There's 51 different exercises to work on. It'd be a good idea to take a few of these a day and incorporate them into your practice schedule.
If you're looking for a good book that does the same sort of thing, I've been loving Guitar Aerobics by Troy Nelson. It's a year long, one lick per day workout. It's helped a bunch and I highly recommend it.
Don't Dream It's Over - Mateus Asato is one of the most tasteful and fun guitarists I've come across in the last 5 years. You can find him in a number of places, like teaching over at JamTrackCentral, or on YouTube. I'm a big 80's music fan, and I recently saw Mateus covering Crowded House's Don't Dream It's Over. It's such great playing, with loads of style. Go check it out!
Guitar album of the week - Every Friday I've been recommending a great guitar album on Twitter and Facebook. This week I recommended one of my all time favorite Jeff Beck albums, You Had It Coming. It's so difficult to pick just one Jeff Beck album, so I'm sure I'll be recommending more from him in the future.
For "You Had It Coming", Jeff employs creative pick-less guitar playing, a lesson in how to use a whammy bar, interesting guitar sound effects, beautiful melodies, and combines his guitar playing with interesting electronic beats and samples.
The album came out in 2001, and featured a song called Dirty Mind that won a Grammy for best instrumental rock performance. Guitarist Jennifer Batten is also throughout the album, with singer/songwriter Imogen Heap lending a hand on two tracks as well. This album and the couple that came after it share a very similar musical style, so if you enjoy this album, you're likely to enjoy the album "Jeff". Beck has tons of great albums though, so try and listen to them all!
That's about it for now. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
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-Brian Sutich
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