All famous musicians known for their extensive commitment to practicing. We’re talking hours, people. Hours and hours and hours and HOURS. Every day, at least for a certain period in their lives.
If we’re gonna talk about how to play guitar for beginners, it’s important to know right up front that if you want to succeed with your instrument, you absolutely have to spend time on your instrument.
Satchmo – master practice man!
I love this quote from one of our most beloved musicians of the last century, Louis Armstrong:
“If I don’t practice for a day, I know it. If I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it. And if I don’t practice for three days, the public knows it.”
True dat, Louis!
If you ever have hopes of playing live for an audience, you will need the fruit of legendary practice – sustained intensity, well-rounded technique, and unflinching control, for extended periods of time.
To pull that off, a few minutes on your axe every couple day just isn’t going to cut it.
Nature vs. Nurture Woodshedding
But even if we put the time in, will it be enough??
You’ve probably heard the statistic mentioned everywhere from Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book “Outliers” that stated “10,000 hours” is the magic bullet number for those who have a goal to master any ability. Pretty cool, really. That means any of us can master anything, IF we just put the time in and are patient.
But recently an interesting study from Michigan State University found sizable proof that those who have become legendary musicians probably got that way from their propensity to practice, and, even more interesting, that that propensity is often DNA-coded, not something we can muster up.
What does that mean? It means that some of us really have to work at just sitting down to practice. Anything! Genetically speaking, some of us are coded to really enjoy sitting in our rooms, day after day, month after month, year upon year, focused and wholly investigating our instrument(s) of choice without even any outside influence telling us to. It comes naturally (I’m looking at YOU, Dave Frank!).
It’s are gift, really. But what about the others? Well, there will always be some who, honestly, would rather be doing something else.
Now, maybe that something else is what THEY are genetically gifted at and their genes are wooing them towards what they SHOULD be putting time into.
One thing’s for sure: we’ll never know unless we just try; give it a shot. Put in your best effort, with excellent guidance, and see what the pay-off is. We’re probably all genius at something. We just have to experiment in life to find what those somethings are.
But let’s say we really believe (at least for now) that music is a path we must pursue. Well, if we want to make advances in our musical technique and understanding then (and eventually play for someone besides our family at Thanksgiving), we’ve got to put some stakes in the ground that set our parameters for successful and ongoing, committed practicing. That’s the only thing that will get us there – the intention to improve.
So, how do we do that? Funny you should ask that… ! 😮
An Axe in the Hand is Worth… ?
Get those guitars out of their cases!
It really doesn’t take that much time, but it’s really true that, for most people, they will practice faaaaaar LESS if their music instruments are put away rather than out and accessible.
Do you keep your instruments in cases?
In a closet?
On a shelf somewhere?
Then unless you’re incredibly disciplined (& most people are not) you’re probably not playing as much as you would if your axes were within arm’s reach, at the ready.
There’s such an easy remedy to this and I recommend everyone reading this who wants to seriously pursue music take it to heart: keep your instrument easy to get to.
All my instruments are out. Out of the cases. Within easy reach, all nicely organized in my studio “live room”, as you can see below.
My Wall of Guitars
Countless times, I have walked by one of these and, with no forethought at all of practicing, I have picked one up and played, usually for at least 20 minutes or more.
What does this show? It proves that, for me at least, if I keep my instruments handy, I’m reminded of how cool it is to play that keyboard, bass, guitar, sax, trumpet… WHATEVER, and I often find myself playing just for the fun of it.
Which is, of course, why we should be practicing. ALWAYS.
Now, the only caveat to this is if you live in an apartment or home where the humidity and the temperature fluctuate wildly. Instruments made of wood like consistency in these measurements, so if you can’t keep the heat or cold from bouncing up & down, then, yea, keep your instruments in cases.
But if you have humidity above 40% all the time, and temps remaining stable… get those bad boys out… and PLAY ‘EM!!
Think the odds are high that you’d benefit from this approach? I’d guess “yes, ‘cuz I know how much it works for me!
One Switch Away from Jammin’!
The same holds true for your outboard gear. If you have guitar effects and great amps, are they out, ready to play through at a moment’s notice??
If not, you’re virtually shooting down any chance that you’ll play for fun, for hours, and get significantly better without even knowing it.
The picture to the right shows my current practice set-up. On top is an amp that I don’t use live, and only occasionally for recording. It’s perfect for practicing though: 50 watts, on-board reverb and chorus, clean and distortion channels… everything ya need to practice all genres, styles and techniques for hours.
Notice that the cable is in it, so all I have to do is take a guitar down off the wall, plug in, and turn the amp on. DONE! Let the shredding COMMENCE!!
Got a favorite pedal, or pedalboard, that gives you mind-bending effects that thrill you, rock you, rock your world?? Then have those plugged in too – with all systems go at the drop of a pick!
You’ll have more fun than Taylor Swift in a new relationship!! lol
Hard, Soft… Whatever!
Because we’re truly in the Digital Age, I know that some of you don’t even own a single, hardware amp. That’s alright; we know you’re sold on the convenience of having everything “in the box”. That’s cool. With thousands of tones and timbres right at your trembling fingertips, who wouldn’t want that??
I will say this though: getting a computer turned on, and then calling up all the various software programs and plugins you might need or want is going to take A LOT longer than just switching on an amp and playing. Remember, the goal here is to make the time it takes to actually start playing as short as possible.
With that in mind, I would encourage you to just get a hardware amp. It can be cheap. Doesn’t matter. It’s going to cause you to practice more than the computer drudgery you have to slog through, I guarantee you. Go to Craigslist. Ebay. Music-Go-Round. I’m sure you’ll find a slough of inexpensive amps, all under $100, spread out across your area.
Unless you live in Montana.
Or Alaska.
Then… you… might have to drive farther.
In any case, get an amp, set it out, ready and waiting for your loving touch, and then, anytime you’ve got a couple minutes, call it to life in TWO SECONDS for a run of fun and chops-building. You can’t beat it for maximizing the chances of you being easily drawn to play.
Is that a Band in your Pocket??
Playing with a band is the total bomb, as you know if you’ve ever done it. But practicing can be, by comparison, a drudgery, since most of the time you have to invest in your progress alone.
Well, not necessarily… ! I suggest you take advantage of a plethora of “band backing tracks” that are everywhere these days. It’s like having a band in your pocket, that you can pull out anytime and they’ll provide you with great-sounding songs to solo over, or to work chords with, and all you have to do, again… is push a button!
All the music from the resources below are loaded onto my IPod, which (as you can see in the picture) is already plugged into my sound system, ready to play. I turn on the sound system, I push play on the IPod… voila! My backing band is making me sound like a million bucks!
There are so, so many to choose from, but let me just share with you my favorites, that I still use to this day and have SO MUCH FUN playing to:
Stand-Alone Tracks
These books all come with a CD of music attached (if you don’t know what a CD is, don’t tell me… I wanna keep feeling YOUNG!!). Each book concentrates on a specific style of music. I own almost all of them, including:
Click on any of those links to check out the book and get it sent to your practice lounge A.S.A.P.!
These books don’t have actual hit songs in them, but they do emulate hit songs by writing jams that sound very much like the tunes you know and love, but they’re just different enough to where they won’t get in trouble with the Copyright police!
These are also tremendously helpful in the teaching environments. Any of my students who are studying soloing have heard from me to get whichever of these books interests them, and then jam as often as possible. This is not hard to do with these books, because they sound so familiar and set your chops free to just explore like Lukather the wonders of your fretboard!
“The Big Book of Backing Tracks”
If I had to choose just ONE reference asset it would be this book by Chad Johnson. This thing has almost every genre you could ever want to practice, all in many keys, handily organized and well-recorded so the band sounds tight and well-rehearsed.
I have practiced to this countless times (on sax too!), and I’ve never grown tired of it. There’s simply too many styles, keys, genres and grooves to ever get bored.
All the songs come on a thumb drive so all ya do is plug in and download. Then, put ’em on whatever device you want and they’ll be right there waiting for you, whenever the urge to burn up the fretboard takes you!
One thing’s certain – we can never practice enough. All I have to do is watch a one-on-one lesson with Lukather, Carlton or Graydon… the heroes of our craft, and I know – this boy needs some serious WOODSHEDDIN’!!
But if you set your practice area up like I have, with everything at the ready, I’d put ten-to-one odds down that you’ll be practicing a heck of a lot more than you ever have… and giving all those rockin’ legends a fresh, snarky run for their music money!
So keep your axe at hand, cable up a practice amp, keep your backing band at the ready, and then go do what it takes, to become a legend in your own way.
If you’re starting out on your incredible guitar adventure, check out these other articles in the series for lots of help and insight:
After months of perspiration, the unveiling took place!
At long last, the world was allowed to gaze upon, in all its glory…
… the “snow shovel”!!!
Well, actually, no. It wasn’t a snow shovel. It was the brand new guitar product that the Fender company had just launched called “the Telecaster”. But, unfortunately, there were loads of critics, disparaging of the new look and design, that CALLED it a snow shovel.
And a boat paddle.
And other epithets unmentionable in mixed company.
That’s okay though, because the designers, not the critics, were on the right side of history in this scenario.
Let’s take a look at why!
Telecaster History
Hard to believe, but 1951 was the very first year that a mass-produced, Spanish-style electric guitar with a solid body appeared on our planet. Wow. What in the world did players DO before then?!!
Fender hit it outta the park on the Telecaster, although it took a couple years before all the detractors were hit were silenced and their ‘snow shovels’ put back in the woodshed where they belonged.
Soon the list of Telecaster adherents began to grow, and in the end, it was a long one! Here’s just a sample of the pro players that have made the Telecaster part of their ongoing arsenal of sound:
Buck Owens
Eric Clapton
Jimmy Page
Merle Haggard
Waylon Jennings
Muddy Waters
B.B. King
Pete Townshend
Syd Barrett
Albert Lee
Keith Richards
George Harrison
Andy Summers (the Police)
Steve Howe (Yes)
Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead)
All these players, and many more, found the bright, clean timbre of the Tele just the ticket for cutting through a live band mix, whether in concert and in the recording studio. Soon the obscure, new “boat paddle” was a regular part of the touring, working guitarist’s equipment entourage, indispensable and expected, rather than indefensible and neglected.
What’s more, the simple, no-frills approach the guitar takes makes for few repairs needed over time, so word of its dependability and road-worthiness grew exponentially over time.
The 60s, especially, saw an explosion of Telecaster interest, mostly due to incredible players who ALL played on Telecasters at one time or another… heroes like Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Syd Barrett, and yet another acclaimed Beatle – George Harrison (“Ticket To Ride”, anyone?!).
Now, here we are, decades later, and the appeal of the Fender Telecaster has yet to be dimmed. For a complete look at all the varieties of Teles that Fender offers, check out THIS PAGE on their website. Disclaimer: I am not responsible for the drool that could short out your computer keyboard.
In fact, it even reached… li’l ole me…
Needing that Tasty Twang!
Like many before me, I began looking for a Telecaster because of a song. UNlike many before me, the song was… my own.
It’s a habit of mine to try to write songs in different ways, starting with different instruments. Without question, it keeps me from EVER, in my life, going through a dry spell. I’ve never had one. I just… keep… writing… !
So I began to write a tune on the drums. I came up with what I considered a fun, shuffle rhythm, with a few differing sections, then laid it down in Pro Tools.
Next, I thought it sounded like it was crying out for a cool, funky, clean rhythm guitar track. So… I donned my Paul Reed Smith (a Strat, mind you), set it to detente 2, midway between my neck and mid pickup, and began to create.
Immediately, (riffing off of how the drums were inspiring me) I found myself playing palm-muted, chicken-picking funk riffs. Talk about fun! I improv’ed a bunch until I landed on a few choice phrases that seemed to form out the song.
Laying it down in Pro Tools, I was pleased. BUT… it was missing something. I knew right away what it was. The combination of the drum beat and my newly-composed staccato, clean riffs was, to my ears, DEMANDING that it be a Telecaster playing, not a Strat.
This would be an easy fix… IF I HAD ONLY OWNED A TELE!! lol
Yes, my friends, true and relentless G.A.S. had struck once again, and I was the eager victim. That balance between human need, dream and desire had once again been knocked all wobbly! I was teetering… on the brink… desperate.
One thing was certain – I HAD to have a Tele!
The Proliferation of Awesome
So, I started looking, and OOOoohh, man… the possibilities were limitless! I had no idea I’d find so many different Telecaster-type guitars to choose from.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? If so, the Telecaster has been complimented more times over than Allan Holdsworth used 4-note-per-string scales!
Just a cursory look through Google today showed me the following companies that ALL had Telecaster-type guitars on sale, right now, TODAY:
Fender (of course)
G&L
Kiesel
Cozart
Johnson
King
Sawtooth
LDG
Chapman
Warmoth
Hohner
Switch
Hiawatha
Schecter
Effin
Tom Anderson
Sims
Charvel
Lotus
Bill Lawrence
ESP
Michael Kelly
Suhr
Indio
First Act
Trinity River
Top Custom
Farmhouse
I finally gave up searching when I reached the “Farmhouse” guitar (“Yee-haw.”), but there’s probably even MORE options that I just didn’t get to.
Still not enough choices for ya? Well, then there are kits and/or parts manufacturers that set you up to BUILD YOUR OWN, having what’s called a “Partscaster”. Some kits and parts are licensed by Fender. Most are not.
Enough options for ya yet??! lol
According to Fender (whom I just called and talked to “Chris”) the only truly LICENSED companies to manufacturer Telecaster clones are Warmoth and G&L. All the rest avoid litigation by making sure the Fender headstock shape & Fender decal/logo are not used.
Are they all equal? Hardly. That’s why it’s important to get the requisite research on whatever piece of gear you’re gas-ing for. Here at Seriousgas we do that for you, really putting gear through its paces to find out how it really stacks up against the competition, complete with recordings we make in the studio.
As they say, “the tape don’t lie”. Or, these days, the HARD DRIVE, rather!
I’m putting together a Telecaster shoot-out in the studio for release soon, so stay tuned for those recordings.
For the moment though, let me introduce you now to my own world of spanky tone… !
My Tele!!
The Austin AU962 Tele-style guitar
I was VERY fortunate to find (through Craigslist, actually) my Austin AU962 Tele guitar. Once I knew I needed the Tele tone for that song, I went on the hunt, and almost got three or four other Teles of differing brands, but at the last minute (literally, in one case!), someone else bought ’em.
Ahhh, but then…
I saw an ad that had come out only 2 hours previous. The axe looked beautiful, and looking at the pickups and parts, I knew it wouldn’t be a bad choice. Immediately I called and within 2 hours, this gorgeous Austin was in my lick-ready hands!
Here are the specs:
Austin “Era-’62 Professional Deluxe” guitar, model AU962
Volume knob, & Tone “push/pull pot” for tapping the pickup
Wilkinson Die-cast Tuners
Bright Chrome Hardware
3×3 headstock with matching finish
Original MSRP: $449.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Rich Dumstorff who is the “Vice-President of SLM Marketplace” & the Product Manager for all things Austin. He filled me in a lot about my guitar’s history.
He told me that Austin started out in ’94 or ’95 as a “catalog brand” for the St. Louis Music, a family-owned company, begun in 1922, for whom he still works. A catalog brand of instruments allows any mainstreet store (i.e. not a franchise) wanting introductory or intermediate guitars to buy as many, or as few, as they want.
This is a great incentive for smaller stores, since most of the big companies want you to sign contracts which obligate you to buy A LOT of guitars from them each year. Catalog brands help “the little guys” compete with big box stores, by offering quality instruments at a competitive price point. This helps to keep these small music stores alive, year after year, here in the land of opportunity.
Rich said my guitar is anywhere from 15 to 20 years old, and that it was made when Austin was trying to become a “player’s brand” and make a name with high-end players. Today, Austin has no such dreams of grandeur – they are unapologetically a beginners/hobbyists brand and probably will continue to serve their stores as such.
This is great news for me, since my guitar was manufactured to higher standards to what’s currently offered. Back then, these instruments were made in Korea, and at that time the quality was on par with Japan’s export standard, which was quite high, and very much UNlike what was coming out of China.
He further clarified that today Austin guitars are probably analogous in quality to what the Fender Squires offer, but that my older Austin is, and I quote, “… WAY better”.
I like the sounds of that. And I’d have to agree.
Oh, yea… Rich also helped me bust a myth I came across online that said Austin guitars were created by a couple guys who left Fender and used what they learned there to construct the Austins.
Not true at all. The REAL story is that when the catalog brand of guitars at St. Louis Music, called “Series 10” guitars started to become somewhat “long in the tooth”, the company decided to up the quality and change the name. The Product Manager at St. Louis Music at the time had a son named Austin, and in true “daddy loves his boy” fashion, the new line was given his moniker. There was never any tie to Fender whatsoever.
Myth BUSTED. lol
The current website for all Austin guitars in production can be found at www.austingtr.com.
As an interesting side note, their parent company, St. Louis Music, also manufactures and distributes all Alverez instruments and supplies.
Tone is Everything
The tone of my Austin rivals certain Telecaster models extremely well. Obviously, the Fender Telecaster has not stayed the same through the decades; certain little changes came and went, and some different pickup combinations were offered here and there to appeal to players who wanted a Telecaster but with a bit of a different sound.
Mine, for example, does not have the iconic single coil neck pickup that you see on stereotypical Telecasters. Instead, I have a mini-humbucker. I really like this for one simple reason: it’s quieter. Most of what I do is in the studio, so, when I’m recording, the last thing I need is a bunch of noise messing up my perfect take.
Which is always the first take, right? LOL
This humbucker is a very warm, fat sounding pickup. It sounds to me almost “Gibson” in tone, but is modeled after the humbucking pickups Fender put on their Telecasters starting in 1968. Definitely more of a jazz or “singing lead” type tonality. Because I record a lot, I typically don’t want a guitar sound that “fills the room” so much, so this neck setting probably gets the least use. It IS, however, by far the quietest pup choice on this axe!
Now, if I combine both pickups with the selector, I have two choices: first, if I DON’T pop up the tapping knob, I get a bit of nasality in the tone that I don’t prefer usually. It’s pretty midrangey, which might actually work great for some mixes, but alone sounds a bit “meh”.
Notice the Tone knob UP for my favorite tones!
My second option though is sweet! If I pop the tapping knob up, I get this great, perfect rhythm sound that’s not the overly bright crisp tone that the Tele is known for, but rather a nicely balanced, not-too-full, but not-too-chirpy clean guitar tone that I can use for most anything. LOVE that setting!
But what about the “classic twang” sound?? Isn’t that what the Telecaster is known for? Yup, and I get that too: I just slap the selector down to the bridge pickup, pop up the tone knob, which taps the pickup, and lordy, lordy… I’d swear I was in Bakersfield in Buck Owen’s band. Just the ticket for showing off those crispy, fast Nashville bluegrass licks. Or, as is my penchant, playing Joe Walsh’s “Funk #49” – it sounds amazing!!
If I don’t pop up the tapping knob in bridge position, it has a similar tone but not as shrill. Much of the slap, chirp and pop is dialed down significantly, leaving just a brighter essential tone. Still good for soloing but for more the rock traditional kind of approach (“Stairway to Heaven”, I presume??). I’d probably not use the pick and middle-finger dual picking method on this setting.
I’d say that’s a lot of versatility in one guitar, wouldn’t you? It’s not a one-trick pony by any means, which means it’s especially good for a live playing tool.
There’s one thing I actually don’t like about my Austin though, and I’m probably going to remedy it soon: the tuners. Instead of a hole in the tuning peg, they just have a cleft cut in the peg on the top, so the string just sits in there and slips out waaaay too easily and often when I’m changing the strings.
Hate that.
It’s poles apart from my favorite tuning peg design, which is on my Paul Reed Smith (check that beauty outHERE).
But, as we know, guitars are all about tone, and I’m really, really pleased with this Austin. Considering that even the Standard Mexican Telecasters are three to four TIMES the price of this guitar, yet I still get that classic sound on my recordings… how can I not wear a cowboy pickin’ and grinnin’?!
Oh, and finally I have to mention a cool feature on this axe that is a departure from normal Tele practices: Austin chose (in a blink of genius!) to put the selector switch between the Volume and Tone knobs. Why is this cool? Because some Fender Telecaster players have mentioned that occasionally they’ll hit the selector by accident while playing, because it’s above the knobs and right where your downward stroke will hit it. Austin solved this issue in their design, and I’m a fan.
It’s Gonna Be a Bright, Bright, Sunshiny Tone!
Got your own case of G.A.S. for this legend of a guitar?? There’s plenty of variations to choose from, as I mentioned above, but if you want THE one and only, unadulterated, iconic, American-made classic, go FIND IT HERE!
Since getting a Tele, I’m seeing all kinds of new ways of playing that I’ve never considered before, all inspired by this outstanding instrument. Funny, isn’t it, how getting a new axe can really widen not only your tonal prospects, but your technical mastery as well?!
Maybe you already own a Tele? Or maybe you’ve owned many? Whatever the case, let us know how it’s worked for you, and share your road stories of this all-time favorite of guitars. We’ll be waiting to hear your tall tale, to help us all when we get that Telecaster G.A.S. tease cracklin’ in our bellies!
That’s all for this post. So join me: pick up a Tele, and go… make… sounds!!
I was reading some musician’s opinions about DW drums last night on DrummerWorld.com (an excellent resource for real-world drum gear insights!) when a forum contributor said this:
“Amateurs practice until they get it right. Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.”
Wow. What a GREAT quote. After years of gig prep and woodshedding, I know exactly what they mean… and couldn’t agree more!
These days though, fewer people are working for music than ever. Why? Digital music trends mostly. Unfortunately, music streaming has had a hugely detrimental effect on musician’s INCOME streaming. For specifics on that, read the bad news in THIS POST.
I want us to consider today WHY and HOW we should continue pouring our time and energy into music, despite bad news, bad timing, bad labels, bad revenues… bad whatever!
There are more reasons than ever.
Crazy Much??
Some of you may have read Sean Barrett’s excellent Part One article on “Gain Staging” here at SeriousGas. If you’re a guitarist and you haven’t check it outHERE. You’ll be glad you did.
I was talking with him yesterday about some music business decisions I’m making, and how so many old avenues of the biz don’t work anymore, but I’m still at, still pursuing it, despite those who say it’s crazy to try anymore.
He responded with what I have already known for years:
“It’s in you. You can’t NOT do it (music). It’s what you were made to do.”
He was right. No matter what obstacles I’ve faced in my decades in the music industry, it’s always come back, for me, to one thing: the SONG. Writing is all I’ve ever wanted to excel at, and now, decades later, it feels great to see that I not only understand the intricacies of songwriting more than ever before, and still utterly enjoy pouring into this craft as well.
Now that’s what I call a winning combination!
Have you been told that you’re crazy to pursue something? Are others pointing you to safer, more consistent but also more mundane and unfulfilling work?
There are times when we must bite the bullet and work something just to be responsible, but let me encourage you to also… be crazy! Never let your passions lie neglected. Even if it means you work the dream AFTER your day job and on the weekends, eventually, if you keep at it, you’ll probably be able to leave that dead-end workplace behind.
But that’s only if… you don’t give up.
Music as Meditation
I had a thought recently that was new, intriguing, and regards music and life in general. It didn’t come from reading, or watching a YouTube video, or talking to a fellow audio engineer or musician. Instead, it came from just putting my own personal “2 and 2” together…
I like to meditate. Usually for 20 minutes at a time. I have a special chair that I sit in (one o’ those cool “kneeling chairs” that I finally bit the bullet and bought!) that I put in front of the clear-windowed sliding glass doors that lead out from our living room and face the east.
In the morning, when the sun has risen above the trees at the edge of our backyard, its warm streaming goodness spills all upon and around me as I take a few moments to just… clear my head… breathe, and let go the torrents of demanding inner monologues and emergency sirens that so often keep our attentions.
Buddha, and Christ, both talked about it: be here. Now. Live in this moment. Take it in. Appreciate it for what it is… for what you are… right now.
What I realized this month is that music, and practicing, can be approached with this kind of mindset. In fact, I think most of us who practice already do this, without even really knowing it.
This all came from a comment someone made that basically said, “You musicians must live a lot in the moment since you are concentrating so much on what you’re playing.”
By Jove, he’s right! I thought about this as I practiced a song soon after, and thought, “I am so dedicating all my senses to this music right NOW. It really is partly like meditation.”
The only thing lacking for most of us is to simply recognize that; to, as we play, think deliberately “This music, my music, IS this moment. The music, my listeners, myself… we all… exist together, right here, in this moment… together.”
Talk about being one with everything!
I think we can listen to music this way too – using it to anchor us to the present passing seconds, and feeling the appreciation for life as our favorite music washes the stresses of the past and the future away on a tide of temporary irrelevance.
Try it. You may find Zen isn’t so foreign and far after all. 😉
Being Better Without Trying
Your axe in your hand is worth two in the Guitar Center, right?! No one will refute that practicing does wonders for your technique.
But too often I’ve seen musicians waaaaay too tense during practicing. This not only promotes bad technique, it allows psychiatrists to make waaaay too much money off their anxiety, and eventually… they retire in the Bahamas off of YOUR STRESS!
So, let’s not give our money and control away so easily. We can do this, but we can do it WITHOUT tension about the past, present or future.
I put it this way to all my beginner students: “Don’t try to play better, faster, stronger, bluesier, with more swing, more legato, more staccato… whatever!! Just PLAY. And when you do… enjoy it. Have FUN. If you do this, you’ll get better naturally, without even trying.”
After all, that IS what we do with music, right?? We PLAY it.
What is certain is that if you practice daily, with joy and excitement and the focus that comes from real, undying interest… guess what – you WILL get better, faster, stronger, bluesier, with more swing, more legato, more staccato, ETC. As Roxette says on one of their latest albums, “It Just Happens”!! Or as I tell my students, “practice makes progress”. Notice I did NOT say perfect. In art, there’s usually no such thing.
So don’t stress out. Just pick up your instrument and always make it a point to remember why you first got into this instrument – because you were interested in it, and it soon became FUN.
As you continue to just play for the sheer pleasure of it, you’ll find yourself becoming, more and more, a stellar musician. And THAT is surely one great reason to keep up the good work in music.
How do You Measure YOUR Success?
I’m in the middle of recording a brand new tune to release as my latest single. It is taking WEEKS of focus, skill and effort to bring to completion. I’m doing the majority of it all by myself in my studio.
When I’m finished I’ll upload it on various Indie music sites and see what happens.
It could very well go viral! Or it could only get a few hundred hits and just sit there. Is either result better? Well, if we want success and profit, then obviously the first one.
But what if the measure of our success was not profit? Or fame? Or exposure? What if the simple act of creating and then setting the creation free was our most desired reward??
It’s hard to live in the real world and not expect, yea, even demand, recompense for our efforts. We gotta eat, right?? But the need to make money off of our art can often lead us down avenues of focus that aren’t even true to who we are or what we want to really do.
And then there’s the nasty side-effects: disappointment, or worse, depression, if our efforts don’t launch us into financial stratospheres like we hoped.
I went to an Art Fair this past weekend. There were, as usual, all kinds of art products. Some made me think, “What a cool idea!”. Others made me think, “That’s just… kinda dumb”.
One of my friends was there selling some of her art products for only the second time. She was lucky, in that she cleared her expenditures. But did she make a lot more than that? Not really.
So she should give up, right?? Stick to her dependable day job, slink down into the coach of consistency and turn the tube on after another inane work day ’til bedtime. Yes??
Forgive me if I say, “Not unless you absolutely HAVE to!” I’ve certainly worked my share of jobs that weren’t what I was really skilled at. Still do occasionally. But I’ve never given up the dream of making my TOTAL living off of what I’m really good at. For me, that happens to be songwriting and producing in the studio.
How about you? What’s your dream? What are you really good at? What “fills your tank”??
I once heard a great bit of advice. It goes like this: “Where your joy & passion meets the world’s need, THAT is where you should be spending your time.”
Sounds like what I would call real success.
Here’s hoping you soon find the prosperous road to the top of your passion’s ladder, whatever it may be!
What Are All These Tools??!
These days, it’s not all about the music anymore. Unless you have a major record contract, where everything is provided and done for you except the music, you must be working at other things if you want your songs to fly into people’s hearts, where they belong.
Software programs, hardware options, social media platforms, merch manufacturer decisions, agents and managers research, website integration – these are all things that matter now almost as much as the melodies that pour out of your instrument of choice.
The new normal is that more and more of most of those proliferate every day, making our ability to hone things done to the essentials more elusive than ever. Just yesterday I discovered yet ANOTHER digital music marketing website, guaranteeing (don’t they all) that theirs is the site you should be on, if you want artist success and recognition.
It’s clear that if we want to keep apace in today’s music market, we must apply our nose to the social media grindstone right up there with our recording and live concert equipment. These are the new weapons of advancement, and we must keep them sharp and wield them diligently if we’re to make a lasting impact.
The good news is… they’re FUN! Since starting up this website I’ve applied myself to Twitter, Instagram, GooglePlus, Pinterest, Facebook, and I’ve gotta say… they’re quite enjoyable. I make it a point not to spend to long on each one, lest my day suddenly be over before I’ve even written anything! But if you’re careful, social media can be as creative as music, just in different ways.
The same can be said for all the new music production tools we have today, both in hardware and software. Yes, there’s always a learning curve; some are worse than others. But if you approach it as an entertaining, empowering experience, that will leave you stronger and more skillful than ever in your music, then you can fly through those 3x-transliterated User Manuals in no time. Heck, ya might even learn a little Japanese. So keep at it!
And now… a Piece in 7/4!
In my 20s, I read a book full of wisdom that has stayed with me and still inspires me to this day. It’s called “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, by author Stephen Covey.
This read had an immediate impact on me; I instantly began to look at my daily routines through a lens of focused relevance, something I had not been very deliberate about before.
Its principles have proven to have a life-long effect my decision-making. It’s now years later, but I still make decisions about just about everything with the seven principles in mind. Covey’s insights and suggestions have consistently helped align my internal compass with, what I believe, is what matters most, and how we should truly define success.
In fact, I can easily say this: of all the life-counsel books I’ve ever read, I would place this one in the number two slot, right behind the Bible. So much of the time, other self-help books just sound like they’re trying to be Covey, but not quite making it.
If you haven’t read Stephen’s excellent resource, I highly suggest you PICK IT UP HERE and apply the principles to your own passions and life path. You’ll soon find your inner man or woman flourishing and thriving… becoming truly profitable, in all the most important ways.
Why You’ll Win the War
I can think of no better way to end today’s post than to quote one of my life’s heroes, Winston Churchill, from one of the greatest speeches he ever gave, right in the middle of World War II, to his Alma Mater Harrow School. For anyone wondering if continuing to work for music and success in this field is worth it, let his words speak to you how they will:
“Never give in – never, never, never, never… in nothing, great or small, large or petty; never give in, except to convictions of honor, and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”
Never give in.
Whatever “enemy” might be trying to derail your success train in music, let Winson’s words be a wind in your sail today, blowing you to pleasant harbors where the winds whisper… “Winning!”
The Goo Goo Dolls were telling us all about some girl named “Iris“.
Alanis Morissette was incorrectly schooling us on what “Ironic” means.
And Oasis? They were making me sing right out loud and proud whenever their “Champagne Supernova” came on the station. All in all, it was a good year for music.
And a good year to MAKE music. Which is why that year… I bought a Hohner B2 bass!
It’s now (amazingly!!) 22 years later, and my little headless friend and I are still at it, bringing song ideas to life… with some solid low end.
I Like Big BOTTOM and I Cannot Lie…
I was working in the 90s at Sweetwater Sound, the best pro audio store in the country (IMHO!). Not only was their selection vast, but their knowledge base and professional staff were just what I wanted to take my sound understandings to the next level.
(They’re still the best, by the way. I honestly don’t think any other music store comes close.)
After work hours, I continued my lifelong pursuit of songwriting -and the accompanying privilege of recording those songs I wrote to capture them for all time in whatever format was available at the time. That year… it was digital DAT.
Before this time, I had always asked other bass players to help me with what some former girlfriends carried proudly: the “big bottom”. I’d learned to never underestimate its power. lol
Regardless, I ended up typically not satisfied with how the bass parts of others meshed with my material.
Rather than complain, it was time to step up and put my fingers where my dissatisfaction was – it was time to get my own bass!
Low, and Behold… !
A fellow audio sales engineer just happened to hear that I was looking for a bass. Before I could slap my cash down for a new one (at our discount, of course) he proffered, “Hey! Buy my Steinberg clone. I’ll give it to ya cheapie-like!”
He brought it in the next day for me to test drive. He said he’d used it for years, that it was bought sometime around ’91, although it was made around 1988. It still looked in great shape, so five years and my friend’s hands had treated it kindly.
We plugged it through one of the amps there at the store and I played through some changes. I liked it! I was impressed by its unique look, lightweight feel and stable, consistent sound.
I think I recall him asking me for $200. Well, that was just my kind of “affordable”, so the deal was done. I took that puppy home and started immediately scoring out a bass line for my latest tune at the time, which was called “Long Way Down”.
I soon discovered that I really liked writing bass lines. It was so different from playing guitar, yet, at the same time, just as gratifying.
Within a couple weeks I was in a local studio putting down the guitars, bass and vocals. A drummer for hire did the rest.
I still have the recording. In prep for this article I pulled it up and listened. It sounded even better than I remember: full-bodied, rich… with just enough transient sheen to keep the notes sounding well-defined but not ostentatious. Another solid bass track for posterity – CHECK!
Steinberg Starts the Fever!
The Hohner B2 is basically a visual clone of the famous SteinbergerL Series basses that came to be so acclaimed in the 80s. The first bass Steinberger made, the L2, was introduced at a N.A.M.M. show in 1979, where he sold three prototypes, including one which was bought by one of my favorite bass players, the greatly inimitable Mr. Tony Levin.
The B2 bridge & tuners
These basses stood out immediately for numerous reasons:
They were shaped like an oar
They were made completely out of a graphite & carbon fiber blend
They used strings that had balls at both ends
They used EMG pickups, which at the time were not that well-known, & sounded very different
The tuners were at the bottom of the guitar
Most surprising, the guitar headstock was… missing!! They didn’t need one!
Ned and his bass creation!
Not so surprising then that, two years later, Time Magazine was giving the Steinberger Bass the honor of being in its “Top 5 Best Designs Of 1981”. Quite the BIG splash for the young upstart!
People kind of either loved or hated the Steinbergers. Because of design and graphite materials used, the basses sounded ultra clean, precise and tonally even. This was either a blessing, or a curse, depending on your tonal and technical preference.
Steinberger made the most of the love/hate relationship though, proudly using as one of the company’s slogans: “We don’t make ’em like they used to!”
The Hohner Low Down
As we all know in the world of merchandise, if it’s popular… there will be knock-offs. Both here and in other countries. In line with that truism, there are plenty of other companies that have copied these esteemed basses throughout the years. Hohner, however, was the only company at the time to actually LICENSE their product designs through Steinberger, essentially getting their permission to copy their look, if not their unique sound.
For that reason, many of the parts on the B2 bass come straight from the Steinberger company, the most important being the rock-steady bridge and tuner assembly. The leg rest that folds out from the body also came from Steinberger.
The biggest difference between the B2 and a real Steinberger is the body: the Hohner sports an all-MAPLE body – specifically, it’s a full-scale one-piece maple neck and body that is complemented with two maple “wings” that are attached on either side of the strings to give it that “oar shape” look.
The Steinberger, on the other hand, saved a lot of trees – it consisted, as mentioned above, of a one-piece, completely man-made graphite epoxy body. This big change gave the instrument a much different EQ spectrum and sound, and is what separated it from all other basses (and later guitars too) from that time period.
Because the Hohner is made of wood, it sounds, by comparison to the Steinberger, much more like a normal bass. Listening back to the first bass track I did with the Hohner, for example, gave me no impression that the bass used was at all unusual. It sounded much like what some of my other “normal” basses sound like.
The B2 uses Hohner pickups instead of EMGs
The Steinberger L2 also had real EMG pickups and active circuitry. The B2 is rather a completely passive instrument, with no active circuitry. It has two humbucking pickup but they are not EMG; instead they are some of Hohner’s own pickups. They work well, though your range of tones is limited.
One other difference between the Steiny and the B2 is the answer to the age-old question: “How’s it hangin’, bro?!” See, the two companies used different strap placements. This actually ends up putting the B2 at a disadvantage – when playing with a strap the neck feels longer than a normal bass, just because of how it sits against your body.
In other words, if you closed your eyes and went for what you would normally know as the first fret, you’ll end up on the third fret. The first fret feels farther away than any other bass I’ve ever played. The Steinberger, with its different strap tab placement, didn’t have this problem.
There are numerous hacks, like Augusto’s HERE. Or you can buy the Steinberger strap extension, but, it’s, uh… $150 last time I checked. I think Augusto’s hack is a muuuuch better option.
Or just get used to it like me. Seriously, I just laid tracks with it this week. At first, yea, it felt a little weird, but in a few minutes I hardly noticed it. So you reach a little further? Big deal. It’s about the sound, man… !
Sub Those Sonics
So what’s the difference really?? Well, if you like the LOOK of the Steinberger axes, but prefer a more “traditional” sound, then the Hohner clones are a great choice for you. If the Steinberger SOUND is what you’re after, then the Hohner won’t take you there. You’re simply going to have to spend the extra money (and I mean a LOT more extra money!!) and get a real Steinberger.
It doesn’t give you a lot of options. Instead, if you want a good, usable bass tone right out of the gate, you’ve got two pickups that give you two approaches immediately. Pick one and you’re off to the races.
I would say the Hohner is a little more mid-range strong than other basses. This is probably because of it being made of maple and having a smaller body. This mid-range power I find to work really well in the context of a modern pop or rock band. It stands out just enough without muddying up the floor, so to speak, with its pal the kick drum.
Want a bass that can sound like anything?? Then the Hohner is not for you. It’s humble in that way; no ostentatious posturing here, just two basic track-worthy tones… but with a look that’ll turn heads every time you play it!
The B2 sting slots
That String Thing
Yet another way that you’ll be veering off the beaten path by buying either a Steinberger or any of its licensed (or even UNlicensed!) clones, is that you will not be buying regular bass strings anymore. Instead, you’ll need to buy “double ball end” strings.
This string difference is one of the ways Steinberger was able to revolutionize the industry. Of course, it also was in his best financial interest to create this new kind of string, since his company could sell it at a premium price, before the patent wore out and all the other string companies could make their own versions.
These days you’ll have to shell out anywhere from $30 to $70 for a set of strings, which isn’t bad at all considering how long they last. When the Steinys first came out the strings were WAAAAY pricier, so thank heaven for the free market economy and time!
How Deep Is Your… Wallet?!
If you wanted to get a Steinberger bass back in the day, you would spend HUNDREDS more than the Hohner licensed model. Perhaps even a THOUSAND dollars more! This is why I never seriously considered getting a real Steiny… they were (and still are) too @#$!% expensive.
Even today, if you want to pick up one of the original L Series models (not the cheaper and lower-in-quality “Spirit” or “Synapse” models), you’re talking over $1,000, easy. Is the Steinberger a superior instrument in many respects? I’d definitely say “yes”… but you pay BIG TIME for those superlatives!
If money is no issue to you though, and you want the bass that started all the fuss… the REAL DEAL, then I suggest you contact Don at HEADLESSUSA.COM. If what you want is available anywhere, Don will know, and he’s got an excellent reputation for going above and beyond during the sales process.
I must warn you though – the price tags are not for the faint of heart. If you want an authentic L Series Steinberger you’re talking upwards of five to nine THOUSAND dollars.
See. Not for the faint of heart indeed!
On the other hand, you can get a Hohner like mine, or even one of the higher models that feature active pickups, or sweepable EQ, for LESS than a thousand. Check EBay or Reverb.com for your best options.
In fact, I see quite a few going for less than $500 RIGHT NOW. Yes, the sound will be more what you expect, a wooden body tonality. But unless you are absolutely sold on the Graphite Epoxy sound, the Hohner did, and continues to do, an excellent job, both in the studio or out live.
Layin’ Down the Boom
Since listening to the B2 bass on the recording I did in ’96, I was so pleased with its sound I decided to get it vibratin’ once again and use it to lay down a bass track on an upbeat, happy Sheryl Crow-type song I wrote last week. See if it still has that maverick mojo, ya know?
Once again, I am pleased to say the results are everything I hoped for! It performed consistently and magnificently. I used mostly the neck pickup, although with about 25% of the bridge pickup also in the blend, and the tone knob was all the way up into treble land. Sitting in my mix right now, it has the perfect tone for this easy summer pop tune.
A nice reminder of just how easy and pleasant it is to use this bass. 🙂
And just so you know, I don’t ONLY play basses that are light as a feather. If you read THIS POST about my Bass Mods bass, you’ll see what I mean!!
Hope you enjoyed this look at a rare beast in the audio world, still alive and kickin’ it in the studio, with that 80s, flashy styling – the Hohner B2 Bass!
Do you own a Steinberger or a Hohner? Perhaps even one of their 6-string guitars?? Or perhaps a model with more bells and whistles to fiddle with and direct your tone?? Tell us about it in the comments. We’d love to hear YOUR story!
Until then, you know what to do: slip on your favorite axe and go… make… sounds!!
For me, it was a summer’s day in L.A. Reseda, specifically, in the San Fernando Valley.
It was at my apartment, after work. My two roommates were gone, and wouldn’t be home for a few hours. It was the perfect time to lay back and… get a little action in.
She and I were there for a reason. And we were close. I could feel her ever-so-slightly touching my arm. It may have looked casual, but I was oh-soooo attentive!
So I laid on the couch, right next to where the air conditioner was blowing in the coolest air within a hundred feet… and just listened. For a long time. I knew that all you need is ears to make a big difference in what, and how, she gives.
When it was obvious that all the words had ended, we sat mesmerized for a few seconds, just taking it all in.
Then… with respectful reverie, and slow motion impulse… I picked her up… and played a couple chords.
Yes, my friends, that was the day I listened to my first Beatles album. Just me and my guitar. Both of us would never be the same again.
What? Whaddya mean?? Of course, I was talking about my guitar… whadja think I was talking about?? ‘-p
Yes It Is… the 5th Beatle!
George Martin, backstage at LOVE (Adamsharp)
The late Sir George Henry Martin was not only the Beatle’s record producer – he was a producer extraordinaire for hundreds of acts. His list of number one hits blows most of us away: THIRTY number-one hit singles in the U.K. and TWENTY-THREE number-one hits in the U.S. of A. Wow!!
The Queen of England appreciated his legendary expertise so much that in 1996 she bestowed upon him the honor of a “Knight Bachelor”, in thanks for years of outstanding work, and for making England a consistent magical garden for world-renowned musical exports.
There are veeeeery few producers who have accomplished number 1 records in three or more consecutive decades. Martin is one of them (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, & 1990s).
He also has a loooong list of accolades and music business wins. Here are just a few:
The 1967 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Album (“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band“)
The 1967 Grammy Award for Album of the Year (“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”)
The 1973 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Accompanying Vocalist(s) (“Live and Let Die“)
The 1977 BRIT Award for Best British Producer (of the past 25 years!!).
The 1984 BRIT Award for Outstanding Contribution To Music
The 1993 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album (The Who’s Tommy)
The 2007 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media, producer together with his son Giles Martin (“Love” by the Beatles)
The list goes on and on. But, of course, he shall forever be most fondly remembered by most of us for helping create albums by the Beatles, that to this day transcend the moments of their making and reach us deeply decades and decades later.
His family shall always remember him that way too, because his Coat of Arms still hangs in their homes as a reminder – the honorary shield features three beetles, a house martin bird which is holding a recorder, and one simple phrase in Latin:
MY 1st edition copy!
“Amore Solum Opus Est.”
All you need is love. 🙂
Paperback Writer
Sir George penned his auto-biography in 1979. The music business and the recording industry were SOOOO different then, as you shall hear in the upcoming snippets.
It is one of my favorite books concerning music and recording that I’ve ever read, and it’s also a book that I re-read often. He passes on so many helpful insights, as well as dozens of entertaining reminiscences… you just don’t want to put the book down once you pick it up!
It’s not a technical manual for engineers by any means. He keeps it light so the layman reader won’t get lost in pro audio gobbledygook. But neither is it devoid of recording methodology. He talks at length about how they recorded many things in the studios of his career, especially what worked… and what didn’t!
My hope is that, if you’ve never read this literary mine of pure audio gold, you’ll change that today. This book is too good to miss if you’re serious about the music business, recording methods or the timeless qualities of an effective music producer, either for your own music or the music of others.
Let’s hear what a master has to say, shall we?!
The Inner Light
Whenever we try to understand the choices a genius makes, or why an artistic, genre-veering decision was made over another more mundane, expected one, it’s important to get a sense for how the person thinks – how they approach their art from the inside outward.
Sir George gave us many glimpses of this throughout his book. My favorite among them is this one:
My own copy of their masterpiece
“For me, making a record is like painting a picture. Not only are we painting sound pictures, but our pallet is infinite. We can, if we wish, use any sound in the universe, from the sound of a whale mating to that of a Tibetan wood instrument, from the legitimate Orchestra to synthesized sounds.
That may be why, of all painters, my favorites are the Impressionists: Renoir; Degas; Monet; Van Gogh; Sisley. It’s surely no coincidence that they seem to match so well almost as visual counterparts to the music of my favorite composers Debussy and Ravel.
With John Lennon at Abbey Road
The fascination of recording is that you really do have an unlimited range of musical colors to use. That’s one of the main reasons why I enjoyed working with the Beatles so much, because our success won me artistic freedom.”
I found that Martin is also not a precision nut, in that he’s more about the performance having life, excitement, depth and/or energy than being technically perfect. I’m the same way. I have often left a vocal in on certain songs that wasn’t totally dead-on in regard to pitch, but was close enough, and was couched in a tremendous performance that we really the best take.
Why mess that up, right?! Martin agrees, and puts it this way:
“I’m not a stickler for accuracy. If that was the be-all and end-all, we might as well give up and let computers do all the work. I happen to like a little bit of inaccuracy, a little bit of humanity. Perfect beauty, whether in a woman or anything else… tends to be a bore, and I think that holds true for music.”
Come Together
The late Sir George Martin shares many anecdotes about his history with some of the most well-known artists on the planet. And he never comes across as anything but gracious, thankful and devoted to be the very best producer he can be.
But part of making music, at least in most cases, is working with other people. Other aaaaaartists. And that’s not always easy when you’re the Producer. It wasn’t at first for him, at least.
Listening to him tell of the first time he told a jazz musician that the bassist sounded ‘muddy’ and imprecise is so funny, but it hits home, right? We want the best sounds, but we also have to learn how to best communicate with artistic temperaments to commit the best music to posterity.
Sir George Martin lecturing
Here’s how Sir George handles the coming together of the technical team and the artists:
“Tact is the “sin qua non” of being record producer. One has to tread a fine line between, on the one hand, submitting to an artist’s every whim, and on the other, throwing one’s weight around.
I had to learn how to get my own way without letting the performer realize what was happening. One had to lead rather than drive. I think that now, as then, that’s probably the most important quality needed in a record producer.”
I also first gleaned from Sir George some specific tasks that a “producer” of music might shoot toward, whether mine or someone else’s. Being “a producer” sounds important, but do we really have defined parameters about what it means??
Here is what it meant to him:
(In regard to the Beatles):“There were four musicians: three guitarists and a drummer, and my role was to make sure that they
made a concise commercial statement;
that it ran for approximately 2 and 1/2 minutes,
that it was in the right key for their voices,
that it was tidy,
with the right proportion and form.”
Hearing the act of producing described this way, I started to think about each of those whenever I got behind the console. To this day, I question each of those elements whenever I think an arrangement or a mix is “finished”. Guess you could say my final act is to “George it”, and that usually means… I find something that needs fixed!
He also was one not to dabble too much in the engineering side of things. He started as an engineer, so he knew how to do it quite well, but to Sir George is was more a matter of focus… :
Always check the mix in the cans!
“There’s a race of men who are producer-engineers; they combine both functions. In theory, I could do that, but I do not think it is a very good idea. I would not be able to see the wood for the trees. The essence of a producer’s job is to be impartial. He must be able to see the whole picture, and make a value judgment as quickly as possible.
But when you are playing about with Equalization knobs, trimming limiters and compressors, varying the amounts of echo or reverberation time, and involving yourself in a million other technical activities, you tend not to listen to the music. And I am rather single-minded about that.
“The Producer’s function is to listen to the sound and to the music as an overall unit together, and from that he must judge the recording. An engineer’s function is to ensure that, technically, it is the very best recording obtainable. If they are worrying about each other’s area of responsibility, they are not doing their jobs properly.”
For most of my career, I’ve had to do most things myself. Even today I still wear the hat of engineer, producer, writer, performer, marketer, publisher… geez, I’m gettin’ tired just sayin’ ’em all!
But my dream?? To just be a Paul, or John, or George or Ringo… and let someone like Sir George Martin do all that other, so I can just write, and play, and sing…
and write, and play, and sing…
and write, and play, and sing…
and write…
Who’s wi’ me?!! 😉
Abbey Road Studios 2007
Norwegian Wood (Studio!)
Recording music always has to take place somewhere, and maybe you, like me, have been dreaming most of your life about creating lasting songs from such a personal, perfected space.
It was from Sir George that I first began envisioning my own personal studio. From his years of experience I learned many things that I hadn’t yet heard up to that point. His stories of Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles recorded, and then his own AIR Studios, were inspirational. And still are.
One of them had to do with non-parallel walls. That’s something that’s hard to find in most buildings, but extremely helpful in being able to capture with mics an accurate sound picture without artificially amplifying certain frequencies. I still remember the first time reading how he put it:
“The ideal way of building reflective services for acoustic purposes in recording is to make them refract the sound. You make the sound waves bounce off a new direction rather than return the way they came.
The ideal studio, therefore, is one in which the walls are never parallel. It’s also preferable for them never to be straight. So the studio has to be a compromise.”
But he also confided that a studio is not one thing with one sound. It should have several options:
“At AIR (Martin’s studio) we generally have a hard floor in a fairly reflective ceiling at the string end of the studios (where he records orchestras). We keep one end of the studio live, and the other, where I normally put the Rhythm Section, dead.”
Inside Abbey Road Studios for orchestral recording, Studio 2
He went on to describe many other important attributes of ‘what makes a good studio’, and I learned much from what he imparted. Basically, I credit him for making me believe I could have a studio of my own one day.
I do not, however, typically record drums the way he did in the early days. Check this out:
“I tend to be quite extravagant in my use of tracks for rhythm. I usually have the bass drum on its own track, then two tracks for the stereo overhead sound of the drums in order to get an ambient ‘feel’, and a fourth track for the snare drum. That’s four tracks for drums alone!”
Okay, so… it’s clear that extravagance changes from decade to decade. I understand why he says this, because when the Beatles first started they only had TWO TRACKS to record onto. That’s what you hear on their first two albums. So using 4 mics just for the drums was probably considered “pushing it” back then.
Anyone wanna guess how many mics I bring into Pro Tools from my red Pearl studio drum kit? Try THIRTEEN!!
Sorry, Sir George. I’m just an audio glutton! lol
You Never Give Me Your Money
That’s what songwriters say to today’s streaming websites. LOL
Seriously though, these days, if you’re a songwriter, you’re in hard times. Harder than I’ve seen in my lifetime. I know, ‘cuz I’m one.
You know what’s astounding?? To think that, not that long ago, a songwriter could make an amazing living doing what they’re best at. Those were the days before streaming… before ITunes… before Napster kicked the ball right outta the stadium.
Martin, with his engineer Geoff Emerick & America
But when Martin was producing, it was much different…
“If an album in America goes gold – that is if it sells half a million copies – it will earn the producer a small fortune. The retail price of an album is about $8. A 3% royalty works out at something over 20 cents an album. So a “gold” album means $100,000 for the producer.
With the successes that I have had in producing the group “America” – records like “History”, “Hideaway” “holiday” and “hearts” – I was bringing in something like half a million dollars a year.”
Sir George – among the top brass!
Eight Days A Week!
As grandiose as having all that cash sounds, it did not come without serious commitment, and extended periods of hard, focused work. No record exec was just handing out money. They expected results, something that Martin deftly provided. He says that in the early days…
“For the Beatles we agreed that, if possible, we would release a single every 3 months, and a long playing record every year.
It seemed to work: out of the 52 weeks of 1963 we topped the charts no less than 37 times.
Sleep was something of a luxury that year.”
Lest we think that Sir George had to live at the studio and never see friends or family for decades, it’s very eye-opening to hear the typical recording schedule that it took during his early days. It suuuuuure isn’t this way now…
“We have come a long way from that first Beatles album, “Please Please Me”, which I started at 10 o’clock one February morning in 1963, and which was all mixed and ready for issue by eleven o’clock that night!”
Um, uh… yea. Okay, I’m not even going to mention how long ONE SONG on my latest album took.
It wasn’t one day, that’s for sure!!!
With A Little Help From My Friends
George & the boys, 1966
It’s quite fascinating to hear how Sir George views the Beatles, obviously. He was there, all the time, with them, for almost every song, every recording, every vocal where the lyrics were finally nailed down and committed to. Amazing. True to what I always suspected, based on what I heard on every Beatles album, Martin describes the hierarchy in the studio with the band this way:
“I must emphasize that (in the Beatles) it was a team effort. Without my arrangements and scoring, very many of the records would not have sounded as they do. Whether they would have been any better, I cannot say. They might have been. That is not modesty on my part; it is an attempt to give a factual picture of the relationship.
But equally, there’s no doubt in my mind that the main talent of that whole era came from Paul and John. George, Ringo and myself were subsidiary talents. We were not five equal people artistically: two were very strong and the other three were also-rans.”
The Beatles, just hangin’ out in my studio
Martin’s respect for Paul and John is obvious throughout his book. I guess if we’d seen two people bring in hit after hit, year after year, not relying on the same ol’, same ol’, but constantly breaking new audio and songwriting barriers, we’d be pretty awe-struck too!
Of John, Sir George opines:
“John’s imagery is one of the great things about his work: “Tangerine trees”; “marmalade Skies”; “cellophane flowers”. I hope it doesn’t sound pretentious but I always saw him as an aural Salvador Dali, rather than some drug-ridden record artist.”
Of Paul, Martin stated what I’ve always thought of McCartney too, saying…
“Of the four, Paul was the one most likely to be a professional musician, in the sense of learning the trade, learning about notation, and harmony and counterpoint. He’s an excellent musical all-rounder: probably the best bass-guitar player there is, a first-class drummer, brilliant guitarist, and competent piano player.”
Martin goes on in the book to talk about how the Beatles had a perfect balance, both within and without (nod to George Harrison here). They knew enough about music to be dangerous, but were not so “schooled” that they couldn’t try things that to Martin were far afield from his classical music tradition.
Showing his smarts for the business, he never tried to force his style upon them. Rather, he did everything he could to complement their style with his musicianship.
In My Life
Sir George Martin is gone now. He passed in his sleep in 2006. But he is not forgotten. Nor shall he ever be. His legacy, and that of the Beatles, are too ingrained into our collective conscience.
For me, he shall continue to be a very present part of my life whenever I go into the studio to work on my art. I have dozens of my favorite albums hanging on my studio walls. His name is on many of them.
Thankfully, he not only wrote his wonderfully astute observations and informed preferences in his auto-biography, but also shared with us his smile and proper English lilting voice in numerous videos. If you have not yet seen these documentaries, GO BINGE ’em now! They are:
Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music, 2016 PBS film
Produced by George Martin, 2011 BBC film
The Rhythm of Life, 1997 BBC film
Finally, in writing this article, I was floored to find that the hardcover first-edition copy of “All You Need Is Ears”, just like mine, is selling online for upwards of $400! Wow!! I could sell it and get that new Nuemann mic I’ve been wanting… !
Alas for Neumann, I will never get rid of this book. It’s too precious, too insightful, too inspirational… and one of the best reads a musician, producer, engineer or songwriter could get.
GET IT HEREfor yourself. You’ll see exactly what I mean.
In the meanwhile though, make like you’re a member of Sgt. Pepper’s band and go… make… sounds!!
I’ve been playing gigs with just me and a couple guitars for decades now.
A lot of time and energy goes into carefully choosing and charting songs from various decades in our past. It’s all for the goal of bringing smiles and good memories to people’s faces and minds.
Because of that, I’ve come to know pretty well what songs kick up an audience’s energy. And which ones don’t!
Many of these tunes I’ve been playing for 30+ years! I can still remember learning a lot of ’em, and how for some, it wasn’t easy. Just trying to get my fingers to play some of those chords and licks took WEEKS!!
It’s true – great songs can be wickedly complex and a real b#$% to learn!
But not all are that way. I wish back then I’d had someone to tell me:
“Hey! Kid! There ARE easy guitar songs for beginners. Try these – people will love you!!”
Well, just because I didn’t get that doesn’t mean YOU have to go without. My gig-minded friends, welcome to Rock Star Shortcut School!!
Ascend Acoustic Mountain!
The first list I want to give you is concentrating on songs I only perform on acoustic guitar. This approach is where I’ve spent the majority of my time, since it’s easy (once you’re practiced and ready) to pull off a few sets without much gear, set-up time or hassle.
Acoustic guitar songs can be among the most enduring of all time. Want proof? What’s the most recorded song of all time, the world over? Any idea??
It’s “Yesterday“, by the Beatles. Just Paul McCartney and an acoustic guitar, with some strings behind him to lush it up a bit. Wanna please a crowd of all ages? Throw this song in. You’re sure to get not only smiles, but respect. It’s not the easiest song, sporting 10 different chords, but it’s not among the hardest either. “Blackbird” is much more demanding.
The list below teaches you how to play these songs fairly easily. If there are complex intros and such, I’ve linked you in most cases to ways of playing it that are easier. In the majority of cases that means simple chords instead of intricate riffs.
Whenever I learn a song, I learn all of it, just like the recording. When you’re first learning though, it’s totally fine to learn easy versions of any tune. As we heard earlier, it’s the vocal that’s important anyway.
So what acoustic guitar songs get a great audience reaction but aren’t that difficult to play?? Here’s my top fifteen that always get an audience singin’ along, and that I play regularly on an acoustic guitar:
If a “7” is added quickly after a major chord of the same name, I didn’t include that as a separate chord. You can leave the 7 out to simplify.
Also, with some of these songs, there are passing chords that are technically in the song, but you can get away with not playing. This simplifies the song so you don’t have to worry about quick, sudden chord changes as a beginner.
In “Soak Up the Sun“, for example, one of the chord progressions is [Em D/F# G A ]. You can, however, totally get away with simply playing [Em G A ], skipping the fast passing chord and making it a lot easier. No one will mind if you do this, especially if your VOCALS are really good.
Except that guitar player in the front row who wants to think he’s better than you. He’ll notice. 😉
Elevate to Electric Heaven!
Electric guitars tend to be in bands. Yes, you can do gigs alone and play some songs on electric (I’ve done it hundreds of times), but the electric guitar really sings out best when accompanied by a kickin’ rhythm section. For that reason, the following easy guitar songs are meant to be played in the context of a band.
If there are instrument solos in any of the songs in the list, you can just skip those, or vocally riff through them, if you’re not good at soloing. Why? Because the most important thing is… yea, I think you know. 😉
The list of my favorite electric guitar songs to play is… well, it’s very long, I’ll just put it that way. But which ones are easy?? I guess I’d narrow it down to the following fifteen tunes:
The last one there, “Time For Me To Fly”, is an example of a song that originally was in an extreme alternate tuning on the 12-string guitar. That makes things difficult in a live setting, unless you have dozens of guitars and a guitar tech to hand them to you live!
So here I’ve linked you to ways of playing all these tunes that are quick and easy but still sound very much like the original.
Another great thing about these songs is you can play them with only the basics. Sure, you could turn a ton of effects on, but these songs can still be effective if all you have is an axe and an amp.
Tested and Trusted
So now you have links that are either accurate, or convincing reconfigurations, of all these songs. The video lessons you can jump to anytime and, within minutes, be ready to gig!
The instructors in these videos are all qualified fellow musicians whom I trust. I’ve watched each video and can vouch for their expertise.
Do I personally play the songs like they do in every case? Nope. I tend to play songs just like the original recordings, and these versions often do not, but they definitely work, and are simple for beginners, which is the whole point of this article.
Once you have a large group of songs like these down and you can perform them well, you can always expand your technical proficiency by learning the tricky bits, the fills, the solos, the alternate tunings and extra overdubbed guitar parts that made the song great in the first place.
What I did NOT do (you’ll be happy to know) is link you to lessons where the instruction is incredibly wrong, and believe me… there are plenty of those!! I have found hundreds (yes, HUNDREDS) of TABs and instructional videos that are way off the mark.
These days there’s really no excuse for teaching something wrong. All a person has to do is call up a video of the original band or artist playing a certain song and look where their hands are. Are they using a capo? Are they using open or barre chords?? Electric, 6-string or 12-string??? It’s all right there.
If you learn tunes in a technically proficient way, even if it’s simple, it’ll be advantageous to you in the long run. Everything in these lessons will help you in the future play even more great tunes, with no bad habits!
No Arthritis, Please!
If you ever do happen to learn a song dramatically wrong… it can force upon you a learning curve that’s WAAAAAY larger than it needs to be.
Before I sign off for the day, lemme share with you two cases in point, and you’ll understand why learning from a trusted source is so important…
Some of Teaj’s old guitar mags!
Before the Internet appeared, and simplified our lives considerably, gig tunes were either learned by ear or gleaned from music magazines that would TAB out a few songs each issue.
I spent days and days hammering out two songs from two different music magazines this way. In each case, the magazine TAB was wrong. Really wrong. I’m not just talkin’ a couple measures off here; I’m saying well over half of the song in one case, and ONE HUNDRED PERCENT of the song in the other, was completely, totally wrong.
For “Blackbird“, by the Beatles, I still to this day play it the way I learned it, tho’ I’ve since seen Paul McCartney play it and he does it in a much simpler way that I wish I’d learned in the first place. Oh well, no worries… it just made me a more flexible player, right?!
The second song was “Little Guitars“, by Van Halen, and that TAB was so off the mark, it was like trying to paint the Mona Lisa with a car tire! I worked at that stupid piece for months. I remember thinking, “Eddie! Dude! How in the world did you come up with contorting your fingers this way??! Do you have arthritis or WHAT??!!!”
The problem was that the magazine and TAB creator (who shall remain nameless, grumble, grumble, grumble…!!!) thought that Eddie played the song on a normal guitar in normal tuning.
He could not have been further from the truth. Eddie used a small scale guitar, which maintained a normal tuning like that of a full-sized guitar capoed at the third fret. He also dropped the low E string a full whole step down.
When you use this approach (the RIGHT ONE!!!!) for the song, the chord shapes are mostly ones you already know and have played for years.
(Heavy sigh, grimace)
Okay, no problem. Again, just made me a better player, right?! All that to say, learning the right way for each song is the way to go. Not only do you get inside the head of the writer, you save yourself a ton of time and aggravation and more efficiently carve out your niche of success in this crazy career field.
Do it right to do it better!!
Strum it! Pick it! Love it!!
Who doesn’t love this kind of work?! Playing music is incredibly life-giving and exciting. The more you do it, the more examples you find of intoxicating joy in the moment, and when an audience sees that in you… they’ll be screaming for more!!
Learn as many of the songs above as you can, beginning to end. Practice until you don’t even have to look at the guitar neck anymore. You GOT THIS!
Then you can be free to interact with the crowd, take in the venue, and revel in the freedom of being a master of your repertoire. Doesn’t matter if the songs are simple. It’s all about how you perform them.
Showing the crowd competence and confidence and fun will make them want what you’ve got. Whether you’re a rocker in boots, a pop diva in sequined sneakers, or a little girl busking in Crocs on the street…
… they’ll find it, and you, simply irresistible!
So get practicing, and make you mark on the ever-expanding universe of guitar artists shredding their hearts out online. I’ll be watching for ya.
In 2015, I made an exciting discovery! Have you ever taken up a new musical instrument? Then you’ll know what I mean.
That first discovery expanded my musical world, and eventually led me to another discovery, and the very question I pose to you today: “What is a Bodhran??”
Now that I’ve been playing a bodhran for a few years I can answer that question for ya! It’s exciting for me to introduce to you today its sound, its story, and its potential for making your music even more interesting than ever.
But first, lemme show you how I found it in the first place!
String-y Serendipity…
Teaj’s fiddle
My first exciting discovery in 2014 was… the violin!
It wasn’t my plan to take it up as another instrument, but… life is strange sometimes. What was it Lennon said? “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” Great insight. But then he was a Beatle!
I had actually planned to take up cello. I saw a fine-looking, dark brown cello for sale on CraigsList and just had to have it. When I arrived, the seller actually had dozens of instruments for sale, including a violin in good shape.
She said a hundred and thirty bucks for it. I figured, “Wow, that’s all?! I might as well at that price!” So I went home with more than I planned for. FOUR MORE instruments actually. Talk about Serious G.A.S.!
Back home, I was surprised to find that it was not the cello that consumed me, but rather the violin. And soon enough, the bodhran was in the mix too, because of a new appreciation for music… from across the ocean!
The Pipes Are Calling, Danny…
It was through one of my violin study books that I first heard and came to really appreciate the bodhran. The book included, amidst the mostly classical pieces, an Irish folk tune. As soon as I played it, I immediately appreciated its beautiful melody, as well as the unusual choice of chords sitting underneath.
I kept being drawn back to play this tune from the “Emerald Isle”, as Ireland is called. Again and again. “Hmmm… “, I thought, “… this Irish music rocks! Wonder if I can find more??”
A couple hours and online receipts later, I did! Eventually I was playing through more awesome melodies, and I just couldn’t get enough. Even “Danny Boy”, a song most people have heard at least once, seemed to really come alive and become so much more emotionally impactful playing it on a violin.
But there was also, almost always, a different-sounding DRUM playing along on these Irish songs. It sounded really different, but really cool. Researching, I found it was the BODHRAN!!
As I continued playing, and began listening to more and more Irish music, and watching videos of Irish groups, my interest in this north island beat-maker grew until I knew… I had to have one!
Getting Comfortable with my OWN Skin
Just around the time I was seriously G.A.S.-ing for a bodhran, wouldn’t you know it… one showed up on CraigsList!!
I ended up snagging this Roosebeck Tunable Bodhran, seen in the picture to the left, from a local girl who no longer played it and wanted it to go to someone who would appreciate it and play it into the future. I assured her I would.
There were others listed on CraigsList, but hers was the largest… exactly what I was looking for. No mamby-pamby play toy bodhrans for me – only the most powerful will do!!
She only asked $80. These sell new for $108 plus tax, and since it was in perfect condition I thought that a steal.
The head is genuine goat (apologies to any P.E.T.A adherents), tho’ you can buy the same model with a synthetic skin instead.
If you’re interested in my specific model, feel free to take a look at the MidEast company’s website by CLICKING HERE.They are more pricey than your typical beginner models, but as always, you get what you pay for.
Leprechaun Speech
Flag of Ireland
Since I know you’re wondering, let’s cover the first thing most people ask when they’re looking into the bodhran is, “How do you SAY that??!”
This is especially the case when they see the drum spelled in the right Irish way: “bodhrán”. Most people outside of Ireland leave off the diacritical mark above the ‘a’. Heck, I don’t even know, as an American, how I’d type one in in the first place!
The easiest way to remember its pronunciation is to say, “It’s a bodhran, MORON!!” Keep those two in rhymed complicity and you’ll have no problems. Oh, and it’s probably best to say that in your HEAD, not out loud. For obvious reason. 😉
Titanic Irish group with bodhran
Dig That Gaelic Beat!
So you’re here because of genuine interest in this exceptional instrument. Maybe you noticed it in the movie “Titanic“, during the below-deck dancing and playing. Maybe you came across an Irish group recently, in a restaurant, pub or bar. Or maybe you stumbled upon Irish music on Spotify, Pandora or ITunes.
Whatever your reason, welcome! The BODHRAN awaits for you to breathe the pulse of life into it and make it come alive in some energized gig near you!
The bodhran is a simple, single-skin frame drum. It’s played mostly in Irish music groups, tho’ occasionally artists like myself will use it in songs that are not Irish, but still benefit from its sound.
Bodhrans come in different sizes, which make them louder or softer, higher in pitch or lower in pitch. The smallest is 10 inches in diameter. The largest? 26 inches.
A goatskin is usually used in Ireland for the beating material. In America, it might be synthetic, or even other animal hides that make the striking surface.
On the back of the bodhran, you will usually find one or two crossbars. These allow you to hold the drum securely, but even more, it gives the back of your hand something to brace against so that you can push the drum skin outward, raising the pitch when desired.
Sometimes you’ll see a tunable bodhran. Many are not tunable. You’ll know the tunable one by either lugs, bolts or hex key riggings, either on the outside of the side of the drum, or underneath on the inner side.
Did you know that bodhrans are a descendant of the tambourine?! There are even pictures of some Irish musicians playing from the 1950s that show jingles still attached, just like a tambourine.
Not Your Everyday Beat Box
The Bodhran strike
There are a few things that set the bodhran apart from other drums and percussive approaches. They are:
It’s played on its SIDE.
It’s played with a “beater“.
It’s played with your palm touching the underside of the skin
So, first, the bodhran is played on its SIDE, not with the skin facing up. It’s usually resting on your leg (usually the left thigh, if you’re right-handed). The skin top faces your chest as you play.
Secondly, you play it, not with drumsticks, and only occasionally (if ever) with your hands or knuckles. Most of the time, you’ll use a unique, artistically-crafted wooden stick called a “beater“.
Centuries back, it was more common to use an actual animal bone. The ends, where knuckles or joints would be, served as excellent striking mediums to pummel out the loudest sounds. That’s why you’ll hear some still refer to the beater as a “bone“.
You’ll also find this playing stick referred to by the name “tipper“, or “cipin” in certain territories, especially in Ireland. But the term I’ve heard the most here in American is “beater”.
Regardless of the name though, it takes a while to get used to the novel way of holding and sounding the drum with one of these. It’s different from any other percussion instrument I’ve come across.
Bodhran player using brushes
Oh, and sometimes I’ve seen bodhran players use brushes on the skin for a softer effect. I just use the brushes from my drum kit and they work great. Adds another color to your tonal arsenal, but you probably won’t use them much, as Irish bands tend to be anything BUT soft and gentle!
Lastly, to coax, or explode, different sounds from the bodhran, you place your left hand (if you’re right-handed), open-palmed, on the back side of the drum skin. Lifting it from the skin, touching it palm open, or pushing the skin outward will provide different responses, pitches, and timbres, since that dampens or releases the vibration of the skin.
I find this technique to be very much like playing the hi-hat on a traditional drum kit. Your left hand will “open and close” the drum, by merely lifting or dropping your palm to the skin. Thinking this way, you can pound out rhythms as complex as you’d like with this instrument, just like you can get all Stewart Copeland on the hi-hat with drum sticks.
Opening and closing the drum skin sound is also great for musical accents. It’s easily done once you get the hang of it, and easily heard too. In fact, I don’t think there’s a more expressive drum with as much variance in skin resonance, except for the African talking drum.
Getting JIG-gy With It!
When playing the bodhran, you’ll find that most Irish music comes down to two varieties of songs:
The Jig
The Reel
A jig is in 3/4 time, and has a rhythm similar to saying “PINE-ap-ple”.
The reel, on the other hand, is in 4/4 time, and has a rhythm similar to saying “WAT – er – me – lon”.
If you’re playing the bodhran, it’s mostly your job to keep everyone centered on one of those particular grooves.
There’s not a lot of soloing typically; you’re mostly serving the song and the other solo instruments that keep the tunes on fire with their breakneck speed and rousing energy.
Irish music can be very fast at times, and I’ve found it a challenge to keep up on bodhran, but like anything, practice makes progress.
And besides… I’ve found violin is MUCH HARDER. 😉
The tipper you will hold in your beating hand similar to how you’d hold a pencil. Then, swinging the wrist up and down, you thump out your most ‘leapin’ leprechaun’ grooves for your fellow musicians to play along with.
There are, however, differing styles of beater technique, mostly based on geographic preferences and the origins in Ireland. The style that I play, and that is by far the most common, is “Kerry” style. This is the method that uses a tipper with TWO heads. The other less popular technique is called the “West Limerick” style, and it uses only ONE end of a longer, thinner tipper.
But wait! There are even some who play the bodhran with thumb and knuckles instead of with a wooden beater. If you try this, you’ll see that you do not get nearly as much volume out of the drum. Since some Irish music gigs are done with no amplification, it’s much harder to be heard over all the other instruments if you opt for this method. I personally am gonna stick with “tipper-ing”, thank you very much.
You can strike the rim of the bodhran too if you want, to get that “wood on wood” sound that’s more like South American claves. Just be careful you don’t do it too hard – nobody likes dented or chipped tippers!
The aural textures you can produce with the bodhran can go from deep and booming, to subtle and mid-rangey, to bright and staccato, if you want. The combination of controlling it with the tipper AND the palm muting gives you a LOT of controlled variety.
For those of you wanting GREAT online instruction, I suggest what I use myself: the Online Academy of Irish Music! They are actual Irish musicians who live over there and play this music week in and week out, and know how to teach it well.
I know there’s lots on YouTube but honestly I don’t think any of that compares to what OAIM offers us. Check out their FREE beginners instruction videos by CLICKING HERE!Then just navigate to your instrument of choice and start jammin’ with the experts.
Meet ya in the virtual practice rooms!
You Never Forget Your First
For those just starting out, I recommend you do what I tell all my beginner students to do: don’t spend a lot! Unless, of course, you’re really, really sure you love the instrument and will stick with it and develop into an expressive musician using it.
For those who are unsure, I recommend THIS 10″ INEXPENSIVE BODHRAN. It will do the job nicely and give you everything you need to start learning the Irish repertoire beats and grooves and improvisation techniques. The best part is, it’s under fifty bucks!
Or, if you don’t mind advertising an esteemed BEER while you play, THIS 16″ ONE is good for starters and a little bigger so the sound will have more beef. If you drink a coke while playing it however, don’t be surprised if you get your tipper stolen. lol
For those of you more certain of your decision, you’ll feed good about investing in THIS 14″ MID-PRICED BODHRAN. All three of these options come with tipper included, so you’re good to go out of the box!
Recognize that bodhrans, like most instruments, can be priced quite expensively. If you want to spend a lot on one, you certainly can! But the options I’ve given you here are great BAM for the buck, but aren’t cheaply made so that your playing suffers.
One of the more expensive ones I’ve ever seen itTHIS ONE. Tho’ I’m a Lord of the Rings fan, I can assure you… I will not be picking up that bodhran any time soon. lol
Grins & Skins!
Because the bodhran is so unassuming and humble, it tends to get the short end of the beater when it comes to jokes. There are SOOOOO many, you could enjoy a whole day looking them up online, but I’ll give you just a couple to suffice here:
“When someone tells a guitarist joke, people laugh.
When someone tells a bodhránist joke, people nod in solemn agreement.”
See what I mean?! Here’s another:
“What’s the difference between a bodhran and an onion?
Different kinds of bodhran beater sticks
Most people cry when they cut up an onion.”
And finally… :
“What is the difference between a dead bodhran player lying in the road and a dead rabbit lying in the road?
The rabbit might have been on it’s way to a gig.”
There are many more, but you get the picture. But it’s all in good fun. I can tell you, for all the jocular put-downs, I’ve never seen an Irish group perform yet that did NOT have darn good bodhran players… and they helped make the concert exciting in big, toe-tappin’ ways!
Boost That Beat!
There will be times when you’re just gonna have to mic your drum. In the studio, on large stages, or at concerts where you have a lot of other loud, amplified instruments, will call for some type of help getting your sound up and over the other spotlight-stealers.
The Pro 35 is great for live bodhran!
For studio use, the mic I use for picking up the bodhran (not to mention pretty much everything else), is the Audio Technica 4050. You can read all about that impressive mic in the article I wrote HERE. I also usually record with TWO mics on the bodhran, one in front and one in back. The sound is quite different for each side and it helps to have both in a mix to choose between.
For live performance, a dynamic mic like the Audix i5 works well, or even the common Shure sm57. I prefer the Audix tho’.
You can also get a mic that clips to your drum so you don’t have to worry about clunky mic stands and the like. I’ve come across numerous recommendations forTHIS AT PRO35 CLIP MICand plan to get one for myself for just this use.
Nicola Joyce playing bodhrán
Skin-rappin’ Gets Toes Tappin’!
So, what is a bodhran?? That’s easy – it’s fun in a drum! And now you know why everyone should have one… including you!
A little practice… a few upbeat, jiggy gigs… and who knows – maybe we’ll meet at the World Bodhrán Championships in Milltown, County Kerry, Ireland where it’s held each year.
If we find you’re spankin’ a mean bodhran… I’ll be sure to tip my tipper to ya. 😉
For now, get yourself one… start practicing… and go see some real bodhran bashers in action. Watch the ads for Irish groups near you. Irish PUBS are a good place to check for Irish music too.
Bodhran is fun!!
Maybe you can even find what we have here in Michigan that’s put on by the put on by the “Detroit Irish Music Association” – an Irish music “open chair night“, where anyone can show up with their instrument and sit in on song after song after song from the Irish repertoire. It’s daunting when you first try, but worth the bravery!
Whatever route you take, may the luck o’ the Irish dance and jam wi’ ye! I know I’m so glad I stumbled upon this well of rhythmic riches. It was an interesting, surprising road but I’m glad my musical curiosity led me to it. Many lively hours of smiles, expressiveness and skill-building later, I’m still happily ON the beaten path.
