As so many people have asked, here is a frank on honest discussion on the reasons for my choice, given how many Atomic Amplifire videos I have done. Don’t get me wrong! I love the AA, absolutely love it!! But the Helix works in a way that just fits with the way I work and the way my head works. It probably says more about me than any thing else.This really isn’t about one product being better than the next, this is all about one product working for me and the way that I need to work in my gigging work. If I could have kept both, I really would have. I have a keen eye on Atomic and would love to see what they come up with in the future. Both the Atomic Amplifire and the Line 6 Helix, sound awesome, the work really well and are very robust and fit in to the professional world. It is just that one fits me better....simple. But this is the internet, so things are never as simple as this, so hopefully this will put the record straight!EnjoyPeaceNeil
Choosing gear - How would you choose your gear if you didn’t have the internet?
How would you choose your gear if you didn’t have the internet?
Just imaging for a moment that there were no interviews, no magazines, no hundreds and thousands of user reviews, no online reviews (you know the kind that I do a lot of!). Are you imagining that?? I hope so, please go with me on this one!Firstly, please understand that I'm NOT shooting down the reviewers or the reviews, they serve a purpose and they are doing a great job. It is just that I'm trying to throw out an idea of what would you do if none of this information existed? How would you choose something?
Well, I think it would go a little something like this....
You walk into a guitar shop, you have no idea what any of the pedals are, brands, types, components, you have no idea! So, how would you go about choosing something?Well, perhaps you go and look something that you are visually attracted to, nothing wrong with that. what would you then do?Well, you probably plug it in, turn the knobs, see (hear!) what happened, and I’m pretty sure you would be drawn to something if you liked how it sounds. I am going out on a limb here, but you probably wouldn't care about anything else.We get so side-tracked by other people's opinions, XYZ does this, it sounds better than this, etc, but if you didn't know any of this information, if you haven't heard the voices of the internet or magazines telling you all this, you would probably pick a product primarily on how it sounds, and how it looks, and that is something we forget about quite a lot.I am a big advocate now of just plugging into something and seeing how it sounds. Asking.....does that sound appeal to me? Can I change all the knobs? what does it do? Really getting under the surface of the piece of equipment and finding out what the hell it can do, and how it sounds, and if I like that sound. does that sound work for me? does that sound make me want to play guitar?The little nugget of advice I'm giving here is, that sometimes when you're looking for something, go into a guitar shop, forget the internet for the time being, as awesome as it is, but go in to that guitar shop, go in blind. Get the shop assistant to plug in a whole bunch of pedals that you can't see, and see which one sounds good for you. does it do what you want it to do? Does it make the sound in your head come to life? Does it achieve the sound that you are looking for?We are brainwashed at the moment into thinking XYZ says this, XYZ says that, some guy I've never met before (including me) says this is a great pedal, and it sounds better than this pedal because whatever, and it costs more therefore it must be better, does it really?Of course there are a whole bunch of other factors to factor in, there are some useful things about reviews, if you have a great pedal but it's in a case made of flimsy plastic and you step on it and it breaks, that's not a good thing, and it's probably worth noting that, but in terms of sound and what sound is and how personal it is to someone, if you like the sound of a metal zone pedal then buy one and make it work for you.If you hate the sound of a metal zone pedal, don't buy one, buy a soul food or Andy Timmons Angry Charlie, or something like that, but whatever it is you buy, make sure it works for you and not for some other guy on the internet who says it's a great thing and it works for them.PeaceNeil
8 ways playing rhythm guitar with help your lead playing! FACT
The Rhythm Revelation!
It was a revelation! Thanks to my amazing guitar teacher at Berklee, Mike Williams, when he said,MW: "What to you spend 98% of your time doing during a gig?”My answer, “Playing rhythm guitar?"YES, that is the one. In band or session situation, you are judged and employed for your rhythm skills and then (if you are lucky) for 16 bars you’ll get to wail! But do not fret (no pun intended!), playing all this rhythm stuff and practicing it actually has a massive by product…you WILL improve you lead playing, without even trying!!Yes, Yes it is true and I have put together a video detailing the 8 ways YOU WILL IMPROVE by practising rhythm!!
The 8 ways you’ll improve your lead playing
In the video I discuss in-depth the following 8 ways that practicing and playing rhythm will make you become a much, much better lead player. It is a fact! Check it out.
- Timing
- Chord knowledge - Start to learn more chords, and therefore more arpeggios and sweet notes
- Finger Independence
- Fretboard Knowledge
- Ear Training
- Playing for friend….confidence building
- Dynamic Solo ideas
- Fusing Rhythm and Lead, Hendrix’s legacy in a nutshell
EnjoyPeaceNeil
There is another way : Making life work as a creative - My New Podcast
Create, live, breath and be free
I am so proud to say that my first podcast has been broadcast and is now available online and in iTunes. This is something which has been in the planning for sometime now and I have an exciting information and interviews to share with everyone in the near future.SO what is it about?"Create, live, breath and be free" : There is another way!The goal of the 'There is another way' podcast is to help and empower those on a journey to break away from the 9 to 5, captive working environment and live the life they truly want to. To explore life, the world and creativity.There is another way podcast is all about the journey of being a creativity, a no holes barred account of the ups and downs of being a creative. Neil aims to give listeners the whole truth about the journey and the inspiration to know that they can make it work, no matter their circumstances. With advice, interviews and live talks, this podcasts aims to assist you in making the right choices about your future.Please subscribe on iTunes to get the next Episodes, we will be realising a next Episode every Sunday!Enjoy and thanks for your support.PeaceNeil
Improve your finger independence for guitar - try chord voicings
Facing the finger
Improving finger independence is one of the biggest challenges facing beginner (and more advanced!) players, there are a whole host of finger exercises out there (including student's favourite...the spider). I have found that another way you can tackle this area and work on building your finger independence is to use chord voicings and switch between them.
Video Lesson
So I posted this video lesson which uses some more 'complex' chord shapes and then spend your time switching between them. This is also a great 'musical' method to improve finger independence over the more traditional spider exercises.Download PDF of chord shapes here For more in-depth information on maximising your practice time and finding your own voice on the instrument, check out my book Guitar Creativity - A new way of thinking Follow me onTwitterFacebookInstragramLinkedInEnjoy!PeaceNeil
Brucie's Extreme Guitar | Opinionated lessons and thoughts on guitar playing
Along with my Guitar Creativity videos on Youtube, I have now started a new series of videos. These videos are entitled 'Brucie's extreme guitar' and I am offering opinionated lessons and thoughts on guitar playing.The idea of these videos is to think through and play devil's advocate on some ideas and opinions relating to guitar playing and the whole guitar world. I really want to suggest some things which might get you thinking or maybe even get you all fired up.Here is the play list of the videos so far and the first is any introduction to the series.I hope you enjoy and would love to hear your thoughts!EnjoyPeaceNeil
Steve Vai's Guitar Intervals Ear Training
Training the Ear
So, I thought today I would share an ear training method that I have borrowed from a lesson that I had with Steve Vai. I will put this out there first that there are so many good ways of practicing ear training and.....there are SO many good apps out there are well.
Personally, I recommend having a look at EarBeater (you can use it for free on the website) or download the app.
Visualisation : Auralisation
The best way to start with ear training is to start listening out for intervals, the relationship of one note to another and with each of these relationships for an octave (12 intervals) try and assign a aural ‘clue’ or a visualisation of something you can recognise as the interval from an existing song or theme.For example, a descending 5th is the interval of the first two notes of the Flintstones, an ascending b2 (and descending) is the theme from Jaws.
The link below is a list of intervals that I use to make these associations, you may not know some of these tunes or songs, and I would encourage to use your own if you ‘hear’ something more obvious to you.
Interval list.
Now you have an idea of what intervals sound like and hopefully have some strong associations with existing themes, you should be able to start naming intervals when you hear them.
Steve Vai ?
So where does Steve come in?
Well, Steve suggested a number of great methods for working on your ear, including singing the note before you play it, and singing harmonies to the lines you are playing. The one I am going to expand on here is using an existing recording of lots of intervals with them names after they are played, this should enable you to hear the interval, guess the interval and then get the confirmation of the interval.
He suggests recording a whole series of intervals, both ascending and descending and listening to them when you can.For those of us with busy lives, we could then listen to these recordings on the way to work or on the train or at the gym.
And as a BONUS for my loyal readers, I have recorded a series of ear training intervals for you to download for FREE here.
I hope you find them useful and enjoy this exercise and that it helps you with your ear training. Remember it is a continual learning experience!
Enjoy!
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I hope that you found this article useful and enjoy my blog, podcast and YouTube channel. I’m always happy to share my thoughts and to help others as much as I can and I will never charge for my blog content. Having said that, I truly appreciate when someone supports me in return for the time it takes to write articles, produce podcasts and videos, where I share my years of work and experience with you.
Here are some ways you can show your appreciation:
sharing my content online.
buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/SpencerBruce
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Peace
Neil
Brucie's Extreme Guitar : Opinionated a New Lesson Series Introduction
So I have started a new guitar series of videos. The video below is an introduction to a new creativity and guitar lesson series I am going to be doing. The idea is that I will play devil's advocate on a number of issues that we all may hear about or know about. This is my opinion on the topic and I will also try and question that opinion as well.The main thing is asking the question, and seeing how I would answer and how you would answer, There is no right or wrong, and we all may learn something. Some of the topics might be controversial, some might wind you up a little bit, but please be part of the conversation and let's see where this goes.This lesson is about how to improve your phrasing by stealing rhythms from other melodic ideas. It is a great way to get our of a rut and find new meFor more in-depth information on maximising your practice time and finding your own voice on the instrument, check out my book Guitar Creativity - A new way of thinking https://gumroad.com/l/zCAXyFollow me onTwitter http://twitter.com/lightb4soundFacebook https://www.facebook.com/SpencerBruce...Instragram https://instagram.com/lightb4sound/LinkedIn http://uk.linkedin.com/in/neilbruceEnjoy!PeaceNeil
Pedalboard Rundown : Atomic Amplifire Teaching board with Boss RC30 and Suhr Riot, EHX Nano POG
It is the already nearly August 2016 and whilst I have already posted a couple of different pedalboards recently this one is for a different purpose...teaching and demonstrating. So I have put together another pedalboard .....the teaching pedalboard!Not sure why but always seems like a good thing to do at the begining of the heavy gigging season and blog about it. I know how much you guys love to see pictures of pedals boards and read about them. So here firstly is the picture in action….. Atomic Amps Amplifire Pedalboard with Boss RC-30 for looping and teaching ideas, the EHX Nano POG for adding bass parts and the Suhr Riot for a bit of lovely distortion (The Amplifire has the third switch set to switch on the boost which is usually an OverDrive and switches 1 and 2 up and down on Patches), there is also the Jerry Cantrell Wah for when I feel like adding some interest.This now gives me the option to go directly to a PA, sound card, Roland Cube monitor or straight into an amp, depending on the gig or my mood. Just got a few different patches now to cater for bothFull review can be found hereEnjoyPeaceNeil