Arranging: concepts

Arranging pop and rock songs for solo instrumental fingerstyle is not as difficult as you would think, and it can really help you develop your skills.  Here is a brief strategy that I use:

Choose a song.  Sounds like the easy part, but not always the case.  Some songs are crying out to be fingerstyled.  Listen to the song; see if you can pick out a good simple repeatable beat/bassline, a simple melody, and nothing complex in between.  Some songs may have a very distinctive riff that wouldn't fit with the melody, and leaving out the riff would just not be right.  The songs that I have arranged aren't necessarily songs that I particularly like, but they are ones that I noticed would suit the style.

Now, why invent the wheel?  A well known pop/rock song will have been tabbed out several times over, do an internet search for "<song> tab" and you are bound to find the chords, words, tabs, somebody who has nutted out the solo.  Muck around with any tabs you find to see how accurate they are.  Another good source of info is midi files, believe it or not.  You can open up a midi file in most tabbing software, and it will show you the tab.  I quite often use this for getting the melody for the voice.  You'll have to fiddle around with midis; they are usually made up of several channels, often the song will wander in and out of channels depending on what the author was trying to achieve.

I will typically work on the bassline to start with, get something that is easy to play but is in line with the song.  You really want the bassline to use as many open strings as possible - E, A, D - because if you are racing around a melody up high, you won't be fretting low F's.  Try changing the key of the song to fit more into what the guitar is set up for.  You can also try a non-standard tuning; I've used Drop D a few times for songs that spend a lot of time needing D.

If the song has a distinct bassline/beat then try to match it.  If it doesn't, then just playing the root bass note in the chord on the beat is an easy out.  But try to mix it up a bit, through in double striking a note, or on the 3.5th beat in a 4 beat bar hit that bars root bass note and then hit the bass note for the next bar.  Listen to Naudos basslines, they are great.  Mine are simpler; what you need to achieve is filling up the bottom end frequencies.

Next tackle the melody.  Start basic; just pluck a single note lining up with what the singer is singing.  The bass might be important, but the melody is critical - your audience uses the melody to lock in and follow the song.  The melody causes the words of the song to pop into their heads and gives them that enjoyment you get when you hear an instrumental version of a song you know.  Get the melody as spot on as you can.

Fill the melody out where you need to, double or triple notes plucked at the same time to accentuate parts of the song that need it.  This is where playing a nylon string comes in handy; it is easier to vary the volume, sound, timbre of each note than on a steel string.  You want to make sure the melody is loud, remember, it is what the listener is focussing on.

Invert your chords where you need to, to ensure you get the "coverage" that you need for the bass and the melody.  For example, if you wanted to play a first string 5th fret high A, then rather than fretting up an open A X02220, go for a root 6 A 577655.  You've still got access to the bass A note (on 6th string), but there is that high A you need.

Add some mid, but don't let it drive the song.  Certainly don't let it overpower the melody.  I've been using a lot of little strums, say on the 3rd beat mimicking a snare drum.  Traditionally fingerstylers would arpeggio fill in a mid; I still use that a lot to break the song up, but it feels olde school to me.  The little flicking/stab, across 2 or three strings in the chord adds a "modern" and percussive feel, less "classical".  Don't be afraid to sound out your melody in that mid flick - you can't flick and pluck at the same time.  (Okay you can, but that technique is too advanced for me ;)

Now that you have built up a song, don't be too repetitive.  Make little changes to keep it different and lively between each verse.  You'll find that most songs are the same thing over and over, it is the words that makes it, but since we aren't using words, we've got to do something different to mix it up.  Play one verse an octave up...or an octave down.  Cut out a verse altogether if it is sounding too repetitive.  Include any solo or bridge that the song has, even if it is just as much work doing an 8 bar bridge as doing the rest of the song.  If there seems to be nothing you can do to make it more interesting, then cut it down to half a song and medley it up back to back with another song by the same band.

Write it all up in a tab editor as you go, primarily so that you don't forget the good ideas you've had.  In an editor like powertab, you can play back the tab.  I find this very useful to "test" ideas, for instance a tricky bass line/melody resolve that I'm having a hard time trying to play.  Type it in how you think you want it to be, play it back and tweak it until you think it sounds good, then learn it!

Experiment, try some percussive body tapping, but don't let it "segregate" the song; as in, tapping should be part of the sound, not one sound-then that sound-then this sound.  It will come out stuttery.  Apply that rule to the entire song, the whole thing should be fairly continuous, not suddenly a few notes plucked then massive strumming and repeat.  Of course sometimes this is needed for the song, but as a whole, the song should be reasonably smooth.

Well I hope I have give you some good ideas and inspiration for turning that classic old rock song you loved as a kid into a cool new instrumental solo fingerstyle cover; record a video and post it on youtube and send me a link!

JAW

I played for John Lennon! ;)

...so anyway, last Saturday when I took my daughter to keyboard lessons at the local music store, while waiting for her lesson to finish (where I spend the time playing various guitars on the shelf), I got to play for John Lennon, and not only that, he said I was pretty good ;)

Okay, so it wasn't really John Lennon but the John Lennon look-a-like/tribute band musician Marcus Cahill, who happens to live in the area and was running the store at the time.  I had a brief chat to him about what he does, and why he was working in a music store.  No suprises - he gets good gigs overseas, and makes reasonable money, but here in sleepy Perth Western Australia there isn't much demand for his talents.  I got the impression that doing some work in a music store was not about trying to make ends meet, but rather to give him something to do during the day!

There's a couple of interesting tidbits to derive from that.  That it is possible to carve a living from being a not-specifically-world-famous musician.  That if you are prepared to continuously travel the world you could probably be fulltime run off your feet performing.  But if you just want to live in a suburb, in a city - even if you have enough money to live on - there isn't enough work to keep your hands busy so you may as well have a second job.

I don't have aspirations to be a working musician, I quite like my day job (okay, maybe not everyday, but on a whole, my day job brings me a sense of satisfaction.)  It is good however to see that for those who do want to be a working musician that it is possible to achieve, but maybe have a backup plan just in case you don't make it - or you *do* make it and just want to live in a suburb, in a city and live a "normal" life :)

JAW

Play plugged in

I did some more work on my home made battery powered amp last night, and did some test plays.  Apart from a resonant frequency rattle in it (will fix another night) it was quite faithfully reproducing the guitar signal, resonably flat frequency response, good power output - but you know, I immediately felt dissapointed.  After playing a few songs, playing with the reverb effects and the EQ on the guitar, I came to a conclusion that I have known for a long time but finally admitted to myself:  I'm not good at playing plugged in.

About 99% of my time I play unplugged.  Over, say, the past 30 years, my fingers and ears have learnt what I need to do to get the unplugged sound I want.  How hard to pluck the bass, where to position relative to the soundhole for a tone, that sort of thing.  Sure it varies from guitar to guitar but very quickly you can adjust your playing to suit the sound you are chasing.

I've always wanted, or hoped, that if you had a good guitar with a good pickup then the plugged in amplified sound would be exactly what your ears are hearing, just louder.  Well it's not, and you know, I don't think it could ever be.  Maybe if you had an external microphone with the same frequency response as your ear, located near your ear, piped into an amplifier that was completely faithful to the signal (ie flat frequency response), maybe then it would sound the same, but amplified.

Last night I decided I should stop fighting, and start learning.  Given that the amp you are using has a mostly flat frequency response, so not boomy in the bass, or too much gain in the middle - well even if it is - you should be able to compensate firstly with some signal processing and secondly with your playing.

What I found first was that with my reverb effects at any setting, on or off, I couldn't get the sound I wanted to hear.  Secondly, playing with the graphic equaliser on the guitar (bass, treble and adjustable frequency midrange) I couldn't get the sound that I wanted either.

Frustrated I played some different songs, suddenly I played a song on a setting that didn't sound so bad.  I started varying my playing to enhance the sound further - playing very delicately, where normally I am quite forceful and rough.  I found a sound I was happy with.  Smiling, I moved to another song and you know what, couldn't stand the sound again.  Experimented with different playing, still no good.  Tweaked the EQ, tweaked the reverb...got a bit better.

I came to the conclusion that I don't know my instrument when plugged in; everytime I have recorded a song I always edit afterwards in software to compensate back to the sound I want.  I need to learn how to get a live sound from the guitar frequency response adjustments, with reverb settings (to make up for the lack of the natural room response) but importantly my playing style.

See, the electric guys don't have this problem, they are always plugged in, and invariably going through some effects.  The sound is what they learn from the word go.  Us acoustic guys don't get that inbuilt training.

I haven't spent enough of my guitar life playing plugged in.  It is time I remedied that.

JAW

What's happening April 2009

I haven't put in much guitar playing recently, again it's all work work work, family commitments and a two week holiday in my country retreat (okay, I've got a guitar there, but I don't play it much).  Generally it's a bit of a low spot in my life for guitar playing, which is a shame but reality, guitar playing is just a hobby.  As I've always said "working sure takes a big chunk out of your day".

I'm practising "Head over Feet" every now and then when I get a guitar in my hands; it's finished and memorised, but I struggle to play the solo cleanly.  I've really created something difficult for myself there, how very Bohemian of me ;)

I'm still building my battery powered amp, and it is nearly finished.  I've actually played through it and it's not bad.  Coming off a battery it is absolutely noise-free, I found it a bit boomy in the bass, I was hoping for a very flat frequency response.  I specifically built it "funny shaped" to try to address resonant frequency issues, but I've built it light weight with thin walled material so that is probably where resonances are coming from.  However, it didn't have a back panel on it at the time, I plan on making it an infinite baffle enclosure and stuff it with wadding so that should flatten things out.  Already though, it is looking to be a good amp.  Very powerful as well, and yet, not very hungry on the juice.  I was measuring a peak of about 1.5Amps (at 12VDC) for a very acceptable loudness in my shed, ie, I couldn't hear the sound of the guitar in my hands, only the amplified sound.  On the 7.2Ahr battery that means the battery will last much longer than I could play for!

I'm going to have to confess something here however, I'm in a mode of denial, escapism and fear.  I've wanted to start playing publically for well over a year now, and I'm sure that I am good enough for it.  But fear has caused me to be constantly finding excuses.  At first it was because I couldn't get a good sound out of my guitar.  So I bought a new guitar.  Then it was that I couldn't get a good plugged in sound, so I shopped around for amps, and found quite a few that were nice.  Then I said "but it has to be battery powered for the street", which none were.  Since I had previously built battery powered amps in the past, I took to making my own.  And I have dragged it on and on and on.  It is very close to finished, there is no reason why it couldn't be operational next week.  But see, that means that I have to start performing ;)

Once I am performing, I know I am going to love it.  That is a double edged sword, because I will want to do it more, and practise more, and all that other stuff which takes away from my family and work.  That scares me a bit as well.

But fear is not a good reason to not do something, and a bit of self control to avoid getting obsessed is good for the soul.

...one day, soon, okay? ;)
JAW

Talent versus Persistence

It has become apparent to me, and it might even be true - no matter how much you practise and try, you cannot make up for a lack of talent.  You can come close, but you'll never achieve what you weren't born with.  Before we all hang our guitars on the wall to gather dust, or start flaming me for outrageously negative statements, let me explain:

First of all, you don't believe me?  If it weren't the case, then all you need to do is keep practising and you could be a Tommy Emmanuel/Michael Jordan/Tiger Woods/any leader of their skill.  Take Sungha Jung, he's what, 13?  I have probably played the guitar for at least twice as many hours as he has in his life - probably a lot more - yet he is superior player to me.

There is that edge, something different happening in the brain, in talented people.  Something that isn't learnt, it just is - like being born with the genetics to be two metres tall rather than one metre fifty.  But unlike being tall, or short, which is something obvious we can see (and we're happy there is nothing we can do about it), we can't see what is happening inside a brain, and whatsmore we can get pretty close to what those talented people are doing...so why can't we push on a little further to achieve the same?

Fortunately talent isn't everything; I won't try to put a number against it, but I'm sure that an un-talented person (such as myself) who has put in a lifetime of persistence is going to do better than a talented person who hasn't.  The hard slog will pay off in the end, thank goodness - otherwise nobody would bother - but watch out, when those with talent start putting the hard slog in too, well, it's lucky we have day jobs, and we're primarily playing the guitar for our personal enjoyment ;)

JAW

Why Naudo is Best

Those who have followed my work will probably realise that Naudo is my guitar hero.  I study, analyse, transcribe, re-arrange his work and spew it out myself, never to his level, but enough to satisfy me.  I've emailed with him a few times, and with Juan his friend and cameraman, and of course sent him some money to further his incredible talent.

Okay, so out of all the fantastic guitarists out there, why does Naudo click with me? Well, more importantly, why did he click with so many people he became #1 most subscribed musician in Brazil on youtube before he was ousted "for copyright infringements"?  Sure he is an amazing guitarist, with an incredible repertoire and he seems like such a nice gentle fellow - but let's dig a bit deeper.

Us humans are creatures of habit, and music is no exception.  When we were young - and probably not so young - we would hear a song on the radio that we simply loved, and listened to it over and over and over until is was pretty much permanently burnt into our brains.  There would probably be a hundred songs in your brain right now just like that , and thanks to our socialistic tendencies I bet what is in your brain overlaps with what's in other peoples brains; ie, popular songs.  For starters, that's what Naudo plays - popular songs, and there will be one he plays that you love.  Click number 1.

When you hear your favourite songs performed by someone else - specifically *sung* by someone else - you immediately begin comparing.  Singing is such a personal thing, and such an infinitely variable thing, that the singer either needs to be singing it identically to the original, or in a way that really, really appeals to you to win you over.  How many times have you heard a professional band redo a song you love "and it's just not as good as the original"?  Well Naudo doesn't suffer from that problem, he doesn't sing, but he plays the melody of the song clearly enough that you know exactly what you are listening to, in fact you can't help but sing the words in your head as he plays it.  And when you sing in your head, it is the voice of the original artist.  Click number 2.

Then there is the gobsmack factor.  Yep, plenty of guitarists have this and what gobsmacks you might not gobsmack someone else, but generally, when you see someone playing something complex on the guitar smooth and fluently, you tend to go "wow, that's pretty good" and be drawn into click number 3.

Bringing all this together, Naudo arranges these popular songs you love in a complex & stylised manner, injecting a bit of humour (love the 'whit-whews' and snippets midway through from songs such as jingle bells) but most importantly he captures the essence of the song into his arrangement.  It is as true to the song, in his style, as it can possibly be.  Click game over.

I've played the guitar for many years, playing what I want to hear.  But now I want to play not just what I want to hear, but what others want to hear as well.  Naudo is my guide, as a solo fingerstyle guitarist, how to achieve that.

Here is an example of one of Naudos arrangements I've transcribed, in video lesson format:

What's happening February 2009

Day job, day job and more day job.  But on the guitar front, Space Oddity is done and ready to be recorded, but I haven't tabbed it out.  Must tab first, people like the tab.  I've always said that anything you read on the internet should have something you can take away with you, for my guitar videos that'd be the tab.

In other news I created a great resolve for the harmonica solo in Head Over Feet, in fact I played it to my missus and said "what do you think of the harmonica resolve?" she immediately said "that's great" with a straight face. I looked at her, first with a puzzled expression, then I pissed myself laughing.  She's not a big fan of the guitar (20 years of listening to someone practise will do that to you).  Ah, you had to be there.

Okay, I've started on Naudo's Stand By Me.  It will be fairly easy in fact.  But you'll need a lot of thumb independence skill, and a really steady right hand.  Punters won't be able to play it, but people who will be able to play it will be able to play it, but they won't need the tab.  Well...that made no sense at all.  Basically what I am trying to say is that 200 people per day will download the tab, and 1 person per month will actually be able to play it ;)  Not to matter, it's a bit like buying gym equipment - the act of purchase/getting something made you feel better, even if in the long run you get no return on your investment whatsoever.  An attempt to buy a good physique/acquire guitar skills.  It doesn't work like that ;)

See you next month.

JAW