Guitar tabs,electric guitars,acoustic guitars

I know I have seen a lot of ugly album covers, there are a lot of posts around for this kind of stuff. But, hey! Could these 3 be like THE WORST 3 ALBUM COVERS IN THE HISTORY OF ROCK, EVER?!!

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While visiting a forum today, I have seen this question as a thread there: who’s better, Metallica or ACDC!

Well, I remembered when we were kids and asked ourselves who’d win, Van Damme or Schwarzenegger. Stupid kids!

How could Metallica and ACDC compare? The inner value of music is so complex that you can not put two bands aside and say that one is better than the other one. It is not about Metallica and ACDC, any two bands could have been there, the story remains.

What would you compare? The speed of the guitar player or the drummer? How high the lead singer screams? The value of the compositions? How about the sound they have? Or the image, or the money?!

Why not the feeling that they start on those who listen? How about the joy in the hearts of all those teenagers all around the world who grew old keeping the joy in their hearts? How about the feeling of flying above every living thing when you hear your favorite ballad while holding your girl at a concert?

How about it?

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Reading Dr J’s blog this morning, I have found and interesting article about bloopers in famous songs and really it made my day! Of course, as the article says (and how right the author is), the mistakes were probably left there for giving a note of realism to the song.

I think that this is indeed, a good way to do this. Usually artists are seen as stars, people out of reach, perfect people, but they are just humans. Eric Clapton, John Lennon, Sting, they are all people.

I remember that while in high school I loved Nirvana unplugged concert. Do you know what really attached me to that recording? May sound stupid, but it was that mistake that Cobain makes on The man who sold the world, when while soloing he misses a note, sounds flat and…they let it there on the album.

I loved that part, it was so true, uncovered, real! I remember that while playing this song we were even playing that mistake and used to laugh about it. That was the “human touch” of that album. OK, beside the fact that acoustic albums were the hip things of the time, music back to people, less complicated music, etc.

The fact is that mistakes happen. I know I had some also. Like for example, after recording a fast-drummed punk-like song, while home listening the song, something was bothering me without knowing exactly what it was. So I played the song on and on and I discovered that among all those fast drum hits it was one that was off-timing. My colleagues made fun of me, come on, let it go, there is no such thing. It was, and back in the studio for an other session, we expanded the drum track (midi drums) and indeed, we have found a drum hit not being where should have been. Fixed!

Also, for a pop-rock song, we had some chorus background voices entering on the 4th verse of the song. Split vocals, that is. By mistake, the mixing engineer moved one part of the split vocals on the 3rd verse so instead of having split vocals on the 4th verse, we ended up with a voice singing on the 3rd verse and an other one on the 4th verse. Well, I can only say we let it like this cause it really gave a more “human” feeling to the song.

Things like this happen and if you have ever recorded anything, than I guess you have your share of “bloopers” too.

Now, for the funny part, one that really makes me laugh is (or at least I consider it to be a “blooper”) of a very famous band in Romania, Iris, band that I really love and respect.

They used to play heavy/hard for 15 years gaining an undisputed fame here, switching to a bit more commercial music (still rock), these days. They have now 30 years in music business and going strong.

So, they recorded this song, cover of Bad company, Feel Like Making Love. If you listen the last part of the song, the lead singer, instead of feel like making love to you says can’t you see I’m making love to you?!!!

It sounds funny to me due to the meaning of it. Don’t bother me, girl!Can’t you see I’m making love to you?!!

I have listened the original song to see if there is the same thing there, well, it isn’t. I just think the lead singer missed it when recording and let it like this.

Is it a blooper or not? What do you think?

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Do you know what I like the most at the internet, music and culture?

The fact that there is so much out there of any of these that you can discover something new each and every day, no matter how many things you have seen, there is always something that can give you the thrills when you least expect it.

Today I was reading something about Sungha Jung that led me to something about Andy McKee and then…Phil Keaggy.

Well, I have listened a few songs of Phil Keaggy and beside the fact that, even if missing half of his middle finger on the right hand he managed to become a great guitar player, with over 30 albums, what amazes me is his music quality, his feeling for those little things, details that make or break a melody.

I posted here Salvation Army Band because I could not believe my ears how beautifully he makes use of those live loops, creating such a beautiful song with just one acoustic guitar. For what he does here you don’t need skills. What you need is pure talent. Listen to all those nuances and shades of his guitar.

You know what? After listening this, I can not call him guitar player anymore. I will just call him AN ARTIST.

Please have patience to listen to the whole song since he managed to surprise me every 60 seconds

It is said that Eric Clapton was asked once what it feels like to be the best guitarist in the world. His response was simple, “I don’t, know ask Phil Keaggy.”

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Intrigued? OK, let me go on…

I was listening on YouTube some Dream Theater songs; I am not a big fan or something, but I do like some melodies very much, like for ex. Another day, or Through her eyes or The spirit carries on. I think that all these can be considered ballads, so I guess I like Dream Theater ballads, even I am not sure that when you speak about a progressive rock band you can definitely say that this is a ballad and that one is not because of changing the rhythm when you least expect it (not the case here but still). But that’s not the point of this post.

The point is that reading a few of the comments made on YT, I was surprised in an unpleasant way by how easy people judge artists.

James LaBrie is not good, man!The band would sound way better without LaBrie in it! James LaBrie can not sing!

Ohh!!Really?!! How is that? Now think about the fact that these guys built a whole career behind them, together, putting one brick at a time, playing and most of all THINKING every damn note together, each of them bringing his contribution to the whole, to the band. The band would not sound the same without any of these guys.

I am not defending LaBrie (because it is not the case), even if personally I like the way he sings. If it would be my call, I would lower his vocal line with about 1 tone, but this is just my personal opinion. I think that he likes to push his voice to the limits of his vocal range , giving him that particular tone.

I told you I am not a big fan of Dream Theater, but I do have a great respect for them because they know music, they’ve studied music, I think they should be treated with respect by everybody considering the way they’ve built a career in music, by studying hard, learning music theory and rehearsing to the level where each of them is a master of his instrument. And next time you hear any guitar hero saying that he does not really know scales or chords, well, remember the guys in Dream Theater…

It is very easy to jump to conclusions and judge one artist or an other. He’s no good, man! He can not play!

Now ask yourself how many hours did that artist study for being in that place where frustrated people be able to judge him and tell him he’s no good and the band would sound better without him.

I personally consider that the band Dream Theater is great because of it’s members and because each artist knows why the others play a particular note, each artist in this band understands and loves the complexity of their music.

IMO there is no better lead singer than LaBrie for Dream Theater , because he UNDERSTANDS their music better than any other singer. I don’t think that Dickinson or Michael Kiske or any other famous singer would sing better Dream Theater songs than James LaBrie.

For all the bullies out there, did you ever try to perform on the other side of the stage you usually find yourself when going to a concert? So, think about it next time when you’ll jump to judging someone for not conforming to your questionable standards, OK?

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This morning I found myself visiting again the page of Sungha Jung, because I just felt the need of listening him again…

The truth is that I was charmed by how he plays the guitar. It is the admiration of somebody knowing that what he sees is out of his reach, and so it is. He plays at 11 better than me, I am not embarrassed to say this in any way. I don’t play fingerstyle guitar and for me what he does there is so fresh that I just can’t stop watching over and over again.

The fact that he is very young and playing with such dexterity makes people consider him a guitar wonder. And if I think about it, why not? I think that Sungha Jung may be considered this way cause I don’t know any other kid of his age to play the way he does fingerstyle guitar.

Keep in mind that he developed this dexterity in only 2 years of playing the guitar!! This is amazing, I don’t want to remember where I was after 2 years playing the guitar cause I wasn’t too far from the starting point…

I was going to embed here a video of Sungha Jung playing More than words of Extreme, first because I love that song and second because Sungha plays it lovely. However, after listening him covering Rylynn of Andy McKee, I had no other choice but to put this one here.

I promise myself to watch this kid in a a few years when probably he will join Andy McKee on stage playing at the same level. Sungha Jung, the professional fingerstyle guitar player, his dream…

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Even if I love hard, heavy and power, I totally fall for inspired jazz-rock or blues-rock guitar music. So, when I have seen Guthrie Govan playing, on YouTube, some chops in Robben Ford and Larry Carlton style I couldn’t say anything more than “Amazing!” and so it is. Beside his work as Asia guitar player, I couldn’t say I know him too much, so in a way he came as news to me. And what great news!

The only thing that does not match this blues-rock/jazz-rock songs is his hair…

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This post is again about blogging in this crowded world of music and guitars. It is crowded, you know…I think that one of the most popular things a teenager wants to do is to become a music star. Now, think about it, among all those teenagers in your life or around you, how many have no dream about this? Well? Not many, I presume.

Also, one of the most crowded places I know is that of blogging. Of course, the new trend is to have a blog, everybody’s got to have one! Even if you don’t know what to write on it, just have one!

Most of the people blogging write about themselves and what they do. And most of all, they write whatever they feel like writing. Well, this is not always a good thing to do, it may give a feeling of spamming your user with meaningless content (meaningless to them, not to you)

I know this because I am also in danger to do it when I don’t have inspiration . That is why I have thought of a small but effective filter of things to blog about. Each time I want to post something on my blog, I ask myself if the post I am going to make can be described as (at least) one of the following:

1) Useful to my readers

Is what I am going to write useful to my readers? Are they going to feel they have earned something after reading the post? Because if they don’t, there is a big possibility to not come back to my blog again so all that great information I have about how to play the guitar will be wasted cause nobody will be reading it.

So, next time you are going to write a post, ask yourself “is that going to help my readers or not“? If the answer is no, move on…

2) Funny

An other reason for which your audience is coming back to read your blog is that your posts are funny and make them laugh or at least funny!

I know this because I have 2 friends telling me they have subscribed to my RSS cause they found some articles on my blog funny! Well, of course, remember that your post should be in the limits of the subjects specific to your blog, don’t post a funny thing just because you know it and you can post it. So, if the post you are going to make is not useful, IS IT FUNNY?!

3) Personal

Well, this criteria is kind of…personal, because I blog about my experience as guitar player, I also have posts about what experiences I had while in the studio, on stage, etc. This kind of posts, even if they are not funny or useful to my readers, may help understanding me better. This way I hope to create a better and closer relationship with you, people reading my blog.

These 3 criteria make that little filter I told you about.

Now, honestly speaking, I hope that THIS VERY POST to be added in the category “Useful to my readers” but I also hope you enjoyed reading it (even if it is not necessarily funny), because it is part of what I do and part of my experience.

Well?! Is that so?

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I stumbled upon this kid a few minutes ago! Man, is this guy great or what?!!??! What are they feeding these kids?! He owned me for good!

“Hi, I’m Sungha Jung from South Korea. My dream is to become a professional acoustic fingerstyle guitarist.

I had been watching my dad play the guitar for awhile before I finally jumped on it myself two years ago. I just turned eleven in September, 2007.

Currently, I am taking weekly classical guitar lessons and teaching myself fingerstyle guitar.

I used to not have tabs for the music that I played in my videos. I just listen and pick them up directly from the sound source in videos available on the internet. However, recently, I have started playing with original tabs whenever they are available to me by courtesy of the authors.”

(Taken from his MySpace page)

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If you still ask yourself where are we going to, look here!

Are we going nuts or what?!! What really happened to those Manowar or Metallica t-shirts I used to wear?

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