DLR skipped out on this track, but some of the world's best guitarists made it a reality

Plus, man loses his job over tabs

It’s been a tough week over here at Chasing Sound HQ. By the time you’re reading this, it’s likely I’m standing at a podium somewhere in New Jersey reading a speech for my cousin, who passed a few days ago at the age of 41. I’m also traveling to Chicago next week for work, so it’ll be tough to get together all the links I usually do - might be a links only newsletter next week. We’ll see.

In happier news, we got a new Aristocrats album this week. That’s 9 new tracks of awesome music from Guthrie Govan, Bryan Beller and Minnemann. If you’ve been reading this newsletter for any amount of time, you’ll know that Guthrie is my absolute favorite guitarist on the planet. You can check out the new album on Bandcamp, and head over to JTC Guitar for the tabs.

I have a lot of fun links in this week issue, so I hope you enjoy. Let’s get into it!

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This week’s guitar links

- Things Pro Musicians Do (that you probably don't) - One of the best videos that came out this week was with Tim Pierce showing up on Rhett Shull's channel. The two discuss what you should and shouldn't do when you're trying to make it as a pro musician. From obvious things like warming up and checking your gear, to some personal things you need to watch out for when you're in the studio. If you're looking to start out on a good foot with artists, you should check this video out.

- THE 9 Guitar Myths! - Rotem Sivan dispels a bunch of guitar myths in his latest video. Not only are these myths, but many of these show up as excuses to not start doing something - I can't play guitar because I don't have the right gear, or don't know all the scales. I'm the only one struggling to learn, no one else could be possibly feeling this way. If you're in a slump or feeling the resistance when it comes to guitar, it's worth it to spend some time with this video.

- “Some Assembly Required”, by Jason Becker & Friends - Jason Becker pitched this track to David Lee Roth back in the day, but he didn't bite. All these years later, Nita Strauss and her fiance Josh have gotten together some of the world's best guitarists to play on the track. It's a 7 minute powerhouse that features Vai, Steve Stevens, Bonamassa, Zakk Wylde, Marty Friedman and many more. I loved seeing what each guitarist brought to the track.

- Chordplay - Hearing Chords - One of the best lessons of the week comes from David Brewster - who helps us with ear training tips, and other helpful ways to understand what chords you're hearing while listening to a track. Being able to pick out chords by ear is one of the most helpful things you can do as a musician. It'll help in jams, when recording leads over tracks, when transcribing, and lots more.

- Scale Sequencing The Oz Noy Way - Tired of running scales up and down the traditional way? Let Chris Sherland show you the Oz Noy way of sequencing scales. Whether it be in 3rds, 4ths, or another way, this'll break you out of that box mindset.

- A Practice Method For Improvisation - If it seems like I've been linking to Jack Ruch every other week, it's because I probably have been! His lessons have been fantastic lately. In his latest video, he shows us an effective way to practice over changes. In the lesson, you'll learn some great bluesy bebop style lines, and then alter them. If you continue to practice in this way, it'll become second nature to improvise, while still using some stock vocabulary. Later this week, Ruch sat down with Brett Papa to talk even more soloing tips. Looks like they have a new course on chord tones that just came out too.

- Wayne Krantz: How to Organize Your Phrasing | Improvisation Masterclass - Speaking of improvising, Wayne Krantz literally wrote the book on it…have you read his Improviser's OS? - I featured it as one of my favorite guitar books, nearly 7 years ago! In this video for Stages Music Arts, he's doing a masterclass on improv, and this video focuses on the phrasing aspect of your leads. Not only is Wayne's playing great in this video, his tone is also awesome, courtesy of a S-style Suhr. But Wayne, put some socks on bud! 😂

- Mike Dawes - Everlong (Official Music Video) - I've probably heard the Foo Fighters' “Everlong" a million times at this point, so a cover doesn't usually get me excited. But this one from Mike Dawes, takes the song to a whole different place.

- guy loses promotion becuase he uses guitar tabs - Cory Wong making me laugh a little this week.