How to craft the perfect solo
And, Mary Spender giving advice on how to get over the resistance
Whether you want to learn how to craft the perfect solo, geek out about gear, or find out where the tone really comes from in a guitar amp, this week’s issue is for you! Paul Reed Smith started up S4 of his Long Distance call series with Wes Borland, Mary Spender explains how to get over the resistance (perfect for nearly anything in life), and Mr. Fastfinger teams up with Dream Theater’s Jordan Rudess in a brand new song.
How are you liking the udpated look of the newsletter? Is there anything you’d change? Let me know! There’s a ton of great links in this issue, so let’s get right into them.
- This Feels Impossible - Steven Pressfield's 'The War of Art’ is one of my all time favorite quick reads. Mary Spender, in the midst of traveling and playing a show, and SO many jumpcuts, talks about the book's main point - overcoming resistance.
- Long Distance: Paul Calls Wes Borland | PRS Guitars - I've missed Paul Reed Smith doing these Long Distance Calls, but he's back with a good one, with special guest Wes Borland. Borland is part of Limp Bizkit and a whole host of side gigs. The two talk about custom 4 string guitars, getting back out on tour, and a lot more. I liked that the questions went both ways in this one.
- The Hardest Thing for a ‘YouTube’ Guitarist - Tyler Larson is making a new album! In discussing his fear and trepidation about releasing a full album, he gives out 10 great tips for making an awesome guitar solo. I loved how the tips weaved throughout the whole video.
- This Lick Will Make You MORE SMARTER! Weekend Wankshop 335, w/Uncle Ben Eller - Uncle Ben Eller shows us a fantastic shred lick, but it's more than meets the eye. The lick, which is based around the Lydian mode, is a great way in seeing the fretboard, working on alternate picking, and more. I love exercises that focus on improving more than one thing at once!
- Shockwaves (feat. Jordan Rudess) - Mr. Fastfinger / Mika Tyyskä - Full song - Mika Tyyska (aka Mr. Fastfinger) is coming out with not one, but two albums, and he's crowdfunding them. Mika just came out with the first single “Shockwaves", which features one of my favorite keyboard players, Dream Theater's Jordan Rudess. I'm excited to hear both of these albums when they're released!
- How The Pros Think About Chord Progressions (and you probably don't) - A lot of us want to learn how to play over a few changes, but what about jazz players? These guys are often flooded with a dizzying amount of changes in a short time. Jens Larsen talks about how we can see these breakneck-speed changes differently.
- 7th Chords: what you NEED to know (beginner to advanced) - After you've learned your major and minor chords, the next chords you should focus on are 7th chords. Anyone Can Play Guitar put out a great video this week that has 7th chord knowledge that'll take you from beginner to advanced.
- Play Little Wing All Over The Neck - Speaking of chords, I always talk about how important triads are. Chris Sherland broke down Tomo Fujita's triad version of Hendrix's "Little Wing” this week, and it's great to see how powerful these chords are.
- The Guitars of John Mayer: A Short History - As Five Watt World focuses on the Strat for October, he recently put up a cool retrospective on John Mayer's guitars. When I want to relax and put something on that isn't a lesson, I'm often turning to this channel. What do you think of these documentary style videos?
- 5 *BIG* MISTAKES To Avoid When Buying a Guitar! - From purchasing a guitar solely based on your guitar heroes, to buying on looks alone, are you making any of these guitar purchase mistakes?
- Why JEFF BECK is UNCOPYABLE - It's commong for musicians to say they can't figure out what Jeff Beck is doing, after hearing him play. This is a compliment of the highest regard, because Jeff is on an island. There are players who sound similar to Beck, but no one can copy him. Rick Beato talks about this and more after recently seeing Jeff live.
- Guthrie Govan Says You NEED To Learn the SOUND of a Scale - Here's HOW YOU DO IT - When Guthrie Govan gives an interview, it's often that you'll need to read the article or watch the video more than once to soak all the information in. That's what John Cordy's done for Govan's latest lesson on learning the sound of a scale.
- Tested: Where Does The Tone Come From In A Guitar Amplifier? - Jim Lill is back with his ‘Tested' series, this time focusing on where the tone comes from in guitar amps. If you ever wanted to know more about gear, and really understand it better, this is a great series to start with.
- Robin Trower: “The secret to the warm tone I get, whilst still retaining the clarity, is due to a combination of heavy strings and a high action” - Speaking of tone, Robin Trower recently sat down with Guitar World to discuss his new solo album, how he comes up with leads, and where his tone comes from. Trower makes the case that high action and heavier gauge strings will do the trick. What gauge strings do you play, and why?
- Straight male guitarists play extreme metal to impress other men, study suggests - I had to laugh when I read the title of this article. I believe it to be mostly true, but replace extreme metal for nearly any genre of music, and it's on the money.
- Jim Root and Mick Thomson on the depression, wild gear experiments and chaos theory behind Slipknot’s devastating new album - Jim Root and Mick Thompson recently talked about how the new Slipknot album came to be. During the pandemic, all the members were able to experiment more, and the album benefitted from this process in a major way. If you’re into what they're doing, you can find out more about gear, the writing process and other topics in their latest interview.
- Boss finally drops the Waza Craft we’ve all been waiting for – the DS-1W Distortion - The most iconic guitar pedal of all time has been Waza-fied, with Boss releasing the Waza Craft version of the iconic DS-1 distortion. There are pedal demos of this stompbox all over YouTube, and if you're in the market for a DS-1 with some great upgrades, and don't mind shelling out 150 bucks to get them, this is the pedal for you.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading Six String Sunday Club!
Hey did you know, not only do I talk guitar each week, but I also teach it!
Try out a half an hour to see how much you can learn when you know the right things to practice.