How to improve on guitar, new Randy Rhoads doc, Mateus Asato returns to IG
Plus a brand new track from Jason Richardson
I’ve been dipping in to all sorts of new stuff this week: Guitar Pro just announced Guitar Pro 8, which has lots of great new features, and really improves upon many of the gripes people had in GP 7.
I’ve also been beta testing a new app by the developer of MusicHarbor, Play and MusicSmart, called MusicBox. It’s a fun way to save your music for later, use tags, and get your collection organized. It should be releasing to the world by the end of May!
I’ve got my eye on Oz Noy’s new book from Fundamental Changes called Melodic Cells for Jazz Guitar. I’m such a fan of his playing, and I loved his “Inside Outside Guitar Soloing” book, that I’m sure this one will be good.
I talked about all this stuff and more on the latest episode of Chasing Sound Live. You can catch the replay right here. I try and go live every other Saturday.
One last thing before we get to this week’s links - I always try and select a fun photo for the top of the email. Sometimes it’s a photo from my own collection, and other times it’s from around the internet. I’d love to feature your setups though! If you have any cool guitar photos that you’d like me to feature at the top of these emails, send me (brian@chasingsound.com) your photo and your name and link to your IG, Twitter, etc. Alright let’s get into this week’s links!
How to REALLY get beyond the Pentatonic Box - I dug this video from John Cordy, where he shows exercises he uses to combine pentatonic patterns. This is one of my favorite techniques of making the most of the 5 notes we have in the penatonic box. Also check out John’s recent vid on looping.
MATEUS ASATO - Today’s Favorite Guitar Hero Returns! - Mateus Asato, who is undoubtedly one of the most musical guitar players on the planet, has returned to social media. You’ve gotta check out his recent interview with Rick Beato. Not only is his playing fun to watch during the interview, he also comes across as a really humble guy.
Claudio Sanchez on All Things Coheed and Cambria - Growing up in the tri-state area, I always went to a ton of Coheed and Cambria shows. It’s been so exciting to see this band grow over the years. Nick Bowcott of Sweetwater sits down with Claudio Sanchez of Coheed to talk songwriting, prog rock culture, and all the cool projects that are shipping alongside of the band’s music.
Why this riff is actually GENIUS! (THE POLICE) - Andy Summers’ guitar riffs influenced an enormous amount of people over the years. In this video, Paul Davids goes in depth on Andy’s “Message In A Bottle” riff. I’ve been listening to the Police for years, and still never noticed what Paul talks about.
7 Must-Try Delay-Pedal Techniques | DIY - Whether it’s widening up your country rhythms or adding cool tails to your solos, delay is one of the most versatile effects. Premier Guitar shows us 7 ways to make your delay pedal shine.
This Cliché Blues Lick Is Amazing… Here’s Why - Ross Campbell goes back to basics, with a lick that while cliche, is so important in understanding what makes notes outside the traditional pentatonic box so effective while playing over a blues progression.
Scale Sequencing - Chris Sherland shows us how to make our scales less scalar sounding, and start to sound more musical. This is a great introduction to scale sequencing.
How To Fix Your Bad Guitar Habits - Are you suffering from any of these bad guitar habits? Samurai Guitarist helps us get over them!
Reasons Why You’re NOT Improving On Guitar… - Maybe you’re not making any of those bad guitar habits, but you feel like you’re not progressing on guitar enough. Check out Sam Bell for LickLibrary, talk about some common reasons why you might be stuck.
The 50 best rhythm guitarists of all time - While I don’t always agree with lists like these, I often find new guitar players to check out, and this list is no different. You have some classic names on here - Hetfield, Keith Richards, EVH and Malcom Young, but there’s a lot of lesser known players on here too. Who’s your favorite rhythm player?
MADE FOR RANDY RHOADS! Jackson RR3 GUITARS IN THE ZONE #1 - With the new Randy Rhoads documentary coming out, Pete Thorn had a very timely video. The vid shows off an awesome Jackson RR3 prototype that was made for Randy by Grover Jackson himself. This guitar sounds incredible, and I really wish we had more content like this in the actual documentary itself!
Learn to Play Slide Like Bonnie Raitt - With her new album ‘Just Like That…’, the legendary Bonnie Raitt has returned to the scene. I really enjoyed this lesson from GP where they break down Bonnie’s gear, and give us some tasty slide licks of hers to play.
Need to Add Some Spice to Your Melodies and Solos? This Lesson on Chromaticism Will Give You Food for Thought - One of my favorite ways to spice up boring scales or licks, is to add some chromatic notes in to my playing from time to time. This lesson shows you how to do exactly that!
p00mbachu - Jason Richardson & Luke Holland - The production of Jason Richardson’s last couple of videos has been awesome. His latest for the track “p00mbachu” features Richardson playing a Petrucci Majesty 8 string. The new album is due in July, and if these first couple of singles are any indicator, it’ll be pretty insane. Tabs are on his Patreon, if you are so brave.
Riff Lords: Matt Heafy of Trivium - If you want even more heaviness in your life, check out Gibson’s latest edition of Riff Lords. It features Matt Heafy ot Trivium, who breaks down a bunch of riffs from over the band’s catalog.
Flea reportedly set to appear in upcoming Star Wars spin-off show, Obi-Wan Kenobi - We got to celebrate “Star Wars Day” this week, with May the 4th. Apparently Flea is going to show up in the new Star Wars spin off, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I’m still a huge fan of his appearance in the Back to the Future movies.
That’s it for this week. Thanks for reading Six String Sunday!
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