Simple practice tips that'll make you a better guitarist
Plus, do people really not know who Hendrix is?
I am so excited about this week’s issue of Six String Sunday. There are SO many good lessons in here, and I think you’d benefit from watching nearly every video. A few of my friends are out at NAMM, and I’ve been getting reports of all the awesome gear coming out of the show - there are some seriously great guitars under $1K, lots of fun pedals, new amps, signature model guitars and a lot more. What’s your favorite new gear announcement you’ve seen so far? If I had to pick, I’d say the Billy Strings acoustic models and the new Flat V Josh Smith signature are some of my favs. Alright, let’s get into this week’s links!
This week’s guitar links!
People Don't Know Who Jimi Hendrix Is - It’s been a long running joke in the Chasing Sound Discord whether Jimi Hendrix is over or underrated. I even made a mug stating my opinion. Tyler from MiW kicks off his latest video asking random people if they know who Hendrix was. Then he jumps into which of Jimi's guitars might be the most famous of all time, especially due to its fiery past. He does all of this from the Experience Music Project in WA - I've been to the RnR Hall of Fame, but still haven't had a chance to go to this place. If you've been there, was it awesome?
Ridiculous Guitar Myths Debunked - With the guitar being around as long as it has, there's bound to be tons of myths people make up about it. Robert Baker talks about some of the most ridiculous ones in his latest video. The first one is easy to debunk - buying signature gear will make you sound like the signature artist. There have been countless times this has been debunked. My favorite one was when Dweezil Zappa recalled playing through Van Halen's rig, and saying that he still sounded like himself. Just another instance of tone is in the hands. Baker talks about whether that's a myth or not too!
I Wish I Had Practiced THIS Instead of Shredding - Fretboard Knowledge Moving Through Scales - I'm always a fan of combining multiple types of practice in the same exercise. Which is why I loved this video from John Cordy, which goes over running through scales using a 1 note per string exercise and moving it up the neck. This helps with fretboard visualization, hand synchronization and left and right hand strength and accuracy. I'm going to be putting this into my practice routine over the next few days. I also loved this video where Cordy talks about not thinking of theory or chord tones as much when improvising. It all comes down to practicing the right things, and these types of "right notes" will pop up naturally in your playing.
THE most important pentatonic guitar lesson - You can start on some of that practice, by checking out Rotem Sivan's latest video. It focuses on the pentatonic scale, and shows us some great ways to practice it - including using drone notes, practicing the scale in diff. positions around the neck, and more. One of Rotem's kids has been in the hospital and has just started chemo, so I'm sure any nice comments under this video will go a long way.
Top 10 Moments in Country Guitar History - I feel like country has gotten a bad rap over the past because it's so diverse, just like rock. Most people think of one thing when thinking about country, and don't give it a fair shot - there are SO many great players out there. I'm thinking of guys like Brad Paisley or Brent Mason, and even new guys like Daniel Donato. Pickup Music is one of my favorite places to learn guitar online (here's my link). They just put out an awesome video on the top 10 moments in country guitar, and had special guest Eugene Edwards join them. Edwards has played guitar for Dwight Yokam and many other heavy hitters in the country scene.
Why Learning Roman Numerals Makes Music Theory EASIER - This is a super informative video from Ricky Comiskey, if you're just getting into music theory. He talks about using roman numerals, rather than note names, and why that makes such a huge impact on guitar. Things like transposing, analyzing songs and more become much simpler. The video breaks down what chords are in a typical key, their extensions, symbols and more. I think any musician can benefit from watching this one.
Get JOE SATRIANI 's Legendary Tone 🎸🔥 FREE Fractal Preset by Juca Nery! - If you have any Fractal gear, like an Axe-FX III, FM9 or FM3, and you dig Joe Satriani, you should check out this free patch from Juca Nery. The sound is spot on, and the patch has multiple scenes you can rotate through for different sounds. This video popped up on my feed from the G66 channel. I hope they do more of these in the future!
“Testament to the legacy of a genius”: Jeff Beck's guitar collection has sold for an astounding $10.7 million at auction – complete with a record-breaking Les Paul sale - Friend of the newsletter, Simon Allaway was posting about this recent auction of Jeff Beck guitars. Guitar World is reporting that all the guitars sold, netted an amazing 10.7 million dollars. Guitars like Beck's Oxblood Les Paul, and some of his most coveted Telecasters all went for a ton of money. Even Beck's final pedalboard fetched over 150 grand!
Guitarist John Sykes has died - Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to comment on the passing of John Sykes. John's licks and incredible tone were part of great albums in the 80’s and beyond. His playing showed up on albums from Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake and more. I liked this quote from the post - "In his final days, he spoke of his sincere love and gratitude for his fans who stuck by him through all these years. While the impact of his loss is profound and the mood somber, we hope the light of his memory will extinguish the shadow of his absence." Check out this video from Leon Todd, for some great, non-Whitesnake Sykes licks.