Transform your guitar playing this week by using these tips
Plus, are guitar icons still important?
This week has been insane - not only around the world, but all throughout the music industry. We recently lost Sly Stone and just this week lost Brian Wilson as well. I’ve always been a huge fan of The Beach Boys, so that one hit especially hard. I always thought Wilson’s songwriting and production was brilliant, and loved to hear of all his eccentric stories from the studio. I’ll be spinning Smile, Pet Sounds and more this week.
We have some fantastic links below, a brand new album rec, question of the week, and a reader setup. But before we get into all of that, I wanted to share a great newsletter from Pat Flynn. In this story about shortcuts to mastery, Flynn discusses how things like teaching others, creating content around what you’re learning, finding a learning partner and more can speed up your own learning process. I’ve always loved Pat’s ideas in regards to business and making it online, I thought this newsletter issue was perfect for our audience.
🔊Turn This Up
This week’s album of the week is Transcendence by the Devin Towsend Project. Devin has done solo work, made a big impact with his band Strapping Young Lad, and even sang for Steve Vai during the early 90’s. He always seems to be working on some interesting project, and I love not only his guitar playing, but his amazing production work. Even though this album was released nearly a decade ago, I keep coming back to it and find new stuff each time.
I always kick myself for not having seen this lineup while it was still active. I would’ve loved to see how he pulled off those wall-of-sound soundscapes live . Not only are there layers of guitars, but vocals, strings, and other elements to make the album very movie-esque. My favorite track is “Secret Sciences”, and I’d be interested to hear what you dig from this album too. If you enjoy this album, give Empath a listen as well - I’m sure that “Genesis” will blow your mind.
❓Sunday Sound Off
I feature a ton of instrumental guitarists in this newsletter each week.
If you played a jaw dropping Eddie Van Halen solo for someone who doesn’t play guitar, would they find it impressive? Or would they simply shrug and return to doomscrolling through social media?
I'm not talking about you or me - we understand Eddie's iconic legacy. But the question remains: do guitar icons still resonate with wider audiences beyond the guitar community?
🏡 The Player’s Corner
I’m super happy to report that we received a great submission to the Player’s Corner this week - and it comes from none other than friend of the newsletter, Simon Allaway. Simon is a fantastic guitarist, and he always seems to know the answer to most of our guitar related questions (he’s a hit in the Discord). This week Simon is showing off his beautiful, new PRS, which goes into his pedalboard, and then into a Boss Katana.
Here’s what Simon had to say about the setup: “The core of it is the overdrive pedals. I mostly use the white King of Tone clone (top left) which was built from a Stewmac kit. And for a bit more gain the Gearbox left hand side (bottom left on the board). For solo boost the right hand side of the Gearbox is a Tumulus. Time based effects coming from the two Strymons and the TC Plethora X3.”
Want your rig featured in the next issue of Six String Sunday? Reply to this email or comment on Substack!
🔗 This Week’s Guitar Links
Wanna SHRED Like Yngwie, Zakk, and Eric Johnson? Here's How They Do It! - Get your Troy Grady engines started! This week Ben Eller gives us a nearly 25 min bootcamp on downward pick slanting. Never get caught in between strings again! All jokes aside, pickslanting is one of the biggest things that made my picking runs so much more fluid. After really putting a magnifying glass on how many notes I was playing and how I was holding the pick, I started my journey on doing different pickslanting techniques to make getting to other strings so much easier. Ben's video is a great place to start, and then I suggest you check out Troy Grady's Cracking the Code series.
Triads For Guitar Players Who Hate Music Theory - I love Ricky Comiskey's style of teaching. Although it doesn't show up in here, he usually takes a piece of paper and explains concepts in a super easy to understand way. This video talks about one of my favorite topics - triads, how to identify them, how to build them, and all of their cool extensions. If you usually don't enjoy theory, give Ricky's channel a watch, and see if it clicks with you.
Paul Reed Smith’s Vintage STRAT Shootout Out Goes OFF THE RAILS - I don't know that this video necessarily goes "off the rails", but this was still a very fun one to watch. Rick Beato had Paul Reed Smith by the studio, and they're hanging out with Tim Pierce, demoing vintage Strats against the SE models of some PRS guitars. I wanted to include this video in this week's issue so we could have it as the question of the week. Do you often hear a big difference in these vintage vs. newer guitars? Do you prefer one or the other, and for what reasons? Side note: for more fun, check out Beato and Dweezil Zappa geeking out over Eddie Van Halen techniques.
All Things Stratocaster | Plugged In - Speaking of Strats, it looks like Fender has a new series called Plugged In. This first episode is “All Things Stratocaster”, and touches on the guitar's history, some amazing signature models, how they're made, and some tips on how to get the most out of your guitar. I hope they do one of these for the Tele next!
The $35 Guitar Pick Loved by John Mayer and Billy Strings - I'm not subbed to the WSJ on YouTube, but this video found a way onto my feed. I'm no stranger to pricey guitar picks - I covet my collection of Red Bear and Honey picks. This video focuses on another manufacturer that has long been popular in this space - Blue Chip. These $35 picks have made a huge impact with all sorts of players over the years - everyone from Mayer to Billy Strings and more. I really liked this video because it shows the process of the picks being made, how the company started, and how they thought of all these new ways to make the production process easier on their team. Should I pick one of these up to compare to my other fancy picks?
Ariel Posen plays Martins from Kurt Cobain, Johnny Cash & more | Martin Guitar: Perfect Harmony - I finally picked up a Martin D-18 this year, and have been in love ever since. I'm also a huge Ariel Posen fan, so when this video popped up, of Ariel trying out some classic Martin guitars, I watched it immediately. Posen headed to the Martin factory and museum in Nazareth, PA. He plays guitars from Johnny Cash, Clapton, Hank Williams, and more.
Tips For Buying An Acoustic Guitar - If you want to pick up your own acoustic guitar, you should check out this post from Jas Obrecht & Tom Wheeler. The article was originally published 45 years ago, but all of the points still hold true. While a lot of this information is good for both acoustic and electric guitars, there’s also information on dealing with pushy salespeople too. Take your time and you’re sure to get something great - and if you have any questions before you buy, let me know! By the way, Jas Obrecht is a fellow Substacker, and his newsletter is always fun to read - it often brings back his legendary writing for all sorts of outlets. You can check it out here.
Why You Can't Solo Over Changes (And How to Fix It) - Just like triads, discussing soloing over changes is a topic I'll never tire of. I love learning different guitarist's tactics of how to do it. In this video, Steve Allsworth uses Stevie Wonder's classic "Isn't She Lovely" as a backdrop to explain how to break out of playing only one scale over a whole song. Steve's lesson has us using pentatonics, color notes from other scales, modes, and even combining scales in a hybrid approach.
The BEST Way To Combine Major and Minor Pentatonic Scales! - If you just finished watching Allsworth’s video above, you should definitely check out this one too. In it, Corey Congilio shows us two licks that combine the major and minor pentatonic scales. The first lick is more in the style of the Rolling Stones, and the second one gives me Brian Setzer vibes. By using these two scales together, you can make your lead lines sound so much more interesting. Try practicing these two licks, and then start incorporating this idea into your own playing!
13 Things You Can Do RIGHT NOW to Improve Your Playing Overnight - Andrew Clarke has been putting out some super helpful videos out lately, and his latest is no exception. In this vid, Andrew shares some simple tips like focusing on how hard you grip your pick, getting comfortable with 7th chords, releasing pressure on your fretting hand while changing chords, and much more. Check out the video for all 13 tips.
How to Sound Like the Police's Andy Summers | Potent Pairings - I love Reverb’s Potent Pairings series - they’ve covered everyone from Oasis to Queens of the Stone Age, Zeppelin, U2 and more. In their latest entry into the series they talk about one of my hugest influences, Andy Summers. The episode focuses on gear you can use to sound more like Andy, while using “Message In A Bottle” and “Every Breath You Take” as examples.
How to write SO many riffs it feels like cheating - If you’re suffering through writer’s block, you should give this video from Josh Middleton a chance. He breaks out a killer drum plugin and uses different drum grooves to help him improvise new riffs. In varying the grooves he’s using, he creates a boatload of riffs in a short amount of time. Not everything is a winner, but forcing yourself to produce a ton of different riffs in a short time exercises your songwriting. The more you work on this stuff, the more quality music you’ll ultimately produce.
“Rory Gallagher and many more legends have relied on this useful effect for just this reason – so don’t be put off by the name”: 20 ways to get more from your pedals - While most people this week are buzzing about the new Helix modelers (which are super exciting and will definitely bring more competition to the modeling world), I’m going old school and checking out this article about getting the most out of your pedals. Guitar World has 20 tips to make our gear shine - everything from not forgetting about brands like Boss, to trying some unconventional signal chains, making a “grab and go board” and much more. If you’re into effects at all, this post is definitely worth your time.