Try this 1 string hack to learn scales
Plus, some fun guitar stuff I’ve been getting into lately
Couple of things at the top here: First, I won’t be getting into the whole Giacomo Turra situation in depth. My thoughts are he’s terrible for having used other people’s licks and claiming them to be his own, and he doesn’t seem very bothered by the whole situation. Let’s not support people like this.
In more positive news, I’ve been getting back into a variety of guitar things. Cory Wong had Satriani on his podcast as his first return guest. They mentioned a movie titled “Beyond the Supernova,” which was filmed by Satriani’s son, ZZ. The movie is an hour-long documentary that’s currently available for free on Prime Video. It features a mix of Satriani’s classic songs with his amazing backing band, as well as a cool look into the music industry from behind the scenes.
I’ve also been spinning Bumblefoot’s Bumblefoot…Returns! album again, which I wrote about at the beginning of this year. Sheet Happens recently announced a limited edition print run of tabs for the album, a digital book and backing tracks. There’s some incredible playing on here, and I can’t wait to try and learn some of it.
Finally, I’ve been loving Rob Swift’s new course on TrueFire. The course is all about blues soloing, but features some amazing extras if you pre-order it for early access. One of the extras is 5 livestreams, one of which I took part in the other day. The concept is that you’re supposed to work through the course a little bit each week, and then get on a live Zoom call with Swift in between to ask him questions. He even mentioned filming bonus videos based on user’s feedback. I love this concept, and even though I have All Access through TrueFire, it’s made me want to purchase more courses from them. As always, if you’d like to support what I do, please use my TrueFire link (at no additional cost to you!). Alright, let’s get into the links!
This Week’s Guitar Links!
"I Wanna Play My Guitar" - Satch Vai Featuring Glenn Hughes - A new track from the Satch Vai band has just dropped - it’s called “I Wanna Play My Guitar”, and features Glenn Hughes on vocals. After years of dreaming about what a band like this would sound like, it’s finally great to hear Satch and Vai adding their own unique style to a song. I can't wait for the full album. What do you think of it, and what do you think of Glenn Hughes' vocals on the track?
Pete Thorn's top five tips for guitarists - Someone who'll be joining Satch Vai on tour is Pete Thorn. He sat down with Guitar Player to share 5 tips that apply to every guitar player. Some of these have to do with simply being a good person, but I liked the tip about continuing to compose. It's likely that Satriani heard Thorn's solo material and that got him the gig. Every song you put out in the world is just another lottery ticket for something good to happen!
Stop Killing Your Bends! Try This Bending Fix - Jake Baynes showed up on Marty Schwartz's channel this week to talk about how to have accurate bends, and what “bend dives" are. The lesson goes over developing fretting arm strength, along with an exercise you can work on to develop it. Baynes makes the case that you're not just bending from your fingers - you should get your whole arm involved. Jake also has a free course for blues licks that you can check out in the video's description.
EDDIE VAN HALEN DOCUMENTARY: Eruption & Van Halen's Debut | Edward Van Halen: A Musician - The 6th episode in Icons Remembered's EVH documentary is here. This episode focuses on VH's debut album, and on how incredible “Eruption" was. You can tell this doc is a labor of love, and I'm so happy we have it all on YouTube. In other VH news, we recently got a video of Eddie's song Wolfgang using Frankenstein to record a part of his new single. You can check that out here. There also was some mini-drama news this week about old EVH and Yngwie stories. If you're into that type of thing, you can check out the article on Guitar World.
Dimebag Darrell's (Simple) Shred Trick Is A Game Changer! - Tying things together, Dimebag Darrell and EVH had a long history - Dime was buried with Eddie's legendary Bumblebee guitar. In his latest video, Robert Baker shows us what he's calling the “Dime Scale”, which was clearly inspired by EVH. Learn these “symmetrical-style” licks to make your shred leads more fun.
Mick Thomson’s ESP Collection | ESP Guitars - Moving on to modern day metal legends - I included this video because I dig Slipknot, I've loved ESP guitars for a long time, and I don't think I'm the only one who loves looking at killer guitars. This video has Mick Thomson's tech showing off some of Thomson's most amazing ESPs. Which one is your favorite?
He Played On Steely Dan's Hits, Then VANISHED: The Denny Dias Interview - I was reminiscing about working at Skyline Studios this week, and one of the most classic bands that recorded there was Steely Dan. This week, Rick Beato put up an interview with one of Steely Dan's founding members and guitarists, Denny Dias. They talk about some of his most famous solos (like “Aja" and “Bodhisattva”), stories from the studio, how Dias got into programming and what he's working on these days.
Your Solos Sound Like Scales? “Rule of 1” Fixes Everything! - Great video from Charlie Long where he talks about limiting yourself to one string when soloing. This might sound a little odd, but this type of thing has been discussed for a long time in books like The Advancing Guitarist or in Vai’s limitation exercises. Soloing on one string forces you to learn the pattern of the scale. Have you tried this before?
How To Be A Great Rhythm Guitarist - Play Like A Drummer! - Want to get better at rhythm guitar? Think like a drummer and work on these strumming patterns, using the late 90’s hit “Save Tonight” by Eagle Eye Cherry, a Mumford & Sons song, SRV, and more. This stuff is so important to work on.
Andy Timmons & Greg Koch Jam and Conversation - Two of my favorite players, Andy Timmons and Greg Koch sat down for a jam session at Sweetwater Studios. The two talk about important times in their musical upbringing, their first concerts, what gear is important to them, their first purchased albums, and a lot more. And if you’re looking for another great interview at Sweetwater, check out this video where they talk to Living Colour’s Vernon Reid.
Uncle Ben's LETHAL Legato Speed Burst Workout! GET INTO IT! - Ben Eller has long talk about using speed bursts when trying to improve your speed playing scales. This week, Eller is applying the spped burst concept to legato. If you want to sound like Guthrie, Satch, or Holdsworth, give this idea a try.
My Ethos for improvising - This was an interesting story from Alex Hutchings, a monster guitar player who I wish released more music. Hutchings talks about a guitar competition that he entered back in 2001 (even showing some warmup footage) - he prepared a ton of licks but ultimately lost. He racked it up to his licks being "too prepared”. He came back in 2002 with a new outlook, winging it a bit more and letting his playing breathe - and he ultimately won. Check out the video for the full story, and check out that beautiful MusicMan guitar he ended up winning.
Pentatonic AMATEUR To Pentatonic PRO (In 20 Minutes) - This video from Tim Pierce is a treasure trove of great pentatonic stuff. Pierce talks about differente pentatonic shapes, how to play over changes, and so much more. Tim talks about "easy" and "hard" zones when it comes to working through changes, and how you can shift in and out of different pentatonic scales to make hitting those target notes more effective. If you have 20 minutes and want to improve at soloing, you should watch this video.
“It’s a $20 plugin. It makes it sound like it’s coming off a tape that’s been recorded over three or four times”: Steven Wilson reveals his go-to guitar plugin – and why digital can successfully coexist with analog - We were recently discussing this article in the Chasing Sound Discord. If you haven't joined yet, come hang out with us - it's free! Here's a link to sign up. Guitar World caught up with Steven Wilson to talk about how to make digital have more "character", and funnily enough it came down to a $20 plugin that he's been using that emulates tape. There are tons of different plugins on the market that do this, but if you're interested in what Wilson is using, it's called SketchCassette from Aberrant DSP.
Quick Hits
“A little thunder and lightning”: Slash dons a Gibson SG as Guns N’ Roses pay tribute to John Sykes with rampant cover of a Thin Lizzy classic - Slash using an SG in honor of John Sykes on a firey Thin Lizzy cover.
Joe Perry announces his first big post-Aerosmith tour – and he’ll be playing with members of Aerosmith, Black Crowes and Stone Temple Pilots - Post Aerosmith, Joe Perry has returned with the Joe Perry Project. This summer, the band is heading out on tour featuring a lineup of legendary musicians. Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots, and of course, Brad Whitford, Perry’s guitar mate in Aerosmith, will be joining the tour. I can't wait to see some videos with this lineup!
“Les would be over the moon knowing his studio exists again.” Les Paul invented modern recording. Now his studio is back up and running. Can recordings from the vault be far behind? - Big news for guitar and recording nerds - the legendary Les Paul Recording Studio just reopened inside LA’s United Recording building, synced up for what would’ve been Les Paul’s 110th birthday. The studio’s packed with original gear like the iconic “Monster” console - and it’s now a space where Les and Mary Ford’s classic recordings are getting a refresh using modern gear.
Another great newsletter!