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Robert Johnson On Speed?

By Steve “Red” Lasner

Much controversy has arisen about whether or not the recordings of Robert Johnson we have been listening to for years were speed altered. Some musicologists are convinced Johnson’s released recordings are 20% faster than those he performed in two solo sessions in 1936 and 1937, and they wonder how this happened, when it happened, and why it happened.

Many blame advances in technology, some claim it to be a conscious decision made during the mastering process, and others claim that there actually is no speed alteration. If the recordings indeed were sped up by 20%, slowing them down would result in a significant change in pitch and tempo that would have a serious impact on the history of the blues and all of the music and musicians influenced by Johnson. Is it possible that we have never heard what this very influential singer-guitarist truly sounded like?

You be the judge:

“Crossroad Blues” – Fast (original):

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“Crossroad Blues” – Slow (revised):

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Steve “Red” Lasner has rubbed elbows and performed with many great and famous musicians including Buddy Miles, John Sebastian, Derek Trucks, Robben Ford and many more. In 2009 TrueFire released Red’s first instructional guitar course Blues Expose. Red continues to perform locally, nationally and internationally and continues to produce instructional material.

Tagged: blues, buddies, combinations, fame, ford, greatness, guitar, guitarist, guitarists, guitars, listener, live, master, mastering, music, musician, musicians, performance, phrase, phrases, phrasing, producer, producers, producing, recording, rock, sessions, songwriter, songwriting, talents, technology, tempos, truefire

Sevens

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July 18th 2011

7 Deadly Sins of Rehearsing

by Rich Maloof

1. No agenda
Make the most of the band’s time together by knowing what you plan to accomplish. Is it a writing session or a performance rehearsal? Do you need to tighten up a few tunes that were sloppy at the last gig? Plan it out in advance. If the group has vocal harmonies or dual guitar parts to work out, you might want to set up separate rehearsal times for just those band members.

2. Inviting friends and fans
Don’t invite anyone to your rehearsal other than bandmates. It’s fine if you need a manager or other business associate to hear what you’re doing, but keep your legions of fans out. Most musicians just don’t tend to work as productively, or even act normally, when there are other eyes and ears on them. If that many people are dying to hear you play, here’s a crazy idea: book a gig.

3. Free-for-all
It’s one thing to take a moment to adjust your tone or get a new riff under your fingers; it’s another to run a dozen lead lines when everyone else is ready to start working. If your band is populated with aimless, endless noodlers, try setting a new rule for rehearsal: Each player signals that he/she is ready to rehearse by not playing.

Tagged: artist, band members, bandmates, business, crazy idea, dress rehearsal, dual guitar, eyes and ears, fingers, gig, guitar, lead lines, legions, live, music, musician, musicians, noodlers, performance, playing, producer, producing, production, recording, rehearsal times, riff, solo record, top to bottom, truefire, tunes, vocal harmonies, voices, writing session

Guitar Lessons

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January 27th 2011

“Diddie Wa Diddie” Guitar Lesson

More than 60 years after its recording, Blind Blake’s rambunctious “Diddie Wa Diddie”–a double-entendre ragtime-blues–still stands as a fingerpicking classic. Blake’s musical vocabulary is prodigious, and his improvisational flair has seldom been matched. Each of the tune’s stanzas features a distinctively different accompaniment, and each of the three instrumental breaks is a minor masterpiece in itself…

Tagged: blind blake, blues, blues guitar lesson, diddie wa diddie, fingerpicking, guitar lesson, Guitar Lessons, how to play, learn guitar, truefire

Guitar Lessons

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January 11th 2011

How to Get Great Guitar Tone: David Gilmour’s Pedal Tweaks

by Jeff McErlain

We all could learn a lot from David Gilmour, and personally I have! I am always striving to be as melodic as he is. His vibrato is so beautiful, refined, and recognizable that it’s worth learning his catalog just for that alone. Ok, that and his phrasing, and bends, and tone. I highly suggest going to YouTube and watch him play. We are in such a great age that we have the ability to access that information. I have often wondered “where on the neck is he playing that?” I can go online and watch some awesome concert footage and get my answer. It is an endless resource that has helped me play better in a very short period of time. Kinda like TrueFire!

Tagged: David Gilmour, great guitar tone, guitar lesson, guitar tone, how to get great guitar tone, jeff beck, jeff mcerlain, Kings Of Tone, pedal tweaks, pedals, truefire, video guitar lesson

Guitar Lessons

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January 4th 2011

5 Guitar Scales & Modes That Matter

by Chris Buono

Looking to expand your palette of single-note tonal colors? A great way to do so is to delve into modes and alternative scales. While that’s a worthy endeavor it’s rife with obstacles. Often guitarists don’t know really know what the new scale or mode is all about and as a result they don’t know where to apply them. Guitarists are often presented concepts related to scale study that seem too good to be true and in time prove to be just that. And, guitarists in becoming frustrated with said methods also never gain a full neck vision of these new sounds.

That all ends here: How to Play 5 Guitar Scales & Modes That Matter, a selection from my full course, Modes That Matter, which contains a full in-depth analysis and presentation of 13 scales and modes that matter including tab, notation, jam tracks, and text descriptions (plus a 1,872 page PDF manual!).