Quantum Rock Blog....Oh yeah baby!

[Wolfboy1]

I was debating which course to blog on and saw a couple of new blogs start up today
I promised myself I would start one after elections so after much waffling I picked Trey's course. Why this one....well I have hardly played guitar in the last month so I wanted to get back into some rock guitar playing. I just finished the Starship and need to jam on it with some new material. Most importantly.....I really wanted this course and have had it gathering dust for quite a while....it's time!

Before I get started ..... I have watched some of this course and I can say it might be beyond me in parts but I will try my best and, hope some of you more capable rockers will drop in to help. I will try and drop Trey an email as well....always cool when the instructor stops by for a visit....hint, hint

So a little background as we take off!

[Wolfboy1]

http://www.myspace.com/treyalexander1

The one that put him on the map!


His Bio in full:
Trey Alexander picked up his first guitar at age 15. It was an antique acoustic model that his parents used as a decorative piece in their home. Although he had always loved music, this was Alexander’s first instrument and he began practicing so much that he wore the winding off of the strings. This is when Alexander’s dad, his biggest fan and inspiration, realized that his son was more than a curious teenager with an old guitar. Within a few weeks of discovering this instrument, Alexander began playing regularly at open mics and jam sessions and won his first guitar competition.

When Alexander was 18, he saw Steve Vai perform live in concert, an experience he describes as "awe-inspiring." He stayed up all night describing the experience to his father, who listened to him play for hours. His father told him, "You will be one of the best guitar players who has ever lived." Those words were his father’s last as he died of a brain hemorrhage that night. Alexander realized that he needed to live his dream, to be a musician, and carry on his father’s legacy.

With his father’s words fresh in his mind, Alexander put all of his energy into music. His band, The Trey Alexander Band, practiced everyday for the following few years and released a self-titled album in 2000.

In 2002, Alexander started the band, Sonic Lux, a pop fusion jam band with whom he plays presently. Along with bassist, singer and keyboardist, Hassan Ali and drummer Woody Campbell, Sonic Lux plays regularly at venues in southeastern Pennsylvania and along the east coast. They released a four-song EP in 2004 and plan to release an album in fall 2007.

In 2006, came the fulfillment of Alexander’s dream and his father’s words. Alexander entered Guitar Player Magazine’s Guitar Hero competition in San Francisco, CA. After competing against the other nine finalists and in front of judges such as Joe Satriani, Steve Lukather and Richie Kotzen, he was named Guitar Hero 2006. He has since appeared in Guitar Player Magazine seven times.

As a result of his win, Alexander was invited to play at Muriel Anderson’s All Star Guitar Night at the NAMM Show in January 2007. Alexander also has many endorsements including: Peavey, Ernie Ball, DiMarzio, Radial/Tone Bone, Tom Anderson Guitar Works, George L, Buddha, Tremol-No, Keeley Electronics, Suhr and Guitar Player Magazine.

Alexander is currently employed at Manor Music Mansion in Millersville, PA as a guitar teacher. He has about eighty students each week and enjoys teaching because he values his role as a mentor and motivator to the students. He has even created a forum on his website for the students so they always have a place to go for advice outside their lessons. Alexander has studied with Dave Weiner, a 7-year member of the Steve Vai Band and continues his studies with Greg Howe.

Trey is currently working on instruction guitar videos that will be released through TrueFire. You can also catch Alexander teaching master guitar classes at the Premier Guitar Show in September in Boston where he will also perform with Stu Hamm.

While Alexander’s accomplishments are numerous and impressive, his musical vision and career are far from complete. Joe Satriani said of Alexander’s performance, Alexander "put on a well-paced performance that showed me he had good technique, tone and his own sense of style… he didn’t buckle under the pressure. He appeared sincere and communicated well with the band…toward the end of his performance, he really let loose and showed us the showman lurking in his otherwise mellow character; it was really a stroke of genius the way he played the crowd…I have a feeling we will be hearing great things from Trey to come."

His Gear:
http://www.treyalexander.net/gear.html

The Guitar in the video:
Ibanez Jem
The Ibanez Jem is one of the most versatile instruments made. Trey's fiancee bought this instrument for him about 5 years ago. He loves this guitar and all of its features! Of course this might have something to do with his huge influence from Steve Vai!






and lastly here is the Truefire TV page where you can watch the intro and some sample lessons to see if you want to follow along.
http://truefire.com/tftv/index.html?...mrock/qrgintro

[Hutch82]

All the best on the blog WB...QR does look a monster and I would seriously love to take it on but I going to follow along cos we know you'll be doing a job.



H

[torr71]

You have my attention Sir...

[Wolfboy1]

Okay 1st lesson!

"Modern Equivalent Rhythm 1"
1st make sure you watch the Guitar Hero performance in my first post....why....because this group of lessons concerns Trey's song on that performance

Okay, right off the bat I noticed Trey uses the thumb over the top fretting method on his left hand. I hate this...it is alien to the classical approach but who am I to be a guitar snob? Try it or use barre chords and mute appropriately.

Next here is the basic progression:
Cm7 - Bb - Ab - G
Cm7 - Bb - Ab/Bb - B/Db
Check out the jam track with this one. It has a great bass line and if you solo in C minor or Eb major it is quite fun. Hereare the basic pentatonic boxes if you need them and to the far right the Eb major scale:

[Wolfboy1]

The breakdown on this one is not to difficult at all. The interesting part is in measures 11 & 12. Here Trey throws in a little funk (Hutch I'm sure he would have dedicated this to you if you two had ever met!)

Trey makes an interesting suggestion. Get that little funk groove under you belt by practicing it and variations of it over the entire jam track. Just grab your pick and funk around a bit.

Now before we move on write out the Eb major scale:

Eb - F - G - Ab - Bb - C - D - Eb
1---2---3---4----5---6---7---8(1)

Now look at the notes Trey is funking around with:
G---Bb---C
3----5----6

Just something to think about

[Wolfboy1]

Here is a little helper page:



Had to relearn Neck Diagrams, export as .jpg, up load to flickr, grab BBC code and voila!

[torr71]

Just to put it out there Gm pentatonic works and so does the Bb major scale… The Eb and Bb are closely related ..

That Thumb thang is about the only way to play Electric Geetar..I rarely make use of barre chords (this is just my take on it) they’re way too full of sound for me.. If you can get that Thumb grip down ,it can free your hand up to do other embellishments other than holding down a big fat barre chord.. However there is a time and place for everything including barre chords..
I had to force myself to learn this grip .. I do believe its worth it…
Nice start…

[Wolfboy1]

torr....I know you are right and I will work on it......

Modern Equivalent Rhythm #2

Okay this is just some variations on Rhythm #1 focusing on the high end of the rhythm line. Trey is really putting a funk feel in this piece and getting the rhythm right with the changes is apt to be the hardest part.

If you got part #1 down this ones a bit easier.

Trey was throwing some chord names about and we could diagram them out or build them from the ground up.....nah, I don't want to do that either. Check out the "chord generator" and other cool tools here:


http://www.jguitar.com/chord?root=Ab...ps=0&fingers=4



etc.

[torr71]

Here be an extra JamTx:
http://www.4shared.com/audio/Bh5BGJ1...tx__maste.html

[Wolfboy1]

Ok, I have watched the Solo #1 and breakdown....egads... his fingering and clean tone is perfect at a pretty fast pace. I need to work on this a bit, should be on it tomorrow

[Wolfboy1]

nice torr....thanks

[torr71]

No Hurry ...Take your Time...after what I just heard.. you might need to go rest them fingers...

[Wolfboy1]

Solo #1

Okay I could be wrong here but watching Trey, listening to Trey and reading the powertab show some minor differences....

Measure #1
1) should only be 1 low G not 2 as annotated (5th string 10th fret).
2)high G (2nd string 8th fret) should have a slide from the F (2nd string 6th fret) up to the G....the slide is not annotated.

Measure #2
1) For me at first it sounded like he was playing fewer notes than was annotated. On retrospect I think the notes are correct but I was interpreting the time signatures wrong. I had a hard time overcoming the tendency to pause too long after the 4th 16th note (F on the 3rd string 10th fret) This last group of 5 16th notes is faster than you think....kind of a blur. It is a little tougher to because you have to change pick direction between the C (4th string 10th fret) and the G (5th string 10th fret). At least that how it feels to me.

For some reason this 2 measure line was a bit rhythmically challenging for me and it's faster than you think

[Wolfboy1]

Solo #1

Measures 3 and 4

Nice little run....when I watch his fingers I could swear he doesn't touch the 13th fret of string #1 nor the 10th fret of the 5th string. No matter how many times I play this one it doesn't sound as tight as Trey....figure the odds of that

[torr71]

Solo inspired by..



George Benson playing "Take Five"



George Benson clip, solo guitar


Wes Montgomery "California Dreaming" (1966)



Eric Johnson-East Wes (Live) (this song is inspired by the likes of Wes and Benson)

[Wolfboy1]

Those are excellent clips...George is smooth!

Hey wait a minute this is a rock course

[Wolfboy1]

I will be hitting this some more tonight...stay tuned.

[Wolfboy1]

Sorry...feel asleep after raking leaves....will take a gander tonight

[torr71]

Here be my take on the first 4 measures WB1 Covered..
I’m not a note for note player.. and will never be as good as a player of the likes of Trey A..
I take what I Can and twist it to my own way of thinking…If it sounds the slice bit of good I’m happy…
2010-11-09 1423 01 tf (master) 320kbps.mp3

[Wolfboy1]

Torr that sounded excellent.

I always wonder about courses like these which give you a series of pieces, put together by the author and then used as a sounding board for the students.

How do most folks use them???

Please if you are reading this jump in with your 2 cents.

1) Do you learn the solos note for note and try to play them at speed with the instructor?
2) Do you just look for the lesson points and move on?
3) Do you try parts of the solos, especially ones with licks you like over the jam tracks?

I vary some. On a course like this I try to get through them at speed as close as possible to the notes transcribed. I am no where near as fluent a player as Trey so this is a challenge. I got pretty close on the first solo and will try the second shortly. I think my goal is to get the main ideas of my instructors but never have I learned a piece in a TF course for my own repertoire (except "Somewhere Over the Rainbow and The Depford Cakewalk). I retain them somewhat during my time on the course but generally what I get are ideas and techniques to possible incorporate into my own playing.....how about you?


Stay tuned....torr I really appreciate your co-authoring this blog with me. How did you record your piece?

[Wolfboy1]

Modern Equivalent Solo #2

Probably the only course the considers a hair scrunchy to be an essential guitar item. You can call it a mute but we know it's a hair scrunchy
(I have a brown one that matches my Carvin)

The first part of the solo is demonstrated rather nicely on the 1st video. One thing I thought was cool is the way Trey arpeggiated the chords in measures 7 and 8. Up stroke for Ab, down stroke for the Bb, up for the B down for the Db. Kind of slow motion sweep picking but actually it is a cool lead trick you can use in any song....think about it.

He also mentions "vibrato" and uses it heavily in this part. This is something you have to master on your own but it can add so much. When I watched the 2010 guitar competition one of the players was IMHO awesome but when it came to his critique Elliot Easton told the guy he played great but he needed to go woodshed on his vibrato technique. I was surprised as it was a great performance but Elliot just didn't bond with the guys technique. Using pedals and whammy bars makes you forget about how much a good vibrato can add....must practice.

Back for more after SWMBO gets done on the computer

[torr71]

How did you record your piece?(of Crap)

Played My Nashville Power Tele through my Fender amp that’s Mic'ed into a Roland digital mixer ....
(Effects Chain)
Compressor >>Black Star HT>>>Granny-Log Delay>>>Amp>>>>Your Face…

The Backing track was put together using Jammer Pro (http://www.soundtrek.com/content/mod...ws&new_topic=5)
Then after that I Exported it out as a Standard Midi File.. Loaded it into Reason.( http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/ ) That where some of the weird sounds came from…It’s a Great Tool…Has an awesome sound engine …
Exported the final mix as an audio mix …Loaded that into Cakewalk Sonar…then recorded the Guitar from my mixer..

[Wolfboy1]

Cool....so many ways to get to the same place

Now the Breakdown

Right off the bat I am looking at the power tab then watching the video and things are not the same. Well watch further. At the start Trey is just playing arpeggios without the tapping note thrown in so ignore the 20th, 18th, 16th and 15th fret shenanigans. Try just playing the straight arpeggios....and then try to play them as fast and smooth as Trey

So here they are:

Cm7-------------------------Bb---------------------------------Ab



G


The B and Db are without taps (until the end).

[Wolfboy1]

Okay. anyone move on to the tapping part yet?
This is a technique that I have wanted to learn for awhile. I fiddle farted around with it in "Rock Tricks" and some other things but I still haven't got it down. I haven't been real serious with it but maybe it will sink in this time.

When I first looked at bar #9.....I was like Not only are there just 2 many lines above the staff for me to sight read....there are just too many notes for one measure!
Looking closely at the line I could also see that both the timing and note order varied. So I watched the video and Trey is showing us one thing and the tab is different but.....what he is showing is actually the second group of tied together notes on the staff in measure #9. So, what he is playing is there it's just not first.

Now remember (or look at the top beginning of measure #9) the first tapping run is based on a Cmin 7th. The notes of a Cmin7 chord are....
1 - b3rd - 5th - and b7th or
C - Eb - G - Bb

Measure #9 is nothing but those 4 notes. All between the 11th fret and the 20th fret on the B and high E strings.

[Wolfboy1]

As I have continued to practice measure #9 over and over I have the following comments:
1) Hammering that Eb (high E string, 11th fret) is hard to make as audible as all the rest of the notes. I don't know if it's the reach, the angle, the finger or most likely....the unfamiliarity of the move but that hammer on for me is weak

2) The higher the gain the better it sounds....yep high gain will assist you but a real man can do it on a clean Fender setting.

3) Don't try to take the whole measure on at once. I finally had to break it down into 3 groups each with 2 parts. Notice there are 3 groups of tied together notes...and...2 strings are used in each section....that's how I worked it. Maybe not the best way but..."I did it my way"

I am not going to get this overnight but if you break down each of these arpeggios you will see how Trey decided what and where to tap.

[Wolfboy1]

Measure #10 Bb maj chord

major = 1 - 3 - 5
Bbmaj = Bb - D - F

and measure #10s arpeggios are all these 3 notes only...no 7ths.

This is the easy part to figure out....playing it is tough.

[Wolfboy1]

Now look at measures 15 and 16 is this cool or what. Not easy to implement but something you could work on all over the neck.
What the heck am I talking about????

Trey is tapping one inversion of a chord over another! Here, these are the notes from the Ab in the first half of measure 15 presented differently:



You can see 2 different Ab chords. Hammer-ons for the lower shape, tap and pull-off for the upper. If you can get this kind of tapping down....well it's easier than remembering arpeggios

[Wolfboy1]

I think I am going to practice this part for a day or two and then dive into the Latin lesson....looking forward to that one. I will be out of town starting tomorrow afternoon for a couple of days but, I am taking a guitar and laptop so will log in time permitting. I dropped a line to Trey maybe he will check in soon.

Once I am done with this course I am going to tackle EVH's Eruption


Truly the hardest part is mastering the pick-shift and keeping it tucked under your middle finger

[olshepp]

Torr-nice take. I definitely enjoyed listening to your interpretation.
Thanks for sharing,
Dave
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Life's too short to play with dead strings"

[torr71]

The Tapping section I had already put in By-Pass mode.. Never have had much Interest in this Technique.. have tried and failed to many times ..
Check this out…
Steve Vai / Building The Church /



Go here to see a Vid of SV discussing this Tap Thang..
http://www.berkleemusic.com/school/c...tar&usca%5fp=t

Steve Vai Guitar Techniques
Course Authors: Scotty Johnson, Steve Vai
Watch Steve Vai discuss his new Berklee online course
P.S. Will give it another shot today....<<It's hard to see it, but this little guy's a tapper

[torr71]

Torr-nice take. I definitely enjoyed listening to your interpretation.

Thanks.. but I do believe it's more like something…Lost in the interpretation..
Thanks any How..
Peace

[Wolfboy1]

I'm back from a 50th birthday roadtrip. Rented a large cabin in Hocking Hills Ohio and had all my immediate family down. 14 of us for a few days of hiking guitar playing and of course....eating
Nothing makes you hungry like a day hiking. I'm going to take a nap, drive my kid back to college and start back up tonight or tomorrow night!

[Wolfboy1]

Anyone practice the tapping from the last lessons? I have been working some on the tapping chord inversions. It has potential but gain is needed to make it work best for me. So, even if I play it correctly, it's still a long way from Trey's style.


I am moving on into Latin Groove Rhythm 1

The first section is relatively easy if you have ever played any finger style guitar. No tough chords or difficult reaches. It is a latin-jazz sounding progression as advertised.
In the "breakdown" Trey changes bar #21 up a bit from the printed material. He slides the C#7 fragment down 1 fret to a C7 fragment and then back up to give it some pop! On to Rhythm #2.

[Wolfboy1]

Wait before we go on I need to do a little chord refreshing....

The Gmaj7 has the notes G-B-D-F# 0r 1 - 3 - 5 - 7. It is constructed by adding a major seventh to the basic G-major triad.


open strings

3rd fret

7th fret

10th fret

2nd fret

12th fret

For a more complete listing:
http://www.torvund.net/guitar/chords...php?page=gmaj7

[Wolfboy1]

Dominant 7th chords
1-3-5-b7

The 7th chord has a minor third added to the major triad, or a minor 7th added to the chord. When we use the term "7th" with no further qualification, we mean a major chord with a minor seventh, opposed to minor chords with added sevenths (m7) or major chords with a major seventh (maj7).

The chord is often called the dominant 7th because it is built on the dominant. By this term we are referring both to the type of chord and to the function of a chord in a harmonic context. As a diatonic chord in a major key, the 7th can only be found in this position. All other diatonic 7th chords will be other kinds of 7ths. But if you use the 7th in another harmonic context, for instance as a IV7 chord in a 12-bar blues progression, it does not function as a dominant chord. If the key is C then the dominant 7th G7 will have the notes G-B-D-F.

In a 7th chord, the most important note is the 7th. The reason is obvious: If we remove the 7th note, it is no longer a 7th chord, but a basic triad. In its most common V7-I application, the two most important notes in a 7th chord is the 3rd and the 7th, which constitute a tritone. It we remove the third, the chord will loose its identity as a major chord, and it will loose the power of the dominant 7th chord.

And lastly
Minor 7th chords are
1-b3-5-b7

If we have a minor chord and add anothter minor third on top of the stack of thirds, we get a m7 or minor 7 chord. Minor refers to the minor third in the basic minor chord. But the 7th is also a minor 7th interval. A Cm7 has the notes C-Eb-G-Bb.

In the discussion of the dominant 7th chord, I have stressed that the important interval in that chord is the tritone 3-7, which in a C7 chord is E-Bb. In a m7 chord, the corresponding interval is a perfect fifth. We have a minor third, meaning that the third is a halft step lower than in the 7 chord (Eb compared to E for Cm7 and C7, but the seventh is the same, Bb in both chords). The tritone inteval has a strong leading effect, while the perfect fifth has no such effect at all. This means that the m7 cannot function in the same way as the 7. This is also the reason why we often use the V7 instead of the Vm7 as a the dominant V chord in minor, and the reason why we have harmonic minor.

all from
Olav Torvund's Guitar Site...a wonderful place to visit!
http://www.torvund.net/guitar/chords/

[Wolfboy1]

Latin Groove Rhythm #2

I don't know how you watch these videos but I generally:
- just listen the first time
- watch the chart the second time
- watch the left hand the third time
- and watch the right hand last
....then I watch the chart again and try to play after that.

on this lesson I strongly recommend watching the left hand view more than once then try to synch it up with the chart because Trey is very artful in his left hand in how he uses it to convey the song.
If you watch you will see rather quickly
single noted plucked bass notes
arpeggiated picking
up and down strumming
cross picking
chicken picking
straight down strokes
and more
He is putting everything he knows about picking in here and it is really fun to watch

I had no trouble playing the first one but this one is very challenging. Same chord progression but more flavorful.

In the write up Trey mentions the B minor scale:
The B minor scale is also known as the B Aeolian and the notes are
B - C# - D - E - F# - G - A
1 - 2 - b3 - 4 - 5 - b6 - b7


or



As you might know B minor consists of the same notes as D major scale also known as the D Ionian scale





You can see the notes are the same but the tones are numbered differently to reflect the D major scale.

D - E - F# - G - A - B - C#
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

[Wolfboy1]

Chew on that 2nd rhythm a bit and review the tapping lesson and I will be back in a night or two

[Wolfboy1]

Latin Solo #1 and Breakdown

As usual Trey is very melodic in his soloing using lots of scale and arpeggio interplay....not just a wankfest by any means

Look at measure #1


The B minor (Aeolian) is again B - C# - D - E - F# - G - A. The run is:
F#-G-F#-E-F#-D-E-D-C#-B-C#-Bb-F#-E-G-F#

Every note but the Bb is right out of the scale. So working of the Bminor scale at the second fret works out great if you are soloing over the jam track.



Give it a shot....I just spent a few minutes jamming over the track. It's up tempo and sounds very Latin like. Good track

[Wolfboy1]

Here are a few videos from Trey's recommendation. I think you can feel the similar vibe from Guthrie Govan's playing. Check it out he even has a little hair thingy on his guitar neck in the first video







Guthrie Govan (born 27 December 1971 in Chelmsford, Essex, England) is a guitarist known for his work with the bands Asia (2001-2006), GPS, The Young Punx and The Fellowship as well as Erotic Cakes (a vehicle for his own music). He is a noted guitar teacher through his work with the UK magazine Guitar Techniques, Guildford’s Academy of Contemporary Music and currently the Brighton Institute of Modern Music. He is also a former winner of Guitarist magazine's "Guitarist of the Year" competition.

Biography and early playing career
Govan began playing guitar aged three, encouraged by his father but initially learning mainly by ear. At the age of nine he and his brother Seth Govan played guitar on a Thames Television programme called Ace Reports. At secondary school he was exposed, via older classmates, to "shred" guitarists of the time.[1]

After leaving school, Govan read English at the University of Oxford, though he left after a year to pursue a career in music. Around this time (by Govan’s own estimation, 1991[1]) he sent demos of his work to Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records. Varney was impressed and offered him a record deal; ultimately however, Govan declined. Regarding his reasons he has explained: "it was as though all I really wanted to know was that I was good enough […] I found I was getting a bit wary of the shred movement."[2]

In 1993 he won Guitarist magazine’s "Guitarist of the Year" competition with his instrumental piece Wonderful Slippery Thing (a version of which would eventually appear on his debut solo album); the demo of the track earned him a place amongst several other entrants in the live final, which he then won. Subsequently, he submitted a sample transcription (of a Shawn Lane piece) to Guitar Techniques magazine; this earned him a job as a contributor to the magazine, ending a spell working in fast food.[1]
(and they say "don't quit your day job.")

Influences and technique
Govan’s earliest influences were Jimi Hendrix and Cream-era Eric Clapton; as such he describes himself as coming from a "blues rock background".[1] While he is "wary" of 1980s technique driven guitar music ("shred") he cites the imagination of Steve Vai (as well as Frank Zappa, with whom Vai played) and the passion of Yngwie Malmsteen as influences. Jazz and fusion elements are an important part of his style: he cites Joe Pass as a pivotal influence in this respect.[2]

Govan is known for his virtuoso command of the electric guitar, due to both his technical ability and proficiency in various styles. Govan’s MySpace profile lists quotes from various guitarists to this effect;[9] elsewhere, fellow virtuosos Joe Satriani and Paul Gilbert have praised Govan's playing.[10][11]

Equipment
Govan mainly uses various Suhr guitars: the Guthrie Govan Signature Model, three custom Standards, a Modern 24-fret model, a Classic and Classic T.[12] Govan also favours Cornford amps: the sleeve notes of Erotic Cakes state he has used an RK100, MK50 and Hellcat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guthrie_Govan

http://www.guthriegovan.co.uk/

[Wolfboy1]

Suhr Guitars (officially JS Technologies Inc) is an American company that manufactures electric guitars and basses, guitar amplifiers, and effect units. The company is based in Lake Elsinore, California and was founded in 1997 by John Suhr, who "has a reputation for building exquisitely crafted guitars"and Steve Smith.

http://www.suhrguitars.com/


The Guthrie Govan model

The new GG Signature Model features a Mahogany body and neck. Mahogany's mid-midrange emphasis and its ability to cut through the mix with a distinctive honk while retaining its trademark warmth and clarity is one reason why Guthrie favors Mahogany for his main axe. The Flame Maple top adds a bit of brilliance on the body side while the Pau Ferro fingerboard adds tightness and punch on the neck side. This combination results in a warm yet articulate and punchy tone that has an ideal balance between slinkiness and tightness. It gives way when you hold a sustaining note during a string bend while being cutting and defined during fast runs.

Other features of this remarkable instrument are the versatile HSH pickup configuration of the SSH+ humbucker in the bridge, FL single-coil in the middle position and the SSV humbucker in the neck position. The 4-pole Mega 5-way switch gives you auto-split of the humbuckers in the 2nd, 3rd (middle) and 4th positions for great single-coil sounds that are ideal for funk rhythm to country twang. A push-pull tone pot gives you another option of splitting the neck humbucker alone, providing yet another superb single-coil sound (outside coil of the SSV) for both articulate lead work and a jangly rhythm sound. The SSV humbucker on its own is ideal for warm clean jazz sounds to a fat overdriven "woman tone" sound while the SSH+ in the bridge position is great for screaming leads and chugging hard rock riffing.

But wait - on top of all these great sounds, the GG Signature Model has a push-button "Blower" switch which allows you to go to a full-on bridge humbucker sound with a simple push of the button from whatever volume, tone, 5-way setting you're at. For instance, you can have an overdriven sound on the amp but with the volume and tone pots rolled back with the neck humbucker split for a clean rhythm sound. Instead of flipping the 5-way switch to the bridge position and turning up the volume and tone pots for a searing distorted lead sound, you can just push the button in a split-second for a fully open bridge humbucker that actually bypasses all circuits inside the guitar. You get yet another humbucker sound that is louder, brighter and raunchier than it going through the normal circuitry (the volume and tone pots as well as the 5-way switch). The Blower switch not only adds convenience when you need to make quick sound changes on the guitar, but yet another very useful and righteous sound at your fingertips.

And we're not finished yet: the GG Signature Model comes stock with the Tremol-No (www.tremol-no.com) trem-locking device to convert the floating trem to a hardtail in a few seconds. This is ideal to use when you have to play a tune that has drop-D tuning or other tunings during a gig. There is no need to bring along another guitar tuned differently to a gig for just one or few tunes.

Expertly installed and set up at the Suhr factory, the Tremol-No equipped GG Signature Modern can instantly become a hardtail guitar, further expanding the versatility of an already very versatile instrument. Ever wish you can just take one guitar to the gig and be able to play all of the tunes and not deal with the hassle of carrying two or more guitars around and changing them during the show? Guthrie certainly wished he could and his wish has now been granted!

To round it off, other standard features include jumbo stainless steel frets for silky string bends and easier tapping while providing exceptionally long fret life, the 16" fingerboard radius for low action and big string bends without the strings choking out, recessed Gotoh 510 tremolo with steel block for radical trem pull-ups and a big punchy tone, the new Elliptical GG neck shape (.800-.850) that feels fast yet has good girth for comfort during string bends, and Mother of Pearl dots and logo for a classy touch to complement the new Light Bengal Burst finish that really highlights the beauty of the Flame Maple top and matching figured headstock. Each GG Signature Model also comes stock with the Rotosound strings (www.rotosound.com) installed and set up at the Suhr factory. From the beauty of the premium woods and the flawless finish to superb easy playability and a stunning array of exceptional guitar sounds, the Guthrie Govan Signature Model sets a whole new benchmark for the modern solid-body electric guitar.

Other Models:

[Wolfboy1]

http://www.chickcorea.com/

http://www.chickcorea.com/about/bio/124.html

This is just the begining of an impressive Bio:

Born Armando Anthony Corea in Chelsea, Massachusetts on June 12, 1941, he began studying piano at age four. Early on in his development, Horace Silver and Bud Powell were important influences while the music of Beethoven and Mozart inspired his compositional instincts. Chick’s first major professional gig was with Cab Calloway, which came before early stints in Latin bands led by Mongo Santamaria and Willie Bobo.


Chick's First Gigs
Getting His Start with Some Big Names

Important sideman work with trumpeter Blue Mitchell, flutist Herbie Mann and saxophonist Stan Getz came before Chick made his recording debut as a leader in 1966 with Tones For Joan's Bones. During these formative years, Chick also recorded sessions with Cal Tjader, Donald Byrd and Dizzy Gillespie.

After accompanying singer Sarah Vaughan in 1967, Chick went into the studio in March of 1968 and recorded Now He Sings, Now He Sobs with bassist Miroslav Vitous and drummer Roy Haynes.

That trio album is now considered a jazz classic. This is the disc that cemented Corea's place in the jazz firmament as a pianist of incomparable skill.

Chick Meets Miles Davis
The Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way Sessions

In the fall of 1968, Chick replaced Herbie Hancock in Miles Davis' band with Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter and Tony Williams. In September of that year, he played Fender Rhodes electric piano on Miles' important and transitional recording Filles de Kilimanjaro, which pointed to a fresh new direction in jazz.
Between 1968 and 1970, Chick also appeared on such groundbreaking Davis recordings as In a Silent Way, Bitches Brew, Live-Evil and Live at the Fillmore East.

He was also a key player in Davis' electrified ensemble that appeared before 600,000 people on August 29, 1970 at the Isle of Wight Festival in England (captured on Murray Lerner's excellent documentary, Miles Electric: A Different Kind of Blue).



Return to Forever
The First Album

Early RTF
Toward the end of 1971, Chick formed his first edition of Return to Forever with Stanley Clarke on acoustic bass, Joe Farrell on soprano sax and flute, Airto Moreira on drums and percussion and Moreira’s wife Flora Purim on vocals. On February 2 and 3, 1972, they recorded their self-titled debut for ECM, which included the popular Corea composition "La Fiesta."

[Wolfboy1]

Continuing on with Latin Solo #1

First Trey starts off discussing the importance of left hand muting. Anyone using higher gain settings, fuzz, distortion etc. needs to practice muting. It seems to me there are 3 types of muting:
1) left hand muting as Trey talks about here
2) right hand muting, using fingers on your right hand not involved at the moment in what you are fretting and
3) Artificial muting, some type of device is used such as a hair scrunchy or maybe a tool like what M.A.B. uses.

Michael invented "The MAB String Dampener" to function as a proverbial "3rd hand" when he performed on his famous Double-Guitar. “The MAB String Dampener” slides on to your guitar when you want to use use it and then you can take it off when you are done with it. There is NO DRILLING ANYWHERE on your expensive instrument, NO ASSEMBLY required and no tools are used to place the dampener on or take it off your guitar. 2 Thumbscrews are all it takes to put "The MAB String Dampener" on or take it off of your instrument. "The MAB String Dampener" fits ALL 6, 7 or 12 string, Electric or Acoustic Guitars. People who have seen Michael perform his trademarked Double-Guitar always comment on how effortlessly Michael plays it. Part of his effortless playing is "The MAB String Dampener." The function of "The MAB String Dampener" is to stop ALL extraneous or unwanted string noise. This results in ONLY the note you want to sound is played. All other notes are completely dampened. "The MAB String Dampener" also helps stop excessive feedback, helps "cleanup" your guitar playing, is completely adjustable and moves out of the way when you don't want to use it. If you are playing a passage on your guitar that requires "The MAB String Dampener" you can with one quick motion put it down on the frets and use it. When you are done using it just move the bar up and out of the way. This dampener is so easy to use, install and adjust that we feel comfortable saying it is THE BEST one in the WORLD! "The MAB String Dampener" is 100% made in the USA out of the highest quality materials, anodized jet black with silver screws and features a white dampening agent to completely block unwanted string noise. Not only does it work fantastically, it looks great.


In action

[Wolfboy1]

The next part looks quickly at measures 5,6 & 7
The notes are virtually the same while the overlaying chords differ.

Em7.....E - G - B - D
A7........A - E - G - C#
Dmaj7..D - F# - A - C#

Now look at the solo notes:
F# - E - D - G - A
You can pretty much see (as well as hear) why these notes flow with the chord changes.

[Wolfboy1]

Measures A (Gmaj7) and 9 (C#7) deal with arpeggios.
Trey states measure 8 is an Amaj7 arpeggio.

Amaj7 chord = A - C# - E - G#
Gmaj7 chord = G - B - D - F#

Notes in the run:
G - F# - A - E - D - C# - D - C# - A - E - D - C# - D - C# - A
So it's really a combination of the two

It's almost an A Major scale run....look at the 10th fret position on this chart:

[Wolfboy1]

C#7 arpeggio in measure 9:

So what are arpeggios? Well if you have played through CAGED Cracked or a number of other TF courses you would have an idea by now.
Most of the material I am posting until further notice is from this wonderful site:

http://cyberfret.com


Guitar arpeggios are the notes of a chord played one note at a time. One important reason for learning them, is to use in improvisation where a strong chord sound is desired.

A major scale (Ionian)


A major chord arpeggio:


Fingering:

[Wolfboy1]

Here are the basic major arpeggio shapes (1-3-5) you should probably memorize them:

Root on 6th string


Root on 5th string


And while we are at it here are the minor shapes (1 - b3 - 5)
Root on 6th string


Root on 5th string


note these shapes all from http://www.electric-guitar.co.uk/

[Wolfboy1]

Dominant 7th arpeggios













In measure #9 Trey took a basic C#7 arpeggio and just and dropping in a lower half step note each step up the triad. What a great lead idea....I love it!

[torr71]

A question for the Masses, if any…
How do you approach the rhythm parts in this section..?
Could someone break down just what your process is for learning the rhythm part..
What are you counting in your head..16/th notes or 1/8’s or what…?
Nice Info WB1

[torr71]

Hey WB1..
This is an awesome course. I really like this Latin feel stuff and its making me work on weak areas of my playing…Still on the rhythm section.. I did do a jump and checked out the solo parts 1 and 2….I’m on fire and can’t wait to get into this part.. Very GOOD STUFF…
I did see a discrepancy at the beginning of solo 2 .. could you verify …He’s at the 12 fret doing a bend but the tab shows the 16 fret and it looks he’s on a different string so the Tab might be transposed…
Thanks