So everyone keeps asking me how the Guitar Contest went. In a nutshell, it was mixed. I did everything exactly the way I wanted to. I made some contacts, met some stars, I turned in a performance that the crowd got into, and I distributed over 600 copies of my CD to guitar fans. The one bad part was that while the judges all agreed that I had the chops (“I’d have to practice for 100 years to get those kind of chops” – Earl Slick) , they weren’t quite ready for the intensity. Their critiques sounded like something my parents would have said (which I’m actually OK with, rock and roll ain’t for the parents).

So needless to say I didn’t win the contest. But I accomplished what I set out to do and made a splash. To quote the editor of Guitar Player Magazine – “Yours will be the most watched video from the contest once we post them on Youtube.”

Here’s a video my wife shot of my performance.

For the record –

Judges:

Earl Slick (David Bowie guitarist)

Jennifer Batten (Michael Jackson guitarist)

Elliot Easton (The Cars guitarist)

Steve Lukather (Toto guitarist)

Greg Hampton (producer, Alice Cooper, Lita Ford)

Host:

Brendon Small (Creator of Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse and Home Movies)

Prizes:

A bunch of gear and a magazine profile, no contracts or studio time

LInks

Hercules Guitar Superstar Vid
Unedited version of the performance (contains offensive language)

In my last blog entry, I promised that I would offer up an instructional based on the pentatonic scale in my next entry. OK, I lied. Kind of. Turns out, as I began to write the entry, I kept coming up with idea after idea after idea. As it stands, I still plan on writing on this topic, but it’s going to take some time as it’s going to be a big one. In the meantime, I give you Amusing Inconsistencies and Subtle Nuances.

Amusing inconsistency number one: the use of the word tremolo. On a guitar, it’s the thing that changes pitch. On an amplifier, it’s the effect that changes volume. I blame Leo Fender. Mainly because his biographers blame him. Speaking of Leo, amusing inconsistency number two: a radio repairman who didn’t know how to play guitar creates one of the most successful guitar brands in the world. Huh. And to segue into the ‘subtle nuances’ discussion, inconsistency number three: frets.

If I were to say “put your index finger on the 12^th fret of you high E string”, chances are you’ll put your index finger between two pieces of wire over a couple of dots (or a block, shark tooth, etc.). But why would you do that? Technically, the fret is the piece of wire itself. Shouldn’t you put your finger on the wire? Well, hopefully we all understand that that’s not what I mean when I say those words. Any noob knows that you don’t press down on the actual fret wire. It sounds bad. But as a player advances, the distinction between subtle nuances like this becomes important.

For example, harmonics get to be pretty tricky if there isn’t this clear distinction. Let’s say I instruct you to put your index finger on the “2^nd fret” of the G string, then tap a harmonic 12 frets higher. Common thinking would have you tap at the area between the two pieces of wire on either side of the “14^th fret”. But to achieve the cleanest execution of the harmonic, you’ll want to tap directly over the fret wire on the high side of the “14^th fret”.

The reason? Although your fret hand finger is pressing between the two fret wires, the string length actually begins (or ends) exactly on the wire at the high side of the fretting finger. This means that the spot on the string exactly 12 frets higher is exactly over the fret wire at the high side of the “14^th fret”.

This can all sound a bit OCD, but it’s like the old cliché, “Tone is in the hands” (yeah, tell that to a guitar builder, amp designer, or effects processor engineer).  For me, this means that you can hand the exact same guitar, pick, strings, cable, effects, and amp to two different players, and it will be the subtle nuances in technique that will produce two unique sounds. Subtle changes in the placement of the pick over pickups can have a big impact on timbre, adding the fleshy part of the thumb during specific downstrokes to create partial pinch harmonics can add bite and attitude to notes/chords, facing the amp at different angles to manipulate feedback, etc. It all adds up to create your own unique sound.

In other words, subtlety can be huge. How’s that for an amusing inconsistency?

HJC

You can find out more about Hercules and his music at http://www.herculescastro.com

Remember when alternative music was actually an alternative to popular music? As “alternative music” grew in popularity, by merit of terminology, one would have expected the label to change to “popular music”. But it did not. Nirvana, for example, was one of the most popular acts in the world, but they were still labeled “alternative”. Go figure. Now when someone refers to “alternative music”, I have no idea what they are talking about.

Along these lines is the phrase “Thinking outside of the box”. There was a time when this meant to think differently, more originally, from a fresher perspective. These days, it has become more of a catchphrase. It seems that everyone is thinking outside of the box. So if we want some different, fresh and original thinking, maybe we should get back in the box.

I thought that would be an amusing introduction to this entry, although tying the two together will be a stretch, at best.

Today’s topic is two-tiered. First, I’d like to talk about stepping out of your comfort zone, which I guess could qualify as “out of the box” thinking. Second, I’d like to talk about use of the pentatonic scale for blues applications. This one will plant us firmly back in the box. Why a discussion on both? Mainly because I just had a unique experience that got me thinking about both. I’ll share.

My background is heavy metal, shred-style guitar playing. My main influences have names like Van Halen, Vai, Malmsteen, Gilbert, Kotzen, etc… So when a friend approached me to sit in with his country/classic rock band for a party, I said “Oh, Hell no”. Not because I take issue with those styles. I have a lot of respect for players in those genres. My concern was that I would sound silly trying to squeeze in harmonic minor 64^th note runs, sweeps, taps and divebombs over “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” (anyone remember the “Johnny B Goode” scene in “Back to the Future”?)

However, after some consideration, I started thinking that this might be a good opportunity to hone my skills by trying something I never would have bothered with, left to my own devices. Besides, I know the blues scale, and that’s pretty much all you use in country/classic rock, right? Well, I’m happy to say that that is not correct at all.

One of our songs was “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits. A quick listen reveals some pretty cool lead work, complete with some quick runs, which is right up my alley. But after diving into it, I found some very unusual tonal structuring, intricate phrasing, and to my horror, finger-style picking. Another song we did, “Smooth” by Carlos Santana, actually featured some extensive harmonic minor work. This surprised me. In both cases, yes there was some pentatonic, bluesy lead playing going on, but there were other things happening that made it very interesting.

Long story short, I learned the songs (more or less), played the gig, it was fun, and I walked away with a new appreciation for musical styles I hadn’t really thought about previously. But best of all, I’ve got some new licks and techniques under my belt.

The moral of the story: It’s a good thing to throw caution to the wind every now and then. Step out of your comfort zone, and you’ll be rewarded with a fresher perspective and some new tools. You don’t necessarily have to love the material, you don’t even have to use what you gain, but it might just be the thing to bust out of a rut or amp up your technique to make you just that much better.

P.S. For all of you more evolved (older) players out there: Yes, I know that Santana and Knopfler influenced all of the guys who influenced me. You can feel all good that you knew that before I figured it out. Good job. Now get off my case or I’ll take your fiber and pill dispensers away from you. : )

Next week: Pt 2 – How to apply the pentatonic scale for happy blues and mad blues.

You can find out more about Hercules and his music at www.herculescastro.com or  his MySpace profile

Meet My Friend

I’d like to talk about my good friend, the big red button. By this, I mean the Record button. Now, I’m not talking about recording in the sense of producing CDs, videos or demos. That comes later. For now, I’m talking more along the lines of creating a progress report.

In the Beginning

When I was a young lad, one of my favorite things to do was plug my amp into a dual cassette recorder with a mic input, play anything, record it, then take the tape to school to generally irritate all of my friends. Later, I figured out if I took the tape and put it in the other deck, recorded its contents onto another blank tape with a drum machine plugged in and going, I could multi-track. After I repeated the process with multiple guitar tracks and a borrowed bass, the line noise had built up so much that you could barely hear the instruments. Plus, it was a one shot deal per recording so I learned to either live with the occasional mistake, or just don’t make mistakes. But I had a recording that not only captured a song idea for later use, but also a small snapshot in the development of my technique.

Monitor Your Progress

Now I’ll shift gears for a second. One thing that I find as I practice is that day to day, I never get better. It’s like a body builder who lifts, looks in the mirror, and sees no change. This can be very discouraging. But one thing that body builders are encouraged to do is have pictures taken of themselves periodically during their development. Over time, the changes are more noticeable. The same is true with playing and developing technique. This is why I highly recommend getting a big red button.

Resources are Everywhere

These days, with a computer in every home and a plethora of affordable recording hardware and software, there is no excuse not to push the big red button every now and then. That is, except for one; nerves. Very few things, save for live performance, can bring sweat to palms like knowing that the button has been pushed and it’s time to do your thing. Just remember this; it’s just you and the button. The button doesn’t judge, it just captures. You be the judge. But you have to put something down to judge.

Mistakes are OK

Also with most systems, along with a big red button comes a big Delete button. There’s no shame in using the big Delete button. You want to capture your best effort at that time, so don’t be afraid to try again and again and again until it’s as good as you can get it. If you can’t get it as good as you want it, step away from the button, work it out, come back, and push the button again.

It Gets Easier

The two things that I’m thankful for after years of using the big red button are, one, that I have something to listen to and say “Wow, I actually have progressed since then!”, or “That’s an area I’m still not happy with, I should focus on that”. The other is that I’ve become proficient and confident enough with the recording process that I can create real projects, make my own CDs inexpensively and on my terms, and help others with their projects.

So like The Chemical Brothers say “Don’t hold back, the time has come to galvanize, push the button”.

Links:

www.herculescastro.com  (Home page of our guest writer)