LH Tribute - Let's Rock !!!!!

[hammeredham]

I'm currently concentrating most of my efforts on the intro concept; a song for Billy; and the closer idea. My Billy piece is getting more refined and pieces are falling together. Also been spending some time playing, and most recent work was on what kind of guitar feedback I could get. My Peavey T60 guitar up close and personal to my Peavey Envoy 110 amp gave me a very nice, slowly building and seemingly controllable feedback with little effort...oh, BTW, that's good. ;D Being able to have some control gives you a better chance of using it creatively. I had also forgotten about that amp having quite a snarly growl in the "lead" channel, and had a good time removing some more hair from my head. ;D OK, there's a joke there......anybody other than me remember that ad for, oh what the heck was it, I think Maxell tape from probably 15 or 20 years ago where the guy is sitting in a chair in front of his stereo which is blasting him so hard that it's like being in a hurricane force wind? THIS IS CALLED *FUN*.

Also got my slide out after having given up on it years ago. I figured out the fundamental principle which was also why it sounded like crap years ago when I tried. Guitar players will get this one, those of you who aren't.........well, another time perhaps. Basically, the slide acts like nothing more complicated than a big, round fret that is on TOP the strings instead of underneath them and can *move* instead of being fixed. It's a lot like a fretless bass in that sense; much as that being all where you put your fingers, the slide is all in where you slide it. Plus it requires a light touch only, and to my surprise I had a resepctable slide sound instead of the garbage that I used to get!

Also was working on limbering my fingers of the left hand to get up a little more speed and accuracy on the guitar neck......yeah, can we say sore hand? I think I've been one of the "Sultans of Swing" for too long - "...he's strictly rythym doesn't want to make it cry or sing...." to borrow an appropriate phrase. But had some nice runs on the neck and if nothing else, it's good practice.

Also looking at other Billy lyrics to see if we can weave them together........



HH

[bostongirl]

HH - Glad that you are having fun. I am hoping through some process of osmosis to learn what you are talking about ;D ;D ;D. I do understand some of it and enjoy learning, just like to tease.

I have decided to take a leap and take some guitar lessons. I have written some things that I have music in my head to go with the lyrics and just have to get it out. Just for me .

I know that some folks are working on lyrics and hope to hear from more folks soon. So hopefully, we will have more ideas on Billy for you. I know that is the one you have your heart set on working on.

Boston

[starcrossed]

Working away....

I picked up my guitar today to practice and guess what...I sound like i am killing the darn thing...LOL I thought I was going to get better with practice? This is like the parking thread...just so much louder...LOL I will keep trying.

[hammeredham]

starcrossed said:

Working away....

I picked up my guitar today to practice and guess what...I sound like i am killing the darn thing...LOL I thought I was going to get better with practice? This is like the parking thread...just so much louder...LOL I will keep trying.

Actually, that's 100% NORMAL. Dont' know what axe you're trying to learn on; some are easier than others. Much as I hate to say it, an inexpensive electric is often as much of an *impediment* as it is a tool. There's a lot of stuff in the lower price range and while you can find a few amazing deals there, what you usually find are guitars with wanky necks that don't stay in tune for diddle. Hope that isn't what you're working with.

OOOOOO - GOOD TUNER is a MUST. I recently got a Korg CA30 which I think many if not most of the big retailers sell. It is dead on the money, easy to use - it gives you the digital version of the old needle meter tuners.....a pair of LED's to indicate if you are flat or sharp, and a digital display that shows the note. A guitar that holds tune and has a decent neck WILL BE in tune when you use the tuner to tune each string individually.......lesser guitars you are well to use the tuner for the two middle strings (D and G) and then tune the other strings to those two instead of the tuner. Reason: lotta guitars will tune quickly to the tuner and then when you hit a chord they sound like crap. Problem: guitar setup ain't right/good and it is more important that the guitar is in tune with *itself* in the early learning stages than it is to be deadly accurate to the tuner. Lotta technical issues there........

And it is equally true that price *alone* doth NOT a good axe guarantee. While there are some trends in the price vs. quality equation, guitars are funny that way.......... there are crappy guitars that are really expensive and there are good guitars that are surprisingly affordable and really, if you put them all up on a dartboard and blindfolded yourself before throwing the dart that's about what you're up against unless you have a more experienced player along with you when you're looking to purchase, rent or whatever. (and then, there are little personal preferences/differences between players)

So listen - if you sound like you're torturing small furry creatures for a while, don't sweat it. Everybody I've ever heard learning, including me, sounded like that for a while. Simple suggestion - start with some basic open chords and learn how to finger them while just picking through and listening to the sounds of each string as you pick it. You'll quickly learn which finger is where it ain't supposed to be when a string next to it goes THUD instead of a nice note. VERY important basic chords are E and Aminor and that's for later when you start barring and moving up the neck. That may not mean much right now, but you'll get it later. Get those two right and familiar with them, and you will have a lot of the later work already whipped. Other basic chords that can be quite effective when put together right are C, G, A and D with maybe an F.......lots of people have F problems. ;D (ohh,,, bad joke!) Also normal.

A good investment is one of these "7,488 guitar chords" type of books, especially if you can get one that has a "neck map" that shows, for a standard tuning, what the note is at each and every location on the neck. BTW, I wouldn't sweat having that memorized just now. But it WILL be useful later. These books are usually organized such that you can see the fingerings of each basic chord and the variants thereof. For now, forget the "variants thereof" mostly.

Yup, sound like cat torture for a while........but you WILL get better and if you can find a friend who already plays you can learn a lot from doing some real basic duelling.

GO FOR IT.

HH

[starcrossed]

Thank you HH! I have a starter kit. It is a Les Paul Pee Wee from Epiphone. I wanted to make sure that I have the drive to learn (which I do) before I invest in something more expensive.

And I think I sound like I am killing the cat with tweezers...slow and painful death...lol

I will practice the chords. My hands still hurt, but I guess that that will not go away for a long time too, right? So, I guess I will just keep annoying my neighbors and work on it.

At, least my singing is not bad...That would be horrible!LOL American Idol reject with an electric guitar?...I think I would have plenty of F notes then.

[hammeredham]

What a great line about "F notes". ;D Nice work, there starcrossed!! I'm not familiar with the Pee Wee spcifically but several of the Epiphone Les Pauls are pretty good. Not perhaps the equal of their Gibson big brothers, but pretty good nevertheless. It is either the 05 or 06 Epiphone catalog that shows Nancy Wilson from heart with an Epiphone Les Paul.

Just remember my joke - "the old chinese guitar song, TU NING" No matter what YOU are doing, it will always sound better when you're in tune.

HH

[hammeredham]

Oh, DUH on me..........."starter kit" did it come with an amp? That's a big thing right now, bundling a guitar or bass with a small practice amp. Fender does it with their Squier series, Peavey does it, Ibanez does it......probably others that I'm not recalling right now. Strikes me as a good idea. Big amps are pretty intimidating and not particularly the favorite of one's neighbors. ;D

HH

[hammeredham]

By the way, I seem to recall that back in the "Trees Karaoke" contest, the top three finishers were female and perhaps these three ladies might have some interest in joining our project.......

HH

[starcrossed]

It does have an amp...makes the killing sound that much louder.LOL

What contest was that? Is it on You Tube? Almost everything is on You Tube. I say ask them...

[starcrossed]

I am going to practice those chords now HH...Thanks for your help.

[Stiletto]

Let me get this straight..........you guys are learning guitar........improving on your guitar............writing lyrics.......collaborating.........discussing song styles........rythms.........melodies............learning to write songs......etc.........

Isn't it so cool that Marty and the boys have inspired you all like this.................so freaking cool.............

Keep up the great work everyone!!!

[bostongirl]

Hey Stil !!!!
Good to hear from you. Hope all is well.
Yes, this is freakin' cool!!! We have folks off doing alot of different things. I think it is really cool that we have plenty of time to develop some ideas and skills. Hope that you will be able to join us.

Boston

[starcrossed]

Hello Stil!!!! I miss seeing you on the board...big hug.

[starcrossed]

I have Sound Forge 8...I can do vocal recording now....

[bostongirl]

Hello my artisitc friends -

Hope folks are working on lyrics. We need lots of input to create 4 songs. As you can tell from the Billy entry and now this Dino entry, my humor is getting the best of me. I know it is a rhym-ey (Cheza - yes, I know that is not a real word ;D ;D).

Baby Brother

We love you little baby brother
You are so different from the other
You are the other Kourelis face
We love the way you play the bass

Your sound and voice are magic to hear
Your fans love you and think you’re dear
Your friends like to tease you constantly
It’s cuz they love you, we do believe

Chorus
Bunnies, bunnies everywhere
Don’t call us that, please do not dare
We love your eyes and love your hair
Beautiful heart, you make us care

About those panties on your head
You’ll hear about it til your dead
We need more goods in your store
Stock it up, please more, more, more

Dino, Dino you are the one
Come drink with us, let’s have some fun
Dino, Dino your music is sweet
Turn it up loud, we love the heat

Chorus
Bunnies, bunnies everywhere
Don’t call us that, please do not dare
We love your eyes and love your hair
Beautiful heart, you make us care

[starcrossed]

I am working on something. I wasn't happy with what I had...so I am starting once more.

[jillywilly65]

I am crazily ( is that a word?) trying to find out where everyone is?
Star, Cheza?? Mom Dad?? Marshall Will , Holly??

[Cheza]

Methinks Dino in the dress should come into play if we go humorous for him...

What's with the anti-bunny?

[Cheza]

hammeredham said:

Now back to "the project".......

Question: do we have any singing ladies who have singing female friends who can do an "Andrews Sisters" sort of sound? I have a concept for an opening for this which takes us back into the time frame of Chicago of the 20's/30's/40's with a touch of the prohibition era. Imagine the sounds of people walking down a street with cars going by, the usual sort of ambient street sounds........they head down an alley and towards a "speakeasy" which features not only the outlawed booze but of course, musical entertainment as well. Some ambient sounds of the "club" and the ladies take the stage to sing the intro piece before *our* performers take center stage.

Yeah - it *begs* for video. That is an incredibly intriguing idea, although one that complicates things a bit. Gotta ruminate a bit on that, and in the meantime just work on the main songs themselves although I will be spending some time with my intro concept piece.

HH

Hmmm...oh Kyle....wherefore art thou? Very intriguing concept, HH.

[bostongirl]

The anti-bunny comment is based on Dino's blogs. He always calls the fans bunnies. I do not recall where I read it, but there were a few fans that were not thrilled with the term. I think that some reference to the dress and lipstick would be perfect. Cheza - want to take a shot at a few lines. it would probably be better understood than the reference to the bunnies.

Ok - my friends - it is time to work on some more for Dino and some lyrics for Bobby. We could also use more ideas for Billy and Marty. I think the more ideas the better.