In part 2 we explored the concept of using video to share songs with band mates,so they could practice in comfort at home in front of their computer. The possibility of finding a good quality video of your favorite band is good and if you’re lucky with the camera angles and a good video director, you can actually see the artist performing the original chords and licks,thereby giving you an edge with learning the material. If every band member would watch these videos including drummers,bassists and vocalists you would be greatly surprised in what you can learn. Remember: Pigheaded determination while learning and practicing.

Alright, you’re in the garage and jamming together too a new song everyone has listened to at home and maybe even watched a video or two about it, when someone stops and says ” Aw man I can’t play that part like that guy plays it,we can’t do this.” Well just cool down there a minute cowboy,nobody ever said we had to cover the song the exact same way the original band did. Hey I’ve got great idea we all can agree upon…” let’s all agree to perform the song at about 80% orginal,that way it is an attainable and reachable goal for us.” If everyone agrees and the songs are not super complicated and you all are average or above players you’ve got it made. Remember to dedicate time to practice…..GOT IT?

O.K. now you’ve got the flow of the song ,the bass and drummer are in perfect time,the rhythm guitar is hitting all the right chords and your lead guitarist has all the licks down pat to about 80% and you’re saying to yourselves, this sounds really good,I think our audience would appreciate that rendition and we’re all happy with the song..except we have forgotten to address the Vocal portion of the cover tune in this article. If you guys are fortunate enough to have a “good” vocalist, then please work with them and cater to their needs such as transposing chordal structure by playing the song in a different key and being crisp and clear with your timing and breaks and tone and especially your volume. These fore mentioned items will be addressed in future articles.

For those of you whom do not have a “good or even a decent vocalist”…..TRY TO FIND ONE FAST. Just partially joking there. I offer little advice to bands that lack a decent singer other than have this person dedicate time to their own practice at home.  Be honest with them and make sure they understand the importance of at least being an adequate vocalist,then you can take it from there in any direction you want…..hopefully for the good!

Please you people, go have a band meeting next week and discuss this theory along with the direction of the group. Pick songs that you know the other band members would like and would be easy to cover without lacking some interesting parts. You can tweak parts and make minor adjustments without disturbing the overall attempt. Just agree to the 80% rule and you’ll be fine. Please visit www.newtechboomers.com for all your musicial needs.

Enjoy yourselves,

Bill

I used to play the air guitar. That line opens a song I wrote five years ago. It reflects a dream of mine, a dream I now fulfill to some extent.

When me and the boys get together on Sundays I don’t play the air guitar anymore I play a Stratocaster. An American Stratocaster for that matter. A 1979 American Stratocaster indeed. I’m 50 years old now and when I bought it five years ago I stopped playing the air guitar.

I’ve always wanted to play the guitar. I’m a baby boomer you know and being born in 1958 I was too young to enjoy a brand new Elvis Presley emerging on the scene. BUT, we had AM Radio. Ah, yes…that most basic of all automobile entertainment of the day. And, oh what musical classics came noisily out of that single dash speaker. By the time I was 10 years old the Beatles were cutting their 4th album and always in the top 25. Motown was hot coming over the AM airwaves. Heavy metal bands from Europe and the U.S. also graced AM Radio but only a few radio stations were playing their music because they were censored more closely at that time and some music was just too risky to broadcast. The fear of public outcry and having advertisers pull their spots was the rule.

Woodstock was being held just 65 miles from where I grew up but I was too young to participate. I remember it all so well, as I wore the vinyl off the album after its release. Growing up playing the “air guitar” was a pleasure. I always wanted to imitate Dicky Betts of the Allman Brothers or Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, or Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, along with countless other artist (too numerous to list). I really dug those sons and now I’m blessed with the opportunity to recreate and relive some of those magical rock moments, along with their thunderous licks and tricks, with my band.

I’ve put a great many years into learning my favorite instrument, the guitar, and now I’m finally feeling a little worthy of the great rock masters abilities to play and create those great classics we all know and love.

If any of you out there share my passion for music, I want to hear from you. If any of you participate in a garage band comprised of classic rock loving baby boomers, I want to hear from you. If you’re a solo artist currently and you’re looking for a place to hang, come here and voice your needs or wants and maybe together we can help one another.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT BOOMER MUSIC STORE!!

I want to hear from all you Baby Boom Era musicians, no matter what you play or how well you sing. I want us all to revel in the past while we rock into our future.

Bill

P.S. Check out this very cool video by clicking on the link below. What a great idea and a worthy organization. Now, why didn’t I think of that?

Playing For Change | Song Around The World “Stand By Me” from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

As previously discussed in lesson 1, having a CD or Tape player available during rehearsal is an invaluable tool. The ability to listen to a piece of music as a group makes the song’s learning curve a little easier.

If your band wants to get tight, all members must practice the material of a given song at home. You can’t take the chance of leaving it up to each member to be responsible for gathering their own material and practice at home. To solve this problem a band usually designates one member who is responsible for making copies of cover songs for each member to take home and practice along with. That designated person would have to put forth a bit of effort in order to burn individual songs from CD’s or download Internet tunes from their home PC’s and burn a CD full of cover tunes for the band to listen to. Some bands even swap and share digital files such as mp3’s or flash drives full of songs. This also advances the song learning curve by allowing each member constant and easy access to current material and a resource for further reference.

Another method to advance the learning curve of a particular song through individual practice and supplying the entire band with that song in an instant is through Google and YouTube. You can use this tool to e-mail videos to each member’s personal computer.  Now, how easy is that??  Through the use of Google, band members can sit in front of their computer and watch the video while they practice the song along with the audio.

Now, assuming that each member has a computer at home, the designated “song fetcher” can e-mail each member the video.  Google has access to literally googillians of videos, some of which aren’t worthy of a distant mention and some are not worthy at all.  Some videos are homemade tutorials, a lot of which aren’t worthy of mention and others are of “the average Joe garage-band guy” video taping him/herself performing their best rendition of another artist’s song.  Once again, some of these videos are not worth the “click” and others are extremely good.

I’m telling you all this because I truly believe that by using quality videos you can sometimes watch the original band perform the song and you can pick up playing tips along the way.  Whether you are a drummer, guitarist, pianist, bassist or whatever, watch & learn, listen & learn.  Use current technology to your advantage.  Make it easy & fun for your band mates to practice at home. Then when rehearsal time arrives, everyone will have listened to or hopefully have viewed, how the song is to be played.  It really is a valuable practicing too; USE IT!

In the next lesson, we will discuss how to utilize these original recordings as song structure, then tweek the arrangements to suit your playing abilities and styles.

Be sure to visit our New Tech Boomer Music Store Here.

Rock on Boomer Brothers & Sisters!!

Bill

Check Out The Phantom “Guitar George” and try to play along.

Whether or not you have been in a garage band for several years or a few days,there are some tips and tricks that all members of the band should try to adhere to. Below is a partial list of my favorite recommendations for garage band harmony.

• Be on time for practice. You may be having a bad day, but your band mates are really excited to play.
• Bring all the gear you need to sound as professional as possible (buy quality equipment) and make sure it works !
• Ask for advice or feedback on your equipment and your sound. Interact and share knowledge with each other (you can always learn something from another musician)
• When someone else is tuning their instrument, please stop playing and let that person tune in a quiet environment.
• Whenever learning new music, it is best to have a CD recorded with all the new songs and distribute copies to all band members. Each member should practice their respected parts at home and be ready when rehearsal comes. If you want to learn new music as a group during rehearsal without individual practice, then you must have the recorded music available for playback during practice (trying to get everyone to remember exactly how a cover song goes is rare)
• Don’t be an idiot. Everyone is together for one common purpose, to enjoy the gift of music and playing an instrument. Don’t pretend to be someone you’re not. And if you are an idiot….. good luck, you won’t be around long…. keep searching.
• Make sure all instrument sound levels are the same. Whether you want to play loud or soft, be sure everyone is at the same output levels. (everyone hates that one guy or girl whose amp is cranked up and overpowers the other musicians.)
• Try to keep all guitar and microphone and speaker cables away from power cords. (reduces chance of humming or buzzing through PA system.
• You don’t need to be a professional sound tech to have great sound, but you do need to spend some time learning and understanding your equipment. There are many different ways to hook-up amplifiers and speakers and effects, so take some time as a group and learn the basics and remember to always ask other musicians questions regarding how they set-up their live sound.

• Always remember to share ideas and songs with your band mates. If you are working on cover tunes, make sure everyone likes the song and has fun playing it. If you are writing original music, determine who is responsible for content, in other words who is writing lyrics, who is writing melody etc….  ( just make sure everyone has an opinion on the final cut)

There are many other pointers I have left out of this article, but some good things are just to be left alone for another day.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT OUR GARAGE BAND MUSIC STORE.

Happy Jamming !

Bill

The Doors – Love Me Two Times

After a few minutes of reading the manuals I simply hooked up the pedal board with one supplied cable and plugged in my trusty Strat with another cable and voila’ I was rocking with the channel 1 factory preset called Stadium Rock. What a fantastic introduction to a truly new tech amplifier. The Cyber-Twin SE is an upgraded version of the classic Cyber-Twin,which went from the latest “gee-whiz” gadget to the “go to” toolbox for thousands of guitarists worldwide. Professional guitarists and hobbyists alike use the Cyber-Twin to create great tones they hear in their heads….without the agony of hauling multiple amps and a big bag of effects devices.

I had 50 amp models and 200 presets available at the touch of my foot with the well constructed pedal board and programming the board was a very simple process. The two 12AX7 pre amp tubes plus analog solid state preamp gave me very realistic recreations of classic and modern circuts while I probed deep into the amp to tweak my sound. The 2 x 65 Watt (stereo) Dyna-Touch Power Amp was toneful,dynamic and powerful. I am very ,very pleased with this modern yet classic sounding amplifier and I don’t have to worry anymore about lugging all that equipment around and the possibility of cable failure. I am inclined to think that this is the last amplifier i”ll ever need.