A New Kind of Jam

Well, it was a little over a year ago I got up the nerve to post a recording of my playing here. Since then I've made other recordings and played in a band for a while. My playing has certainly evolved over the past year.

There's a youtube channel called "Now You Shred" that has tons of really cool and fun backing tracks. In another guitar forum, somebody posted a link to a "stoner funk jam" and invited everybody to get out of their comfort zones.

So here's what I did:
https://soundcloud.com/maggior/stoner-funk-jam-maggior

The key here I found was to slow down! After about 2 or 3 minutes, I figured that out and it really came together.

It was fun! I put some delay, volume swells, and wah to some use.

Hope you enjoy. Check it out and post your own jam! The backing track is here:
http://youtu.be/2YTSSUMkSKU

maggior,

Wow,

This is far advanced from the first time or last time that you posted. Your flow has completely changed. Instead of a few seconds of it sounding like it flowed, most of this one sounds that way. I don't hear the hesitation of your fingers wanting to know what to play next before they move there. Is there any tricks you can share about getting it to flow?

Your use of the wha is quite tasty, they are so easy to over use.

I would choose to go listen to you for an afternoon or an evening. You came a long way in the past year.

So I've earned my first wow :-). LOL. It's hard for me to tell...thanks for saying you think I've come a long way in a year.

Thanks for listening. I thought this would grab people's attention since it's wildly different from what I've done before.

Since I'm not playing with a band anymore, I might consider taking one of these backing tracks to an open mic...or go to an open mic in the hopes of hooking up with some folks to jam.

I hope other will also give this jam a try. If anybody needs help in converting the youtube video to mp3, I can post instructions...or just provide the converted track.

So, do I have any tricks to getting it to flow?

I'm not an expert and don't want to pretend to be one...but I'll share some of the things I've honed in on that have helped me in the past year:

- LISTEN. Don't lose sight over what you are playing over. Acknowledge any changes, like breakdowns, in your solo. It makes what you play sound much better. Don't play OVER the backing track, make your playing part of it.

- Phrasing and rhythm are as important as note selection!! Anders taught me this lesson. When I watched him take a select few notes and made them sound awesome, I mean REALLY awesome, I realized just how important this is. I was totally blown over...really. This is one of the reasons I've stuck with the pentatonics for the past year. I clearly had more work to do other than just learning more scale shapes, modes. etc. Now I'm going to start expanding into things like chord tone soloing and perhaps modes.

- Freeform jam over backing tracks often...and record yourself. It's important to learn scales and techniques, but give yourself time to use them in the context of a jam. Put them to use as you see fit. Some things will work, others...not so much. Listen and learn. By doing this, you will develop your voice on the guitar and figure out how to convey what you want to say.

- Judiciously incorporate effects. On this jam, I decided to add some delay. The effect inspired me. I actually thought using wah on this would be too much since it was used heavily in the backing track. Turns out it worked quite well...used judiciously.

- Push the envelope. Certainly don't do this all the time, but do it regularly. Try higher tempos or styles or genres you aren't comfortable with. By having to test the boundaries, you may find they are further out than you thought. Necessity is the mother of invention...you may surprise yourself with what you come up with to keep up.

- Allow yourself to fail. This ties in with pushing the envelope. When you push the envelope, you may very well crash and burn. So what! Eventually you'll get to where you are pushing toward.

Jimmy Page would do this all of the time. Listen to some of his solos, and you'll hear some edgy somewhat sloppy playing. He was riding that edge...and some brilliant things came out of it.


One last thing and I'll shut up :). I'll share a profound experience I had here. Last year, I posted my first blues jam (Jam in Bm). The same night I posted a recording of myself playing the solo from "Let it Be". I was VERY pleased with myself about being able to nail the "Let it Be" solo. As an afterthought, I posted my blues jam. The result? I got a small handful of comments and complements on my "Let it Be" solo...but LOTS of people commented on my blues jam!!! This left me totally puzzled!! A musician friend of mine explained that people understand and appreciate that the blues jam came from me...and that means something. The Let it Be solo, though good, was just mimicking something that had been done already. The audience, even guitar playing audience, appreciates something that has come from YOU as a player.

Remember that the next time you are getting bogged down learning a solo note for note. Certainly there is value in learning some things note for note...but don't be afraid to put your stamp on it. Actually, you should strive to do just that!! Listen to some live versions of songs by the original artist, and you'll hear where even they will take liberties with what they've done before!!!

An example I point to is my version of the "China Grove" solo. This occurred out of necessity...I ran out of time to learn it entirely. So for the part I found tricky, I came up with my own lick to fill in. I have yet to find somebody that can say which lick that is!! So I made it my own...and nobody could tell! As long as you keep the spirit of the solo, you are good. And it makes it easy for you to play since YOU came up with it.

Hopefully somebody find something useful in all of that. :).

Oh man.....I never like this funk or reggie like sound. But I could totaly have this in my playlist on my way to work. :D
Im almost wana lay back in my couch and light a joint or something!

This is awesome! And I really dig it because, you slower the better! :P

Keep it up!

Nice guitar btw. ;)

Originally Posted by: maggiorA musician friend of mine explained that people understand and appreciate that the blues jam came from me...and that means something. The Let it Be solo, though good, was just mimicking something that had been done already. The audience, even guitar playing audience, appreciates something that has come from YOU as a player.

I can totally relate on that! That is my thoughts exacly!

Originally Posted by: SvanholmOh man.....I never like this funk or reggie like sound. But I could totaly have this in my playlist on my way to work. :D
Im almost wana lay back in my couch and light a joint or something!

This is awesome! And I really dig it because, you slower the better! :P

Keep it up!

Nice guitar btw. ;)

I can totally relate on that! That is my thoughts exacly!

Thanks for listening and commenting!!

I had never heard anything like this either, but it grabbed me instantly. The backing track was VERY cool sounding. When I posted this elsewhere, I had joked about breaking out the lava lamps and black velvet artwork :).

That guitar is great...I got it last year.

Hi Rich, just wanted to add my congratulations to the other guys' - this is sophisticated, chilled out guitar work - very atmospheric. And thanks also for the wise advice you added - you should write a blog for GT! There is life after the band! All the best, Steve

Hi Steve -

Thanks so much for listening and for your kind words. I'm a big fan of chilled out music (Tangerine Dream and similar), so I guess it's no surprise that I would be into this type of guitar work.

As for writing a blog...I would love to do that, though I'm not sure I'm qualified. I like writing about my own experiences and hope others find something useful that helps them with their journey.

Sounds pretty nice. Please don't get me wrong, but I think it's a nice change from your Blues Jams. Your Blues Jams were good too, but it's cool to hear something completely different from you :)

Thanks! The problem with playing over the same backing track all of the time is you get stale. I learned you have to switch it up. When I saw how much improvising solos for various songs improved my playing, I decided it was time to switch things up.

What's funny is that it's completely different...but is it really? I can hear some of my stock licks and phrases, but they are played differently to fit the backing track, so they become "new".

The wah is so much fun. You can make the guitar just scream, make it wail.

Indeed. The same lick played in two different contexts can sound like two completely different licks. I've noticed something similar at a Clinic held by Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal at Copenhagen Guitar Show 2013, actually. At one point he played his cover of the famous "Pink Panther Theme", and about halfway through the shred-solo part, he played something that sounded strangely familiar, but I couldn't place it at the time. Later I realized that the familiar part was... The main "motif" from GNR's "Estranged"! I'm not sure if the part exists in the original "Pink Panther Theme", though. Basically the same melody played in two different contexts. Just like some of your licks are :) They work well for Blues, but certainly sound great for Funk as well!

I agree with you on the Wah. It's a pretty fun toy, and it can sound great when used properly :)