Sea Legs

I had my sea legs on this week, balancing the decks of the Axes & Anchors cruise ship for guitar workshops and concerts. Billed as the first ever guitar-dominated cruise, sailing for four rockin’ days from Miami to Key West, Florida and the Bahamas, I knew as soon as I heard about it that I had to be on this ship! With over “40+ badass rock shows” and “25+ workshops with the masters”, Axes did not fail to deliver! Here are a few of my lowlights as well as the highlights from my sea adventure: Lowlights Throughout the workshop and concert events, there were three points of disinterest and confusion for me. Zakk Wylde. It confused me as to why Zakk used most of his workshop time to play instead of converse with the audience. As well, his soloing was extremely long and repetitive. He lost me several times. What was his point? It was like some kind of sonic masturbation and it wasn’t even sexy, it was boring. But then when he spoke, I got it. He’s not well-spoken, so better for him to just play. Yet, he did not even look at the audience. I don't understand. If I went on stage and did not engage the audience and played the same notes over and over someone would inevitably take me aside and straighten me out. Also, his crude joke about having a minute-and-a-half sexual encounter with his wife was not cool. Great, I’m all for two adults making the most of a few minutes when they have it, but to hear him talk like this in this venue just made me think he has brain damage. This, supposedly, is a world class guitar hero. I was unimpressed. Yngwie Malmsteen. Much respect to Yngwie for his technical proficiency. However, his arrogance was hard to take. His need to play everything fast, to deliver it with over-the-top theatrics, and to check his hair on the side of the stage, dated him to the 1980s and made him simply boring to watch. Breaking Benjamin and most of the other young rock bands on this cruise were really very average. In fact, I only saw BB’s set because I thought Act of Defiance was on that stage. Also because of bands like BB, I no longer listen to Sirius radio rock stations. I don’t enjoy these kinds of generic bands. They all sound the same to me. It saddens me that with so much access to interesting music, young people still gravitate towards this stale excuse for rock. It’s as if these bands are posing edge. This is impossible to do. You either live it through experience or you don’t have it. Similar to the Axes set, a BB version of a Tool-Nirvana-Pantera medley exists on youtube, and I rest my case. Straight Stories To me, nothing is more valuable than a lived story. When an artist shares stories from their work and travels, particularly when the words come from been-there-done-that wisdom, nothing can be more useful as a learning tool. Gilby Clarke, ex-guitarist for Guns N’ Roses, is now fronting his own straight-ahead rock band (he played a few songs), but either way he’s spent considerable time in the music business trenches. Hearing stories about his gear preferences, his guitar practice, songwriting methods, and his approach to recording – both the triumphs and the challenges – and recognizing their similarity to my own experiences (his just on a grander scale), reaffirms that we all go through the same things. No matter the level of player, or their outward success, we all seem to get caught in the same frustrating snags, whether they are creative slumps or music business-related hassles. “Use your influences but don’t try to be your influences” ~ Gilby Clarke Using All Working Parts Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal is also an ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarist. Wielding a Vigier double-neck guitar, he launched into a Pink Panther-themed loop to break down his example of the importance of considering all the parts of the big picture of a song or musical idea (e.g., bass line, chords, melody, or other guitar parts or layers). His point was that, as a guitarist and musician, the greater understanding we have of all the working parts, the more we will strengthen our creative abilities. With this he added, “Don’t worry about what gear you don’t have.” Instead, use what you do have, work with it, and maximize what you can, including learning the science behind string vibration and pick-up placement. Applying a Conscious Mindset Chris Broderick’s two-handed tapping technique is simply incredible. Yet, when asked about his influences he laughed and said that ‘no’ he could not just play something from one of his heroes. Perhaps he was just being respectful of these masters, wanting to ensure he did their work justice, or leave it alone. He also emphasized the psychology and mindset behind guitar playing. For example, he used to play for endless hours a day but has now moved to a regime of warm-ups and mindful playing, using this time as an opportunity to investigate ideas and look for solutions to overcome problems. “I transfer back between playing with a metronome for more intentional playing and backing tracks… with backing tracks I can just let go.” Avoiding Clichés If Marty Friedman ever tires of his music career he could always take up comedy. His workshop was filled with humor and delivered with humbleness. He doesn’t take himself too seriously. He also said he doesn’t warm up but knows he should. He avoids clichés and has no go-to patterns. Instead, he plays without drawing from a lot of theory (e.g., modes (I use modes) and plays a lot to get comfortable taking risks. This is also what I do - constant improvising, changing it up with new backing tracks so I don’t get caught in ‘go-to zones’. He also said he doesn’t like the sound of muted notes and so does not always play with a pick. I also do this (so, I felt re-affirmed by Marty’s words). I only started doing this in recent years when I saw Alex Skolnick doing it in his jazz DVD. At first, this was one of the weakest techniques for me but now it is a key part of my playing. I like the option of playing both with a pick and with fingers. If something doesn’t feel right with a pick, I move to my fingers and vice versa.

Improvising Voice & Guitar Finally, I got to meet Alex Skolnick! (awe... he was kind and humble… Oh no, now I completely love him! … sigh). I was able to ask him about improvising with voice and guitar (had previously seen him with Stu Hamm doing this) and he demonstrated the technique, which he borrowed from George Benson. He also mentioned something about sixtuplets. I’m not sure what as my thoughts froze with an aha moment because I had been working on violin loops on my iPad with my guitar and was stuck. Now I know I need to use sixtuplets! Major milestone! These ideas will be my new things to work on at the rehearsal space! (Also, his two shows with the Alex Skolnick Trio, a jazz and a metal set, completely rocked - the kind of experience you always remember where you were when you heard it!). Now, with all this new inspirational knowledge, it’s back to the fretboard…