I’m having a bit of a dry day today. I don’t really feel like writing or reading too much. I am trying to research a few things I have wanted to write about but somehow I just keep ending up back on YouTube.

Although I don’t really want a Dime signature, I am pretty sure my next guitar purchase is going to be a Dean ML of some sort. Here is a Guitar World video review for the Dimebag signature Cowboy from Hell I just watched on YouTube .

Apparently the tape is to keep the strings from catching on the pickups when Dime did his crazy dive bombs.

Well it is December, so I guess it’s ok to start talking about Christmas now. One thing about Christmas is I always get guitar stuff. People know me as a guitar guy and so they know getting me guitar related stuff is always a sure bet.

The good thing about guitars is there is a range of very expensive to very cheap stuff you can get. So I just wanted to go over some of the cheaper items you can buy your guitar playing friend for Christmas. As the title says, these things make great stocking stuffers.

1. Guitar Strings
Guitar strings are always a sure bet. The thing about strings is they wear out and they have to be replaced. Also, it doesn’t matter if buddy has spare guitar strings already, if you buy them they will always get used. There is one key factor though, you MUST make sure you get strings that the person will use. Guitar players can be very specific about what they put on their guitar. So, try and get an old package from strings they have used or better yet, just ask them what kind of strings they like on their guitar.

There are three things you want to know: type, gauge, and brand. The type refers to whether they are steel acoustic, nylong acoustic, or electric strings. The gauge is the thickness and is usually light, medium, or heavy. And the brand could be one of hundreds. These three things are very important. If you get your guitar player a set of heavy strings and they play light strings, they may never put them on their guitar.

Continue reading Stocking Stuffers for Guitar Players

Although I have never really been a big Satriani fan, nobody can deny that he is an amazing guitarist. The subtitle of this month’s Guitar World reads “He taught Kirk Hammett & Steve Vai… and now he teaches you!” That’s pretty exciting if you ask me because all three of those are some crazy guitar players.

This issue really is focused on the guitar solo. Each article has some relation to that underlying theme and if you can master everything this issue has to offer you will be a better player because of it.

Superhero

Joe Satriani talks about his new album and gives us some tips on how to write rock solos. He stresses playing slowly to learn and that its not always what you play, but how you play it. He says “if you pick every note identically in an absolutely plain way, the succession of notes will not sound very interesting.” The article has 22 different tabbed learning licks with audio on the CD to accompany them.

Boogie Man

Joe Satriani gives a step by step walk through of playing his 1987 hit Satch Boogie.

Reinventing the Steel

Trivium talks about being accepted by the elders of thrash, playing with ex-Pantera members (RIP Dime), the necessity for guitar solos, and their upcoming album The Crusade.

Young Guns

An interview and harmonizing solo lesson with Trivium’s Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu

Continue reading Guitar World: April 2006 - Learn to Satch Boogie

March’s Guitar World is out and I’m pretty stoked about this one because it contains a step by step guide to playing Crazy Train. It includes a tab and a video lesson on the CD. I have already pretty much mastered the song. The video doesn’t include all of the little fills and licks, but the tab does a good job at illustrating them, so anyone should be able to learn the song from this lesson. One other thing worth noting is the video of Eric Johnson playing Cliffs of Dover on the CD. I haven’t heard that song for a pretty long time and when I watched the video I melted. It really is an amazing song and is 10 times as amazing when you get to watch him play it.

5 Song Transcriptions

1. Fall Out Boy - Dance Dance
2. Johnny Cash - Folsom Prison Blues
3. Green Day - Jesus of Suburbia
4. Eric Johnson - Cliffs of Dover
5. Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train

The Magazine also includes the following articles:

The Cover Story: Randy Rhoads - Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne’s Guitar Genius!

The tribute is actually a series of articles that give a rounded overview of Randy’s career and his tragic demise.

Randy Rhoads & Ozzy Osbourne

A dove, a bat, an airplane. Launching his solo career with guitarist Randy Rhoads, Ozzy Osbourne found both fortune and tagedy in the form of flying objects.
Continue reading Guitar World: March 2006 - Learn to play Crazy Train

I know it’s a little late, but here’s my overview of February’s Guitar World. I was a little skeptical when I saw the cover. What is Jimmy page doing with Jack White? I was really hoping they werent doing some kind of colaboration. When I read the article I realized it was just a discussion about their blues influences. The article really focuses on the pioneering of blues by Charley Patton, Son House, and Robert Johnson, and how those artists influenced Page and White. I few pages later it is followed by a five page article on John Bonham, the drummer from Led Zeppelin.

5 Song Transcriptions

1. Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
2. White Stripes - Blue Rochid
3. Coheed and Cambria - The Suffering
4. Korn - Twisted Transistor
5. Deep Purple - Lazy

The Cover Story: The Art of Playing the Devil’s Music

Jimmy Page and Jack White talk about their musical roots and their blues influences.

Guitar World Honors the Drummer Behind Led Zeppelin’s Rise and Fall

A look into the life of one of rock’s greatest drummers, John Bonham.

Stair Master

The Ultimate Guide to Playing the Ultimate Classic Rock Guitar Song, Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven
Jimmy Brown goes through each part of Stairway to Heaven with us and shows us each parth. This article is accompanied by a video lesson on the CD.

Continue reading Guitar World: February 2006