another lesson for the world weary drop d and i only say this cuz those who know what i mean, agree n those who don't it can't be overstated or undersold n not to overstate it it's justa deeper level n somethin that's hard to get jaded about cuz if yer doin it wrong, it ain't workin so ya won't play it that's built right in n don get me wrong it's justa tuning thingy it's notta whole new world but it does offer a new perspective that you either respect or yer jus not gettin it soundgarden - outshined joe walsh - the confessor yes - and you and i they all have one thing in common a certain mood, a certain feeling hard to put a word to it it's kinda like a doorway to a dreamlike state n if you think that sounds pretentious or if you think the sound is pretentious yer jus not takin it seriously focussing attention properly like, kinda jus on the superficial level of it it's possible to avoid that or ignore that, or miss it but it's not easy "lookin california n feelin minnesota" "what you see is only on the surface" "coming quickly to terms of all expression laid" ...this makes it more obvious... emphasis on low roots n 5ths etc it doesnt offer easy opportunity for fancy or flowery decoration so it's only gonna work with that like... low... foreboding... attitude or getting in touch with fundamental inner vibe ...this grounds you... whereas open C C - G - C - G - C - E root 5 - root 5 - root 3 and drop D D - A - D - G - B - E root 5 - root 4 - 6 - 2 ...the chord is high in C ...but, in D the only real chord is low, with the 5th yer still playin a regular guitar but ya gotta droning bass line in the back if ya want it ...better jus... ...leave it on... thus, i urge any n all explorers o that realm to jus play around with common keyed chords ...D major, D minor... drag em... up n down ...anywhere ya like... whatever sounds right jus remember yer in a zone here's a few starters n i'd include a sound file but the whole idea or point is that you should play yer own soul n it may take years to find, or fall slash stumble upon something etc that you really, really... really like but it shouldn't... take... too long to find somethin ya think is cool
D - F#m - G - A |--2--|--5--|--7--|--9--| |--3--|--7--|--8--|--10-| |--2--|--6--|--0--|--9--| |--0--|----- |--0--|--- |--0--|--
D F G F D F G A G F D
if D is zero or ground or base cuz yer in drop-D tuning, etc the progression is 0 1 2 1 0 1 2 3 2 1 ........... ... ..... . ... .
when i first started jammin, n this is bass, i would play a few covers i knew - n not the whole tunes, jus the main basic riffs - the kinda stuff that everybody knows at that level, or should:
nib war pigs paranoid iron man tom sawyer space truckin smoke on the water sunshine on your love i'd love to change the world whole lotta love
these top 10 basic classic riffs, that every rocker has heard a million times already, are kinda crucial to absorb jus the concept o this particular style o music - n these are given as an example for classic rock, roots o metal, etc - but prolly most different genres have their basic lists too
anyways, what i would do, is i would play these thingies until i got blue in the fingers, n then bored, n then make up a buncha other riffs n stuff, not really knowing any chords or scales etc, other than what above i'd been exposed to - the kinda riffs fellow jammers show each other, or you can pick up off the radio, or from memory, without even a trained ear
what happened was, i developed a slacker approach to pentatonic box riff style, which is just minor blues basically - n that's the fundamental core of any rock music still even today - this foundation, simple patterns like this, otherwise it's not rock, it's something different - folk n pop have their definite chord theories, specific flavors o key changes that work for established reasons - like a bridge up a minor 3rd, that sorta thingy
alla which i knew nothing about, even tho technically i hadda piano in me house - n here i finally get to me whole point - jus jam
jus play the riffs
i known a buncha jammers thru the years that knew nothing about music, some of whom could not even tune their axes, but they wrote killer jams - lack of rhythm can also be a plus: you gravitate to 5:4 time or something - which rules - you don't know any better - yer not restricted by whatcha hafta do or be or play - don think it's unworthy
but there comes a time when you've milked that for all it's worth, n ya hafta learn the names o yer strings - what keys n chords are - n finish writing what are obviously ultimately destined to be yer fkn masterpieces already
today i got like 300 originals, about 10% i adopted from other people - n some o these nipples don even play any more - waste o fkn mind matter - i'll hold on to em for em - but alotta those are some o me better tunes, cuz it's more than one head contributing to the ideas - they're less 2 dimensional - n i mean, no matter how badass you are, even Mozart comes off as 2D sometimes, no matter how complete n perfect that musical geometry - it's inescapable
today here's a list i play
good times bad times bring it on home lemon song
but basically, in general mosta the first 5 zeppelin albums aerosmith's first, sabbath's first 4 there's about 20 rush tunes all told
i been playin for like 25+ years now n i never had one real legit official lesson even yet - and it shows - n i mean, with me first bass, i was given a couple books by mel bay, but my mind doesn't work that way - n i got tiny hands - it was like designed to frustrate me - i'm no paul mccartney or geddy lee - jus get over it, mosta us will never be - but what i am almost kinda becoming is like a john paul jones, geezer butler kinda thingy
the important thing is to appreciate the spirit of the music, the emotion n idea n experience etc that's being transmitted musically - and it helps if you know yer scales n chords n keys - which allows you to do more intricite harmonious things - a poet's vocabulary if i'd had the tab for yours is no disgrace at 14 n then a buncha other things everything woulda worked out differently maybe alotta tunes i have now woulda never been written cuz i woulda known better than to even go there in the first place and maybe i'd have just as many i'm the type that keeps everything but this approach is more naturally authentically organically when you come up with something simple n basic n groovy yer not slumming that's what yer really feeling therefore it's actual music the type o stuff everybody should be playing
plucking hand is just the
thumb and first 2 fingers
this could work for metal
trance or new age equally stuff like that build on it etc
kinda a background mantra
if there's any riffs in yer mind
this might help clarify a little
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spaceyhippie's blogs, last updated : August 22, 2008
