11 replies to this topic

[Auto-Immune]

What are some of your tips for getting better at guitar? Soloing for example..when I try to learn them through tabs I get so lost..and improvising forget about it. Some people say learn scales but I dont understand how practicing a scale over and over again will make you play solos. I dont want to play crazy led zep riffs just have at least some soloing ability. I dont even know where to start or which scales to learn or how to go about doing this at all. Also do I learn a lot of other peoples songs to get my own style or just fool around on my own. The extent of my ability on guitar is nirvana songs. I can play any "nevermind" solo..but the more elaborate ones like on "bleach" or "incesticide" I have no idea..

[polychorus100]

i would find another band that your passoinate about that has harder solos and learn some of theirs. i was in that phase of only knowing nirvana songs when i started guitar, but once i heard jimi hendrix's are you experniced it changed the way i thought of my guitar playing, and i learned every song exactly and how he played them live and it helped my playing a lot. you just have to find other bands, differnt styles, learning scales is a good thing, but what matters IS HOW YOU Use it that matters. try working on technoique more. bleach songs are not that hard, mr. mostause is the hardest song on there, incesticde is easy, try learning anerusym, big long now is just two strings and two power cord changes, dive is chords and open note stuff. the solos are fundenmentally harder on nevermind, in utero has the hardest ones

[Auto-Immune]

I already know pretty much every nirvana song excepting most of the solos. I learned them because they were the easiest to learn and obviously my favorite band..what scales are good to learn?

[polychorus100]

try learning standard e pentonic scale and the c one. try to do that with someone who playing the chords behind you and solo to that.

[johnnykazz]

try learning standard e pentonic scale and the c one. try to do that with someone who playing the chords behind you and solo to that.

I know this is an old post, but I am also in the same boat. Just last month I finally figured out the solo of School by looking at tabs (which were inaccurate btw and extremely hard to follow) but after finally figuring it out I realized that you have to look at those tabs and then try your damndest to decipher it and then work on making it actually sound like the solo haha cause those tabs are so ####ed for solos. I am looking on how to do small solos over my own written music. Lately, I have been going the Kurt route and just soloing the same vocal melody that I came up with sometimes with some extra effects on it. But even that takes me a while to find the right notes. I'm a ####ty guitar player though so naturally a solo takes me a while and improvising is also out of the question. Would you recommend I learn some basic scales too for my own music?

[brandonwinmill]

I know this is an old post, but I am also in the same boat. Just last month I finally figured out the solo of School by looking at tabs (which were inaccurate btw and extremely hard to follow) but after finally figuring it out I realized that you have to look at those tabs and then try your damndest to decipher it and then work on making it actually sound like the solo haha cause those tabs are so ####ed for solos. I am looking on how to do small solos over my own written music. Lately, I have been going the Kurt route and just soloing the same vocal melody that I came up with sometimes with some extra effects on it. But even that takes me a while to find the right notes. I'm a ####ty guitar player though so naturally a solo takes me a while and improvising is also out of the question. Would you recommend I learn some basic scales too for my own music?

Read my earlier post in this thread. There are so many ways to solo. It's very personal. When you cover a song the solo is the chance for you to step out and put your own spin on it. You want to keep it similar to protect the integrity of the writer but play it differently. I said it before, the writer of the song or solo rarely plays it the same way twice so that is why there is some confusion in the tabs. If the original plays the root notes of the chords in the solo then try playing 3rds or fifths in place of the root or vice versa. It will still work fine. I usually like to use different notes but obviously hit the melody and i'll move it up an octave or two and it sounds similar but different. People recognize it but its different. I guess you understand that playing thirds or fifths requires a little bit of theory. This is how i learned theory. When i decide to play different notes then i need to know what those notes are so i look up the different chords and extensions and pull notes out of it. I rather learn that way then just sit there and study theory, as if. When you learn you can start playing harmonized solos where you double track the guitar and one is playing one note and the other is playing the same note or an extension in a different octave. That is the real point of a whammy pedal. It's to harmonize with one guitar and not have to double track.

Auto Immune -
I told you already that if you think its hard or that you suck at it then you will. If you learn nothing more and change nothing but play with more confidence then you'll be surprised at how much of a difference it can make. I'm writing a song right now about confidence. You have to believe you can pull it off and if you do and play it like you own it, people will buy into you. So basically if you don't believe in yourself, why should anyone else. Plenty of guitar players suck in comparison to others yet a lot of times the ones who suck but try their asses off and play with an attitude or play angry translate to the masses while the technical savants and prodigies lose the audience 10 seconds into the song. I am on the team that sucks but doesn't know it! ha!

I told you that i was trying to write a song that mimicked Kurt just for fun. I should have been done with it a month ago but i had to write more songs for a movie score that i had already agreed to. Anyways, i have it almost complete and i ran into some roadblocks. I thought i hit Kurt's tone dead on the money and when i started mastering it the problems started. It's like as it compresses the tone begins to change and it gets away from where i wanted it. I have been working on the initial mixing and mastering for 2 weeks and it isn't getting better. I said that anyone that wanted to practice soloing could solo over this one and send me the file and i'll include it in the final mix. I sorta soloed all over the song just for fun also. I can take them out if anyone wants to write something. Also my little girl wanted to sing so me and her sang at the end. The very beginning is weird also. I played the whole thing on my Jaguar and it has a kill switch. I played and nothing was coming through the monitors so i turned everything to 10 and i still could barely hear it. I already hit the record button and i stopped it and checked everything and realized the kill switch was off. I guess the sound bled through. I pulled the audio off and heard how faint and distant it sounded and i thought it sounded neat so i took some sounds of a record turning and pasted it in there and thats what i got. I think its real interesting sounding.

Sounding like someone else is way harder to pull off than you think. Having the same gear as someone else means basically nothing. I think at times it sounds like Kurt but basically overall doesn't. I tried to sing like him and that failed also. I am not a singer to begin with and this proves it. I am also not a drummer and this song proves that as well. I am still working on the drums but i wanted to let yall hear what i have so far. I think it was a good learning experience because i wrote it and played all the instruments myself. It could use much better drums and a bass but i did what i could with the time i have. It isn't all the way done but close. I know that i'll take hits for trying to sound like someone else but it really wasn't like that at all. This isn't something i'm turning in to a label and i played alone on it so nobody can really say anything. No licensing issues should apply unless i use all the members of a band under contract to a label. In other words i'm not going to try and make a living ripping off Kurts sound. In this case i would have to probably pay courtney for obviously using her name and destroying her character, as if i could do anymore harm to her than what she's done to herself.

I can make it into a video if theres trouble hearing it from my soundcloud. I also put a bunch of the songs i wrote for a film on there also so the director could hear some as i was writing. Most of that music really wasn't something i would listen to but it works in context of a film and it broadens my understanding of how music works and it gives me experience in different genres.

Maybe someone will like it, you never know. It's called court me love.
http://soundcloud.com/brandonwinmill/court-me-love-ver8

[brandonwinmill]

I want to add something about the lyrics. I am in no way threatening Courtney. When i speak of Karma and funerals i'm just saying that sometimes it comes back to get you. I hope this isn't misunderstood as a threat because it isn't. I wouldn't even waste my time or breath to threaten a piece of garbage. I think she killed Kurt and got away with it and it bothers me and i did the positive thing and wrote a song to vent my frustration with the whole situation. Most Nirvana fans will recognize most of the lyrics because i carefully pulled them out of Kurt's writing and Courtneys letter after the "suicide". I have grown to hate the word apathy and other words she used in excess and in what i feel was the wrong context. You will also notice things kurt said live and song titles hidden in there. I welcome any feedback, good or bad, i can handle it. thanks

[brandonwinmill]

?? Nothing? I would rather it sucks then silence...maybe it's bad??

[Auto-Immune]

I like courtney, so i guess its a conflict of interest. Plus im using my phone for internet so the links not working

[brandonwinmill]

fair enough. I mixed it again and i think it's a little better. I'll make a youtube video of random pics and stick the song in there and it might be easier. My offer for anyone to play on it still stands. I believe that you should trust your judgement and stick with your personal morals and if playing on a song where i go after her bothers you than i absolutely see where you are coming from and respect that. I was hoping someone could make it better because i'm not very good at any of it but i try. The drums are still terrible but i did get some guitar parts that i liked. Also, singing with my 7yr old daughter is a gift. We had fun playing around with it. Here is a newer link and i'll see how long it takes me to get a video done. I started a new song that has a fantastic concept but i'm worried about people not being able to separate the artist from the theme. It works in movies but not in music. People assume that you are who you write about. I'll maybe elaborate another time but its real dark. It's something that maynard would probably enjoy singing. Thanks and here is the new one
http://soundcloud.co...l/court-me-love

[brandonwinmill]

I didn't have time to really proof read or listen to make sure the video is right. It's random pics from my hard drive. Maybe this is easier. Did it in a hurry.
thanks

[thehiddenjagawag]

Make sure you know where all your octaves, and intervals are that sound cool with the note. You shouldn't go along with regular old guidelines, make a couple of your own lead patterns and then just wank around with them a little bit