Guitar anyone? Electric or accoustic

[Abby Claire]

Wow, drop "C" or "C" as in every string dropped two whole tones?  What gauge strings do you have to use?  Do you have the Floyd balanced?

Sorry, ex-pro guitar tech here...

I like to write stuff too.  Before I transitioned, I wrote some pretty dark sh*t.  Now I write a lot of happy stuff and have problems trying to go dark again.  Anyway, here's your songwriting exercise/challenge- pick two chords at random and figure out as many ways as you can to get from one to the other, then do it the other way around.  Experiment.  Use as few chords as you can, then work up to using as many as you can. If it sounds right to you, then it is good.  If you don't like it, change things around until you do.   Keep doing this.  You will write awesome songs in no time.

I wish I knew what gauge the strings are, but I have no idea. Lol I just take it to a shop to be cleaned up and tell them I play dropped and trust them to use the right strings. Even after all these years I haven't learned much about guitar tech so I'm bad with all that stuff.

And it's C standard, so everything is dropped. I' afraid to tune it back up because it feels like the strings will break. I guess the best way to describe what I usually play is like Black Dahlia Murder. I don't listen to them as much these days, but that's the style I'm best at playing.

I'll take your advice on the lessons and give it a shot. Usually when I'm writing songs, I'll program the notes into a computer program like fruity loops so I can hear what the songs sound like. I do this because I write a rhythm and lead part, and sometimes a bass.

[Abby Claire]

C is a good middle ground. You can play Death Metal and play slow. Winter, Autopsy and My Dying Bride are just a few good examples of mixing up slow and fast. Well..actually, Winter was pretty slow most of the time....yeah.

I didn't mean I wanted to slow down while doing death metal though. I've grown to become huge fan of Regina Spektor and Tegan and Sara and that type of music. I wish I was better at writing indie pop. Death metal and fast stuff is fun, but I wish I was capable o slowing down.

[Miss_Bungle1991]

Death metal and fast stuff is fun, but I wish I was capable of slowing down.

But you can. Just pull way back on those BPM's.

[Abby Claire]

But you can. Just pull way back on those BPM's.

But arpeggios are so much better done fast!

[Miss_Bungle1991]

But arpeggios are so much better done fast!

I would beg to differ. But, everyone has their preferences.

[wallflowerXo]

Yay guitar talk, i'll be reading the rest of this thread tonight it looks like! lol

I've been playing guitar on and off (with particular emphasis on off) since year11 and i'm still using the exact same guitar. It's a Fender Squire Strat and it's versatile enough, i've never really needed anything better, though lately ive been thinking about getting a gretsch acousitc, i spotted a few affordable ones lol
what bugs me though is i'm still sloppy on a few chord changes. what i need to do is get quicker, i just cant seem to play a lot of the stuff i'd like to 

[Jess42]

But arpeggios are so much better done fast!

Wouldn't that be more like sweep picking?

I would beg to differ. But, everyone has their preferences.

Most definitely with you on this one Laura.

[V M]

It's okay, you can admit it... How many of you have farted while performing up on stage?

[Jess42]

It's okay, you can admit it... How many of you have farted while performing up on stage?

First off VM, ladies don't fart, we poot. Who hasn't? Especially when it comes to nerves and playing in front of people.

[Miss_Bungle1991]

It's okay, you can admit it... How many of you have farted while performing up on stage?

Well, I've only played one show, so far. So it hasn't happened yet. Even if it did, there's so much loud, screeching noise going on that no one would hear it anyway. But it may be a pungent stench if I've been eating fruit that day or the day before.

Anyway...here's some Pungent Stench.

[Dread_Faery]

I should learn to play my guitar - I get really into it every few months but then just stop

[Jill F]

Farted?  Screw that.  How many have tossed their cookies?

[Miss_Bungle1991]

Farted?  Screw that.  How many have tossed their cookies?

Never. I've only vomited a handful of times in my life. A couple of times when I was a child. There was a few times when I drank WAY too much booze. But I could count those on one hand.

[Jess42]

Farted?  Screw that.  How many have tossed their cookies?

Yep, stage fright is a bitch. A bigger bitch than me even. Not even drinking, just terrified out of my wits the first five or six times. Still I can't look at the people watching me too much. I either bang my head without focus on the people, play with my "toy" and focus all of my attention on that or walk around and focus on the singer, drummer and bassist. Thank God sometime the lights blind you and you can only see a few people in the front. I still don't know how the big names do it.

[Jill F]

Yep, stage fright is a bitch. A bigger bitch than me even. Not even drinking, just terrified out of my wits the first five or six times. Still I can't look at the people watching me too much. I either bang my head without focus on the people, play with my "toy" and focus all of my attention on that or walk around and focus on the singer, drummer and bassist. Thank God sometime the lights blind you and you can only see a few people in the front. I still don't know how the big names do it.

Actually it wasn't stage fright, it was the flu.   I won't miss a gig for any reason.   I'd have to be in the hospital, jail or morgue for that to happen.   I even blew off my 20th high school reunion because I had a major gig in the Hollywood Hills that day.  (Like I'd go to a high school reunion anyway...)

I barfed a few times the day after that show, but I'm pretty sure that was due to all the drinking we did.

[Jess42]

Actually it wasn't stage fright, it was the flu.   I won't miss a gig for any reason.   I'd have to be in the hospital, jail or morgue for that to happen.   I even blew off my 20th high school reunion because I had a major gig in the Hollywood Hills that day.  (Like I'd go to a high school reunion anyway...)

I barfed a few times the day after that show, but I'm pretty sure that was due to all the drinking we did.

Well I have a bad case of stage fright. Or at least until I learned how to counteract it. I just concentrate really hard on my toy at hand or close my eyes and bang my head or just look straight at the light and blind myself. One of the main reasons why I don't even sing backup. The way I dress and look helps but the first four or five times, yeah, I barfed.

One thing for me is that I am so freaking scared I am gonna' mess up. Riffs or solos. Nerves. But even the big names mess up. I have seen it too many times. The latest was Dave Rude from Tesla. He looked at Frank Hannon and shook his head and I never even noticed. Neither did anyone else. So... All those "F" ups I made that I caught during the years, no one probably even noticed unless they played the songs themselves. I can watch bands on Youtube that I know their song front and back and see their screw-ups and guess what? No one even notices. No one Boos them. So, now I just try to recover the fastest that I can or make it look like it was meant to be no matter how bad I mess up. You gotta' love live music, 'cause you never know what you're gonna get.

[Jill F]

One thing for me is that I am so freaking scared I am gonna' mess up. Riffs or solos. Nerves. But even the big names mess up. I have seen it too many times. The latest was Dave Rude from Tesla. He looked at Frank Hannon and shook his head and I never even noticed. Neither did anyone else. So... All those "F" ups I made that I caught during the years, no one probably even noticed unless they played the songs themselves. I can watch bands on Youtube that I know their song front and back and see their screw-ups and guess what? No one even notices. No one Boos them. So, now I just try to recover the fastest that I can or make it look like it was meant to be no matter how bad I mess up. You gotta' love live music, 'cause you never know what you're gonna get.

I saw Tesla recently.  I was literally 5 feet from the stage.  I watched Dave and Frank screw up plenty of licks.  I suspect they may have partaken in some quasi-legal substance beforehand.  I also got Frank's pick!

I try to steer clear of well-known guitar solos, because everyone knows them note-for-note.  You don't cover "Hotel California" or "Stairway to Heaven" unless you plan on nailing every nuance.  There's a reason that Hendrix, Page, Blackmore and Iommi never played the same solo twice!

[Jess42]

I saw Tesla recently.  I was literally 5 feet from the stage.  I watched Dave and Frank screw up plenty of licks.  I suspect they may have partaken in some quasi-legal substance beforehand.  I also got Frank's pick!

I try to steer clear of well-known guitar solos, because everyone knows them note-for-note.  You don't cover "Hotel California" or "Stairway to Heaven" unless you plan on nailing every nuance.  There's a reason that Hendrix, Page, Blackmore and Iommi never played the same solo twice!

Oh so true so true. I saw Tesla when they were opening back in the eighties with Poison. And yeah I heard screw ups from both bands. This was before Dave Rude with what's his name. Iommi with sometimes triple solos recorded n the same track. War Pigs specifically? Jesus. How can you not take creative initiative on that? Freakin' Studio Magic. ACDC, If you have two guitarists, one rhythm and one lead, you can do pretty good. But jesus, Angus Young actually play music in his solos. It takes me about a week to get it down note for note. And then it is debatable. In a studio you can do 40 takes if need be and then splice. Live you got one chance to get it to sound halfway right. But even Angus plays solos differently than recorded, but don't you dare if you are covering an ACDC song.

Yeah Hendrix, Page, Blackmore, Iommi, Young and plenty of others don't play the same solo that is recorded. It is pretty much by heart give or take. But covering, don't you dare stray away too much from the recorded versions. Oh yeah never ever ever mess up Free bird especially the bottleneck part or Sweet Home Alabama.

[kariann330]

Wow, drop "C" or "C" as in every string dropped two whole tones?  What gauge strings do you have to use?  Do you have the Floyd balanced?

Sorry, ex-pro guitar tech here...

I like to write stuff too.  Before I transitioned, I wrote some pretty dark sh*t.  Now I write a lot of happy stuff and have problems trying to go dark again.  Anyway, here's your songwriting exercise/challenge- pick two chords at random and figure out as many ways as you can to get from one to the other, then do it the other way around.  Experiment.  Use as few chords as you can, then work up to using as many as you can. If it sounds right to you, then it is good.  If you don't like it, change things around until you do.   Keep doing this.  You will write awesome songs in no time.

Drop C really isn't much, I'm currently tuned down to drop G and am using .6 strings so I can cut down on deterioration. On top of that my amp is set to it's distortion channel and my settings are Bass 7, Gain 8, treble 10 and mid 6. I don't have a reverb setting on my amp nor do I use a petal, but I do have a distortion petal that is set at 5. I can currently get the same sounds as most down tuned 7-8 string guitars, like in a couple of Scar The Martyr songs, and the The Hills Have Eyes intro.
playing down tuned is my life and I can suggest one thing, buy individual strings, not a pack because depending on guitar you can easily end up with a more pronounced deterioration then what you would normally get from down tuning.

[Jess42]

No " Stairway " 

Not no but... You get the jist of it. Everybody loves certain songs and if you don't play it the way it's recorded or really really close then you can really make yourself look really bad. Highway to Hell, shhhh, no problem, little bitty solo. You Shook Me, another one that's fairly easy. Hell's Bells is a little tricky. Back in Black is fairly somewhat easily learned. And a bunch when they were kids still. Anything by Tony Iommi, you can pretty much get away with because with the recorded tracks especially War Pigs, there are three different solos. One guitarist no matter if his name is Tony Iommi can't play three solos at the same time. Sweetleaf, the same. The second part you hear the main riff and another little riff tracked in. Motley Crue is the same. Early Crue like Shout at the Devil is really simple but then when they got a little older, Mick got a little bit more complicated. But Stairway to Heaven? Nope, won't touch it. Too many people know it word for word and know exactly how it sounds. Plus there is no way unless you are Led Zeppelin that you can get away with any mess ups. Not to mention not everyone can sing like with a haunted sounding voice like Robert Plant and without the vocals it just isn't the same, cover or not.