(Originally appeared in fAZE3 magazine, spring? '98)
"Well, here we are. Whadda we gonna play?
Anybody got somethin' new?"
-John W. Patterson
Finding that ideal situation in playing and/or creating music with other people is a
challenge. Learning an instrument, be it voice, strings, reeds, brass or percussion is an intensely
personal process. It is all consuming at times and demands adequate release of one's years of
devotion. Writing songs and then offering them naked to your peers is a terrifying exhilaration.
A magic unspeakable unfolds when you begin singing and strumming out your song as the bass
player rumbles in, finding the groove and drumming sets the heartbeat. Rhythm guitar chords
weave a wall of textured sound and you free fall into that lead break from the depths of your
soul. You hit every stinking note just right and a few riffs you never thought were possible with
those blistered, then calloused, fingers. Nobody started the tape machine. We've all been there.
Ever find yourself in a band where your original material is frowned upon? Got that one
person in the band who is never into your stuff? Do you feel like serving up elegant dishes of
new musical flavors but all you get to eat is instant pudding songs and jello jams? Perhaps
you've been told your material is too complicated, not accessible enough? Ready to just give up
on all those songs that flood your head day after day, year after year? Think twice my friend, it
may be time for a change of scenery. Read on and catch my drift.
First, a few definitions are in order.
1.The "wannabe-but-going-nowhere" band:
a) a loosely-knit collection of musicians
b) typically dominated by lead vocalist, lead guitarist, songwriter, person with the practice space,
probably owns the most gear, (I call this the "my-bat-and-ball syndrome")
c) leadership is usually ego-driven with bullheadedness as a qualification
d) musical vision is lacking, creativity stifled, and other band members are merely extensions of
the leader's self-styled, stale dreams
If this sounds like your band's structure, GET OUT FAST!!! You can't change other
people but you can send them a clear message and save yourself wasted time in some other
person's narrow-minded goals. Don't choke off who you are musically because you're afraid this
band may be your best chance. Think better of yourself.
A band can disentegrate in a day because the individual members refuse to ape the
puppetmaster on stage. It can be an ugly, painful scene and a hard lesson about insecure, stiff-
necked, nazi-napoleons who can't tolerate anything but exercising absolute control.
2. The "going somewhere" group:
a) a dedicated set of people never 100% satisfied with where they are musically
b) nobody dominates anyone or anything but each will contribute to the whole
c) leadership may be recognized but never forced or demanded
d) musical vision flows freely, creativity is encouraged, and each band member has the right to
uniquely interpret what a moment or piece needs.
e) balance is evident and beautiful things start falling into place in due time
I encourage those "wannabe bands" out there to strive to be a "group". However, if you're
perfectly happy with one person callin' all the shots. Fine. If it ain't broke don't fix it! But . . . if
you're sick of hearing this . . . "Hey! What was that? It's supposed to go boom-chicka-boom-
crash!" . . . or . . . "Turn down your lead. Get rid of that edge. Lose the chorus." . . . or . . . "That's
an interesting idea but I don't think it's a crowd pleaser." . . . it may be time to speak up or move
on to better things. If rehearsals and performances leave you exasperated, squelched, drained, or
frustrated, it's a sure sign this gig ain't your thing. Lose it. Hook up fresh somewhere else if
things don't change after approaching other band members with your feelings. Life is too short to
waste it on "wound-too-tight", little tyrants. Hmm, I gotta feeling I'm talking to you. "Do it
before you get swallowed up and lose your vision!"
Enough heavy stuff for now.
Here's a few positive suggestions for making your original songs sound more original.
Give your "group" sound that unique slant
with the following dandy ideas! READ ON.
1. Alternative tunings for guitar can help. Try open tunings like DADF#AD or dropped tunings
like DADGBD. Modal tunings like DADGAD are also useful in giving that dreamy,
otherworldly, drone to a song. Finding chords and leads is tricky but the sound is worth the
effort. Slide guitarists and acoustic guitarists love this stuff.
2. Learn how to play 6th and 9th chords. Then experiment with minor 6th and minor 9th chords
as well. Alternate between augmented and non-augmented chords. Try some tunes structured
around the whole tone scale. Think bizarre, play weird. Be cool and jazz things up some.
3. Get a stronger variant on a D chord by adding your thumb to the sixth string, second fret.
Strum all six strings. Then try using a C chord pattern that includes the sixth string, third fret and
then position this C chord fingering two frets up to get an interesting alternate D chord. Let the
first and third string remain open. This is a Phil Keaggy trick.
4. Experiment with E "barre" chords that only have the sixth string "barred". Let the first and
second strings ring open as you slide the E "barre" chord up and down the neck. Then dump the
"barre" altogether and slide an E major chord up and down the neck for a full, wide feel. You
hear this distinctive sound in RUSH's songs.
5. Here are a few pick tricks. Buy a medium HERCO or Jim Dunlop pick and turn it around in
your fingers until the raised, ridged no-slip back is exposed. Use this gnarly grit to get a bite and
raspy percussive edge to your lead breaks or whatever. Somebody told me Steve Morse holds his
pick thattaway too. Gee, I thought it was my own innovation. Modify your pick
to fit your own style of playing.
6. Last but not least, is inspiration. Be it another piece of music or a reading some HPL, it never
hurts to compose that great song in the midst of a muse. Don't settle for copycat, shallow musical
ideas or lyrics like, "Baby, oooh yeah" or "Everybody listen to me or die cuz I'm one bad dude."
or "I wanna make it to the top but life's so hard, angst, angst, angst". Let your songs be a
soundtrack for the joy and sorrows of the real world. Real fears, real feelings, done well
musically, communicate effectively. Don't offer a TV mentality world just because it seems cool
or hip. It won't last. Fads die. Don't put your head in someone else's cramped little box of
banality and dumpster-fodder ideas. Stand free and set the tone for the future. Heroes usually
start out as radicals and aren't appreciated for years. Expect it. Go for the gut, the soul, without
offending the intellect and your product will pass the test of time. You might even sell a CD or
two. Best of all you might wind up getting to know yourself a little better by walking alone.
"I climbed the tower of a grand looking castle of mirrors. Down below stretched a dismal
view of dead-end streets of silence. I dared to call out into the void for laughter and light. My
crime of conscience branded me an outcast. Alone I wandered the wilderness of confused
despair. Now I sing of my new found freedom, warning the unwary of the dangerous bands of
such men. Their black-holed horizons of vacuous minds rob us of our sacred individuality. Come
out from among them and stand outside the corrosive gates of conformity!"
Until next time . . . jammin' on the edge of forever . . .
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