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January 15, 2012
Wall of Sound Studios, Anaheim, CA
Pics Here:
In November 2011 I found out by chance on Bravewords.com that Paul Gilbert was teaching VIP lessons in January 2012. 4 sessions of 6 students each for 90 minute sessions. Bring a guitar and Paul will supply the rest: tuners, cables, amps, more guitars, etc. So I signed up then quickly realized I had never transported a guitar besides using my car. Do I buy a gigbag and take it on the plane? But a flight case? The interwebs tells me to do it all. But then not to do it. My guitar will be guaranteed mass destruction. So I took a chance and bought a flight case from roadcasesusa.com and decided to bring my Moser 10 guitar. Why not a "cheaper" guitar? There's sentimental value for each of my guitars. I don't have one I consider a beater so I might as well bring the one that's most comfortable to me. I ordered a large case with an uncut foam insert, cut it to size of my guitar and hoped for the best.
At the Southwest airlines counter, a Southwest employee told me I probably wouldn't be able to bring a guitar on a plane because they take up too much space. At the Lisa Lampinelli show a few nights ago the opening comedian said, "you might be a douche if you bring a guitar on a plane...". Right! Glad I went the flight case route. So the guitar made it in one piece, in tune, on the baggage conveyer belt. Eagerly awaiting the internets to tell me it was a one time lucky shot and that Targaryean dragons shall henceforth incinerate my black limba masterpiece to cinders. Others take them, winter is coming!
I arrive at Wall of Sound Studios 15 minutes earlier than the 5pm start time. Only five out of six people showed up and we began chatting and checking out each others guitars. One guy came from the midwest; this was his first time in California. TJ, the organizer, then said we should warm up because Paul would have us start playing right away.
A few minutes later, a very tall and slim (taller than he looks on that interweb) walks out of the studio room, asks if there's some guitar players here, and brings us into the lesson room. There's a stage with a bunch of his guitars, all Ibanez: a Rocket Roll II sunburst V, a double neck RG-ish model, various Iceman-ish Fireman guitars, including the pink Destroyer/Iceman mashup. Paul has us all plug into a bank of tuners to tune up, then has us sit in chairs on the stage in a semi-circle, he sits in the center on a pillow on riser. "Wow, that's a tricked out B.C. Rich!" he says regarding my not-destroyed guitar. I tell him it's a Moser but thanks! The guy to my right has a parts superstrat with a skull-ish graphic. To the left of me other other students are playing a PRS singlecut and doublecut, and an Ibanez Artist type guitar.
We all plug into a splitter strip on his pedalboard (containing a fuzz pedal, 2 MXR Phasers, a Boss Compressor) which goes into a Marshal JMD1 combo.
We're all good to go and Paul says we're going to so a musical introduction and that we'll all probably sound like crap but not to fear because we'll get a lot better. Throughout the lesson Paul says the best way to practice is with a beat, which will be provided by his enormous left boot. He'll play 2 measures of a lead in A, then the first player will play 2 measures, then we'll repeat for every player. We nervously glance at each other and Paul launches into his lead. I think we all did a pretty good job and everyone was trying something different at every turn. After we played our parts, Paul would then do a semi-mimic then rip our heads of with some insane licks. The man can play. Better than pretty much anyone. Fingerpicking, shredding, soft, loud, subtle, over the top...he used all the strings and played all over the neck. Versatile is probably not a good enough word for his playing. Musical? Slightly better word. He had us turn our volumes down and play a little more subltely. He asked us to make our guitars whisper. When we brought the volume back up occasionally he would add the compressor or the fuzz for more dimension. I don't know how long this exercise lasted. 10 minutes? 20? I could have played this way for hours. When we finished Paul told us he was very impressed and that it was evident we all had been playing for a while and were familiar with phrasing and timing.
He said the guitarist, especially when soling has a few jobs to do and you have to do them all very well: let the audience know what key the song is in, let them know the tempo and...crap, I forget the others. I think it was around telling the story of the song. Throughout the lesson he'd flip his guitar over on his lap and talk about the importance of drums and rhythm, especially bongos. He said he tries to think like a bongo player and steals "riffs" from drummers like John Bonham. Every concept he talked about was followed by a quick demo from a real song, mostly 70's songs. Here's how Jimmy Page emphasizes the 7 during Stairway to Heaven. Here's the Tubes Talk To You Later and a Van Halen song. Listen to how Billy Gibbons plays this part. To experience someone playing these diverse styles so perfectly but not robotically was a joy.
Paul then said it was time for each of us to ask a question about playing and he'd do his best to help us with exercises. The guy to the right of me fortunately had been struggling with some playing issues I've been working on. Holding the pick, using more than 2 strings, ascending and descending soloing. Paul spent a lot of time giving us exercises in dynamics; don't play every note with the same amount of force. Find out where the accent should be and really accent it. When playing cleanly, the accents you play will really make a difference. With distortion maybe not as much, but you'll get less of a mess of notes and everything will be clearer. More examples showing lighting fast playing and slow playing.
For my turn, I told him that everything the guy to the right of me had issues with was what I was struggling with. But to expand on it I showed him a Zakk Wylde lead passage that I've been struggling with. It's a ascending and descending run, playing sixes. At Zakk speed. I played it slowly. Then Paul said, "Let me see if I can do that..." And in about 5 seconds he's playing it at Zakk speed. Argh. He tells me I probably chose the hardest thing to play that day and emphasized that just because Zakk picks every note doesn't mean I have to. Play in a way that works for you that sounds best. He said on stage you shouldn't be stressed and tense; mix it up. I was told that I need to angle my pick more which led to a picking demo about how subtle angle changes to your picking can have a dramatic tonal effect. My picks are usually a .88mm to a 1.0mm, which Paul said were too thick for what I was trying to do. I wasn't getting enough of the beautiful "scraping" sound that he showed us. To help me more, he gave me some simpler Zakk style licks that I should master before I moved onto the challenging one I was trying to get right.
What I really liked that every question had tangential answers with examples of how Crazy Train, Operation Mindcrime, and a Lady Gaga song were all played with fifths, and how other songs had 6ths. This led to a examples of Dorian, Lydian, and Mixolydian modes and how those affect your leads. What I really enjoyed was showing how ending a phrase on a fourth usually never sounds right. To emphasize this he would play a lick, end on a fourth, then with his picking hand tap the 5th or the 6th, and show how dissonant it was and how it just makes a lead not feel right. He showed us what he called the Most Important Thing He Learned, which was a first finger bend on the high E string ala BB King. Try bending the 10th fret on the first string. Use only your first finger. Now add a lick bringing you back to the B string. Now cry because you don't have a first finger callous.
What else, what else...finding what he called a Beautiful McCartney chord and making sure it made its way into Mr Big songs. Shifting the bass notes of a chord (usually descending) like a piano player. Paul talked a lot about learning violin and piano licks and how when we grew up listening to Maiden and Priest, he could play really great harmonic minor solos but nothing else. I'm sure I'm forgetting to write about some more of the life altering licks we were taught and I'm sure I have forgot how to play them. I tried to remain entirely focused on playing and learning. No internet, no txt msg lolz...just focus. Then his iPhone quacks and our 90 minutes is over. I swear it felt like 10 minutes. No fatigue, no boredom. Just magic.
Paul took pictures and signed stuff for us when it was all over. We all received a goodie bag with our choice of t-shirt, along with a packet of lessons, some signed photos/stickers, and a small bag of signature picks. He encouraged us to play all his gear. Every guitar was perfectly set up. No buzz, no dead spots. I could have spend another 90 minutes just geeking out on gear. We chatted a bit about the upcoming NAMM show, our mutual love of Rocket Roll and Destroyer guitars. Unfortunately my flight back home was coming up so I had to leave.
At the airport I got to see a bunch of what I'm assuming were porn stars walk out of our arriving plane. Chris Jericho from Fozzy/Dancing with the Stars also walked off the plane so I introduced myself and got a picture with him. Guitars, porn, wresting, metal, a fitting way to end a sunday. Along with a 1 piece guitar that came with a TSA inspection tag. I guess it's such a metal guitar, they had to make sure it wouldn't destroy the plane.
Wall of Sound Studios, Anaheim, CA
Pics Here:
In November 2011 I found out by chance on Bravewords.com that Paul Gilbert was teaching VIP lessons in January 2012. 4 sessions of 6 students each for 90 minute sessions. Bring a guitar and Paul will supply the rest: tuners, cables, amps, more guitars, etc. So I signed up then quickly realized I had never transported a guitar besides using my car. Do I buy a gigbag and take it on the plane? But a flight case? The interwebs tells me to do it all. But then not to do it. My guitar will be guaranteed mass destruction. So I took a chance and bought a flight case from roadcasesusa.com and decided to bring my Moser 10 guitar. Why not a "cheaper" guitar? There's sentimental value for each of my guitars. I don't have one I consider a beater so I might as well bring the one that's most comfortable to me. I ordered a large case with an uncut foam insert, cut it to size of my guitar and hoped for the best.
At the Southwest airlines counter, a Southwest employee told me I probably wouldn't be able to bring a guitar on a plane because they take up too much space. At the Lisa Lampinelli show a few nights ago the opening comedian said, "you might be a douche if you bring a guitar on a plane...". Right! Glad I went the flight case route. So the guitar made it in one piece, in tune, on the baggage conveyer belt. Eagerly awaiting the internets to tell me it was a one time lucky shot and that Targaryean dragons shall henceforth incinerate my black limba masterpiece to cinders. Others take them, winter is coming!
I arrive at Wall of Sound Studios 15 minutes earlier than the 5pm start time. Only five out of six people showed up and we began chatting and checking out each others guitars. One guy came from the midwest; this was his first time in California. TJ, the organizer, then said we should warm up because Paul would have us start playing right away.
A few minutes later, a very tall and slim (taller than he looks on that interweb) walks out of the studio room, asks if there's some guitar players here, and brings us into the lesson room. There's a stage with a bunch of his guitars, all Ibanez: a Rocket Roll II sunburst V, a double neck RG-ish model, various Iceman-ish Fireman guitars, including the pink Destroyer/Iceman mashup. Paul has us all plug into a bank of tuners to tune up, then has us sit in chairs on the stage in a semi-circle, he sits in the center on a pillow on riser. "Wow, that's a tricked out B.C. Rich!" he says regarding my not-destroyed guitar. I tell him it's a Moser but thanks! The guy to my right has a parts superstrat with a skull-ish graphic. To the left of me other other students are playing a PRS singlecut and doublecut, and an Ibanez Artist type guitar.
We all plug into a splitter strip on his pedalboard (containing a fuzz pedal, 2 MXR Phasers, a Boss Compressor) which goes into a Marshal JMD1 combo.
We're all good to go and Paul says we're going to so a musical introduction and that we'll all probably sound like crap but not to fear because we'll get a lot better. Throughout the lesson Paul says the best way to practice is with a beat, which will be provided by his enormous left boot. He'll play 2 measures of a lead in A, then the first player will play 2 measures, then we'll repeat for every player. We nervously glance at each other and Paul launches into his lead. I think we all did a pretty good job and everyone was trying something different at every turn. After we played our parts, Paul would then do a semi-mimic then rip our heads of with some insane licks. The man can play. Better than pretty much anyone. Fingerpicking, shredding, soft, loud, subtle, over the top...he used all the strings and played all over the neck. Versatile is probably not a good enough word for his playing. Musical? Slightly better word. He had us turn our volumes down and play a little more subltely. He asked us to make our guitars whisper. When we brought the volume back up occasionally he would add the compressor or the fuzz for more dimension. I don't know how long this exercise lasted. 10 minutes? 20? I could have played this way for hours. When we finished Paul told us he was very impressed and that it was evident we all had been playing for a while and were familiar with phrasing and timing.
He said the guitarist, especially when soling has a few jobs to do and you have to do them all very well: let the audience know what key the song is in, let them know the tempo and...crap, I forget the others. I think it was around telling the story of the song. Throughout the lesson he'd flip his guitar over on his lap and talk about the importance of drums and rhythm, especially bongos. He said he tries to think like a bongo player and steals "riffs" from drummers like John Bonham. Every concept he talked about was followed by a quick demo from a real song, mostly 70's songs. Here's how Jimmy Page emphasizes the 7 during Stairway to Heaven. Here's the Tubes Talk To You Later and a Van Halen song. Listen to how Billy Gibbons plays this part. To experience someone playing these diverse styles so perfectly but not robotically was a joy.
Paul then said it was time for each of us to ask a question about playing and he'd do his best to help us with exercises. The guy to the right of me fortunately had been struggling with some playing issues I've been working on. Holding the pick, using more than 2 strings, ascending and descending soloing. Paul spent a lot of time giving us exercises in dynamics; don't play every note with the same amount of force. Find out where the accent should be and really accent it. When playing cleanly, the accents you play will really make a difference. With distortion maybe not as much, but you'll get less of a mess of notes and everything will be clearer. More examples showing lighting fast playing and slow playing.
For my turn, I told him that everything the guy to the right of me had issues with was what I was struggling with. But to expand on it I showed him a Zakk Wylde lead passage that I've been struggling with. It's a ascending and descending run, playing sixes. At Zakk speed. I played it slowly. Then Paul said, "Let me see if I can do that..." And in about 5 seconds he's playing it at Zakk speed. Argh. He tells me I probably chose the hardest thing to play that day and emphasized that just because Zakk picks every note doesn't mean I have to. Play in a way that works for you that sounds best. He said on stage you shouldn't be stressed and tense; mix it up. I was told that I need to angle my pick more which led to a picking demo about how subtle angle changes to your picking can have a dramatic tonal effect. My picks are usually a .88mm to a 1.0mm, which Paul said were too thick for what I was trying to do. I wasn't getting enough of the beautiful "scraping" sound that he showed us. To help me more, he gave me some simpler Zakk style licks that I should master before I moved onto the challenging one I was trying to get right.
What I really liked that every question had tangential answers with examples of how Crazy Train, Operation Mindcrime, and a Lady Gaga song were all played with fifths, and how other songs had 6ths. This led to a examples of Dorian, Lydian, and Mixolydian modes and how those affect your leads. What I really enjoyed was showing how ending a phrase on a fourth usually never sounds right. To emphasize this he would play a lick, end on a fourth, then with his picking hand tap the 5th or the 6th, and show how dissonant it was and how it just makes a lead not feel right. He showed us what he called the Most Important Thing He Learned, which was a first finger bend on the high E string ala BB King. Try bending the 10th fret on the first string. Use only your first finger. Now add a lick bringing you back to the B string. Now cry because you don't have a first finger callous.
What else, what else...finding what he called a Beautiful McCartney chord and making sure it made its way into Mr Big songs. Shifting the bass notes of a chord (usually descending) like a piano player. Paul talked a lot about learning violin and piano licks and how when we grew up listening to Maiden and Priest, he could play really great harmonic minor solos but nothing else. I'm sure I'm forgetting to write about some more of the life altering licks we were taught and I'm sure I have forgot how to play them. I tried to remain entirely focused on playing and learning. No internet, no txt msg lolz...just focus. Then his iPhone quacks and our 90 minutes is over. I swear it felt like 10 minutes. No fatigue, no boredom. Just magic.
Paul took pictures and signed stuff for us when it was all over. We all received a goodie bag with our choice of t-shirt, along with a packet of lessons, some signed photos/stickers, and a small bag of signature picks. He encouraged us to play all his gear. Every guitar was perfectly set up. No buzz, no dead spots. I could have spend another 90 minutes just geeking out on gear. We chatted a bit about the upcoming NAMM show, our mutual love of Rocket Roll and Destroyer guitars. Unfortunately my flight back home was coming up so I had to leave.
At the airport I got to see a bunch of what I'm assuming were porn stars walk out of our arriving plane. Chris Jericho from Fozzy/Dancing with the Stars also walked off the plane so I introduced myself and got a picture with him. Guitars, porn, wresting, metal, a fitting way to end a sunday. Along with a 1 piece guitar that came with a TSA inspection tag. I guess it's such a metal guitar, they had to make sure it wouldn't destroy the plane.
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