General Music Chat

Do you use more finger than strings when you play.I mean I'll chord either full or bar chords and have lately been picking/strumming and fingering a small 2 note pick.Well I don't where I was going with that,but do you incorporate your leads within the chord you are playing or do you stay within the chord range and play steps higher or lower.I like to incorporate that full chord picking every string up and down,you know like in the Beatles did sometime"you never give me your money"that kinda chime.I'll use a lot of bend and vibrato on any blues I do>just some of the way I play,whats you take on that.

My question would be live or recording, I did some recording this past weekend and I tend I tend to build the big chords with little chords.

When I record I will generally start off with a clean full open string chord, then I will layer on parts of the chords, if that makes sense, in the end the original chord may not even be there anymore. Ive found using different amp voicings for different neck areas tend to sound better to me.

For recording the lead harmony licks I will play by themselves.

Now live, Im the only guitarist and I play cover music, so I take a lot of liberties with it all. I will play the little partial chords and fill in the gaps with melodys ala Hendrix style, kind of R&B chords if that makes sense.

If a song had a definitive riff that makes the song, I will play it pretty much note for note, but past that look out.

That was very instructive.I take it your a 3 pc.band if your the only guitarist
do you feel you get a good full sound with 3,That's usually what I play in,I'll do a lot of my chords in the F position and layer in small leads within the song.Thanks for the insight.

Almost everything I play structured within chords since I finger pick. I use all my fingers on both hands a good deal of the time, sometimes picking with my left hand as well as my right for some licks.

For stuff not having an alternating bass or bass runs on the E A and D strings I usually use a lot of double stops and three note chording. When playing single note leads I use my finger nail rather as opposed to a pick.

Joe, do I feel I get a full sound playing 3 piece, actually no, there are holes in a lot of songs, on the other hand it gives me a lot of space.

We recently had another guy play a couple of sets with us, he played in my cover band for a few years when I stepped out of it, It was different. We do play pretty heavy by most cover band standards. I prefer the 3 piece format, cause I feel my bassist and drummer and I have really good dynamics when we play, with another guitarist it upped the volume level and it was hard to feel our way thru songs.

A lot of songs have little lead riffs and things on the end of them along with the theme rythym of the songs, I most of the time just stick to the full rythym to keep the sound full, I may throw in a couple of quick pulloffs just to make it feel like two guitars are there, but I think its more important in song endings to end strong, which in my case translates to using more strings, more string the more noize, LOL!

If you are 3 piece you have to make decisions like that all the time, do I play the full chords, or do I try to play the lead lines, I guess whatever makes you feel good about the songs, but personally I will pass up on some lead riffs to reinforce the thickness of the sound.

Then you also have to keep your bandmates happy, I at times get chances to run solos as long as I want or short for that matter, lots of ad lib in there, but when we get to vocal sections I really have to keep it consistent for our singer. No one in my group complains or says we need another guitarist, cause in the cover world the less mouths to feed the better.

All my leads are based on chord forms
Full barre chords are a no no .... got to leave room for vocals , keys , guitar

That's some good advice for me JW it makes a lot of sense I think I have a tendency to over play,I'll try to lead a little more than I should.Thanks

All my leads are based on chord forms
Full barre chords are a no no .... got to leave room for vocals , keys , guitar

Help me out here dead,tell me what you mean based on chord forms and the no,no on barre chords.Are you playing more at the top of the neck?

Joe

Barre chords can muddy it up, and when we do use them, we often only strike parts of them.

What some call 'power chords" I also have heard referred to as "partial" or "broken" chords.'

It give you a lot of options because playing 2 or 3 note chords provides a crisper sound and you can do them all over the place. With the 2 note flavor 1 and 5 you can use them in place of major or minor chords and let your ear tell you the story.

Easy to segue into lead parts as well. It seems for me to help me stop thinking of rhythm / lead and just think guitar.

You can also use the 1, 3, and 5 or the 1,5,8. (for doing A and E chord forms)

It's fun to use parts of various arcane chords or diminished / augmented and so on. Plus a lot easier to play.

Lately I've found myself using my fingers instead of a pick quite a bit. Even with a pick I often use my ring finger as well.

Talbot

Mike have found myself using a finger picking action along with a pick.I like what gram parsons done with the Byrds,that style of playing on some songs I'll do.I.E. Mr Spaceman.If I'm playing for instance Can't get enough of your love,I'll use a bar chord and play in a down up down motion to try and capture it all.Mainly I like what you said and how you explained it to me.Thanks