In this site, I talk about forming a band someday, which is what I want to do, and some of you may ask, what do I want my future band to be like? I’ll probably just have the basic thing: drums, bass, and guitar. I might go for a 2nd guitarist who does both rhythm/lead well, to make the jamming a little more fun. I’m not sure if I will sing the lead or not yet, but a different singer maybe considered, be it, either a male or female vocalist. As for the other members, I don’t care about the age range. I don’t care if you’re male or female, anybody can play as long they have the talent that I’m looking for. Doesn’t matter if you’re good looking or not. It’s all about the talent.

Bands take themselves too serious when it comes to age, image, and race. I don’t care what kind of person you are, as long this musician gives what my songs need and able to fit my style, you’re in. Simple as that.

I would also look for musicians who doesn’t take money and getting paid seriously. Just want to be passionate about music and be in it for the love of playing it. I’ll get a band someday when I’m ready for it.

Kev

EDIT TO ADD: In other words, to keep it short and simple, I won’t discriminate anybody.

I guess I’ll have a change of heart with this and give it a try. I never did it over the years, copying solos from cover songs note for note for fear of getting their style, but realizing doing this could do me no harm.

Copying solos note for note, could help get better technique, it could help me stay in time, and could help me get a better ear. Plus, it’ll help me understand scales better and how they shift to a different key like Rob said.

Maybe I should study the styles of my favorite guitar players: Jimmy Page, Hendrix, Satriani, Neil Young, and Clapton. If I want to play like a pro, learning from those guys would help me greatly, I think.

Learning what scales & modes they use and all that stuff. I’ll start learning Zep solos though. I’ll record myself playing the rhythm of the Zep song and play the solo over it. Good practice that way, and I’ll play along with the metronome, of course. What scale does Jimmy Page mostly use? He mostly uses the regular minor pentatonic scale but uses what he calls, a “box pattern“.

When Jimmy Page played in Led Zeppelin in the past, when they played their live shows, Jimmy never played the same solo twice on a song. He always improvised different solos on each Zeppelin song. Listen to live CD’s for proof on that. There are too many different versions of the “Stairway To Heaven” solo on the live albums, they were never the same. The same with “Dazed and Confused” with the violin bow.

That’s where I got that thought from, try not to copy others solos, and did what Jimmy Page did. Make each solo on a song different. Not playing the same solo from the album at a live show. On an album you have to play the solo kind of short but when you play live, you can play the solo as long as you want to. Just jam the fuck out of the song until you get tired. That’s what Led Zeppelin did, and that’s what the Grateful Dead did.

That’s how I want to play in a band, same thing. I think 2 or 3 minute songs is way too short for me. A 7 to 10 minute or a little longer is just right for me. People think 10 minute songs are too long for them but to me, not really. If you make the 10 minute song right with the pacing, it’ll be over quick before you know it. Just don’t bore the listener with the same riff over and over, you want to have different things going on.

I’m all about Led Zeppelin, man. They were the reason I do this. If I get a band, I may not even sing at all and just play guitar, maybe have a different singer. I know I’m not that good of a singer anyway, I just do it ’cause the songs I write need vocals and I had nobody else.

Thing is, I feel weird when people tell me I’m a great guitar player ’cause a lot of times, I don’t feel I’m up there yet. I say in the blog, I don’t have my rhythm and timing down yet and other musicians say that I have my timing down well enough. They said I’ve always had my timing good. In the past, I was never into theory too much so I never understood quarter notes, eights notes, sixteenth notes, etc. until now when I started reading more about rhythm and practicing along with a metronome more often. If I want to get good at home recording, I need to get good with timing, so I can make the drums sound perfectly in sync and stay in the pocket.

I want to be at my best. I don’t realize my own talent, being my own worst critic. So I just let other people do the talking and let them think what they want about my music. Although, I’m flattered for some of the positive feedback I get with my playing.

Kev

I often get advice from other guitar players that if you want to learn to play better, learn a guitar solo from a cover song, note for note. I disagree. I’ve always believed that if you want to become a better lead guitar soloist, don’t touch any other solos from anybody else at all. You’re just gonna get their style, and you want your own. This is why I never touched other guitar solos from my other heroes. I’m never going to play “Stairway” or any Led Zep solos note for note, ’cause I don’t want to rip off Jimmy Page.

So when I do cover songs in a band, I’m not going to copy the solo off the song, I’m going to give it my own solo. You want to have your own style of lead guitar playing, so that when the listener is listening to your playing, he/she will immediately know the lead guitar player is you.

When somebody tells me to try playing this solo, note for note on a cover song, I’m going to refuse. Don’t get me wrong. I actually tried to play other guitar solos from other songs note for note, I could never do it.

I never understood why other musicians and bands try to copy solos note for note on a song. I never understood why musicians and bands play the same exact solo at every damn show, whether on a cover song or an original.

When I get a band and start playing live gigs with them, I’m certainly not going to play solos the same way every show. I’m going to want to improvise it and wing it out every time. That’s how you become a better guitar player. You don’t ever want to sound like your heroes, ever.

While, I admire Jimmy Page so much, I’m never going to copy his sounds although, I do borrow a little bit from him here and there. You want to sound like you, nobody else.

Kev

Ya know, I always keep saying that I’m going try to make my songs short like maybe 2 or 4 minutes long, but I have a feeling that I’m never going to be able to. Here’s why.

I know people would want to see me write a short few minute songs, but it’s something I’ll never be able to do ’cause I’m used to writing long songs. Plus, I’ve been listening to so much music that has long guitar solos in them for so long. Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Clapton, Grateful Dead, Phish, etc. They’re all my inspirations for that.

With that full band song, “Secret Hidden“, gives you a little hint of what I’m about to do with full band music. While that song does have a pretty long guitar solo, but if I play that song in a band at a gig, I’ll probably end up playing the solo to that song even longer.

I’m not sure if you’ll call me jam band music, people can call it whatever they want to, but I’ll always consider myself rock n’ roll. I’ve always wanted to be a rock n’ roll musician for years and I feel it’s time it finally needs to happen. That’s why I’m doing my best to improve my timing & rhythm, improvisation/ear training, scales/modes, etc.

I want to play like I’m on fire and melt some faces, man. Play like my heroes. When these famous legends jam live they don’t even sing that much in songs and just jam throughout most of it. That’s what I plan to do. If you’ve noticed in that song, “Secret Hidden”, there aren’t much lyrics in that tune, I just wrote it quickly.

I love guitar solos. It’s my favorite part of music. I’ve been trying to improve my lead soloing ever since I picked up the guitar. It’s a hard thing to master but you’ll get better at it as years go along and if you’ll keep it up. You don’t become a great guitarist over night. Takes years of hard work. You just need to not rush it and not get too far ahead of yourself.

I do want to become a great guitar player and doing all I can to get there.

Kev

As I do want to mostly play heavy rock with full band music, I’ll still do many other genres as well. I’ll still play acoustic/folk music, yes. I will also try a little blues, funk music, punk rock, and maybe learn some jazz guitar as well. I learned if you want to be a better guitar player and play more professionally, you need to be a versatile musician by playing all genres of music. Neil Young has done exactly that! He switches genres, every album, and he has done just about everything you can think of. Isn’t there anything Neil Young can’t do? I wanna be able to play everything myself. I’ll get bored staying with one genre.

My next demo, I’m planning on making it a heavy rock album with guitar solos. People don’t think I could do the heavy rock thing, but I’m about to prove you all wrong. Just watch me. Don’t think I can rock? Well, I’m gonna soon.

Once I get my timing and rhythm down better, just wait ’til you hear what I have planned in the future. As far as timing and rhythm goes in guitar playing, this stuff is all a piece of cake! It’s easy to count certain rhythms along with a metronome and play in time. It only gets really challenging when you play in a real fast tempo like I said before.

I don’t know if I will do superfast rock n’ roll music just yet, still have some work to do on that stuff and more practicing. I want to prove people that I can be an actual “musician”. Yes, “musician”.

I do believe, that people are starting to see it, but this is only the beginning.

Kev

So I started messing with the Drummers instructional book a little bit today. Just learn the timing & rhythm it gives you from the book, thrown on the instructional CD and play along with drum tracks on it. This stuff will definitely help you play along with a metronome or a real drummer a lot better for sure. After I finish this book sometime, I’ll buy more drummers books by ordering some more online.

I seriously need to get my timing down ’cause I really want to get a band going. It’s very important to stay in the pocket with other musicians. If you want more respect toward your music, getting good with timing is key!

Kev

I’m going to take my time and study timing & rhythm. Study and practice. Learn, learn, learn. Those two different songs I worked on from Garageband, “Miracle” and “Secret Hidden”, was just a try out.

Honestly, I think I’m going to trash, “It’s a Miracle”, and not use the song at all. I don’t think the song fits the direction of music, I want to head into. Plus, I believe the song is way too political and honestly, people are getting tired of political songs.

I think I’m going to start writing lyrics on various things, but they will still be on the positive and honest side. I want to try to start writing more harder rock and heavier songs. Not exactly metal, but think of hard rock as Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Soundgarden type stuff or 70’s sounding hard rock music. Things like that. I’ll keep “Secret Hidden” ’cause I’m very proud of that song. I think that song turned out pretty tight and yes, I believe the drums are in sync good enough.

I want to take my time studying & practice rhythm so I can get better at home recording. I’ll take my time with the next original song and won’t rush it. I”ve grown kind of tired of doing the acoustic solo thing for years, and it’s about time that I feel the need to rock out.

Kev

Yep, I definitely need to learn how to do this stuff better if I want to improve for home recording or even play in a band. Like I said, I plan on buying a drummer’s book ’cause that will help. There are also all kinds of great instructional videos in youtube with musicians teaching you how to count different rhythm’s. This is one thing I really need to concentrate on, the most.

If I can understand timing and rhythm better, I’ll become a much better songwriter and guitar player. Wish I learned this stuff a long time ago. I didn’t think you need to learn it just being an acoustic solo act, but when you want to play in a band or record in the studio, gotta be good with the metronome. Plus, more people will give you more respect with your songs if you’re playing in time.

Kev

I think I’m going to give that song another re-do, this week. See if I can make the drums & guitar sound a little better. I agree that some drum parts sound a little off, and I want to make the vocals sound better too.

I think the other song I posted yesterday, “A Secret Hidden” is fine the way it is.

It’s just that “Miracle” song, I’m going to change around a bit. You can clearly tell, I’ve been trying to improve my timing and rhythm. Since I took my time with “Secret Hidden” and made it a good one. I’ll do the same with “Miracle”.

I’ll start re-working, “Miracle”, tomorrow ’cause tonight I’m watching “Wrestlemania”.

Kev

As you can hear in the style of my new music, I’m going for that old school 60’s and 70’s psychedellic rock sound. I loved all that stuff, the jam rock kind of music. You can hear that there is a bit of Jimmy Page influence and there’s a bit of metal in some of that stuff too. The guitar solo I played on, “A Secret Hidden” was all me. I just winged the solo, I didn’t sit down and write the guitar solo piece by piece. I just let it go. I recorded the solo several times until I found the take that I was happy with. If I didn’t like the solo, I would delete it again and record it over and over again until, I found the solo I liked. So the latest recording of the song, I was proud of that solo.

As you can hear, my playing is a bit bluesy. I don’t listen to a lot of blues. Some of it anyway. I got the blues influence by listening to Jimmy Page, Hendrix, Clapton, or SRV. Sometimes BB King as well. When I do these full band songs on garageband, I want to play more solos. Do these long improvised jams, so I can show off a little.

I want to prove people, that I do have what it takes to play in a band and record more professionally.

If I can get an actual band going, that would be great, but I need enough songs for us to practice on. These songs from garageband would give them an idea of what I would like my songs to sound like with a real live band. Of course, when I get a real band someday, the other musicians don’t have to play everything exactly what’s on the recordings. They can feel free to put in their own creativity in those songs. Like I said before, I’m sure other musicians can come up with drum parts and bass lines way better than I can.

These full band songs from garageband are just “demos”, that it. You don’t have to like it. You don’t have to hate it. They’re just examples of what I would sound like playing in a band, and that’s the whole point of me releasing them publicly.

To get feedback on them. Constructive criticism, and so far, the criticism has been surprisingly positive.

Kev