Like some of you know, I’m a rock n’ roll guy. I like all kinds of rock n’ roll. Regular rock, metal and prog rock. Not only that I’m a huge fan of metal, I’m also a huge fan of prog rock. I love prog rock bands like Rush, Yes, Jethro Tull, Dream Theater, Opeth, etc. I’ve played acoustic guitar for most of my life and I want to do something different.

Keep my focus on rock & metal guitar. Play like all the heroes that I looked up to over the years. So that means I’m gonna have to learn to study the technique and rhythm stuff for that kind of music. Gonna have to get good with the metronome and get good with music theory which is what I’m working on. I want to play great rock & metal guitar so I’m gonna have to learn all kinds of techniques like open string palm mutings and things like that. If I want to learn how to shred, I might have to learn sweep picking and two handed finger tapping and all that stuff. I would like to experiment with whammy bar dives but I don’t have a guitar with a whammy bar yet but I do want to get one. I do want to play like a shredder and virtuoso but working my ass off to get there. I’ve been playing guitar for like 20 years and still feel I haven’t gotten there yet but I will. I’m still learning ear training and improv skills too ’cause if you want to play rock & metal gotta have a good ear. Having a good ear is crucial to metal. I love rock & metal guitar and I finally want to get into that full time.

Don’t worry, I’m not giving up the acoustic ’cause I will always play that too but I spent most of my life playing acoustic and honestly getting kind of tired of it. I just want to do something else and rock out, man. I want to rock on the guitar this time and rock hard on the electric. I believe I’m capable of making some badass and tight rock riffs that will get you headbanging, just wait until I can show you what I can do.

If I were to do a metal album, what would it sound like you may ask? Well, my idea for a metal album would be in the similar vibe of Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Led Zep and the Sword maybe. That kind of sound. I want to bring back the 70’s rock sound that I grew up on is the idea. I believe I could make good rock & metal. I really want to make it happen sometime. It’s just the matter of coming up with money for studio time and finding the right musicians to play with is the problem. I’ll get it done somehow ’cause I want to do this.

I’ve been wanting to switch from acoustic guitar to electric guitar full time for a long while and actually gonna do it this time. Just want to rock and have fun.

Kev

I purchased and downloaded two albums from Itunes earlier tonight. Couldn’t afford a whole lot this month ’cause of Christmas shopping so I decided to download two albums from the Itunes store.

They are:

Avenged Sevenfold “The Stage”: I don’t know why so many people hate Avenged Sevenfold. I think they’re a great band. I just read their interview with them in this months Guitar World magazine with the band discussing the album and it was good enough to make me want to get it for myself so I did.

Opeth “Sorceress”: I’ve been wanting to get this album for a while, just haven’t gotten around to it until now. This album came out in Sept earlier this year so I finally got it. I’m a big Opeth fan. Heard all of their albums when I used to listen to Spotify/Apple Music but I don’t do that stuff anymore. I’m just starting to buy Opeth albums so I can own them for myself. They’re a great band.

When will I do my top 15 music albums of 2016? I’ll probably do it the week after Christmas like always. Should I do it on video or on a blog post? I’m thinking I’ll write it on a blog post this year ’cause doing it on video is a lot of work.

Kev

I used to be against guitar pedals and effects when it comes to playing the electric guitar ’cause I’ve used to believe that they were used as an excuse to cover up your crappy guitar playing. My opinion changed on guitar pedals until I decided to check out the AmpliTube app on the Ipad. AmpliTube which is an online guitar playing simulator or some sort. Recently I’ve had a change of heart with guitar pedals and effects so I’m gonna start collecting those in 2017. Yesterday, I just got a BOSS DS-1 Distortion pedal. Yeah, I know the BOSS DS-1 Distortion pedal is very popular with guitar players. A lot of guitar players out there have one so I finally decided to get one for myself. After messing around with the pedal last night, I finally realized why that pedal is very popular with guitar players ’cause it has a great sound.

If I want to play bad ass rock music and even metal, I need effects. I already have 4 pedals in my collection but need a lot more. I’m gonna need a fuzz pedal, delay, chorus, flanger, echo, compressor, volume pedal, etc.

Yep, so I want to focus on electric guitar. Why? Simply because for the past 20 years, I’ve been playing acoustic guitar that I think it’s time for something different. The whole purpose of me picking up the guitar was that I wanted to play electric. That’s why I picked up the guitar at 18 years old ’cause I wanted to become a rock guitarist. I wanted to shred, play some great guitar solos and riffs. I wanted to write killer rock n’ roll and metal songs on the electric.

I’ll use the electric guitar so I can learn all my favorite rock and metal songs too ’cause I need to do that. I’ll learn how to play songs by Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Dream Theater, Joe Satriani, Hendrix, Led Zep, etc.

I want to focus on electric guitar playing mostly ’cause I’m hoping to get my own band going. Not to play live shows but to record original music in a studio and hopefully release a full band rock album which is something I’ve always wanted to do. It’s been my dream for years and I want to make it happen.

Kev