Here’s a classic-sounding country lick in C major – perfect for intros, endings, and turnarounds!
Towards the end of the videos I’ve included some cool, advanced variations to add even more ‘spice’ to the lick. Make sure to check these out too, these little details are a great chance to stamp your own personality on the lick and make it your own.
Enjoy!
Let’s talk plectrums…
When I was about fifteen, tentatively putting together my beginnings of a pentatonic scale and rocking out in my first cover band, I met guitarist John Goldie (in case you haven’t checked him out, do so now! He’s a seriously musical and skilled guitar virtuoso). He visited our school music class and played a blistering set of gypsy jazz tunes.
I remember being shocked by the contrast between John’s light, dynamic chordal playing and the high volume, forceful attack of his single note playing. Not realising that this wide breadth of dynamic can be achieved through good right-hand technique, I assumed he must have been using a plectrum for soloing and his thumb for the chords.
When I asked him if this was true he answered with a mixture of frustration and annoyance (probably at the ineptitude of the question!):
‘All professionals use thick plectrums! A soft plectrum won’t make nearly enough sound and produces a weaker tone. And you can’t control a thin pick! I don’t know any professionals who use soft picks, you have to use a hard one!’
While that didn’t quite answer my question about his dynamic range, it certainly convinced me to use the thick plectrums from then on.
In honour of John’s unambiguous stance against flimsy plectrums, let’s give this idea a name:
The ‘Goldie’ Standard of Plectrum Thickness.
The thicker thine pick, the more awesome thine tone.
Previous to my having ‘received’ the Goldie Standard I was using all sorts of weedy, undernourished ‘yoga’-picks. Here are a some examples from the back of my plectrum drawer:
Yoga-Picks
Suffice to say, I promptly discarded these suspiciously skinny picks, marched to the local guitar store, and bought a handful of the thickest plectrums I could find. For years afterwards my main plectrum was the .2mm Dunlop model:
That's more like it!
Then, on my first UK tour, Micky Finlay (guitar tech extraordinaire) produced a big bag of these babies:
BIG STUBBY!
What the….3mm?! These Dunlop .3mm’s (the ‘Big Stubby‘) had several advanatages over my previous .2mm picks:
- they’re .1mm thicker, which is an exact 50% increase in awesome (see Goldie Standard).
- they’ve got a handy dimple to make gripping easier.
- they’re transparent when you hold them up to the light (cool).
- i got a big bag of them for free.
Did I mention they’re thicker? Yep, 50% thicker. I was sold and have been using them ever since.
Summary of Thick Pick Advantages (aka Goldie Standard):
1) More mass = good vibrations = better tone.
2) Less bendiness = less ‘give’ = greater technical control.
Enjoy!
PS: Check out John Goldie’s Website here: http://www.johngoldie.co.uk/
Here’s the 4th Pedal Steel country guitar lick for you, with video and TAB! This one once again uses hybrid picking and diads – better yet, you can move it anywhere on the neck and use it in any key!
In case you missed them, here are the previous licks:
- Pedal Steel Lick 1
- Pedal Steel Lick 2
- Pedal Steel Lick 3
Drop me a comment if you enjoyed it and see you next time!
With all the Christmas shows I’ve been doing (like this one), I’ve been in a rather festive mood lately. And how could I resist the Christmas spirit when D & O (two of my private students) surprised me with mulled wine and mince pies for their last lesson of the year?!
This little solo acoustic guitar arrangement of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas‘ is the product of this seasonal cheer.
I’ve included free TAB and MP3 as an early Christmas present to say thank you for following the blog, reading the posts, and watching the videos.
Enjoy the arrangement and let me know how you get on in the comments below!
- YOUR FREE MP3: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Solo Acoustic
- YOUR FREE TAB: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas – Acoustic TAB arrangement
Season’s Greetings!
Steve
PS: Don’t forget to subscribe to the mailing list for more free info and music!
And now for the final dose of my musical highlights of November 2011…
Exhibit C: ACM Gospel Choir
This gig saw me working with choir leader and vocal tutor Mark De-Lisser, who has been a friend and mentor to me over the years – it’s always great when we get a chance to work together again. As time has passed, many of the choir members have become good friends also. Musically a very satisfying gig (the choir sounded absolutely superb and the theatre was sold out…and who doesn’t love playing Kirk Franklin tunes!).
I was MD’ing this band. The ‘MD’ is the musical director and responsible for the smooth running of the musicians in the choir’s backing band. This basically involves knowing your own instrument part (of course) and also knowing everyone else’s just in case they don’t. There’s also a lot of mid-gig stage direction, queing section changes and generally making sure everyone gets though the gig in one piece – lots of fun!
Here are some pics…click to enlarge:
Band and choir left on a coach from London at 9:30am, arriving back at the drop-off point at around 2am the next morning. A long day but with over 25 musicians and singers on the gig, there was plenty of banter to pass the hours on the road. Electric guitar only on this one.
Check out Part 1 here!
And now for my further musical highlights of November 2011…
Exhibit B: Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
This musical ran for a week in Surrey and I was brought in to play the pedal steel guitar part. This meant reading some fairly dense music notation that was meant to played on a completely different instrument and working out, on the fly, how to play it on the electric guitar.
Seeing as I was specifically hired to imitate the pedal steel sound, I adjusted my rig accordingly and made moment-by-moment judgement calls as to what was physically playable on the electric guitar and where best to come up with my own part similar to the written one (there were some very fast paced improvised country solos to be had!).
It was a really fun and engaging week with a great band (and a reuniting with long time friend and brother in strings Charlie Tottman).
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Band
Regular readers will know that I’m quite enthusiastic about pedal steel imitation licks (fortunately for this gig!). If you’re interested, I teach some of my own in videos here,here, and here.
A lot of people ask what it is that a professional guitarist does – whether it’s students interested in pursuing a career in music or curious (and often baffled!) friends and relatives. So I’ve gone ahead and made a 3-part blog series covering some of my musical highlights of November 2011.
It’s been an eventful and varied month, as most tend to be. I love the variety of styles, contexts, people, and skills involved in this sort of freelance session work – it keeps me on my toes and allows me to constantly push the boundaries of my playing.
Without further ado, here are some highlights from what has been a very musically fulfilling month:
Exhibit A: Thursford Christmas Special
This is a huge Christmas show that runs through November until late December and I recently spent a week there for rehearsals. It’s basically a panto on steroids – with a troop of incredible dancers, choristers, comedians, magicians, and a fantastic orchestra.
I am ‘depping’ on this show – which means I do the show dates the main guitarist (called the ‘chair’) can’t or doesn’t want to do. I’m also on standby in case anything else should prevent the chair from making the gig (illness, family emergencies etc…). So, in addition to the completed week of rehearsals, I’ll be up to Thursford over the next two months to cover a number of days.
A dep’s job is to know the show inside and out so he can step into the chair’s shoes seamlessly without causing a drop in the quality of the show. With such excellent players in the orchestra, my job is a delight. Safe in the knowledge that everyone else knows their role, all I have to worry about is reading the dots and memorising some pieces of choreography.
As a sidenote: in this one I play electric guitar, archtop, acoustic, and banjo. Throw in an array of costume changes, dance routines, and a duet with an Oboe and you have the recipe for a rather enjoyable way to earn a living!
I’m lucky enough to play for all sorts of talented artists in all sorts of styles. Here’s an improvised rock/pop solo from a recent soundcheck at Kensington Roof Gardens.
Seeing as it was a soundcheck I indulged in a bit of shredding to loosen up. And despite the obvious proximity of the camera to my face, I had no idea Tiger’s manager was filming!
Enjoy…
PS: See if you can spot the Marty Friedman lick – extra points if you can tell me which song it’s from!
