Microphone placement is an important piece of the tone puzzle, so it’s good to know how your tone can be changed by simply moving the mic a little bit. The basic thing to remember is that generally, the closer to the center of the speaker, the brighter your sound. I’m sure there are exceptions to [...]

Show up on time. Guitarists are irritating enough already. Late ones are unbearable. Know the material. You might think you ‘smoothed over’ that clam…you didn’t. When in doubt, don’t play. Mind your volume. Playing softly is no fun, but if you can’t hear the rest of the band, you’re too loud. Less than 5% of [...]

The idea of polyrhythms always conjures up visions of geeks getting out their calculators, trying to figure out the best way to make something NOT groove. If you want to inject a little poly into your rhythm, here’s a really simple concept. One problem with playing fast lines is that there’s a tendency to sound [...]

A clever way to add some rhythmic variety to your playing is to phrase notes in groups of odds and evens. Even the simplest melodic idea can become an ear-twister with some odd rhythmic voodoo thrown into it. The example below shows a basic E major pentatonic scale, played in groups of 4 then 5 [...]