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EZDrummer w/ Drumkit From Hell here as well, and Cubase LE because it’s free and I’m too broke to afford anything else.
Thanks, Sean. Yeah, that’s me singing. I didn’t do half bad, but I have a friend from another forum (not MP.com) that I want to do the vocals. Dude has an amazing voice that will fit perfectly with the feel of the tune.
And I agree on the melodies. I really think I hit paydirt when I stumbled across that progression and started developing that. It’s got a real taste and feel to it, it stands out. I don’t say that to be immodest, the song just simply has a unique sound to it. I can’t wait to see where it goes.
We just moved into a new house, so the room that is supposed to be our library/music room/studio is full of ****. Never seems to be enough time to get it all sorted out.
I don’t know what got me into playing guitar. I’d always been drawn to music, though. In fact, my first band I was in I was recruited as the drummer. Before that, I didn’t even belong in the band, really. My best friend was the bass player and I would just come and hang out. They had some real issues with keeping solid drummers, and on those frequent occasion when the drummer would never show up, I’d fill in. After the third drummer quit, they looked at me to fill the spot, which was freaking awesome. I couldn’t believe it.
I transitioned to guitar at some point, but I don’t know why. I think because I wanted to play Metallica songs. Then I heard my first David Gilmour solo and I was forever changed. Really opened my eyes to what could be done with the guitar.
Then I heard John Petrucci. He was the one who really inspired me to learn theory, technique, and to become the best player I can be.
As far as recent inspirations, I’ve really been inspired by Mikael Akerfeldt and Opeth. Mikael is such a virtuoso on guitar, the man can play anything and make it sound beautiful and evil at the same time. I’ve been learning a lot of Opeth tunes because it’s a style of playing I’ve never seen before, and it’s been really inspiring when playing the guitar.
When I attempt to teach modal theory, I like to use chord progressions, as I think that usually helps to get the point across. Case in point:
A friend of mine has a song that has the following chord progression:
C – G – Em – D (resolving back to C)
Now, at first glance, one would guess that the song is in the key of C major, since it starts and resolves to C major. However, if we look at the D chord, we know it’s comprised of D – F# – A. Well, F# doesn’t belong to the C major scale. In fact, if we break down each chord, we see that F# is the only accidental. That means that the actual key of the song is G.
But we resolve to C? Thus the power of modes. C Lydian would be the mode, but the actual key is G major.
I think examples like these, of breaking down chord progressions, really helps to at least get the student understanding the concept of modes.
James
Well, I’m a Virgo, so I get C. My question is, how can an accident-prone individual like myself get stuck with the one key that has no accidentals? Doesn’t make sense, I tell ya.
Hey Mike, I just signed up. I know Sean from another forum we frequent. What I’d like to see explained isn’t necessarily for my benefit, but for the benefit of those new to theory. It’s something that I understand but have a hard time explaining (I’ve never been a good instructor). The topic I’d like to start is that of modal theory.
I see so many people try to explain modes but never really show how to use them. Knowing how to play them on the fretboard is one thing. Knowing how to use them effectively within the context of a song to change the tonal structure is a completely different ballgame, one that takes quite a while to master. So I’d like to see some posts about modal theory and how to use modes effectively. I think it’s a great topic for discussion.
