As Far As Practicing Goes...

'59

Active member
What songs have helped you learn the most in different key areas. For example, I mastered tremolo picking with nothing more than Miserlou and also learned a lot about two handed tapping from Joe Satriani's Midnight.
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Just learn the 3 Yes records from 1971 and 1972 and you pretty much have all of Music possibilities covered... :Lmao:

The Yes Album (1971)
Fragile (1971)
Close to the Edge (1972)
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

As far as playing songs, I find they help very little. I learn techniques, and work on fingering exercises, note placement, scales, and chord structures during practice. Rehearsal is where I put all that stuff into action....
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Learning James Hetfield's parts in Metallica gave me a pretty steady right hand. Not only for galloping riffs, but for all my guitar playing, really. Battery has the most savage riff ever and it got me into playing guitar.

Brian May in way too many songs and Marty Friedman in Megadeth's Tornado of Souls among others made me develop good bends and good vibrato control from early on.

Ritchie Blackmore... I can't even begin to explain. Sooo many good things to learn from him. Such beautiful finesse, precision and magic. Go learn Lazy by Deep Purple.
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Just learn the 3 Yes records from 1971 and 1972 and you pretty much have all of Music possibilities covered... :Lmao:

The Yes Album (1971)
Fragile (1971)
Close to the Edge (1972)

Ha! I was going to say any song from The Yes Album has about 5 completely different styles of playing on it...played very well. It is quite the exercise playing it all on 1 guitar.
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

I learned a ton about double stops and chord tone soloing from Hendrix's Little Wing and Axis Bold as Love.
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

What songs have helped you learn the most in different key areas. For example, I mastered tremolo picking with nothing more than Miserlou and also learned a lot about two handed tapping from Joe Satriani's Midnight.

Alcatraz - no parole from rock'n'roll
Van Hallen - first album
Exodus - bonded by blood or metallica MOP as Diego said

that'll cover three large areas in modern rock
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

When I first started playing I was way into the Smithereens. They were all about playing using open chords, and stayed away from Barre chords because they liked the sound of the open strings ringing out. I was taking lessons, and the guy teaching me said I needed to learn and master barre chords, some songs may sound better using open strings but movable chords open so many possibilities. The song he used to demonstrate barre chords making the song sound better was clapton’s cocaine. He played it using open chords, and played it using barre chords, and he was right. In fact since that day I’ve seen so many people play it, and I’ve never seen anyone play it using open chords. From that song I learned the value of barre chords and other movable chords.
 
Last edited:
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Blackmore made a big impact on me surely. Especially three first Rainbow albums.

For specifics...

I learned finger vibrato watching live footage of SRV doing it in Crossfire and trying to do the same.

Alternating picking fromCrazy Train was one of the first things I learned.

Here's one cool riff I used to do quite alot for fretting hand practice and warm up:

EDIT: interestingly I only now realized he is only using 3 fingers for the riff. Probably much easier, and more practice, if you use pinky as well. That's how I learned to play it from a book.
 
Last edited:
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Ha! I was going to say any song from The Yes Album has about 5 completely different styles of playing on it...played very well. It is quite the exercise playing it all on 1 guitar.

I know most of Steve Howes -at least as well as I could and then learned all of Squire's parts too. Tried Wakeman and Bruford and gave up -never happening...

Those 24 months for YES might be the most prolific, profound and diverse output in music history -certainly in Rock music. If anyone but John Anderson was singing, more people might know about it.... lol
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Listening to a lot of Buddy Guy, SRV and Eric Clapton taught me a lot about bringing tension into playing the blues.

Listening to a lot of Robben Ford taught me about playing "outside" within the I-IV-V progressions.

Listening to a lot of Danny Gatton and Greg Koch taught me that I have a lot to learn about playing he guitar!!
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

I know most of Steve Howes -at least as well as I could and then learned all of Squire's parts too. Tried Wakeman and Bruford and gave up -never happening...

Those 24 months for YES might be the most prolific, profound and diverse output in music history -certainly in Rock music. If anyone but John Anderson was singing, more people might know about it.... lol

I had transcribed a lot of Wakeman's and Kaye's parts on guitar. My band played most of The Yes Album and Fragile live- it is a amazing a guitarist like Howe, in a sea of blues-rock players, was able to do what he did. Truly extraordinary.
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Wait up... OP, didnt you just allude to being a competitve swimmer?

Pretty sure you're barelling towards a fork in the road. Well, more like a wall. Unless there's some newfangled way to keep callouses viable on soaked fingers??
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

I had transcribed a lot of Wakeman's and Kaye's parts on guitar. My band played most of The Yes Album and Fragile live- it is a amazing a guitarist like Howe, in a sea of blues-rock players, was able to do what he did. Truly extraordinary.

Agreed. Sometimes I wonder why he isnt reference more with the greats -when most other greats follow a direct lineage of well established Blues movements
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Wait up... OP, didnt you just allude to being a competitve swimmer?

Pretty sure you're barelling towards a fork in the road. Well, more like a wall. Unless there's some newfangled way to keep callouses viable on soaked fingers??

Yeah.

They tend to dry out after a while... :)
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Agreed. Sometimes I wonder why he isnt reference more with the greats -when most other greats follow a direct lineage of well established Blues movements

I think his stuff isn't as approachable and easy to learn as Page or Iommi...you need to be adept at many styles. Howe listened to more Tal Farlow and Chet Atkins than any blues artists. It is generally too complex for a mass audience.
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Ironically enough , their song “Changes” came on the radio today.
It’s just plain brilliant.
It’s a musical work of art yet still commercial enough to be accessible to the average Joe.
 
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Hmm... some stuff comes to mind, but can't remember it all and I'm sure I've forgotten a bunch.

Not really naming tunes, just players:

rhythm guitar - Alex Lifeson, EVH (yep), Megadeth/Metallica, 80s metal bands, Schenker
acoustic guitar - Page, Nancy Wilson, Kansas (that Dusty tune)
soloing - Page, Schon, Richrath, EJ, Morse, Roth, Nugent, Kossoff, Satriani, Schenker, Easton, etc...
harmonized lines - Scholz/Goudreau, Thin Lizzy
playing a Strat - Blackmore
 
Last edited:
Re: As Far As Practicing Goes...

Yeah.

They tend to dry out after a while... :)

No, i meant if you keep it wet for more than 30 mins to an hour or so, you get that nasty wrinkly water effect...and then your callouses pretty much go back to start over?
 
Back
Top