Guitar Lessons with Tune in, Tone up‪!‬ Dan and Gary

In this lesson, Dan and I return with an audio only lesson but a really useful lesson on harmonizing guitar parts. In this lesson: Dan defines what it means to harmonize guitar parts, we examine how this is different to pitch shifting when working in a key, we play the C major scale with harmony parts in 2nds, 3rds, 4ths and so on, we harmonize the theme tune for Eastenders (PAAAAT!!) and we try to harmonize a lick with bends in it (I struggle with bending over another part). The lesson ends with some discussion about the issues you may face when harmonizing, Dan gives some practical uses including the riff for Led Zeppelin’s Rock n’ Roll and finally there is a summary of the learning points of the lesson and notable tips.

00:00:59 Setting up this lesson on guitar harmonies and harmony vocals
00:05:01 Defining a harmony part
00:06:53 If you just keep the same distance between the two notes, some notes will fall out of key
00:08:35 Conclusion: harmonizing is not the same as pitch shifting
00:10:06 How a harmonizer pedal works
00:11:16 Harmonizing the C major scale
00:12:13 Adding a number to each note in the scale
00:17:46 Dan and I playing the C major in unison
00:17:58 Discussion around 2nds and our next activity
00:18:52 Dan and I playing the c major scale a 2nd apart
00:20:16 Discussion around 3rds
00:21:03 Dan and I playing the C major scale a 3rd apart
00:21:45 Discussion around 4ths
00:22:53 Dan and I playing the c major scale a 4th apart
00:23:39 2-part harmony vs multiple parts
00:24:16 Dan and I playing the c major scale a 5th apart
00:26:07 Dan and I playing the c major scale a 6th apart
00:27:10 Discussion around 7ths
00:27:30 Dan and I playing the c major scale a 7th apart
00:28:17 Dan and I playing the c major scale an octave apart
00:31:42 9ths
00:32:31 Practical applications of harmonies
00:32:37 Practical application 1: harmonising a simple melody (Eastenders)
00:39:18 Playing harmony 3rds from the B string to the top E string
00:41:19 Back to the Eastenders theme tune and our harmonisation demonstration
00:44:26 What are the practical uses for the Eastenders harmonization idea
00:45:16 Using an idea which the guitar is specifically good at - bending in harmony
00:50:36 Harmonizing the D major pentatonic scale
00:53:31 Back to our bending lick and harmonizing using the A dorian scale
00:55:34 Rock and Roll (Led Zep) - harmonizing rhythm parts
00:58:05 Summary of lesson and some final points

THE TWO VIDEOS FOR THIS ONE WOULD BE HELPFUL:
https://youtu.be/K7N1TxJm17k
https://youtu.be/BSAEidhkFcU

In this lesson, Dan talks pedals and pedalboards.  We take a tour round his board and a small tour round mine too.  Then we examine the question (from the perspective of a beginner) of what pedal someone could start out with.  Dan also gives his wisdom on some ways which you can keep in mind the big picture (perhaps of a pedalboard) and get the pedals which are the most useful.

There’s a really big section in which Dan walks me through what the different uses of the Strymon Timeline are and also regularly demonstrates a wide range of pedals with examples.

00:00:33 Start of main lesson
00:02:11 Using the Timeline - set to Pink Floyd Run Like Hell
00:03:19 Timeline setting - Reverse Delay
00:04:30 Timeline setting for Purple Rain
00:05:12 With a lighter chorus sound
00:05:29 Ducking delay
00:05:50 Clean boost
00:06:27 Different boosts
00:06:52 Wah wah pedal on
00:07:19 Sweep Filter
00:07:43 With compression
00:08:00 Octave pedal effect
00:08:28 Delay for Pink Floyd's - Another Brick in the Wall
00:13:15 Dan playing through my pedalboard
00:13:30 Corona TC Electronic Chorus
00:14:11 Increasing the depth
00:14:26 Delay Boss DSD3
00:15:21 Sampler?
00:15:34 Boss compressor CS3
00:16:34 Using a compressor pedal as a clean boost
00:17:05 Boss Overdrive OD3
00:17:32 A little trick is to leave the drive down and use the level as a boost
00:18:11 Reverb HOF mini
00:18:47 Boss GE7 Equaliser
00:20:06 Stripping it back to beginner level
00:20:29 Running with the question - what pedal ought I buy?
00:20:40 The 'ice' delay setting - pitch shifted delay
00:24:09 Srtymon - Timeline
00:25:22 Timeline: The Wall
00:25:54 Timeline: Always
00:26:43 Timeline: Ice
00:26:49 Timeline: Duck
00:27:14 Timeline: Purple Rain
00:28:09 Timeline: Streets have no name
00:28:52 Timeline: Reverse delay
00:29:34 Timeline: Tape delay (slapback rock and roll)
00:30:10 Timeline: multi-tap (run like hell)
00:30:55 Dan's tips on what pedals to buy
00:31:18 Tremolo - slapback delay (50s)
00:31:30 Less delay, wah wah and fuzz (60s)
00:31:56 Analog delays and chorus (70s)
00:32:52 Chorus and big delay (80s)
00:34:50 Into the Great Wide Open through the looper as a basis for a jam track
00:37:54 First pedal for Dan would be an overdrive
00:41:01 Explanation of overdrive
00:44:27 A good idea for a second pedal - a clean boost
00:44:49 On a clean channel - take into a solo
00:47:37 On a drive setting - a similar application shows the difference in lift
00:50:15 Buffered vs true bypass
00:55:37 Another great pedal is a wah wah
01:01:18 Next suggestion is a compressor
01:03:07 Good for Country music
01:03:46 Using a slight driven sound the compressor sustains the notes
01:06:11 Next type of pedal we discuss is a phaser
01:07:18 Using a phaser on Money (Pink Floyd)
01:08:05 You do something to me - Paul Weller
01:10:12 Another pedal to consider is a flanger
01:11:44 Next pedal is a chorus
01:13:02 Demo - chorus
01:14:18 Tremolo effect
01:17:27 Dan explains how he practically uses his board live
01:20:01 What is delay? Quick rundown
01:26:30 Tying your cables together and prepping your board for a quick setup

THE TWO VIDEOS FOR THIS ONE WOULD BE HELPFUL:
https://youtu.be/K7N1TxJm17k
https://youtu.be/BSAEidhkFcU

This is the preamble for lesson 18, in which Dan and I take the viewer through our pedalboards, briefly describing what the pedal does and how we put together our pedalboard.

See lesson 18b for the full lesson

In this lesson, Dan helps me out with my acoustic sound for a performance I have been asked to do for my sister-in-law’s wedding. I am performing several songs at the front of their service some of which they have chosen and some of which they have asked me to come up with. As there is a delay on publishing our episodes, this comes after I have actually done the performance and it went very well, particularly because of Dan’s excellent advice and suggestion to use a looper pedal which I followed.
In the second part of this lesson, we take a look at how to arrange multiple parts for the looper pedal performance, particularly covering “Something” by the Beatles.
In the end, the performance was of the following songs:
1) ‘Something’ by the Beatles: Played while the wedding party awaited the arrival of the bride
2) ‘Textbook’ by We Are Scientists: Played as my sister-in-law walked up the aisle
3) ‘Pretty Ugly Before’ by Elliott Smith: Played while the register was being signed
4) ‘I Don’t Want to Know’ by Fleetwood Mac: Played as everyone left
Most songs were played using my Boss RC30 to create a long loop, then some layers added to this on the fly along with some melodic playing and improvisation. On ‘Textbook’ the Looper was not utilised but I used reverb, chorus and a bit of delay to build the atmosphere. The acoustic amp I use is the Marshall AS100D which is great and has an effects loop with the downside of being very heavy.
Timings
00:01:05 Equipment which I have bought to the lesson: Gibson J45, Looper RC30, Marshall AS100D
00:01:51 Outlining the four songs I'm doing as part of this performance
00:03:11 Advantages and disadvantages to playing acoustic rather than electric
00:05:55 An experiment to discover what will happen when I push the AS100D a little harder
00:06:41 The low "A" note bass response feedback and how to solve using a soundhole cover
00:11:42 Alternative idea - you could use a volume pedal
00:12:47 Experimenting with the controls on the AS100D
00:17:49 Dan demonstrating 'digging in' on an acoustic
00:19:30 Another thing about the settings on your amp: you want the amp set so you can use "touch" to control the volume and response
00:21:11 Getting onto the songs with the looper
00:24:31 Dan's first go with the looper playing “Something” by the Beatles
00:25:56 Dan's second loop with correct start and end
00:29:23 Identifying the double stops which Dan was using
00:32:09 Dan's suggestion to layer the Am section
00:33:39 Overdubbing the Am section
00:37:47 Dan harmonising the melody of the singer using guitar loops overdubbed
00:44:02 Breakdown of the Am part
00:46:16 Quick discussion about the key change and whether to include it
00:48:04 Considering other equipment like amps, pedals and different types of guitar instruments to get used to in their own right
00:51:27 “Textbook” by We are Scientists
00:52:06 “Pretty Ugly Before” by Elliott Smith
00:56:11 Dan recording a generic chord progression and the value of double stops on acoustic
00:56:27 a) using single notes
00:56:52 b) up an octave
00:57:33 c) using sixths (interval)
00:58:00 d) using arpeggios
00:58:29 e) some more double stops
00:58:57 f) using arpeggiated triads
00:59:11 g) playing quicker - e.g. sweep picking
01:00:01 h) superimposing different chords
01:00:21 i) octaves played concurrently
01:05:51 I Don't Wanna Know Fleetwood Mac

In this lesson, Dan helps me out with some planning for a performance I have been asked to do for my sister-in-law’s wedding. I am performing several songs at the front of their service some of which they have chosen and some of which they have asked me to come up with. As there is a delay on publishing our episodes, this comes after I have actually done the performance and it went very well, particularly because of Dan’s excellent advice and suggestion to use a looper pedal which I followed. In the end, the performance was of the following songs:
1) ‘Something’ by the Beatles: Played while the wedding party awaited the arrival of the bride
2) ‘Textbook’ by We Are Scientists: Played as my sister-in-law walked up the aisle
3) ‘Pretty Ugly Before’ by Elliott Smith: Played while the register was being signed
4) ‘I Don’t Want to Know’ by Fleetwood Mac: Played as everyone left
Most songs were played using my Boss RC30 to create a long loop, then some layers added to this on the fly along with some melodic playing and improvisation. On ‘Textbook’ the Looper was not utilised but I used reverb, chorus and a bit of delay to build the atmosphere. The acoustic amp I use is the Marshall AS100D which is great and has an effects loop with the downside of being very heavy.
I the lesson Dan demonstrates some mixed lead and chord playing, which works very well (when he does it). He gave me lots of useful advice and we’ll return to this in part 2 when I take along my RC30 to gain some input on how best to use this in the performance. Dan, as always, is very generous and helpful in his advice.
Timings
00:03:24 A quick look at the two acoustics we are using today
00:11:32 Start of getting stuck into the topic of the wedding numbers I've been asked to play
00:13:50 Elliott Smith - Pretty Ugly Before
00:15:58 Dan suggests using a hammer on and pull off instead of the slide
00:16:49 Dan suggests a focus on the importance of the melody
00:18:50 Doing fills over certain chords
00:19:09 A good suggestion to build the looper pedal into my plan for the performance
00:20:03 Play through the song again with Dan adding some improvisation and fills over the top
00:25:33 Quick rundown of Dan's Taylor 314
00:26:49 Dan demoing playing chords as a backdrop and playing a melody concurrently
00:27:54 Second demo of this dual part idea
00:33:25 Advice to pre-prepare and think a lot about the chord changes - play to the chord played over
00:35:18 A quick discussion about the tonality centres found within Elliott Smith's Pretty Ugly Before
00:37:18 Some useful discussion about what to consider with regard to song choice for different scenarios

In this lesson, Dan and I take a look at the outro solo for "Feel Like Makin' Love" by Bad Company - a song which I am covering with my band. During the lesson we go through 9 tips on transcribing from Dan and we look at 9 licks from the solo. Dan shares his ideas with me on tone and effects for songs and also the different ways to approach different sorts of solos.

Timings for Video Guitar Lesson 15 - on transcribing:
00:03:18 Boss RC30 Loopstation - I talk about various features on it
00:04:32 I overdub with the part Dan came up with before
00:05:41 Dan's first improvisation over the riff
00:08:42 A word on active listening and the value of ear training
00:13:24 Comedy - the dots (correction: not Smith and Jones but French and Saunders)
00:14:40 Tip 1: You need to play the song alongside the tab
00:18:29 Tip 2: When you try to transcribe something do it in small chunks
00:23:56 Tip 3: Check out live versions and alternate versions of the song
00:24:17 Sometimes YouTube guitar lessons can be illuminative
00:24:48 Tip 4: Pick something simple and work at your level
00:25:12 Tip 5: Listen for the chords - can you work them out?
00:25:37 Summary of Tip 2
00:26:08 Tip 6: Stitch the parts together and learn the piece
00:27:05 (tip 1 summary) check tabs against the songs
00:27:17 Tip 7: Try to actively listen to different parts / instruments
00:28:33 Tip 8: write out the structure of songs and parts
00:29:26 Tip 9: Music theory helps your transcribing
00:31:36 We're going to listen to the track and lift some of the lciks from it
00:33:16 Lick 1
00:34:42 Lick 2 
00:35:14 Tip 10: It's good to write down what you hear
00:36:59 Lick 3
00:39:54 Lick 3 broken down
00:50:42 Lick 4
00:54:22 Lick 5
00:54:58 Lick 6
00:55:04 Lick 7
00:55:12 Lick 8
00:55:33 Lick 9
00:56:03 Lick 10
00:56:46 Three different types of solos
00:57:32 Solo 1: Part of the song
00:58:44 Solo 2: Has become an absolute classic and so should be learnt and retained
00:59:58 Solo 3: Free to mess with but there are licks and phrases that ought to be in there
01:03:11 Solo 4: Improvised and very free to mess with 
01:03:43 Example of going nuts and over the top with Bad Company riff
01:05:53 Crazy Little Thing Called Love
01:06:53 Purple Rain solo