Band Etiquette - Guitarists

[Whitestrat]

there is an extremely rare breed of musicians that can just stand there... do their thing.. and the audience is awestuck. Their music just holds the audience there. No need to prance around the stage or flashy antics...

Eric Johnson? Eric Clapton? John Petrucci? Steve Morse?

But it's entertaining to watch some of the "showman" guitarists once in a while.. Like EVH, YJM etc etc... heh.

Actually, there's something else to note:

GUITARISTS!!!!! If you're going to play a gig, and your strings have been on your guitar for months, CHANGE THEM!!!!! It's bad enough that the tones are dull, do you want to risk breaking a string easily too? AND, don't change it just the night before. Do it a couple of days before so the strings can stretch, and they don't go out of tune easily during the gig... Especially those with Floyd Roses...

Here's a joke:

What do you call a guy who hangs out with musicians?




























A drummer... :lol:

 

[Whitestrat]

I don't think you're being fair to a rhythm guitarist here. how's rhythm less technical than lead? I've always dreaded the distinction between rhythm and lead. if you're a guitarist, you're a guitarist. no guitarist should focus solely on either rhythm or lead.

Honestly, to me, if you can't play rhythm, you can't hold a lead... Not the other way round. The rhythm guitarist is more important than any self-absorbed, egomaniacal, narcissistic Lead guitarist... You can survive without the lead, but not the rhythm...

To get the best practice, play in a 3 piece band... the guitarist has to hold BOTH forts... :twisted:

 

[cold_static544]

dun play loud loud all the time.

 

[AEnimic]

Whitestrat

I agree with you!!

 

[Heyn]

Wow thx for all those useful tips and infos.
really good stuff kudos

Thing that pisses me off is when you go for a gig, people dont know how to appreciate music, --> Metal/screamo = Wah hardcore, power, jazz/blues = Ah they suck, no skill.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

What bothers me is when the general public EYES the lead guitarist and considers the rhythm guitarist inferior. I know a lot who consider rhythm guitarists inferior. Does this make the rhythm guitar and the bass the instruments for the not-so-talented??

Its all a matter of role. Some guitarists handle lead, some rhythm, so that the guitar parts in the music sounds full and complete. Rhythm requires different skills than lead, but is certainly not easier. Similarly lead requires different skills from rhythm and is also not any easier.

I prefer playing rhythm, but I also play lead so I am not being biased here. It helps if you play both rhythm and lead, so you understand what each of them require.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Wow thx for all those useful tips and infos.
really good stuff kudos

Thing that pisses me off is when you go for a gig, people dont know how to appreciate music, --> Metal/screamo = Wah hardcore, power, jazz/blues = Ah they suck, no skill.

Too true!

People who dislike a form of music say, "it sucks" when they should be saying "I don't like this kind of music." This kinda thing pisses me off real bad... A techno fellow has no right to say heavy metal sucks, and vice versa... All about personal taste and preference...

 

[Hydrofly]

I play both rhythm and lead, and lead is tougher, shredding solos and such, but hey, what a guitarist plays in a song is not a true test of his/her ability. because everybody's part matters, solos sound naked without the rhythm. Lets say yngwie malmsteen decides to play rhythm guitar on a song, are you gonna say the lead guitarist is better? Definitely not.

Agree with Eugene, Metal/Jazz/Blues are all not easy to play, all need feeling especially jazz and blues but metal needs the speed. Though it doesn't apply to everything, eg the stuff click five play. No offense but that stuff is really on the simple side...

 

[FusionFox]

Thanks for the tips.

I'll keep them in mind for my upcoming gig next month.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

Though it doesn't apply to everything, eg the stuff click five play. No offense but that stuff is really on the simple side...

Graduates from Berklee mah, instead on focusing on their band, they continued studying don't know what nots in the school.

Unlike Dream Theater, drop out of Berklee because of their band!

 

[visa]

if you listen to the click five closely, they actually have some great harmonies and counter-melodies. they're catchy and addictive because of it.

 

[EugeneSmasher]

Actually I've got something to add on the stage presence thing.

I've seen bands where their music is good but the members stand stock still like statues, and whats more, blur blur face as well.

The only way to make your audience groove along is to make the performance a happening one. Not saying you have to jump around, lick your guitar strings or what (because moving too much like some big show will offend your bandmates, AND your audience will be turned off), but at least move with the music. At least don't look like you're trying to be Sir Stamford Raffles at the Singapore River.

Actually I don't really see anything wrong with tuning your guitar on-stage, as long as its soft and not very noticeable. Soundcheck can come after all instruments are tuned. If you are playing electric and won't be able to hear your strings while everyone else is tuning as well (or the audience is quite noisy), simple. Get a digital clip-on tuner that will not only be more accurate, but also runs on vibration so outside noise does not affect.

 

[jameshetfieldkirkhammet]

a) Soundman asks the guitarist to raise his vol (never piss the sound man off)

+1! Absolutely true man. I did sound for my secondary school back then, I have had my fair share of egotistical guitarists during talent time etc etc.

Guitarists shouldn't meddle with the soundman's job. Wouldn't he be in a better position to judge the volume levels, balance etc etc?

Once, when the band was rehearsing on stage, the guitarist kept telling me to bring up the volume. I got pissed off... So to prove a point to the juniors, i just put my hands on the board, pretend to raise the volume. when i asked them how is it, they replied "very much better, thanks!"

pfft.

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

I don't like doing too many solos or doing the ONLY solo in a song. When we do covers we'll try to add key solos and bass solos and me and my other guitarist will swap roles quite often which gives the soundman a real headache (if he's doing his job in the 1st place) in trying to adjust volume asap when we swap roles every other 4 bars! haha

 

[bf0502tr]

Graduates from Berklee mah, instead on focusing on their band, they continued studying don't know what nots in the school.

Unlike Dream Theater, drop out of Berklee because of their band!

berklee?

 

[jskadiang]

it's a college http://www.berklee.edu/

 

[dunpushit]

i think nail clippers can also cut wires. so in case you were changing strings and you or your bandmates dun have a wire cutter. oh well you can always pretend go toilet and bite your nails but you can't cut wires with your teeth.. HAHA

i guess the more you try to illustrate the point that rhythm guitarist are not inferior, the more so you are feeling yourself? no offense, really no offense meant to anybody, but i used to feel that i need to prove myself as a rhythm guitarist. but i realised that good music produced as a BAND is much more fulfilling

i used to play bass so i think getting a good sound that complements the song and the vocalist would hit the (G-)spot

 

[justheretolook]

ok guys, its pretty disturbing how you rate guitarist as rhythm or lead, as because in my band, we got no rhythm and lead. We play fair. As in if you can play it, I let you play it, if I can play it better, I play it. Sometimes if we create random riffs and continue from it, me and my guitarist have a mutual understanding when to solo or not, and its because of not rating each other talents.

Being in a band is not how you rate each others talent. Being in a band is because you feel your bandmates are good enough to convey their feelings through each song without letting their fingers do the talking. Of course it does help with a little soloing here and there, but its about how each song is portrayed without the audience knowing which guitarist is better, 'cus in the end, if you play a good song, they rate the song, not you. (talking about original-playing bands only)

Stage presence; you don't need to jump around like some punk-rocking idiot, instead a smile would actually do wonders to an audience. Don't stutter while speaking, and please, no Singlish or malay/chinese/indian words on stage. Totally unpro.

And if you press the wrong chords or suddenly forgot, I always do this. I look at my guitarist/bassist/drummer, and smile at them while singing. You got to show you're having fun. If not, what's the use of playing in the band anyway when you gonna screw your bandmate after the gig. Have a laugh, and enjoy alright?

 

[cold_static544]

actually the rhythm guitarist do have quite abit of space to explore and experiment, mostly in writing songs.

 

[ShredCow]

ok guys, its pretty disturbing how you rate guitarist as rhythm or lead, as because in my band, we got no rhythm and lead. We play fair. As in if you can play it, I let you play it, if I can play it better, I play it. Sometimes if we create random riffs and continue from it, me and my guitarist have a mutual understanding when to solo or not, and its because of not rating each other talents.

Unfortunately - life isn't fair.

Its usually a case where there is a player who is better at a certain aspect of guitar playing - so let him do most of that.

I see it as role allocation. Nothing wrong with that - husband and wife have a role to play, no one is more important than the other and both go hand in hand to make a wholesome family, right?

Mutual understand and excellent relationships are extremely tough to find. When you find one person who gels with you musically - my advice - STICK TOGETHER.

I'm blessed to have a bass player who is able to read my mind and vice versa. A lyricist/singer/songwriter who just ... works magic when I get to work with him, its such an amazing experience to see how we churn out musical ideas at such a prodigious rate.