Win an Atom Guitar. The sweepstakes, held in conjunction with Elixir® Strings 10th Anniversary, runs from October 8th through November 7th and is open to anyone in the United States that is at least 18 years of age at time of entry. To enter, go here and complete the entry form (limit one entry per email address).
Check this guy out! You can view more of his work on his profile on Youtube.
Then take a break…
For the last year I haven’t used a guitar pick at all, because I decided to learn with my fingers; which I have gotten pretty proficient at. But the prior 13 some odd years were spent with a guitar pick.
One of the things I really liked to do throughout this last year is Travis Pick. So all I did for a very long time was Travis Pick. I Travis picked so much that eventually I got sick of if; and sick of playing guitar in general. In fact the last week I have barely even picked it up (which is a very rare thing for me) - until this morning - when I started using a guitar pick and playing really simplistic strumming patterns. And for the first time in weeks, I’ve been totally enjoying the simplicity and pleasure of just playing.
I guess my point here, is to keep the flow going and to get inspired sometimes it’s important to take breaks from things you care about. I am sure I will love to Travis pick again in the future - but sometimes the worst mistake you can do when you want something is to never take a break. So if you feel you are not enjoying something like you used to (not just guitar); take a few days away from it, and then when you come back to it approach it differently then you did. A little time away and a new angle can be refreshing.
If you’ve been viewing any guitar vidoes on YouTube lately you might have come across some pretty crummy playing by some of rock’s greatest lead guitarists. The god awful guitar work has become popular lately on YouTube with one Metallica clip receiving over 140,000 views in the last couple of months.
The creator behind the videos is Media Artist Santeri Ojala, a 32-year-old from Tampere, Finland. He reportedly stated:
“I’m a fan of their guitar work, but it’s just funny, these guys have been on top of the world. Their facial expressions and how serious they are — for those horrible noises to come out of their guitars, it’s just funny. It’s funny to see them in that light, as a horrible guitar player. It’s refreshing, actually. They’re mortals now.”
You can see a full list of his “shredding work” on his YouTube profile.
As taught by Jim Morrison of The Doors. WTF?
Here is a great video I found on Youtube this morning. It contains “Camp Fire” instructions to play: Wild Thing, Knocking on Heaven’s Door, and Hey Joe.
How much would you pay for the world’s most critically acclaimed bands new album?
That is the question Radiohead is asking you. When you visit the site for their newest album In Rainbows, you decide the price you pay to download the album.
You can also order the disc box, which costs 40 pounds and includes extra material. Currently the album is only available from their website.
Thom Yorke reportedly told TIME, “I like the people at our record company, but the time is at hand when you have to ask why anyone needs one. And, yes, it probably would give us some perverse pleasure to say ‘F___ you’ to this decaying business model.”
And the record executives are starting to clue in as well:
“This feels like yet another death knell,” emailed an A&R executive at a major European label. “If the best band in the world doesn’t want a part of us, I’m not sure what’s left for this business.”
Are these large record labels soon to be a thing of the past?
Let’s hope so. ;)
Bill Machrone, Contributing Editor from PC Magazine has created an interesting guitar that can be plugged into a USB port on a computer; I guess you could just call it, The USB Guitar.
I wonder if there are any guitar makers out there taking note of this. The tools and parts needed are surprisingly minimal.
To bad he didn’t record it, it would have been neat to hear how it sounds.
This little video made me think of an octopus. Imagine if you had like 8 arms, you could play some crazy stuff. These guys look like their having a good time, but I just have to ask, what’s with the hankerchief?
