What Is Your Biggest Guitarist Habit Pet Peeve?

[Son of Sam]

Does mean achieving a perfect balance of being both technical and creative with an open heart and mind ?

Well said !!!.

You got it! This is only my personal philosophy though. It seems to stem from my beliefs as a Taoist, but that is a different discussion in and of itself.

Everyone has their own way of playing though.

SCHECTER WHORE!!!
Rush is one of those bands that I would lay down as an archetype for my ideas! Thanks for sharing this one, I haven't heard it.

 

[Speedblooddeath]

Went to a death metal show and saw the lead guitarist of one band with his back to the audience during the entire show, didn't even turn around once... I dunno if it was stage fright or what... but it pissed me off. lol

 

[Locrian]

SO,

There comes a time in many a metal guitar player's life when they discover the wondrous sonic-pummeling that is Meshuggah. Their reactions are generally either that of instant fanboy-dom or eternal hate. Let's talk about the first group for a second.

"Oh, man," they say. "How the heck are they playing? What's with all the fXcked up rhythms!?"

They then go on youtube and look up covers and links to the transcriber's .txt file tab ("please no guitarpro, i'm poor and don't know what tuxguitar is yet. yeah, my mom bought me that dual rec; so what?").

While reading and learning, they discover new time signatures like 21/16 and 11/6. They also discover that MESHUGGAH likes to write in a way where all these weird meters line up over a bunch of repetitions with x measures of 4/4. "DUDE. THAT'S SO... wait, i don't even know what that is. i need vocabulary like now."

BACK TO THE CLOUD THEY GO WHERE EVERY SINGLE MAL-INFORMED TW*TMOUTH DESCRIBES THIS PHENOMENON AS "POLYRHYTHM."

WITHOUT CONSIDERING THE POSSIBILITY THAT ABSO-FXCKING-LUTELY EVERYONE IS WRONG, UNCARING FANBOY ASSAULTS YOUTUBE LISTENERS EVERYWHERE WITH HIS MESHUGGAH COVERS RECORDED WITH A CAMERA MIC AND HIS SPOUTING OF MESHUGGAH'S AMAZING "POLYRHYTHMS."

Seriously, though, there is this disease spreading through the internet among musicians: not knowing the difference between polymeter(or artificial groupings) and polyrhythm.

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE, YOU MIGHT ASK [BECAUSE YOU ARE ALSO ONE OF THOSE!]!

POLYMETER AND ARTIFICIAL GROUPINGS EXTRAPOLATE, POLYRHYTHM SUBDIVIDES.

With A.G's of 5 16th notes in 4/4, guess what's happening in a quarter note. YEP. STILL 16th NOTES; The phrase is just dancing from sometimes starting on the pulse to sometimes not on the pulse in an implication that there might be some polymeter (5/16 and 4/4) occuring.

Polyrhythms DON'T WORK LIKE THAT. ^^^^^^^^THAT IS WHAT MESHUGGAH DOES. MESHUGGAH DOES DO POLYMETER/A.G., NOT POLYRHYTHM.

POLYRHYTHM is kind of the EXACT OPPOSITE FXCKING THING. To directly contrast, 5:4 polyrhythm can be where 5 notes are squeezed into, for argument's sake, a quarter note, where only 4 usually go. YA WANT POLYRHYTHM? LISTEN TO SOME ZAPPA OR VAI OR NOT FXKING MESHUGGAH!!!

WHY, you ask, AM I SUCH A DICKBAG ABOUT THIS REALLY MINUTE THING? It's because they sound INCREDIBLY different; because there is NO comparing the sound of the 2nd beat of the 3rd measure of Zappa's "Peaches En Regalia"'s main melody to 7:36 into TOOL's "The Grudge." SEE WHAT I DID THERE?! I even tied music examples to polyrhythmic 5's and polymetric 5's /trollface

That is all.

While your point is valid about a vast number of young (and old) musicians not properly understanding the difference between a polymeter and a polyrhythm, some Meshuggah songs DO feature polyrhythms, not just polymeters. For example, on the song Sane, 1:12 into the song, during the guitar solo, the drum section features a section of 2 measures of 3:4 followed by a measure of 2:3. Very common polymeter usage between the crash and the snare.

 

[Sy01]

I tried out as a vocalist for a band, as I'd sorta known one of the guitarists for a while. From our discussion, he said "We're changing style from metalcore to progressive rock". I know progressive is thrown around a lot nowdays; and for some pretty good reasons, but Muse are about the lowest extreme of the prog spectrum. This guy was a serious muse fan.

I am also a Muse fan, so I jumped at the chance to join a band; any band.

What a fucking mistake that was!

They lived only about an hour away by train, so I was willing to fork out the £15 or so for the return ticket. I thought "I'll go up every other weekend and practice with them, and write material in between that."

I wrote the basic structures of 4 songs over a course of 2 days; so excited was I to join in and really show them what I'd got. So I sent along the first track...

First practice came along, and we all ended up at this guy's house. They were sat around; bassist, two guitarists, and the drummer (minus drums; for some reason). I planned on being there for a good 5 hours to get some songwriting done; but for the first 3 hours it was just the guitarists dicking around.

Also, they were hardly "prog" by any standards; even compared to Muse. One guitarists will only reference GnR and The Scorpions as his biggest influences; played a flying V through a shitty, hi-treble, squealing valve amp. I fiddled with the settings to level out the mids and treble, but he scooped that fucker again after 3 minutes.

My ears will never be the same again.


The bassist had a bass amp with NO BASS CONTROL. It had snapped the fuck off the front of the panel. It also sounded as though the bass knob was at 0 beforehand, too; as all we got was some washy, noisy shit. I like mid tones on bass as much as the next guy, but this just sounded like popping and clicking.


In addition to all this; they were getting on at me to write vocals for them; so I tried while I was there with the lyrics I'd written up beforehand. They sat and listened intently for 5 minutes; I shot ideas around, they went "hmmm yeahhh~..." and then started playing Halo.

Also, in regards to the song I showed them, the main riff started on a dotted eighth note and two sixteenth notes, played open, followed by a hammer-on at the 12th. "Nobody could possibly mess that up" I thought, "Just got to feel that really simple groove", I concluded.

Wrong, they removed one of the 16th notes so that the hammer-on sat right on beat 2. I noticed the difference when they played it back; and it sounded dead and mechanical. It's pretty amazing, the difference that tiny note duration can have.

Throw in a total inability to comprehend 12/8 and 6/8, and you can see why I got the fuck out of there.

I'd be several £ better off without even bothering, to be honest.

Though, I did keep hold of those other songs I wrote, so it's not all bad! ;D

TL;DR: I hate musicians that pretend to be serious about their craft, and then just waste everyone's time and money.

 

[Mr. Big Noodles]

Sounds like my drummer.

Actually, it's more like . He noodles at every conceivable moment, so that nobody can hear conversation during rehearsal and we end up wasting half of our short practice time because he's constantly fidgeting and we have to yell at him to shut up. Then my bassist holds a grudge for the remainder of practice and makes noise whenever the drummer talks, and nothing gets done. Meanwhile, I'm the only one setting up amps and our makeshift thousand-piece vocal rig. Not to mention that I'm the only member spending money on gas to cart 75% of my band to our rehearsal space. Please, if you're a musician, don't waste others' time. And try helping out for once!

 

[Sy01]

Because of all this, I've resorted to simply writing my own stuff and attempting to produce it on my own. I'll find a band someday, but not before I've got an album full of material. ;D

 

[Scar Symmetry]

Elitism/Arrogance/Looking down on others or ripping on others for trivial things.

 

[Sy01]

I used to jam with a guy I went to college with. We'd grab a few guitars, then we'd struggle deciding on what to do. I'm not well versed in music theory, but he thrived from it; and he'd always show me these "SICK LICKS" and I'd sit there bored for hours on end while he shouted out chord changes.

I know it was probably just because I didn't know any of the modes or anything back then, but it felt like he was just trying to 1up me at every turn.

 

[Repner]

Because of all this, I've resorted to simply writing my own stuff and attempting to produce it on my own. I'll find a band someday, but not before I've got an album full of material. ;D

Same here. I've been let down too many times. I'd much rather record my own stuff, then form my own band

 

[Sy01]

Having said all that though; I am looking around for bands in my local area just to get some experience working with other musicians. I suppose it comes down to who you know.

I probably won't contribute as much to the writing process, but I do like a lot of different styles of music, so I'll try and stretch to anything.

 

[SirMyghin]

^^

Working with a band is a lot more fun than doing it alone. It is possible your past experience was largely soiled by your lack of knowledge, had you had the knowledge, would it have been better? Tough question really, but if he needed to shout the chord changes, I would wager yes, it would have.

Don't let one experience set you back.

 

[Repner]

^^

Working with a band is a lot more fun than doing it alone. It is possible your past experience was largely soiled by your lack of knowledge, had you had the knowledge, would it have been better? Tough question really, but if he needed to shout the chord changes, I would wager yes, it would have.

Don't let one experience set you back.

Oh I'm definitely looking forward to having a full band again. It's just that everytime I join one, they turn out to be ridiculously lazy and unprofessional. A lot of them never even got around to playing together, half a year after asking me to join.

The last one I was in did a bit better, as we did practice each week, however we almost never had the whole band there at any one time (we were a 4 piece, of which 3 of us where unemployed. How they couldn't organise it around ONE persons schedule is anyones guess), and they were still slowly showing me the old songs a year after joining. I don't understand how they couldn't just give me a damn recording. It usually involved the guitarist showing me a riff as if it's something he's just come up with, then the next week they'd say "lets practice *insert song title here*", usually followed by a "never heard of it" from me, followed by the guitarist saying "you know, this one *plays riff*". How am I supposed to know the whole song from one riff you very briefly showed me a week ago?

The singer had a nasally voice anyway, and they couldn't write a song to save their life. Nah, I think I like the idea of establishing a sound I'd like to play, then finding dedicated musicians who would be interested in playing it. No timewasters allowed

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Im tryin to do something similar. I know a few people now that are 15-30 away and not flakes so hopefully it works out.

Try internet projects too! Groff and I have been working on a song and writing together that way is pretty fun.

 

[Ninjahat]

NECRO-BUMPED! I despise elitism, and when people refuse to learn something!

 

[AK DRAGON]

NECRO-BUMPED! I despise elitism, and when people refuse to learn something!

When someone try's to force their idea on how to play something

 

[cwhitey2]

I hate it people refuse to compromise. Its not the end of the world if every little thing doesnt go your way.

Also anyone who said playing in a band is better than playing alone, IMO you are 110% correct.

After years of searching my area for musicians I finally found a couple that are:

a) skilled
b) know what they are talking about (music technique and gear wise)
c) overall great people

I don't know how anyone can get better by limiting yourself to only playing with yourself.

Over the past year I have learned more about everything musically (from playing with other people) then I would ever be able to learn by myself. Plus i made great friends along the way. But i think the key is finding at least one person to jam with that takes absolutely no effort at all (by that i mean your brains are on the same page).

Example: i play in 2 bands, one we play shows, the other is on a hiatus right now but we are getting things together slowly. I went to my other guitarists house last night to work on some ideas we both had for a new song.

Literally it took me showing him my stuff (exactly 1min 5sec of stuff) and him showing me his stuff a riff or two and then BAM!!! 5 mins later we had a new song. We hadn't played together in probably a good 2.5 -3 months and it was like we never stopped jamming. And that's what I like most about jamming with other people especially if they write the same way you do. Plus it makes learning new thing WAY easier.

(ps idk if i was rambling there at the end but i felt like typing )

 

[Aurochs34]

 

[texshred777]

I was in a band with a guy who turned every solo section into a dick measuring contest. It's nothing to be ashamed of to play melodic phrases if you can't shred. In fact, I'd rather hear a melody in there EVEN IF YOU CAN!

When I solo, I'm not trying to outplay you. If I pull out a shreddy part between melodic phrases, it's just because I liked the way it sounds. I want you to kick ass too. I want the band as a whole to sound good. Playing up/down the pentatonic scale behind your head isn't impressive in any way. It sure as shit doesn't show me up, lol.

Which brings me to my pet peeve list

Playing behind your head/back if the phrase you're playing sucks.

Refusing to practice between rehearsals. Band practice time is not where you should be learning the songs. That's why I fucking tabbed out the parts for you.

Playing while I am talking. If I'm talking with the bassist about time changes it's not the time for an impromptu jam with the drummer.

Bringing in your floyd equipped guitar for me to string/setup(during rehearsal), even though I've offered to teach you how to set it up before. If you want a floating trem, learn how to set it up.

 

[Repner]

I'm not doubting it'll be better when it eventually gets going. But for now, instead of joining another band I may or may not like, I'd rather work on an album solo to kind of establish my sound, then find dedicated musicians to form a new band. Hopefully it can evolve from there

 

[Danukenator]

To name a couple though some of these have been said:

1. Refusing to take a lessons because it will make them cooler. I don't like this one because it has this arrogant vibe. It assumes they will be famous and talked about one day where they can say "Hey, I never took a lesson (proceeds to whip hair out of corner of face)"

2. People who hold their pick in the Djent (my name for it, basically an upward angle) style. I've seen guitarists of all kind use it and I get that having the extreme angle can help with sections. Hell, Tosin can out play my ass a thousand times over and he holds it that way. It just peeves me.

3. People who complain about having more than six strings. Happens in my school alot. You can list every artist who uses every damn note of the extra strings and you just get a dull stare and a joke about chugging.

4. People with half amazing gear. Example: KxK Custom--->Marshall 15 (Obviously exaggerating but still it happens with really nice stuff)

End of my rant.