Paul Gilbert VIP Lessons [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Paul Gilbert

Eleven Thousand Words

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

v. 6.0

Table Of Contents * Introduction * The Beginning * Early Influences * Note Definition * Pentatonics, Scales, Basics * Harmonics * Muting, Vibrato, and Bending * Legato and Left-Hand Work * Intervals * Position Shifting * Picking Style * Alternate Picking * Inside and Outside Picking * Sweep Picking * Rhythm * Phrasing * String Skipping * Speed * Solos and Soloing * Modes * Outside Notes * Endings * Practicing and Developing A Work Ethic * Composition, Songwriting, and The Creative Process * Musical Inspiration and Challenges * Know Your Limits * Stunt Guitar * The Whammy Bar and The Damage Done * Tour / G3 Experiences * Musical Gear and Selection, Chasing The Perfect Tone * Epilogue * Bibliography

Special note: Copyright 2008-2009. Questions by Jenn, content by Paul Gilbert, and photographs copyright to their various owners. This work is provided as-is. It is not to be sold or bartered for goods or services. It is provided free for all, to be learned from, shared, and enjoyed. - Jenn

Contact The Compiler: [email protected]

i

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: Arpeggios from Mr. Spock

1

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Excerpts from the VIP Experience with Paul Gilbert Transcription by Jenn Introduction (by Jenn, and Paul) After much pondering until my ponderer was sore, I realized that guitarist Paul Gilbert needs no introduction, except to the unaccustomed. So, I'll simply introduce you to the driving force behind this manuscript, which was Paul's VIP guitar lessons offered at each show from his European tour in late 2008. From Paul's website: "VIP tickets are now available for my European tour! A VIP TICKET includes: * A one-hour guitar lesson with me * VIP access to watch soundcheck * An official tour laminate pass * A new Paul Gilbert T-shirt, CD, instructional DVD, and guitar pick * And of course, a ticket to the show! Only 6 VIP tickets will be offered for each show, so reserve yours soon! I hope to see you soon to teach you my newest guitar ideas! Thank you, Paul

PS: A note about the 1-hour lesson: All VIP ticket holders will be taking the lesson together as a small group. There is a limited number of VIP tickets sold in each city, so the group will always be small. This is important to me, because I want to hear everyone play and give you some personal attention! It is fine to bring your guitar and a small audio recorder to the guitar lesson. VIP tickets cannot be resold. Please bring identification to confirm that your ticket belongs to YOU. (This is prevent re-selling tickets at higher prices.)" This manuscript is composed of topics extracted from Paul's VIP sessions. It's aim is to teach and enlighten. I sat down with audio recordings of these lessons and transcribed them. Then I removed select bits of Paul's playing for use as instructional examples. All of the instruction is directly from Paul with no outside influence or undue pressure. The questions, written by me, are meant to guide the reader in to the topic. Credits: All copyrights are retained by the original artists: be they photographers or musicians. Tablature was provided by Mitch Ducran, ultimate-guitar.com users, and Matt Warnock. Neck diagrams by Jenn. Photographs are all from the 2008 tour, by the following photographers: Jiri Rogl, A. Coesnon, Attila Tenisz, NancyAtNight, Willem v.d. Heuvel, Lee Millward, Alex Zec, Viktor Alexandrov, Katezhis, Ambra Pisano, Valerija Enica, Silentbob777, zugi2009, and Rosco57. Audio recordings were generously provided by Racer X board members FER and Gandalf, plus Levi Clay, Tayler Kemsley, Remy Hansen, Dennis Jarosch, and Craig McCullough.

As Paul says: "Eat papaya and passion fruit, read Ayn Rand and Carl Sagan, and play guitar with rhythmic purpose even when you're doing fast solos. Thanks for being interested in the details of what I do in music."

To Phoenix and Vinny

2

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

The Beginning Could you describe your early beginnings at playing guitar? Did having teachers help you along the way, and do you remember any specific pointers you were shown that may have helped? [berlin] At first, I had no teacher. Just only me. And that's why I was terrible at the beginning. (some laughter) Paul: I didn't know how to tune. So, I only used one string. For two years. Only one string. And, I only played up. And only one finger. So I'd try to figure out like Led Zeppelin songs. (plays a Led Zeppelin riff, clean, all upstrokes) I couldn't believe it when my teacher was in there, playing really well. You know, 'I can't do it! I have to move'. (referring to position shifting - ed.) (some light laughter) Paul: He showed me chords... I didn't know chords for two years. Finally, he showed me the pentatonic scale. (plays the scale) And he showed me like a couple simple pull-offs. Mostly, I learned from listening to records. Y'know, from listening to Van Halen and trying to (plays the introduction to Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love) play that kind of thing. Of course, when I was very young, I couldn't play it that well. It was a little funny sounding, some of the notes were wrong. But it helped develop my ear a lot. When I would learn my wrong version, 'here's my wrong version'... I played that over and over. I would sit and listen to the record and go 'ah, mine's wrong.' 'Y'know, what's the difference?' and it really helped get my ear in tune, as well as my fingers. Did your parents support your decision to become a guitarist as your job? [berlin] My dad loved rock and roll. So, he was always listening to the Rolling Stones, and also listening to blues albums. He loved B.B. King, he loved Muddy Waters. So I think that he was happy I was playing guitar. I think my mom wanted me to maybe be like a chemist or a doctor or something, but I was so passionate about guitar that she had to say okay. I think that I could always show them, because I'm just always playing, every second I have, so it's kind of obvious it's going to happen. My uncle was a great, a very good guitar player. That's my mom's brother. So, she's used to having guitar players around. Her brother, and her son. Did you have to take on any other jobs to support yourself while you pursued the goal of "professional musician" at the beginning? [berlin] Oh, I was very lucky to have... I definitely wanted to be a guitar player. I mean I had some small jobs when I was a teenager. After I moved to California, I started giving guitar lessons, both at Musician's Institute and also privately. So, either playing in a band, or giving guitar lessons, I always made money just playing guitar. -Thank You!-

"To me, the ultimate good challenge was my goal for the guitar before I ever picked it up. I just wanted to play what I heard in my head. That's still one of the most difficult things."

3

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Early Influences Who would you say your early influences were? [munich] I think whoever you listen to when you're around that age, whenever you're around 12 or 13, will always stay with you. Van Halen was very popular then, and it was very exciting, you know, the two-handed stuff (plays Eruption and another). My favorite solo by Van Halen, I can't play it, it's Outta Love Again. (plays the solo) His vibrato, and phrasing, it's such good phrasing. So he was a huge influence. Actually, I played guitar before Van Halen was known. So, I was growing up listening to Jimmy Page. I had just started playing so it was really too advanced for me, and I was playing like on one string, you know, one finger, all upstrokes, and then my uncle showed me how to play Whole Lotta Love. That was so difficult for me. My hands, they could barely do that... I was used to playing like punk rock chords. It was like the opposite of the Page lick; "argh, my hand can't do that! It's too hard!" Robin Trower, he's a huge influence. I love his vibrato so much. I mean to me i t's kind of a Jimi Hendrix-y kind of chord. (demonstrates a Robin Trower riff) Some Robin Trower stuff. [madrid] One of my favorites is my uncle, Jimi Kidd. He's such a great guitar player, and he was a huge i nfluence upon me when I was young. And when we jam together, I can watch him and think, of course, maybe I'm faster, but he's cooler. So, I always learn so much from playing with him. It's really fun to play (guitar - ed.) with my uncle. But, he smokes too. I can't breathe, but I like him. [madrid] Robin Trower. If Jimi Hendrix never died, he'd be Robin Trower. He can do some very Hendrix style, but he's alive. And he's cleaner. Hendrix sometimes is a little bit sloppy, a little noisy, and Robin Trower is just, like all the feel, and cool bending, and sound from Jimi Hendrix, but a lot more control. I get chills just thinking about it. His vibrato (plays a crazy wide bend), it's just so cool. So, sometimes when I'm onstage, I try to imagine: if Robin Trower's in the audience, how am I going to play, if I want to impress him? Like if I can impress him, then I've done my job. So I just pretend that Robin Trower's here. [madrid] I think, if I was going to buy one of his records... his best CD? is called Bridge of Sighs. And, it's really cool... One of the songs, one of my favorite ones goes... (plays the opening riffs from Day Of The Eagle). It's really rockin' stuff, and the solos are (makes crazy whammy bar noises) So, you have to check out Robin Trower. Right now... that album that I recommended, came out in the early 70's. So now, he's like 62 years old. And he's still great. Look him up on YouTube. He'll blow your mind. [newcastle] Back in the '80's... my two biggest guitar heroes at the time were Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen. So those were my idols, I looked up to my idols. They were like my musical fathers.

4

Paul Gilbert

4/4, 120 bpm

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: Outta Love Again

Bonus Lick: Outta Love Again Solo 4/4, 120 bpm

5

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: Day Of The Eagle

Bonus Lick: A Muting Exercise

6

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Note Definition How do you get such a clean sound? What do you feel are the most important factors in getting an articulate sound, even at higher speeds? [madrid] The most important thing is controlling the string noise. You know, you want to not have that. You want to have very clean notes... So, listen very closely when you play it. That's the most difficult thing about electric guitar. It's oh so noisy. You want nice clean notes. To me, every time you play one note, it means there's 5 more that you have to control. Is it difficult to get clarity in the notes? [newcastle] They're so little to me, that it's not hard to do at all. On downstrokes... (plays a downstroke riff) Even when it's really fast, I can do it. (student, plays a riff) Good. Pause after. It actually makes your ear really aware of how that last note sounds. And make sure it's clean, with no string noise, a nice hard attack.

Pentatonics, Scales, Basics How does a simple variation affect the sound of a chord? [madrid] With a D chord, by just changing the bass note, this is D (demonstrates) root, but here's the seventh, or you could do the fifth, the fourth, all nice chords, the third. On the piano that's so easy to play. On guitar, (demonstrates) a bit trickier on guitar, but still I want to do it. I'll show you a very simple descending sixth. (plays the 6th)

Harmonics How do you get the perfect harmonic? What finger technique would you recommend and do you have any tips or pointers? [madrid] It's always 12 frets above. I think the first finger is a little more powerful. So instead of using the second finger, try the first one. (strike) Right over the fret. Another thing is to remember whatever you play, it should be 12 frets up, you know right over the fret. It's a very staccato style, but it sounds great... (demonstrates) Moving to the high string. The thicker the string, the more resonance it has, so lower notes tend to work better for harmonics. But yeah, just (hit it) over the fret, that'll help.

7

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Muting, Vibrato, and Bending What is your technique of muting? [brighton] There's really only three ways to get muting. One is with your palm, one is with your fingertips, and one is with this part (showing the side of the hand). On guitar, you really do (have to control string noise - ed.), you know. When you hit one note, you somehow have to use this part of your hand, because that controls those. If I don't do it (demonstrates very noisy notes)... so use this for muting. Use the tips of your fingers for muting, like if I play this note, touching very lightly the string, so it doesn't ring. It stops. And then I'm using this to mute, my thumb sometimes, just trying to control the noise. But this is a great way. If you're playing with distortion, it's nice to control the strings enough to make the notes a little shorter. So, muting on the bridge is so important. For rhythms too, it's (good). All that, by my hand muting the strings. [berlin] The technique is actually just that I'm leaning my finger really lightly. (demonstrates muted notes) So it doesn't make a note. It's very percussive. Muting is really important - so how would someone go about practicing muting? [berlin] The main thing is the sound of the notes. These two sound good to the ear, but the sound, somehow, it's getting... an extra noise. So, let's try this. Let's stop, and let's go (plays a riff cleanly), and let's do this on one string. Just keep up the tempo. Keep doing those stops, so you can really hear how the notes sound. Also make sure and concentrate on how your muting is. I might try muting a little more to clean it up. Because the notes are very small, so when they speed up, there's room. If they're big notes and they get faster, there's not enough room (for them to ring). You want to get it really short. What do you feel is working well with your vibrato currently? [munich] One of the things that I discovered recently, this is just my opinion, but for me, guitar solos, this is not just for playing fast, but for great tone, the best strings, are the B string and the G string. One reason is that you can vibrato them in either direction. They don't fly off the end of the neck. So, it's nice for vibrato. They're a little bit thicker, so they just sound good, and sustain a lot. Unfortunately for the brain, they're the worst, because they're tuned funny. How did you experiment with bending? [newcastle] I took a neck diagram. A picture of a neck. And wrote down every place where I could bend. See to me (for a riff, the accent - ed.) it comes at the ending, every place where I could bend it. (demonstrates some bent endings) The first thing I try is below the root. Or, I may play the second, or bend up to it. (demonstrates different bending techniques) What is the most important quick lesson you can show a beginning guitarist? [madrid] If you take one thing, muting's probably more important then anything.

8

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Legato and Left-Hand Work How did legato help improve or broaden your overall technique? [brighton] A lot of the fast stuff is finger-based. I'll discover some technique that I can do, and then I'll be really excited about it, and I'll think 'I'm going to make a little musical obsession out of it.' Certainly when I first learned to do this picking thing, I sort of put it in to everything. I'd already been playing guitar eight years when I discovered that. For much of that eight years, I thought, 'I'm not going to be able to pick well' and 'I'm just a left-hand guy.' and then suddenly, for this lick to work, with a little stutter in it (puts typical rhythm in to the riff)... I tried to throw that in to every song I could. A lot of my songs end up being a similar tempo, because that's just sort of where it fits. So the Racer X stuff, all ends up to be a lot of similar tempo stuff. [newcastle] Definitely, those (fast picking exercises - ed.) were the first things that I tried to pick fast. I had been playing guitar for about eight years before I could (pick fast, alternate - ed.) at all. I did a lot of work with my left hand first. A lot of the times I'll see students try to pick fast, a lot of the time, their right hand's actually fine. It's more of the left hand... they've worked so much more on their right, but they forget the left. So, one thing I recommend, is doing legato. A lot of the left hand work. (plays a legato riff) To do that I'm mostly doing hammer-ons so I can do it alternate.

Bonus Lick: Left Hand Trill Warmup

Intervals Could you tell us a little bit about intervals and why they might be useful to a guitarist to learn or know well? [newcastle] To me, it really helps to be aware of intervals on the neck. I really, really worked on some notes, even though I know mathematically, I know to search for the three, the five, and the seven. Those are the strongest notes, so... (demonstrates) There's a three here, one here, and one here. (points out the position of the notes on the guitar neck) Which fingering could it be? (demonstrates) It's that easy to play. That's why I do that: now you can see if it sounds better. There's a lot of hand motion in there. [newcastle] If you're aware of that -- I don't know how familiar you are with intervals, but (plays a 6-note ascending run). Try and really search around the neck and then just try, you know, all the F's. Look for an F sharp, and use part. That's a good place to begin. Of course if your playing is more complicated, and the song has a lot of like minor chords and each chord progression goes through sort of easier modes, that's fine. To me that was an important discovery. In blues, you'd never play that much. It would be mostly minor. (plays a rockabilly riff) Apparently, it's a major sixth in the key of A. You know your solo... (plays a bit of a solo) I'm exaggerating to show you. (student agrees).

9

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Looking At Intervals Here are two common ways to show intervals on the fretboard, in case you are not a fluent sheet music sight-reader. The top images are tab diagrams. The bottom images are neck diagrams of the same intervals. To play these above the 12th fret, add 12 to any note shown (4th fret would be 16th fret, etc). - ed. Key: E Maj, Tuning: Standard. 0 shown, or no dot on the string = play it open

Root

Third

Fifth

Seventh

Root: E

Third: G#

Fifth: B

Seventh: D#

[newcastle] Ah... One of the most fun ways for me to practice is this. I'll do one lick. Especially faster, you can get caught in the vortex of that lick. I'll print out diagrams and try to memorize.

"That's the trick: whenever you're having problems with something, just simplify it, and that way, you can really find what the trouble spot is."

10

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Position Shifting Does working on these exercizes with different fingers help a bit? Could you give us some examples of position shifting exercizes which can help build speed or dexterity? [zoetemeer] Yeah, and that's the first finger, but you can try all the others, like... you can do the pinky. It's a little more difficult. So that's another position shifting exercise. Trying to think of some other ones... To me something that's very useful for position shifting, is this. Let's say you have an A here, and let's find the two easiest octaves, and let's do them all with the first finger. So, A here (plays A), then A here (plays A, an octave higher), and then A here (plays A, an octave higher then second). Any shape that you have that's based on that, for example you can do an A Major triad. The second section, the second finger. It's all the same shape, you know, you don't have to change it. (plays some notes) So it's a lot of position shifting. (plays some shifted notes) That's a lick I've been trying to do. It's tough for the fingers, because of the position shifting, but it's easy for the brain. Because you don't have to learn new shapes. St. #1: You explain it by using the octave of the A's, sort-of. Paul: Yeah, you have to know where those are. Do you find that using alternative fingerings for certain riffs will help out in playing them (in other scales or variations)? [zoetemeer] I was trying to come up with all these fingerings, and you know, to get a better bass note, and I ended up coming up with a really cool lick that didn't work for the bass but it was great for guitar. It sounds like this. It starts off with the two notes, D and then G. So you're skipping a string already. Then, there's four more notes, and they're right in an E minor pentatonic. So it's B and D. and G, A. It goes back and forth. You have to position shift pretty fast. (do that too.)

Position Shifting Exercizes Fig. 1

Fig. 2

11

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: Introduction To Colorado Bulldog

Bonus Lick: Part of Burning Organ

Bonus Lick: Scarified Arpeggios, New Method

Bonus Lick: Part of Gone Too Far, by Racer X

12

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Picking Style You originally held the pick one way (with two fingers and the thumb) and then you switched to another way (with one finger and the thumb). How long did it take you to switch picking styles, and why did you switch? Was there an accuracy or speed advantage? [brighton] Oh, right. Yeah, it took me nine months to turn it around to the point where I wasn't going "ah, I hate this, it's terrible!" Let's see. Let me just think of this... It's funny, there's still one thing that I use that old picking technique for, that's strumming. I'll go to do a Beatle-y song, and I'll hold it with two fingers and it'll be angled back a little bit. Like the shadow of it. When I went from doing the (plays a speed picked riff) way there, to the lick (plays same riff) this way, I think that at first, everything felt bad. I was probably... I'm sort of infatuated with that lick in that particular exercise, I've played it a million times, to doing a lot of the (plays another clean, speed picking riff) The thing I've discovered with that, I'm sure you've seen it, with that one, my one bit of advice on it is to turn the highest note, in to the lowest. You can do it, you can go (plays the riff with the notes switched). I can recognize it, just because that accentuates the difficult part of the lick, which is the fact that the accent's on the upstroke. So, that'll get you used to doing those upstrokes, working.

Another thing is... This might work well for tendonitis. You can practice this by (takes his left hand away and plays the same riff) and that'll really make your muting good, because when you're playing with your left hand (plays the riff normally), your left hand will keep the notes from ringing in to eachother a little bit, just because you're playing different notes. But if it's open strings, you really have to mute that G, that G string, so that you don't get string noise, otherwise you can't hear the definition of the notes. You could even take a whole scale, for example the 3 different strings (plays a scale) and go (plays the scale without the left hand). Or down (plays it in reverse without the left hand). So that would be the same. I'm assuming it's your left hand that's having problems... yeah, so you can actually get a lot done with alternate (is speed-picking with his right hand only, and talking over it). [london] I remember it well, 'cause I held the pick with two fingers, and my thumb. Sort of backwards, like that. I played that way for about eight or nine years, I think. So, that's a long time. After that, I said, "I'm never going to be able to change..." I had a lot of success with that way. I did the whole first Racer X album that way... (plays some fast riffs) I remember when I played like that, I had to be really picky about the kind of pick I had, about the kind of amp I had, like, if I'd run out of picks, it wouldn't have worked. If I didn't have the amp that had a whole lot of compression, it wouldn't sound right. And I noticed, the reason I changed, it sort of hurt. I was actually pushing my thumb back in to my hand. I thought... it's painful. So I looked at Frank Gambale who's a great picker, I looked at Yngwie, Al DiMeola, great pickers, and they were all using this, and not using this finger at all. They were using the side of the first one. 13

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

To me, that felt really uncomfortable. ugh! I couldn't do it at all, so I thought, well, I'll keep playing like this, try it a little bit every day, just see if I ever get used to it. It finally got to a point where in rehearsals I could try it a little bit. Still didn't feel good, but after about nine months, I tried it at a gig. I remember halfway through the guitar solo, the unaccompanied guitar solo, halfway through, "fuck it!" and tried it. After that, actually I stayed like that. Now, I still do it with the same angle, just opposite. This way is like a 45 degree angle with the strings, now I hold it this way, it's still at the same tone. With the old way, the only way you can really go wrong, with the fast stuff, is if you angle it wrong, or if you don't angle it (at all). You can hear the difference in the sound. (demonstrates different pick attack angles and speaks different tones.) Hear that nice scratchy thing this way? I noticed that this way it slides up the string more. I'm picking really lightly, especially if you have distortion. Regarding your picking technique, do you play pretty hard, or do you vary your picking? [berlin] It depends completely on the guitar sound. If the guitar sound is really clean, (plays a fast country riff) as a country western sound, then you don't have to mute, so you can play really hard. Sort of really hitting it, really hard. With distortion, that sounds terrible. With distortion, I have to play a lot lighter. (demonstrates a very high-speed solo) So, I'll play with a clean sound to get that similar kind of sound. That's about how light I'm playing. But the distortion cleans it out. You have to play for the sound, because the sound really affects how sensitive the guitar is.

On pick angle: "This way is like a 45 degree angle with the strings, now I hold it this way." 14

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

If I don't need distortion, I pick really hard and it sounds ok. (plays a fast riff) It's country western (plays a fast country riff that morphs in to a metal riff) then I can play, then I can sort of kill the strings, but I mentioned before, like (plays a riff) (changes the pick strength and plays the riff again) it's better to be light. So that's my story. It took nine months.

Enlighten us a bit more as to the specifics of pick angle and how it can affect both your tone and your playing style, please. [newcastle] The other thing is, it's easy enough, where you can really work on the angle of the pick which is really important for any really useful phrase in the right song to get the right tone. You can hear the difference how I hold it - if I flatten the pick, if I have to pick really flat on the string, I hold it at about a 45 degree angle (downwards - ed.), for the sound. (demonstrates how changing the angle changes the tone) This is for your scratchy stuff. With distortion, scratching sounds really nice. Especially if you start going really fast, it gets much more useful to have the scratchy sound. [newcastle] From watching your hands, you're picking the way I used to pick. I used to sort of hold the pick back like that (~45 degrees upwards - ed.), and my thumb would be pointed back and flattened like that. And that hurt, but I did the whole first Racer X album like that. The problem with it, is that as I practiced, it started to hurt my thumb. So if that works for you, it's fine. It's really useful for all kinds of great stuff. I love scratching stuff, angular with the pick more forward. I'm still getting that 45 degree angle, but instead of getting it this way (old method - ed.), doing it this way (new method - ed.). And seeing that, took me 9 months to switch. For the first eight years I played guitar, I played notes like that. And when I first held the pick (new method - ed.) I was like 'Aagh! It feels terrible! I'm never going to get it to work.' After nine months I finally got it where it began to feel right. Do you have any tips for people who want to analyze their picking accuracy or speed? [madrid] The other way to try it, for any picking lick, this could be sweep picking, this could be any picking you could do... try taking the left hand away. For example, if you could do (demonstrates a picking technique)... I'm just muting, y'know, sort of picking, that way you can focus on just the picking. (demonstrates) That makes you really concentrate on just this part. You can do the same thing for alternate picking. It sort of focuses your mind on that one thing. And it's sort of interesting to hear what things sound like, if you're going ... (demonstrates a very cleanly-picked, fast riff, first with his left hand present and then he takes it away) ''whoa, that's what this is?'' Or you could use it with things that even are more legato. So it's a cool way to analyze your picking.

15

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Alternate Picking Would you say that alternate picking is like the 'door' to other techniques, such as string skipping and sweeping? Or, it doesn't really matter where you start off? [berlin] I think it depends on the notes that you're playing. Because the notes completely dictate the technique. Also with guitar, there's so many ways to play the same notes. If you have... a simple example would be going (plays two notes, alternate picking). Or (same notes as hammer-ons) - radically different techniques where you could do that. Or... (same notes, tapping) And, of the three, this is best. (tapping) (must mean best for speed - ed.) And this one is better for staccato (alternate picking - ed) or a chord. This one is not good unless you're doing a pull-off on it, or maybe you change the pattern a bit. I mean it really depends on the notes and fingering. Could you share some exercizes that will help with alternate picking, for warmups and practice? [zoetemeer] What, to just get the muscles going? Let's see. I've got a couple. This is one of my favorites, actually. It's ... (plays what sounds like part of Viking Kong - ed.) That's really good. It's three notes and then I go up, up, down. Very simple. I get it to this speed. [zoetemeer] Let me think of another one. Actually, this one is really good. It's interesting. All alternate picking. (demonstrates) Then you can speed that up. I've been noticing lately that when I do that, that this part (forearm - ed.) of my arm moves, when I move between the strings. That way, my pick angles have to change. I just move this down. (demonstrates) That's a more mechanical thing I've been noticing lately. If I want to really speed up my alternate-picked riffs, how do I go about doing that? [berlin] I think the best way is to start really simple. I'm going to give you a simple picking exercise. It's really, really good. Just try an open string, and I'm going to try a gallop. (student plays the riff with string noise / legato-ish) Paul: That's exactly what I did. When I first heard the gallop, I tried to do it, like all of it, down. The trick is to do it alternate. I'll demonstrate it on my knee. If I only had one hand, I'd have to go... (taps the rhythm with one hand.) That's very difficult. But, if I have two hands, (taps the rhythm with both hands, faster.) it's much easier. So, it's the same thing: this is a downstroke (taps one hand), this is an upstroke (taps other hand). Just like (demonstrates the tapping mechanics) where I'm going (demonstrates the picking mechanics on the guitar). If you just make sure it's structured right... you can always test it, by tapping on your knees. It's going to be the same thing. This is downstrokes, this is upstrokes. You know, anything that you do. If I do Scarified (taps out Scarified on his knees), I know it's going to be the same thing in strokes. That is a little complicated, so just do this one first. Try to get a really solid tempo going. That's one of the best ways to start with faster picking. [berlin] Actually, it's funny, that in my band Racer X, the bass player, John Alderete, only plays with his fingers, but he really wanted to learn about picking. So that's the first thing I showed him, and since he hadn't done it, he was like "oh my God, this is hard!"

"Try to get a really solid tempo going." 16

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

What was the breakthrough moment for you with alternate picking? How did you reinforce your new skill? [berlin] To me, the, the licks that are like really obvious alternate picking licks, are the licks played so many times that I could do them like that. That particular set of notes works really well for alternate picking. That was one of the first licks that I had success with. So I was really excited about it - "oh my God! I got it!" It never clicked before. I'd played guitar for like 8 years. Of course I picked some notes, but I couldn't pick like every note, and this is the first one where I could. So I was so excited about it that I just played it for like a year. Sat down with a metronome and got it really fast. When you play something over and over and over, you get more comfortable. I could start to do variations. I could start to maybe add some notes. What's so troublesome with alternate picking, anyway? [newcastle] The most difficult thing about alternate picking, is when you have to make the transition from one string to another string. It's a much bigger motion, so you have to come up, you have to figure out the next string, you've got to figure out if it's an upstroke or a downstroke... you have to mess with the motion to play it. There's all sorts of problems that can result from having a missed string. So, that transition - it's good to put the microscope on it. The best way to do that is to just do that kind of thing where you play the first three notes, then transition, then stop. Make sure the notes are sounding even, and you haven't got string noise. (demonstrates) Make sure they are even, pick a great tempo... (demonstrates) And if it doesn't sound good, pare it down. I want to get better at this right away. Is there a way to get proficient quickly? [newcastle] Then the last thing I was doing with alternate picking was practice. On certain songs, how does beginning the riff with an up or downstroke affect the sound, and can you demonstrate an example, like using Street Lethal? [newcastle] Oh, I haven't played that lick in a long time. The technique is that my thumb would get used right off the bat, but one F chord, and I'm trying to think, to get a funky kind of ending. It's all alternate picking. For the solo to that, a lot of the technique in that is from Van Halen. A song called Hang 'Em High. Do you have a practice tip to help us figure out which should be upstrokes or downstrokes in an alternate-picked riff? [newcastle] That's all alternate picking, but it looks funny because I'm skipping strings. (demonstrates) The thing that happens - I do this all the time - is there's sort of a great thing that lets me work things up with my picking. I'll drum stuff on my knees first. And I always use this way. That's sort of a physical metaphor for alternate picking runs. On that... I'm going to do two in a row. Alternate. My right hand is the metaphor for the downstroke, and my left hand is the metaphor for the up. So, for (sings the Hang 'Em High riff) I can feel that it's this (demonstrates). If you're going (demonstrates the sequence drummed on his knees) - that's for Street Lethal. (demonstrates the riff slowly, showing and speaking each pick stroke.)

"The best way is to start really simple."

17

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Alternate Picking Exercizes

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Bonus Lick: A Downstroke Picking Exercize

Bonus Lick: The Gallop Riff: A Picking and Muting Exercize

18

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: Street Lethal (pt.)

19

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Inside and Outside Picking Do you feel that inside picking, outside picking, or a combination of both, are faster, and more accurate? [madrid] I definitely pick outside. Well actually, for that exact lick, I always do it outside, but of course I have to do inside picking sometimes. Yeah, it works, it's less efficient, but it's more "Rock." So, I don't mind a bigger motion, if I can make it more "Rock". With this, I can hit it really hard. And that's fast enough for me. I don't really need to (worry about speed). I'm totally satisfied with that speed. I can get a lot of power out of it. Where inside, actually, that's all right too. I just can't get it as fast. There's probably a physical reason. Maybe inside gets me more careful or something, but with outside I can be (a little looser), I don't have to be as careful. There's more room. Of course, if you do a whole scale of alternate picking, you end up doing both: between these 2 strings that's outside, but the next 2 that's inside. So, I never stick to "only this kind". I have to do both, depending on the notes. For outside, another example would be the Technical Difficulties lick. That's both. But for this particular one... I think anything you practice, you'll become better at, so probably, but I've never seen anyone with inside picking, be able to do it as fast as I can do it outside, so that's my proof. "You want to have very clean notes. So, listen very closely when you play..."

20

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Sweep Picking How would you go about teaching another guitarist the technique of sweep picking; what would be your advice? [madrid] My advice for sweep picking is to start small. Let's see, what would be a good one... I like easy ones. So, to me, this is an easy one. If you take a C chord, and then let's put it up an octave, and then instead of barring, put the notes with separate fingers. The fairly easy part of sweep picking is the right hand. Because, the right hand just goes so fast. The trick is getting your left hand to follow it. That's a relatively easy left hand thing to do. (turns it in to the Woody Woodpecker theme)

So, that's a nice one. Let me show you kind of a blues one, 'cause this is one of the ones I find that's useful. It's just a straight four notes down (plays), and so that's all upstrokes (plays while speaking: up, up, up, up), then down. (plays some notes down) I don't do sweep picking that much. (alternate picking a lick is...) Just a little more sophisticated. For sweep picking, let me see if I can give you one more idea... This is one I had just learned, so, I like this one. It's sort of a jazzy sounding one. Let's try playing in the key of C, so we'll start with the pinky on C. And then we'll move to a minor triad. (demonstrates, group follows) Then the next triad is on the same string. So the trick is for sweep picking it has to be one motion. So it's like one long downstroke.

Bonus Lick: Introduction to Green-Tinted Sixties Mind

21

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Rhythm How do you train your right hand to pick accurate rhythms? [brighton] Training the right hand is almost like learning to play the bongos, or like beating a drum. It's really a matter of being able to control the rhythm of it. So if you take the different rhythms that accompany it, the complements that are available, like 8th notes, triplets, sixteenth notes, and practice doing really 'hard transitions' between them. For example, doing 8ths to 16ths. Or between triplets. You can do really interesting things, too. You can get a lot done. Builds your right hand back up. You're pretty passionate about rhythmic purpose. How can we incorporate more obvious grooves in to our practice routines and songs? [newcastle] Let me tell you why I did that warm-up. It can be the bad habit of guitar players (it wasn't one of mine) to practice without a sort of rhythm. They just see the fastest things they can come up with, and later on, try to squeeze them in to grooves, and often they won't fit. So in other words, build with a groove in mind. So find out a tempo, and find out what notes are working with the pulse at that tempo. [newcastle] To me, playing, with your foot, or with any kind of rhythm, it could be a drummer, or a CD that has some kind of groove on it... is some of the better practicing that you can do. With my foot, I'll practice. It's more fun then with a metronome. After that, I'll listen to it, and see what I can come up with. How do you train your right hand to pick accurate rhythms? [brighton] Training the right hand is almost like learning to play the bongos, or like beating a drum. It's really a matter of being able to control the rhythm of it. So if you take the different rhythms that accompany it, the complements that are available, like eighth notes, triplets, sixteenth notes, and practice doing really 'hard transitions' between them. For example, doing eighth to sixteenths. Or between triplets. You can do really interesting things, too. You can get a lot done. Builds your right hand back up. "The group will always be small. This is important to me, because I want to hear everyone play and give you some personal attention!"

22

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Phrasing What did you learn at GIT (now MI) regarding phrasing and how do you incorporate it in to your playing? [london] I think one of the things that I took the most from GIT, was the fusion'y kind of thing... There was a class called Single String Technique. The whole idea was to take a rhythmic figure, like an eighth note, and not stop. So, if you have a tempo, (begins tapping his foot and playing eighth notes nonstop...) this teaches you to invent sequences so you can like never stop. Of course, now, I'm trying to do the opposite. To me, the musicians who tend to phrase really well, are musicians who have to breathe, like singers, or trumpet players. The bad habit of electric guitar players, especially distorted ones, like myself, is if we DO stop, the guitar makes a bunch of noise. You know, if you're (playing), you're not quiet. But if you're playing through a loud amp and you stop, then the guitar's making all these (makes crazy feedback noises) hissy, hummy noises. So, we tend to never stop. Talk a little bit about "holes" used in phrasing. [london] When I go back and listen to some of like the early 70's guitar players, they had enough distortion to rock, but a small amount of distortion enough, where they could stop. Like the song Mississippi Queen, by Mountain, with the solo... there are big holes in between. AC/DC are kings of holes. Those holes are so effective. If you have some songs with those holes, it lets that sound dissipate a little. How can we enrich our vocabulary of musical phrases? [berlin] So any groove you have, if you jam over that, sometimes it happens. Sometimes I'll do three licks that work, and then you go "oh... what else can I do..." It's a great way to build your vocabulary. Just pick a groove, and keep jammin' on it. If you have any guitar player friends, or... the best thing you can do is to play another instrument. When I jam with my wife, because she's a keyboard player, her phrasing is so different then a guitar player's. Guitar players can do this really easily. (tremolo picking - ed.) On piano, you can't go (like that) on one note... Is there a specific exercise you would recommend to someone who wanted to work on broadening their overall technique and phrasing a little bit? [berlin] The idea of doing this: a scale on one string, is really useful. Because mostly when you play scales, it's usually in one position. Most people play a blues scale around there. If you have it like (demonstrates the blues scale using a different fingering) -- you can't play it as fast up and down, but it's great for (techniques) like tremolo picking, or with the two-handed technique, it's really good for bending, or doing phrases like this (plays a note-doubling phrase). So, one string, can be really good too.

"...To me it's really helpful to start with a tempo. It's sort of a nice assignment. Like "I'm going to take this tempo and I'm going to write something.""

23

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

String Skipping Do you have any special string-skipping exercizes to share? [zoetemeer] St. #4: OK. How do you practice this part. (demonstrates) Does it start with a downstroke? (demonstrates) Paul: Yeah, that's right. The place where I got that technique was a Van Halen song called Hang 'Em High. Which sounds like (demonstrates). It's the same kind of thing. He's skipping a string. He's skipping the A string.

What role do shapes play in practicing some of these string-skipped patterns, and do you have any examples or variations you could share? [zoetemeer] I do slower ones. Lately I've been doing sort of a bluesy version. I will show you one thing. You guys have obviously done an amazing job of studying some of my techniques, so, are you familiar with this arpeggio? (demonstrates) In that kind of minor shape? One thing I discovered about this shape is string skipping minor triads. It works great for that. I take that same shape and move it up to G minor. So, think of E Blues. Then play the G minor, but don't play this arpeggio, play like every note as a bend. St. #2: But do you start on the note itself, or? Paul: You can do any one you want. You just have to bend 'em. You can also do the same thing if you're in A, or play C minor, and that just resolves back to your A lick. It's nice when shapes get two uses out of one. That was just great, with those big (bends - ed.). Usually I don't mind if I have to bend in A, but I don't know where to go around here. This is a mysterious area, (so) see if you can do it. It probably gives you some good places to go. If you have solid endings to your phrases, can that help? [newcastle] To me, the coolest thing about fast picking is the last note. 'Cause if you work on that last note, on the downbeat of wherever you want it, you can (accent the endings well - ed.) (do that). It makes it easier to skip the strings. It's really cool.

"A lot of creating that I did, that I love, is to imagine you're in the audience, and then imagine that you're watching a band, and what is the coolest thing that they could ever do. Then, write that song."

24

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Speed How would you go about building accuracy with riffs meant to be played at higher speeds? How important do you feel that practicing these exercizes with clean, articulate playing is? [london] The way I solved this particular (problem learning a riff), and just (for learning) fast licks in general, is to make them really short. And that way, you tend to listen to them more. I'll give you an example. Let's do this. You do this two times, and then put one note at the end, so it'll go like (plays the picking exercise) and then stop. (begins tapping his foot) But keep the tempo going. You can do this with your foot. And, it starts with an upstroke. It ends with an upstroke as well. So, (synchronized tapping and talking): up, up, up. The cool thing about this, is whenever I stop, it lets me listen, and hear whether there's string noise. A lot of times, it sounds like (plays the riff muddily). You don't want that. You want a really nice, short note. Another thing is, when people are playing, they don't play very hard, on the important notes. To me, the last note is the most important note. That last note has to be a nice big one, when ending. And you can even do the Joe Satriani / Jimi Hendrix hand in the air thing, that's even better. So let's try this. Let's try it real slow, and (begins playing the exercise) Try upstrokes. And the next thing, try picking it on the bridge pickup, and let's mute this time, so it's like (plays staccato)... The next thing, let's see if we can get it a little faster. So when it's that short, it makes your ear pay more attention to how it sounds. To me that's one of the cleanest things I've ever played. To me it sounds really good, 'cause you're listening. I'm going to give you one more exercise, where you're back in the same thing, but this time, with no left hand. You can start on each note of a string, but you can take it up an octave. Or down an octave. When you do that, you're training your ear to listen to really good, clean notes where your hands are in sync. As it speeds up, make sure that it stays just as clean and just as in sync, so when you're going fast (it stays articulate)... Those are some good exercises you can do, and that will work for any fast thing that you're doing. Slow it down, really listen to it, make sure all the notes are clean.

Note: Exercises for alternate picking are on page 18

"...I found that whenever I would play something that had a strong rhythm to it, whether it was high or low, it seems like someone took my amp and turned it twice as loud. It just cut through the mix. Everything sounded great, the audience responded to it, everybody was smilin'."

25

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Solos and Soloing Could you give us an example of how string and note choice are important in regards to developing solid solos? [munich] These are in a major third. And since I play a solo just between those two strings, the B string and the G string, it sounds great but it's really a challenge for your brain. So I'm trying to be more aware, like, if I'm in the key of A, instead of muting and going here (demonstrates), I should find the A on the B string. (plays a little bit of this) Or if I'm in the key of C, instead of going here, I try to find the C on the G string. (plays a little bit of this) So that's one new thing I learned. Concentrating on those strings instead of just the 2 outside ones. How would you go about developing a solo from a rhythm technique? [madrid] Sometimes, I try to think: what would I play if I wasn't playing a solo? What if I was playing rhythm? Rhythm, I try to just go like (plays a slow, low-note rock riff) but what would happen if I take that rhythm (taps a rhythm with his foot) and, and just made it using higher notes. (plays the same riff but with a variety of higher notes.) That's something that really locks in, but it's a solo, 'cause it's higher. So, you can get a lot of good ideas from what you would play if it was rhythm, just do it higher, and then you're soloing. You'll have a really strong rhythm behind you.

"Slow it down, really listen to it, make sure all the notes are clean."

26

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Modes Do modes have key notes? How would we go about accenting a mode we've chosen to play in? [zoetemeer] One thing I found is when I first learned modes, I just played them up and down the scales. I learned Lydian, and I learned that it sounds good over a Stairway To Heaven chord. (demonstrates) I play the scale now... Recently I've been thinking, what are the most important notes that make Lydian sound like Lydian? You know, if some are more important then the others. I've been trying to do that to all the modes. And Lydian's a good one 'cause it's a lot of heavy metal notes. So, my favorite ones in Lydian are the root, the third, F sharp four, and the fifth. To me, those are really the notes that give it it's character. So I might just do an arpeggio, playing just those notes, (demonstrates) and it's very Lydian sounding. It sort of gets to the point quicker. How do these modes work in relation to playing chords, and octaves, and do you have any examples of these you care to share? [zoetemeer] I'm playing them straight up. (sings the mode) Then I thought 'I want to mix the pattern up a little bit'. So I came up with this sort of thing... I actually know it better in C, so let me do it in C. This will be C Lydian. It'd be my favorite notes, playing the pattern. So, what I'm doing... I'm skipping over the notes. So I'm going from, I'm skipping E going right to F sharp. And then sort of the next step. (laughs) It, it takes a lot to get it in your brain, but you can look at it as simple chords. Here's the first chord. That's C and F sharp. And the next chord will be E and G. That's a nice kind of sound, even those first two. It's a pretty cool sound already. The more you start playing chords, the more you start playing octaves, so the next one is F sharp and C. And then you have G and E. And then sort of stay in octaves.

Modal Practice Exercizes Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

27

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Outside Notes How are you using outside notes in your works? [brighton] I'm trying to think. Static chord. Outside stuff? Blues is almost outside to begin with. Because the blue note's pretty sour. So, accenting those blue notes... and just being aware of what interval will mean what. Sort of give yourself a "skat challenge." To sing something, and then to play it on the guitar. You know, if you're at A... (plays a low A note) (begins singing and then playing what he sang) To me that's the only scale that I can do that with. I have a lot more experience playing that scale then any other one. If I have to suddenly play melodic minor, I'm not going to be able to do the "skat challenge" very well, because I'm not as familiar with that scale. One kinda cool outside lick that you can do, that I think is useful, that's easy to play, is a diminished arpeggio. So that's a diminished arpeggio and I'm going to put that inside a diminished scale. Rehearse that with me, so we'll do that first arpeggio. Then we're going to go a half step up. From there we'll descend. From there, it's half, whole, half, whole. We'll do it whole, so we'll go up a whole step. And that's a nice ear teaching lick and it works pretty well in a blues kinda way. Nice little dose of fusion in your rock. [newcastle] (laughing) That's a very easy and useful lick. I got used to listening to my wife's jazz piano. That lick's diminished. It's actually a diminished arpeggio, but sort of pushed through a new scale. So in the beginning (demonstrates)... Here's what you have to remember. You have to go: half, whole, half, whole, half, whole. And just alternate. So I'm going to go up a half step. And then (descend) in the same shape. (demonstrates) Now I do a whole (step) so I'll go (demonstrates). Half, whole. So it's a diminished arpeggio inside a diminished scale. It's sort of an upside down (shape - ed.). But that's such a cool one. Diminished is great with blues, because most of the notes actually are inside the blues scale. There's a third here, there's the root, F5, and seventh, but it's all inside the blues.

I don't mind a bigger motion, if I can make it more "rock".

28

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Endings Endings or phrase escapes can be a bit catastrophic. How do you avoid that? [brighton] For me, bad news musically, almost always involves rhythm, or endings. Like "I got the solo all the way to the end, and I just couldn't... I flubbed the ending." If the middle sucked and the ending's great, then it's not so bad. I actually practice endings a lot, just for fun. I'll pick a tempo, and that's one of the things that we did that's great to (learn on), a great exercise. For you to have a tempo, and just get in to it. To get out of it, and to land on the groove, and have a pair of strong notes, and have the rhythm be something that makes sense. It's so easy because sometimes your fingers will lead you. You know, you'll be ending this great solo, and you'll end on (plays a dissonant chord) and "ah! I wanted to end it here!" To nicer notes to end on. Or, "accident ending on the sixth!" (laughs humbly) So, to me, endings are a big part of it. How would you go about practicing endings or escapes from phrases? [london] Any fast lick that you have, or it doesn't even have to be fast, any phrase in general... Mess around with endings. Because endings are one of the most difficult things. It's also a good way to build a way of ending with notes. So for example if you have a fast lick, how do you get out of it? You know, once you're in there, you're like "help, I'm stuck!" (starts playing the riff again) "help!" Maybe look for different places that you can bend, good notes. So, I do that a lot, with songs, even exercizes with notes bent down or up for endings. "Let's try and find ways out." That's really a lot of fun actually, just sittin' around going, "well, there's one lick to go, what else can I do... how can I escape?" So, the analogy I'll use is... ''when you play fast, it's like swimming in the ocean. You always want to keep your eye on the beach. That way you'll eventually find your way back.'' Why is it good to practice endings, and how do you go about that? [madrid] I'm trying to work on coming up with a good ending. When we did the jam session earlier, that's a great way to practice your endings. I try to make it so the next person can know "ok, this is ending, and... my turn." But if I go like (plays a riff with no obvious end), it's sort of a mess. So I really want something like (sings out a wellsyncopated, defined riff with a syllabic ending) "this - is - the - end"... [newcastle] I at least like to have that knowledge, so when I'm in the midst of one of those terrifying licks, and I need to use an escape, I have a place I can go. Musically too, it's very important to end with some kind of rhythm, that exercise. So, try to get it up to tempo, whether it's a shuffle, or 6/8, 4/4... One simple tempo. Like in Goin' Down, maybe I'll take a faster one, like, maybe 3/8... Or, how else can I get out of it? Let's see here. I start searching for things that really come to me distinctively in advance. I'll stop the machine and think what else can I come up with? (demonstrates) And then I'll work out a tempo.

29

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Practicing and Developing A Work Ethic How do you normally practice; do you have a routine? [brighton] That's become my favorite way to practice. Playing with some kind of tempo. Playing to build phrases and techniques that'll fit in, and match that tempo. It'll also let you know which phrases and techniques don't work in that tempo. It was one of my early discoveries as a guitar solo exercise: I'd come up with some kind of fast technique, and it would work in certain songs but not in other ones. At first I was completely confused as to why that was, and I thought "it should work everywhere!" but (spending) time on that tempo, it (showed me) it won't lock in if it's too slow or too fast. So it's all sorts of madness, it's own phrases. It's a good way to practice, and fun as well. Do you use a metronome currently, or have you used one in the past, and do you feel a metronome is helpful? (if you think they are helpful) -- How do you feel a metronome is helpful? Can it be used to build speed? [brighton] Oh, speed the left hand physically up? Let's do this. This is actually the first lick that I ever used a metronome with. Because I couldn't get the lick without it. It felt too uncomfortable, my left hand wouldn't do it, and it's sixth notes, which sound like this. (plays a picking exercise) So, yeah, sort of an Yngwie lick, starts with a C. Then it goes A, B, and then C again. Now reverse it. Now, again, the pinky happens on the downstroke, so ... well, it happens actually down, up, down, and then it would be like down, up, up, down. (playing the riff slowly) Another thing to think about that, I just think about the downstrokes every sixth note. (begins tapping his foot, and marking the downstrokes.) Just lock that in. And I did that really slow for about, actually... I'd only been playing about eight years, so it came together surprisingly fast, and it really made me like the metronome. So it was like "metronome, I don't want to use that." but I really stayed with it, and thing I would try to concentrate on, is playing slow, to the metronome. If you can feel that as you get faster, that it'll start to fall apart, then don't even get close to that tempo. Keep it at a tempo where you feel really confident with both your picking and your left hand, and that way, you're practicing perfection. You're getting good at feeling confident. Whatever you practice, you'll become good at. If you're playing like the advice I gave you, "if you practice playing sloppy, you'll get really good at playing sloppy." Whatever you practice, you become good at. So there's no shame at all, in going super slow. It feels good, you can really nail that downbeat, and it genuinely feels good. There's one technique that I don't do well, that someday I want to do, and it's this one. A three note pattern. It's like a miniature sweep pick. It's two downstrokes and then an up. And Yngwie is really good at that. He'll be like (plays the riff for several different variations of the notes)... I can just sorta do it if I'm lucky and the planets align, I concentrate, and I'm sitting down. I don't have near the muscle confidence on that though, that I do with alternate picking. How did you begin to develop a practice routine? [madrid] When I first began, I practiced one hour a day. Which was a lot, and I sounded terrible. It was like "oh, one hour!" (in a tortured voice) 30

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

That I can do when I'm sick, and the guitar's down here (gestures to his waist - ed.), and I'm half deaf and it's still fine. If I wanted to get this lick, right now I can play at this tempo (plays the 3-note riff fairly fast), but if I really want to get it where it's useful, I play it a lot slower, so I can really feel that I'm locking in to the downbeat. And actually slower, you can hear that obviously now. Really be listening to it, slow it down so much. Where my muscles are really practicing an accurate thing. It might be super slow, but that's only going to improve. It will go surprisingly fast if you do that. What was your greatest challenge as a guitarist, early on? [london] It's probably the first year that I played guitar. I really wanted to be a guitar player, so I forced myself to play for one hour, an hour every day. And I didn't have a teacher, I had to teach myself, and I only knew 2 riffs. I knew ''25 or 6 to 4'' by Chicago, and I knew a Cheech and Chong song. That's all I knew, and I played those over and over again, for like an hour a day, for two years. Finally, I sort of learned Led Zeppelin, but still, my technique... I only knew how to do upstrokes, for some reason I thought downstrokes were forbidden. I only used one finger and I only used one string. So, it was horrible. So I made myself practice, and I got really good at playing on one string, and, fairly good at upstrokes, since that's all I did. After I started taking lessons and my teacher showed me how to play chords, showed me the pentatonic scale, and how to bend... after that, things got much easier. I thought I'd never be able to pick. I remember hearing Yngwie and going "yeah, I'll never be able to do that." Finally I was doing one of those licks, and I remember that was probably the first thing I ever did on a metronome. I played like eight years without it. I played with drummers, and to me a drummer's a pretty good metronome. The only other thing I would ever do is, I sat in my room and you know (imitates a beeping metronome, and begins playing a very timed riff over it)... Two weeks later (speeds up his beeping and plays the riff a little faster). Two months later (plays the riff really fast, no beeps.) Do you mentally group notes together or use some sort of mnemonic devices to memorize all of those really fast, complex riffs? How do you manage to keep everything so coordinated? [berlin] I would say, there's some mental tricks that I do, that help me for picking. They are almost always in the left hand. Like if I'm doing the Technical Difficulties (plays this riff). Hear that really fast part in there? That's where I'm doing that. And when I'm doing that, I'm concentrating on this pinky, hitting the downstroke. (demonstrates the fast part very slowly, speaking 'down, down, down, down' on certain notes.) Thinking pinky, pinky, pinky, pinky. And those two things lock together. That sort of thing, within my brain, that's what I'm thinking about. The same sort of thing, whenever a lick has an ending, like... there's a Van Halen song called Girl Gone Bad... (plays this cleanly) It really helps to know that the last note is a downstroke, because it stops, in a sense. You know, for your brain, it's a great exercise. So I can always go... 'pinky is on the downstroke'. Even on crazy ones, like this one, this is an exercise I do sometimes. I'm thinking downstroke, and this position shifting. (plays the riff slowly, speaking 'down' on some certain notes for emphasis on where the downstrokes should be.) So every time I shift positions, it's a downstroke. It's always this finger. So I just keep that in mind 'cause there's all this other stuff going on. So at least I can lock in to that one little thing. A lot of times, it's almost like road markers.

31

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

What do you remember learning, in the beginning? What are you currently working on, technique or practice-wise? [madrid] I'd say when I practice now, I always have different passions. When I first started, I just wanted to learn basically anything. Then, I wanted to learn how to play Beatles songs, or how to play Black Sabbath songs, Led Zeppelin. Then, I wanted to do solos, and then I started to warm up to technique, too. I wanted to learn how to do picking. Now, I really want to know how to play more rhythmically, and with better notes. I want to upgrade my note choice. So what I'm playing now, an example of my daily challenge, is in the concert every night, there's some parts where I can improvise. It's usually pretty easy. There's just one chord. For example in the first song, Hurry Up, there's a certain rhythm. So it's basically just playing like the harmony. So, I can do a blues scale, but I'm trying to think rhythmically. I try to think like a drummer a lot of the times. If I had this tempo, but I didn't have any notes, all I've got is a drum, you know, "what can I do to make it cool." I could play something very simple. Then if I add some notes (adds some guitar notes), I try to make it interesting. I can add some bends if I want it a little more complicated, I could do that. (marks out a syncopated tempo with foot & voice) You could do the same. Of course you can do faster things too. Slow or fast, I try to think like a drummer a little more. Just add some cool outside notes, and (work on) endings.

How do you practice improvisation - isn't it pretty difficult to practice spontaniety? [newcastle] The second part (in Hurry Up - ed.) is where you improvise. That's all your challenge. ''Oh, I got it. Am I feeling good at outside today?'' I wouldn't do it the same the next day. And I can't remember anyway. The solo, inside the song Hurry Up, where the band's going (plays the backing line)... that sort of allows me to do that... it's like blues in E, which is a comfortable key. It has that Hendrix chord as the tonality. So I can get away with playing outside stuff, or I can go (plays the outside riff) a little more, then I can go to the inside (demonstrates)... I love that song. Do you balance unfamiliar material with well-known tunes when you practice? [newcastle] To me, to try to deal with having to physically play the guitar... that's a really important thing to have a place that you're able to play, not only familiar to your fingers, but to your ears, so you advance and sound as good. Always listen to your ears. How do you keep your practice regimen invigorating? [newcastle] Some days I can just plug in. I never play up and down the scales. I would try to learn the cool phrases, and if I know (for example - ed.) where the flat 5 is, to me that's really important to play the flat 5 musically. I know that there's one up here. But that fingering makes me crazy, so I try to work it out there. (demonstrates) I'm no longer bored, and I love the change, it's a reason why I like the fingering. So I try to do two things at the same time. 32

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

[newcastle] A funny little bit about this. It was when my teacher said, "whatever you practice, you become good at. And if you practice playing sloppy, you get really good at being sloppy." So I know those. Really, when he said that, I was like "oh!" When I practice, I really have gotta... it's more important to play slowly and perfectly, and become good at playing perfectly, then go (plays/sings an out-of-time fast solo)... that sucks. That (tip) works well, all the time.

Bonus Lick: Hurry Up: Improv Section 4/4, 136 bpm

33

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Composition, Songwriting, and The Creative Process Where do some of your musical ideas originate? [brighton] I tried to do a lot of how do I say... stealing, instead of interesting invention. Stealing instead of learning. From piano songs. I feel a certain competitiveness with piano players, because they have a huge advantage to their instrument. It's so much easier to play then guitar. You know, when a piano player plays a note, they don't have to worry about the other 87, making noise, and howling, and feeding back, where we do. We have to worry about the other 5 strings and notes and control 'em. You know, we can only play one melody at a time, usually, where a piano player can do two, and do two bass lines at the same time. So, I've got a thing with piano players - "hey you" (shakes his fist - ed.) and one method I do, to "get them" is to learn their songs. Could you show us how having a wide musical vocabulary of songs to pick and choose from, has helped your songwriting? [brighton] For example, I just wrote a song for my album that's not released yet, but I was trying to write the bridge for it. I knew the first four, and the song was in the key of B, and the bridge I'm going to start with B minor. And there's a really common chord progression where you take the root down chromatically. I wanted to do something like that but I've done that so much on the record already that I wanted to make it a little bit more clever. So I went to this Beatles song, where the bridge (has a nice chord). I love that chord. It's a G minor. So the 3rd is the base. It's really easy for piano players but a pain in the ass for guitar players, so you've gotta spread your fingers around weird. It would be uh a B minor, then I went back to the D, with an A in the base. A little B in there. A sound to figure out, sort of the late 60's Pink Floyd style voicing with rhythm in the base. Like in the song ''God Only Knows'' (there are) different versions everywhere. Like five versions, all different on the base. So, I gotta get my chord, the Beatles chord, the Beach Boys chord, and then another E chord, so it's a lot of not having the root in the base. I love the sound of that. Then (plays a chord) that was from a Bee Gees song. So I played it down, because it's in the key of my song, I got it there. I was really proud of all that stealing, I just got that best chord from all of them. So, that's a little bit of theft, but it's really not that - it's just learning how to use chords. Do you have any newer novel approaches to phrasing which you could share? [brighton] To me (songwriting's) a lot of fun. One of the things is just making your ideas connect. So whatever phrase you begin with... I mean, this is actually a new idea for me. Before, I thought the idea is to develop this huge vocabulary of phrases and riffs, and shoot them out of your guitar machine gun, Rambo-style. Like "riff riff riff riff phrase phrase phrase phrase!" and just overwhelm the audience with your amazing guitar knowledge. It does actually overwhelm the audience though, so they're going... "uh... I can't take it anymore!" Where if you play a phrase, and then if you do a variation of it (that is good). To me one of the nicest ways to do that is to come up with a phrase and then do different timings of it. So if you have, for a really small and nice example, in the key of A... and I'm going to play the C note twice, and I'll pick down-up, and then I'm going to play the A below it, and I'm going to do a pull-off to G. That's the lick. If you want to get tricky you can bend it a little, or make it a little bluesy. So, I could repeat that forever. Now I can come up with variations on the ending. Then maybe after you do it three times, just do something different. That's sort of the magic pattern.

34

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Do maybe 2 or 3 variations, and then somethin' different. You really gain the listener's trust that way. Where do you draw some of your inspiration for writing new material from? [brighton] A lot of creating that I did, that I love, is to imagine you're in the audience, and then imagine that you're watching a band, and what is the coolest thing that they could ever do. You know, if you're watching, and (you see that band)... "oh yeah!" and then, write that song. Just do it - that sort of opens up your imagination to 'what might be'. What you could create. Imagine the best band in the world, they're going to blow your mind with this next great thing, and ... what is that? How are they going to do it? It's your job to figure it out, to fill in the notes. Besides that, to me it's really helpful to start with a tempo. It's sort of a nice assignment. Like "I'm going to take this tempo and I'm going to write something." There was a newer song from my instrumental record called Eudaimonia Overture. It's fairly fast tempo. (begins playing Eudaimonia) When you get some rhythm guitar behind it, it's a punk thing (plays the rhythm guitar part to Eudaimonia). I stole the tempo from a punk song. I was listening to The Donnas which is an all-girl punk band. They have a song called Skin Tight. I was just listening to that. I go "that rocks! I love that song. I'm going to write a song at that tempo." So I put the tempo in ProTools, got my click going (imitates a really fast beep), and the song turned out totally different. But the tempo inspired me to rock harder then I would have. I might have chosen a slower tempo. So, imagine the ultimate band, pick a good tempo, and steal ultimate chords, to build your chord toolbox. How important is rhythm in your current compositional efforts, and how much emphasis do you place on it vs. straight note choice? [brighton] I've been doing so much thinking about sort of discarding the notes and just leaving a pure rhythm. I'll pretend my guitar is a set of bongos, and then fill in the notes later. That opens up a world of good stuff to play around with. Also, if you have paper (sheet) music, you can use that as a good way to steal some good ideas. It doesn't have to be guitar music, it could be vocals. I'm trying to think of a good example... one of my favorite albums is the first Van Halen album. And there's this song... vocalized it's (sings the riff and then the lyrics). Take away the vocals and the notes, and you get (taps on a surface & claps lightly, in a strong rhythm) - that's a rhythm. Do you have any quick tips or anectdotes regarding songwriting to share? [newcastle] I like to work with songs written for other instruments. I'll take a piece made for the piano and change it... It's easy to get useful phrasing. (Like from) popular pop, from the 70's. [newcastle] Here's some songwriting tips. I occasionally I do think up things eventually. They usually end up so different that I don't know where I got them from. One thing that I saw was a YouTube interview with Jeff Lynne. He's the lead singer for ELO. He was explaining... he taught me about writing songs. I was watching him explain how to get this chord. I love this chord. So I found it, and changed the interval to a four four, with a sustain like that (plays part of an ELO riff), and I changed the working key, and changed the chord to an arpeggio, so... (plays part of The Gargoyle). Crazy left hand movement, so it became a heavy metal solo. But the underlying structure is an ELO song.

"There’s some people who want my music, and to me that’s really inspiring that there’s somebody out there who wants to listen." 35

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Then just make a solo out of it. (improvises a solo) Of course, when I do this, my first solo tends to be relatively unimaginative notes. I sort of play it in a blues scale. But then, I think, well what if I changed it, changed the notes a little bit, made it major instead? (plays a note, stops himself) Or, actually, sometimes it's more interesting if you play less notes. It's just turning it around, it's more song-ish that way. Even something like ''Purple Haze''. Just get rid of the notes and think ''what is the rhythm''? Now come up with your own notes. That's ideawise. When you try to write new songs, do you start by playing by ear, or is it more by science? [zoetemeer] Oh, both. I think I have to have some science because I have a deadline. I have to have a song written in you know... the next one hour. So then you have to put the science, you can't just rely on your ear all the time. So, a lot of times, I'll start to set limits. I'll decide I want a song with this tempo. That really helps. Often, I'll steal tempos from other bands. What is your general process for beginning to write a song, completely from scratch? [zoetemeer] I guess if I had to start totally from scratch, rhythm is usually the key. You run out of notes quickly. So, I'll steal a tempo now. Let's see. The first song that I think of now is sort of embarrassing. It's Leo Sayer, ''You Make Me Feel Like Dancin'''. (sings the song in falsetto, taps his foot to the tempo. - ed.) So there's my tempo. I'm going to write something totally different, using that tempo. It helps to have a rhythm within that tempo. So, the simplest thing would just be to do the same thing. (demonstrates one note per beat) Just do that, you know... But, that's a little too simple. So, I want to add some syncopation, so it'll be (demonstrates... the song begins to sound a lot like AC/DC - ed.) That's all in one key, so maybe I want to add something that takes it a little bit in a different part of the key signature. Whenever you play, try to make a slight variation on it, so it would go (demonstrates), so to me it'll be a little different. Then, pretty soon you're on to something. So, steal a good tempo, come up with a simple rhythm, make some little changes, and that's a good start. Why do you seem to come up with so many ideas? [berlin] Probably because I get bored. If I just hear the same sound, (yawn), even if it's good. Even if it's good, if I hear it every day, (yawn) I'm tired of that sound. So it's like, I want to hear something different. And it's always trying to keep myself interested.

Fig. 44 Variations of a D Chord "It's amazing to see an orchestra perform, because it's a whole stage full of virtuosos. I admire the work ethic." 36

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: To Be With You (solo) 4/4, 80 bpm

37

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Musical Inspiration & Challenges Why don't you play more riffs featuring wide intervals in the live setting? Are these very difficult for you? [brighton] Realistically, I can only do (riffs featuring really wide intervals played at high speed - ed.) those if my guitar is up really really high, or if I'm sitting down. I won't really attempt those live, for those exact reasons. It always ends up that I need to have my guitar up a lot higher, and somehow I've got moral objections to that. To me, "it's gotta be down here a little bit more." The other solution is to double deck the pedalboard, or do the Steve Harris Iron Maiden monitor move where you put your foot on the monitor, then you can temporarily rest it up there. One thing is, I'm definitely using the tips of my fingers. When I'm on the high E string, even if I pick that string, it won't sustain, because the tip of this finger is touching the string. I didn't develop that consciously at all. It was just a habit from lifting and going "I've got to get through that song". Besides your passion for rhythm, what's happily challenging nowadays? [newcastle] A great example of something I get excited about, is learning a very hummable tone. In actuality, in practice I can play (like) some of the musicians that I know. So my challenge to myself is when I play in those spots, I hope I'm a little bit at ease. It really makes me play. With a lot of practice, that'll do it... When you think of the future, what are you looking forward to learning? What comes to mind in terms of your playing? [newcastle] I want to sit and strum Beatles songs. (strums a Beatles riff) To me, that's a good time. It's a whole world ... so I can play on other jazz changes, that's... I could spend a lifetime working on that kind of stuff. The more I play, the more excited I get about it, the more things I discover are available to know and learn.

Hollywood Guitar Maniac

38

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Do you have any quick tips for ear training and learning the fretboard by ear? [brighton] A game I play within myself is "can I figure out the song without getting a recording of it? Can I just get it by memory?" A lot of people say you are infallible; you do not make mistakes. When you make a mistake, do you generally have a pretty good grasp on why or how it occured? Do you have any sort of conscious way of avoiding most errors? [brighton] Technically, I would say, I've practiced so much and analyzed so much that this is what I'm pretty familiar with. When I make a mistake, I know why. (laughs humbly) It's "this technique I'm not good at", "I wasn't aware of what the pick stroke was", "the guitar was too low" or there's some times where I'm unrealistic about what is performable live. I try to keep it as easy as possible, and if there's a lick that is really hard, I go "I'm not doin' that". That's why I sweep so low. I remember that in the Mr. Big days, we did this song called "Road To Ruin." It had a big major seventh sweep in it. My guitar tech and I used to sort 4/4, 128 bpm of look at eachother... Every night, he knew it was coming, and he'd be like "ok, can Paul get it?" and I'd get it, like one out of five shows. Whenever I got it, he'd be like "yeah! yes!" (makes faux screams) But those other four shows, I didn't. So, it'd be a little sloppy, it wasn't like horrible, but it was not what it should have been. Finally I was just like "I'm not doing that lick anymore. I want to do one that sounds good." I tend to pick stuff that's easy for me. I mean, it's something that's obviously crazy sounding, but I've done it a million times, and it's based on some blues stuff, and came from some Black Sabbath solo done when I was 12, so... it's a technique I'm using now. I try to pick the easy licks, and even if they evolve in to something that seems harder, the core of it is some technique that I'm really comfortable with. That way, I can play it with my guitar low, and with my eyes closed, with the hair gel stinging my eyes... What do you feel the most inspiring genre of music is for you as a songwriter and composer? [brighton] I admire classical, as well as instill it in myself as a musician, because they play well. It's amazing to see an orchestra perform, because it's a whole stage full of virtuosos. I admire the work ethic. Of course a lot of the music's great, and it doesn't rock, there's no snare drum. The melodies are fantastic, and the recorded versions are stunning. What key factors would you say really improved your playing or broadened your horizons? [newcastle] Music theory played the biggest (role)... it opened a big door for me. Before that, I was really totally going by ear, by copying other guitar players, and venturing out once in a while. When you venture out, it's so dangerous. It's like, I know the A's here, but what's up here? (un-confident voice. - ed) Now, I've really just been experimenting.

39

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Is there any music you find inspiring that you could recommend to your audience? [brighton] I've got to recommend the most heavy metal symphony, if you're looking, it's Shostakovitch. It's his fifth symphony. It starts off with a 'Crazy Train' kind of riff, then ''the heavy metal notes when I am six''. Then the Queen lick, and the symphony starts off with the bottom two notes, an octave higher. It's just so metal that it's giving me goosebumps even just singing it. That's just the beginning. It's a whole symphony, it's just stunning, one of the most amazing pieces of chords where he goes between really consonant, beautiful chords, and the next chord is like a stinging mixer. Then a scream, and that sort of thing, then aahh... going back to that tension. A really beautiful style. Way, way beyond my knowledge or ability in composition, but I love this. To learn classical piano pieces, on guitar, for me as well, it's a nice challenge. The Bach stuff, rhythmically, is pretty simple. He really doesn't vary from the (taps a surface, a Bach rhythm) very often. The fastest is a lot of sixteenth notes or a lot of triplets. You know, for example, this Bach piece (plays the ending from ''Eudaimonia Overture'' which is a classical piece), there's no holes to stop in there. So rhythmically, it's not that adventurous. Note-wise, it's just a lot of fun to figure out how to play those arpeggios on guitar. It's really worth mentioning. What do you find challenging these days? [london] To me, the ultimate good challenge, was my goal for the guitar before I ever picked it up. I just wanted to play what I heard in my head. And that's still one of the most difficult things. In certain styles I can play what I hear in my head. Like this, if it's based on a minor pentatonic scale, or a blues scale, I can pretty much hum something and play it. Do you still feel nervous when you perform? What makes you uneasy, musically? [madrid] I only feel nervous if I can't play the song. I'd probably be very nervous if I had to play traditional jazz. Because it's a lot of chord changes, and to make it through those chord changes, I'd be making mistakes everywhere. But, both Joe Satriani's and Steve Vai's music is still rock. Or maybe a little bit towards fusion, but it's not traditional jazz. It's not going, you know... (plays some killer jazz) all this crazy like "oh my God, what, wait wait wait..." If I had to play with Joe Pass, or Pat Metheny, that'd be scary. It's such a different style. How do you "get by", playing all this difficult music?! [madrid] If there's a difficult technique, I try not to do it. Because to me, to get a good sound from the instrument, the easier the technique is, the better it's going to sound. So, for me, of course things like sweep picking or inside picking are kind of hard. Sometimes I have to do it because of the notes. There's a classical piece, the ending to Eudaimonia Overture, that's difficult. Every night I'm like "oh, no..." (in a despairing/dreading-this voice). There's just no way around it. And I really like to play the guitar worn as low as I can, and of course that makes it more difficult to stretch, so sometimes, I think "I wish I had a monitor to put my foot on..." Because I just can't bear having it up here all the time. It's not worth it for just one or two licks. Actually, there's one lick in the song The Curse of Castle Dragon where it goes like (plays riff) - that's a pretty big stretch. And, up at this height, it's pretty easy.

"I'm trying to think rhythmically. I try to think like a drummer a lot of the times." 40

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

But when I have to do that standing up - "oh, forget it". (plays riff) I've gotta really try to get my hand in the right spot. So those are hard for me sometimes. Again, I try to do the easiest techniques possible. Or practice the technique enough to where it becomes easy. None of these things were easy for me at the beginning. I mean, when I started, the guitar was a really difficult instrument. Everything was difficult. After playing (a very fast riff - ed.) for nine years, finally that started to work. Nine years! [london] If I have to play (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer), I'm going to mess it up. I can sing it, but if I play it, it goes... (experimenting and looking for notes, slowly, on the fretboard). I'm not nearly as confident, because I'm not as familiar with that style of music. There's actually a lot more chord changes in it. When I found that out, I was actually at a Christmas party. It was about two years ago. (imitates having an ego) "Yeah, I'm a professional guitar player. Let me play the solo in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." and I *blew* it. I played all these wrong notes and I'm like "oh my God! I suck!" I just realized, it's a different kind of music, I'm not familiar with it. It's like asking a classical violin player to try some blues. It's a totally different style. Why don't you play the super fast material much anymore? You're so good at it. [newcastle] Thank you. In that style of playing, there's not much rhythmic content. It's basically just spittin' out notes like a machine gun. It's ignoring rhythm so much. To me, that's been my passion lately -- it's realizing that, and hopefully there's good things about it. To me I love doing it (with) musicality. A lot about them... The things you train your hands to do, hopefully in a musical way, there will be some good notes in there. Is there a lesson you learned from having taught guitar, and having played fast guitar for so long? [newcastle] One thing is, that playing with students who are starting out, and making lots of mistakes... By mistakes, I don't mean like playing bad notes, or having bad technique, I mean by making bad choices. Like when there's a rhythm, a tempo like this (taps a tempo), just ignoring it completely and going (sings & plays a crazy fast solo). That's not what fits there, you know? (demonstrates) I try to get them to lock in to whatever musical context that is there. So, that was helpful to me, to see their bad judgment, because I have the same bad judgment. Hopefully not as bad as some because I've been playing longer. I could see, I've done the same thing too. Ignore the tempo, let the drums take care of it, I go (sings a crazy fast solo)... (laughter) So that made me a bit more aware.

"...When I practice now, I always have different passions." 41

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: Eudaimonia Overture Finale (pt.) 4/4, 85 bpm

"Practice with a lot of stopping. If you're playing a lick, stop, and make sure the stop is really clean. That's a really clean, loud, controlled note."

42

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Know Your Limits What do you feel your limitations are? [munich] The more things I learn... the more that I play, the more that I discover that I don't know. I actually started taking lessons again. Not so much for learning more about technique, but for learning more about jazz, or learning more about composition. And it was fantastic. [munich] (on losing his voice) Sorry I can't do more singing today; I've got a cold. Singing, sometimes I think that my voice, is like having a guitar with only 3 frets. The highest note I can reach is (plays a midrange note...) (and then *attempts* to replicate that note with his voice, but no sound comes forth, just a harsh whispered scream...) When I have a cold, it's like these 3 frets and these 4 strings are gone. I can still (plays some low notes) get the attitude down there. [london] On voice issues and illness: I've enjoyed the instrumental thing much more then I ever thought I would. One of the great things about instrumental music is I can do a sixty show tour, living in the same bus. I can lose my voice, I can get incredibly sick, I can feel like crap, and my fingers are still fine. I can still perform really well on guitar. Where the voice is a weakness for me. My vocal range is sort of like the equivalent of having a guitar with three frets. If I really bend this one I can get a high note. But when I got sick, it was like having a guitar with three frets at the bottom, with the top four strings cut off. Here's my range. (plays a low note) This is my highest note. (plays a very slightly higher note) When I was in Poland (sings some really low note). I couldn't get it higher. Luckily tonight my voice is back. What is the most difficult part of recording an album, physically? Mixing? [london] Actually, I haven't (mixed United States - ed.). I hired out. I don't really trust my ears anymore. The last album I did, I just did a vocal album, with a guy named Freddie Nelson. I probably should have mixed it, because I think our demos sounded better then the album version. A lot of album mixing will physically kill you. I'm so worn out from all the other stuff I'm doing. I'm preparing for a tour at the same time I'm finishing up the album. I'm always doing ten things at once. So to me, doing a tour is incredibly relaxing, since I only have to do one thing at once. I'm not recording an album at the same time I'm doing all that other stuff, you know. Where does your hearing loss originate from - is it just from overexposure to loud music? Do you feel your hearing loss is progressive (getting worse)? [london] I think it's from everything. It's also from being a bad engineer. When computer recording systems first came out, I would try to do all the editing myself. You know? One of the things about editing with a computer is, is whenever you do an edit or a punch-in, you've got to do the little fade on it, so it's not like an annoying click. And, the annoying clicks, are treble-y. So I can't hear them. So I've got to crank it up like crazy to tell where the clicks are, if I'm right or not. So I'd be sitting there during slow parts of the day, editing vocals, and trying to hear the click, and it gets louder and louder as my ears get worse. It killed my ears. So, I've got to hire an engineer now.

"Mess around with endings. Because endings are one of the most difficult things." 43

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

When did you begin to protect your hearing from excessive loud music, in the live setting, with headphones? Why do you prefer headphones to in-ear monitors or earplugs? [london] The first show that I (protected his hearing with headphones - ed.) did was Guitar Wars. Which was a show with Nuno Bettencourt and a bunch of other guitar players. I'm trying to think... I had been using drummer's headphones in the studio because they block out a lot of sound. I think that for that show, I said 'I have to share the stage with other loud guitar players' (laughs). 'So I just want to save my hearing'. I had also just bought this green, sort of military jumpsuit. I thought the headphones sort of looked good with it, so I figured I looked like I could be, friggin' in the airplane or something, like one of those guys. So I thought, I'll just try it. You can get these in-ear monitors that are molded to your ears, and they really block out the sound great to save your hearing. When I wore those before though, they're sort of difficult to take in and out. It's great that you don't do any drugs, but I'm sure you have a unique perspective on why substance abuse is bad for guitarists! "I love to hear the audience making noise. So at the end of every song..." [newcastle] One thing I'm really sort of enjoying about the world of shred guitar now, is the people who sort of founded shred: Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, the Van Halens, I'm lucky if I'm lumped in to there... we're getting old enough where we've had a chance to really play a lot, and hopefully spend time on our art. In the old days, all the typical rock and roll bands would do drugs, and drink, and kill themselves. They don't get a chance to be 45, or 50, or however old they are. I mean, Jimi Hendrix is forever 27, and that's as far as he got, unfortunately. I'm 42, Steve Vai's 40 something, I don't know what, but we're healthy enough, that we're going to keep going and making music for people, and keep doing our thing. I think, to be a guitar shredder, it's almost like being a classical musician. You know, we still like rock, with the intensity and the sound and some of the attitude of rock, but the philosophy and the world of music... We're passionate about being good musicians and making the best music we can, and we're, for better or for worse, leaving behind a little bit of the 'drink, party, kill yourself' philosophy.

"I actually started taking lessons again. Not so much for learning more about technique, but for learning more about jazz, or learning more about composition. And it was fantastic."

44

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Once they're in it's fine, and once they're out it's fine, but if you want to quickly take them out, it's impossible. With the headphones, maybe it's my own ego trip after every song, but I love to hear the audience making noise. So at the end of every song, *damn*, I whip the headphones off and I can hear the (imitates audience roar) and I'm like (imitates ecstasy) 'oh, that's good...' If you have the in-ears though, then the audience sounds really quiet. Also for some parts of the set, there are some parts of the set that aren't loud. Like through ''Suite Modale'', a flute piece. It's very quiet, there's no drums, and I love to be able to take the headphones off for that, just to hear the real acoustics in the room. And with the 'phones, I can go between (on/off) really easily. With the in-ears, it's a job, getting them in and out. Is your hearing perceived by a ringing sound, a silence, or something else? How would you describe this sensation to someone without hearing loss? How does it affect your daily life? [london] On hearing loss: Oh, no, it's frequencies. So most of the highs are gone. I can still hear a bass guitar, or a truck, or something like that. It sounds like I've got an earplug in all the time though. You know, it's just, the highs... like, if you um, if you do this with your fingers (he must be sticking a finger in his ear - ed.)... I can't hear as much over here (right ear - ed.), and I can't hear over here at all (left ear - ed.). I remember as a kid I could hear these little sounds. Matter of fact, a q-tip to clean out my ears, I remember I used to hear like (imitates a scratching sound). Now it's like (nothing). Now it's like someone took the treble knob and turned it all the way down. Actually, men's voices aren't so bad. I can hear some sort of low voices, but women are tough. I love how my wife speaks really clearly, so I can understand her. Ah well most women, I can't. [london] On hearing loss: The worst thing is when I want to understand people, it's difficult.

45

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Stunt Guitar Why were you playing left handed? [zoetemeer] I was at a NAMM show. And, whenever you have a concert where there's 7 guitar players onstage, at the same time... I'm always scared that the audience can't hear anything. Because, there's so much guitar, and maybe the sound engineer doesn't know who's playing. I thought "probably, no one's going to hear me." It's just going to be a mess of sound. And I thought "so it doesn't matter how I sound - what matters is how I look." I thought "I know there's going to be a lot of photographers" and "if I'm playing lefthanded, it's going to look really cool." As we were playing, I could hear the PA system a little bit, and the sound man was really good. So I thought, "what am I going to do!" I had two distortion boxes, and I turned them both on. It makes the guitar so sensitive, you can sing through the pickups. So I just went like (sings a solo)... The audience was like "he's playing left-handed with his teeth!"

"Whatever you practice, you'll become good at. When you play something over and over and over, you get more comfortable." 46

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Is there anything else to it, other then, simply using a metronome? In the old Racer X days, you had this lick going from what is it... actually... (plays the same note/different strings trick) Can you still do it? [zoetemeer] Oh, that one! I don't know if I ever metronome'd that one. I stole that from... the bass player of Racer X had a friend who was doing that, and he showed it to me. I tried to get the F note on every s tring. Let me show you an idea that is similar to that t echnique. Because obviously, that lick, you have to shift positions a lot. Usually when you play guitar, your hand stays in one place. You know, if you're playing in A, your hand stays in this position. (plays something in A) It stays in one place like that. This (plays the trick riff cleanly)... is a lot of hand movement. Your hand's going like this. (must move crazily - ed.) So, another way you can practice that is take the A pentatonic scale, but do it with one finger. (demonstrates, group laughs.)

47

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

The Whammy Bar And The Damage Done [london] Endings are one of the most difficult things, especially since with the whammy bar, you can always end a solo with the whammy bar. (sings a solo with a divebomb ending) That's a great way to end. You used to use a whammy bar but you have stopped. Why was that? Do you feel you're missing out on anything by sticking to fixed-bridge instruments? Are there any advantages to a floating tremelo system and a whammy bar on a guitar? [madrid] I did before. (used a whammy bar - ed.) I think the first time I stopped using it, I was my own guitar tech. 'Cause we were on the first Mr. Big tour, and we didn't have so much money. So, I was a guitar player, and a guitar tech. Before the shows, sometimes the tuning would go a little strange, and with the tremelo, if one string goes out, all the rest go out too. So... "oh my God, we've gotta go on here in 2 minutes? Argh!" (faux scream) So it was like too much stress for me. So I just blocked it off, didn't use it. Then, on the second tour, we had more success. So this time I had my own guitar tech. "Ah, good, I'm gettin' the whammy bar back!" And I walked onstage with the whammy bar, and I went (sings a crazy solo with a huge divebomb at the end)... then I went, (lowers voice to a very humble, embarrassed tone) "oh, I'm sorry". I was kind of embarrassed. I think I lost my own whammy bar style. I think the first reason I wanted a whammy bar was because of Van Halen. He did like so many cool things on the first couple Van Halen albums, such cool divebombs, and some cool whammy things. Really, I grew up playing before Van Halen was out, so I sort of learned to play guitar without a whammy. Even when I wanted to have a whammy, you couldn't get one. Now, it's so easy to get a locking tremelo. When I was a kid, you couldn't get one. You'd go to the music store, and they'd say "well, we have this one guitar, but somebody already bought it, you can't buy it." It was really difficult to get a locking tremelo with a whammy, so for the longest time I never had one. Yeah, I think now, I think it makes me play a little better. Like for example, if I'm playing a scale and I get to the end (plays a very fast scale, gets to the end, note rings out), if I had a whammy, I'd just go (does a crazy bend). Instead I developed left hand techniques, either vibrato, or maybe I'll go, like this sort of a thing where I'll hit the note like (hits note), and then bend below it (hits note and bends below it). So, it just makes me work a little harder, but the end result, hopefully it makes my left hand a little more skillful. Actually the only thing that I really miss? Is whammy bars stay in tune better. They stay in tune so well. I mean these are normal, non-tremelo guitars, they're ok, but locking whammy guitars, they're better. Do you think the locking tremolo system a.k.a whammy bar might represent a bit of an awakening, or a new technology for electric guitars? [newcastle] You know, to me, part of the revolution came from Eddie (Van Halen) himself. I mean, without having the tremolo we probably would never have (gets cut off - ed.). I mean, in the old days, I really wanted to get that locking whammy bar, you know. When the first Van Halen album came out, you wanted to go "yeah!" (mimicking whammy bar solos - ed.) I loved it. I mean nobody had it. He loved Stratocasters, but you know, it would be horribly out of tune if you tried that, so like, to actually find a locking whammy guitar, like in 1983 or whenever it was, that was an amazing luxury. Now they're everywhere. Now we've got 'em.

48

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: Eruption (pt.) 4/4, 120 bpm

49

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Tour / G3 Experiences There was a video of you "crying" on YouTube. What's the story behind these "tears"? [brighton] I had to give up hair gel on this tour. The instrumentals we're doing have no place to rest. So there's no time for me to go like (wipes his arm across his face/eyes ed.) that. It'd be like "ow! ow! ow!" (squinting his eyes in mock pain - ed.) It looks like I'm sort of emotional, like "this song is so sad, I'm crying" (affected, sad voice - ed.) but actually, no, it's my hair gel stinging in my eyes. What was your favorite part of the G3 onstage experience? [london] G3: Well, I really enjoyed the jam sessions. Much more then I thought I would. See, as an audience member, I always thought that the songs that they chose to do in the jam were kinda too simple. I thought "these are three brilliant guitar players! You should do Bohemian Rhapsody or something." You know, something with incredible composition. It's always like a blues song, like ''Goin' Down'' or the like. You know, that doesn't even take any rehearsal. You know, lots of people could do that, guys! When I was actually part of it though, it was a total blast. It was really because of the guys in particular, my own challenge was with Joe and John, but it was the perfect balance of friendliness and good spirits, and also... we want to kick eachother's asses on guitar. What was the challenging part of playing along to "simple songs that require almost no rehearsal" at G3? [brighton] When I was lucky enough to do G3, last year, for the encores, Joe often picked songs, like Goin' Down. Simple blues songs in C. To me the challenging thing about it was it's in C, but it's not that unusual a key for guitar players. It's not like when we play in A or E or F sharp. So, C took a little bit of getting used to. And, for the tempo, I hadn't really messed around with that kind of tempo or groove before somehow. So, I had to build a whole new set of phrases that fit. What do you feel your greatest take-home lesson or set of lessons from the G3 tour experience was, and can you relate this to other guitarists so maybe they can learn a little bit of this as well? [london] G3: Really, at the level of everybody, nobody's going to walk offstage and go "that's it, I'm never playing again." To me, we just all had a great time. We all kind of start politely. You know, we'd be doing the ''Goin' Down'' thing and the first solos would always be like (plays a slow solo with bends, sounds like Red House improv). And by the end of it, (sings crazy extra-fast solo) - it's crazy. To me, the best thing about it was, first of all being exposed to the audience. 'Cause I never realized that there was such a good audience for guitar playing in America. That was fantastic for everybody. The other thing was doing the jams with those guys. To realizing what really worked and what, what didn't work. And it really made me passionate about trying to play with more rhythmic content in my solos. I think a thing that happens to guitar players, it doesn't happen to me, is where the higher you go on the neck, the less you care about rhythmic structure. You know, 'cause when you're high up (sings a crazy solo) it doesn't matter anymore, where if you play lower, it's like, ok now I've got it. I found that whenever I would play something that had a strong rhythm to it, whether it was high or low, it seems like someone took my amp and turned it twice as loud. It just cut through the mix. Everything sounded great, the audience responded to it, everybody was smilin'.

50

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

As soon as I would just go like (plays a super-fast solo without any real objective end) there was no pulse to it. It was the rhythmic equivalent to going (taps crazily on something), instead of going (taps out a rhythm). It would just sort of get lost in the mix. After a couple of shows, I would sit backstage, before that jam, and just work on phrases that could be used at that tempo. I came up with some rhythmic cool licks. Things where I'm thinking more like a drummer then a guitar player. I tended to talk to Joe Satriani's drummer a lot, and also Jeff, my own drummer. I'd ask them "Can you guys show me some phrases?" "What is going to sound good? Where's the rhythm?" Speaking of rhythm, at G3, did you notice a difference between playing at speed and playing with the groove? [newcastle] The jam sessions with Joe Satriani and John Petrucci at G3 last year (made me more aware of rhythm - ed.). 'Cause we were doin' these Goin' Down kind of blues songs. And when I do the shred stuff and ignore the time, it seems to be the equivalent of someone taking the volume on my amp and turning it half as loud. Just all the sudden, the notes kind of disappear. It's sort of ignoring the time instead of being on top of it. You could lock in to something, and rhythmically, you could really nail it. So, there's just a place for (speed) - with the snare drum and staying with the time. I can still play fast things. This is one of the other sudden passions for (songs like) Goin' Down, it's got a groove like that. If you're doing the drums, it would be (taps out the rhythm). The accents are really strong.. That number just really killed every night. Where, if I went like (plays a fast solo), it would just turn in to mush. Do you "work up" to a different energy level when you play live vs. rehearsing at home? [newcastle] It's really different sometimes because of the audience. Some things, if I play them for myself, I'd be completely bored out of my mind. A different mind set. It's different energy. I would *never* sit at home and play Technical Difficulties. It's just, too... hard! (laughter) We play Technical Difficulties toward the end of the set for a reason. We have to sort of warm physically up to it, going (plays the fast Technical Difficulties riff). Just to get warmed up to it. To actually get to that state and do it, it feels great. Like "wow, we did that!" But I'm sure that Michael Phelps didn't go home after The Olympics, and swim as fast as he did in The Olympics just for fun. Who are your favorite musicians you have jammed with? [madrid] My band now is fantastic. I really like all the musicians that we have on the road now. What was one of the musical challenges of playing live on your recent (2008, European) tour? [london] After doing this European tour, I would say it's playing in some really bad sounding venues. Most bad sounding venues are bad sounding because they have too much echo. You know, you play one chord, and (makes a crazy echoic noise). "Oh, my God, I hope everybody in the audience brings a pillow, to soak up the sound." So, if you have some songs with those holes, it lets that sound dissipate a little.

51

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Musical Gear & Selection, Chasing The Perfect Tone How has gear evolved over time, to you? [newcastle] To me, there's so much good gear nowadays. I mean, I'm old enough to have remembered a time where locking tremolos didn't exist, when master volumes didn't exist. The first Marshall I tried... I couldn't even try it because the only way to get distortion was to turn it on ten... and the police would come. (laughs) You couldn't try it in the store. Why do you use multiple guitars and effects in each show? [madrid] I think I get a little bit of different inspiration out of every guitar, and lately I've sort of been researching or trying to figure out what kind of neck I like the best, what kind of frets I like the best, if I like hollow body or solid body... I don't know if there's one answer. Where do you think that tone originates? Is it in the hands of the player? [madrid] Some of the sound is in the hands. I think a lot of the sound is in the amp as well. You know, if you have a lot of distortion, or a very clean sound, to me that makes a much bigger difference then the kind of guitar. Are you a gear-head? [madrid] You know, I love equipment. I love guitars, I love amps, I love pedals. So I spend a long time on the smallest details. But I think the audience can never tell. So it's my hobby. Looking at your pedalboard... please tell us a little bit about your crazy flanger (and the purpose of the loop pedal) and your delay pedal! [berlin] It's an ADA Flanger. They don't make them anymore. It's an old one, from the eighties. Student: What's the little one? Paul: Actually that's just a loop pedal that turns things on and off. It's 'cause the flanger is so old and noisy, that even when I turn it on and off, I'd still hear some noise. So the loop pedal, it's just a bypass. The flanger's actually a bigger pedal, with like five knobs on it. It's a great, great pedal. Actually, right now I'm working with Ibanez. We're trying to make a similar pedal, but it's new, and reliable, and it's not noisy. If you just buy (an ADA Flanger - ed.), like on eBay, you can get close to that sound, but actually I had mine modified, to go even crazier. If you could find somebody who's good at modifying, I think it's just a trim pot inside. They're great, they're really great flangers. [berlin] I love (the delay pedal - ed.), yeah. When I start playing slower, I like to have a little more character on the notes. So the delay sounds good on that. I play fast, then I don't want delay, 'cause then it just gets cloudy.

"You'll get that fast if you stay at it."

52

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Why don't you use rack gear anymore? [berlin] I think it's because I grew up just having an amp and a couple pedals, and that is what I was used to. For a short time, I bought an ADA preamp. They're the same company that makes the flanger. And I started to get in to MIDI and rack things. It has some good sounds, but it was a little bit un-natural sounding to me somehow. The players, like the Jimi Hendrix kind of sound, where even when he cleans up, it's just from the volume control - to me that has a really natural feel. If you press a button, all these MIDI things change, and it's so... I mean it can be good sometimes, like on that Yes song (plays a high-gain Yes riff), they get this really clean sound after it. It's really kind of shocking, how different the guitar sounds on it. So, for that kind of thing, the MIDI rack stuff is perfect. I'm using a little more raw, a little more rock sound. That's why I do it. What happened to your old set-up? Regardless of what you're playing on, you still sound like Paul Gilbert. Even when you went from Laney to ADA, you had the pre-amp... you still had that sort of Paul Gilbert sound. [newcastle] Yeah. I sold all that gear. I started out with all new guitars, and different amps. You know, the gear makes it easier to get the sound that's coming out, coming from your ears and your fingers. But, no matter what, it's going to come out as you. There's some amps and some guitars that are terrific sounding. They make it easier. Either I don't struggle as much, or it just feels better, or I'm in a better mood, or other situations. I'm still going to be able to make it sound like me... granted, I'm thinking "it's hard, sounding like me today!" (light laughter) "This is too much work!" "I want to use that other amp! It's easier to sound like me with that one." "...You're training your ear to listen to really good, clean notes where your hands are in sync."

53

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: Sequence from Technical Difficulties

4/4, 120 bpm

Bonus Lick: String-Skipping Arpeggio Sequence from Norwegian Cowbell

54

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Bonus Lick: Arpeggios In D 4/4, 200 bpm

55

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Selected Bibliography paulgilbert.com The Evolution Of My Favorite Fast Licks (Paul Gilbert, 2007, self-published) metalichicka.wordpress.com (Jenn's website with VIP & concert reviews) youtube.com (user comments)

ii

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert

Epilogue What do you think of the VIP sessions, and of the tour in general? [zoetemeer] This is actually a lot of fun for me, hanging out with guitar players. I subtracted one thing from my daily tour routine. Which is, on the last tour, at the end of the night I would go out to the merchandise booth, and shake hands with everybody. Usually at the end of the night, there's music playing, and it's like "what is he saying!" or "what's your name!" (faux screaming voice) and it's a lot noisier. At the end of the night everybody's sweaty, I'm shaking three hundred sweaty hands, and people are coughing, and I'm getting sick... This is much more relaxed. I get to really focus on music, which I like. After the show, I can go to bed. Where before, I was like.. (imitates a zombie appearance - ed.) [zoetemeer] You guys did a great job. Thanks for playing my grooves. [from Japan, 12/08] The tour was amazing. Mostly, the reason I'm a musician, is that I love to play music. It was really my ultimate goal, to be able to play music all the time. So it was very satisfying to be able to get onstage every night, and have great audiences. I also did VIP tickets this time, where I, before the show, would have six VIP students that would come in, and I'd give sort of a small private lesson, or a small group lesson to these kids. That was so rewarding too. Instead of having just a standard fan meeting where you just shake hands or sign a couple autographs, I could actually sit down and really have a deeper musical connection with a small group every day. It was a very musical last 2 and a half months that I had. Just music in the afternoon, music at night, and (now smiling) the rest of the time, physically recovering from the traveling. So, it was kind of a dream come true, to have that happen. What did the participants in these sessions have to say about them? These are quotes pulled from various reviews of these VIP sessions, which are all found on my website. "It was amazing!" "I think our lesson was longer than one hour (how cool is that?)." "I'm telling you, this seemed like the shortest hour of my entire life, it went by so quickly." "it was great! Paul is probably the best famous guitar player to have your first "famous guitar player" jam with. He's got the perfect mixture of self esteem, self-knowledge, empathy and MAD guitar skills to make the perfect role-model. Really, really nice guy." "I had a great time though and I would recommend this to everyone (that plays solo guitar) beginner or pro, Paul will give you plenty of tips, you'll be able to pick up licks from the other guys and you'll have a GREAT time." "It was a beautiful evening." "It was fun, but also pretty difficult." "It was a bit difficult, but we did our best." "The most exciting thing for me was to meet Paul that up-close and personal." "It was a really cool experience and he's a very very fun person to hang out with." "A magic night... I saw a dream with my own eyes." "Man, I wanna go back to the Århus VIP. I had the time of my fuckin' life!" "Pure class."

iii

Paul Gilbert

www.paulgilbert.com

www.myspace.com/paulgilbert