Conselho de músicos para músicos! (parte 1)

French novelist Georges Courteline wrote, "Beware of advice, but follow good examples." We'd be tempted to add that if good examples give good advice, then all the better! Here are some cases of musicians and singers who've experienced and overcome some of the same difficulties as the rest of us musicians and have a word or two to share with us about it.

These quotes may just show the rest of us the way along the music path.

Al Di Meola (guitarist)

“Not a single musician should say: 'Ok, we made it!' There's always more to develop: changing the harmony of chords, broadening ones harmonic vocabulary. The way you develop and solve a line determines your capacity to improvise. I have enough music theory to know what scale goes with which chords - I’ve been studying since I was eight!”

Ray Mazarek (keyboardist of The Doors)

To compose the keyboard part simulating the rain on "Riders On The Storm," there was no major revelation, it just came by tireless training. There's a New York joke, "It's the story of a tourist walking around Manhattan, New York. He sees a policeman, walks over to him and says, 'Officer, how can I reach Carnegie Hall?' And the other one responds: 'You have to train, to train, to train...." Well, that's what I did: E minor and I went down the scale. And I trained, trained, trained...

Brian Molko (singer of Placebo)

"You always have to keep a certain humility, to be your fiercest critic, in order to push you to keep learning. The best advice is not to lose spontaneity. It's a huge insight. Spending time with Bowie, Michael Stipe, Bono, teaches you a lot of things, including how to be a 'better star'."

Greg Hetson (guitarist of Bad Religion)

"Keep in mind that your sound should always be as clean as possible. Avoid any cascading effects and instead opt for simplicity: a guitar, an amp and one or two effects, no more."

Bill Wyman (bassist of The Rolling Stones)

"I'm not a great musician. When others speak of Fa6 or Fa9, for me, it's the same, it's Fa. Your role as a bassist is limited to being in adequacy with the drummer and to leave enough room for others to express themselves. The rule of thumb is not to make it noticeable."

Brian May (guitarist of Queen)

"The best solos are those that can be sung just like a melody. The solos that I like are those that reflect the melody and change it only subtly. Solos open a new door in a track. There must also be spontaneity. A solo should not be calculated."

Lee Ranaldo (ex-guitarist of Sonic Youth)

"Improv techniques are the result of years of exploration. Improv requires a total openness. We shouldn’t back down from the barriers of the norm. There is not really a 'technique,' it's the state of mind with which one approaches this phase which is important."

Kirk Hammett (guitarist of Metallica)

"One of the most important things in a solo is how it starts. This sets the tone of the solo. It must vary, with ups and downs, and most importantly hold the [public's] attention. The solo is a piece in itself and very often, it remains an essential piece in a track."

Published on: 8 de julho de 2018