The Death Of Metal

Well, I think that's it for my foray into metal. It simply kills my right forearm to play it right now, which is something that came out of left field. I did something completely out of character and actually blew off rehearsal on Sunday. I'm not saying I'll never revisit metal for a laugh, but it had actually started affecting my ability strum and play less agressive stuff! Not happy about that.

So, I have two possibilities in the offing right now. One was from 'Join My Band' and the other was from Gumtree. I was subscribed to Gumtree a long time before I even thought about starting The Project, but had unsubscribed. Someone in my office has been looking for a new flat and reminded me that it's a decent resource. I'd pretty much written off 'Join My Band' as it seemed like most of the membership were in their teens.

I can't honestly tell whether either prospect is a great one, but y'know, if you don't test the water, how're you gonna find out, eh? One's just me and a drummer (so far) and the other one is me, three other guitarists and a drummer. Hey, maybe a four guitar lead is the way forward for Nu Southern Rock? A couple of the other guitarists have stepped up and said they'd be willing to have a go on bass (if someone has one!).

Meetup/jams in the next couple of weeks. I'll let you know how they go!

And news just in. It seems that an album entitled "The Roots Of The Allman Brothers" is due to be released in a week or so. Don't know where this came from! Details are sketchy but it appears to be a compilation of recordings which were considered to influence the Allmans back when they were getting started. Lots of blues stuff, obviously. Preliminary track listing goes something like this:

1) Key To The Highway - Big Bill Broonzy
2) Lost Lover Blues - Blind Boy Fuller
3) Statesboro Blues - Blind Willie McTell
4) Call It Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker
5) Sweet Little Angel - B.B. King
6) Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' Wolf
7) Trouble No More - Muddy Waters
8) Can't Stop Lovin' - Elmore James
9) It Takes Time - Otis Rush
10) Deep Feeling - Chuck Berry
11) Need Your Love So Bad - Little Willie John
12) It's Too Late - Chuck Willis
13) I'm Gonna Move To The Outskirts Of Town - Louis Jordan
14) Did You Ever Love A Women - B.B. King
15) Wild About You Baby - Elmore James
16) Mona - Bo Diddley
17) Hoochie Coochie Man - Muddy Waters
18) 0range Blossom Special - Bill Monroe & His Blue Grass Boys
19) San Antonio Rose - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
20) Nobody Knows You - Bessie Smith
21) Tears - Django Reinhardt
22) Come On In My Kitchen (Take 2) - Robert Johnson
23) T.B. Blues - Jimmie Rodgers
24) Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground - Blind Willie Johnson

Fascinating snapshot of the band's influences or shameless marketing of forgotten back catalogue tunes? You decide.

Sunday, Metal Sunday

So here's the thing... I've actually got a lot to say about the jam on Sunday and I want to get it out before... well, before I forget half of it... but due to a mountain of work I've to get through I'm just going to have to post snippets. Any comments, suggestions and so on more than welcome.

After a late start to the morning and a late breakfast I just managed to get to the rehearsal rooms on time at 1pm. Riding the ol' bike with Red strapped to my back wasn't a major issue. It may even have been good for my posture! On the gig-bag side of things, the Ritter one I bought (a 700, if that means anything to anyone) is supposedly shaped for a Les Paul, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that Blackie the Ovation just squeezes in there... but only just.

So, I got there. I was nervous as hell... much more so than when I went for a jam with Col of Axe Victim, for some reason. I think it was a mixture of not really knowing where this might lead, not knowing the people I was going to meet and, frankly, not knowing much about metal guitar techniques.

Turned out that me and another guy were there to jam with a drummer/guitar/vocal combo. Bass to be added. They're a metal band who are initially looking at doing covers (mainly Metallica) but who have some original material.

From the start it became obvious that the drummer was a real powerhouse and highly skilled. It turned out that she's also a good guitarist. After the session she told us that she'd only been playing a year! I was gobsmacked as she was really, really good.

The guitarist was also top notch in the metal vein. I didn't really get to focus much on the vocalist as she was kind of side-lined by the screaming axes and I wasn't close to her monitor.

The other new guy there had recently relocated to London. He was really good, too, and more than capable of handling metal, blues, rock... anything. I got the feeling that his influences may have been closer to mine than anyone else's.

So, turned up and ran through some Metallica stuff. Luckily, they were tunes I'd at least heard, so I was able to jump in and play along after watching the other boys' fingerings.

After that we jammed for a bit, nominally on blues stuff (not!) then someone kicked off on "Freebird", "Sweet Child Of Mine" and a few other songs I could bash out some pentatonics on. I'm not entirely sure what scales/modes metal uses... Phyrgian? Lydian? Dunno...

Pulling some backbone out of my behind I started into some of the stuff I've written and was elated when the drummer kicked in behind me and the band joined in. You really can't argue with power chords from a Les Paul into a big amp. Sounded good.

After that I vamped on the intro from "Outside Woman Blues". Again, the drummer then the rest of the band fell in. I think that's what impressed me the most about the drummer. No matter what we played she was able to just bring it all together. Magic.

Next up was a session trying to play one of the band's original compositions. The riffs themselves sounded really good. I didn't have a clue what was going on so I wallflowered for a bit. I tried to join in being a faux bass, but in truth I was fading a bit. We'd been playing for over 3 and a half hours continuously and I was stiff suffering from a major workout at the gym the previous day.

Afterwards, we agreed to meet up again and later that evening the drummer texted me to let me know that they were looking forward to next time.

So, to the chase...

I've enjoyed playing some metal, but I don't know whether that's where I want my focus to be. I really liked the other guys in the band and felt I could learn from them. I am, however, way behind everyone else when it comes to knowing the tunes. Nevertheless, they've asked me back...

Obviously I don't have anything else major on right now. I've got at least one more definite possibility, though, and I don't want to put all my eggs in one musical basket. So, I'm thinking I should basically let these guys know that I enjoyed playing with them and would like to try out a few more sessions to see how it goes before committing to anything, but at the same time keep looking. They know I'm not a metal-head and seem to be okay with that... They seem pretty serious about trying to get out there and start gigging, but they're still a way's off.

Ah, what to do..?

On the positive side, it's another notch on The Project's belt. To those more experienced than I am it may seem like nothing, but for me, getting out there and playing with other people (amped to the max!) is a major achievement.

Full Of Eastern Promise

What do you need if you can't make it through an Arabian night? Try a sextonic!

I was thinking back to some of the more interesting stuff I learned on my last adult education course and remembered one of the cooler scales that we were taught. In the same way that a pentatonic scale contains 5 notes, the sextonic is made up of 6.

The particular sextonic scale shown below is really great to jam on as almost any combination of notes will give you a fantastic exotic sounding tune.



I've shown the scale in E, with a typical 2 octave run highlighted. Why is E a good choice? Well, if you play the scale starting on the root on the A string then the low E is left free to 'drone' on, instantly adding a bassline and doubling the complexity of the sound. You can even hit the open A, drop down a string and repeat the lower note pattern to add more colour.

If you're looking to break out of the usual scales and modes then a sextonic may be just the ticket.