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I'm feeling like learning horn parts has been helping my ears.


BlackCat

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Admittedly this is purely subjective, but since I started figuring out horn lines on the guitar, I feel like I have a better ear for melody.

I seem to be able to pick things up faster and with better accuracy.

Does anyone have thoughts on this?

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^^^^

 

Indeed.

 

VERY cool advice. Blues lead guitarists -- try stealing harmonica licks (Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin' Wolf --a MUCH underrated harp player -- and Paul Butterfield represent GREAT places to start) for the very same reason. Rhythm guitarists -- in rock, blues, funk, soul, reggae or anything else which is about a bodily pleasure-beat -- should try to imagine dancers ... and try to give those dancers as much reason as possible to get seriously crazy.

 

(Then, at a gig, you can have BIG FUN watching them have THEIR Big Fun.)

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ive also learned that for playing funk guitar, it sounds 1000x cooler without the pick raking back and forth like the typical cheesy funk sound.

 

less is more

 

concerning the topic: i also think your ear development has something to do with removing the instrumental element and having it be more about the music instead.

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...


concerning the topic: i also think your ear development has something to do with removing the instrumental element and having it be more about the music instead.

 

 

That makes sense to me. I'm not trying to figure out what position the guys is in or what fret he's playing at. I'm just listening for the note.

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Rhythm guitarists -- in rock, blues, funk, soul, reggae or anything else which is about a bodily pleasure-beat -- should try to imagine dancers ... and try to give those dancers as much reason as possible to get seriously crazy.

 

 

I never thought of it like that! Wow! Thank you! I'll keep that in mind!

 

Any like visualizations for bass?

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totally agree, its way to easy to get stuck in the pentatonic rut. and thats what you dont hear in horn lines.. they jump notes with such fluidity and have a greater expressive quality more like a human voice.. and know when to place pauses and all that important stuff.. that as guitarist some times we take for granted.. sax is also somthing that is neat to emulate there is a energy that is not really present in gutar playing.. weird 2 note patterns in fast cadence weird off time melodies.. it can become hell if you listen to C Parker, or coltrain though..

jmho

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This is one of those things that I read about years ago and didn't apply; then I started doing it a bit and it helped a ton....then I got stuck into a stupid rut where my note selection was based on thinking and not on feel.

 

The other night I was playing and came up with some stuff that kind of sounded like a violin part and it got me thinking about this again. I don't snag specific runs from songs, but I try to get my phrasing to sound a lot more vocal like by thinking about horns or violins.

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Agreed with all the above. It's always a good idea to approach phrasing in terms of horns or harp or singing. Since they depend on breathing I think it really "breaths life" into guitar playing. Plus, they make use of intervals that we as guitar players find to be "outside the box" so-to-speak. Always a good way to open your ears and expand your vocabulary.

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