About Time
Published: Fri, 07/07/23
I'd like to say I was some kind of natural-born studio genius, but that would be, as they say, deceiving my public. Aside from not realizing the importance of working out fixed parts for each song, or really knowing how to get a great sound out of my gear, I didn't have the best sense of time. While I was doing takes on a particular guitar solo, the producer kept asking me to "lay back," to play more behind the beat, and I really had no idea how to do that. Finally, they gave up, and took the best solo I had done, ran it through a digital delay, and only printed the delayed signal back onto the tape, effectively dragging my entire solo back by a handful of milliseconds relative to the overall track.
Everyone knows melody, harmony and rhythm are the three building blocks of music, but as guitar players, we tend to obsess over the first two at the expense of the third. But time is what makes everything work – melody and harmony unfold over time, so whether it's playing the right number of bars before changing chords or getting the phrasing of a particular lick to land just so, you're dealing with time whenever you pick up your instrument.
Today's Youtube video involves both time and technique. Specifically, it's a hands-on approach to making the alternating-thumb groove sound less folky and more funky, using a combination of damped strings, syncopation and more. You can find the lesson at the alliterative link below:
Go From Folky To Funky With These Alternating Thumb Secrets
More soon,
David
The Fingerstyle Five membership offers organized, ongoing lessons to help you strengthen your right-hand groove, build your repertoire and start to improvise. Learn more and sign up at fretboardconfidential.com