Stuart Hall’s site for sore ears…

Happy Christmas to everyone especially those lovely students of mine who, even tho’ I’ve got 2 weeks off, are going to be practicing like maniacs during the break. I’m especially looking forward to trying out all those lovely new guitars that you’re going to turn up to your lessons with after christmas… Mmmmmmm shiny strings

Anyway, here’s a guy who I had the pleasure of jamming with late last year, his name is Paul Gilbert and he plays guitar a bit…

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Ok, I like my slightly exaggerated headlines, maybe they didn’t completely destroy it but they most certainly rocked to its very core!



The night was split into two sets, the first set being a complete run through of the new album ‘Chutzpah!’, a great album which was good to hear live in its entirety although possible an odd move considering the history of the band and the amount of great tunes in their back catalogue, so from where I was standing it took a while for the crowd to warm up to the slightly unfamiliar material.

There was no such problem with the second set tho’ as the second set was ‘party’ set! The band trounced through some old favourites causing near frenzying crowd behaviour! There was a lot of missed songs mind you, but they were never going to get through them all.

So overall an outstanding night and once again the WIldhearts proving what a talented bunch of musicians and songwriter and singers they all are. If you get the chance to catch them then don’t hesitate, it’s a great night.

To finish, I’ll send you over to the official Wildhearts website where you can read Gingers take on it all: Wildhearts official site

…well, a night a the theatre to be precise! We went to see ‘We will rock you‘ at the Bristol Hippodrome last night, a musical based purely on Queen tunes about a world where all musical instruments have been banned – I’m sure you’ve heard about it!

Now I’m not a big Queen fan… to be honest I’m not a little Queen fan either… they were always a little too ‘Dad rock’ for me! They we’re in my head based category system with the likes of Genesis and Dire Straits – the kinda stuff middle management 40 somethings listened to because it made them feel a little bit ‘rock and roll’ in their suits and social nooses (ties), the stuff that made you embarrassed when your parents got up and danced to it at weddings.

Let’s face it… unless you’re a Queen fan, it’s not cool.

Now I’m not knocking the music. I have a healthy respect for the talent of Queen, the genius of the songwriting and I loved Brian May as a kid, but I never found that ’something’ that moved my soul on an emotional level… at the time it was probably too advanced musically with the heavy operatic influences and complicated studio trickery which, to me, got in the way of a catchy tune! Now I’m not saying I’m right… and when you consider that at the time I was listening to the likes of Status Quo, Slade and *ahem* Shakin’ Stevens… I possibly wasn’t the best judge of these things! But never-the-less, these initial rejections have stayed with me.

Also, I might add that I’m not a big dance fan! (It’s not looking good for me is it?!) Again being brought up on simple music where the bands played their instruments and rocked around a stage (with the exception of ’shaky’ obviously), but they didn’t dance they ‘rocked’! So once again the concept of dance is somewhat lost on me! I don’t understand it so it’s pretty meaningless to me. I think Stephen Fry sums up what could be a deeper issue here But needless to say, it’s not my cup of tea.

Anyway, as you can appreciate I did not go willingly…

But the moment the lights went down, as I sat there in row J, seat 2 of the Grand Circle, the atmosphere changed… it became charged… as the lights got hot and the opening scene setter started, it started to make sense.

No longer was I in seat 2 row J, I was somewhere else, watching these incredible looking characters explain to me how sad the world without music is and how something ached inside of them to express how they felt, but they just didn’t have the means…

I made me feel privileged that I get to do all day what these people are missing out on… I get to share other peoples musical interests and help shape their experience of music – People who lack the knowledge and understanding but who are driven to express themselves in the best way they can… through making a big noise on a guitar! Man, I love my job!

Anyway, I shan’t ruin it if you haven’t seen it yet, but it worked out in the end!

Am I now a devoted Queen fan?

erm, no, sorry, still not…

…but the next time a student asks me how to play the solo to Bohemian Rhapsody, I shall wield my axe with honour knowing that, maybe, just maybe, sometime in the distant future those notes will be passed from student to student, from father to son, from brother to sister, from cool uncle Ralf to little nephew Harry… and then we can rest easy knowing that there will always be somebody who knows someone who can tell them about a time when the electric guitar ruled the world!

We’ve come to a decision as a band to take a break from performing to spend all our time and rehearsals writing the long awaited material for the new Which Way Up album. A great plan it would seem but as I sit down to write my first song for the album I find myself in a tangle of procrastination, the draw of an ever expanding internet (I wonder if anyone’s updated their Facebook since I last looked), an Xbox library of unfinished games, and parental responsibilities (you’ll notice that comes last in the list) which all conspire to cast my ever diminishing inspirationary dashes of genius off until a little later…

But so as to not deem the time otherwise wasted, I find myself tapping keys in an effort to uncover the avenues which I can use to carry me forward in the pursuit of musical utopia and those evergreen glades where catchy choruses sing on the breezes to only those who stop to listen.

hmmmm….

So, anyway, the way it works for me is to find the vibe…

The Vibe is the feel of the song, the bit that’s going to make you get up and dance or cry your heart out… it’s the essence, the heart, the soul, the emotion. After all without the emotion we are but machines making music by numbers.

There are lots of ways to find the Vibe. You can listen to your iTunes library until you find a song that moves you in the way that you wish to be moved and nick the drum beat! Not the chords or melody but the rhythm, for most of us it’s the rhythm that gives us the groove and the feel of a song more immediately than any other bit (did I just say that the drummer is the most important member of a band?!)

Other ways to get the Vibe is to go with what you’re feeling and pick up your instrument – will you play with love or hate? Do you feel like caressing a choir of angels from within it or strangling it until the devil shows up so you can kick his ass?! Either way, this will enable the Vibe to present itself.

Ok, so we haven’t actually played a note yet but hopefully we’re in some kind of mood which we want to convey.

If you’re in an upbeat mood then you’re moving to a rhythm… badabamabadabamabadabama bam bam…. erm… etc…
You need to express the rhythm you’re feeling. Once you’ve got a rhythm you just need to add notes to it – put some choice notes to each beat that you hear in your head and voila! you’ve got a riff to start you off… doesn’t matter what the notes are, scales might help (now there’s a hint!), but as long as they fit together as far as your ears are concerned then I’m sure the rest of us won’t be too offended by them either.

For a good example of rhythmic writing listen to ‘Something in your mouth’ by Nickelback not many chords but just feel that groove!

Ok, so you’ve got a Vibe and a riff to present the Vibe to the rest of us.

But what if you’re not feeling so upbeat?

If the rhythm isn’t as much of a concern to your mood then the chances are that you’re not quite as happy as the guy who wrote the Nickelback song. But that’s fine… even if you are a bloke, we can be sensitive too…!

The best place to start here is a chord and a tempo – yeah ok, I lied about the rhythm – even if your song isn’t driven along by the drum beat, rhythm is still the number one Vibe bringer. My advice here is to strum with feeling! Seriously, dig deep and feel the rhythm to pull out that emotion – even if your just strumming a C chord – then really strum that C chord, strum it until your heart bleeds! This is the basics of good music – if it doesn’t move you how’s it going to move anyone else? Feel it.

(Hind sight: C’s probably not the best chord to tear your heart out to, try Am or Dm instead! – D minor of course being the saddest of ALL keys)

If you’re writing a chordy song then there is no substitute for experience and a good vocabulary of chords, but that’s not to say that you can’t drag the same emotions from the diatonic chords in your chosen key (i.e in C major use C Dm Em F G Am – you can find this stuff in books or via a good guitar teacher ) If you move away from them then don’t worry, if you chose another chord then it was obviously the right chord to use – go with it.

Want to play in another key but don’t know any cool chords? Buy a capo from your friendly neighborhood guitar shop, put it on your 5th fret, and play the chords above from there – more interesting? yep thought so!

For an example of chordy writing then listen to ‘Breathe’ by Taylor Swift.

Seeeeee… you still tapped your foot to it didn’tcha! Dat girl she got da feel…

So that’s the Vibe, the hidden feeling, the bit of the song which no-one ever hears but forms the essence of why everyone likes the music they like, the most important bit of the song, and, for me, the start of the creative process.

Next time: erm… dunno yet, but you’ll be the first to know!

…well, at the Riff’s bar in Swindon actually, and even tho’ very very hot it was a remarkably friendly place, so possibly not very hell like at all…

So, my band had the job of crowd warming for the Steve Grimmett band last night which, although always fun, is not the main reason I turn up… the reason I turn up is to watch Steve after we’ve finished our set!

Anyway, we played an ok set, thanks to our sound man Ian doing his usual great job of making us sound better than we really are, a kind crowd who actually acknowledged we were there, and a great sound system that made sure all the people who decided to wait outside for the main act could still hear us regardless of where they tried to hide!

But like I said, the main reason for going was to see the Steve Grimmett band and as usual Steve delivered like the legend he is and everyone had a great time.

From a guitary point of view, Steve’s guitar player, Ian Nash, performed another outstanding gig, anyone who plays guitar and is into their metal should really check him out, he’s a great example of a player who balances soul, speed and creative phrasing with a massive technical ability and makes it look soooooo easy – but trust me it really really isn’t!

But possibly the highlight of the show was when Russ (my singer and son of Grimmett senior) got on stage and sang ’see you in hell’ with his dad… the crowd went nuts and Russ lapped it up (cos to be honest we ain’t used to getting that kinda reception!!)

It also gave me a chance to try my hand at gig photography cos I’ve never tried it before and to be honest there was a varying level of success to the resulting pictures! The better ones I’ll put on my gallery on the photo page at some point.

Anyway, if you missed it then, well, you missed it! All I can suggest is to check out the myspace page, buy the album, and catch him next time.

Now, I love lego games… what started with Lego Star Wars moved to Indy to Batman and I’ve played them all with only batman still waiting for me to complete to 100%… which I plan to do when time allows. Ace games..

I also love Rock band style rhythm games… ok, guitar hero, but I’m guessing rock band is just as cool cos it seems to be just as successful as GH.

So why, does Lego Rock Band feel sooooo so so so so wrong?

I think there is a big lump of what’s the point getting in my way of liking the idea of this game… maybe I’m missing some unique additional gameplay mechanic that will make this worthwhile. Not sure I am tho’ :/

but that’s not the worst bit… game play:

man, it just looks pointless! Why?! why do we need this as well as Rock Band? What function does it serve that Rock Band already doesn’t? Man, I’m so confused!!!

listen to the whole album here to hear what happened when the one of the world best vocalists, guitarists and drummers got together with Michael Anthony!

…then go buy it

Joe Satriani, Chad Smith, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony Rock Supergroup…

coooooooooooool!

Man I really hope it works as well as the simulated ad! Can’t wait to kick some virtual butt – imagine: DOA in first person with motion sensor?! Awesome!

However, on the worrying side:

I mean… why?! I don’t consider myself the most social animal on the planet – but do I really need an artificial 12 year old cyber kid to be my friend?

But get the concept into the next Elder Scrolls game and that could make for some interesting RPGing

…but don’tcha got to feel sorry for those PS3-ers… they get to waggle a dumb stick at the screen! lol… c’mon Sony! Keep up!!

lol… I laugh every time I see that… lol!!

Ok, so I’m going back to 22nd of May for this post but I just wanted to tell the world about a most amazing night.

Josh Doyle, for those who don’t know, was front man and songwriting dude with pop/rock/punk band the Dum Dums. Since their split he moved to Nashville where he works by day and pursues a musical career at all other times.

Well, after 8 years of getting his sh*t together he finally made it back to these shores to perform a few selected gigs around the country.

I was lucky enough to grab some tickets to his Bristol show, where he performed as an acoustic duo with his guitar player to a tightly packed room of around 30 people…. and boy did he perform!

If you weren’t there then you’re never gonna know how amazing the night was but take it from me if you ever get the chance to see him in such a small, intimate setting then don’t think twice, don’t hesitate, grab the opportunity and you’ll ‘get it’.

To give you an example I saw the Dum Dums open for Bon Jovi at Wembley Stadium ages ago, there were around 60,000 people there and josh performed to every single person! If one man can project their personality amongst that many people and have you ‘feel it’ just imagine when you reduce that number to a close 30 people and you’ll start to understand how powerful the night was ie. take 60,000 parts of Josh Doyle charisma and add 60,000 Bon Jovi fans and each one gets one part of Josh Doyle… take the same 60,000 parts of Josh Doyle charisma and spread it among 30 people… you get the idea?! Just an amazing night…

Oddly after getting there a bit late (but not late for the show), we actually lucked out on some cheeky onstage seating so were literally sat next to him throughout the gig!

Anyway I got to say hi and had some stuff signed… but the guy must do his research cos – get this- he only knew who I was! I guess 30 people ain’t that many to remember but it just goes to show how swtiched on he is and how seriously he takes his business.

Anyway, that’s it… I just wanted to share

Also, while I’m here on another subject completely, the 3 weeks I gave myself to do the website appears to have turned into 3 days by a bit of luck and magic so as long as this posts ok I’ll announce this site now open… yay!