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JDOD

JDOD

therecordingrebels.com
I just won a bunch of picks in a competition.

They're from Iron Age Guitar Accessories. They're bone, horn, ebony and coconut shell.

All supposed to be massively hard wearing - I've never played with picks like this before. Should be interesting.

They certainly look cool, they're shaped like spearheads and they're all very hard indeed and very thick. Not played with this style of pick very much so I will be interested to see how I get on with them. My choice of picks has got harder over the years and I've started playing with the back end of the pick and just a tiny bit sticking out past my thumb in the last year, so moving to an even thicker, harder pick could be just what I need.

I've also finally stopped using Dunlop nylons about 6 months ago as with the pick rotated around the grip on them created loads of friction which was both slow and introduced a stratchyness.

Iron Age Guitar Accessories| Bone & Horn Spearhead Guitar Pick Set
Iron Age Guitar Accessories| Exotic Wood Spearhead Guitar Picks
 
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Greg_L said:
Lol. Bone? Ebony? HORN??????

Not very eco-friendly there, hippie boy. :D
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Well I did win them... moderate eco-guilt right now - but I'm drinking a fair trade coffee.
They're made in Texas, Greg.

I'd assume that they are buffalo horn and not Rhino or anything. They do explicitly state that they are Madagascan Ebony though - which I think is illegal now.

Been meaning to try getting used to harder picks for a while as they'll probably make my technique a little tighter - when I was younger I was almost intentionally sloppy and its become habit.
 
Greg_L said:
JDod only cares that others adhere to eco-friendly principles. Meanwhile he's raping the land to play guitar. :laughings:
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Well, if you're all adhering to being eco friendly it means there's plenty left for me.
 
Greg_L said:
But we aren't, so you need to use regular picks. A white rhino horn shaped like a spearhead will not make you play better.
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This is true, but I'll give them a go - even though they are a long way removed from my usual pick! The website says the spearheads are "Shredder's Choice" - they must work!

Speaking of playing and technique, how are you getting on with applying the modes, Greg? I won them picks for suggesting a really good teaching tool which I came up with to help myself work out what do do. You want me to send it to you? Or are you just not interested anymore - its actually really handy.
 
I've got a decent understanding of the modes and why they are what they are. That was my main objective. To know what they are to recall them if necessary. Applying them is a different story. There's no room in my music for that wanky tom foolery. Pretty much all of that modal stuff sounds like shred dork metal and I don't like that.
 
Greg_L said:
I've got a decent understanding of the modes and why they are what they are. That was my main objective. To know what they are to recall them if necessary. Applying them is a different story. There's no room in my music for that wanky tom foolery. Pretty much all of that modal stuff sounds like shred dork metal and I don't like that.
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haha, it doesn't have to sound like that - it only sounds like that if you intentionally go all shred-wankery.

Its really handy for working out cool little licks to stick in songs when you don't want 2nd, 3rd verses etc to become repetitive. Just gives you some ideas to step beyond the obvious.
 
JDOD said:
haha, it doesn't have to sound like that - it only sounds like that if you intentionally go all shred-wankery.
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Even slowed down, those modes, except for the ionian, all sound neo-classical gloomy to me. I struggle to find them a place in my kind of music, so I don't bother. I stay permanently tethered to this punk rock plateau.
 
Greg_L said:
Even slowed down, those modes, except for the ionian, all sound neo-classical gloomy to me. I struggle to find them a place in my kind of music, so I don't bother. I stay permanently tethered to this punk rock plateau.
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haha, I find Ionian sounds like nursery rhymes! I like aeolian best, but then I am kinda dour and gloomy.
 
JDOD said:
haha, I find Ionian sounds like nursery rhymes! I like aeolian best, but then I am kinda dour and gloomy.
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I like happy fun time high energy music. All that gloom and small penis compensation heavy metal shit does nothing for me. Aeolian is pretty good, but it's basically just the minor penatonic, right? Ionian and Aeolian resonate the best with me, and they just happen to be what I've been doing all along anyway. So WTF?
 
Yeah, its quite rare that I use any of the others in songs - I just use them for experiments really - go "Oh, that sounds interesting" then don't use it again.
Aeolian isn't quite minor pentatonic - its also got the minor 6th in there.

Check this out - see if you can get your head around it before all the theory bores will pile in.

All it is is two sheets of paper, the 12 notes at regular intervals on one sheet and your 7 modes at modal intervals on your other sheet.

Take an obvious sequence like Em, G, A - move the papers past eachother until the chords line up against major or minor modes and they'll tell you what modal shape to play at each fret.

In this case, you'll see that G lines up with Lydian (a major shape), A lines up with Mixolydian (a major shape), E lines up with Dorian (a minor shape) and Ionian lines up with D. So the song is in the key of D. Now you know what scale shapes will work at every fret and remain playing in tune:
modal application.jpg
Cool eh?
 
You have a chord sequence, usually comprised of either minor or major chords, right.

So, go to your row of 12 notes and think of them as the minors and majors from your chord sequence. Then you move your row of modes about until minor and major modes line up with your minor or major chords. This will tell you what scale shapes will work at each fret. Cool eh?

This work most of the time for basic rock music unless someone is intentionally being an awkward bastard.
 
JDOD said:
You have a chord sequence, usually comprised of either minor or major chords, right.

So, go to your row of 12 notes and think of them as the minors and majors from your chord sequence. Then you move your row of modes about until minor and major modes line up with your minor or major chords. This will tell you what scale shapes will work at each fret. Cool eh?

This work most of the time for basic rock music unless someone is intentionally being an awkward bastard.
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I don't know enough theory for that shit to work for me. I didn't lean any mode shapes. That's too much memorization and music shouldn't be work. I only know it so far as where the root note goes in the scale.
 
Greg_L said:
I don't know enough theory for that shit to work for me. I didn't lean any mode shapes. That's too much memorization and music shouldn't be work. I only know it so far as where the root note goes in the scale.
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Well it'll still tell you were to best place your Ionian or Aeolian shape :)
 
JDOD said:
Well it'll still tell you were to best place your Ionian or Aeolian shape :)
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Well I already knew that much. Lol. I just can't apply this stuff no matter how hard I try.

I'm gonna record a demo clip of a song I'm working on, and you come up with a lead for it that isn't just a basic minor pentatonic rock lead. I need to hear this shit in action. Because when I try all these fucking dorky modes, it all sounds like shit besides the basic minor pentatonic rock lead.
 
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