Win a New Hot Hand®!
Register here for periodic email updates to qualify.
We respect your privacy. We will never share your personal information with anybody else, ever. We will never sell your personal information to others. We hate spam just as much as you do.
Gary Moore!
Source Audio Blog
Gary Moore!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Posted in:
I was reading an article in Guitar Player Magazine online - a fantastic interview with Gary Moore, and I knew that I had to include this selection for other guitarists to read:
How do you feel your playing has evolved from Still Got the Blues to now?
It has changed quite a lot. I feel that if you listen to the new record, and then go back and listen to Still Got the Blues, you’ll almost hear two different guitarists. I think my blues playing has really grown up, in that I’ve learned how to leave more space. And my phrasing—without a doubt the most personal aspect of any guitarist’s playing regardless of genre—has grown a lot. I’m more conscious about phrasing now than ever, and it has taken me quite a long time to get it where I want it.
How would you recommend a player work on his or her phrasing?
Well, I can tell you what worked for me. The best piece of advice I ever got was from Albert King. He was leaving the studio after we tracked “Oh, Pretty Woman” for Still Got the Blues, and right as he was walking out the door, he turned to me and said, “Gary, play every other lick.” That’s all you need to know, isn’t it? It’s quite simple, yet it’s the best thing anyone could ever tell you, because, let’s face it, guitarists are like those guests at a dinner party who think they’ve got the most important thing to say, so they never shut up!
So try and leave some big moments of silence in your solos—at least twice as long as what comes to you instinctively. After a while, you get in the habit of hearing those spaces, and the waiting comes naturally. And if you’ve got a good tone, you’ll create this anticipation where the audience can’t wait for the next note. I remember feeling that way when I’d see Peter Green. I was hanging on every note he played. And then, when he would hit the note, it would just go right through me.
Now that's a great bit of advice that Albert King gave Gary: "play every other lick". I think we all could use that too - I know that I play too much - even when I think I don't!
Gary even states that his playing has gotten BETTER that it was on Still Got the Blues - and I really have no idea how much better than that you can get. In fact, I have no idea how his playing could have improved from Thin Lizzy's Black Rose album - he was so great back then - fantastic tone, phrasing and ideas. He really took Clapton's playing from the 60's and ran with it. In other words, I need to get his new cd, and you should too. And as he says, he's not playing his Peter Green Les Paul ( I heard that he sold it??) on the entire cd - and is using a telecaster on much of it. In other words: changing your gear choices is good for you!
Gary has used unreal tones throughout his career, and perhaps is best known for his original Les Paul through a Marshall JTM45 reissue with a Gov'nr distortion pedal through it. Now, you might ask, why ues a distortion pedal instead of just cranking the amp, or using an amp with more preamp gain? Well, a great distortion pedal (like the old classics we love as well as the Source Audio Multiwave Distortion) well keep that magic of the amp we love, and add another dimension to it with overdrive - in essence, making an amp a 2-channel setup, without compromising the amp's original tone. That's what I love about a great pedal!