For this week, I decided to give the Strat a break and play my Ibanez JEM a bit. It is a completely different instrument, but much easier to play — .009s, jumbo Dunlop 6105 frets, almost flat fretboard, F-spacing and very high output pickups (DiMarzio Evolution). If you have more than one guitar, it is nice to switch between them every now and then, since that opens new horizons when composing and improvising.
For instance, when I am playing the ‘57 Strat, I usually go for a vintage tone and try some riffs and technique inspired by Keith Richards, Jimi Hendrix or Eric Johnson. When I have the JEM, on the other hand, I go for a more modern tone, lots of gain, legatos, tapping and sweep picking, inspired by Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and John Petrucci. This helps me practicing all styles and experimenting with cross-style techniques. This week in particular I wrote a “modern” arrangement for Eric Johnson’s “Cliffs Of Dover”, full of tappings, sweeps and legatos. And a Steve Vai-like tone, of course.
And this gave me another idea. Why not apply cross-instrument knowledge in improvisation? Like playing pianistic phrases on the guitar and vice-versa. This yields some very interesting results. If you play multiple instruments, you should try it.
I also practiced a bit of Bach on the electric guitar and this reminded me that I forgot to post here recommending Sharon Isbin’s newest album: Sharon Isbin & Friends: Guitar Passions. This is probably the best album I’ve listened to this year and is worth every penny. It is a very interesting mix of guitar techniques and styles, featuring guest artists like Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Stanley Jordan and others. And if you don’t know her, it’s a good opportunity to listen to the best classical guitar player out there.
Next week I’ll try to post a mini-lesson on cross-style/cross-instrument techniques. If I can finish polishing some Chopin pieces on the piano by then, that is. 🙂