[angelvivaldi]

So... I'm scheduled to do an hour long performance on the first day of this years NJ Guitar Convention, (if any of you are on the east coast, come check it out!). I was also asked to do a 45 minute clinic from 6-645 after my set. I've never done a clinic before in my life... needless to say one in front of hundreds of guitarists! As I say this, my manhood pretty much cowers into some unknown region of my body LOL

I'm pretty sure a good amount of us have been to a clinic once or twice in our lifetimes. I've gotta come up with a topic of some sort... What are some things that you'd like/like not to see covered? Also, what are some things that have disappointed you at past clinics? I was thinking about touching on some "technique-shmechnique" stuff,

 

[Leon]

Go through practice routines, and don't be afraid to go into gory detail on your gear!

 

[angelvivaldi]

Go through practice routines, and don't be afraid to go into gory detail on your gear!

I'd totally go into practice routines if I had them. I've always just wrote stuff I couldn't play to get better- way too ADD to have a routine haha

Good call on the rig explanation. Only thing is that my rig is pretty simple, so that definitely wouldn't take too much time. Maybe I could dial in some other types of tones with the 6505+ and show it's versatility?

 

[Randy]

Every musician has something unique about their style and the most I've gotten from a clinic was hearing them touch on what they do to achieve their unique sound. I saw Billy Sheehan and he touched on his fingertapping and dive bombing stuff, which stood out. You play a sevenstring which, to the guitar community at large, is still not a fully understood thing. If you at least mention how you work the extra string into your playing and your runs, you might perk up a couple ears. :2c:

 

[Leon]

^ :agreed:

 

[Leon]

I'd totally go into practice routines if I had them. I've always just wrote stuff I couldn't play to get better- way too ADD to have a routine haha

Good call on the rig explanation. Only thing is that my rig is pretty simple, so that definitely wouldn't take too much time. Maybe I could dial in some other types of tones with the 6505+ and show it's versatility?

Then tell them that! :lol: I mean, they may not be able to write stuff like that, but tell them to keep challenging themselves with more difficult material.

As far as your rig, talk about the gear you started out on, and how/why you arrived to what you're playing now, and maybe where you want to go from there.

 

[Drew]

Every musician has something unique about their style and the most I've gotten from a clinic was hearing them touch on what they do to achieve their unique sound. I saw Billy Sheehan and he touched on his fingertapping and dive bombing stuff, which stood out. You play a sevenstring which, to the guitar community at large, is still not a fully understood thing. If you at least mention how you work the extra string into your playing and your runs, you might perk up a couple ears. :2c:

That's great advice. Also, spending some time talking about how you approach songwriting might be cool, too. :yesway:

That, and most clinics are about 50-75% live performance anyway, so just play a couple songs, talk about where they come from and how the seven string gets integrated in your playing, and pause twice for a Q&A and you'll be good. I'd still be nervous as fuck, but whatever. :lol:

 

[angelvivaldi]

Thanks so much fellas, you're definitely helping out, like whoa! :metal:

That's great advice. Also, spending some time talking about how you approach songwriting might be cool, too. :yesway:

That, and most clinics are about 50-75% live performance anyway, so just play a couple songs, talk about where they come from and how the seven string gets integrated in your playing, and pause twice for a Q&A and you'll be good. I'd still be nervous as fuck, but whatever. :lol:

See, this is why you and I are kindred spirits :wub: I wanted to make the focus of my clinic mainly about song writing, scoring, riffing, arranging etc- only because I feel that my strongest suit. That's one thing I wish most artists would go into.

You're def right about the live performance... only it wouldn't work because I would have already performed for an hour. I couldnt morally put people through that much :nono: lol Hopefully the same people who see the set will stick around for the clinic and ask questions about certain sections and licks. That'd make my life easier than a spanish whore 12 kids in.

You play a sevenstring which, to the guitar community at large, is still not a fully understood thing. If you at least mention how you work the extra string into your playing and your runs, you might perk up a couple ears. :2c:

This. I should just bust out an 8 string and use that for the clinic... At least it'll be a cool topic of conversion lol Also thinking about doing one acoustic song like this:

. I'm sure people are wondering what goes into shit like this.

 

[eleven59]

1) That acoustic piece is awesome :yesway:

2) Just do 45 minutes on guitar face and rock star poses :yesway:

 

[Stitch]

I'm not terribly up on your playing, but having hosted countless workshops at work, I maybe have a couple of pointers...

a) Don't just wail out in some wanky shit. People get bored. Doubt you will, but just so you know :yesway:

b) Guitarists fucking love gear chat. Don't be afraid to geek it out. Talk about what you have and why, what you used to use and why you moved away from it.

c) Shit jokes go down well, on rock poses and stuff.

d) What was said above about sevens is definitely a good shout. It's not necessarily an oddity amongst shredders, but it still is an unknown instrument to most. As seven string musicians it's ridiculous we're still shrugging off the Korn "just for drop tuned chugging" tag. Show what it does and why it is so much more than an instrument for playing Blind or Freak on a Leash.

e) Techniques that you favour that a little off the beaten path. We had a Taylor guy that did a whole bunch of tapping on acoustic. That went down well. We had a shredder guy come demo VHT stuff that did a whole bunch of flamenco shit. People loved it. When I demoed stuff in the shop I used to a bit of slide on my seven. Less known techniques, particularly in an out-of-genre setting always go down well.

f) Have fun. People are there because they want to know about how you tick. Fans. Amazing. You'll be fine dude!

g) Oh, one last thing (goes without saying!) be nice to your hosts! Never know what might happen. Again, you don't play the obnoxious rock god arsehole, but just stating the obvious!

 

[angelvivaldi]

1) That acoustic piece is awesome :yesway:

2) Just do 45 minutes on guitar face and rock star poses :yesway:

If only! I mean....

 

[Drew]

:lol: Yeah, man, I need to get guitar face lessons from you when you're in town. :lol:

 

[noodles]

Good call on the rig explanation. Only thing is that my rig is pretty simple, so that definitely wouldn't take too much time. Maybe I could dial in some other types of tones with the 6505+ and show it's versatility?

Honestly, listening to a guy tell a hundred people about his rig is boring as hell. Sitting down with someone over beers and talking about rigs is awesome. Oh, and you big fucking liar, everyone knows the 5150/6505 has one sound. The eq knobs don't actually do anything. :rofl:

Seriously, spend no more than a couple minutes on your rig, and then let people ask questions at the end. Your time would be better spent showing people how seven strings have opened up your writing by expanding the range of the instrument. I seriously shock other guitarists at shows when I explain how much of our material is unplayable on a six, yet only three of our songs are actually in the key of B. It would also be cool to hear someone talk about how they approach instrumental music, since most people never write that way. How do you develop a melody? How solid is the line between melody/solo? What do you like and dislike about instrumental music?

 

[Stitch]

+1 on the songwriting, but I've found that 90% of people that go to demos are boring as hell geeks. This forum is the minority in that we're gear geeks with actual social skills. :lol: Work in a guitar shop and all the nutters come out the woodwork...haha.

 

[Soopahmahn]

:agreed: Noodles is wise. Try to de-emphasize gear.

Where is this NJ Guitar Convention? Is it Snooki-free?

 

[angelvivaldi]

So sorry, completely forgot to link this!

GUITAR CON 2010 Info​

 

[angelvivaldi]

I just got a wonderful idea which coincides with the idea of focusing on songwriting. I was thinking about bringing my desktop to the clinic and giving some examples on how I use recording software to compose material. I'm actually pretty excited about this approach and I think people would get a kick out of it... so long as all of my XTube tabs are closed out LMAO!

 

[Leon]

f) Have fun.

/thread.

If you're up there, having fun, then whatever it is that's important to you and your music will come out anyways.

 

[Leon]

Might be a good idea to see what the other presenters are presenting, to see if you can do something different :yesway:

 

[jacksonplayer]

I just got a wonderful idea which coincides with the idea of focusing on songwriting. I was thinking about bringing my desktop to the clinic and giving some examples on how I use recording software to compose material. I'm actually pretty excited about this approach and I think people would get a kick out of it... so long as all of my XTube tabs are closed out LMAO!

That would be great one-on-one, but I'm not sure it would work as well in a clinic setting.

My advice would be to focus on, at most, two or three things in your playing that you think are unique or unusual. It doesn't have to be like an instructional video, but it can give the audience some insight into why you play like you do. It's like doing TV; the time will go way faster than you think it will, so pare it down to just a couple basic ideas.