AboutH-Bomb Expertise I'm the BS-artist's dream. I'm self-taught, and my technical understanding of musical theory is limited. However in many cases if I hear it and my A.D.D. isn't in overdrive I can figure it out. I relate more to classic artists like Angus Young, Keith Richards & Tony Iommi, but have figured out some of the tricks of the trade used by more modern players as well. I know anything you'd ever want to know about Gibson SG's & Flying V's, and am one of the few cats you'll find here in South Carolina who doesn't worship all things "Skynyrd". Always willing to go out of my way to help budding young players, and most of my students have been disenfranchised youth and females...being kind of the aging punk-rock/hard-rock guru I've taken many folks under my wing who might not have otherwise had the confidence. It's a pleasure to see someone succeed with things I've passed on to them. So try me, I might be able to help! I'm NOT one who knows a ton about vintage guitar values, dating or specs unless it's a Gibson SG, so if you have questions regarding other models of guitars you might want to ask someone else.
Experience I've played bass, guitar, drums, lap steel & tinkered with several other instruments for over a decade. I've unfortunately not found my 'way' yet and remain a semi-pro, but have had enough experience to write a book.
Education/Credentials School of Rock, baby!
Past/Present Clients I currently provide rock guitar lessons to students ranging from 7 years of age to 24 years, and am the de facto gear tech for my band and some other musicians when they let their equipment go. Want a no-nonsense, everyman's answer to help you along? I'll do my best!
Question Hey Bomb, I am working on several easy praise songs and can mostly play along. My question, when you first are learning, should I work on getting one at a time down and remember it first or work on a few others and just play as well as I can knowing I will still make mistakes? You know, the quality vs. quantity thing.
Answer Larry,
I think it really depends on how well you learn personally. If you have difficulty focusing on multiple songs and keeping parts separated in your brain, then you need to learn them one by one. If you're good at multi-tasking try learning a handful at the same time. With certain songs I do better learning them void of ANY distractions, but with my side-gig as a lead guitarist in a cover band I find myself often having to learn several at a time.
My advice when doing that is to burn a CD or something so you can listen to them in your car while riding around, and literally listen to them a few dozen times. Why, you ask? Because often FAMILIARITY with the material can be the thing that makes or breaks your ability to polish up those songs. If the changes are burned into your brain, then translating the changes in your mind to the chords you're supposed to be playing won't be that big of a stretch. If you know "where you're supposed to go next" in your mind, then communicating that between your brain and your fingers (which also should know "where to go next") will be much easier. And making mistakes is a neverending struggle. There are songs I've played for 15 years that I STILL screw up from time to time. Minor mistakes aren't going to be an issue in a realistic performance environment. As one of my former mentors Freddy always told me, "99% of the people you're playing in front of have zero musical ability and wouldn't notice much anyway". We as musicians have that going for us anyway.
There is no "right" or "wrong", and everyone's different. So pick a path that's best for you and do what feels right. Then you can't go wrong!
