Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Big 4

I was watching the big 4 with Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax and Megadeth. There was one thing really stood out to me that was said during the behind the scenes video. Dave Ellefson of Megadeth went on stage and backstage during the whole event before the show and showed the audience all the pre-production going on. He said that this show, like all others "Is just another Battle of the Bands, like the ones you have in high school." And as I watched the video, I could not notice that he was right. It is all the same shit. People running around trying to get their equipment on and off the stage. Making sure the sound is good and their equipment works. Also, all the bands didn't seem all that excited or emotional about the event. So what I realized, is that it is all about what you make of it. Heavy Metal is inside my heart and you know what, if that was me doing the Big 4, I would be having a lot more fun...just the way Slam One Down does at every show we play.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Complex chords

It is very important to practice complex chords and inversions of them in Heavy Metal (Like 4 part harmony jazz chords)...Last night I was practicing Major, Minor & Dominant 11th chords in the key of D Major...the chords themselves are not really that appealing to the ear when strummed. However when I arpeggiated them...I got this really cool sound. I moved the chord to an open form... and then combined the chord with other notes within the key. By doing that I was able to add new chords to the progression, but the new chords where more simple. This riff will definitely makes it way to a Slam One Down album one day. In summary, I would bet that great musicians worked on stuff that was out of the box of their genre and by simplifying them, probably came up with some really famous simple riffs. J.R.