Quayle Question

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    • October 14, 2009 at 4:32 pm
    Rootwitch
    Member

    Just discovered Tom Quayle (and Mario) on Youtube yesterday, and love the style. I’ve been playing for about 25 years, and would consider myself semi-advanced. But I’m in a rut, and there’s tons of things I’ve always wanted to work on.

    Shortcomings:

    I only know some basic theory – Always played by ear, but took a years worth of lessons, which kind of gave names to what I’d already figured out by ear.
    I’m left handed but play right handed, so I rely on legato a lot.

    I’d certainly be interested in learning more theory, but obviously learning cool licks and techniques is the quick payoff. In order to get out of my rut, I’m interested in learning some fusion, to apply some cool “outside” licks to my blues and modal playing.

    Question: Do I have to really *know* my theory to integrate fusion into my playing. I manage to zip around the neck now without *really* knowing what I’m doing. But, perhaps because it sounds so confusing, it just seems like I’d really have to know my stuff to pull off fusion licks.

    Do the premium video’s break down the licks you use, hybrid picking techniques, as well as the theory behind it, etc?

    I’m interested in signing up, just trying to ascertain what I’m in for.

    Thanks.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
  • Replies
    • October 14, 2009 at 6:43 pm
    Rootwitch
    Member

    Ok, after watching some of the vids from the forum members, I’d like to re-categorize my playing level to novice…. man….

    • October 14, 2009 at 7:00 pm
    Sean Conklin
    Sean Conklin
    Member

    Hey welcome to IG!

    That’s really interesting that you’re left handed but you play right handed. I’m guessing you tried playing left handed but it just didn’t take?

    I think if you’re wanting to learn fusion you’ve definitely come to the right place. Tom has done quite a few extensive fusion tutorials that break down his theory concepts and techniques. Richard also has some killer fusion stuff.

    Again, welcome to the club man and I’ll see you around the site!
    Sean

    • October 14, 2009 at 7:09 pm
    Rootwitch
    Member

    Yeah, I’m pretty messed up. I throw left handed but bat right handed, play tennis left handed but golf right handed, etc. Never tried playing left handed – Just saw Ace Frehley playing right handed, and figured everyone played that way.

    Yeah, I’ll be signing up (once I clear it with the wife, HA!). I need a better knowledge of what I’m doing, why, and what I’m not doing because I don’t the theory behind it.

    Thanks for the warm welcome.

    • October 14, 2009 at 9:04 pm
    EinarG
    Member

    Welcome!
    You’ll love this site if you are serious about expanding your knowledge of music.
    How about telling us in a paragraph or two where you stand, theory-wise?
    We might be able to give you some tips on where to start and what to work on.
    If your knowledge of the fretboard, and technique is quite good, it will be so much fun to explore stuff like chord-voicings, modes, outside-playing etc etc.

    Good to have you here man, and feel free to share some of your playing! šŸ˜€

    • October 14, 2009 at 9:56 pm
    Rootwitch
    Member

    Well, I got heavy into Via and Satch in circa ’87, because they played huge runs using mostly legato (and since my picking hand sucks, it was a good fit). I learned plenty of runs by ear, took lessons for a year, and my teacher structured my “runs” into modes and provided names for the modes. I understand flats, sharps, major minors, but here’s a perfect example of my ignorance –

    When I would hear someone talk about playing in G Lydian, I always associated Lydian with a single pattern (or better – A single *position*) rather than think about it in terms of flat or sharp notes. So, Vai would say he’s soloing in Lydian, and I would think “What? is he just doing that one Lydian pattern (or position) up and down?” Only recently did it dawn on me that I may be playing Lydian all over the neck based on sharp and flat notes within a run.

    I know enough to figure some of the basics out by sitting down and thinking about it, but theory is something that’s not ingrained in my head, nor do I think about it while playing. I’m thinking, “Ok, I know I can use these set of patterns over C minor”….

    As far as my playing, here’s a crap recording of a crap song, but it was a vehicle for me to do my best at shredding. Written about another local guitar player whose ego surpassed his playing…. Hence the lyrics and guitar solo…. šŸ˜€

    http://www.rootwitch.com/ThePoop.mp3 – LOL, I had to change the name of it due to filters.

    • October 26, 2009 at 9:24 am
    Tom Quayle
    Tom Quayle
    Member

    Hi mate,

    First of all, welcome to the crazy world of fusion! It’s an amazing journey but also a journey that, I feel, requires a fairly extensive knowledge of theory and the fretboard to pull off.

    Like any other form of music, fusion is based on a particular musical vocabulary. Each style of music uses the same fundamental elements but puts those elements together in a different way. It just happens that the elements required for fusion are more complex and obscure than those of say rock or funk on their own. To achieve the level of vocabulary required to play fusion well, theory is needed. Fusion is basically jazz mixed with a Rock and Funk feel so a solid understanding of jazz theory sets you in very good stead to develop your vocabulary and ears. It’s all too easy to underestimate the importance of what your ears are able to hear as available notes over a chord also. By learning the theory you are better able to understand the note choices available to you and play things you may not have otherwise heard. Thus, developing your ears in the process.

    If you check out the fusion and jazz tutorials on the site these will help a lot. However, let us know if you have any specific requests or need and help with any thing along the way and I’ll be more than happy to help!

    All the best and good luck with your fusion explorations!

    Tom

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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