For her third solo album, Almost Always Never, British blues-rocker Joanne Shaw Taylor finds sonic inspiration in her teenage past.
Photos by Shervin Lainez
At 16, Joanne Shaw Taylor started turning heads with her smoky vocals, gutsy guitar riffs, and snarling solos. The English guitarist first emerged playing feral Tele in one of Dave Stewartās post-Eurythmics bands called D.U.P., and it wasnāt long before Taylor made her solo debut with 2009ās White Sugar. At the 2010 Blues Music Awards, she earned Best New Artist Debut for that album, which she quickly followed with 2010ās Diamonds in the Dirt. At the 2011 British Blues Awards, Taylor scored two more prestigious honorsāBest Female Vocalist and Songwriter of the Yearāfor āSame As It Never Was,ā a song from Diamonds in the Dirt.
For her latest solo album, Almost Always Never, the 26-year-old decided to head in a new direction. Rather than return to Memphis to work with Jim Gaines [Eric Johnson, Carlos Santana, John Lee Hooker, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan], the legendary producer behind her first two discs, Taylor enlisted Mike McCarthy and tracked in his Austin studio with a band he assembled for the occasion. As a result, Almost Always Never has less to do with Stevie Ray and Albert Collinsātwo of Taylorās blues influencesāand instead offers a more exploratory vibe with extended solos, deep grooves, and experimental tones.
We asked Taylor to take us through this musical transition and describe the creative process that birthed Almost Always Never.
This album is a departure from your
previous two releases. Instead of blues-based
rock, you take a more experimental
approachāeven exploring psychedelic
jam-band territory. What drew you in
this direction?
Two things made this one different. First
off, I had more time to make the record. For
both White Sugar and Diamonds in the Dirt,
I had a 10-day window to write the songs
and another 10 days to record them. So
those albums came together very quickly.
But last summer I got a series of ear
infections that left me temporarily deaf and
unable to perform, so I was essentially stranded
where I was staying in Houston, and I
had a bunch more time to write songs for the
new album. Iād never had this opportunity
before. Once Iād written what I thought was
an album the label wanted to hear, I still had
a lot more time, so I wrote another batch of
songs. Some for myself, some for other artistsāall kinds of stuff. When it finally came
time to start the new album, I bit the bullet
and went sod it, Iāll send over all the songs
and see which ones get picked.
The second major difference was that we used a different producer this time. Iād always worked with Jim Gaines, who I actually love and adore. But this time we decided to shake things up a little bitāmore for me, you know, to force me into a challenging situation. Mike McCarthy produced Almost Always Never, and that accounts for the different musical approach. Iām the sort of person who gets very comfortable and doesnāt like change, so the idea of having someone new to work with who I didnāt know was quite terrifying, to be honest.
How did you connect with him?
It was one of those lucky things, really. I
like to be involved in that kind of stuffāIām a little bit of a control freakāso my
manager suggested Mike. I Googled him
and saw his resume, which includes Spoon,
And You Will Know Us by the Trail of
Dead, and Patty Griffin. I thought, you
know what? Thatās right up my street, in
that those are some of my favorite artists
and thatās the kind of music I listen to. But
itās not generally what I want to sound like,
and that I found very intriguing.
Heās based in Austin, so when we had a gig there, I drove over to his studio one afternoon and checked it out. Heās a very quirky guyāIām sure he was British in a previous lifeāand we just hit it off. Mike is from a totally different school than me, but we also had things in common. Heās a big Jimmy Page fan and he likes some of the classic British rock I grew up with. I saw we had enough in common to make it work and enough not in common to make it interesting. It turned out well and was a really good experience for me.
Did he select the other musicians?
Yes, he brought in studio guys he regularly
usesā[drummer] J.J. Johnson, [bassist and
slide guitarist] Billy White, and [keyboardist]
David Garza. Fortunately, I knew of
all these musicians and was a huge fan of
their playing. In fact, I was so impressed
with their careers I got quite nervous about
going into the studio.
Describe the tracking process and how it
compared to White Sugar and Diamonds
in the Dirt.
On the previous albums, the goal was to
capture live drums and bass. Iād jam along
to show them the changes, but Iād redo all
my guitar parts later. This time we actually
cut all of my rhythm playing and even
some of my vocals live with the band over
the course of three days. On āJealousyā and
most of āStanding to Fall,ā we had such a
vibe going live in the studio that when we
tried to redo the guitar solo and vocal, it
didnāt match the atmosphere we captured
when the band was there. So we kept those
as live takes. I played in the same room as
J.J. and Billy, and David was in a separate
keyboard room.
How did working with a keyboard player
affect your rhythm playing and soloing?
That was another different thing about this
record. Iāve had a trio for a long while, so it
was a brand new experience working with a
keyboard player of Davidās caliber. Having
not worked with many keyboard players,
I didnāt know what he was going to do.
Give us an example.
Mike would come in and go, āJoanne, I
know everyone else thinks itās great, but
youāre playing too much.ā [Laughs.] I hate
to admit it, but that was the situation. Iām
used to working with a three-piece, so Iām
trying to be Jimi Hendrix over here, but
when youāve got a keyboard player, you
donāt need that.
The last track on the album, āLose Myself to Loving You,ā I wrote as a ballad, and there was a gap in the middle weād left open for the token guitar solo. But once weād tracked the song, we all agreed that a big, wailing Eddie Van Halen guitar solo could ruin it. Davidās piano was so beautiful, it completed the song as far as I was concerned, so we left it alone and let the piano show through. It was really nice to treat a song as more than an excuse for a guitar solo.
Did Mike hear the songs you were
hoping to include on the album before
you went into the studio?
Yes, Iām kind of the queen of Garage
Band, and I just demo everything out. I
put the bass down myself, along with all
the guitar parts and vocals. When Mike
and I first got together, I did my usual
thing of giving him my Garage Band
demos, so he and the band could know
how I was hearing the music. He got
back to me and said, āYeah, thatās not
what I want. I just want you and a guitar
in a room.ā And I panicked because
Iād never done that beforeāto be honest,
it scared me senseless.
JoAnne Shaw Taylor has a blast onstage with a recentvintage Fender Strat. Photo by Rob Stanley
Why?
I wasnāt sure if I was a good enough
writer that the songs would stand by
themselves if I didnāt have all the instruments
on them. But he seemed to think
so. So I just recorded them in the hotel
room with me playing guitar and singing
over the top.
How many songs did you give him
to listen to?
I think I ended up sending Mike about
20 songs, and we cut 12 of them. But
the odd thing was, three of them I
wrote in the hotel the night before we
went into the studioāāTied & Bound,ā
āLose Myself to Loving You,ā and
āBeautifully Broken.ā
You wrote three songs the night before
the session?
Yeah, but I wouldnāt advise that to anyone.
The one thing I know about myself
is that I tend to come up with songs at
the last minute. As soon as the pressure
is off because I know weāve got enough
material for the album, I quickly add
new songs to the list. For White Sugar,
I wrote three songs on the plane on the
way over to Jimās [Gaines] house. Itās almost
to the point where my producer should lie
to me and tell me the sessions are scheduled
a week before we really begin.
How can you even remember three songs
youād written the night before?
It was a bit of a challenge. When we got in
there, everyone was looking at me because
I didnāt know the changes very well. I had
to keep telling them, āCome on, I just
wrote this last night.ā
Compared to your previous two albums,
the songs on Almost Always Never seem
to unfold at their own pace and offer you
more time to explore the fretboard.
When I was forced, for health reasons, to
have this time off last summer, I reverted to
being my 13-year-old self and just played
guitar every day. This period allowed me to
get excited about guitar again. I know this
sounds terrible, but when youāre a professional
guitarist playing 200 dates a year,
you can lose sight of what got you started.
When I was 13 in my bedroom looking at
posters of all my idols, Iād pretend I was
them. And I got that feeling again. When I
went in the studio this time I had a bunch
of new licks and was really excited to mess
around with new tones.
So there were some fresh influences on the album, but more to the point, there were old influences Iād dug up again. I took a trip down memory lane and spent a lot of time listening to guys like Eric Johnson, Richie Kotzen, Paul Gilbert, and Gary Moore. In terms of bands, I went through a big Kingās X phase around that time. It seems odd to me now, given how the record turned outānot like Kingās Xābut that was what I was listening to ... very guitar-based rock.
Youāre pictured with a Les Paul on the new
album and while there are some Fender
sounds on the tracks, many of your solos
and riffs have a fatter tone than before.
Did you switch from your Tele to a Les
Paul for a lot of these guitar parts?
I did. Some folks at Gibson had heard my
music and they lent us a Les Paul for the
recording. It was perfect timingāI was
playing new material with a new producer
and a new band, so why not try a new
guitar? I absolutely fell in love with the Les
Paul they loaned me, but unfortunately
they wouldnāt let me keep it. And being
female, Iām pretty sure once they told me
I couldnāt have it, thatās when I decided I
wanted it. [Laughs.]
Taylor says her mother wasnāt too pleased that her teenage daughter played an Esquire with a pinup girl on it, but she softened a bit when Taylor played a gig with Annie Lennox for the Queen. Photo by Rob Stanley
Did you also try a different amp?
Yes. Though Billy [White] played bass on
the album, his main instrument is guitar.
He played with Don Dokken and in
Watchtower, and heās kind of a shred god.
Anyway, he brought in his ā72 Marshall
50-watt head and 2x12 for me. At that
point, with everything else being new and
different, I thought, āWhy not? Letās go
for a different sound.ā The funny thing
was, although I was going for Eric Johnson
and Gary Moore, I think I still ended up
sounding like me.
I have no qualms telling you I fell in love with that Marshall, and Iām hell-bent on getting one. A ā72 50-watt Marshall is really the holy grailāyou put a nice Les Paul through it ... well, itās perfect.
Any other amps?
Mike had an old ā60s Silvertone we used
a lot for the rhythm. That and Billyās
Marshall for lead were the two main ones I
used for everything. We had both amps in
a separate roomāa big space at the back
of the studio. I could just about hear the
Marshall from where we were situated, so
Iām pretty sure it was on 11.
Is that a Stratocaster on āLose Myself ā?
Actually thatās a Music Man. My boyfriend
has a fine array of guitars and I stole it
from him. It has a nice glassy tone that just
seemed to work on that track. We used
Mikeās Harmony Masterāa 1960s hollowbodyā
a lot. I used a bunch of different
stuff Iād never used before, whether just
from not being comfortable with a piece
of equipment or feeling there were rules I
shouldnāt break. I think I only picked up
the Telecaster once or twice, which was
quite fun in a wayāa busmanās holiday.
What sort of rules are you referring to?
Well, I didnāt want to upset fans who know
me as a Tele player. But then I realized the
sound is really in your hands, and thereās
no harm in trying to inspire yourself with
a new instrument or go for a slightly different
tone. That was a fun lesson to learn.
Did you use an octave fuzz on the solo
in āSoul Stationā?
I did. Mike had a bunch of toys, so it
was a time of experimentation. That
octave fuzz is a Death By Audio pedal
called the Octave Clang, which I love.
When we cut that track Mike said,
āWhat are you thinking of for the solo?ā
After hearing what J.J. did on the drums,
I said, āI pretty much want it to sound
like guitarmageddon.ā He handed me the
Octave Clang and told me to plug it in.
After a few notes I said, āYeah, thatās it.ā
What about other effects?
Mike had an old Rat distortion pedal I
used for āMaybe Tomorrow,ā which has
probably the weirdest solo on the album.
We had a vintage Boss chorus pedal, a vintage
MXR chorus pedal, and a Dimebag
Darrell wah-wahāmy favorite wahā
hooked up for that. āMaybe Tomorrowā
was interesting because I wrote it as a very
up-tempo rock song and the lyrics were
completely different. I took it to Mike and
he said, āThatās not working for me.ā
Joanne Shaw Taylor thwacks a 4th-string G while soloing on one of her Strats at a 2011 gig in Bilston, U.K. Photo by Rob Stanley
Ouch.
Yeah, exactly. So we got in with the band
and Mike said, āJ.J., what are you thinking
of on this?ā And J.J. slowed it down a
lot and made it into what it isāthat kind
of Dr. John voodoo groove. It sounded
really good, but the lyrics didnāt fit with
the music anymore, so we left that to the
very last minute. As we were finishing up
recording, I wrote new lyrics that would
fit the new feel. At that point, the whole
song became a sort of improvisation. I
put down that riff and thought, okay,
what else can we add to it?
Out of all the songs, that was the one where we really didnāt know where we were headed. We just built it up by listening and seeing where it wanted to go. Mike had hooked up a Roland Space Echo and was making these weird sounds, and I basically decided I was going to play a couple of phrases and then intersperse strange noises from the Space Echo. We just went for some weird stuff, which was good fun. That song was very produced. Mike chopped and pasted guitar solos, and that makes it more of a piece than a guitar solo. Itās a jam song, all about the vibe.
āArmy of Oneā sounds like you guys
were all just jamming in a circle around
a couple of mics.
We were, except we didnāt have the luxury of
a couple of mics. I think we had one. When
I wrote that song, I thought it was going to
sound like āGoing Homeā off the first record
and āDead and Goneā off the second. Because
I have this fetish about writing traditional
blues lines I want to make modern, I always
write these evil blues songs Iād want to hear
in an episode of The Sopranos. Like youāre
driving through the city late at night and
youāve got a body in your trunk. [Laughs.]
So this was another song like that, but Mike said, āLetās make it acoustic.ā And I said, āReally?ā It was the last song we cut. We all went out together to dinner that last night and had a glass or two of wine, and then stopped by the liquor store on the way back to the studio and bought some tequila.
I see where this is going.
We all sat in this one little room. J.J. is on
the marching drum, Billy is playing slide,
David is on the mandolin, and then thereās
me on a hollowbody. Mike came into the
roomāheās the one you hear at the beginning
of the song telling us what the tempo
is because weād all gotten so excited and
unruly we werenāt quite doing the job.
He had to come straighten you out.
Exactly! Dad had to come in and ruin the
fun. But we did the song in one take. It was
very organic, very last minuteāa late-night
studio bonding experience. That song is one
of my favorites for sentimental reasons.
Taylor bought her ā66 Esquire on Londonās historic Denmark Street when she was 15, and had a Seymour Duncan Jazz SH-2 placed in the neck. Photo by Rob Stanley
What guitar were you playing?
The hollowbody Harmony through a tiny little
ampāsome 5-watt model Mike picked up
in Japan. We had it cranked but it just wasnāt
putting out. Most people think itās a resonator,
actually. Half the time I tell them itās not and
half the time I let them believe it is because I
donāt want to correct people. [Laughs.] That
guitar ended up fitting the song quite well.
I donāt think it sounds like an out-and-out
electric. Itās a welcome break on the album,
and Iāve never done an acoustic track before.
Tell us about the gear you use onstage.
I have my two staple guitars. One is a 1966
Esquire, which Iāve had for years and yearsāitās my first guitar. When I was 15, I bought
it in London on Denmark Street [a historic
stretch of road known for its music shops
and recording studios]. At the time I was real
scared that my dad was going to beat the hell
out of me for taking a train down to London
at 15 and buying a ridiculously expensive
guitar with all my pocket money. But I got
it cheap because the previous owner had
attacked it with a knife. It had a gaping hole
near the neck, so I had a guitar tech dig it
out and add a humbucker there. That made
it kind of my dream Telecaster.
What humbucker?
A Seymour Duncan Jazz [SH-2].
Is this Esquire your guitar with the pinup
girl on it? And if so, did you put that on
or was that from the previous owner?
Yeah, thatās the one, and I added the pinup girl.
My mother wasnāt very happy with thatāin
fact, she was a little worried. You know how
moms are: āWhy is my daughter putting a
picture of a pinup girl on her guitar? And why
is she playing guitar anyway?ā Try being 15 and
attempting to explain to your mom why thereās
a half-naked lady on your guitar. It wasnāt
her favorite part of my youth, but sheās used
to it now. Moms just donāt get rock ānā roll,
thatās what Iāve learned, but I think the Annie
Lennox gig soothed momās issues. [In June
2012, Taylor played lead guitar in Lennoxās
band for a huge televised Diamond Jubilee
Concert in London honoring the Queen.]
Then thereās my Dave Stewart Telecaster, which Iāve had on permanent loan for a decade. It has a Warmoth Tele body, which has a belly cut like a Strat, and a ā55 Fender maple neck. That guitar is so heavy, it sounds like a cross between a Tele and Les Paul.
Iāve seen recent photos of you onstage
with a Les Paul.
Yeah, thatās a new addition. Itās a 2008
Custom Shop model. A little bit lighter
than mostāabout nine poundsāwith a
ā60s neck. With my teeny, tiny girl hands,
I canāt play the big olā ā50s baseball-bat Les
Paul necks.
Those are my main three guitars. Iāve got a bunch of odds and sods, the kinds of things I go into pawnshops to find. Theyāre dirt cheap and I like them. Iāve got a Squier 51āFenderās answer to a Telecaster/Strat hybridāthatās worth about 100 bucks. I installed a Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates and pimped it out a little bit. Also a ā92 Tele and an ā88 Tele, which are both pawnshop finds, and then a couple of standard Strats, including one my grandmother bought me. Theyāre pretty standard, though Iāve replaced the pickups in most of them.
And stage amps?
Live, Iāve been using a Louis Electric
KR-12 combo and a ā65 Bassman head
driving a 2x12 Marshall cab with standard
Celestion Greenback speakers. The
Bassman has been modded to ā62 specs,
and I use it for clean rhythm sounds like
on āBeautifully Broken,ā āLose Myself to
Loving You,ā and āDiamonds in the Dirt.ā
Iāve always been a huge fan of Bassmans. I
love the ā62 cream Tolex BassmansāI just
think thereās nothing more beautiful. Even
if I ever have a child, I think Iād find the
Bassman more beautiful.
What does your pedalboard look like?
At the beginning of this year, I decided to
strip down my pedalboard. Iām a typical
guitar player, so Iāve gone through a bunch
of phases. Iāve had a pedalboard the size of a
Hammond B3, and itās not fun to tour with
and lug around. So now I play through a
little board. I keep one in Australia, one
here in the U.S., and one in Europe, and
theyāre all pretty much carbon copies.
I use three pedals from Mojo Hand FXāa Recoil Delay, a Colossus Fuzz, and a Rook Overdrive, which has replaced my Tube Screamer. Other than that, I have a Way Huge Aqua Puss delay, which I use for slapback, and an MXR Dyna Comp, one of the old models. These pedals give me pretty much everything I need. Iāve also added a Death By Audio Octave Clang for the solo on āSoul Station.ā Between the amps and different guitars, five or six pedals are all I need to get the tones I want. How about strings and picks? Iām a devoted fan of Ernie Ball stringsā always have been. I use the Skinny Top Heavy Bottom sets, gauged .010ā.052. I tune down a half-stepāmostly for my voice, because I have a slightly lower registerā and I used to play with .011s. But then I grew up and realized I have female hands and Iād have to stop playing in 10 years if I continued using big-boy strings. I donāt have Jimi Hendrixās hands!
Iāve just started using the Dunlop Eric Johnson signature picks, the little jazz picks. I find those plectrums really help with righthand control. Itās not so much for speed, but for making sure the notes ring nicely.
Joanne Shaw Taylorās Gear
Guitars
Customized 1966 Fender Esquire,
Warmoth T-style with ā55 Fender
Telecaster maple neck, 2008
Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul,
Fender Squier 51, various production
Fender Stratocasters
Amps
ā65 Fender Bassman head
and 2x12 Marshall cab with
Celestion Greenback speakers,
Louis Electric KR-12
Effects
MXR Dyna Comp, Way Huge
Aqua Puss delay, Death By Audio
Octave Clang, and Mojo Hand FX
Recoil, Colossus, and Rook
Strings and Picks
Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy
Bottom sets, Eric Johnson
Classic Jazz III picks
In the liner notes for Almost Always
Never, youāre credited with all electric
guitars and vocals, as well as playing
something called Gordon on āPiece of
the Skyā and āLose Myself to Loving
You.ā Whatās that?
Well, thereās some background to this
story. Mike puts his name on everythingāevery microphone has āproperty of Mike
McCarthyā on it, for example. When I took
that first studio tour, I looked around and
thought, okay, thatās the sign of a control
freak. After I got to know Mike I teased
him about it, saying it was like a child
going to school for the first time and his
mom puts his name in his underpants.
Fortunately he took it well.
One day when Mike and I were going over the songs before the band came in, he said, āIāve seen this 1960s Gibson acoustic in Guitar Center and I want to buy it. The only problem is, the previous owner was obviously a kid and he put giant orange letters on it to spell out his name. Itās a beautiful ā60s Gibson with these really gross, plastic letters spelling Gordon.ā I said, āWell, buy it anyway.ā And the next day he brings that guitar in.
Do you know what model Gibson?
I think it was a J-45. So thatās what I played
on those two songs. It was just funny that
he found his dream acoustic guitar and
some kid had put his name across it in
giant orange letters. Karma. So Gordon is
just an acoustic guitar, but you have to call
it by its proper name.
YouTube It
To experience Taylorās fretboard prowess, check out the following clips on YouTube:
Taylor tears into two songs from
White Sugar in a 2011 London show.
In another song from White Sugar,
Taylor pulls a sweet range of clean
and dirty tones from her Squier ā51 at
a festival in Wilmington, Delaware.
Annie Lennox features Taylor on lead
guitar at a massive 2012 outdoor
concert at Buckingham Palace in
London. Dig JSTās white outfit and
angel wings! And, of course, her Les
Paul and extended solo.
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Among this wealth of treats, the octave function is a star. It works with the fuzz, drive, or boost. But unlike a lot of octave-up effects, you neednāt approach it with caution. Though it adds plenty of the buzzing, fractured, and ringing overtones that make octave effects so wild and distinct, it doesnāt strip mine low end from the signal. The extra balance makes it feel more musical under the fingers and even makes many chords sound full and detailedāa trick few octave effects can manage. With the fuzz, the results are concise, burly, and articulate single notes that lend themselves to lyrical, melodic leads and power chords. In drive-plus-octave mode, there are many hues of exploding practice-amp trash to explore. The boost and the octave may be my favorite little gem among the FFDās many jewels, though. Adding the octave to boosted signals with a generous heap of focus input yields funky, eccentric electric-sitar tones that pack a punch and are charged with character in their fleeting, flowering state.
Ā The Verdict
Itās hard to imagine adding extra footswitches to the Focus Fuzz Deluxe without sacrificing its basic elegance and proportions, and without elevating its already considerable price. Certainly, there would be real utility in the ability to mix and match all three excellent gain modes. On the other hand, the output level differences between fuzz, drive, and boost are pretty uniform, meaning quick switches on the fly will shift texture and attitude dramatically without delivering an ear-frying 30 dB boost. And though itās hard not be tantalized by sounds that might have been, from combining the fuzz and/or boost and drive circuits, the myriad tones that can be sourced by blending any one of them with the superbly executed octave effect and the varied, rangeful focus and output controls will keep any curious tone spelunker busy for ages. For most of them, I would venture, real treasure awaits.
Peavey Electronics announces the Decade preamp pedal. The internet and social media have been abounding with chatter about the current recording secret of the modern-day guitar gods ā the Peavey Decade practice amp.
The discontinued amp has reached unimaginable demands on the secondary markets. So much so that small pedal builders have made attempts to capitalize and duplicate the proprietary designs themselves. Tone chasers can now rejoice as the Decade preamp pedal now brings those highly sought after tones back to market in a small, compact footprint.
Guitar players will find a single input, single output preamp pedal straight forward and easy to navigate. Faithful to the original Decade circuitry (circa 1980), the control layout will be identical to the original amplifier. The GAIN section features PRE and POST controls. PREGAIN sets the gain of the input circuitry. POST GAIN sets the gain before the out. Built off the legendary Peavey Saturation patent, the new, switchable SATURATION allows tube-like sustain and overload at all volume levels, suitable for bedrooms, rehearsals, stadiums and apparently, those very expensive recording studios. The traditional BASS, MID, and HIGH equalization controls provide the tone shaping enhancements any guitar should require. Upgraded pedal features include an internal 24v supply from the standard 9v supply/battery and worldwide EMC/FCC compliance approval.
To learn more, visit online at www.Peavey.com
Street $199.99 USD
Patterns can be viewed as boring or trite, but a little bit of creativity can turn them into bits of inspiration.
Chops: Intermediate Theory: Intermediater Lesson Overview: ⢠Learn different ways to arrange scales. ⢠Combine various sequences to create more intersting lines. ⢠Solidify your technique by practicing unusual groupings of notes. Click here to download a printable PDF of this lesson's notation. |
I want to offer some food for thought on making sequences musical. Using sequences in our playing helps develop our musicianship in various ways. It can help us tune into the fretboard, develop melodic ideas all around the neck, and further our improvisation and compositional skills. So, spending time with sequences is certainly not time wasted. Please note that I sometimes use the word ārule" in this column, this is only a pointer to keeping on track of our exploration of these concepts. The intellect is very useful, but intuition is where the creativity comes from. When in balance lots of great things can be done. Let's get stuck in!
It's simple to play a scale from bottom to top, or top to bottom, but we can develop a sequence by shuffling these notes around. In Ex. 1 we have a C Major scale (CāDāEāFāGāAāB) played in thirds followed by a sequence highlighting the diatonic triads of the major scale. By following a ārule" we can develop many different sequences. The options are endless and a little overwhelming.
Click here for Ex. 1
Lets start by simply combining an interval sequence with an arpeggio sequence. In Ex. 2, the first two beats of the first measure feature ascending thirds. This is then followed by a triad arpeggio starting from the third note on the string. The next set of thirds then starts on the āand" of beat 4. The entire sequence is a seven-note pattern that is created by combining two thirds and a triad. It gives us a nice bit of rhythmic displacement as the phrase is now starting in a different place in the measure.
Click here for Ex. 2
Ex. 3 is a descending idea in A minor that basically flips the sequence we looked at in Ex. 2. Here, we are starting with two descending thirds before the triad. I'm using pull-offs and economy picking to articulate the triads. This one works well over D minor as well if you want a D Dorian (DāEāFāGāAāBāC) flavor.
Click here for Ex. 3
You can see the effectiveness of combining different sequences and groupings of notes to create interesting runs. It's also really effective for making phrases. In Ex. 4 we take a small fragment from Ex. 3 and change the rhythm. In the sound example I repeat this a few times over some implied chords in my bass line: Am, F, and Dm. It's great to get more from one line by seeing the different chord types you can play it over.
Click here for Ex. 4
In Ex. 5 we're going to start using fourths and fifths. It starts with an ascending A minor triad (AāCāE) before leaping to the 9 (B) and then hitting a G major triad (GāBāD). A similar pattern leads into the C major triad (CāEāG). Throwing in these wider intervals alongside triads is very effective for creating a dramatic sounding runs.
Click here for Ex. 5
For our next example (Ex. 6), we will take fragments from Ex. 5 and space them out a bit. I wanted once again to show how these sequence ideas can also be helpful for developing melodic phrases. Once we have a cool sequence or fragment, all we need to do is be creative with how we play it. We can change the rhythm, harmonic context, dynamic, and much more.
Click here for Ex. 6
Before we move on, it's important to remember that we can add colorful notes to our triads. Let's begin with some seventh-chord arpeggios. Ex 7 features are diatonic seventh arpeggios in G minor (functioning as a IIm chord) to get a Dorian sound.
Click here for Ex. 7
Ex. 8 is a little gratuitous of me. It begins with an idea made of several different concepts. First, we start with an Am7 arpeggio (AāCāEāG), then descend down an A5 arpeggio. I follow that up with diatonic thirds and end with a pedal-point sequence. If that's not enough, we then take this bigger idea and fit it around a chord progression. I move it to G7, Dm7 and then I break my ārule" slightly and outline notes of a C6 arpeggio (CāEāGāA). However, it does keep the same melodic contour of the initial idea. I used my ear and fretboard to guide me. It's always healthy to have a fine balance between intellect and intuition.
Click here for Ex. 8
We dig into C harmonic minor (CāDāEbāGāAbāB-C) for Ex. 9's monster two-measure lick. It sounds evil! In composing this phrase, I kept to the basic concept of finding seventh-chord arpeggios within C harmonic minor in the 8th position. I followed my ear as well as my slowly developing intellect. However, if you look closely you can see I was following a mini chord progression through this line. We start out with a CmMaj9 arpeggio (CāEbāGāBāD) in the first beat, followed by a G7b9 arpeggio (GĀāBāDāFāAb). Here we have a very strong Im-V7 movement in C minor. I then move back to our CmMaj9 arpeggio and in the second measure we start descending down an Eb augmented triad (EbāGāB). This is then followed by more CmMaj9 goodness.
Click here for Ex. 9
Ex. 10 is now taking Ex. 9 and extending it into a cool flamenco-inspired melody. The rhythms in this were inspired by the incredible Paco De Lucia. I follow the sequence from the previous example almost exactly, but I use a bit of artistic license to repeat certain fragments to fit into a ātop line" or āhead"-style melody.
Click here for Ex. 10
My aim here isn't to give you one rule to follow but instead to encourage you to take the sequences you know and love and start getting more out of them. Enjoy and stay safe!
Improved tracking and richness in tones. Stereo panning potential. 100 presets.
Can be hard to use intuitively. Expensive!
$645
Electro-Harmonic POG III
Itās been a very rainy, moody couple of weeks, which is to say, perfect weather for getting lost in the labyrinthine depths of the new Electro-Harmonix POG III polyphonic octave generator. The POG III is yet another evolution (mutation?) within EHXās now rather expansive stable of octave effects. But to those who know the POG through its original incarnation, or one of several simpler subsequent variants, the POG III represents a pretty dramatic leap forward.
Thereās a few things you should know about the POG III straight away. First, itās very expensive. At $645, itās 245 clams more than its predecessor, the POG 2, (which was already a considerable investment) and more than twice the price of the simplest POG pedals like the Micro and Pico. Cold hard cash isnāt all youāre likely to trade away, either. Extracting the most value and utility from the POG III takes time and effortāeven if youāre experienced with other pedals in the POG family. But for the guitarist and musician whose creations and pleasures transcend traditional playing styles and song forms, or for whom sound design is a primary pursuit, the POG III is a potential studio fixture and portal to musical parts undiscovered.
Copious Control
This is no cop out: The POG III has many more features and combinations thereof than can be mentioned in the space of this reviewāeven if we merely listed them. The manual that EHX included (and is a must-read) is 23 pages long. Itās digestible, certainly. But there is much to learn.
āThe Organ Swell reveals much about how rich and organic octave tones can sound in the POG III.ā
Even so, the POG IIIās 10 factory presets (you can create up to 100 of them) are great jumping-off points for crafting your own sounds and understanding the pedalās basic dynamics, functionality, and interactivity among the controls. The organ swell preset is a great place to start. Players and bands that use keyboard and synth pads behind their guitar phrases were among POGās early adopters. POG IIIās organ sounds are pretty impressive. And while few will be fooled into thinking you have the pipe organ from St. Stephenās Cathedral at your fingertips, the Organ Swell reveals much about how rich and organic octave tones can sound in the POG III. With precise timing and fretting, crafty chord phrasing and spacing, the right attack setting, and less aggressive guitar volume and tone settings, you can fashion a pretty convincing Bach organ arpeggioāparticularly if you add a suitably expansive reverb or delay.
Cooking Up Wider, Weirder Images
A very cool new feature on the POG III is the panning knobs that accompany individual bands. Panning each band as part of a stereo image adds dimensionality. But it can also lend a more organic āliveā flavor to a tone composite by situating fundamental sounds front and center, while sounds that serve as harmonic support can be mixed lower and reoriented spatially to offer more or less emphasis. These relationships can be enhanced and manipulated further by using the stereo spread control and the detune slider to create pitch modulation effects that range from mellow chorus to an almost rotary-speaker-like movement. This stereo mixing process is among the most fun and engaging parts of using the POG III.
Unusual filtering effects are here in abundance for exploring, too. Like so many modes on the POG III, the possible permutations feel endless, but here are some interesting examples.
⢠High-mid filter emphasis, matched to a quacky, fast envelope trigger, a sprinkle of perfect 5th, an even healthier scoop of +1 and +1 octave, and a strong foundation of -2 octave, all driven by a melodic pattern of staccato 16th notesāthe result is a strange percolating pattern of carnival organ sounds against an anchor of low-resonant cello tones.
⢠Shifting the filter emphasis to the low end with similar envelope sensitivity, bumping the -2 octave and fifths, and subjecting the dry signal to the same filtering effects yields tectonic sub-rumbles and swells that a film- or game-sound designer could use to suggest the propulsion unit for a city-sized alien mothership. Even leaning my guitar against my amplifier and bouncing a racquet ball against the guitar body sounds amazing here. (And yes! You should really try this!)
Granted, many of these sounds fall as much into the category of sound effects and design as much as music in the songs-and-riffs sense. But I think strength in one category can reinforce the other, and in the case of the POG III, there is enough range in both directions to intrigue players everywhere along the spectrum. It still excels at funky bass textures, twisted faux 12-string, and at providing ghostly, backgrounded high-harmony lines for leads. But these time-tested POG applications merely scratch the surface.
The Verdict
The POG has come a long way since its old bent-metal, big box days. The tracking is excellent, and thereās a lot less fighting against artificial, cheesy sounds once you grasp the finer points of crafting a sound and your dynamic approach. The POG IIIās complexity makes the going a little harder on fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants intuitive tinkerers, and musicians with experience in synthesis will probably navigate the unitās features much more readily than some. As expensive as it is, itās probably best to be sure you can find a place for it in your work before you take the leap. But if you can afford $645 to take a chance, the POG III may illuminate whole directions you might not have considered with a less expansive effect.