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Metal For Life Blog

~ The official blog of Metal Mike. I'm a heavy metal musician most commonly known as a long standing guitarist to Judas Priest frontman, Rob Halford. I'm a highly sought after heavy metal guitar and music coach. I am also a solo artist, an entrepreneur, a business owner, an avid car nut and a closet extrovert. I believe Heavy Metal should be lived loud & proud and it has been a highly motivating source in my life. I'm here to share my thoughts, pass on lessons learned and sometimes chew on big subjects. If you enjoy the content of Metal For Life, I only ask you to share my blog with one more person. Thank you & welcome.

Metal For Life Blog

Monthly Archives: November 2017

Dispelling The Myth Of Being Self-Taught

21 Tuesday Nov 2017

Posted by Metal Mike in Guitar & Music, Inspiration & Motivation

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Is Anyone Really Self Taught?

Here is a topic that is much discussed in the music circles. It is the idea of being a self-taught musician and also the possible pros and cons of it.

There is a certain level of pride that many musicians carry with them for being presumably self-taught and I can understand why. By considering themselves self-taught some take pride that by not taking “lessons” the ins and outs of playing an instrument were found on their own time, by their own skills. On the surface this seems to make sense, but I don’t buy it.

Now, to me, the topic in itself off the bat is fairly silly since I do not think that anyone is ever self-taught. Let me explain.

If you think about it for a second, a self-taught person would have their own way of tuning and holding the instrument, their own scales and a sense of meter. They would not even know what to use to pluck the strings or how to string a guitar so the chord patters or scales fall properly in place. Would they even know strings existed? This is just a beginning. In a nutshell, we all learned it from somewhere. It could be a video, a friend, a fable, a music school or a combination of several outlets. Even if you saw someone strum a few chords and learned a few … initially, you got them from somewhere. Even listening to music can surely be a way of learning about rhythm, melody or song construction. If you really were self-taught your guitar playing would make Jimi Hendrix sound like a Julliard professor.

Think about this. This is great news. By knowing this, you could open up the previously shut doors to the idea of studying your instrument with great teachers. The point is – if you are going to pick it up from somewhere, you might as well go to a great source. Allow the teacher (private or at school) to guide you, bring out your strengths and save you time with their invaluable input and accelerate your playing.

Will studying with a teacher or being formally trained stifle your creativity? Not from my experience. Think of it this way. Imagine you decide to brush up on the English language. You study it from a reputable source and become great at it. You learn many new words, ways to put together sentences that flow and many other amazing things. Can you still forget all about it and talk like a cave-man? You sure can. This is always your choice. No one is going to pull out words from your mouth. Would it make it easier to know several ways you can express a thought with variety of new words you learned? Of course.

You see, by learning more you now have choices and possibilities you did not know existed. And, this is what learning about music theory and how music works is all about. Heck, even if you refuse to learn music theory, just studying with a teacher or jamming with someone better will open up many doors for you. A new riff you picked-up from someone can inspire you to write the greatest song of your life. What you do with it is completely up to you.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against a musician who decides to “teach” himself or herself how to play. As a matter of fact, most of my favorite guitarists were not formally schooled. I don’t care if you go to school for music. What I’m saying is that since we all learn from somewhere, sometimes we can accelerate our learning and playing ability by having a coach or a teacher. This is exactly what happens when a top golfer or a football teach needs to win championships. Even if you are a top athlete you still need someone to offer a different perspective and see if you are getting stuck in a rut somewhere, where you make mistakes. This can be applied to music. I just want you to entertain the option.

The idea is to take new information and suck out the juice that is important to the way you want to play the instrument. When you do that, the new information is super valuable. Don’t close your eyes to new info and ways to absorb it – embrace it. The rest is truly up to you.

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There Are No Plateaus In Playing Your Instrument

16 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by Metal Mike in Guitar & Music, Inspiration & Motivation

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I want to briefly touch upon a subject that many guitar players (and musicians in general) seem to have a mis-understanding of.

Often I hear people tell me that they want to take a lesson with me because they have reached a certain ‘plateau’ that they can’t seem to get past. It sounds good, but it’s unfortunately wrong.

In guitar playing there are no plateaus. We never arrive and stay at some flat, secure place.

Not for long, and certainly not over 24 hours.

This means that if you are not getting better, you are getting worse.

It’s true. For example if you get pretty good at playing a particular scale and take 2 weeks off … your ability will slide back from where you have left of when you put the guitar down.

Even a task like song-writing is a skill that must be practiced. Sure, there are people who write only one song and it becomes a hit, but this is an exception to the rule, kind of like winning the lottery. If you want to be wealthy, you have to constantly work on it. Becoming better at your instrument is very much like it.

This thought process was always very motivating to me throughout time. I always remembered that if I am not getting better – I’m getting worse. This stuck and kept me practicing through the years.

Wind Me Up – Winding Strings On Your Guitar So It Stays In Tune

12 Sunday Nov 2017

Posted by Metal Mike in Uncategorized

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Today, I want to talk about winding strings as I think many players are frustrated with keeping their guitars in tune. We all, at least at some point, experience frustration with keeping it in tune.

A lot of the time this has to do with (a) how we put the strings on the guitar and (b) the winding of the string on the tuning keys.

As a general rule, I like to have 2 windings of the string on the tuning key post. I feel that too many windings and you just add too much string and the numerous windings keep stretching (very slightly) as you play and you loose some tension. You NEVER want to double up on the windings so they lay on top of each other of course, but I think everyone here knows that already.

I never feel comfortable with only one loop of the string around the key peg not because it would not work in theory, but it just does not seem “enough” for me. So, I stay at the 2 loops method. Sometimes I get get it exact, sometimes it’s close. (As you can see in the pic, the string below has 3 loops. I am also ok with that. I strive for 2 or 3 loops – this seems to be the happy medium.)

One thing everyone should keep in mind is that when you are tuning – you should always come up to pitch. What I mean is that when, for example, you are tuning your 4th string “D” and you are a little sharp, do not lower your string so it hits D exactly. What you want to do is actually lower the pitch so it is slightly lower than D and tune into the exact D. This method keeps the string nice and tight and it helps to keep your guitar nicely in tune.This is the only way to tune successfully.

Last thought. I used to tie my top 3 strings (G, B and E) on the little pegs, but I never do that that anymore and have not done it in 10 years. I never experienced tuning issues because of it, in case anyone wondered about that.

What’s In A Guitar Pick? (Or, Rather What’s With The Struggle)

08 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by Metal Mike in Gear & Reviews, Guitar & Music

≈ 2 Comments

What’s in a guitar pick? Well, apparently a lot. I have been thinking about how I found the guitar pick that I have been using for the last 15 years – the amazing Dunlop H3 Tortex. I have been using and experimenting with different picks for a long time and when I found the Dunlop Jazz III I thought I had it. But, as it turned turned out the smoother side of the Tortex pick worked out even better for me.

When choosing a pick pay attention to how it effects your sound. Do you get a lot of swoosh, flap or noise when you play? It could very well (and, probably is) be your guitar pick.

Most metal players use a pick that is at least medium in heaviness. If the guitar pick gives too much because it is too thin – you get a significant amount of noise in your playing.

I like the H3 which is a small pick and it took me a while to develop the exact technique that I can use it effectively in playing rhythm and lead. Many guitarists find that they find a pick that works good for leads, but not so much for rhythm. There is a little give and take. With some work, I found out my H3 to be great for both. There were times in the studio when I had a different pick for different sounds that I wanted to get out of the guitar, but I later scrapped that idea in favor of using one pick and learning how to get the most out of it.

Ultimately, you’ll have to find a pick that you can use equally well for both rhythm and lead. Of course, this is essential when playing live as there is no time to switch picks between lead licks and riffs.

As you know, picks are made from different materials and they all affect your guitar sound. Some players might prefer a nylon pick, while you might find Tortex to work best for your tone. This is important to keep in mind.

Usually a pick with some sort of an edge at the tip is better for leads. Smaller picks are tougher to use when you play heavy rhythms as you have less plastic to hit the string with and your hand can get tired sooner. (This is also a technique you need to master.) You adjust and see what you can improve. Light Fender type rounded picks are better for acoustic playing and when I see a student use them while wanting to play metal we quickly make the adjustment to something slightly heavier in order to gain better tone, clarity and precision.
Good luck on your search.

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