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• Danger Douse

  

  Stevie Ray. Stevie Ray. Stevie Ray. Stevie Ray for breakfast. Stevie Ray for lunch. Stevie Ray for dinner. Frankly, I've had enough of all this pentatonic piffle...

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• Neville's Advocate

  

  One of the commonest gripes I hear is about the 'extortionate' cost of electric guitars these days, not surprisingly Fender, Gibson and PRS being the commonest culprits.

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• The three point plan - part 1

  

  One of my favourite pearls of wisdom is based on three. It is a simple plan and I (and friends) have often used it when making gig decisions. Now I'll pass it onto you.

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• The three point plan - part 2

  

  Following the previous article, it seems that the three point plans have helped focus the musical pursuits of many of you.

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• Practice Time

  

  Funny isn't it – we're exposed to so much great music these days (thanks GT!) we can't help but want to play better across more styles with often very little time on our hands (sic) to achieve our desires. Frustrating isn't it?

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• Aspirations

  

  Ever come across a book that is a little outside your normal sphere but proves to be a great read? Recently I've been reading Brave New Bass by Chris Jisi featuring interviews with modern bass icons like Marcus Miller, Jeff Berlin and Flea. Each discusses their careers, influences and playing approaches followed by playing examples drawn from their repertoire – nice.

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• Playing Developments

  

  As we come into spring (and no more snow!!), it's common among keen guitarists to take stock of their musical development. Are chords getting more colourful? Is the fretting hand's fourth finger any stronger? Rock vibrato any wider? Picking speed reached the shred benchmark of six notes at 120bpm? The list goes on but you get the picture.

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• The choke effect

  

  Contrary to what many may think, excellence isn't always consistent. Recently I read an article about a new book, Bounce – How Champions Are Made by Matthew Syed. In it Matthew considered 'choking', where a pro athlete (but it could be another public performer such as a musician) fails at a task in a big demand scenario that should otherwise have been easy.

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• Are Guitars Too Expensive?

  

  One of the commonest gripes I hear is about the 'extortionate' cost of electric guitars these days, not surprisingly Fender, Gibson and PRS being the commonest culprits. Well, from my point of view, given that the American made Fender Strat (let's use that as the most played and copied model on the planet) is a 'professional' musical instrument, it's not over-priced at all. And if you look back to the 1950s you might be shocked at the relative price then compared to weekly salary, and the same thing now.

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