RIP Malcolm Young: ADHD Tribute and Thoughts

Malcolm Young of AC/DC has passed. I was never a huge fan of the band but I can't deny their legacy in the hard rock arena. And while a lot of people think of Angus first Malcolm was really the sound of the band. Years ago I met Paul Gilbert at an in store clinic. Someone asked him about getting a great rock sound. He said "Start with AC/DC that Malcolm Young sound, then push it a little more for solos. That's how you get a great rock tone."

My main rock sound is pretty much that. I start with a sound that is more overdriven and then roll off my volume. If it sounds like AC/DC then I know that I'm pretty close to what I want. Then I might push that with a TS pedal or add in wah or delay or something else but that's the best sound out there. 

My two favorite AC/DC songs are Thunderstruck and If You Want Blood. I felt like If You Want Blood was more Malcolm and Thunderstruck is more Angus. So that is my tribute to Malcolm. My old Gibson Sonex plugged into my EVH5150LBX with the gain turned almost all the way down. 

Everyone always talks about Angus but Malcolm was THE sound of AC/DC. I remember Paul Gilbert saying "Start with AC/DC, that Malcolm Young sound then push that with a little more for solos. That's how you get a great rock tone" #ripmalcolmyoung #ifyouwantblood #acdc #tonetools #gibsonsonex180deluxe #evh5150iii

A post shared by @adhd_guitarist on Nov 18, 2017 at 11:23am PST

ADHD Guitarist Ibanez Flying Fingers 2017 submission

I've had an Ibanez or two in my arsenal since around '94. I was in a guitar shop and saw a white Ibanez with F-holes painted on it. I thought it looked different from the other shredder guitars out there. I was in the market for my first "nice" guitar and this thing played great and sounded really good. Shortly after buying it someone said "oh you bought the Paul Gilbert guitar? He's awesome!" This was before the roll out of the internet and I had to do some research to find out who Paul Gilbert was. When I found out he was the guitarist for Mr. Big, I was blown away. I didn't mean to buy a signature guitar but there it was. All of my friends who played that guitar would talk about how great it played and how well it was built. Most of them when on to buy an Ibanez within the next couple of years. I also bought a couple more of them before settling on my Ibanez Prestige S1520BP in 2000. Even with the floating LoPro Edge bridge I have no problem keeping it in tune. The electronics have never let me down. The original pickups weren't bad but I did upgrade them about 10 years ago. I find the Ibanez prestige models are as good as any top of the line production model out there and better in some cases. So here is my submission to the 2017 Flying Fingers competition.

When listening to the track originally I thought how easy it would be to throw a bunch of  phyrgian shred licks over it and call it a day. But then I figured everyone would be doing that. So I decided to take a more melodic approach and bounce around between a couple of different modes as well as throw in some pentatonic licks. I also saw this as a way to push myself into doing more video content, something I now have quite a few ideas for. But maybe I should engage the camera a bit more. Because while I like the solo, I'm a bit boring to watch. haha. All in good time I guess.

Top Ten Resources for Learning the Guitar

Learning to play the guitar with ADHD is difficult. But learning today on the internet couldn't be better. I wanted to do a quick run through of some of my favorite sites to checkout when I want to learn something.

Paid sites

1) Paul Gilbert If you don't know who Paul Gilbert is then look him up. He is one of the ultimate shredders, and has a great sense of humor about the whole guitar god thing. I've met Paul and can say he was a great, down to earth guy. Together with  the site ArtistWorks Paul is now offering class via the internet. He gives personal feedback. And while it isn't free it's a lot cheaper than some of the other internet lessons I've seen with players that are not as well known.

2) Steviesnacks If you want to play Texas blues in the style of the great Stevie Ray Vaughn this is it! Anthony Stauffer has created an incredible amount of material with over 200 FREE lessons on YouTube. He also has premium lessons for those looking to go more in depth that start at just $6 and go up.  Anthony has put a lot of thought and work into his lessons, and though he doesn't teach strict scales or crazy jazz chords. He teaches what you need to play Texas blues and classic rock.

Free on YouTube

3) papastache From modern radio hits to classic rock Papastache has it down. From Hendrix to John Mayer, and Iron Maiden to uhm...Lady Gaga? Yep! The guy can wail and doesn't get caught up in specifics. Learn the song and then make it your own.

4)Justin Sandercoe  While Justin has a website that is totally free, his YouTube channel is where it's at. He has a lot of great material and is very good at showing you how to play stuff.

5) Pete Thorn Pete is an incredible guitarist who's How to play Eruption series on YouTube has gotten rave reviews across the internet. He also does gear reviews for many of the hottest companies, all while touring with people like Chris Cornell, and Melissa Etheridge.

Gear

6) Speaking of gear I can't go on without mentioning http://www.gilmourish.com/  More than just a tribute site to David Gilmour, Bjorn Riis's passion project breaks down David Gilmour's gear by albums and tours giving you ideas for settings and tips for getting the sound right. I've learned more about how pedals interplay with amps and pickups by reading this site than any of the nonsense you read on most forums.

7) Chord and Tab sites

chordie is a cool site that has quickly become one of my favorites. This site pulls from other sites but has a cool chord transposer tool that is very helpful when learning songs or trying to find a different way to play it.

8) Books

With YouTube and tab sites most people just don't need to learn more. But if you want to get into understanding the guitar more, Fretboard Logic I & II is one book I always keep handy. You can look up the CAGED method and find a basic breakdown just about anywhere on the internet but Bill Edwards straightforward approach will give you a much deeper understanding of the fretboard. Your can check it out here.
Fretboard Logic SE - Special Edition The Reasoning Behind the Guitar's Unique Tuning + Chords Scales and Arpeggios Complete (Volumes I and II Combined) (Fretboard Logic Guitar Method Ser)


9) Metronome

If you want to get faster buy or download a metronome. Practice patterns, scales, picking exercises, whatever. Start the metronome slow and work your way up. When you get fast enough do two notes per click (or beep) then four and so on. You'll be amazed at how fast it works.


10) Play Songs


I can't stress this enough. If your not playing with others create a song list and run through those songs on YouTube or your Mp3 player or something. At night, after the kids go to bed I often run through the headphone jack on my Pod and pull up YouTube and play along with my heroes. Paul Gilbert told me if your not playing songs what's the point. That's why we all got into this right?