962 - screw em.. just suddley break into Voodoo Chile half way thru the show...

Good Afternoon Satchland :-))!!!!! I`m back from the road :-) !!!

WEBMASTER _ Good holidays, and LA RIVIERA is in Madrid, and Razzmatazz is in Barcelona !!!!! Take care Dear Jon!!!

DCK - Nice to know that, good point of view of Lou Reed :-)!! Thanks bud!!

MICHELLE - Enjoy my dear friend :-) !!!!

MIKEY VAI - There`s many places in Lisbon to play Bowling but i never tried that :-). About Gonçalo, he will record to dvd the concert next Friday on Hard Club :-), pretty cool, i will be there to catch a few photos :-)). I saw right now Gonçalo on TV :-), cool interview and they played live RETROSARIA TRICOT :-), great sound :-)!!!! Btw Probably he will play in Taiwan and China next Summer in few clinics :-)). Have a good week Mikeysan :-) !!!

JUJU808 - Hello :-), what Gonçalo`s CD did you buy? Let me know that :-). Take care!!!!

BIG STEVEN - I will try to watch the concert on LA RIVIERA (MADRID). It`s a cool place. In the psat i had the Subway map, but now i don`t have it, i will try to find that :-). Keep in touch, if i find this, i tell you something, ok? Take care bro!!

QUITO and MISCHIEVOUS - Thanks a lot friends!!!!

DO THE STU - Yeah, very funny moments :-)) !!!

JOE - Good promo trip :-), have a good time and regards!!!!! Thanks for the clips ;-) !!!!!

SOTD: TENDER SURRENDER BY MR. VAI :-)

Are Joe's stolen guitars still missing in action??? What a waste...it isn't the guitar that's great, it's the player. Good thing no one stole Joe lol. Bea Arthur??...OMG...might work if she shaves her mustache!

good to see you're gonna be back in Scotland after what seems like an eternity! Let's just hope no-one steals your glasses this time......

Looking forward to the new album and seeing you in Glasgow, especially with Robert Fripp, thank you for managing to get him on the tour. Allan Holdsworth next?

yes!!! rock on baby yeah!!! i just finished ordering my pre order autographed copy of "Is there love in space?" sweet. joe you are awesome. your the man. if jimi hendrix were alive today he would probably want to do a g3 with you and vai. wouldnt that be cool! later

clarky..thats the crash course? hate to see the full course..lol....thx for that..it'll take me a while with a pen and alot of paper to go through it and understand it. probably have more time tomorow. also..want to see Rush in concert?

962..have fun at the musical.

TASTEY....$75 for Prince tickets? That's wicked expensive....lol.

Some tickets really are too expensive, but tickets for Deep Purple in Slovenia were just around 25$! Very cheap!

G3 for Portugal!

Man, I can't wait 'til G3!!!!!

Mowlie - Dude, that sucks bad. Pass on my regards, will ya?

Clarky - Could you check out my cover of AWMAWY please? It's here. Thanks.

I'm new here, so excuse my ingnorance on this one:

Yes,it's very true that most guitar solos on the contemoprary scene use penatonic,or blues scales.As you have already discovered,it gets boring,simply because you are excluding modes,arpegios(Which can be re-constructed) into motifs or licks(phrases,solos),chromatic scales,whole tone scales,augmented and diminished scales.The average rock-blues guitarist knows pents because he/she is self taught,does not read music,(but knows how to use tabs)or simply copied note for note,as best they can, their favorite guitar heros.

The first question I need to ask you is what genres do you listen to? If you are immeresed in pents,or blues scales,I am guessing ,you listen to Rock,Blues,Alternative,or you tell me.

Question 2,Do you know how to create a solo?Knowing the scales,arps etc.is a good starting point.

What is a solo?Usually I Like playing either "Theme and Variations" ,starting by using the melody of the song as my starting point.For example:Whatever the melody is(based on the chord progressions of the song)Re-stating the melody,slightly altered (using the correct modal scale,arp etc.)in a permutated way,in 2 to 4 bar phrases.These are referred to as "answer-response sequences".This is assuming you already know all of the above.In other words ,whatever you say musically(melodically)in your first 2 bars,re-state in your next 2 bars(like computer memory)with a slight variation,again based on the chord progressions of the song.Then in bars 5-6 start a new motif,(not too far removed from your opening 4 measures) and in like manner,answering the melodic idea in bars7-8.Rember ,you must be slightly redundant in your choice of melodic ideas,because your audience is trying to hear continuity in your soling.Hence,you are now saying something musiscally.

I need to know how much YOU KNOW of scales,modes,arps etc. and chord progressions,otherwise nothing will happen=you will not be "saying something musically"

The above post is by Carmine D' Amico. Amazing guitarist and teacher....

death cube k

Great news - Van Halen rocks (well they used to)