-FIX THIS BAND! Ep.2: Sweet Child o' Mine! Check out all my lesson vids at: www.the-art-of-... Facebook: / fansoftheartofguitar / theartofguitar Thanks!!!
No. They miss the whole bouncy bounce of the choruses that feed the tension and release of this song. Sure they're playing the right notes, but they miss entirely the point of the whole song form. Major fail.
I’ve been playing guitar on and off for 20yrs so as bad as this sounds it’s pretty brave of these guys to get up there and have a go. Where I am right now as a guitarist, there’s no way I’d be confident enough to jump up on stage.
I’d have stopped and pointed at someone, until the guy fixed it. 😆 Actually, I would’ve grabbed the singer’s guitar after about a minute, and hold him we’re doing a 20 minute extended jam. 😄
Fun fact: This is an old video from a very rural part of India, from the capital Delhi, you'll need to take 2 planes and another 12 hour ride by road just to get to this very place and 2G internet was just introduced, RU-vid was never heard of and only few people were familiar with the internet. They probably figured out all the lyrics and chords just from hearing alone, from magnetic cassette and CD. All the suggestions were fantastic but you have to understand the reality of their situation, their access to any information, gears and equipment during this time
Bass player here, love this new series! Especially the respectful way you’re handling it. I searched, but can’t find anyone else who’s doing this. Sometimes you NEED the honest advice of other performing musicians to get to the next level, and the people you know, may not be honest. Merry Christmas!
You need to be reasonably good in the first place though to get to another level! This band need only to watch this video to tell them all they need to know!!
I am not the bass player in the video (nor do I know who that is). I play with a very experienced group of excellent musicians. But, even I, notice things that bother me. (I look at the fret-board too often, for example). I do wonder what another experience musician would suggest if he didn’t care about hurting my feelings. …but I certainly don’t have the gut to post a live video here! I’d much rather learn from others.
Im a singer in my band and play some keyboard parts. I noticed you mentioned the singer not having a tablet as if its a bad thing to have one. Can you expand on your feelings about using lyrics in a cover band? I personally have one because my memory is very poor, I just cannot remember lyrics to save my life.
Oh God that is so fkng true.!!! The amount of comebacks in that situations, i sometimes think i can be a Late Night Show band member doing turn-arounds.!😢😐😑🤣🤣🤣🤣
It's a lot harder than it looks. A lot. Being able to focus on just vocals or just guitar makes it so much easier. It doesn't help though that this song is out of the vocal range of a lot of singers, which now amusingly includes GNR's own Axl Rose. Take the song down an octave vocally, it still sounds great.
I've been playing guitar going on 30 years. Decided last year I'd start singing. I should have started years ago. It's difficult but if you do it every day you see improvement. I still wouldn't get on stage and do it. Even if I am a good guitarist, throw my shitty singing on top and it doesn't matter.
Bass players are the backbone of rock :) It was nice to see the rhythm section holding it together while everything else was catasrophically falling apart around them.
No one is above the cringe - we’ve all been there. As said, you just have to make the mistakes and move on. Important to note is what is inside and outside of the band’s control. Obviously engineering issues and technical difficulties can’t always be helped, but your balance internally as a band is critical. Making sure your volumes and frequencies are balanced as much as possible just makes the sound tech’s job that much easier and your setup at the venue that much smoother. If you sound good on your own, you’ll sound good on stage (usually 😅)
Not to mention, the singing is physically pretty painful entering the ears due to involuntary squinting, crinkling of the forehead, and brainwave disruption.
This was one crap performance. But we are missing context. Maybe it was at school where they were trying their best, etc. It's ok. Especially if band is aware of their skill level. Sad thing is there are people who are not able to evaluate themselves. One of those "I can do anything and I'm the best at whatever I try" people. And they used that "I'm offended" bs, etc. Be offended, I don't give a damn. That doesn't make you know how to play. :)
Idk…I would say the solution is to just give it a restart at the first hit of that rhythm guitar. Coffee break…tune to the guitar and turn up the amp. Then again as John Mayer once said when he had to restart ‘Your Body…’- “This is a lot of pressure! I have to play this THAT much better to justify me restarting.” Now, Mayer nailed it. I’m not sure it was gonna get all that much better for this band lol.
I love this series so far. Rick Beato started a couple of episodes like this but from a producing perspective. I always find invaluable insights from these kind of series. I look forward to the next one!
I love the series, really reminds me of when I started playing live aged 13 - soooo many mistakes... I wish I had someone like you to help me correct my bads. Your criticism is a constructive one, very helpful I think
Mike this is a great series/idea. When I started playing in activly gigging bands in about 1987 🤦♂️. This kind of advice just wasn't so readily available. This could be extremely helpful to beginning bands. It took years to get the live performance skill down, thru trial and error. What you are doing is not a Criticism it's technically a Critique. If some are calling that out, possibly they have too thin of skin or too big an ego to deal with the the vast amount of things that can and do go wrong. My worst show ever was about my 500th or so. Keep up the great content! Thanks.
great critique. Need more critiques like this. This is where musicians who are just starting out and have no experience can learn a whole bunch from an experienced band player. Thanks for putting this out.
Nice way to tackle this constructive criticism. Cool video. Obviously this band practiced and went on stage to do their best. Huge respect for that. It is not easy at all. Yes, things to improve, but getting up there on stage is a step not many will even try
I thought the first video gave them a lot of credit and highlighted some true highlights! This is vital information for people trying to get on stage for the first time 👍
As someone who really liked the first episode, I am happy to say that I enjoyed this one just as much. Funny how the frontman is the one who ruined the band in both videos.
I was at one of the few performances of GnR where they finished their set and walked off stage on a positive note (Axl said it himself, he normally gets mad and storms off stage). I did not see Axl ruin the concert as the frontman that time, but he was always notorious for his lack of professionalism. The Metallica incident (Axl again) is a great example of how the frontman can really mess it up.
@@sw4610How many times has axl actually walked off the stage before finishing the concert? I here this a lot but haven’t actually seen it as commonly as people say it happened. There must be a compendium for that kind of thing somewhere
Hi Mike. This is a great series, thanks for putting in the work for us to learn from. As far as the critics go, don’t let them get in your head. You’re one of the kindest and most humble guitarists on RU-vid. You certainly have the chops! I’m 60 years old and have been playing for 50 years and learn from you all the time. Thanks for putting yourself out there for all of us.
Great T-shirt. I remember the old tdk vhs tapes. As for the band, at least they are giving it a try. They are probably having fun too and that's important. If they keep practicing and work out these issues they'll be much better. At least these guys have a band and are playing for an audience. That's more than I can say for myself at this time 🙂
I died at least 3 times while watching this 😆 partly because I'm sure that GNR have performed like this at least once 😂 At least no fights broke out on stage 🙂
😀😀😀 I knew this people (band or just a group of friends) not personally though, we're the same community. This video has been circulating the internet for over 10 years at least, I think.
You know what I hate the most? As a lead guitarist I work my ass off to learn all the tricky parts and sort out tons of details. I have to work on my sound until I find the right tone for the song. Bass players and drummers usually do some heavy lifting of their own. But then your typical rhythm guitarist comes over, "Nah, man. I'll just strum through some cowboy chords." And some of them are really heavy-handed, with no dynamics, no nuance, so they stick out like a sore thumb. Why the no-effort attitude? Is it because any fool can play a bunch of chords? I just don't get it. That's exactly what we see in this video as well.
As the Rhythm guitarist I hate when Lead guitarists blow the solo all they got to do is play a few notes you know to maybe Bend some strings? See how dumb that sounds.
This is why I spend as much time on rhythm as much as I do on lead. Studying jazz and loving Keith Richards has taught me you can improv with voicings or different rhythm styles.
i have the opposite problem me a bassist and a drummer will put together a section with really cool chords and get it as tight as we can and then a lead player will show up with an amp that's way too big and improvise some sloppy pentatonic bs over it with WAY too much gain and act like he added something
"I sing and no one else does, so I just get to play whatever I want" These guys are a dime a dozen, only acceptable behavior if their singing chops are great.
The sweet child cover was from some decades ago when there was no internet, no way they knew the lyrics, and if anything, you should give them props for knowing GNR back then. It's from a remote part of North East India
Great video. Musicians really need to record themselves individually and as a band. Listen to yourself playing the songs so that you know whether you can perform a song individually and as a band or not. Doesn't have to be fancy. Just a phone recording during a practice session should be good.
Tambourine player here, love this new series! Especially the respectful way you’re handling it. I searched, but can’t find anyone else who’s doing this. Sometimes you NEED the honest advice of other performing musicians to get to the next level, and the people you know, may not be honest. Merry Christmas!
There are some songs that even seasoned, professional musicians should avoid unless they have a vocalist that really can nail it. This one is a prime example. Non-musicians in the crowd generally are about 90% focused on the vocals, although they can sense when other things are "off" even if the cannot pinpoint exactly what it is. In many cases, a less than perfect performance by the instrumentalists can be saved by great vocals. The most common cover band songs that really require a knockout punch on vocals are of course, Sweet Child O Mine, but also You Shook Me All Night Long, and many Journey songs, though Journey can often be handled by a competent singer by taking the key down a half or whole step. Still won't sound like Steve Perry but can be acceptable. I guess my main points are: A.) Be aware that people in the crowd notice the vocals more than any other component of the band; and B.) Vocalists should be aware of their limitations and stick to what they can pull off well.
@@michaelmiami Yes he did, you can barely hear it and if you watch you will see him playing it. If you remember like Mike mentioned, the sound engineer only made the bass player louder later when he realised he was too soft
Really liking this series! I appreciate the way you are critiquing these bands, not bashing the individual players, but giving solid advice for improvement. As a fellow guitar player, I can get caught up in my own world, so I am loving all the extra tips and nuances, from stage presence to the importance of sound engineers, etc. Keep em coming!
The whole time I was feeling what James was feeling the first time he jammed with Lars. I bet the singer/rhythm guitarist has a great record collection like Lars did. 😁😁😁
I like this new series, and I think you are handling it very good, being very respectful and still honest and to the point. I still can't help and feel a bit sorry for those kids. My first band was even worse when we were starting around that age, and I'm very happy that neither camera phones nor RU-vid were a thing back then. I wonder if the possibility to end up being embarassed before thousands of people might have a chilling effect on highschool bands these days.
Sound tech and cover band musician here. It's pretty common to put the snake head beside or behind the drums to hide it, especially on a larger 16 or 24 channel analog snake. The guy walking back by the drummer to fix the guitar amp mic was likely checking the patching of the mic to ensure that it got plugged in. This has the feeling of a show that consists of multiple acts and built on entry level or volunteer labor. Patching mistakes easily happen, particularly when there is insufficient time between acts for a line check. Kudos for the quick thinking in grabbing a functioning mic rather than trying to troubleshoot the existing line. The sound tech was smart in that he muted the vox mic while it was being repositioned to the amp, rolled the gain back, then brought it into the mix protecting the PA system and the ears of the audience. Also, big credit is due for managing that boomy midrange feedback, especially in a very acoustically live environment. Also, the bass vocal effect...I can almost promise he's using a voice effect box with an octaver on it to drop to the proper register. It has a very cheap guitar pedal sound to it and is not set to fully wet, further exposing the delay in the digital processor. I've tried similar things when I was starting out. Then I realized that 99% of voice processors suck unless you're really good with the setup of the effects banks and are working with a good PA and great sound tech.
I think one thing that would be cool would be if you did like a JJJacksfilms style of video where you let small cover bands, or just relatively unknown bands submit videos for you so you can critique them. To the best of my knowledge, there really aren't any youtube channels doing that kind of thing. That being said, i love this series. Keep doing what you're doing, brother.
Pointing the microphone between the speakers was a technique used to mic Vox amps during the early Beatles recording sessions (before they switched to Fenders). In that case it made more sense to help tame the inherent brightness of the Vox amps. But for most amps, probably not the best method
Definately a good thing with the review. When a musician (and a band) steps on stage, you had better be practiced, polished and together. If you love your craft, then you love to play AND love to practice and rehearse. If you don't, you can bet the audience will know it.
As soon as i seen the guy cup the mike i couldnt help but laugh and remmeber specture sound studios t shirt/sticker that said "QUIT CUPPING THE DAMMN MIC!!"
I spent a few years as the lead singer in my church band (replacing a not-good chorus), playing with a pair of talented jazz musicians (drums & piano). I'd been playing guitar for almost 20 years when I started, but having played entirely on my own, and never having lessons, it was difficult for me to play with a band, especially when they were expecting me to be the band leader. Vocally, no problem, but getting the guitar to work was a STRUGGLE. As such, I have some advice on how to approach a situation like this. First off, it's important to be able to admit your limitations, and not get down about them. There were plenty of times when I just could not figure out how to get comfortable with a guitar part (especially since I was often adapting piano arrangements, while the pianist took a jazzy improv approach), and I would simply make the decision not to play for a song, or to only play guitar during particular sections. My bandmates were very supportive of my playing, and would sometimes argue with me to keep giving it a try, but I stuck to my guns and did what I felt was best for the song. If the guitar was getting in the way of me being able to confidently sing the song, then the guitar went back on the stand until the next song. Simple as that. What doesn't work is what we saw here, where he was coming in and out not with distinct section changes, but haphazardly in the middle of sections. Either play or don't. Both are valid, but you have to have the confidence to choose and stick with it. If you're going to be in-and-out during the song, do it with purpose. Building on that point - and this is something that I think a lot of musicians should hear - it's okay to play something different from the original recording. What matters is that the BAND sounds good. Listen to what your bandmates are playing and tailor your part to fit theirs. That's especially important if you are less experienced/comfortable than those around you. Listen to what they're doing, and feel out what you can do that will ADD to what's already there. In this case, where the rhythm guitar isn't going to be a driving presence (with the drums & bass carrying the song's momentum), a nice approach would have been to focus on more selective big hits, and letting the chords sustain, rather than clumsily strumming through them. That would let the arrangement breathe a bit more, while still adding that dynamic texture to the chorus. Then for the outro section, where you want to build the intensity, maybe go to power chords and a straight 8ths driving rhythm. Keep a steady attack and let the drums & bass do the accents and subdivisions. Dynamically this song and many others work just fine with drums, bass, and lead fills in the verses (and the post-chorus solos, which are the same thing), so it's totally fine to drop out entirely for those sections. Like I'd said above, though, you've got to COMMIT to not playing just as much as you commit to playing. Lastly, and you touched upon this, trust the microphone to do its job! As a singer who has also done some amateur audio engineering I cannot stress this enough. Think of how you'd sing a cappella in your bedroom, and do that straight into the mic from about an inch away. I would always tell people who oversang that they weren't singing to the room; they were singing to the microphone that's right in front of their face. Don't push, don't yell, and certainly don't grab the dang thing. Just sing to the microphone and trust that it will amplify your voice, even if you don't hear it. I actually had the experience just this week of playing an open mic I hadn't been to before, hearing the people before me sounding well balanced, then getting on stage and discovering that while there was a guitar amp behind me, there was no vocal monitor at all. So, while I was bathing in the sound of my guitar, I could barely hear my voice. I didn't try to compensate, though. I just listened where I could to catch that I was in tune, and sang using my normal voice, the same as I would unplugged in my living room. And you know what happened? I got compliments from a whole bunch of people, including the organizer who set the levels, on how good my voice sounded. I trusted the mic, and it did its job, even if I couldn't hear it. That's why we practice how we play, and play how we practice. Get the reps in the right way, and you can play through any situation.
They are from my state... its a beat contest many years ago, if you know that area or district they are trying their best i hope, its fun to watched although.... not only you pointed out whats is going wrong there. you suggests how to improved their performance... this is great....
Anyone saying that you’re making fun of these bands is way off base. First, these videos are available to the general public as they have been posted on the internet for anyone to see, these are not private videos. Second, since these videos were made public, it’s fair to say that the people involved are aware of the nature of the internet and the criticisms they may receive. Third, nothing that you have said is untrue about these bands. We all have ears including the band members themselves and can hear the issues that you’ve pointed out with these bands. Not once have you made fun of any of these bands. Simply pointed out the obvious. I really enjoy these kinds of videos because it really helps us musicians understand what we do better and makes us more aware of things we might not be focusing on when it comes to playing and performing. There’s certainly been times during my tenure as a musician that I’ve been the one who is holding back the band for one reason or another and I certainly would have liked it if someone had been willing to tell me straight about the things I could have done to improve. But I had to learn the hard way by critiquing myself by watching my performances. Keep up the great work and thank you for bringing us this series!
Sometimes it's hard for musicians to understand what it takes to vibe with others. It's easy for some musicians with the experience and a breadth of styles, but for others it takes time together making mistakes then adjusting. Liking the series.
I noticed that a lot of people here are either angry at you for making fun of a band or upset that you're not making fun of them hard enough. I'm not sure if they get the point of the video... I love this series and your respectful, open-minded approach to pointing out a band's mistakes (which I'm sure other amateur bands make all the time). I've never played in a band (not yet, at least), but even I feel like I'm learning something from these videos. Please do more of these!
I'm digging this new series, man. There's definitely entertainment value. I mean, everyone likes seeing a train wreck, and it literally sounded like someone was strangling a cat when the singer came in. But there's educational value, too, which is awesome. If I may be so bold, I'd like to see you feature a really good cover band in a future video and just highlight what they're doing right, and things they could improve on. I would also like to see (and maybe this is the same as my first suggestion) your current band in a future video. Anyway, keep up the great work!
This whole idea for this is some pretty crucial guitar teacher wisdom, especially if that teacher has some success in gigging bands. Generally, this is where the student is pointing themselves, toward gigs, so they need to hear it. Honestly, I think there's quite a lot of "don't do that, do this" which can take a given band up several notches (to better gigs) with really minimal extra labor on the band's part. So let that sooth any burning, if the advice is relevant and easy enough to take, it's probably going to put more money and better outcomes in your pocket.
Sometimes, our band plays a game called Kamikaze Karaoke with our audience. An audience member gets up with the band and tries to sing a song with us. Thing is, they think the stage sound is the same of FOH. The look on their face is priceless when the song they can do so well with a recording suddenly gets much harder when they're with a real band.
Lol! That's a great lesson. VERY different on stage, with live musicians. I never played in a band, but started going to open mike blues nights. The first few times were 100% horrible, humiliating and terrifying! That said, everyone there was so supportive and encouraging that I was able to keep trying.
His voice sounds similar to mine when I'm trying to imitate Axel Rose while messing around. Towards the end it actually kind of reminded me of Axel Rose
I've been a working musician for a long time. Before most of you were born. A lot of you will not even see or read this post. But let me tell you what you absolutely need to start a GOOD band. A GOOD drummer and a GOOD bass player. EVERYTHING ELSE is playing to THEIR GROOVE. IF EITHER ONE of those two instruments is sub par, THE WHOLE BAND is sub par. The drums (drummer) and bass (bassist) ARE THEE - not misspelled - THEE foundation of EVERY band. EVERYTHING ELSE is built on that foundation. You can have a VERY GOOD SINGER, GUITARIST, KEYS, whatever ... but THEY WILL SOUND SUB PAR if the drums AND/OR bass is sub par. Having a sub par drummer or bassist WILL BRING THE ENTIRE BAND DOWN no matter HOW GOOD the singer, no matter HOW GOOD the guitar, no matter HOW GOOD the keys.
Love this analysis, and it's not even close to mean spirited at all. It's a very balanced review of the rights and wrongs. I mean, we ALL have shows that go wrong, so it's very helpful for this kind of video. I don't know how anyone could draw anything mean out of this. As musicians, we have to put that kind of ego aside if we're going to improve. We have to be open to criticism, and to taking advice about things that go wrong. It's not mean, it's productive. There's a reason we have the term 'constructive criticism' and this analysis is a perfect example of that. I feel like the amp mic problem went as follows. Tech and assistant. Tech knew the problem, and overestimated his assistant. Probably told him 'go fix that', and pointed on stage, but assistant went past the amp and to the drums. Tech figured out is it was the mic, did a quick check, then told assistant to swap. Then assistant did a sloppy swap. The cables weren't wrapped to the stand, so he really should've just grabbed the mic and cable, and put them in the mic stand by the amp. No need to drag the stand with you.
really enjoy this series please make more! Although it is funny/embarassing/etc it is also quite humbling for people to see how it's really harder than the professionals make it seem and everyone has to start somewhere. Your commentary is also very respectful and constructive
It is positive criticism so its all good. You can post a video of cute dog and still get negative comments, just ignore them. We know you are your own worst critic. All these bands would love to listen to your comments as sometimes they simply don't have an expert like yourself coaching them.
Being a sound engineer and working with starting bands many things they did would drive me nuts. Of course bad equipment quality is always a struggle. Important to always do sound check to make sure all mics and cords are functioning properly. Good points made and appreciated the positive vibes. Love to encourage all starting musicians and keep the music alive ❤
I remember playing New Years Eve and a local ambulance and fire station was sounding out of my amp all night at a really loud volume on stage every time they had an emergency! Nothing we could do so we just did the gig.
