Bob is the best #2 in the business. The Netflix doc “The Other One” about his life spends some time, obviously, on his unique rhythm style. Sammy Hagar of all people provides some nice insight into Bob’s style.
Love this, thank you. More "In the mind of Bobby" please!!! I have been trying to deconstruct/reconstruct what he does for a long time and this is so helpful...
I love this. He is truly one of the most underrated guitarists of all time. Kind of like how Lhotse mountain is slightly ignored because it's under the shadow of Everest
I’m 51 years old. I’ve had an acoustic around since I was in my twenties and it ended up being a decoration for 30 years. I’ve recently fallen in love with a real attempt to learn. Others channels have taught me a few songs, but you and yours is teaching me how to PLAY. I’m sticking with you for all my theory. I particularly like the “Inside the mind of” vids. Thank you for what you do on this channel.
I can totally relate! I'm about the same age and played off and on for the same amount of time. I'm a longtime Dead fan and came across Stich recently. This guy knows how to teach. Man, what I would have given to have a teacher like him when I was 15.
You had me at Hello. Thanks for this. I think what you are doing is very important, because having fun is the most important thing. I don't want to sound like Bobby, I want to learn from him and sound like ME.
been 'studying' Bobby's music for a couple years now. He has a very unique approach and super fun. Please do more In the Mind of Bobby! Thanks for this it's excellent.
Great stuff. Yet another invaluable lesson for any discerning Dead Head. Thanks, stitch. You have taught me more about guitar than any other teacher on here, and I can’t thank you enough.
Very cool. There's not nearly enough attention given to the technical mastery and creative weirdness that is Bob Weir. IMHO he's the most underrated guitar player in rock and roll. He (and Phil) opened up the GD to a massively wide range of modal space for Jerry to shine over. Any other rhythm player would have kept the music dull and stiff.
Fantastic job on This! I love Bob's style and approach to his playing. When you really understand his playing you realize how intrical his playing was for their sound....a lot of parts that people assume is Jerry is actually Bobby. Studying his style and approach will really open up your understanding of the fret board. You are right...it's better to learn his concepts than try to play note for note. I love this video! Please do more!
So good. Please give us more “In the mind of Bobby’s”!!! Love your encouragement to go for the feel and not the notes. (Tho super helpful guidance on the notes, too!)
I started watching Bob do this in 1965 -- sometimes (like at the panhandle or at Speedway Meadow, when they were on a rented flatbed truck) when there were as few as 12 of us there. Always fascinated that Bob just didn't strum chords like every other rhythm player. What you are showing us is absolutely true and I'm so glad to see some one point this out. Besides: WMOITMD is the essential Dead tune for me. (And the last Dead show I was at was The Rio Nido Ballroom in 1967. Again, when there were only about 2 dozen people in attendance. The whole hippie scene had taken on a scary dark side. Coincidence that they told me they were beginning to work on Dark Star at the ranch up the road right then? I still said no to the whole thing and walked away.)
I used to love listening to Bob’s various activities. Back in the late 60s/early 70s he would drop in to the Inn of the Beginning in Cotati, Ca on Wednesday nights and play and sing with the New Riders of the Purple Sage with Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar. I never missed a Wednesday night. Bob appeared to have some pretty long fingers! Thanks for posting another excellent lesson!
Thanks Stich! I learned a new way to play a sus2. I used to work with a guy that always said rhythm guitar is so boring to play. I always replied back - "Have you ever listened to Bob Weir?" There are lots of "best" and "favorite" guitar players, but only one comes to mind as my favorite rhythm guitarist. That would be The Other One himself. Please more.
When I play Dead songs - which is often and over many years - I'm playing the rhythm, natch. Learning even a little of Bob's technique can only up my game. Thanks!
I took my first ever guitar lessons (Folk Guitar) when I was 11 yo in the summer of 1965 from Bob at Dana Morgan Music on Ramona in Palo Alto. Thank you for your great video instruction of the kind of rhythm guitar Bob Weir played with the Dead; your teaching is very informative.
Hah. That's quite a golden memory to have. Bought my Polytone Mini-brute amp at Dana Morgan's way back in the '70's. I remember the local lore about the store - Jerry teaching there for a bit, too.
He sound with the Fender amps and the Gibson semi hollow body guitars was really when he sounded best to these ears. In the late 70s when he went to the Yamaha he began to cross the line. Still sounded good. But then when he switched to the Modulus guitars, his sound really went down hill. Strictly an opinion.
I didn’t know you were being literal when you said he plays scales, like he plays them as one would practice. I can hear that silly “old dirt road” song around 9:40
Thank you so much for this video. It’s fascinating to hear Bobby’s playing broken down, and you totally nail it. It’s such an inventive style that really keeps it interesting for both player and listener. Who says playing rhythm is boring? If you’re bored, you’ve got to up your game and keep yourself entertained! I think it’s important to mention that Bobby’s style of rhythm allows for more space in the music. Can you imagine if he strummed away on full chords with all the different instruments in the Grateful Dead? It would really muddy up the sound. Keep up the great work, Stich!!
There's only one thing more important than the lead guitar and that's the rhythm guitar because good solid rhythm is going to make the lead sound so much better and Bob Weir was a master rhythm player. Angus Young said the reason he could do what he did was because of his brothers solid rhythm that he could skate on top of with his lead and riffs never underestimate what rhythm guitar does to a band sound and the dead were a classic example with Bob's great rhythm.
Thanks! Your videos just keep getting better and better. Great lesson. I paused it after the first minute and just played around with adding seconds for an hour before coming back to watch the rest. So fun.
Bravo. This is absolutely fantastic. You have all those essentials, like the lick you play off the barring on the 5th fret, and also that ascending figure starting on the open D. One thing I also hear sometimes when he’s doing those D-E hammers & trills is a higher G, so maybe it’s something like xxxx35-xxxx55-xxxx35? or maybe it’s done up higher, like xxx710x-xxx910x-xxx710x? Please do the China/Rider transition jam, a La 73-74!🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
Oh,, My,, Wow!!!! I never realized I play a mixture of Jerry and Bobby when I play.... Not that I am nearly as good as either of them but I enjoy trying.
I would go so far as to say that Bob doesn't play "Rhythm Guitar". I don't recall where, but many years ago someone coined it as "Structure Guitar". I like that! What Bob does is so far removed from rhythm guitar, a good analogy would be a pedal steel, and a guitar. While the pedal steel may have it's roots from a guitar, no guitar player could just go up to a pedal steel and play it. Two boards of ten strings in different tunings, pedals, levers, a volume control. The same is true of not only what Bob does, but what he actually invented. Simply put, Bob Weir is a truly amazing and innovating guitar player. Bob actually invented a new form of guitar playing which may have it's roots in rhythm, just as the pedal steel has it's roots in the guitar, but it's by no means rhythm guitar. It's not rhythm, nor is it lead guitar. it's somewhere in-between. Is it 60/40 rhythm to lead? Or is it 40/60? 20/80? or 70/30? It all depends on the song. Listed to the Truckin' jam on Europe '72. That's a lead guitar. On the same album, listen to the jam between I know You Rider and China Cat. That's a Weir structure guitar solo. With Weir bringing this to the table, there now is Rhythm, Structure, and Lead guitar. Who else has done that? No one. Bob is the bomb! 🙂
Thank you! Amazing work distilling your conversation with Rob down into a workable lesson. A big takeaway is that "less is more." My first few rounds on this exercise really has me conscious of sloppily hitting stray notes that muddy that crystal clear Bobby sound - like open A string on the first D chord up high. I'd love to hear about right hand muting next time you talk to him, which I think he touched on. Jaco was big on right hand muting on bass. Very cool video, opened up a lot of fun for me on my new(ish) epiphone 335.
Many rock/pop/Blues guitar players don't know major and minor (triad) and dom 7th chord inversions all over the neck. Weir does know and much of his playing leverages such knowledge. I've never understood why people persist in describing Weir's playing as "weird", simply because he doesn't stick to bashing away at E and A form barre chords. Would you call Jimi's rhythm playing "weird" or Pete Townshend's rhythm style "weird"? They also played rhythm all over the neck!
For years, back before these lessons were more commom, myself and my fellow guitarist friends, would always wonder in awe, what Bobby was Playing! We wanted to know but most could not begin to figure it out properly! After playing for 30 years, and a few of these types of videos, I am finally beginning to get Bob Weir's styke down properly.. Dude knows the fretboard so well, plays lead licks as rythym, and chords all over the neck, with the most beautiful voicings ever, and the partials he plays!!!.. He is an underappreciated guitar genius.. And what an ear!
Really excellent breakdown of how he uses scales to migrate from chord to chord. Your playing and interpretation are excellent and tasteful using your own freedoms . Thank you
idk if its true but i heard Bob was dyslexic growing up and he interperpted the chords backwards. the net result is Bobs sound is unique and truly original
Thanks for this. Boba Loui is very underrated I remember watching a Credence Clear Water reunion at the Fillmore in 97 when I thought they could not be better, Bobby showed up and the music was much better where a second ago I couldn't imagine it so
Thanks for this lesson, hits a lot of information in one place. That's a nice guitar, have you tried flatwounds on the three lower strings? That's a huge part of the Bob Weir tone.
I must of watched this lesson for the tenth time but I can only “like” it once. There isn’t enough said about great rythme players. When playing with multiple guitarists around the campfire waiting for your turn to play the mandatory pentatonic 🙄 solo and feeling like a snob when wiping out a Mixo/Dorian solo at least I can feel good about playing an interesting rhythm part that people will like without stepping on the soloist. Please more Bob Weir lessons!! Good rhythm players are more appreciated than soloists.
Ian - Gonna say this, being a musician for 61 years now. Any Instructor that tells the students, 'learn the concept / idea / progression, then "just hop around and have fun" is 2 things: 1) A preeminent Instructor AND, 2) A 'real' musician them self. Thanks.
That’s the Weir Signature Series. When this guitar is set at the bridge pickup, all tones at 7, it is the best tone Bob ever got from a guitar. In my opinion. What a great place to start teaching from.
Would anyone happen to know what the guitar brand is that Bob Weir played in the 80s? I'm referring to the black one with lockdowns and what looks like an X on the headstock with letters that follow. I can never seem to get a good look at it when I'm watching Grateful Dead videos or concerts.
Your playing is so beautiful. This is a great lesson. There is a wonderful documentary on Bob Weir where he talks about his playing. Bob Weir and John Lennon were very inventive rhythm players.
When I listen to the Dead, I always listen for Bob. Used to be that he was lost in the mix and too drowned out to hear. I've watched and heard him make a lot of (to me) mistakes, but he has played things that bust my head open like a cantaloupe -- so fitting for the moment and complimentary of the song, Jerry, and the rest of the band. There have been times he and Jerry seemed like they were both taking the lead, playing and sounding differently, yet playing as two sides of the same brain. And I love when Bob took the lead, doing just some of the things you demonstrated. Great insight into an extraordinary musical mind.
Great lesson Stich! You are the true master of showing how to really feel n play the music of the Grateful Dead! Your love of the band shines through !
Great lesson! I love this hybrid rythym/lead/chord/scale style. I'm pretty comfortable playing in the "Hendrix" style and this is very similar. Thank you for this lesson, it's like one of those rosetta stone ones that's the key to an entire concept. Love it man!
Way back when, when Bobby was “fired” from the band, along with Pig, He (Mr. Weir) studied McCoy Tyner albums. He talks about it on the doc (I think it’s called The Other One). I’ve seen McCoy play multiple times, it was good choice.
@@stefanierichardson8716 Yes! Very polyrhythmic playing by Bobby. It worked well with the Dead’s dual drummers, and Phil, and gave Jerry lots of freedom in his solos. Playing in/with the band!
@@ericmintz6689 one of the other cool things he said in the documentary was that he felt it was his job to figure out where Jerry was going and then to get there right before him with a few surprises.
Thank you... This is EXTREMELY useful! If you could do more of these Bob Weir videos that would be incredible! Maybe playing in the band, estimated, eyes, or...anything really! Or ....possibly not even limited the one song but maybe take Bob's technique from different jams from different songs and kind of explain and demonstrate his technique and chord voicings from said jams😉. Subbed and hoping for more like this!🤗
I've been the singer-songwriter and fronted or co- fronted nearly every band I've been in. After many years of that I decided it was time to really learn to play lead. You're the one that I've found that's helped me the most with that. In a 3 piece for the first time and still have some issues with switching from my rythm to lead without making the song feel like there's a sudden sonic hole. This has got me thinking about how I can do both without losing some of the song's momentum. Another great video!
That's always a problem in a trio when there's nothing to "fill up" the sonic hole of the rhythm dropping out. This kind of approach shown here can work, playing more triad imbelishments arpeggios etc. Also how tight is your rhythm section? There are things they can do like more cymbals in the bare sections etc. Lastly, and this can be hard to do with a band unless the other guys are totally with you, but a looper can be used, very carefully of course, but to great effect in these kind of situations. Like I say tho if you go that route make sure the drummer especially can hear your loop playback and play along with it cause once recorded it can no longer play along with him 😆. Good luck and have fun.
Man !! That was awesome. I have ben playing guitar about six years and I this by far is the best lesson I ever seen. I know it's going to bring my playing up. Thank you kindly Stitch.
Some years ago I commented on Weir's great rhythm on Morning Dew in an online review of the first album. Hendrix did some similar chord embellishments. Thanks so much for this.
I met BOB weir at KINGS Castle in RENO Nevada his great band kingfish i loved them. David tourburt NRPS bass player n singing with such in the pocket bass lines i was into NRPS AT 14 MY BROTHERS BAND SPYDER KELLY THE ORIGINAL ONE FROM SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA BOB WAS THE NICEST ICONIC STAR I HAVE EVER MET HE LET ME JAM IN THE HOTEL AT KING'S RESORT THANKS BOB YOUR INSPIRATION DID A LOT IAM A PROFESSIONAL SINGER SONGWRITER DONE LOTS OF STUFF IN NASHVILLE SOUNDEMPORUM MATT ANDREWS A KILLER PROUDUCER I AM PLAYING A BIT OF LOTS OF STUFF BLUES ROCK ACID JAZZ CLASSIC RYTHYM I GOT GOOD SO THAY SAY
Thank you for your love and support ❤ towards me I hope you won't stop liking my inspirations. Hope to get some good compliments from you again. Have you ever been to any of my concerts?
Wow Ian’ that’s for this juicery nugget. . I thought I had made a little growth in jerry one you did. Learned a bunch but couldn’t exexcutr but think Bobby playing looks like the direction I want to be learning. So bit by bit I’ll go with a master teacher! I rock?
Thank you for your love and support ❤ towards me I hope you won't stop liking my inspirations. Hope to get some good compliments from you again. Have you ever been to any of my concerts?
