JHubbard

I found the chart quite useful and interesting as a matter of fact. Blues is a recognized music form, believe. Especially here, in the south. In fact, it's probably more recognized here than anywhere else. I see what you're trying to say....But I'm adding that if you ask a bluesman what blues is all about...he'll tell you....it's telling a story...any story, even if it's not yours to tell....will feeling. You can't fake it. As easy as it is to play blues, not everyone is suited to. Our guitarist is a phenomenal artist, but he can't play blues to save his life. It's not that he doesn't have proper technique or whatever you'd like to call it. It's not that he doesn't know the theory. He's just not a blues player. That's the only point I was trying to make.

I believe so

I usually just use a decent condenser between the snare and hats. Depending on the sensitivity of the mic, it'll sometimes pick up other drums, but isolation's not a big deal to me, as long as you have a full sound and nothing's too overbearing. The really simple way to go is to get a high-end electric set. Samples are always getting better and the Yamaha electric set I bought a couple of months ago is amazing. Only problem is, they're really expensive....

The entire fill there is made up of hurricas with the last phrase being a sixteenth note triplet followed by an eighth note on the snare. A hurrica is drummer slang for two thirty-second notes followed by two sixteenth notes. Go to vicfirth.com and look up the rudiments. Practice those. Those are essentially the equivalent of scales for guitarists and bassists....just on drums. It's a list of the most basic and essential strokes you'll use as a drummer.

Not to be offensive, but it looks like a fraud to me. I've never heard of anyone paying to have their songs pitched. And also, just because you got somebody's song heard doesn't mean you're entitled to anything. You're not a manager or a booking agent. And you have no legal rights to the music. Why should you get a percentage of the royalties?

Eh...I went through a period of excessively using differing types of drugs a couple of years ago to try to cope with depression (don't try it)....now when I look back at the lyrics I wrote during that time period....it's almost hilarious because I have no idea what I was writing about. Sometimes I can feel the thread of where I was trying to go with a particular piece, but I can never understand all of it. I also have a habit of writing something down before I go to sleep and waking up and reading what I had written down...clueless as to what it's about until it'll eventually click and I'll understand it. Or sometimes I'll write something in a certain frame of mind and come back to it in a completely different state wondering what the hell I was thinking. Don't worry....you're completely sane. I think

Heh...here's an edge I might have in explaining some parts of blues....I'm from Mississippi, where it all started. In fact, Greenville is about 45 minutes away from my house. When someone writes a blues song, there pretty much telling a story in musical context. Listen to the lyrics of most blues songwriters and you'll see that there's almost always an underlying story. Sometimes they're fictional, sometimes they're based on part of the writer's life. I've got a blues song called "There Stands a Girl" that's written from the perspective of an older man watching a young girl throw her life away due to poverty and being an orphan. She turns to prostitution to make money and the old man tries to show her a better way to go about things, but she won't listen. Anyway....the theory behind blues music is so simple...yet so complex. It's because of the freedom the style offers as far as composing goes, thanks to using passing tones. You don't necessarily have to stick to everything that's ordered in the world of music theory to write a blues song or solo. If it's done tastefully, a blues player can throw in notes that may be completely out of key, but they fit because of the "soul" in the music and because they're used as passing tones from note to note. It's hard to explain, but easy to understand. It's also very easy to play blues solos, as they're based on pentatonics...just make sure you're playing with feeling if you ever play in front of a real bluesman or he'll frown upon your music . Watch the movie Crossroads if you've never seen it. It features Steve Vai and it explains blues in a fun way.

I usually add melodies last. This is because I write on an acoustic, then record the riff and write lyrics to it. Then, after all that's done, I'll go back and fit a melody (or melodies) to the music and vocals. Most musicians tend to write unadventerous melodies because they haven't quite learned to think outside of the box yet. But then again, it all depends on what you consider normal or unadventerous. I have a strong Latin influence on guitar, so something that's normal to me may be completely mind-blowing to other guitarists. It works the other way around as well. For example, my band's guitarist has a lot of jazz influences and he'll throw in passing tones that would usually sound VERY out of place, but they work. I use your approach a lot if I'm writing with someone else, though. A friend of mine may pick up a guitar and start playing a progression and I'll start picking out a melody to it and we'll jam that idea out, sometimes for hours, until we're convinced we've explored every possible road in that particular progression.

Benjamin Burnley of Breaking Benjamin Matt Tuck of Bullet for my Valentine Mark Tremonti of Creed/Alter Bridge David Draiman of Disturbed Brandon Boyd of Incubus Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage Chester Bennington of Linkin Park Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park/Fort Minor These are just a handful of my influences. I'm more into modern music than classic (don't get me wrong, I love the classics...modern writers just seem to have more of an edge to their lyrics). I usually look for deep meanings in lyrics with darker tones. The only real exception to that is Incubus...I just really admire Brandon Boyd's play on words sometimes and he writes very unique lyrics.

It's not a stupid question at all. It seems like you may not be changing keys, but tonal centers. There's a difference. You can stay in say, C Major, but play a lead over it starting on E, which would be the third scale degree...or phrygian. The theory behind music isn't quite as complicated as many make it out to be...at least basic theory isn't. You can buy a book called Pocket Music Theory at most major bookstores for about $5 and it's got the same information as the book I used in my freshman year in college. If you can get a basic grip on theory, many doors will open for you. Especially when it comes to adding other instruments or solos. You can try musictheory.net for some free info that's pretty comprehensive. It all depends on personal preference. Most drummers prefer to lay their tracks down after the guitarist. While the guitar part for a song may be unchanging but for the solo, most drummers play fills off the cuff and it's more comfortable to play to backing track than just a click track. I understand what you mean by using a basic pattern though...it's basically the same as guitarists using a click track while in the studio. Most bassists I've met (forgive the generalization) don't seem to have the absolute best sense of timing, so they tend to wait until the drummer has finished his/her tracks. It's all fine to record your own way when you're working alone, just don't expect the same thing when you're working with other people.