The Silly Guitarist

I think most of us are totally tired of the egomaniacal lead guitarist. You know the type-they are often the last to arrive, insist on cranking up their amp even in a cramped space and yell at the vocalist for not being loud enough, then telling the sound people that they are idiots when they start getting feedback because the guitarist keeps getting his turned to eleven guitar too close to the microphones. They insist on playing songs totally note for note perfect and put down everyone who doesn't have every solo by their fave band memorized. This person's total opposite--the silly guitarist--is a joy to play with. This person can be relied upon to cut everyone all sorts of slack, provide comic relief when needed, and makes songwriting a breeze. Here are a few things you can try if you'd like to be this sort of musician, but I'm sure you can think of a few others.

KNOW YOUR MUSIC UNTIL YOU CAN DO IT ASLEEP

Like the egomaniac, a silly guitarist should be an expert instrumentalist. You should be the one people can rely on to be there for practices, because, even if everyone else shows up, you are the one that can just grab an acoustic and still pull off the gig. If you know your stuff, too, if the singer has a cold, you can be the one to save the day by being able to play the music in a different key and stand next to the bass player or keyboardist so they can tell what the new chord is if they aren't as good at translation as you are. You, too, are probably the person who may be coming up with the cool riffs that everyone else can jam to so the vocalist can come up with the words and melody that will put your band on the map. Rather than see this as an opportunity to be the ultimate bully, see it as the excuse for you to be the band's superhero that will get them through any difficulty. It mostly depends, though, if you can be the one they can turn to, and that means you need to at least do your part. That means, of course, practice, practice, practice and learn everything you can about your craft.

LEARN SOUND EFFECTS

I can't tell you how many times I've seen a rock crowd go totally wild over the guitarist that can make their beastie sound like, well, a beastie. Making animal noises, making noises of strange machinery, vehicles or even bird calls will lighten up a crowd every time. If you can do this within numbers or when there are technical delays, you can really help set a happy tone for what may otherwise be a long and boring wait. Coordinating this with other band members and getting them into the act, too, can also be a blast, and really cut the tedium of the drummer having to replace a shattered cymbal or the vocalist get a new set of batteries for their microphone. Have fun playing with slides, your whammy bar, string bends and Ebows or your effects and experiment. I was able to get some pretty good birdcalls by plucking and bending strings behind the locking nut. Get an album of them from the library or the Internet, and try being silly with them until you have an entire arsenal at your disposal. I've seen a lot of bands work these into albums, and some guitarists come away with local guitar wars prizes using attention-getters like these. Motorcycle and Jet noises are pretty easy-you can find out how to do these from many basic instructional books. Start with these, and see what variations you can create on your own.

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