Small Things That Make All The Difference

[@samuraiguitarist]

Free D'addario giveaway here! kingsumo.com/g/ekgjcf/samurai-guitarists-daddario-giveaway

[@MrLogo1002]

Hi Sammy G! have a good day :D

[@14rnr]

May I ask a question please?

[@Oleg_K.]

This right here is the best type of video you do. This stuff is exactly why I subscribed years ago. Carry on, Samurai.

[@NBrixH]

Well, he's done it almost exactly the same like twice before.

[@1mdlmusic]

Totally agree with your last tip. I can vividly recall when I was gigging as a solo performer during the holidays. On one of my breaks, I snuck into two ballrooms where private parties were being held. In the first room was a four-piece band (guitar, bass, drums, keyboard) of four excellent musicians. Each one played his instrument superbly, but they didn’t play as a band. Each member was “showing off” in every song. I went into the next ballroom where the same band configuration was onstage, but the level of musicianship was definitely less. However, the musicians all listened to each other and played the parts that the songs needed to sound good. The audiences could feel the difference. In the first room, nobody danced and stayed seated at their tables. In the second room, everybody was dancing and enjoying themselves.

[@StarQueenEstrella]

2:58 another thing to consider is if, like me, you have an allergy to nickel. Most electric guitar strings are made using either nickel-plated steel or pure nickel. Fortunately there are some nickel-free options on the market: D’Addario have their ProSteels, Ernie Ball have their Cobalt Slinky, M-Steel, and stainless steel options, and Rotosound have their British Steels. (As you can see, this does usually mean you’ll have to use stainless steel strings but I would much rather have that than have my fingers blow up like a balloon and turn red every time I play my electric guitars.)

[@grene1955]

I've been playing in rock bands for 50 years, and there is a TON of great advice and tips here! Well done!

[@nathanmantle377]

Regarding the string bending practice, what I used to do was plug into my tuner, find a note, make sure that the note is in-tune before I bend, and then I'd check my bends against the tuner. Eventually, one develops an ear for it, but in the early stages it did wonders for improving my bends. Actually, I remember performing with one of the ensembles I was in at Humber (I'm a Humber grad like you!) and in the adjudication, one of the comments from the adjudicators was "bends sound amazing, perfectly in-tune" 🤷‍♂ so, you know, I guess my method worked. To be fair, I'm not sure any other positive statements were made about my performance 🤔 haha

[@DanielBrophyMusic]

Re: "Strong Entrances": when we're talking 3-4 hour long bar gigs, the energy can ebb and flow multiple times over the course of that time. Agreed, it's good to start strong. But I've had shows where the most hyped up, energetic times are randomly like mid-way through, or towards the end. Set list building and flexibility are key. There's been times when we've played most of our bangers to a decent room, but then a busload of partygoers shows up. And likewise, have played some of our best dance tunes to a mostly empty room at the end of the night. The best nights are when the place starts filling just as you are digging into your best material. Slowly phasing out the songs that get less crowd appeal and replacing with ones that do. More seasoned bands with established followings do not have this issue much, if at all, of course. Anyhoo, good stuff, Sammy!

[@nayrained]

"Serve the song" has been my go-to mantra for a while and me and my band got some very nice, emotional tunes thanks of that. Never neglect the sentence!!

[@PopLadd]

That reviewing tip is something I kinda discovered on my own, not just with guitar, but with every other skill that requires dexterity. Something about setting it aside for a week or more really helps solidify it in your brain for some reason. When I reached my skill plateau in Beat Saber I set the game aside for a couple months, and when I finally came back to it I was suddenly annihilating all my old high scores. Brains are weird.

[@BigTexGuitarz]

The learning something and then coming back to it a few weeks later or even a couple months later really does do wonders. I kinda picked up on it early on and always make it a point to revisit things I haven’t played in a while to see if I can play it better or with more style

[@rumblehat4357]

I tell anyone who will listen how learning is not linear. There have been songs that I simply could not learn to play. Went back a month later and it was easy. No idea why.

[@reaganharder1480]

I've never deliberately used this with guitar, but i used to be involved in a competitive memorization thing and it is absolutely true, reviewing right as your brain is starting to forget is a cheat code for long term memory.

[@rafter_man]

I started playing again after a 15 year hiatus and I was surprised how many riffs I remembered after noodling around a while

[@jtfritchie]

There actually is science behind spaced review. Great seeing you talk about this for guitar learning

[@Ryanonline1]

Regarding the advice on shortening the intros, the best way I ever heard it put was "a piece of art is not finished when nothing else can be added, but when nothing else can be taken away." Great advice!

[@Fedethedangerous95]

as a lifting enthusiast, I feel the stretching advice is pretty spot on. Also, one can never put too much care into bendings, but it should be noted (heh, notes) that if you play the bent note together with the "target note" on another string, on a guitar with a tremolo bridge or some other stuff, that's not gonna work. The "cutoff" was a really nice pointer to be more aware about something we all do without really thinking into it

[@3rdalbum]

Thanks for the advice about the tremolo bridge, I didn't think about that.

[@Fedethedangerous95]

@@3rdalbum I think it could help if you added a spring or two to the back of the bridge, unscrewing the plate to compensate for the extra tension. A friend of mine, with this method, improved the "firmness" of his tremolo

[@mikecorey8370]

Good advice on the wrist issues.

[@nicholascrow8133]

The best advice I give beginners/people interested in learning is to keep their guitar out of the case/closet for that exact reason, a guitar left out simply gets played more, not only for lack of effort getting it from its case, but having it sitting there in plain sight often prompts a quick strum when you might not normally be thinking about it. But yes, I also keep my good acoustic in the case with a humidipak but also have an older (actually same brand/tier) guitar on my rack by my chair to play at a whim.

[@3rdalbum]

I've actually been thinking of buying a Telecaster knockoff from Temu. Ever since I was a kid I always wanted a sea green tele, and I figure I could put it on display in my house as a conversation piece. Of course, it'll be super easy to pick up and play, and because it's a Temu one it doesn't matter if it gets scratched or becomes the victim of humidity.

[@nicholascrow8133]

@@3rdalbum Electric guitars are less prone to humidity issues, you'll be fine with a real tele. Just grab a player one or even a squier. Don't buy of temu, you'll regret it for a bunch of reasons...

[@rumblehat4357]

I would like to add that one should also play a lot of acoustic guitar. Especially play tough riffs (maybe AC/DC, etc.,) because if you can play those riffs cleanly on a high action acoustic, not only can you play them much more easily on an electric, but playing the acoustic a lot will make your fingers strong.

[@larrytrusty4770]

I used the daddario string finger and it says "your style is truly unique. It appears we don't have a set that matches your preferences" 😂

[@LonkinPork]

Some might even say it's about.... All The Small Things

[@mybestfriendisamonkey173]

I've learned as I age,sadly I just turned 53, before I play I try to run through some scales and stretch my fingers and out along the fretboard across several frets. It helps loosen up a little so I'm more fluid. Love your tip vids.

[@mark.guitar]

A great big bunch of important small things. Thankyou, and Seasons Greetings!

[@monkehm]

The advice about reviewing yourself is pretty huge, it's called space repetition. Your brain has 2 very distinct spaces that it will store memories, one space for short-term and one space for long-term, but it can be very difficult to consciously put things into long-term memory. the shortcut to doing so is to allow yourself to partially forget something.l and then re-learn it, that triggers the functions in your brain to explicitly put something in long-term memory where the actual neurological connections our brain is making are stronger and last longer. It's like telling your brain "No no, don't set this aside within a few days, put this in in the filing cabinet so we can keep it forever". There's some really good information about this if you look into spaced repetition techniques for things like language learning or memorizing information for school.

[@matcoffidis1135]

You know, I'm gonna try out those wrist exercises. I'm starting to feel the fatigue latley since entering my 40's two years ago. Thanks....✌️

[@danieljennings6144]

I put a part guitar together today. Well finished it. And i put 10-52 on and realized ive never used them before. I like them to

[@nicholascrow8133]

As for point three, when I was reading up on memory techniques, the concept was to put a list into your memory, revise it the next day, in one week, then in one month, then it should be in your long term memory (as long as the technique you used for the list was solid) so there is some science behind this

[@matthewpritchard6109]

Serve the song! That is absolutely the most important thing for any performance. I've said to my bands in the past, "Who is the most important person in the band? None of us. The song is the most important person in the band. And we don't do what WE need; we have to do what the song needs." Plus also, the best sounding bands know the starts and ends of their songs; no negotiating. They start - boom! - the stop - bang! And if there's a f-up in the middle, well, most people forget about it within seconds. But painful inescure beginnings, or limping, fading endings - big sign of an amateur band.

[@MattWer]

This is one of the best tips videos i saw this year, thank you sensei!!!

[@franciscomartin4381]

So useful. Thanks!

[@TheBoyjah]

Great info AND 侍ギタリスト(Samurai Guitarist) shirt! WooHoo!

[@taylorthemusicteacher]

I keep my pinky anchored (see: in contact, not pressed) to the body of my guitar when I’m picking individual notes - it helps me with my placement and also with actually keeping the guitar in place. I generally don’t do it with acoustic, though.

[@BRLaue]

Posting, (anchoring) is a useful technique but should be avoided until you have perfected whatever up/ down picking method you choose.

[@AnWe79]

Great advice! Just a minor point on the bending/vibrato thing (and this is highly subjective); I'd advice against trying to hide pitch flaws with vibrato, as that might create bad habits that are hard to unlearn. I don't remember who said this (and I'm paraphrasing badly): You should only add vibrato on the notes that really need/deserve it. I think it was one of the old blues legends, but not sure. (Side note, bends to a blue note can be very tasty, but it's mostly obvious when it's deliberate or not.) Also, Old man shouting at clouds: Don't get me started on the neck vibrato thing. Has it's limited place for sure, but please not on every lick/riff in every video... (Not applicable for you I think, but seems like a KZbin guitarist plague) All that said, I'm not a pro, and it's just my 2 ¢, take it for what it's worth...

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

I've been in this weird place since I started on guitar because of a few different circumstances (had already played a different instrument and written my own songs for years, not quite perfect pitch but close, plus I have an unusual learning style) that means some of these ideas and techniques that are supposed to be advanced come so naturally I barely need to practice, but other things that should be fairly low-level techniques can be real struggles. It can be a little bit frustrating 'cause when I'm trying to look for in-depth advice on what and how to practice I tend to find far more videos on things I already know compared to the stuff I could actually use a little help with.

[@turdferguson83]

My guitars are always in the case in winter with humidipak units in each. It’s dry as hell in the winter.

[@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

I wish I was in a place where it's "as dry as hell in winter". I have lived in different countries and it has always been "as damp as hell in winter".

[@S-T-E-V-E]

I believe Pickguards have the same effect on dampening sound!

[@patricktherrien5310]

"All the thumbs, on both hands." Thanks for that. :)

[@timwhite5562]

It takes a while to get used to it, but I started turning to reverb when I practiced. It sounded dull at first, but now I don't even notice it.

[@drwhave]

the case advice is great. i play a lot more since i got wall hangers

[@lbarj]

I have been thinking about the idea of bending in tune. Given that the guitar is such an imperfect instrument when it comes to intonation , maybe players who are able to sweeten the notes and perhaps semi consciously overcome the sometimes micro -tonal offness of the instrument can make it sound more pleasant to the ear.

[@atiostefony3760]

Love the acustic thing! Just today i felt something smiliar. But i don´t agree with the bend´s. Maybe only for Rock and some Blues, but i think you take the soul out of the feel, when you bend so "right". So not always do people need to practice more for perfect pitch bends. Revolution by Spaceman 3 has "wrong" bends but is one of the best Rock cuts ever I think...

[@BeauregardHall]

This is such a great video. Huge kudos for always keeping things simple and accessible. Next up: Playing a Skullkelele.

[@rumblehat4357]

Ive been talking about leaving the guitar out forever. You are right. If you have to get the case, open it, and THEN play it, you won’t do it.

[@SammyRebbo]

I did that D'addario string finder thingy and it recommended me both the D'addario strings that I already use XD

[@MarcCoteMusic]

Some very good info here, Sammy G.

[@honkytonkinson9787]

Sometimes we need someone to tell us something obvious I’m getting older and my hands are starting to hurt and takes a bit to get warmed up to be able to bend strings or vibrato. I tried those stretches and the fingers that hurt definitely need some stretching! I’m already stretching daily for back and neck injuries, so more stretches to do now.

[@Wim37u]

Touching the body can give you something sounding like 2nd order distortion from an acoustic, works best with very light guitars.

[@denverintranslation]

One of the best song intros is Hendrix, Bold as Love. Intro is about 1s

[@scottrussell7659]

Best video I’ve seen for a long time from anybody

[@WijnandN]

For tone, look at gypsy jazz picking technique. The floating right hand hardly ever, if ever, touch the top of the guitar to get the best volume and tone out of your guitar

[@8KilgoreTrout4]

I swear man, Tip 2 is so true!

[@kaidemen156]

This is solid gold, thanks for sharing!

[@mr.nobody68]

Thank GOD for Steve

[@mooreno6378]

Intros to my songs are too long??? I didn't knew I had a song... I've never recorded a full song because when I start to record I can"t even come up with any riffs. Maybe you will do a video about small things that ale holding many of us back in recording our own songs? I would definitely find that very helpful. Cheers!

[@ChrisWoodGuitarist]

brilliant. Very enjoyable video and full is wise words. Nice one.

[@christianajoy]

Thanks, samuraiguitarist, you rock

[@a.andrewhussey6403]

Love the reverse V.🤟👍

[@RobotronSage]

These are all solid pointers ngl

[@tobystoastmusic]

Great video 📹 ❤🎉 Love your stuff

[@nine9whitepony526]

You don't have to buy a D'Addario humidifier. I just drill holes in a soap bar travel box and put a damp sponge in it.

[@Allie-w1l]

I'm planning to buy my first guitar in the new year, and your point about the way touching the guitar body supresses some of the guitar's resonance leaves me with a question: is a guitar with a smaller pick guard more resonant than one with a pick guard that takes up over a third of the front of the body, or are they made of materials that do not affect the tonality of the wood?

[@reaganharder1480]

I expect the pickgaurd will effect the tonality of the wood, but not nearly so much as your hand will.

[@BaddeGrasse]

If you dont play Mathias Krantz' 360° guitar by 2025 i will actually eat a hat, pls

[@jamanjeval]

If just touching the soundboard is so dramatic for the sound of the guitar, imagine how much better it could be if you removed that huge plastic scratch guard stuck to the same soundboard.

[@That__Guy]

My intros are so long, they get their own track number. Added benefit: If you don't like long intros, you can just skip to the meat right away

[@schoontube]

Thanks!

[@BobFrankerino]

since you tried a standberg, you should try some kiesel headless guitars, I prefer the vader, but I could see you as a traditionalist guitarist playing something like the leia, delos headless, zeus, or osiris

[@Wolf_K]

String finder works. I tried it and it suggested the strings I’ve been using for years. 😂

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

That's too bad 'cause I personally love songs with long intros especially in the sort of heavy industrial and prog and metal styles I like to imitate. Many of the bands I listen to go on for two or three minutes before the first word comes in and the feeling of atmosphere building up is often incredible. I don't go for that long but I still like making a deliberate slow burn when I have some specific idea to set the stage for. ...that being said I'd be willing to make shorter versions of my own song intros for a sorta "radio edit" if somebody wanted to put the track on a playlist or a station. But in that case still I'd like the longer versions to exist somewhere as the "definitive" version -- maybe that's the role of the album. :)

[@ianthomson9363]

I'm with you on this, I think 'dumbing down' to cater to those with short attention spans is completely wrong. We should be teaching such people that not everything gives instant gratification. Long intros can work superbly well- examples would be Stairway to Heaven, Wish you were here, Freebird, Telegraph Road, Bat out of Hell, plus many more that slip my mind just now. The 'radio-friendly' edited versions just don't work once you've heard the full thing.

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

@@ianthomson9363 One of my favourites is Slayer's "Seasons in the Abyss" and... well, it isn't technically an intro, but the full guitar solos on GNR's "Sweet Child O'Mine" really are a step above the truncated ones on the radio version. They need that space to breathe and really get one feeling across before they move onto the next. If long atmospheric sections are on their way out that makes me a little bit sad.

[@ianthomson9363]

@@SplotchTheCatThing I'm glad it's not just me! Mind you, I hate 'Sweet child...' All of it.

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

@@ianthomson9363 fair enough!

[@seanoreilly2949]

It all depends on the style! it's good advice to not make a simple guitar intro overstay its welcome, but entire genres of music are based on repetition and layering of one single idea. Post-rock bands like Swans and GY!BE have long intros, but they resolve them in incredible ways.

[@Synthedelic]

keeping guitars in the case definitely makes you play less, but it is safer lol

[@kevinberg84]

It's best to intonate your guitar in "playing" position

[@janhunter360]

Great tips!

[@zdancrk]

What is that reverse v body behind you on the wall? Idk if I've seen a video of you playing on that.

[@dfnymusic3396]

What a great video!!

[@AlexMR]

Sorry keeping my guitar out the case is not an ideal solution for me i need to keep the humidity as the room its in has no balance of humidity since theres literally no insulation

[@thetonycooper]

Great video.

[@zigsrig]

"Intros to your songs are way too long." We're looking at you, Iron Maiden! 😂

[@michaellandreth1392]

I'm sorry. But according to Jerry Rosa (Rosa String Works on YT) Who just retired after 40 years as a Luthier. He dealt far more with Over Humidification than Under. He will tell you they get the Wood down to 5-6% moisture content. Unless you live somewhere like Arizona. Never use an In Guitar or Case unit. And he will tell you. From Experience working on Instruments when that Humidity Bag leaks and they will all eventually leak. What ever you do Never use them. Other than that some great info Thanks for sharing.

[@samuraiguitarist]

Interesting, I'm sure that advice makes sense for some places. Where I am we vary from extremely humid in summer to extremely dry in winter. This wrecks havoc on guitars, any luthier in a climate like this would say the same. If you live in California where the climate is pretty standard all year, maybe there is a case for just letting your guitar stay at whatever the environment is. I'll also say I am quite confident that the d'addario bags won't leak, they are quite a bit different than the pucks or other bags I used. Mine all dry out long and get thrown out long before there's any sign of the bag breaking down.

[@chuzzbot]

Best video EVERRRR.

[@Kazwell111]

Wait, you mean the great Rick Beato was wrong when he held that experiment a while back that proved the optimal electric guitar tone was achieved by using .009 gauge strings? This "experiment" went against everything that people like you prescribe; that is "Do what works for you!!!" . Don't get me wrong, I got a lot of respect for Mr Beato, he probably loves guitar and music in general as much or more than anyone on the internet, and I'm not hating on him, just that one episode, well, it just seemed crazy to me especially after reading in his comment section how many of his fans said they were switching to .009's because of it. Everyone's hands are different and even if their is an "optimal tone" (which I doubt) isn't their something called EQ that can help you stand out in the mix regardless of string gauge?

[@retrovirusjet6244]

Drunk Sami on 8:38 speed at 0.25 😆😆

[@anubhav.music28]

Superb video

[@alexr4735]

Best app for learning note recognition?

[@loganunknown]

I'm sure someone has commented already but isn't there reports on 'spaced learning' as a useful tool?

[@LaTrec9]

Good job 👏 👍 👌 🙌 😄 😀

[@twayres]

you shred, dude, and i love your vids! your point is well-taken here, but for the sake of a constructive conversation, anchoring on the guitar is far from some sort of do-not-pass-go. the amount of sonic difference is negligible and will only matter with a $1K mic in a recording studio, neither of which the bulk of your viewers have. and if it makes folks more comfortable-even if there is an optimal path-then i say let the people play. and anyway, my man tommy emmanuel says anchor away :P all love! keep it up

[@vic1ous511]

Nice video but struggling to realize what the "don't do" is from the thumbnail 😅

[@brucemillar]

10 to 52. Much nicer IMHO.

[@drew2dee2]

what was the sponsor? ernie ball?

[@chewyfingers1288]

I just put an arm gaurd on my Washburn. Night and day.

[@alexkehoepwj]

One of the biggest guitar breakthroughs was putting my guitar on a stand in my living room

[@rumblehat4357]

Figured that one out a looong time ago. Just wish I started doing that with my keyboard 30 something years ago as well. I might be able to actually play it. Oh, well...

[@alexkehoepwj]

@rumblehat4357 not too late dude

[@Morgyborgyblob]

"Shorten the intro" *Pink Floyd has left the chat*

[@carpediemarts705]

Best way for me to learn a song from the radio, play half the song and stop it. Go wash dishes or something and it will stick in my head for an hour. Lets the subconscious churn it around for a while until I get to hear the whole thing.

[@carpediemarts705]

Man this is a great video.

[@alteredbrain]

About stretching, science studies tend to show that there is no evidence of benefits. But hey, if it's ok for you, just do it

[@MrJayscinema]

Serve the song……..how do I get the other band peeps to do this!? 😅

[@rproctor83]

Great tips, I play classical/nylon guitar but many of these still apply. There are so many aspects to music it's hard to know where to begin for most people. Some tips if you are just starting are: - Learn from others, like Sammy here. - If something feels too hard, or too difficult, it's probably because you are not ready or you are doing something wrong. - Don't worry about sounding great, or comparing yourself, only worry about progressing and making sure you are learning. - Learn one thing at a time and apply it to your future study. - Use a metronome. - Be well rested, have a clear mind, don't succumb to addictions, keep things organized, clean and have discipline in your studies. - Don't listen to the inner thoughts telling you to give up, why bother, your terrible, etc etc. - Play for yourself first and foremost. Sure, have a long term goal, but in the interim the journey will only be for you.

[@Zakk_Ross]

All the

[@aliensweathands]

👽

[@fethanmusic]

With regard to serving the song, I think it's extra important with the more musicians you are working as to not step on each other's toes, so to speak. When the singer has a big belted note or there's a prominent bass line or something, gtf out of the way, not everything is about you lol. Hard to get sometimes (I'm a big-headed guitarist) but very impactful and important, nonetheless.

[@PrinceWesterburg]

How many of you put your hands together and bow at the end too? (I do!)

[@scienceandspacetube9723]

not leaving the guitar out of the closet or case is true! I got my guitars a three feets away and I play way more in that way

[@ShallieDragon]

Regarding the Review portion: this is called Spaced Repetition, and it's an evidenced-based means of improving your memory about something. There are even apps (Anki is one)that help space things out just right, so that you remember things at the correct times for maximum recall.

[@MercyNoMore]

100% agree with having a guitar out. When i look at iit everyday I just feel the need to pick it up, even if its for 2 minutes. Having a beater laying around or hanging on the wall is always a great idea.