Great stuff man. Reminds me of my favorite Miles Davis quote..."The note is only 20%, the motherfckr who plays it is 80%"

Greatest lesson, I can apply this with 3 notes and one hand and still make better music tomorrow. Josh smith guitar hero ‘rules!’ 🇬🇧

Nicely said that is the artistry of music. Hearing what you like and translating it through your playing. Always play with meaning and soul. One guitarist who gave it 110 percent every gig was SRV.

Thank you Josh. My long-time guitar mentor just passed away from Covid this week, and this video was giving me flashbacks to lessons with him nearly 20 years ago. He had studied with Jim Hall, Barney Kessel, and Joe Pass, along with being close friends with Lenny Breau - so he never had a shortage of vocabulary, hand crazy chops, etc, but he was always so focussed on playing what was right and musical for the moment. He talked, a number of times, about how "coherency" in solos seemed to be becoming a lost art, as too many guitarists just string together a bunch of fancy licks. (I can be guilty of that at times still!) And more and more players today spend so much of their time playing with backing tracks rather than other people, but it shows in their playing. Listening and being in conversation is so important. Thanks for this.

Absolutely!! Great vid Josh!! For a number of years, besides guitar I trained in martial arts, specifically Bruce Lee's Jeet Kun Do, and one thing he said to his young student at the beginning of Enter The Dragon", after his bout with Sammo Hung always stuck with me, was that his strokes needed what he called "emotional content", not anger or fear but a full conviction within to deliver the greatest and most powerful impact. I remembered that from when I first saw the film back in the 70s, and have always carried it into my soloing. A single note with full emotional content can mean more musically a large number of notes with less than full conviction. Like another famous guitarist once said (I forget who, read it many years ago), "play every note as if it were your last". 'Nuff said. YMMV. Play on!

Straight up >> Words of Wisdom

Great lesson!!!🙏🙏🙏

I love this topic, wonderful explanation. Eroding genres and focusing on intent/feel, leads to true communication as a player and comprehension as a listener. I think it’s important as players to mix in some cranked up Ramones riffs, while you’re woodshedding Danny Gatton, Joe Pass, etc. Also thanks for touching on mood. It’s ever changing, because we are also ever changing and our instruments should channel that, but that is so very difficult to remember and put into practice. Here’s a great Charles Mingus quote: “I'm trying to play the truth of what I am. The reason it's difficult is because I'm changing all the time.”

Having swagger and good dynamics comes from playing with other musician. Playing from your heart comes from the love of music.

Now we’re talking! I can’t think of any better advice! Excellent video!

Thank you for pointing out listening to yourself. So much comes from that. I'm reminded of the movie Bird where Parker said he was trying to make it "fit". Hear the entirety of the music and make sounds with your instrument that fit. Vinnie said that "Every time you hit the drum it is a musical event". True for every instrument. Every note is a musical event with a purpose for being there. High points and low points, all of them matter. Many people confuse "intent" with "intensity". Every note does not need to slammed over everybody's heads (something far too common in the "high octane" blues world). Notes can be behind the beat, on top of the beat, loud, soft, or anywhere in-between. As long as there is a musical intent for them to be played the way they are played.

I’m at the point were practicing a lot of hours at home and then having to apply it in a live band situation, even if it’s just band practice. And I know the guys are going to be giving me the looks!

I haven't played in a tent for 15 some years.

@patm5086

3 жыл бұрын

I knew someone would say that

@JoshSmithGuitar

3 жыл бұрын

Ha!

Reminds me of a Frank Zappa quote. “Elmore James only had one lick, but you got the feeling he meant it!”

This may be his most important video ever.

So, so, SO, sO IMPORTANT message Sir. Much appreciated. Quite a reminder from a guitar player that plays with his soul... Thank you for this :)

The path to righteousness, and all that mutha jazz, in the right tempo!

More like this Josh. Good stuff. So important.

Blues is a “simple” idiom. What you play will often be cliches, as your “speaking” the common language. How you say it, IS the difference between saying something and talking loud... Freddie King is way different than BB King, and so on. The other thing is intent, channeling the Holy Spirit, opening up, and letting go.

For my needs you are putting out the best lessons on the toob.

Well said, well played. Thanks for sharing your awesome playing and approach with the community!

Josh,thank you,I now know what”from the heart”means.I was afraid I had no musical soul,but,your explanation has given me hope.Mate,thank you!

@JoshSmithGuitar

3 жыл бұрын

Ruling!

Excellent points on a little discussed topic! Intent is what makes a performance credible.

Some of the most passionate performances I have seen have made me think, "Wow! I think they mean it!" And here's the edit... even if it wasn't all that great.

Fantastic, thank you Josh!

The best video heart & soul I think this concept is a bit lost and hearing it from those who have cut their teeth on this concept is motivating! Thanks josh

Played a gig a few years ago and after the show a guy came up to me and said “ looks like you meant every note “ ....I replied “ always do mate “ , is there any other way ! Thanks Josh for reiterating that and it’s something I always tell my guitar students . Really important to connect with your audience .

Yet another great video, by 'Ruler' Josh.

Hey Josh! love your newlly established channel! Keep posting great contant, including the interviews :) Oren from Israel.

...and spend some time in the woodshed so ya got something to say! Good stuff Josh!!

Playing live, this must be so nerve racking having to think in such a small amount of time how to start, and leave the right impression for the other musicians to react to.

There was a brain scan study of improvising musicians that showed an ability to predict the future for a small period of time.

THIS is the lesson.

2:14 Josh I love your channel and your playing -- you are a consummate badass -- I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic in the context of a "cover band" situation where guys are playing possibly cliché or shlocky classic party rock three and a half hours or so a night -- as opposed to playing your own material (or classic good stuff like BB etc) --

I'm hearing more chromaticism and hipper lines-more 'adult,' for want of a better term. sounds really good. ('Man liveth not by bends alone.' ) When you have it ALL goin' on, the magic really happens. thanks for a great video-i'm a fan.

Sing it

This guy's guitar playing makes me want to take up harmonica.

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻🎸🇮🇹

What is ur fav brand of strings?

@JoshSmithGuitar

3 жыл бұрын

I use Gabriel Tenorio custom strings made here in Los Angeles.

any advice for when what comes to mind is something you don't actually like? i find that often by the time i've practiced an idea to the point that it feels natural i grow sick of it and it kind of takes over my playing/audiation, and i really need to play with others to actually like what i play, because they help to mix up my ideas... that's not really possible to practice though (especially these days...)

@JoshSmithGuitar

3 жыл бұрын

I'd say let go of it quick. When you are playing stuff you don't like, it's never as bad as you really think it is. But get to the idea quicker, and simplify more.

@foobargorch

3 жыл бұрын

@@JoshSmithGuitar hmm, i think i do that by accident sometimes, but now that i think about it's obviously the right answer! thank you!

Do u tune down a half step the majority of the time? Or do u even rarely tune down half step at all? Just curious?

@JoshSmithGuitar

3 жыл бұрын

I never tune down

The intent challenge lmao

Now how do you do that on Giant Steps at 420BPM?

@JoshSmithGuitar

3 жыл бұрын

Same process I guess.

Can anyone tell me if this is a fact? If you land on a wrong note, are you a half step away from the right one?

@jayceburns8246

3 жыл бұрын

There are no wrong notes, only bad resolutions. Purposefully hit the"wrong"note and then find a way to resolve it.

But in pop most people like the show over the real heart and soul.

Good subject. Neil Young, pete townshend , Ritchie Blackmore are some guitarists that come to mind that play with fat intent. Neil youngs one not solo on cinnamon girl is full of intent. Thank God he didnt play a pile of what I refer to as knat notes on the particular song..pete townshend can make a first position a chord with feeling that makes a long zillion notes per second solo seem meaningless. Blackmore can look pensive onstage and dazzle anyone with brilliance and the same goes for Jeff beck. For me,I think about note selection,phrasing,approach and execution. That's slot to think about when a few or a few thousand are looking up at you onstage waiting for you to entertain them. Atsa lotta pressure. I saw a blues guy who played a strat with the middle position pickup for the entire night. I saw another one play the same phrasing over and over with great note selection but it was like da da da da dee,da da da do doo,over and over. Execution is the most important when it come to playing like you mean it with intent.i was mentioned in a review of a band I was in and they said I played long solos but never long-winded. More tips I can't share are don't play in the same positions all the time.dont play single notes too much. It's ok to play some funky triads during a solo, pick up a slide and apply that when it feels right.listen to the band and what others are playing. If someone is driving you nuts internally like a drummer pounding when they should be playing with a lighter touch or the opposite speak with them about it in a non threatening way. Lastly,I find it fun to apply different levels of vibrato, slow and sweet,fast and frantic or somewhere in between.peace

@patm5086

3 жыл бұрын

Pardon my typos lol

@JoshSmithGuitar

3 жыл бұрын

great insight!

Ruling

Jaw drop around 10'...

Mum mum mum mum mmmmean it...

Nobody wants to go to hear someone speak in public and they just list off all the long words they know. That’s what speed picking sounds like to me.