Carl Verheyen

[Budda]

Anybody else into his playing?

I thought I'd share a couple of licks that were inspired by my love for his approach:

-|--------------------6-----|-|-------------10---------|-|--------------------
-|----------3-6-3-------8v--|-|----------------11b-8v--|-|--------------------
-|----------------5/7-------|-|-------10/12------------|-|--------------------
-|------3-5-----------------|-|------------------------|-|--------------------
-|--------------------------|-|--8/10------------------|-|--------------------
-|--3-6---------------------|-|------------------------|-|--------------------
   Gm Pentatonic

Anybody else here use wider Intervals like this?

[warmingtone]

Yes...I like the wider intervals approach. I used to give myself exercises to break up lines, such as only play 2 note per string before skipping a string and such, while that kind of thing can sound a bit like exercises, it seeps into the music.

Carl is great, got his DVD "intervallic rock", but discovered him much latter and has been less of an influence on me personally.

Another guy you might wish to check out is Gil Parris, I have vid of his called "modern blues guitar" in the hot licks series (unfortunately it is an actual vid so haven't watched in a while). He has an interesting blend of jazz, blues and country approaches.

I forget his terminology, something like "melodic displacement" which I think is an even cooler approach than what can sometimes sound like picking notes from the blues box. The principle is that the ear can understand a melodic phrase even if it is fragmented between octaves, so things can have that "angular" kind of effect of big leaps as well as a more stepwise melodic sense. Good way to explore melodies or make less interesting ones...well, more interesting.

Here's an example from Gil...(more like an exercise to demo the principle)

-----------------|----------------------5-------
-----------------|-------------5----------------
-----------------|-----4------------------------
-------------6-7-|----------------3--6----------
-------5-7-8-----|-------3--5-------------------
-5-7-8-----------|--5----------------------------
HM scale melody = same note order octave displaced

Looks like the harmonic minor there, then jumbling it up.

With a bit of thought you can get the idea faster than you might think to be able to do this on the fly. If nothing else, exploring these ideas is great for the "technique" with both hands. It's not something that I use a lot I must confess, but it does creep in. It's good to have techniques that get you quickly from one range to another for instance.

...

Oh yeah...I also like wide intervals in chords as well. Wide intervals don't necessarily mean stretchy chords if you use string skips and adjacent string damping...I like some of the psycho-acoustic effects that can be created. Kind of how a maj7 chord can sound mellow even with a dissonant min2nd/maj7 interval in it.

One I use a bit to slide around with is something I stole from Hendrix...

-------7---------
-------5---------
-------x---------
-------7---------
----------------
----------------

The top note makes a ninth with the bottom...it is a stack of 5ths (similar to the summers 'message in a bottle chord') and you can use it a bit like sliding 6ths but without alteration (at least with care), or Wes's octave melody sound...the result is that if the "melody" is in the top note, the 5ths below sound as if they are following and the ear generally accepts them even if they happen to fall outside of the scale or "key" technically. You can do similar things with stacked 4ths as well (the inversion of 5ths) and even easier to play because of the way the guitar is tuned.

...

We learned a bit about this kind of thing in "music school" and melodic lines...exposed interval leaps and such as I recall, although these things do tend to break those kinds of "rules". players tend to develop their own rules or "ear" for these kinds of things.

...

Another cool thing to do is to try to work out two lines at once, kind of...umm, off the top of my head...

----|--6---5---3---------|--------------
----|-------------6----3-|--------------
--3-|----5---6------5----|-3------------
----|---------------------|----5~~~----
----|---------------------|--------------
----|---------------------|--------------
Gm bluesy lick...

Bit hard to see in TAB, but the line that jumps back and fourth have contracting intervals from the first octave jump...but really it is also two melodies, the top line walking down Bb-A-G-F (stepping backwards from the third) while the bottom lines are walking up from the third Bb-C-Db(b5) then walking down again meeting towards the middle (Bb) to make a single line. A lot of this kind of thing is evident in turnarounds and in a lot of country licks to my ear.

But, similar thing of jumping about a scale in wider intervals...and as I say, good for the technique and opening the ear to some different sounds

[octatonic]

Guthrie Govan does too.

Carl is doing a masterclass at my uni in a weeks time.
Really looking forward to it.

[Rob Moody]

Big fan of Carl. I used to read his Studio City column every month in the 90's. I remember when I got his first REH vid I just pooped my pants. Great teacher, and has a really original style, and is so versatile its unfair!

[boneyguy]

Yeah I've definitely been influenced. Since getting turned on to Carl a couple of years ago I now find myself including many more of his big interval type phrases. Like most things I do, I just take the gist of what he does and make my own licks. I don't actually play any Carl licks note for note. He's a really great, tasteful player.

[Budda]

Originally Posted by warmingtone

Yes...I like the wider intervals approach. I used to give myself exercises to break up lines, such as only play 2 note per string before skipping a string and such, while that kind of thing can sound a bit like exercises, it seeps into the music.

Carl is great, got his DVD "intervallic rock", but discovered him much latter and has been less of an influence on me personally.

Another guy you might wish to check out is Gil Parris, I have vid of his called "modern blues guitar" in the hot licks series (unfortunately it is an actual vid so haven't watched in a while). He has an interesting blend of jazz, blues and country approaches.

I forget his terminology, something like "melodic displacement" which I think is an even cooler approach than what can sometimes sound like picking notes from the blues box. The principle is that the ear can understand a melodic phrase even if it is fragmented between octaves, so things can have that "angular" kind of effect of big leaps as well as a more stepwise melodic sense. Good way to explore melodies or make less interesting ones...well, more interesting.

Here's an example from Gil...(more like an exercise to demo the principle)

-----------------|----------------------5-------
-----------------|-------------5----------------
-----------------|-----4------------------------
-------------6-7-|----------------3--6----------
-------5-7-8-----|-------3--5-------------------
-5-7-8-----------|--5----------------------------
HM scale melody = same note order octave displaced

Looks like the harmonic minor there, then jumbling it up.

With a bit of thought you can get the idea faster than you might think to be able to do this on the fly. If nothing else, exploring these ideas is great for the "technique" with both hands. It's not something that I use a lot I must confess, but it does creep in. It's good to have techniques that get you quickly from one range to another for instance.

...

Oh yeah...I also like wide intervals in chords as well. Wide intervals don't necessarily mean stretchy chords if you use string skips and adjacent string damping...I like some of the psycho-acoustic effects that can be created. Kind of how a maj7 chord can sound mellow even with a dissonant min2nd/maj7 interval in it.

One I use a bit to slide around with is something I stole from Hendrix...

-------7---------
-------5---------
-------x---------
-------7---------
----------------
----------------

The top note makes a ninth with the bottom...it is a stack of 5ths (similar to the summers 'message in a bottle chord') and you can use it a bit like sliding 6ths but without alteration (at least with care), or Wes's octave melody sound...the result is that if the "melody" is in the top note, the 5ths below sound as if they are following and the ear generally accepts them even if they happen to fall outside of the scale or "key" technically. You can do similar things with stacked 4ths as well (the inversion of 5ths) and even easier to play because of the way the guitar is tuned.

...

We learned a bit about this kind of thing in "music school" and melodic lines...exposed interval leaps and such as I recall, although these things do tend to break those kinds of "rules". players tend to develop their own rules or "ear" for these kinds of things.

...

Another cool thing to do is to try to work out two lines at once, kind of...umm, off the top of my head...

----|--6---5---3---------|--------------
----|-------------6----3-|--------------
--3-|----5---6------5----|-3------------
----|---------------------|----5~~~----
----|---------------------|--------------
----|---------------------|--------------
Gm bluesy lick...

Bit hard to see in TAB, but the line that jumps back and fourth have contracting intervals from the first octave jump...but really it is also two melodies, the top line walking down Bb-A-G-F (stepping backwards from the third) while the bottom lines are walking up from the third Bb-C-Db(b5) then walking down again meeting towards the middle (Bb) to make a single line. A lot of this kind of thing is evident in turnarounds and in a lot of country licks to my ear.

But, similar thing of jumping about a scale in wider intervals...and as I say, good for the technique and opening the ear to some different sounds

Cool stuff!

Gil Parris? Yeah, I remember him doing some stuff for Fender. Maybe it was with the Heartfield stuff, not sure. But, he had some great playing ideas.

I liked the Counterpoint Lines. Pretty hip!

[warmingtone]

cool...the counterpoint lines were mine!

But yes, Gil has quite impressive ideas even if the 'tone' might not be to everyone's taste...very clean and polite despite the big interval leaps. Did a stint with Blood Sweat and Tears I believe, but a good dvd and instructor.

These kinds of counterpoint things you often find in blues turnarounds, but with a little mind bending you can work them out on the fly, I often look for an octave and then bring the intervals closer and closer to join as a single line again. There are some cool hammond organ licks that can be imitated as well...i think i got some of that from Danny Gatton and listening to that vamping style. There is a lot that other instruments can inspire new ideas.