My Megatober beginnings—So far, so good … So not.

Remember my last blog post? It’s the one before this one that mentions my plans to play a different Megadeth riff on the guitar every day. It’s a challenge I stupidly set myself in an attempt to get back into some regular guitar playing. It’s a challenge called Megatober.

In regards to the daily guitar practice, it’s absolutely working. In regards to choosing sensible songs appropriate for my skill level … Megadeth was a stupid move. I’m way out of practice. Still, I have been capturing daily videos and I thought I’d share some of the less-sucky moments from the last eleven days.

Enjoy? … My Megatober beginnings—So far, so good … So not.

Guitar Scarebear

Megatober … The plan for 31 riffs

One of the reasons I started writing a lot less on this site in recent months, was so I could dedicate more time to the act of guitar playing. Less time writing. More time learning.

To be honest, it’s not gone exactly to plan. I have played more guitar than I had played in previous months, but it hasn’t been enough. I’ve spoken to some friends on Twitter about collaborating and I am yet to get around to that. Thinking about that further, there are more than a few people I would love to do online collaborations with. But my skills have slipped. I need to improve that before it’s too late. I realise this. And I have a plan.

That plan is called Megatober. … Megatober … The plan for 31 riffs

Music

Nailed it with a single album release

Back in June, I asked a question on Twitter that was “What was the best rock/metal band that only released one album?” To many people, this kind of band is deemed to be a one-hit wonder. But as someone who has never released any kind of album—or EP for that matter—this question really got me thinking.

What if these bands made one album so good, they felt like they had nothing left to prove?

As I consider putting together an EP—which will no doubt take me the next ten years—I find myself wondering if I will put together the best I’ll ever have to contribute and then never try again. It’s likely. It’s also likely that I will never release an album like anything in this short list I’ve compiled called Nailed it with a single album release.

Enjoy. … Nailed it with a single album release

Photography

Suburban Bird of Prey

I managed to capture this photograph of a bird of prey—I am unsure exactly what kind of bird this is—over my house in suburbia. Photograph taken on Nikon D60.

Guitar

52 guitarists—the summary and the apology

For over three years now I’ve been trying my best to put together an annual list which I cleverly called the 52 series. It started with 52 guitars, followed by 52 amplifiers, 52 pedals and this year’s 52 guitarists. Last year I struggled to keep up with the weekly posts and this year is off to a very bad start as well. I will not go into the details of why, but I sadly need to admit defeat at this stage and recognise that I am not going to be able to further commit to the weekly article series.

The series stops today.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the 52 guitarists list itself had been written, I just needed to write about each entry weekly—something I can no longer do. So, the best I can do is share with you now the entire list as it would have played out during the year. For those who were reading these with me, I thank you for your feedback to date and hope to see you around on Twitter. My Facebook page is going to close down as well—it is also something I can no longer commit to.

I have no idea what this website will become, but it will be updated a lot less frequently for a while until I can dedicate the time this site needs to remain relevant. Hopefully in time I’ll work out a way to get my mojo back. … 52 guitarists—the summary and the apology

Photography

Melbourne street art

Melbourne street art in the form of spray painted grafitti in one of the many laneways in this beautiful city. Photograph taken on Nikon S7000.

Guitar

52 guitarists, week 16—Joe Satriani

Back in the early 1980s, my parents were certain that my new-found interest in heavy metal music was going to cause me to either join a satanic cult or commit suicide. No matter what I did or said, they were convinced bad things were going to happen to me if I continued down this guitar-driven path of doom. That was until a few years later when they heard me listening to Joe Satriani—the track Always With Me, Always With You in particular.

This was the first distorted guitarist my parents heard that made my attraction to guitar understandable to them. From that point on, my life at home while listening to heavy guitar filled music was much easier. I gained some freedom and my Mum purchased the Surfing With The Alien CD. So I’d say Joe Satriani and I both had a small win back then. … 52 guitarists, week 16—Joe Satriani

Guitar

52 guitarists, week 15—Prince

Confession time. I had fallen behind a little bit again in my 52 Guitarists series and then news hit of Prince’s passing. That threw a spanner in my works for a few reasons. Firstly, Prince was the next intended entry in this series—the list of 52 has already been compiled and has been for some time now. Secondly, I didn’t want to appear to be attempting to benefit with this article through Prince’s passing. Finally, the 52 Guitarists series to date had only featured living guitarists and I really didn’t want to change that with Prince. There are guitarists to come in the list that are deceased of course, but they’ve been deceased for quite some time now.

I decided to take some some time before publishing this article out of respect and also to reconsider my approach to this particular entry. On that note I eventually decided to write the entry almost as I’d intended on writing it prior to Prince’s passing. So with that in mind, let’s look at the reasons I consider Prince to be an incredibly inspirational guitarist. … 52 guitarists, week 15—Prince

Guitar

52 guitarists, week 14—Brian May

I’d like to point out at this stage in my 52 guitarists series that I am clearly not an expert on each and every guitarist I write about. That’s OK. I’m not writing biographies here. I’m writing about guitarists that have influenced me and hopefully explaining along the way how and why they influenced me. Because this is my website. My rules. Heck, I could type “The coolest guitarists are those who have tinkered with their own guitars and not just played them off the shelf”. Luckily I could say that in this week’s entry and still make it relevant because Brain May is that kind of guitarist.

As someone who gathered a series of guitar parts to build his own Notcaster—not a real Telecaster—I do happen to believe in that statement I just made coincidentally. Integrity maintained. … 52 guitarists, week 14—Brian May

Graphic Design

GuitarStar TV logo

I reached out to my friend James Dean on Twitter, as I knew a while back he was looking for a logo for his video guitar lessons persona online. James is a very talented and giving guitarist who has been giving away instructional videos as people request them. Make sure you check out GuitarStar TV if you’re interested in all-things guitar.

The logo I made comes in two varieties. One that is more square in overall shape and a more landscape version. Both use the same design elements for consistency.

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