Boston Series

Thanks again for Boston series of songs, lots to work on especially challenging when trying to improvise on playing guitar battle solo parts by self.

I'm looking at getting harmonizer pedal to help with some harmony effects for single guitar playing if your familiar with any, got any advice and recommendations on using these? Seems the most current one is the Boss PS6 Harmonizer.

Otherwise, not that I haven't enough to last a while yet, wondering if there's any chance that "Amanda" may be in works?

Thanks! Those tunes were such a blast to learn and teach. Yes it can be challenging to get all of those guitar battle leads together, but it's well worth the effort!

I don't have any first hand experience with harmonizer pedals, but I did a quick search and the Boss pedal you mentioned seems like a great value. You may want to check out some guitar effect forums as well as youtube videos to get a more complete idea of what's out there.

To my knowledge, there are no plans to teach Amanda in the near future. You can head on over to the Song Request Forum and request it there if you'd like!

Keep rockin'!
Mike

I guess there getting better with DSP electronics and speed, I've been experimenting with harmonizers in my recording software DSP's, but I guess a pedal still isn't yet a substitute for having a second player when performing.

Perhaps Ill work on Amanda myself as a challenge from style of other Boston licks learned, I know the chords, distinguishing between the lead/harmony guitar parts by ear is challenging for me. Other than the same notes in different octaves, I've been noting basic harmony concepts you mention, and I've been looking through the GT lessons but didn't yet find any specific rules or tips related to developing my own harmonies. Are there any specific lessons/tips I haven't found yet to help me understand this better?

I agree that while electronic harmonizers are much better today than in the past, they still can't completely replicate a second guitarist. Sometimes guitar harmonies stray from just sticking to a strict scale. Which leads me to your next question...

This is a great question! I always tell students that the best way to build your own guitar harmonies is to figure out each note a third interval up the scale, and start from there. In many cases, this method will produce desirable, ear-pleasing results.

Sometimes though, depending on what the chord progression is doing underneath, it may NOT result in ear pleasing results. In these cases, experimentation is the key. Think about the notes that aren't sounding right, and check out which chord is being played (or referenced) underneath. Think about the notes within that chord. Most times, trying a note that is in the chord will work.

At the end of the day, there are no right or wrong answers. Sometimes, harmonies using 4th intervals in between the notes are the best choice. Remember: If it sounds good .... it IS good!!

Hope this helps!
Mike

Thanks Mike, I'm sure this will help, it gives me good starting point to work on and to keep more in mind during song lessons.

Cheers

Hi Mike.

Totally agree with the Boston sentiments. I've learned 3 of these songs so far; they're quite challenging, in terms of the arrangement as much as the individual parts, but great fun once you get there. Also, it's interesting to learn multiple songs by the same band, and get more familiar with that style of playing.

I have one problem. (Not unique to Boston songs, but the multi-layered guitars on the backing track do seem to exacerbate this a bit.) On my home set up, I have a lot of trouble getting the guitar and backing track to balance out well. I find I need to have the backing track cranked up, so that I can hear the track (especially the rhythm section) clearly. But that tends to drown out my guitar playing. If I crank up my amplifier to compensate, I can't hear the bass and drums on the track so well, and so I often lose time.

The jam along track is easier (less sound to compete with), but then it doesn't sound as good with only one guitar playing.

Are there any tips you can think of to optimize things? My home set up is pretty basic: just a small amplifier for the guitar, and the backing track played on either my laptop or the iPad.

Regards,
Chris

Hey Chris!

Achieving a nice balance between your guitar setup and the backing track can sometimes be a challenge.

One way to maybe get a better balance is to run the headphone output of your iPad and laptop into some multimedia speakers. You can pick these up inexpensively, and they usually have a volume control so you can tweak the levels between both rigs.

Hope this helps!
Keep rockin'!
Mike

speaking of backing tracks. on more than a feeling boston there is not one.
mine stops at number 15 the single guitar playthrough

Thanks for the headsup truckster h! I've alerted the video team and we should have the Jam Along video up very soon.

Mike

Mike, first of all as a new subscriber I want to thank you for doing what you do. With all that talent you have, you also love to teach, and you do it as well as anybody on the site.

I consider the main lead in Hitch'in a Ride to be one of the most melodic and inspiring in all of music and have been looking forward for many years to the day when I could play it. I'm in the middle of that process now. I may have skipped a couple of learning gradients to get right to that, but I'm just too fascinated by the work that Boston did on that track.

My question is this: How did you figure out that entire song including the lead? I feel there are certain parts of it that aren't all that decipherable in the mix. Some of the chords are tough to figure out exactly. Was this an easy task for you? I'm amazed.

I use a nice program called Transcribe to work on learning songs but I can usually only get about 85% of the song down. Is this limitation simply related to my "guitar vocabulary" and will improve, or are some musicians just more gifted in transcribing ability?

Keep up the excellent work,
Jim

Hi Jim! Thanks for the kind words.

Hitch A Ride has always been one of my absolute favorite Boston songs -- and I whole-heartedly agree with you about that outro lead section! Just killer stuff!

As for learning all the parts, I will do a bunch of research and preparation leading up to teaching a song. I'll check youtube videos, online tabs, and "official" transcriptions just to make sure I can be as accurate as possible. I've also been playing for over 30 years, so that helps too!

As your guitar vocabulary and chops improve, so will your ear, so that you will find things easier to pick out just by hearing them. It is like anything, the more time you spend learning songs by ear, the better you'll get at it.

Hope this helps! Keep rockin'!
Mike