6 Session Guitarist Tips That No One Tells You
By Nick Jamison
Being a session/touring guitarist can be a difficult gig. To be successful it takes more than just being good or skilled at guitarist. There are some unspoken rules and tips that you need to follow if this is a career path you want to follow. Let me tell you what those things are.
Use Less Gain!
Too many guitarist are unknowingly using way too much gain for the music that they’re playing. The amount of gain you use can either make or break the band mix in the studio and in a live situation. Guitar players as a whole generally make this same mistake when they get started learning about amps and pedals.
You need to take some time to listen back to some of your favourite guitar based songs and actually listen to the sound of the guitars with a pair of studio quality headphones and speakers. The first thing you’ll notice is that the guitars are way cleaner than was first perceived.
2. The Amp You Choose Can Hurt You
One thing loads of guitarist do wrong is that they use the wrong amp at a very wrong time. If you’re a touring guitarist using insanely loud amps that can ruin your reputation and can lead to less gigs. The current era of live sound engineers and artist want little to no stage volume so you should keep your 100 watt, 4x12 guitar amp at home. Insanely loud amps are a big no and can easily get you fired. I have been using digital modellers for almost a decade and I love the results that I get. But if you must use an amp highly suggest looking at a small combo or using a Reactive Load Box with can simulations.
3. Practice Playing With A Metronome
Playing guitar off beat is not a good look and the studio engineer will hate you. Practice playing and recording to a metronome everyday for at least 30 minutes a day. Also you’ll notice that you make less mistakes when you practice with a metronome.
4. Don’t Believe The Gear Hype
The gear hype rabbit hole is a dangerous place, especially for guitar pedals. A lot of guitar, pedal and amp brands have a habit of trying to take advantage of us. They use special words in their descriptions like “boutique”, “Handwired/Handbuilt” and “Exotic Wood”. A lot of people fall for it including me when I first started playing guitar. If you’re going to spend premium prices for guitar gear make sure it isn’t fuzz/overdrive/distortion or an electric guitar. The only time spending more money actually gets you better results is when you’re buying a Uni-vibe/delay/reverb pedals, Acoustic guitars and digital modellers like Fractal, Kemper and line 6. A large percentage of affordable gear nowadays is just as good as the boutique alternative if not better. Plus the differences that you hear will be inaudible when it’s in a band/song mix.
5. Learn How To Solo
Too many guitarist think playing the most intricate or fast solos means you’re playing a great solo. You need to learn about playing for the song and not for your ego. The greatest guitar solos tend to be the simplest sounding but have a bit of spice added to it. A great example of this is Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix.
6. Listen To Many Different Genres
Having versatile taste in music can really help you. There have been times when R&B artists and Rappers have asked me to make their songs sound more like a different genre for a live performance. It will be difficult to execute a different genre if you’re not well versed in it.