Guitar Voicing Methods Interview From LA Guitar Guru Will Wallner

Will Wallner is an LA Based artist/session lad/producer and frontman--who has a different slant or twist on what constitutes great playing, recording and producing.

This transplanted european has attracted the attention of some of LA's music royalty in my mind at least. Top players, especially bass players and drummers. Percussive type players. I think you get it.

As well, Mr. Wallner also has a regular column on the Guitar World blog, with mounds of useful info that are just golden nuggets that players can use while playing, recording and coming up with material on the fly. But I shouldn't forget Will's great collaboration with Vivien Vain, a consummate rock and metal vocalist who formed the ideas for their album "Rising" and it's eventual release.

Wallner is a a highly motivated and now very skilled player/producer/composer who schooled himself at LA's famous Musicians's Institute, and took those lessons and eventually became lead guitar for the band "White Wizzard". As well, Will is a sought after Session Lad.

Going back to the Wallner/ Vain album "Rising"--because of Will's hard work, following and attention to being a student of music who is always learning, he literally applies those lessons when most don't, and it's helped his career.

Because of his previous accolades, Will has been able able to bring many top players in to the fold to do sessions on "Rising. Players like Bass guitar player Rudy Sarzo who played with Ozzy, and Tony Franklin who played with Jimmy Page in "The Firm" and far-out keyboard player who plays like a guitar man, Derek Sherinian who played with Dream Theater and has formed his own solid solo gig.

Wallner is a player you can learn a lot from and has ideas that are very abstract but right on the money.

But the reason for this piece is I did an interview with Will just sending him questions by way of email, based on his post on the GW blog recently. I asked him questions on why players tend to get it wrong when using power chords in heavy music---and his thoughts on voicing methods on guitar. As well as my favorite subject Bass Playing, where Will talks about bass players always playing lock in step with the lead and why it's not quite right, and how to correct it.

Yes, Will thinks differently than most players and it's great!  He shows you why he thinks differently, and proves his points in the real world of music. He literally proves why his methods work in guitar playing.

So, read the interview below with Will and go to his GW blog and read the article based on the interview. Then go over to Will's site then grab the CD "Rising".

http://www.guitarworld.com/bent-out-shape-tips-writing-better-guitar-riffs

willwallner.com

These links are to Will's Guitar World blog, and his band site.Will's site will be posted at the end of the interview as well. 
You'll learn so much from Will.
  

Got it? Good. Much success to all players. Now read the interview below. I know you'll learn a lot and Will has proven his methods work and create value for players like you. Just go below guys.

When writing and using power chords, you said they

don't always produce the best sound or tone

MG: Should you play new material using cleaner tones and see how that goes? Then use higher gain methods along with playing partial notes and having your bass player play in lock step?\

I hope that first question made sense Will. If not I'll come up with

a condensed version.

Yeah you may want to re-phrase, I think I understand though.

WW: It depends on the individual but for me personally when writing songs I usually stumble upon a riff whilst noodling. Then if I think it has merit I record the ideas in my home studio and layer in drums, bass and keys to see how it feels in a full band context. If the song sounds good i'll figure out all the parts and go through each section and break them down to figure out exactly what the guitar should do for each chord. From there its just experimenting with different arrangements until I feel I have the best sounding contrast between each instrument. Sometimes i'll write on bass and focus on the chord

progressions then layer the guitar afterwards. This usually gives the best results as I can be more creative with the guitar parts.

You also said to not just use power chords

MG: How can players use thirds, forths and firfth's properly to create riffs that are technical without sounding just like scale playing?

WW: The simple answer is you just need to be creative and focus on melody. There are no rules or formulas to avoid sounding like you are just playing scales. If you listen to Michael Schenker's 'Desert Song' the main riff is just thirds from the E Minor Scale with little movement. But it sounds incredibly musical because its melodic. Ritchie Blackmore also uses very simple melodic ideas and will play them in thirds or fourths. The riffs from 'Stone Cold', Knockin At Your Backdoor', 'Smoke on The Water', Man On The Silver Mountain' (just to name a few) are played using only thirds and fourths

MG: Is it more difficult to be innovative playing heavier music than say jazz, blues or funk based material?

WW: I don't think so, but I do think most heavy metal guitar players and shredders are incredibly lazy. A lot of players think spending 10 hours day practicing scales to a metronome constitutes hard work. Then when they write solos it just sounds like they're running up and down through scales. Thats not really being a proper guitar player, and certainly not being innovative. At that point you could be playing any instrument or even just program midi on a computer. A real musician focuses on making actual music. If you focus on the aspects that are unique to the guitar such as pick attack, tone and vibrato, then you'll begin to sound like an individual and develop a way to express yourself. 

  MG: When using voicing methods by changing from one chord to another and using the closest chord to the previous one, do you risk sounding like a giant solo?

WW: Maybe, but that might a good thing. The idea of 'playing for the song' is a ridiculous concept usually used by inferior musicians to justify playing unimaginative guitar parts. If I hear a song where the rhythms are just riffs played with no style and expressionless repetition, I instantly get bored. If a guitarist is brave to enough experiment with voicings or anything else to add something unique to the music--then I think thats a good thing. When I first listened to the Deep Purple song 'Burn' (I was surprised that for most of the sections with vocals instead of playing chords, Blackmore uses single notes to outline the progressions. Thats the sort of thing that really inspires me.

MG: But by using this method of voicing, does your playing become more technical and as a result get better, or relate to more progressive voicings?

WW: I don't think its more techinical. It should actually simplify what you are playing so you can focus on more important parts of guitar playing like expression. The guitar is a very expressive instrument because you are always in contact and in full control of the strings. I've seen many guitarists who sound so boring when they play because they don't use vibrato properly. Almost everything I play has some vibrato, even chords. Thats why I prefer chord voicings on two strings because I have a lot more control over the vibrato used on them. I rarely use anything other that thirds or fourths because in a hard rock song they are the most useable. When you start to try and be too clever by using sixths and sevenths you start to sound too jazzy. Often I'll see a guitar player try to use a complex chord in the context of a heavy metal song and although it might sound good on paper in reality they usually don't sound that great

MG: This is my favorite question. You said bassist's don't have to imitate guitarist's and have no need to play in lock step with them

MG: Should a bass player be using slightly different chord structures and voicings for a different feel and dynamic? You also said if they're playing the same as a guitar player you don't really need a bassist?

So someone else is really holding the bottom down, and not the bass player?

WW: I think maybe I didn't explain my point too well. Obviously you need the bassist to hold the bottom end. What I was trying to suggest was that a bass player who just follows the guitar is most likely an amateur. At that point the bassist isn't adding anything musically, they are just adding low frequencies. I prefer a bassist to be more musical and have their own voice within a band. An example would be Tony Franklin (Blue Murder, The Firm). When he recorded on my solo album he focused more on what the drummer was doing as opposed to following my riffs note for note. For me thats a real bassist. It

creates another layer within the music that enhances the song.

That's all the questions Will

Thank you for your time and your posts on GW Will

Hey guys, go over to Will's GW blog and his site with Vivien Vain.

willwallner.com

Much success to all players.

Mark Grove " Just south east of Constitution Park" (It's Much easier on your Constitution")