Notes about The Guitar

I've picked a guitar up once or twice in my time, but have never taken the time to actually learn the thing. As a drummer, wherein "hit stuff make noise" is the starting point, the scales and finger-positions and strumming techniques all seem like a lot of book-work.

Favourite guitar-player jokes:

Q: How long does it take to tune a 12-string guitar? A: Nobody knows.
Q: What do you throw a drowning guitar player? A: His amp.

Alright. The evolution of the guitar solo:



But I do like the levity. Here's cat-meets-guitar.



And here's a pretty clever prank.



And back to some serious notes: Dr. David Grimes at Oxford discusses the physics of playing a guitar solo. (if you're interested in reading Dr. Grimes' paper, it can be found at the PLOS ONE site.)



Not to leave out the Bass Guitar, here are some of my favourite bass guitar jokes:

Q: Why couldn't the bassist get through the front door? A: He couldn't find the key and didn't know when to come in.
Q: What do you call someone who hangs around musicians? A: The bass player.
Q: What are the three most difficult years in a bass player's life? A: Second grade.

Seriously though: here is an amazing video of the 100 "greatest" bass lines, played in a single melody.



And don't worry, I also know lots of great "drummer" jokes.