Hi friends! I'm Geronimo Egea, or The Monkey, and today I bring this special Q&A for christmas
These were questions left on my Facebook, Instagram and here on YouTube
If you wanna leave a question for a future video, you can do it the same way,
Here on the comment seccion, or my Facebook or Instagram. Links for both on the description below.
Before I start, I'd like to say that I received so many questions that I'll split them in two Q&A videos,
instead of only one, so it doesn't end up that long.
I also received some questions that are so good, that I think maybe I'll do a single video exclusively for them
I'll talk about them when they appear here.
Ok the first question is from my friend Fedor Eberle. He asks:
Is there any frustrated instrument in your life? I mean, that for any reason you have wanted to learn how to play but couldn't
SO MANY!
But the main one I'd say is the drums.
I can play basic rhythms and I can defend myself, but I'm really far from even being a mediocre drummer
Truth is I always wanted to play drums, but well, I never had one, and it's been kinda complicated,
and I also haven't found the time or the will to do it.
So that's my main frustrated instrument.
The next question is from my friend Edgar Morao. He asks:
What's the best advice you've heard from a musician? And what would be Geronimo's advice?
The best advice I've heard from a musician I heard from Devin Townsend.
A musician who I admire profoundly.
And it's a very simple advice that works not only for music.
Basically, he said that the main reason why the musicians in his band (Devin Townsend Project) were those musicians in particular,
more than the fact that they are very talented, is the fact that they are good people. His friends.
And he said a very important phrase:
(which in spanish would be *translates don't be a dick into spanish*)
and that is extremely important.
Someone who is arrogant, pretentious, unpleasant, mean, offensive, rude,
who is always late, who doesn't practice, who is not nice to others...
That person is not gonna get invited back to a next rehearsal or a next gig.
I've seen it myself. I've known incredibly talented musicians that, because of their bad attitude and vibe, rudeness and so on,
never end up in a band. They end up alone cuz nobody wants to play with them.
And the advice I would give, even tho it applies to music, also applies to anything else.
and it may sound a little hippie and like a miss universe answer,
but I think that we came to this world to be happy.
So we need to do and pursue that which makes you happy.
In music, it would be playing the music that makes you happy and something that fulfills you.
Obviously, that music may not be the most commercial, or maybe nobody but you likes it,
but if you like it and it makes you happy, go for it!
Of course we all want to make a living with music and we all want to be accepted,
I think we musicians are all looking for that acceptance and integration. We all have many insecurities about our own music
but the important thing is to do that which makes you happy.
Even if what makes you happy is playing the most commercial music and making money with it,
if that makes you happy, it's perfect, go for it. Besides, there is a need for musicians who do that!
And outside of music it's even more obvious. We have to find and pursue happyness.
The next question is from Carlos Rojas Aranguiz.
Hi! What motivated you to create a youtube channel with that kind of content.
Well, it was a need I had, about a year ago when I started this channel, of doing something with my music.
For those who doesn't know, I'm in Venezuela, and the political/social/economical situation is really bad.
For me, here nowdays it's not a good idea to go play in a bar. They pay close to nothing and it's not safe at all.
So you go out with your gear, that you have worked for your whole life, and spent savings and that enormous effort to ge them,
and risk them with high probability of getting stolen... to earn close to nothing in return.
So I haven't played live gigs for the last couple years and I was feeling very anxious and depressed
also because of personal stuff in my life,
and the way I cope with problems is a lot of times through music. So considering I couldn't go play gigs around,
but still wanting to show what I have to offer, I thought of making a YouTube channel playing guitar.
Eventually that turned into something where not only I would play guitar, but also talk about guitar,
and also trying to motivate others guitarists or musicians or whomever listens.
Besides, I have about 15 or 17 years teaching guitar,
and I have taught, I dunno, hundreds of students, I don't even know how many
and I had some time thinking about doing something on a bigger scale, to reach even more people, and YouTube is perfect for that.
My friend Gilbert Lugo asks:
Who was the most influential guitar player on your way of playing?
It's very very hard to pick just one, so I'm gonna pick two.
I think I have two sides in how I play, One side is more classic rock and blues, and the other is more metal.
There's the neighbor's dog saying hello
So I think I'm kind of a mix of those two worlds.
So I'm gonna say Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, and Pantera's Dimebag Darrell
Nevertheless I find it very hard to just mention two. I just said those and thought "how can I not mention Paul Gilbert" and so on...
so I'm gonna leave it there cuz otherwise this video would only be about that!
Braunick Landaez (sorry if I mispronounced your last name)
What advice would you give to those who doesn't get support from their families because music "is not a real career"?
Unfortunately that is pretty common
Music is a career just like any other, and as demanding as any other.
I studied for a bachelor's in music, major in composition, for about four years.
I didn't graduate because of personal problems. My father passed away, I had to start working and couldn't find the time or the resources to do it.
But the thing is that it was VERY demanding
I had to study as much as any friend of mine studying medicine.
Nights withoug sleep, studying very late. In fact there was a moment I remember, I was studying something and I was so tired,
and in that moment I realized I had about a year without having a beer or going to a party or nothing that wasn't studying.
So it is VERY demanding, truth be told.
And if you also want to be the best, then it's even more demanding.
Even if you don't study music in college, music requires constant studying and practicing, every day, and a lot of patience and tenacity.
I think that if your parents don't support you with your music, you'll have to find support somewhere else.
That's if you even need any support.
But if you do, try to find it somewhere else.
If what you need is economic support, it's harder, but there are always ways to solve that.
The most important, as I said on the previous advice, is to do that which makes you happy.
Obviously the music career, being a professional musician is really hard.
It is extremely competitive and only the best are the ones to really make it. So you need to be prepared for that.
I think that one of the most important qualities that we musicians need to have is that failure doesn't defeat us.
Most musicians in the world have done lots of projects that go nowhere.
Written hundreds or thousands of songs that nobody likes... and so on.
But we need to shrug off those failures and keep going again and again.
Sooner or later you'll find something that will be successful, career wise.
David Reyes, my friend from Mexico, asks:
Have you thought about doing a solo record as a virtuoso guitarists? And if so, what genre would you play?
Honestly I really thought about it years ago. In my early 20s I recorded a solo project called Dark Master
that is almost shameful to listen to today, because of how bad it sounds.
There's still the myspace page of that project... in fact, I'll put the link in the description so you can make fun of me and how bad that sounded.
And the idea was to make a "virtuoso" guitar solo project in Metal
Not so fusion as Satriani or Vai, not so rock n roll, but metal.
Nowdays many people have done that. Jeff Loomis did it, many people have.
but back then, it wasn't so common
But with the time I lost interest in doing an instrumental guitar record.
I don't even think the genre is so cool to me these days
I may do a solo record, but it won't be an instrumental/guitar oriented/virtuoso record.
It would be a regular songs record, where the guitar might not even be the most important thing.
Of course it would have a lot of guitars cuz that's my main instrument, but the focus wouldn't be on the guitar, but on the songs.
Another question from David Reyes:
Have you ever had that frustration and writer's block, or feel stuck, that you're not advancing on the instrument and thought of quitting?
Well, never in my life I have ever thought of quitting the guitar.
Haven't even crossed my mind.
For me, guitar is like part of who I am. Saying that I quit guitar is like saying I quit having a leg.
That just doesn't make sense to me.
Having said that, of course I have felt frustrated and blocked and so on. It's very normal.
About the writer's block, I think it is something you can fight against
and it's easy to overcome.
What you have to do is keep writing. Even if nothing comes to you, you keep writing.
And after writing a lot of crap, because of the "block", eventually the door starts to open.
And about the frustration, that something is really hard and I can't nail it, of course, its very common too.
But I have learned to see the hard things more like a challenge, as something I will accomplish, instead of "impossible, so hard, I hate this" etc
So now I see the hardest thing in the world and it doesn't frustrate me at all. I even get exited like "ohh, something new I can learn how to do!".
My friend Antonio Narciso, Tony, asks:
What modes and scales did Slash use on Appetite for Destruction?
This question is so good that I might do a specific video for it, guitar in hands playing the sections.
But to answer it quickly, that I remember, cuz of course I don't have all the songs and licks in my mind right now,
Obviously the minor pentatonic and the blues scale, but he also uses the harmonic minor scale, the mixolydian mode, dorian, aeolian of course...
Truth is that Slash is a very peculiar player and I admire him a lot.
Because even tho he doesn't know what the hell is the mixolydian mode, he uses it! And that requires an special talent.
So he is a very complete guitarist, that plays a lot of scales and modes with a great technique,
that some of the more "virtuoso" players, or the more "technical" kind of reject him cuz he's more rock n roll and blues and so...
And they think he only plays pentatonic, but they are wrong.
My friend Rómulo Frusciante, from Spain, asks
Telecaster, Stratocaster or Les Paul? What would you choose if you could only play one forever?
Those questions are so hard!
Choosing ONE guitar for the rest of my life would be horrible for me
because I think that I play differently with different guitars.
When I play my Strat, I play differently than when I play my Ibanez, for example.
So choosing one guitar for the rest of my life would be almost like choosing a way to play forever.
I know that could be me being crazy, but that's me.
But to play the game...
I think I'd go for a Stratocaster
I feel that's the most confortable of those three, I know it well, and have years playing one. So I'll say Stratocaster.
My friend Daniel Perez asks:
What gauge strings is better? 0.09 or 0.10 or thicker and what gauge do you use?
Well that's super personal. It's almost like asking if you prefer blondes, brunettes or redheads. That personal!
I use several gauges. I have different string gauge on every guitar I have.
I also think that it's more the guitar that chooses the right string gauge, than we do.
For example, on my Ibanez, in standard tuning, I use .09. Even tho I preffer .10, the Ibanez doesn't seem to like .10
I don't know, with .10 it just doesn't work as good, it feels weird and it's not the same.
So on the Ibanez .09 is perfect, I love it.
On the Stratocaster, also on standard tuning, I use .10 and I feel that's perfect for it and for me.
On the LTD Eclipse (Les Paul style), I use .11, but I tune that one generally to D standard, a whole step down
and since it's a shorter scale, .11 feels pretty good.
And then on the Jackson Randy Rhodes I use .13, but that one is tuned down to B standard
So it's kinda like a 7 string without the high E
So the answer to the question is that it depends on what tuning you're gonna use, what guitar you have and your style of playing.
Don't pay so much attention to that.
Richie Gámez asks:
What equipment do I need for a mini home studio where the songs end up very decent? and if it pretty, good and cheap, better
(The 3B he says on his question is "bueno, bonito y barato, which is Spanish for good, pretty and cheap)
The first thing you need is a computer. It doesn't have to be the most expensive computer or the one with the best specs,
With a decent computer the work can be done.
Then you need an interface. There are some very economic ones that are pretty good.
It also depends on what you want to record. If you wanna record an acoustic drum set, you'll need a bigger interface cuz you'll need a lot of mics
But if you're gonna record only guitars, bass, vocals... you can do with an interface with one or two channels.
If you are only going to record guitars, you don't even need a microphone to begin.
You could use virtual amps and go straight guitar -> interface -> virtual amp
Or if you have a good amp, you could use a SM57 or a similar microphone, to mic the amp.
The next, not so cheap thing, would be studio monitors.
If I was starting with a home studio and just beginning recording, I would not spend that much on monitors
In fact, I wouldn't spend that much on anything specific. I'd go for economic and decent stuff.
You can start with that. That's all you need to record whatever you want. You could sequence the drums and you're done.
Well that's gonna be all for today! If you have a question for a future Q&A video, you can do it here on the comment section below,
or on my facebook or instagram. Links on the description.
If you like, subscribe to my channel clicking here
and I'll put some other videos of mine around here
I'm The Monkey and I hope you have happy holidays and be well! Bye bye!
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