It’s a bird… it’s a plane… no wait, wrong super-hero reference. I’ve been playing this riff as a warm-up over the past couple of weeks. Its a fun little song that will make your geeky friends melt. Easy to play. Repeat riff several times with lyrics. Its Spider-man! My all-time favorite super-hero. I’ve included the original cartoon intro and lyrics along with the tab. Good luck and have fun!
What are the differences, really, between the Gibson Les Paul Standard and the Fender Stratocaster? Here are some key points.
Design differences
Fender Strat———–Gibson Les Paul
Alder wood————-Mahogany
3 pickups, single coil—-2 pickups, double coil or humbuckers
25.5″ long————–24.75″ long
Double-cut away——-Single-cut away
2 tone, 1 volume knob–2 tone, 2 volume knob
Relatively light———-Relatively heavy
Bolt-on neck———–Set neck
6 tuners on one side—-Tuners distributed
No head angle———-15 deg. head angle (for sustain)
Non-locking tremelo—–Stop tail bridge
Five-way toggle——–Three-way toggle
As far as sound goes, the Gibson Les Paul Standard has a warmer, crunchier tone. I think of the Les Paul guitar as being voluptuous. This makes the guitar great for rock n roll. Not that the Fender Strat isn’t great for rock itself. But a Strat is certainly more applicable in different types of music with its cleaner, metallic sound.
Video of Les Paul playing vs Strat playing
Another thing to consider is the weight. Les Paul style guitars are heavy and rounded. The Strat neck, in my experience, feels like a deck of cards in my hand – thin and portable.
There are even more differences if you are looking at the cheaper versions of the Strat/Les Paul. For example, the Epiphone line of Les Paul signature guitars features bolt-on necks instead of set ones.
If you are trying to decide which one to buy, definitely go into your local guitar shop and ask to try them out. The only way to really tell the difference is to play the difference.
If you’re new to guitar chords, here’s a good one to start with. I recommend learning off of this chord because it’s wholesome and centered on the fretboard.
Playing an E chord, aka E Major chord on guitar
Start by putting your ring finger on the second fret of the second string (relative to you). Put your middle finger on the same fret on the string right below that. Finally, put your index finger on the first fret of the string below that. Your fingers should be close to the fret dividers, but not on top of them.
Here is what you should get (ignore the part when he switches fingering):
How fast is he, you ask? Really really fast. Tiago Della Vega set out to break the world record for guitar playing speed this year, and he has certainly achieved that. In what scenario would it be useful or appropriate to play a chord at 320 bpm, you ask? Only two: showing off or breaking records.
If you think this video is tame, then skip to the end. He shreds like a machine.
World record: fastest guitar picking
If you weren’t paying attention to the opening tribute, Vega has spent his life playing guitar for 16 hours a day, every day. The lesson here is that when you have nothing else to offer, offer ‘em technique. Here’s part two of Vega’s guitar awesomeness.
What happens when you run out of guitars? You make teams of three! This talented trio, composed of a father and his two sons, perform Hava Nagila on a single guitar. A family tradition?
Three players on one guitar
The timing! The coordination! It’s not quite guitar sex. Guitar fondling, perhaps? I am always impressed by the skills of fellow guitarists. If one hand was even slightly off, the whole show could be ruined. I can’t imagine the agony of leaning over my father’s guitar for hours on end practicing that. Kudos to them.
I’ve completely changed strumstrum’s interface. Let me know what you think.
I’ll continue to tweak the design over the weekend, so there may be some down time.
