Wav : There ’ s a balance of education versus enjoyment . Because guitar is work , and people have different natural abilities . But for the most part , you ’ re going to suck for a long time before you ’ re good . And it ’ s important to set realistic goals , and get towards playing music that you actually like , and balance that with continuing education . Because if there ’ s too much of a focus on education , you ’ re not going to have much of a fun time . But if there ’ s too much focus on not education , you ’ re probably not going to get as much as you want out of the instrument . So , it ’ s about finding that balance . I always say start learning an actual song that you enjoy . Think about what music you listen to , and try and get towards playing that quickly , while also focusing on bettering yourself , because if you aren ’ t feeling progress , and if you aren ’ t setting goals that you feel like you ’ re achieving , it ’ s very discouraging . Learn your basic E chord , learn your A chord , learn your G chord , learn your D chord ; those are very easy , achievable goals , you can do them . Learn how to transition between them in time , smoothly , that ’ s a goal . And once you learn how to do that , there ’ s a whole bunch of songs you can start playing , and when you learn how to play those songs , and you can actually play them all the way through without too much stumbling , without too much hesitation , it feels good . And it ’ s something that will encourage you to continue . Don ’ t shoot past where you think you ’ re going to go ; as we said before , stick with the fundamentals . Build up your confidence by actually achieving and playing stuff that ’ s musical that you enjoy , that you like , and that ’ s how you ’ re going to get the most out of guitar .
CM : What is one instrument or piece of gear you ’ d next like to acquire ?
Wav : I really want an eight-string guitar . I want to skip seven-strings , because I ’ ve played seven-strings . I played an eightstring one time in a Long & McQuade , and it just felt fun , and it felt cool . There ’ s this whole genre of music that I have an interest in , like djent and that hardcore prog tech death scene . It seems like the main thing that ’ s keeping me from actually exploring that and discouraging me is because a lot of those songs and a lot of the classics of the genre , they need at least seven strings . And I just want to bypass the seven-strings . I want to get an eight-string ; I think it would be so cool . I ’ ve already been looking into manufacturers and whatnot . I know Jackson has a cheap one .
KYLE CORNER
From rock duo The Wandering Off
CM : Walk me through your current live rig and tell me how your live and studio setups differ .
Corner : I don ’ t have anything specific in place right now . I ’ m renting a lot of gear right now to figure out what makes the most sense for our sound . I ’ m really fortunate in that who we worked with , on our record , Warne Livesey , he ’ s a bit of a sound wizard and particularly an amp expert , so he ’ s full of great advice in terms of what to try . Lately , for our sort of duo gigs , not full band , I ’ ve actually just been using my little Fender amp . And it ’ s just a little [ Fender Frontman ] 25R and it ’ s done well for me . I don ’ t remember the model now , but I tried a Vox amp , and it totally might be the direction we go a little more longterm because we play with a lot of tones on the record . So , trying to capture just that right , that nice blend of grit without losing that melody on the guitars . It ’ s been a good learning experience for me .
CM : How did you get interested in the guitar and what was your learning style and training ?
Corner : I ’ ve been obsessed with the guitar my whole life . I come from a quite a talented musical family . But as a kid , I just didn ’ t have the scale ; it wasn ’ t clicking . My older brother , when he was 10 , he won a classical guitar competition . So , the bar was pretty high in our family . He would try to train me on a number of instruments . And I remember we went through everything , he tried me on guitar , we went to brass , and then finally a drum kit . And it wasn ’ t clicking . And so , everyone sort of gave up . I [ was ] the musical black sheep there and not going to get it . So that ’ s sort of what pushed me to pursue working behind the scenes in music . I strummed the guitar off and on for years , but because of that , I ’ ve had no confidence in it . During the pandemic , when we dragged the guitars back out of storage , I was almost starting from scratch . I ’ m 20-25 months into playing the guitar again . And it ’ s been interesting . My learning style , though , I don ’ t spend a lot of time learning other songs or practicing covers or anything . I play to feel and tone , and I just experiment . So , every time I pick up the guitar , especially when it comes to rehearsal , it ’ s a real pain in the ass for me because I find myself just wanting to write . I guess the learning style has been one of total exploration , and we ’ ve found some of the best parts for songs so far almost accidentally .
CM : These days , do you have a practice routine you generally follow ?
Corner : I don ’ t have any good habits yet when it when it comes to practice . I ’ m spending more time recording right now and I ’ m playing live . But when I ’ m in a studio , I tend to jump on my [ Gibson ] Thunderbird
58 CANADIAN MUSICIAN