GUITAR
3 TIPS TO BEING A MORE EFFECTIVE GUITAR PLAYER | Chris Rocha
FIRST TIP : Learn how to make the song your own . I ’ ve been playing for over 30 years now and there are some times where I play exactly what ’ s on the original track but mostly I add my particular sound and parts to the songs I play . As a producer , I realize that there are some critical parts and melodies that make the song ; those things you keep the same . Last thing you want do is change the song but I do vary other parts I know I can execute and that will add my sound to the song .
I believe every guitar player gets to a point to where they develop their signature “ sound ”. I ’ ve been told numerous times from people when they hear a song on the radio that it ’ s me playing guitar . At first , I thought maybe it wasn ’ t a good thing , maybe I needed to broaden my sound . But as time has gone by , I ’ ve become more and more comfortable hearing that . I notice and can identify other guitar players as well and I like that . Let ’ s learn to incorporate our sound and tones in what we play live especially if we ’ re playing songs from other bands and make those songs our own .
SECOND TIP : Learn how to classify and execute your dynamics . Most songs , even worship songs , have a wide range of dynamics tones that you can play . I use the 1-10 system . Between 1-6 I love incorporating cleaner and ambient tones . Between 7-10 I hit up my harder overdrives to epic lead tones . I ’ ve been told that when I play I can carry a lot of weight and fill up a lot space . I ’ m physically a big guy but that ’ s not why they say that . I love to use all types of effects to shape my tone . Reverbs and delays have become my best friends and once I feel a song going epic I love to match it .
How do I create my epic tones ? I like to stack drives , use reverb and delays . If I ’ m going very wet on my verbs I don ’ t get as busy with my playing cause it ’ ll get too muddy . I get very melodic and straight to the point . I love using melodies that will gratify the song and take it to the next level . Epic is my favorite dynamic .
I encourage you guys to start attaching your tones to dynamic ranges , that way when the time comes in a set , you can use them more effectively .
THIRD TIP : Learn how to use social media to market your sound . I ’ ve gotten so many opportunities and so much production work from people that have seen me on Instagram , Facebook or YouTube . They love the quality of stuff I ’ m putting out and want that in what they ’ re doing .
I remember a conversation I had recently with one of the great guitar players 20 years ago and what he told me was , I wish we had social media back when I was touring the world . If that was the case I wouldn ’ t be struggling to make ends meet right now . I ’ ve always been a private person so I don ’ t gel naturally with social media . I don ’ t like to post much about my life . I distinctly remember several years back my wife told me that my social media was part of my music career and I needed to be more active on it .
At the time , I had over 5,000 followers on Instagram so I thought I was doing ok cause I was traveling all over Latin America and was busy playing on records , but she made me aware that I wasn ’ t maximizing that aspect of my career . I flipped that switch , started promoting / marketing myself more and I sold one of my guitars to buy a nice full frame camera . I started posting quality content and saw a drastic difference with the amount of work and opportunities that came my way .
I now run an online guitar teaching platform called CR Online with over 400 students and am teaching them so many things I wish I would ’ ve learned sooner . If you ’ re reading this article I hope you get inspired to apply these three tips to what you ’ re doing .
Chris Rocha Lives in Houston , TX , and is the guitarist and producer for Miel San Marcos