REQUEST FOR HELP WITH VIDEOS FOR TEACHING MUSIC AT BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB
I have set up a website (not yet open for traffic) that teaches various things about guitars and music by starting with the Beatles and presenting them as a group that used one Rickenbacker guitar and one that was not. Many rock groups followed this model.
Then viewers learn another way to form a rock group is to have just one Rickenbacker. In this case, you have two choices in forming the group: you can use the "power guitar" approach or the "guitar god" model.
The video below gives highlights of the videos on the website. They present the Rickenbacker-plus-one-more-guitar group, the power guitar group, and the guitar god group.
The website has pictures of guitars and other things to tell the stories and explain things.
I have set up a website (not yet open for traffic) that teaches various things about guitars and music by starting with the Beatles and presenting them as a group that used one Rickenbacker guitar and one that was not. Many rock groups followed this model.
Then viewers learn another way to form a rock group is to have just one Rickenbacker. In this case, you have two choices in forming the group: you can use the "power guitar" approach or the "guitar god" model.
The video below gives highlights of the videos on the website. They present the Rickenbacker-plus-one-more-guitar group, the power guitar group, and the guitar god group.
The website has pictures of guitars and other things to tell the stories and explain things.
SET UP TO VIDEO BELOW
The setup to this video builds on previous presentations on the website. Here I will explain four things the students have learned from four different sections of the website, and instructions they are given on what to look for in the video they are about to watch.
What the students have learned: Hollow-body guitars are louder than solid-body guitars. The video of Pete Townshend showed what is called an "f-hole" in his Rickenbacker 345. This means it's a hollow-body guitar. The students know, if you see a someone playing a guitar with a hole in top, be alert to this possibility: power guitarist ahead.
What they are told to look for in video: The guitar in the opening scene has a hollow body. This guitar is a Harmony Rocket. It has an f-hole identical in shape to the one Pete Townshend's Rickenbacker 345 had.
What the students have learned: On an earlier page, there is a discussion of amplifiers. Again, the Who appears. It is noted that the Who made Marshall amplifiers famous. Or infamous. There is a photo of John Entwistle playing in front of a wall of stacked Marshall amps, and next to it is a a picture of Pete Townshend destroying a Marshall amp with his guitar. Thus the students know that the hollow-body guitar/Marshall amplifier combination was used by the group that pioneered power guitar.
What they are told to look for in video: The Harmony Rocket in the opening sequence of this video, made for airing on MTV, is plugged into a small red amplifier. The amplifier is small, but the name says: "Marshall." You know for sure you will not be seeing a fancy guitar solo. You are looking at a power guitarist.
What the students have learned: In a section on "pedals," which are small boxes that boost or shape guitar sounds, they learn of three categories of pedals and hear examples. (There are actually seven in all, but only three are featured here.)
Most rock guitarists play on stage with three or four pedals, which are used to create subtle effects. The students are told that some guitarists are focused more on the pedals than their guitar. Edge from U2 and the guy from Aerosmith are good examples. They use effects with weird names like "flanger."
The third category of pedals has just two members: "distortion" and "overdrive." Guitar gods often use a distortion pedal with other effects. Jimmy Page is using one in the solo to "Communication Breakdown," above. Heavy metal guitarists use distortion as well. Jimmy Page therefore is considered the first heavy metal guitarist.
Right at the end, it is noted very briefly that Pete Townshend used only one pedal: "overdrive." Of course. The reason is, he is a power guitarist. Therefore, he does not want to distort sound. He wants to maximize it.
What they are told to look for in video: In the video below, after the MTV video segment are two excerpts from live performances. This guitarist is using two pedals in these scenes. The first is overdrive. So is the second.
Something else you cannot see: the guitar being played is manufactured by Gretsch, and it is called The Beast.
Everyone is supposed to be a bit scared at this point, in a fake way. It's just a video, after all. No one is going to get hurt.
But they know, if the person they are about to see plays a hollow-body Rocket, and also a Beast, using not one but two overdrive pedals, with everything run through Marshall amplifiers, then this person is without doubt a power guitarist. No one would make this combination of equipment choices by accident.
The are told the video presents the winner in the category "Rickenbacker-only," subcategory "power-guitar model:" BEST POWER GUITARIST.
They are also informed this is the "world premiere" of the first video from a new "great guitarist" series.
Finally, there is a line in small font just above the video that says:
NOTE: IF YOU TURN THE VOLUME UP UNTIL THE WINDOWS SHAKE, YOU ARE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THERE.
===================================================
Then, there is a surprise, right at the beginning. The "great guitarist" series has a focus no one has any reason to expect. That's because I say nothing about it, and nothing discussed on the website to this point would suggest this focus. There is no way for anyone to be anything but surprised.
Therefore you will be surprised. That is inevitable and therefore boring. What matters is not the surprise but how the surprise is handled in the subsequent pages of the website. I will save that for later.
---------------------------------------
FOR NOW: CHECK OUT VIDEO BELOW AND PLEASE HELP!
Where I need help is in answering questions, one question in particular, from a Boys and Girls club music teacher about this artist.
Al, Dar, and Babe can answer that question. If even only one of them can respond, that would be great.
The setup to this video builds on previous presentations on the website. Here I will explain four things the students have learned from four different sections of the website, and instructions they are given on what to look for in the video they are about to watch.
What the students have learned: Hollow-body guitars are louder than solid-body guitars. The video of Pete Townshend showed what is called an "f-hole" in his Rickenbacker 345. This means it's a hollow-body guitar. The students know, if you see a someone playing a guitar with a hole in top, be alert to this possibility: power guitarist ahead.
What they are told to look for in video: The guitar in the opening scene has a hollow body. This guitar is a Harmony Rocket. It has an f-hole identical in shape to the one Pete Townshend's Rickenbacker 345 had.
What the students have learned: On an earlier page, there is a discussion of amplifiers. Again, the Who appears. It is noted that the Who made Marshall amplifiers famous. Or infamous. There is a photo of John Entwistle playing in front of a wall of stacked Marshall amps, and next to it is a a picture of Pete Townshend destroying a Marshall amp with his guitar. Thus the students know that the hollow-body guitar/Marshall amplifier combination was used by the group that pioneered power guitar.
What they are told to look for in video: The Harmony Rocket in the opening sequence of this video, made for airing on MTV, is plugged into a small red amplifier. The amplifier is small, but the name says: "Marshall." You know for sure you will not be seeing a fancy guitar solo. You are looking at a power guitarist.
What the students have learned: In a section on "pedals," which are small boxes that boost or shape guitar sounds, they learn of three categories of pedals and hear examples. (There are actually seven in all, but only three are featured here.)
Most rock guitarists play on stage with three or four pedals, which are used to create subtle effects. The students are told that some guitarists are focused more on the pedals than their guitar. Edge from U2 and the guy from Aerosmith are good examples. They use effects with weird names like "flanger."
The third category of pedals has just two members: "distortion" and "overdrive." Guitar gods often use a distortion pedal with other effects. Jimmy Page is using one in the solo to "Communication Breakdown," above. Heavy metal guitarists use distortion as well. Jimmy Page therefore is considered the first heavy metal guitarist.
Right at the end, it is noted very briefly that Pete Townshend used only one pedal: "overdrive." Of course. The reason is, he is a power guitarist. Therefore, he does not want to distort sound. He wants to maximize it.
What they are told to look for in video: In the video below, after the MTV video segment are two excerpts from live performances. This guitarist is using two pedals in these scenes. The first is overdrive. So is the second.
Something else you cannot see: the guitar being played is manufactured by Gretsch, and it is called The Beast.
Everyone is supposed to be a bit scared at this point, in a fake way. It's just a video, after all. No one is going to get hurt.
But they know, if the person they are about to see plays a hollow-body Rocket, and also a Beast, using not one but two overdrive pedals, with everything run through Marshall amplifiers, then this person is without doubt a power guitarist. No one would make this combination of equipment choices by accident.
The are told the video presents the winner in the category "Rickenbacker-only," subcategory "power-guitar model:" BEST POWER GUITARIST.
They are also informed this is the "world premiere" of the first video from a new "great guitarist" series.
Finally, there is a line in small font just above the video that says:
NOTE: IF YOU TURN THE VOLUME UP UNTIL THE WINDOWS SHAKE, YOU ARE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THERE.
===================================================
Then, there is a surprise, right at the beginning. The "great guitarist" series has a focus no one has any reason to expect. That's because I say nothing about it, and nothing discussed on the website to this point would suggest this focus. There is no way for anyone to be anything but surprised.
Therefore you will be surprised. That is inevitable and therefore boring. What matters is not the surprise but how the surprise is handled in the subsequent pages of the website. I will save that for later.
---------------------------------------
FOR NOW: CHECK OUT VIDEO BELOW AND PLEASE HELP!
Where I need help is in answering questions, one question in particular, from a Boys and Girls club music teacher about this artist.
Al, Dar, and Babe can answer that question. If even only one of them can respond, that would be great.