IceBus' Choice - Children of Bodom 'Bed of Razors'

[DGV]

I actually meant it more as a joke in the whole Wayne's World "No Stairway to Heaven" -sign in guitar shop type fashion. People tend to find Stairway overplayed, as you will hear it in just about every guitar shop. (Though not as much lately, I've noticed) It IS a great song, but it was the third or fourth song I ever learned. But then again... I haven't done the solo - and it's been quite a while since I last played it - in fact I've just about forgotten it. : Hmm...

No, I've another song picked for my next choice.

[Ice]

Stairway has to be fingerpicked unfortunately. Which is why it took me about 4 days to learn the intro

[Wolf11]

Stairway has to be fingerpicked unfortunately. Which is why it took me about 4 days to learn the intro

Yeah thats why I never really got into it,as I'm useless at fingerpicking :S
..and I really dont like the song,,,I have never understood why people consider it such a "Classic" imo there are/were far better songs

Wolf;)

[Ice]

Stairway has to be fingerpicked unfortunately. Which is why it took me about 4 days to learn the intro

Yeah thats why I never really got into it,as I'm useless at fingerpicking :S
..and I really dont like the song,,,I have never understood why people consider it such a "Classic" imo there are/were far better songs

Wolf;)

In one word... SOLO. To me that is one of the greatest recorded solos of all time, and goes a long way to proving you don't have to be note perfect to really emote on a guitar

[DGV]

Funny since I used to do only fingerpicking, the only thing I wasn't able to learn was the solo. I guess now I might be able to do it.

There may be better songs, but this is one of those weird songs that just achieves that status. The same way how, let's say, Nothing Else Matters became one of those songs that every aspiring guitarist had to learn. It's just one of those things. Anyway, I do like the song.

[DGV]

A little tip on this song: the synth at bars 90-91 is set to play a distortion guitar part. Probably some extra lick that's inadvertently been included in the synth track. (?)

[Ice]

How are you guys playing the descending chromatic triplet lick starting on the 12th fret, bar 20 of Ale's bit? 3 fingers or 4?

[Wolf11]

How are you guys playing the descending chromatic triplet lick starting on the 12th fret, bar 20 of Ale's bit? 3 fingers or 4?

I'm playing that with 3 fingers sweeping it ....this and the last song make me glad I spent hours practising sweep picking ....not that I,m still that fast but I,m getting there


Wolf;)

[DGV]

I'm also using 3 fingers, and I'm sweeping it. But this song does give a lot of practice for the pinky, at least the way I'm playing it.

[Bigpops]

I'm using fingers 4,3 and 1, and sweep picking.

[Ice]

Bars 63&63 of Alexi are brilliant I have zero chance of getting this up to full speed any time soon, but I can make my hands do it which is a start

[DGV]

I think everything from bar 40 to 67 is brilliant - ie. the chorus. I'm loving playing it. The speed trainer has really helped me in getting it up to speed. It's still a little bit too fast for me to play comfortably, but I'm actually getting there. Having played that bit all of Sunday and again yesterday helps a bit. What I'm having trouble with is the actual rhythm and then the solo. Have yet to go for the rhythm before and after the guitar solo but it looks like it might be a challenge.

[Wolf11]

I get a big smile when I play this song there are some really cool melodies in it

I think I,ve got it down other than the solo ...but I,m suddenly busy (phew) so havnt really had a chance to sit down and learn the solo,hopefully this weekend I can start too ...

I also hurt my hand playing this by not really warming up before going to full speed,so I am being carefull now :S


Wolf;)

[DGV]

The solo's tricky. For me there are some short parts of it I can easily play rather fluently but some are causing me problems. And at the moment there's just too many problems. Weird fingerings and whatnot. And once again, it's just a little bit too fast for comfort. But I'm working on it.

[DGV]

The chromatic lick in the intro IceBus was talking about before - I've found i playable on Alexander's bit, but on Alexi's it's completely impossible for me, I just can't get it anywhere near decent speed. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to just do some butchering of that bit that's not even remotely close to properly played, since it's completely killing me.

Also, the solo's causing me a whole load of difficulties. I just can't get the end properly. The beginning is manageable but the ending just kills me. Starting at the bit where the 19th fret is played on the three top strings in that funny pattern, after that I'm lost. I'm alreay guessing that might mean volume: barely audible for the end of the solo. Argh. I also found out that I need to practice more sweeping.

And I thought this song was manageable.

[DGV]

www.kolumbus.fi/realit/Razors.mp3

Some parts I'm damn proud of. Some I could've done better. But what bugs me is the solo. If it would've been 5-10 bpm slower (depending on the day) I could've played it smoothly. this was pretty much as good as I could make it at this speed.

Not perfect, but I'm happy with it. It's a pretty decent example of my current abilities. *shrug*

Also, I had no hope with the sweep parts. And I noticed I'd omitted them only once it was all done. Other than that it has everything.

[Bigpops]

Nicely done. Not a bad picking technique you have there. It's a shame that your intonation sounds out (very noticable on the top frets). But that could be due to tuning down to D.

Good work on the solo. That melody seems all over the place to me, and i can't get it to stick in my head. I do really like this track though. The chorus is genius.

Makes me want to finish mine. My wrist is giving me jip today. It must be something i do at work that sets it off, because i haven't played for a few days.

[DGV]

Thanks for the comments.

What's intonation?


The solo is a bitch, to be honest about it. It took me ages to learn the melody and fingerings, and I just didn't have the skill yet to finish it perfectly. What surprised me was that it was my fretting hand that couldn't keep up, which is a new experience for me. Right hand technique is definitely improving!

Hope your hand gets better. It's a shame, especially when you're feeling like playing, if you have to rest your hands.


And that's one annoying application.

[Bigpops]

What's intonation?

Intonation is set ate the bridge. It's the reason that the saddles on your bridge are all in different positions.
What it's there for, is to keep the notes in tune as you fret a note; with the ultimate aim, that when you fret any string, at any fret, the note is in tune.

You can check this yourself. Play a natural harmonic at the 12th fret (any string), and then play the fretted note at the 12th on the same string. If the fretted note is sharp, then the saddle needs moving away from the nut. If it's flat, then it needs moving towards the nut. If they sound the same, then the intonation is set correctly.

You can also check again at the 19th and 24th frets, and adjust accordingly. It is almost impossible to get perfect intonation, but you can get very very close.

[Ice]

Thought that was very good DGV mate, especially as you learned it so quickly. I'm yet to have a proper look at the solo so I'll try and have a decent look this week... Got a new guitar arriving Thursday that only Darren knows about...

I agree on the intonation comments, and the only other thing I'd add was timing was a wee bit off in places but I think that was more you struggling to keep up than being off the beat. Good job man!

[DGV]

A new guitar??? And you haven't told us?? Shame on you! I'll be looking forward to hearing it! Congrats!

About intonation: I had noticed that myself, actually. Just didn't know what it was called. I know it's a bit more off than I'd care for it to be even in standard tuning, but it was definitely more off now that I downtuned.

I had loads of time on my hands after a big exam and I knew that that'll change next week so I decided to do it in a hurry. I still think even if I'd taken it slower I couldn't have done any better at this stage. I was pretty satisfied with myself for being able to play it this well. Most of it was indeed a bit too fast for me. Just 5 or 10 bpm less and I could've played all of it rather comfortably. (Not the sweeping, though...) So I'm rather satisfied with that. In fact, the only bit I was constantly having timing problems with was the very last little decending lick that Alexi plays. I was able to play that rather quickly, but not accurately, for some weird reason. The other places I'm off beat is mainly because I'm fumbling around and struggling with the speed. I'm still fairly satisfied.

[Wolf11]

D/l now DGV

Makes me want to finish mine. My wrist is giving me jip today. It must be something i do at work that sets it off, because i haven't played for a few days.

Same here m8 ..I have left my guitar all week as I find the same thing ..I think it,s playing guitar,using a pc at night and having a repetative job that doesnt help my left wrist ...comes and goes :S

A new Guitar Peter ...you kept that quiet ...I would think it will be a RAWK type beastie to be different from your strat .....I await to see it

Wolf;)

[Wolf11]

Very good DGV ..I was pretty impressed as it all sounded relatively smooth.I thought you had grasped all the parts and have done well to learn them well ....I thought the rythmn parts were sounding far more solid and had a nice chunkyness to them and I thought you played the front part of the solo well ....Like Darren I cant remember it ...

Other than the intonation as already metioned ( only more noticable on this track as it has such a high melody ) I thought the whole thing start to finish was one of your best GPG tunes ...as I always say it's nice to see how you,ve improved since you started GPG through a lot of hours of practise I'm sure


----

I will sit down and learn the solo I just havnt really had time , and am trying to give my wrist a solid weeks rest so I dont agrevate it

Wolf;)

[DGV]

Thanks Wolf! Appreciate the feedback.

As for intonation, I've been checking it all night, and the weird thing is that it's only (noticeably) off on the b and high e strings. On the e it's quite distinctively off, too, about half a half step at the 12th fret!!! I thought they'd all be equally off, but that's obviously not the case. I guess it's to be expected since I'm working on a guitar that cost me 150£ with an amp, and I've really done nothing in the way of maintenance, that it probably won't be in the best possible condition. This reminds me of how close I was to buying that JS Ibanez. And last week I was just as close or even closer of getting a Jackson I really liked (300£ - I thought it was a bargain for the money). But then there was this electro-acoustic I really liked for 250£. It used to be 500£. I just couldn't make up my mind as I couldn't afford both atmo. This just doesn't get easier as time goes by, now does it?

[DGV]

Now, on a semi-related note... *cue spooky music*

In case you didn't know, Children Of Bodom was named after a triple homicide that occurred back in 1960, on the shore of a lake called Bodom. It has remained unsolved since. Four kids went camping, and in the night they were attacked by someone who sliced the ropes of the tent they were sleeping in, causing it to collapse, and then killed three of the kids inside, with a knife. The fourth kid was seriously injured, but survived. Now, thanks to some fancy DNA work, they've supposedly managed to find the killer, 44 years after the murders. And, lo and behold, the person that they arrested is... the sole survivor. Nothing's certain, but the fact remains that he was arrested and is being held for investigations.

Interesting that this should happen at the same time that I am learning my first ever Bodom song. (Creepy coincidence...) I've never been to the place where the kids were killed (two 15-year olds and one 18-year old, the survivor was 18 at the time), but I have been to the lake, and it's actually a very beautiful location. Just ten minutes away from where I live.

Anyway, I thought you might find that interesting.