Incredible guitar player. Says he can't sweep pick like Jeff Loomis but man everything that he plays SOUNDS amazing. Mark's style is so unique and the fact that he doesnt know theory and uses his ear and builds his own chords by ear is what makes him stand out from the crowd of elite artists. I went through a phase where I only listened to guitar players who were known to be technical gods like Malmsteen and Petrucci, etc. Dont get me wrong, those guys create some awesome sounding music, but lately Mark's sound is just the most appealing thing ever.
Mark's great, but imagine how great he could be if he knew theory. Not knowing theory is not something to be proud of. I've never met another musician who said that learning theory didn't advance their playing tenfold. Music is a culture and theory is it's language.
On the other hand you do not need to know theory to make music, I think music is more about getting the instrument that you are playing to do the talking, saying music theory is required to play is the same as saying that you need a course or some kind of degree to paint a canvas. Some people are just born gifted. Periphery, as Mark said, usually relies on the technology to make songs. I'm getting to know that approach too, you can use programs to do arrangements played in whatever speed/complexity as you want and then reverse engineer them back so you can play them, that's how Periphery makes some of their songs. A good guitar sound and a creative player is all that it takes to make good music.
If I may play devils advocate on this one. I feel like music theory really is a language and as a language it helps everyone communicate on the same playing field. If I could compare it to English for example, we require a specific set of sounds to communicate with each other properly so we can understand what the sounds are coming from our mouths. It doesn’t mean you can’t communicate a different way but it might be more difficult to get your point across. Similar to someone communicating in Italian and one in Russian. You don’t need to speak the same language to make beautiful sounds but it sure does help in writing/playing with others.
I've had The Way the News Goes as my morning alarm for a couple months now, and now I just think of waking up when I hear it. Wake UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ Michael Hey man good point!! He has a super aggressive tight sound,yet he remains loosey goosey! The comment about the feel of a Marshall(he did not say Marshall, that is me) blowing the sound at your back!! my hairs on my forearms goose pimlle up when I get that super loufd CRUNCH of the stack behind me. No feeling in the world like it!!!!!
It's so much fun watching Mark play. He's so relaxed and always feels the pulse in the most fluid way, yet there's so much genuine power to his picking and even fretting. Awesome player.
That shows how humble he is, the guy sounds absolutely unique, for me, he casts a light upon riffs that makes them so beautifully heavy and shiny I almost feel like crying while banging my head as hard as my neck can handle. Mark Holcomb is my guitar hero for sure.
Probably one of the best clinics I’ve seen Mark do. I felt like the audience here was very engaged and asked a lot of great questions. I’m stoked I got to be there in person for this one!
1:12:19 it took me 3 hours of practise to learn that 30 second intro and play it smoothly. That song took my idea of chord structure to a whole 'nother level though and the grind was worth it :'). Incredible guitarist with a fresh approach to writing tunes.
I worked at Bill's during this time! I couldn't stay for the clinic, but I did a lot of the setup and display of the PRS' off camera and talked to Mark when he arrived. Such a sweet guy. I was so starstruck.
Excellent interview! Mark is truly and unique player. I wish they would release all their material sans vocals. I would purchase everything immediately. Watched a concert without the singer due to illness and it was so much better.
Amazing guitar player and musician. I'm not a very good player myself but mentally I can relate to this guy's approach on playing and writing music and he seems like a very good guy and he can explain things very clearly. Great video!
I don't have a theory background either. It made my head spin. But I taught myself a lot of odd jazz, classical, metal and funk voicings the exact same way he does. It legitimizes it. I learned odd time signatures and alternate tunings from Soundgarden first, then Alice In Chains, then Rush and Dream Theater in later years. I tried to sound out Tuck Andress voicings too. I learned the old school way. I learned pre internet. I love hearing musicians I respect kind of consign my learning style.
God that amp sounds killer. When Scarlett started to play, it looked like Mark forgot to change channels on the amp and was on the clean channel. Then he switches channels and kind of looks at the amp as if he's not sure it's working but then has this expression on his face like "holy shit" because it basically sounds just like the recording. Who knows if that's what actually happened but that's what it seemed like. I've always wanted a PRS Archon but it's definitely not cheap. Great sounding high gain amp though. One of the best on the market imo.
At one of his most recent clinics, he told everyone to try out his Private Stock 7 string and tell him what they think. So, I'm guessing there's a plan. But I dunno.
At 1:15:06 where that dude asks about writing stuff where two different guitars have parts that are in different tuning, I know that Karnivool do it. There's a video on youtube for RigTour (Drew and Hoss) (watch?v=XfxMCHwjV3U) where he shows the like tuning for their songs and it's all over the place. Check 'em out.
i did played his Guitar the other day ,was a 6s version did not thought the Bridge Pickups where that ULTRA CRAZY powerful in comparison to the Black SG i was also playing that day or my Seymour D Distortion i have on my other Gibson but i don't maybe is cos that Guitar had some old 11 gauge string set on it and may it sound off tone wise still a good G
The most unique thing i think of when i think mark holcomb is the Jimi Hendrix style claw grip he uses with his thumb, his hand moves just like hendrix, watch some old hendrix videos, just like a blues player- only dude in metal to play like that. Also his signature model is a badass guitar, sam with mishas. These dudes all have great gear to go with great talent.
Correction: JAMES HETFIELD was the 1st DJENT Guy. What I mean is his Palm Muting and I jokingly always say that Injustice for All was the 1st Djent album and Metallica's 1st and only djent album hahaha!!!
WOW! This video blew up. Thanks guys and lets keep the discussions going! I have submitted subtitles using UA-cam's auto-generate feature but some of the subtitles are not always correct. I went through some of them already but this video is extremely long so I have turned on Community Contribution so if you guys notice any mistakes and feel like contributing, please do. Thanks! You can contribute here: ua-cam.com/users/timedtext_video?ref=share&v=R7hufzkCvdQ
He changed the nut on his SE as well. I want to get one and i heard the nut wasn't too good, so i wonder if thats why he changed it....also, anyone know why they actually decided to release Nolly?
Alyus Dickey The guitar is great! Changing out the nut and tuners will make this thing rock solid though since it could have some tuning issues. Still planning on changing mine out but the stock parts are working pretty great. It's high quality though especially for the price including those insane sounding SD pickups. So many specs I could nerd tf out about but all of Marks videos cover them pretty well.
Holy crap ahaha, the outro song that you played is by Caleb Rodriguez!!! I just had a little freak out at my office desk, I was so confused haha. I literally have that song in my dropbox and listen to it occasionally. He's such a beast musician! Small world lol.
Prayer Position is such a heavy song and you can tell Mark wants to head bang and go nuts but he's sitting in a chair in front of people not moshing. Amazing guitar player. I own that very guitar he has in his hands and use the Fractal Axe FX and those are a deadly combo. I'm baffled by his picking hand by the way.
Why do I hear so much similarity of tastefulness, musicality, and aesthetic direction between Mark Holcomb and John Mayer in their playing styles? Mark is far superior in my humble opinion, but yet there are instincts that ring out as being similar between the two. Your thoughts?
Iloveleafy The whole earlier thrash scene really, but that slowed-down down-tuned chugging, with songs built around them, seems like 90s-onward thing. Hard to pinpoint what exactly constitutes the origins of any genre/style
SLY985 I forget the exact name of the song. It's from my friends band named Burdened Hearts. Check em out! The guy on the left in our UA-cam profile picture is their guitarist.
Question to mark, if someone every goes to a clinic, Mark, in your typical live shows, you don't need any pedals on stage with having everything Electronically programed to change, is it weird to step on pedals during these clinics ?
As some of you know, the guys in Periphery are fans of the band Ghost, and we do a lot of their covers on our channel. They just released a new album and I covered 2 of their songs on drums in one take (I did a mashup). Check it out if you'd like! Thanks. ua-cam.com/video/pkUexZYEVFg/v-deo.html -Brian
This is a stellar upload.. thanks uploader! Is this a new channel? Are you going to be uploading other vids like this from periphery/other bands? Would be cool to keep this fire burning! Thanks again!
vomitoriumbassist yes this is a fairly new channel. We basically upload content from some of our favorite bands and do covers! We are keeping an eye out for clinics like this to record in the future.
Wow, i just stqrted playing with new chords shapes because i felt power chordw were boring, never knew there was someone else who had the same idea x'D
verysillypenguin nolly left periphery a couple of months ago.. not sure why.. exactly.. but he is a great producer/bass player.. not sure if hes more focused on recording other bands.. or what? Kinda sad about that.. but Periphery will keep going.. they were doing great before nolly, and will be great after.. as well!
My feeling is that he knows the way they operate is best for them, but his musical personality isn't just limited to that and he has other interests musically. Even the talk about using live amps or the improvisation question gave me that vibe. His spirit and energy is a big part of why I love watching Periphery live though!
![Victory Amps MK Clean & OD [With Martin Kidd & Lee Anderton]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PgKHBpHKQ-g/mqdefault.jpg)
![Mark Holcomb Clinic [4k] John Petrucci's Wise Words](/img/n.gif)
does someone say "flat earth" at 7:07?
That was me😂 making a joke lol. Good ear!
@@PuretoneOfficial You legend haha
Incredible guitar player. Says he can't sweep pick like Jeff Loomis but man everything that he plays SOUNDS amazing. Mark's style is so unique and the fact that he doesnt know theory and uses his ear and builds his own chords by ear is what makes him stand out from the crowd of elite artists. I went through a phase where I only listened to guitar players who were known to be technical gods like Malmsteen and Petrucci, etc. Dont get me wrong, those guys create some awesome sounding music, but lately Mark's sound is just the most appealing thing ever.
Myles Mackey Mark does know theory tho.....
No he doesn't. He literally said so in the video that no one in Periphery knows theory they just use their ears
Mark's great, but imagine how great he could be if he knew theory. Not knowing theory is not something to be proud of. I've never met another musician who said that learning theory didn't advance their playing tenfold. Music is a culture and theory is it's language.
On the other hand you do not need to know theory to make music, I think music is more about getting the instrument that you are playing to do the talking, saying music theory is required to play is the same as saying that you need a course or some kind of degree to paint a canvas. Some people are just born gifted. Periphery, as Mark said, usually relies on the technology to make songs. I'm getting to know that approach too, you can use programs to do arrangements played in whatever speed/complexity as you want and then reverse engineer them back so you can play them, that's how Periphery makes some of their songs. A good guitar sound and a creative player is all that it takes to make good music.
If I may play devils advocate on this one. I feel like music theory really is a language and as a language it helps everyone communicate on the same playing field. If I could compare it to English for example, we require a specific set of sounds to communicate with each other properly so we can understand what the sounds are coming from our mouths. It doesn’t mean you can’t communicate a different way but it might be more difficult to get your point across. Similar to someone communicating in Italian and one in Russian. You don’t need to speak the same language to make beautiful sounds but it sure does help in writing/playing with others.
Such a humble guy. Incredibly nice, amazing guitarist too. Proud owner of his signature prs
Mark Holcomb is one of my top influences in guitar playing
I've watched every mark Holcomb clinic on UA-cam, they're all pretty similar, but they never get old, Mark is just an awes9me dude.
Lol me too, and I don't even play guitar.
I've had The Way the News Goes as my morning alarm for a couple months now, and now I just think of waking up when I hear it.
Wake UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Magmoormaster that’s awesome. I’ve had Air Chrysalis for almost a year. I should probably change it.
it really is a great song to have as an alarm. i used it too. :)
Same
nope...not gonna use that...i used songs as alarm in the past, and i ended up hate those song...haha
Duuuuude Air Chrysalis was my alarm song too! Took me like a year of not having it as my alarm to like it again haha
I really like hearing Mark play clean guitar. He's got fantastic attack on his right hand, and fantastic articulation.
Michael Wiznuk mmmmm big words
@ Michael Hey man good point!! He has a super aggressive tight sound,yet he remains loosey goosey! The comment about the feel of a Marshall(he did not say Marshall, that is me) blowing the sound at your back!! my hairs on my forearms goose pimlle up when I get that super loufd CRUNCH of the stack behind me. No feeling in the world like it!!!!!
Mark is such an articulate guitarist and speaker. This was great to listen to.
Thanks for posting!
It's so much fun watching Mark play. He's so relaxed and always feels the pulse in the most fluid way, yet there's so much genuine power to his picking and even fretting. Awesome player.
Thanks. Mark is always straight talking, no tricks, and generous and sincere with fellows
love it how almost every periphery song also works as an instrumental
That shows how humble he is, the guy sounds absolutely unique, for me, he casts a light upon riffs that makes them so beautifully heavy and shiny I almost feel like crying while banging my head as hard as my neck can handle. Mark Holcomb is my guitar hero for sure.
Probably one of the best clinics I’ve seen Mark do. I felt like the audience here was very engaged and asked a lot of great questions. I’m stoked I got to be there in person for this one!
Not even a single dislike on this video, you can really tell how humble Mark is... Thank you for being you Mark you're an absolute idol to people...
1:12:19 it took me 3 hours of practise to learn that 30 second intro and play it smoothly. That song took my idea of chord structure to a whole 'nother level though and the grind was worth it :'). Incredible guitarist with a fresh approach to writing tunes.
No fagdad tuning?
I worked at Bill's during this time! I couldn't stay for the clinic, but I did a lot of the setup and display of the PRS' off camera and talked to Mark when he arrived. Such a sweet guy. I was so starstruck.
Put Dime in title , get them views.
Excellent interview! Mark is truly and unique player. I wish they would release all their material sans vocals. I would purchase everything immediately. Watched a concert without the singer due to illness and it was so much better.
Mark's comments about the personnel is truest, deepest most important lesson you will ever hear! Thanks metal brother!
What a joy to watch this guy play and listen to what he has to say about it.
That clean scarlet riff at 1:11:00 gets me. I hope he does much more clean stuff in the future either with periphery or haunted shores.
Can't wait to hear some new stuff, and old stuff on their upcoming tour.
Amazing guitar player and musician. I'm not a very good player myself but mentally I can relate to this guy's approach on playing and writing music and he seems like a very good guy and he can explain things very clearly. Great video!
35:56
“That’s why we made this next riff so ‘Neanderthal’ sounding”
*plays this awesome dopeass riff that I could never write*
Thanks for uploading this! I was there, too. I remember you guys were also up there jamming his guitars after he finished. :D
I don't have a theory background either. It made my head spin. But I taught myself a lot of odd jazz, classical, metal and funk voicings the exact same way he does. It legitimizes it. I learned odd time signatures and alternate tunings from Soundgarden first, then Alice In Chains, then Rush and Dream Theater in later years. I tried to sound out Tuck Andress voicings too. I learned the old school way. I learned pre internet. I love hearing musicians I respect kind of consign my learning style.
God that amp sounds killer. When Scarlett started to play, it looked like Mark forgot to change channels on the amp and was on the clean channel. Then he switches channels and kind of looks at the amp as if he's not sure it's working but then has this expression on his face like "holy shit" because it basically sounds just like the recording. Who knows if that's what actually happened but that's what it seemed like. I've always wanted a PRS Archon but it's definitely not cheap. Great sounding high gain amp though. One of the best on the market imo.
I bought the Afterneath as my first guitar pedal, it is such a great pedal to nerd out on!!!
I hope he releases a 7 string se version
You can email PRS and ask them about it. Mark said that's the best way to get them to release one.
At one of his most recent clinics, he told everyone to try out his Private Stock 7 string and tell him what they think. So, I'm guessing there's a plan. But I dunno.
Its here
hey i have good news
Thanks for uploading this video
This is the best free master class.
I like his move while playing the guitar ...very energic
1:08:00 I was hearing a little bit of vectors....... Love it
look up Bulb - Epic Fail. that's the song
33:33 What he says next answering the question... Nailed it!
Djimebag?
djimebag sounds way stinkier
i like it
hahahahaha
Lmao
I like how thet whole intro was probably improvised and he made it look so easy
FOR ME. the best rhythm guitar of this decade. fuckn awesome
Thanks for this man!!
I really like that sliding sound on Prayer Position
At 1:15:06 where that dude asks about writing stuff where two different guitars have parts that are in different tuning, I know that Karnivool do it. There's a video on youtube for RigTour (Drew and Hoss) (watch?v=XfxMCHwjV3U) where he shows the like tuning for their songs and it's all over the place. Check 'em out.
he plays EPIC FAIL !! love that track ! 1:08:55
Hail Holcomb!
i did played his Guitar the other day ,was a 6s version
did not thought the Bridge Pickups where that ULTRA CRAZY powerful in comparison to the Black SG i was also playing that day or my Seymour D Distortion i have on my other Gibson
but i don't maybe is cos that Guitar had some old 11 gauge string set on it and may it sound off tone wise
still a good G
I lost it when he started playing March of the Fire Ants. Mark has a cool playing style that I really like, and this was an interesting video.
easily my favorite player in periphery
The most unique thing i think of when i think mark holcomb is the Jimi Hendrix style claw grip he uses with his thumb, his hand moves just like hendrix, watch some old hendrix videos, just like a blues player- only dude in metal to play like that. Also his signature model is a badass guitar, sam with mishas. These dudes all have great gear to go with great talent.
Correction: JAMES HETFIELD was the 1st DJENT Guy. What I mean is his Palm Muting and I jokingly always say that Injustice for All was the 1st Djent album and Metallica's 1st and only djent album hahaha!!!
Aside the possession of evident talent, what a thoroughly bloody lovely and super intelligent bloke. .
WOW! This video blew up. Thanks guys and lets keep the discussions going! I have submitted subtitles using UA-cam's auto-generate feature but some of the subtitles are not always correct. I went through some of them already but this video is extremely long so I have turned on Community Contribution so if you guys notice any mistakes and feel like contributing, please do. Thanks!
You can contribute here: ua-cam.com/users/timedtext_video?ref=share&v=R7hufzkCvdQ
More Mark Holcomb clinics man!
I like what he says about dime and Pantera, it would be very interesting to hear and Pantera song an octave lower.
I once wrote a djentier cover of Becoming on an 8 string. It was too much. Too good for this earth.
it's shit
1.04.54. Found out that Nolly officially left yesterday and now watching this today makes me worried for periphery
Everytime he plays "The way The News Goes" I watch that video.
March Of The Fire Ants!
Such a badass iconic riff
He changed the nut on his SE as well. I want to get one and i heard the nut wasn't too good, so i wonder if thats why he changed it....also, anyone know why they actually decided to release Nolly?
Alyus Dickey The guitar is great! Changing out the nut and tuners will make this thing rock solid though since it could have some tuning issues. Still planning on changing mine out but the stock parts are working pretty great. It's high quality though especially for the price including those insane sounding SD pickups. So many specs I could nerd tf out about but all of Marks videos cover them pretty well.
Tom T awesome! I was planning on buying locking tuners for it at the same time as i bought it, just in case there was tuning issues
Holy crap ahaha, the outro song that you played is by Caleb Rodriguez!!! I just had a little freak out at my office desk, I was so confused haha. I literally have that song in my dropbox and listen to it occasionally. He's such a beast musician! Small world lol.
HAHA you're probably one of the only ones to notice this! I'm friends with Caleb!
Puretone hahaha yes! I win! Good stuff, man.
Any info to share on how to find that guy’s music online?
Prayer Position is such a heavy song and you can tell Mark wants to head bang and go nuts but he's sitting in a chair in front of people not moshing. Amazing guitar player. I own that very guitar he has in his hands and use the Fractal Axe FX and those are a deadly combo. I'm baffled by his picking hand by the way.
Why do I hear so much similarity of tastefulness, musicality, and aesthetic direction between Mark Holcomb and John Mayer in their playing styles? Mark is far superior in my humble opinion, but yet there are instincts that ring out as being similar between the two. Your thoughts?
Sustained notes and voicings are similarly constructed is my first observation.
He's a beast!
I've always thought Dimebag as the godfather of palm-muted chugging, so I agree
a new level, cowboys from hell, just to name a few... lots of chugging in the verse riffs
screamo14 Definitely, also the breakdown parts of Domination and Strength Beyond Strength, among others.
Iloveleafy The whole earlier thrash scene really, but that slowed-down down-tuned chugging, with songs built around them, seems like 90s-onward thing. Hard to pinpoint what exactly constitutes the origins of any genre/style
There was years of thrash previous to DImebag.
Palm muting was played a decade + before Dime by a 1000 other guitarists, you don't quite understand what the term godfather means
What a god. Periphery is one of those bands which every member is so fucking talented...
25 minutes of All New Materials?
1:08:58 amazing.
The tune he plays at 8:38 he played it on this vid and In some sit down at a shop, is that a riff to a song?
Fruciante does the thumbs too.
How Mark did to change the sound without stepping on a pedal?
@1:12:00 ohhh I see it now
Even mark upgraded his tuners and the nut haha
48:16 How the hell you come up with such stuff man? Just out of this world!
song on outro?
SLY985 I forget the exact name of the song. It's from my friends band named Burdened Hearts. Check em out! The guy on the left in our UA-cam profile picture is their guitarist.
This guy writes good riffs
And Mastodon got the drop A idea from Neurosis.
That's why they should have worn a condom! But I kid! LOL
Question to mark, if someone every goes to a clinic, Mark, in your typical live shows, you don't need any pedals on stage with having everything Electronically programed to change, is it weird to step on pedals during these clinics ?
What's the name of the song that plays in the last 20 seconds of the video?
17:49 what a fucking riff! Holy shit !!! It's amazing that should be in a periphery song! And yes it is say me plss
HE PLAYED EPIC FAIL. OH MY GOD THAT'S SO GOOD
where?
MarkToast somewhere about 1h 10min
Juny1spion one of my favorite demos is Epic Fail
BRO IT'S SO GOOD THAT HE PLAYED IT
I know right? also one of my favorite demos
Does anyone know what guitar picks he uses?
A genius.
He's absolutely right. I mean, listen to Becoming.
Mark and Misha make eerily similar faces when they djent lmao.
Djentbag was dime
1:08:58
Killer player
As some of you know, the guys in Periphery are fans of the band Ghost, and we do a lot of their covers on our channel. They just released a new album and I covered 2 of their songs on drums in one take (I did a mashup). Check it out if you'd like! Thanks. ua-cam.com/video/pkUexZYEVFg/v-deo.html
-Brian
When he did the weird AGCFAC tuning I was hoping he'd play Zyglorox
PRS quality used to be unmatched.
he should do a instructional video just on big chords
36:03 turn the subtitles on HAHAHA
This is a stellar upload.. thanks uploader! Is this a new channel? Are you going to be uploading other vids like this from periphery/other bands? Would be cool to keep this fire burning! Thanks again!
vomitoriumbassist yes this is a fairly new channel. We basically upload content from some of our favorite bands and do covers! We are keeping an eye out for clinics like this to record in the future.
Wow, i just stqrted playing with new chords shapes because i felt power chordw were boring, never knew there was someone else who had the same idea x'D
RIP Nolly 8(
Im Systematic huh?
verysillypenguin nolly left periphery a couple of months ago.. not sure why.. exactly.. but he is a great producer/bass player.. not sure if hes more focused on recording other bands.. or what? Kinda sad about that.. but Periphery will keep going.. they were doing great before nolly, and will be great after.. as well!
Bet he was talking about Tosin messing up :D
Nev Gilhooly Or Richardson
Omgggg he played Epic Fail!!!!
The gospel according to Mark (Holcomb)
Dimebag is a god
F4c3TOface was RIP
Pantera, Scar Symmtery, and Soilwork pure djent (besides obviously meshuggah)
I feel like sometimes when Mark talks about Periphery he makes it sound like he doesn't like the way he band operates
My feeling is that he knows the way they operate is best for them, but his musical personality isn't just limited to that and he has other interests musically. Even the talk about using live amps or the improvisation question gave me that vibe. His spirit and energy is a big part of why I love watching Periphery live though!
He mentioned pantera in one line. Click bait title for an otherwise good video.
So... Nolly is nit in the band anymore?
+that guy that really sucks, I hope he help Misha produce the next album. Thanks for the info!
Carlos Damiano Bracho haha that guy that really sucks
+jacob portillo ???
#hailholcomb