Never trust anyone who can solo over diminished chords......😎. Jimmy's a brilliant player, and an old friend. He was fantastic when I first met him in 1987, and he just keeps getting better and better.
Moral of the story? Be extremely musical, have a great ear, fantastic technique, draw from a very wide pool of influences, have an extremely solid theoretical foundation, practice often and have the guts to try some new stuff when you get out there and are playing live. I.e., be a really serious musician.
Some great tips here. Love this man's playing. I can really relate because I have a blues background but also like jazz, so I'm looking to expand my palette.
Saw this guy twenty years ago in Aquarium Rescue Unit, round the same time WSP was touring through the Rockin Eagle. The place was so small I could have reached out and grabbed his guitar, or Otiel's bass. I'll never forget those times. Some of the best jams I've ever heard.
Wow the beautiful thing about taking lessons from Jimmy... was his kind way of teaching... and after we learned all our scales triads and unsurpassed Freeman, Scott Henderson overloads, he said now just forget all that and just play... Thanks man Doyen
There’s so much great information packed into this video! That exercise from around 3:40 to 3:55 reminds me of the intro to Eric Johnson’s Forty Mile Town. Jimmy Herring is an amazing guitarist and a great guy.
this is the 1st time i heard this guy, wow! I hear he is playing on gary husbands new project 'dirty and beautiful' ,look forward to hearing more of him. What a player!
Thanks. I hear that his page is now updated. I did not see a compressor on the old one, but you are right, with that beautiful sustain, he has to be using something. Thanks for the response. It is great to know that there are Herring fans out there. He is one of the most uderated and best guitar players of all time.
graduated with brother bobby, was fortunate to be able to go to the family's home for years, when jimmy was very young every time i went there he was sitting on the bunk beds quietly playing.
I love it, when he tries to play slow to explain something he makes a bunch of mistakes but makes no mistakes while playing fast. I really wish that I had that problem in my playing!
thinking is just as natural as a heartbeat brother, and much more can be accomplished with the mind. I agree that music should be heartfelt, but thinking doesn't make emotion obsolete. It's always the guitar players who strictly play blues scales and pentatonic patterns that say what you are ignorantly saying right now, and then justify it by saying you are playing "from the heart", when realistically, you simply will never come close to doing what this man can do physically or emotionally.
@robdorg Nah! Makes you wanna buckle down and practice harder! :) Remember his comment on Clapton @0:55 or later on about Pat Martino. At those moments, he's like one of us - which he is anyway - he just has a bit more time to practice! :)
@tinkers32 his website has his gear for just about every project he's ever played on. i'm sure he uses a compressor or maximizer though for at least some of his stuff. his sustain is unreal.
@SPickens89 please... steve vai knows everything there needs to be known about the guitar. He is a trained musician and he would be able to sit in with any musician in the world without getting lost. For goodness sake he transcribed frank zappas music note for note including vocals, drums and horns. He use to challenge his fans to bring any classical peice to him after a show and he would play it on the spot. He is the most sucessful guitar player right now and the most well rounded
I would love to sit and listen to him describe his music for a few hours. Very few guitarists are this fluent in technique and theory, and have the ability to explain it so effortlessly.
Im not comparing anybody but Jimmy is one of or the best on the jam scence today, Derek being close behind if not right there with him. I wish Frogwings still played some of the best talent in a single band iv ever seen! They had Jimmy and derek on guitar, john popper for vocals and harm, Otiel on bass, Kofi flute/keys and butch trucks on drumbs, kinda wish it was jeff sipe but butch keeps up just fine. Some of the best jams iv ever heard.
Musicians are like sculptors or painters. the create art and not two pieces of art are exactly alike. Rembrant was great as was Picasso, but two completely different styles. Love Herring, Govan and Brett Garsed. All three different and great but not one is "better than the other". However they all three are way better than me. lol
I go through this conversation with people also Steve Vai Joe Satch all the guys are very educated and can play whatever they want to at that level they just choose to play the way they feel in there heart to play. I do agree though that Vai does plaly songs he just does alot of guitar acrabats wich is sad to see somone of that calliber playing a bunch of divebombs and sound effects
@GuyJamesGuitarist It's OK to disagree, I just think that there are a number of guitarist out there who are better. I stumbled across this video and was disappointed, doesn't mean he's got some chops.
ventor11225 commit yourself to learning the major scale up and down the neck. Start on, say g, and learn the shape of the scale up and down the neck. From there you can build on that for your chord theory, learning to identify keys of songs you hear by mapping it out and so on. You just shift that shape to whichever key your in and presto you have you jumping off point for any given situation. Also realize learning the major scale in one key is also essentially learning the relative minor scale of another key. So you're learning two scales at once since they're both derived from the major scale. So if you're learning the a maj scale starting on the 5th fret of the low string, you're also learning the relative f# minor scale on the 2nd fret of the low string. All that "matters" ( not really) is which tonic or root you're emphasizing relative to the key you're in. But playing the same notes will work over each of these keys. These patterns repeat over and over up and down the neck so you just get familiar enough to shift it around.
He does not. He uses overdrive and reverb but set up so that he has two amps each with its own volume pedal one with overdrive and the other with reverb into a cab in stereo. When he plays he almost always has his foot on a volume pedal and does quick almost imperceptible volume swells into and out of each phrase as he solos. So it ends up sounding like compression. If you look closely at Jimmy’s playing he has all these subtle techniques that make his playing so amazing and unique. As do all great musicians of course.
Yes, the typical fingering is middle finger on the low B and you can either bar the 4th and 3rd strings (A and D notes respectively) or play them with your ring and pinky. In a band setting where another guitarist/keyboard is playing higher notes, you can just play B-X-A-D-X-X... The F# is the 5th degree and sonically close to the root, so sometimes it can be left out (the pure 5th doesn't tell your ear what type of chord you're playing). In a band setting, one thing you do not want to do is play the whole chord as if you're playing alone. Unless its for an effect (like adding heaviness/thickness), let each harmonic instrument take their place in the spectrum.
and don't get me wrong guthrie is a bad man on the guitar. he is defintley in the top 5 best guitar players in the world right now.It's all about personal preference.Steve vai,guthrie, and jimmy herring are all incredible guitar players.
Try be less predictable, i like that Jimmy! Awesome lines.. Bit sloppy at the start of the vid but still amazing style and performances and great lesson ...Cheers
Way to fuck up my vibe throwing an instructional video into your playlist, UA-cam! lol/smh 😝 This is good information, and I'll probably watch it later, but (and say it with me now, kids) MUSIC INSTRUCTION IS NOT MUSIC!!! 😐
@voodoo778 no sorry to you. Just because he has never touched on jazz or country doesn't mean he can't play it. So your basically saying that vai as A well studied of a musician who graduated from berklee can't play simple jazz standards and play over changes?BAAHAHAHAHAHA.Steve vai makes more money than guthrie and anyother instrumental guitar player in the world btw
@SPickens89 i have zero respect for you. Even john Mclaughlin have said that steve vai is the best guitar player in the world right now and you don't even know what your talking about because if you were to compare all the shredders steve is one of the most taseful. You probably aint got no speed under your belt and thats why you like people like larry carlton and bb king.
no sir you are the unintelligent one. You automically presume just because guthrie govan plays jazz standards in his show that all of a sudden he is a better guitar player than steve vai. First off thats the problem thats why none of those guys are making any money because there playing all these old ass standards that no one can relate to anymore.Even miles davis never went back and played his old stuff.Because he knew that music should always progress.Steve vai is different and more unique.
@moh508th All shredders are tasteless. I mean really, this is a difference of opinion but I think that it takes more talent to play complex chord structures than have speed. That being said, you're right I'm not a speed player. I'm fast enough though. Go try and play solos by yourself and see who you impress, probably kids who listen to pompous a-holes like Vai (who really have almost no true talent). I'd actually take Andy McKee over any of these jokers.
every fucking video its the same shit vai satriani petrucci. all of them have a different style of playing. vai plays wit alot more legato an more techniqical approch on things. petrucci plays with more or a song writing aspec to play with a full band well using theroy an scales to make a better sounding song/music. joe plays to be famous no but he play more of a mainstream sound that most people like an dont think he is getting to techniqual like vai. look up shawn lane hes byfar one of thebest
@moh508th Steve Vai is an awful guitarist. It's not about the speed with which you play, it's about creativity. Django wasn't the fastest but he was probably one of the best. If you're listening to Steve Vai or Joe Satriani then I have ZERO respect for your opinion.
i think he is an amazing guitarist, however i do feel that he is a bit scaley and not as melodic as he could be or other guitarist of his caliber. Kind of like he runs up and down a scale real fast. I can't knock him as he is a hell of a lot better than me or 90% of other players.
Never trust anyone who can solo over diminished chords......😎. Jimmy's a brilliant player, and an old friend. He was fantastic when I first met him in 1987, and he just keeps getting better and better.
Moral of the story? Be extremely musical, have a great ear, fantastic technique, draw from a very wide pool of influences, have an extremely solid theoretical foundation, practice often and have the guts to try some new stuff when you get out there and are playing live. I.e., be a really serious musician.
couldnt agree more ,...well said...
That's it?
Joe Boomer. Lol. Unfortunately, I think that just about covers it. He's amazing.
@Born Unloved handle checks out
@Born Unloved "This channel doesn't have any content" - like your argument
When Jimmy Herring alternately picks, he picks with all sorts of accents and different levels of attack - much more musical than shredding...
yep, reminds me of pat martino
Some great tips here. Love this man's playing. I can really relate because I have a blues background but also like jazz, so I'm looking to expand my palette.
Saw this guy twenty years ago in Aquarium Rescue Unit, round the same time WSP was touring through the Rockin Eagle. The place was so small I could have reached out and grabbed his guitar, or Otiel's bass. I'll never forget those times. Some of the best jams I've ever heard.
Wow the beautiful thing about taking lessons from Jimmy... was his kind way of teaching... and after we learned all our scales triads and unsurpassed Freeman, Scott Henderson overloads, he said now just forget all that and just play... Thanks man Doyen
There’s so much great information packed into this video! That exercise from around 3:40 to 3:55 reminds me of the intro to Eric Johnson’s Forty Mile Town. Jimmy Herring is an amazing guitarist and a great guy.
this is the 1st time i heard this guy, wow! I hear he is playing on gary husbands new project 'dirty and beautiful' ,look forward to hearing more of him. What a player!
Thanks. I hear that his page is now updated. I did not see a compressor on the old one, but you are right, with that beautiful sustain, he has to be using something. Thanks for the response. It is great to know that there are Herring fans out there. He is one of the most uderated and best guitar players of all time.
graduated with brother bobby, was fortunate to be able to go to the family's home for years, when jimmy was very young every time i went there he was sitting on the bunk beds quietly playing.
Such an awesome lesson! Jimmy humble and endearing as always
N.i.h..
He always sounds great, plays great stuff.... it's basically "when southern rock goes full on jazz fusion'
I love the fourth and fifth ideas. It sounds like he listens to sax or keyboard players.
I love it, when he tries to play slow to explain something he makes a bunch of mistakes but makes no mistakes while playing fast. I really wish that I had that problem in my playing!
I can Listen this Master playing or taking all day.
thinking is just as natural as a heartbeat brother, and much more can be accomplished with the mind. I agree that music should be heartfelt, but thinking doesn't make emotion obsolete. It's always the guitar players who strictly play blues scales and pentatonic patterns that say what you are ignorantly saying right now, and then justify it by saying you are playing "from the heart", when realistically, you simply will never come close to doing what this man can do physically or emotionally.
@robdorg Nah! Makes you wanna buckle down and practice harder! :) Remember his comment on Clapton @0:55 or later on about Pat Martino. At those moments, he's like one of us - which he is anyway - he just has a bit more time to practice! :)
@tinkers32 his website has his gear for just about every project he's ever played on. i'm sure he uses a compressor or maximizer though for at least some of his stuff. his sustain is unreal.
@SPickens89 please... steve vai knows everything there needs to be known about the guitar. He is a trained musician and he would be able to sit in with any musician in the world without getting lost. For goodness sake he transcribed frank zappas music note for note including vocals, drums and horns. He use to challenge his fans to bring any classical peice to him after a show and he would play it on the spot. He is the most sucessful guitar player right now and the most well rounded
God this guy's amazing... Seeing him play with les Claypool was like a revelation. Their styles are SO different, but it just worked so well eh...
Dude is mesmerizing even when he’s just teaching
♥️Jimmy. He is a beast.
jimmy herring you are a buitiful person i seen you with the allman brothers 2000 half way through the set because i was jellis of you
I would love to sit and listen to him describe his music for a few hours. Very few guitarists are this fluent in technique and theory, and have the ability to explain it so effortlessly.
sduke39 agreed...a real artist cannot explain how he or she does what they do. This is way beyond minor and major pentatonic scales
Wow, so lyrical and genuine!
I LOVE how he knows theory! I'm really into all that stuff :P
All about I don't play like my Aunt Lois and all that :D
@pandafuryface "Go Banana!"
-Ralph Wiggum
Im not comparing anybody but Jimmy is one of or the best on the jam scence today, Derek being close behind if not right there with him. I wish Frogwings still played some of the best talent in a single band iv ever seen! They had Jimmy and derek on guitar, john popper for vocals and harm, Otiel on bass, Kofi flute/keys and butch trucks on drumbs, kinda wish it was jeff sipe but butch keeps up just fine. Some of the best jams iv ever heard.
2:44 a gift from the master
Wow,, just wow
All string-bending's unorthodox. Go back a few decades, and that was the domain of slide / steel guitar
You must be talking a few centuries cause people have been bending strings for at least 150 yrs now.
alejandro torres I didn't say it didn't exist earlier, but nothing compared blues players beginning to bend light-gauge strings in the 1950s.
Great tips for breaking out the box! thanks
this kat KNOWS His fretboard ...
allanb3blues Yes indeed and theory as well and can expound on it quite effectively. Seems like a good guy too.
beautiful playing !!!
@moh508th
i'm sure he cannot keep up with de lucia meola mclaughlin trio especially without his whammy bar lol
Love Jimmy!!!!!!!!!!
such a shredder
I had no idea who he was until I was about 10 feet from him at a panic gig and got my mind blown.
usually herring smells bad but this herring should be heralded!
Reminds me of Tufnel's Indonesian Folk Music.
awesome lesson
very informational
Finally something useful on UA-cam!
Without tabs in PDF :
Un virtuose que j'apprécie!
every time i read the comment sections on videos like these, i realize how juvenile and idiotic most guitar players are.
Not just guitar players... ***PEOPLE, most PEOPLE
Musicians are like sculptors or painters. the create art and not two pieces of art are exactly alike. Rembrant was great as was Picasso, but two completely different styles. Love Herring, Govan and Brett Garsed. All three different and great but not one is "better than the other". However they all three are way better than me. lol
I go through this conversation with people also Steve Vai Joe Satch all the guys are very educated and can play whatever they want to at that level they just choose to play the way they feel in there heart to play. I do agree though that Vai does plaly songs he just does alot of guitar acrabats wich is sad to see somone of that calliber playing a bunch of divebombs and sound effects
i left half way through the set because i was jellus of you
this guy gets it :P
I wish I knew what the fuck he was talkin about....
That was inspiring
Dosent his guitar amp pedal combination sound sweet?
@GuyJamesGuitarist
It's OK to disagree, I just think that there are a number of guitarist out there who are better. I stumbled across this video and was disappointed, doesn't mean he's got some chops.
So I've been learning by ear for about 6 years, and i think I've gotten as good as I can get without really learning theory. Where should I start?
+ventor11225 get a teacher and mentor
ventor11225 commit yourself to learning the major scale up and down the neck. Start on, say g, and learn the shape of the scale up and down the neck. From there you can build on that for your chord theory, learning to identify keys of songs you hear by mapping it out and so on. You just shift that shape to whichever key your in and presto you have you jumping off point for any given situation. Also realize learning the major scale in one key is also essentially learning the relative minor scale of another key. So you're learning two scales at once since they're both derived from the major scale. So if you're learning the a maj scale starting on the 5th fret of the low string, you're also learning the relative f# minor scale on the 2nd fret of the low string. All that "matters" ( not really) is which tonic or root you're emphasizing relative to the key you're in. But playing the same notes will work over each of these keys. These patterns repeat over and over up and down the neck so you just get familiar enough to shift it around.
Does anyone know if Jimmy Herring uses a compressor when he plays live?
He does not. He uses overdrive and reverb but set up so that he has two amps each with its own volume pedal one with overdrive and the other with reverb into a cab in stereo. When he plays he almost always has his foot on a volume pedal and does quick almost imperceptible volume swells into and out of each phrase as he solos. So it ends up sounding like compression. If you look closely at Jimmy’s playing he has all these subtle techniques that make his playing so amazing and unique. As do all great musicians of course.
Can anyone explain his fingering of a Bm chord at 1:54? I've tried to look it up and dont see what version this is of a Bm chord. Anyone?
Its really a Bm7 with that A note. 7th fret. from low to high B-X-A-D-F#-B (but he's not playing the high B)
Thank you Frank, you are a true gentleman for answering, I appreciate your explanation very much.
Also is the fingering he is using Middle, X, Ring and pinky barring the bottom 3 strings? Do I have that right?
Yes, the typical fingering is middle finger on the low B and you can either bar the 4th and 3rd strings (A and D notes respectively) or play them with your ring and pinky. In a band setting where another guitarist/keyboard is playing higher notes, you can just play B-X-A-D-X-X... The F# is the 5th degree and sonically close to the root, so sometimes it can be left out (the pure 5th doesn't tell your ear what type of chord you're playing). In a band setting, one thing you do not want to do is play the whole chord as if you're playing alone. Unless its for an effect (like adding heaviness/thickness), let each harmonic instrument take their place in the spectrum.
Beautifully explained, thank you
@SPickens89 Hahahaahaha I strongly dissagree and I think larry would laugh as well.
COOL CARLOS MIJARES POYER
nice
the moral of the story? learn your theory
...bad audio .....still interesting "
and don't get me wrong guthrie is a bad man on the guitar. he is defintley in the top 5 best guitar players in the world right now.It's all about personal preference.Steve vai,guthrie, and jimmy herring are all incredible guitar players.
Guitar Gandalf
@SoiDogJet fish?
@matt921 What?
the colition to get jimmy herring on crossroads fest
he does up and down pick slanting for cross picking...
@ksmithdc word
Terrible teacher. Killer player.
Comparing one guitar player to another always seemed like a silly thing to do.
True.. but I've never.. heard anyone else like Jimmy.
Try be less predictable, i like that Jimmy! Awesome lines.. Bit sloppy at the start of the vid but still amazing style and performances and great lesson ...Cheers
Huh?
Since he created an impact in guitar fraternity , Jimmy has been my main guitar guru besides Steve Morse ! ...
Way to fuck up my vibe throwing an instructional video into your playlist, UA-cam! lol/smh 😝 This is good information, and I'll probably watch it later, but (and say it with me now, kids) MUSIC INSTRUCTION IS NOT MUSIC!!! 😐
@SPickens89 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA yeah and kurt cobain would have destroyed steve vai.HAHAHA
@voodoo778 no sorry to you. Just because he has never touched on jazz or country doesn't mean he can't play it. So your basically saying that vai as A well studied of a musician who graduated from berklee can't play simple jazz standards and play over changes?BAAHAHAHAHAHA.Steve vai makes more money than guthrie and anyother instrumental guitar player in the world btw
@SPickens89 i have zero respect for you. Even john Mclaughlin have said that
steve vai is the best guitar player in the world right now and you don't even know what your talking about because if you were to compare all the shredders steve is one of the most taseful. You probably aint got no speed under your belt and thats why you like people like larry carlton and bb king.
no sir you are the unintelligent one. You automically presume just because guthrie govan plays jazz standards in his show that all of a sudden he is a better guitar player than steve vai. First off thats the problem thats why none of those guys are making any money because there playing all these old ass standards that no one can relate to anymore.Even miles davis never went back and played his old stuff.Because he knew that music should always progress.Steve vai is different and more unique.
@moh508th
All shredders are tasteless. I mean really, this is a difference of opinion but I think that it takes more talent to play complex chord structures than have speed. That being said, you're right I'm not a speed player. I'm fast enough though. Go try and play solos by yourself and see who you impress, probably kids who listen to pompous a-holes like Vai (who really have almost no true talent). I'd actually take Andy McKee over any of these jokers.
hail to the jam band community
every fucking video its the same shit vai satriani petrucci. all of them have a different style of playing. vai plays wit alot more legato an more techniqical approch on things. petrucci plays with more or a song writing aspec to play with a full band well using theroy an scales to make a better sounding song/music. joe plays to be famous no but he play more of a mainstream sound that most people like an dont think he is getting to techniqual like vai. look up shawn lane hes byfar one of thebest
Not that I could do any better, but he seems like a very mediocre player in comparison. Larry Carlton and others kind of run circles around this guy.
@moh508th
Steve Vai is an awful guitarist. It's not about the speed with which you play, it's about creativity. Django wasn't the fastest but he was probably one of the best. If you're listening to Steve Vai or Joe Satriani then I have ZERO respect for your opinion.
i think he is an amazing guitarist, however i do feel that he is a bit scaley and not as melodic as he could be or other guitarist of his caliber. Kind of like he runs up and down a scale real fast. I can't knock him as he is a hell of a lot better than me or 90% of other players.