Every week for the last three months or so, Eric Johnson has gifted us with a wonderful, informative video mini-lesson.
The latest of his lessons is a particularly helpful one, covering a topic for which he is very well-known already: tone.
In the lesson - which you can check out above - Johnson discusses "working the dynamics of tone, coming from when you fret the string, through the sound, through the amp,” and how to generate a harmonious connection between your fingers and your gear.
“For lead playing it’s important to find a congruent setup that matches your intention and the dynamics of your inhaling and exhaling of your playing,” Johnson says. “You want the amp to respond with you in the same harmonious polarity.”
He offers some string-stretching and vibrato tips, before adding “But however I want to negotiate the thing – picking it, stretching it, vibrato – it’s going to be within the congruency of the way the amp responds to you.
“So it’s important to find the right amp. Otherwise you’re going to fight the amp and you’re never going to be able to achieve where you want to go.”
Johnson - who began the video series to help raise money for Feeding America - ends the video by encouraging viewers to donate to the organization, or to their local food bank.
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