Dear GT,
Please stop with the blues stuff. Just stop. I get it why you do it but peddling the same style of music over and over is frankly pretty depressing. I have been a subscriber now for around a year and pretty much all the covers and main stories have been about the blues. So if you could give it a rest, that would be fab. Obviously, if you're devoid of ideas, how about these for a few suggestions: - Song Studies (ie, take 3 songs and break them down into the lowest factors and build them up. (Ie, the key/mode, focus on fills, gear used, sounds, ideas to expand on make things flashier/tastier/groovier
- Feature someone on the cover who doesnt play the blues and has actually released something recent (and dont try the Jo Bonamassa route, otherwise you'll over do him like you have done with Gary Moore)
- Try doing something Jazz or rock as a feature (and not classic blues inspired rock, try the 80s/90s for a change)
- Finger style acoustic songs for complete beginners (because, you know, not everyone can do the stuff you have in the magazine)
- Go for broke, do a metal song for a change. Like, a Pantera track, or a Slipknot track. Yeah, you did Anthrax a while a go but one small feature out of 12 months isnt that great.
- 8 Finger tapping? I cant even tap with one finger... How about a beginners guide to that instead?
And yes, I do understand you have to sell to your strengths and yes, I do understand that blues is your cash cow. Total Guitar covers the kiddy stuff (hence the endless rotation of Slash, Trivium etc on the cover). Dont worry, you wont turn into Guitar World who ONLY do metal songs and stuff if you dont it once. Try it, you may like it.
While I've got your attention, that "HOW MUSIC WORKS" feature got me really excited (steady at the back) and interested but I think you blew it because you jammed far too much into it and watered it down to the point of nothing. How about doing something which actually inspires a 30-something year old with WIDE ranging tastes (and I dont just mean metal and a bit of blues, I mean proper wide ranging..
Yours
Me.
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I think the blues thing being there cash cow might also come down to age vs technology,most 50-60+ people i know are scared to death of computers and most of them who are players came up on blues or rock/blues based stuff,if they can't get there fill of guitar stuff online because there technophobic there going to hit the news stands,so for GT its a case of "see a need,fill a need"
I brought a load of GT mag from a car boot earlier in the year,most of them from 2008-2009 and pretty much everyone has a massive blues features they also have a few readers letters pretty much like the opening thread "saying enough with the blues already" ed's response is we'll try and cover more stuff not just blues....seems that sentiment didn't last long.
I think http://www.iguitarmag.com/ have pretty much got it down for my tastes but im a 80's-90's shred/fusion/prog kinda guy so the more tech the more guitar the better
I agree though. So many blooze. I would love a regular feature on modern metal or rock. They very rarely dissect protest the hero, but I'd buy an issue just for that.
They did a pull me under feature a few years back that I still have... That was a nice change.
Of course there are exceptions but it seems UK guitar mags are happy to choke themselves to death on blues rock, indie rock and classic rock.
Still waiting for the revival [-O<
Jetfire
Gizmo is right, magazines on any subject have to appeal to people who are afraid of the internet, ie, old people or convicted paedophiles, for whom bad blues-rock is the last refuge. Obvious really.
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What did it for me was getting the hybrid picking special and it being EXACTLY the same lesson that I initially learned to hybrid pick from in the same magazine a few years ago.
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