The Frank Gambale interview is here!

Masters in Mechanics
#1

This topic is linked to a Cracking the Code webpage. View the original page here: https://troygrady.com/2018/08/11/the-frank-gambale-interview-is-here/

We thought you’d enjoy some Frank Gambale this weekend! We’re still working tablature for the 100+ examples we’ve pulled out of the conversation, and we should have that by the middle of next week or so. But the interview itself is ready to roll on the Cracking the Code platform, so we figured we’d turn it on for those who’d like to get a look at it now. You can find it right here…

[ read more at the linked blog post ]

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Gambale Interview
Frank Gambale and the Metalocalypse
#2

God damn it @Troy I had things I was supposed to do today

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#3

I wanted to re-iterate how thrilled I am to see this interview and say ‘Thank You’. I have been following Frank for quite awhile, he is truly unique, one of the all-time greats!

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#4

You may not have picked up on it if you didn’t pay very close attention to the interview, but apparently Frank has an online music school.

#5

Ok, ok, ok. I was going to, you know, skip over some of that. But when I re-watched it during edit, it seem too obtrusive and I didn’t feel like chopping up the flow of the conversation. Honestly a little self-promotion is fine if it’s someone we’re working with.

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#6

If I were in Frank’s shoes I’m sure I’d be exactly the same way. Maybe should have added a wink to my post. No issue with the plug, especially when it’s something I might seriously spend money on myself. I was just amused that Frank wasn’t super subtle about it, but when you’re Frank Gambale, why should you have to be?

Edit: The subtle genius is that in causing a guy like me to comment about it, Frank has spread the word even further. :wink:

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#7

Just an FYI, all 102 of the shorter tab examples are up there now. We’re still working on the intro / outro songs, given their length. We’ll probably get those up in a couple days or so.

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#8

Damn it! It’s past midnight where I live and I had to discover this great news now! I guess I have no choice but to watch!

Thanks!!

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#9

His online guitar school has been around for awhile. It’s always good to support fellow musicians IMHO, they have enough headwinds they have to contend with.

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#10

Looking forward to watching it, I love Frank’s playing!

For anyone interested, I bought both the “blues” and the “sweeping” courses from Frank’s school a couple of years ago. I found the blues one very instructive. The sweeping one provides a very good amount of examples of sweepable phrases which sound great, however it does not go into the subtleties of the sweeping mechanics and of smoothly combining sweep/alternate like Frank does. So I would say that to get the most out of the sweeping course you need to more or less have the technique down already.

Well of course these are only my opinions, and I hope it’s alright to share them here, if not lemme know and I’ll edit the stuff away!

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#11

I must admit, most of his records didn’t really connect with me, but I love the way he plays. I’ve had friends who were immediately dismissive of him, being the ‘sweep picking guy’, but I’m always amazed at how musical he is. I don’t know how he keeps his technique from overshadowing everything he plays, but all his chops really do serve the music. He’s a really special musician, and one of the most unique guitarists around.

Can you imagine having been at GIT when he came in as a STUDENT doing that stuff? I can’t even… lol

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#12

IMO he is better when he is playing with other artists, namely Chick Corea.

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#13

I love “Behind The Mask” in particular but I’ve been getting down with this too:

#14

The example of ‘mixolydian’ Frank is doing sounds like Debussy to me. It’s got a ninth in it, and the way he “parallel moves it up” sounds a lot like Debussy.

I love Frank, and he was one of the first to really share everything about his technique. Extremely intelligent about music and music theory. His solo on “Another Alternative” (starting at 2:05) is a masterpiece! The way it builds to ever-greater peaks…

#15

Thank you @Troy and CTC team. I loved every minute of this and look forward to working on (or at least struggling with) the examples.

#16

Ha! You and me both. His whole world is pretty alien.

#17

passages is one of my old favorites. I wore that cassette out

-OP

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#18

Hi all,

I really enjoyed the interview. Classic CtC style dare I say? The “oval picking” thing was interesting to watch. But I am not sure if there is a new concept behind that we haven’t already explored here.

Still, I think the interview is so rich technically and musically that it deserves one of Troy’s follow up video lessons!

By the way, the intro and outro ballads are so beautiful. They represent what I want to be as a guitar player.

Cheers! \m/

#19

I heard from other former fellow students of Frank that you would never want to go on after Frank in performance class.

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#20

Is that the $449 sweep picking course? I was interested in it but that’s way too expensive.

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