Alan Sparhawk (of Low) Guitar Lessons online!

[zhivago]

I just discovered these yesterday by complete accident....

A great introduction to open G, which he has used pretty much exclusively over the years.

There are three lessons at the moment...

Week 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMyUgQaKdtU

Week 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_fU44Dbne8

Week 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8jBeXuU3wI

[marqueemoon]

Funny, I was just learning a Low song the other day, and while the chords were easy enough to get a handle on I wasn’t able to match the voicings. Now I know why.

I’ve seen them live at least 3 times. Not sure how I never noticed this. Not a band I felt the need to analyze in that way I guess.

His sound has been a big influence on me. Not many electric players use the full dynamic range of the instrument the way he does.

[dc]

he was playing that guitar when they opened for Slowdive here a few years ago. a mesmerizing performance. thanks for sharing these!

[SignoftheDragon]

Alan was roommate/bandmate with my oldest brother in their early college days pre-Low.

I still remember 13-year-old me visiting their BYU college dorm with my mom- she asked for a sample performance, and they blew my young mind with a homebrew rendition of Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.

Very formative in my young musical life!

My band has ended up playing with Low/RGC a few times over the years. Consistently mindset altering each time I've seen them perform.

[dc]

I still remember 13-year-old me visiting their BYU college dorm with my mom- she asked for a sample performance, and they blew my young mind with a homebrew rendition of Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.

GREAT story! i can only imagine how cool that was ...

[zhivago]

Funny, I was just learning a Low song the other day, and while the chords were easy enough to get a handle on I wasn’t able to match the voicings. Now I know why.

I’ve seen them live at least 3 times. Not sure how I never noticed this. Not a band I felt the need to analyze in that way I guess.

His sound has been a big influence on me. Not many electric players use the full dynamic range of the instrument the way he does.

Alan is a true master...I have seen them a few times over the years here in London, and even managed to catch Gospel Retribution Choir in a tiny venue a long, long time ago.

Like you, I was a bit perplexed years ago trying to figure out songs like Dinosaur Act, Sunflower etc etc...and then one day I see a YouTube interview and he's like "I've been in open G since I was 19"

...I felt exactly the same way, as the time I was trying to figure out certain Smiths songs, and years and years later someone said "oh, capo on the second fret"

Actually since the Smiths thing, I focused on trying to hear chord voicings, instead of the actual key which would throw me off...listening to old country tunes, where different singers play the same song in different keys also helper training my ear...

I am babbling on, apologies

[zhivago]

he was playing that guitar when they opened for Slowdive here a few years ago. a mesmerizing performance. thanks for sharing these!

No worries at all!

Really glad you enjoyed it...let's give these vids a few more hits, so he will carry on doing these

[zhivago]

Alan was roommate/bandmate with my oldest brother in their early college days pre-Low.

I still remember 13-year-old me visiting their BYU college dorm with my mom- she asked for a sample performance, and they blew my young mind with a homebrew rendition of Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want.

Very formative in my young musical life!

My band has ended up playing with Low/RGC a few times over the years. Consistently mindset altering each time I've seen them perform.

WOW!

That is awesome!! I am a massive, massive fan...so WOW!

[marqueemoon]

Funny, I was just learning a Low song the other day, and while the chords were easy enough to get a handle on I wasn’t able to match the voicings. Now I know why.

I’ve seen them live at least 3 times. Not sure how I never noticed this. Not a band I felt the need to analyze in that way I guess.

His sound has been a big influence on me. Not many electric players use the full dynamic range of the instrument the way he does.

Alan is a true master...I have seen them a few times over the years here in London, and even managed to catch Gospel Retribution Choir in a tiny venue a long, long time ago.

Like you, I was a bit perplexed years ago trying to figure out songs like Dinosaur Act, Sunflower etc etc...and then one day I see a YouTube interview and he's like "I've been in open G since I was 19"

...I felt exactly the same way, as the time I was trying to figure out certain Smiths songs, and years and years later someone said "oh, capo on the second fret"

Actually since the Smiths thing, I focused on trying to hear chord voicings, instead of the actual key which would throw me off...listening to old country tunes, where different singers play the same song in different keys also helper training my ear...

I am babbling on, apologies

LOL at the Marr capo thing. I had the exact same experience.

Lots of capoed Stone Roses songs too. Muddling through that stuff was pretty good ear training though.

I’ve gotten to the point with playing and using a capo where I can find different voicings for common chord progressions using a capo pretty readily now and in a lot of cases tell when and on what fret a capo is being used.

Thanks to the internet this stuff is now common knowledge, but there’s some real value in taking a crack at things in different tunings than the one you’re in. Like, I’m not going to fiddle with all of Nick Drake’s tunings, but trying to find those intervals and studying his picking technique has been huge.

[zhivago]

LOL at the Marr capo thing. I had the exact same experience.

Lots of capoed Stone Roses songs too. Muddling through that stuff was pretty good ear training though.

Hahaha! Same here on the Stone Roses...I remember finally putting a capo on the fourth fret (IIRC) and playing Waterfall...a revelation!

[wingnutkj]

One of the things I've really been enjoying about Lockdown is the number of musicians who've been doing things like this - it's been really instructive and inspiring.

Low are one of my favourite bands, and I'm not really sure how it happened. I suppose it's entirely in keeping with them that they just sort of crept in there unassumingly, and quietly blew me away. Alan seems like a really nice, genuine guy.