So Im in an Emo band ....

You make up the chords instead and get him to follow you. If a person who plays an instrument doesn't know what note they're playing... *** are they doing playing that instrument? If the guitarist sucks, get rid of him.

 

Uhh, one way to work with weird chords is to listen to the entire progression without playing. Don't try to figure out what the roots are, but just take a listen and imagine how the bass should sound. Sometimes you get a good melodic idea pretty quickly, but if you don't, then maybe record the progression being played over and over again and listen to it as much as you need to in order to figure out what to play.

 

and eventually maybe he'll get the idea that he should play chords that make sense.

my guitar player likes to play funky chords too but the problem there is that he knows what they are and I don't know them well enough to really play around them all the time. i need lessons.

 

Emo Phillips has a band?

 

Apparently so, and we have his bass player right here!

 

Hey, what's the official definition of an Emo band anyway? I always hear that term and can never figure it out. I'm guessing it's short for emotional or something, so I picture The Cure or Smashing Pumpkins crooning on in a nasally voice about losing their girlfriend...??

 

Officially Emo is post-punk post-hardcore. which is to say that after the punk movement of the 70's, and the Hardcore of the 80's, we have emo. Good examples of this are Fugazi and At the Drive in. These bands combine the edge of hardcore and DIY ethics of punk, but write songs with a jagged emotional sound. Nowadays its become to be a label of contempt on any self-proclaimed punk band that starts softening its music or getting whinier, for example, "Blink-182 used to be punk, but now they're playing all this alt-emo stuff" The genre has also come to mean any band that plays punk music just for girls or that writes its song in minor keys and sings about girls and being sad. Its basically crying music.
Its hard to really define emo music, as there are many times when the lines become blurred, some bands call themselves emo, others think that emo kids should be beat up.

 

thats the first time i've heard blink 182 being called anything close 2 emo but w/e ppl have dfferent opinions. when i think of emo (the new stuff not the old) i think of saves the day, the get up kids, further seems forever, and jimmy eat world.

 

I used to have the same problem with my guitarist. I always would just listen to it and then match, but would also sometimes find the root. Good luck with the new band!

jtbp

p.s. Nebraska is cool. Go Huskers!

 

i have 2 guitar friends.ones really good,and one sucks,he doesnt know anything aobut roots,notes,chords,anything.he just plays stuff,and he cant make up anything good if his life depended on it.but hes like my best friend so i dont wanna tell him he sucks etc...but hes thinking of taking lessons so i think he'll get alot better.lessons helped me alot.my other guitar friend is awesome but he doesnt like playing as much as my other friend.just venting cuz i dont have many people to play guitar with...