Metropoulos Forum

Some of those are good for 'backing tracks' but in general I have a real problem with them. I'm always telling guys I teach to avoid them like the plague. Nothing swings like the original record and you learn far more trying to sit in top of what great players are doing IMO.

Paul

I disagree Paul. Ive found playing on top of recordings to be a sort of safety blanket. Your right. Nothing swings like the record. I totally agree. But being out there on your own with only your playing to fill the space of the recorded music is more difficult and in that sense more like playing with a band. Yeah, you cant get into it as much because the feel is kinda flat and the rhythm is lacking. The real midi sounding ones are hard to play with and not sound corny. But its not totally worthless. Some of them are even the real tracks from the song minus the guitar!

Dan I do know what you mean. I get a lot of guys coming to me with backing cd's they've got free in a guitar magazine. There is a point in that backing tracks do leave space for you to fill, thats a good thing and yes not totally worthless but my argument is this. You take any of the great guitar players, great in my book is BB King, Buddy Guy, Jimi, Jeff Beck, SRV, Clapton, Page and so on, I like the bluesier players. You can be sure none of those guys learnt by playing to backing tracks, they learnt from listening to and playing along with the records of their heroes and thats why they all swing. I'm old fashioned I guess, I think getting solos from tabs on the net is a very bad thing. I'm big on guys developing their 'ears', makes you a better player and more sympathetic to other guys in a band I reckon.

Paul

i like backing tracks now and again i play on my own most of the time and need help to keep the timing and at school i have to use backin tracks and some of them are absolutely shit!

Backing tracks, and midi are tools.

If you go to a guitar teacher and he tabs it out for you, or if you download the tab on the internet...it's all the same. Sometimes you can get to a part in a song that can frustrate you for decades. Life is too short. Get the tab.

http://www.guitars101.com/vb/member-cre ... ng-tracks/ has a huge collection of backing tracks in their Backing track forum. All kinds of stuff. Some better than others.

Check out the stickys in that forum. There's a couple members who have quite a collection. Zep, VH, SRV, Deep Purple,Iron maiden, Rainbow, and lot's off odds and ends. A wide variety. I found it a week ago, and it was like Christmas. I downloaded probably 50 backing tracks.

Guitar Pro
and Guitar and Drum Trainer http://www.renegademinds.com are really cool programs for learning songs.

Good programme, for slowing down an mp3, like it. Thanks mike.

Paul

I don't mind backing tracks...it's kind of fun playing with them to be honest. My favorite backing track is of Runnin' With the Devil, and it has my bud Ralph Saenz on vocals, Tony Franklin on bass, and Vinnie Appice on drums. I've fooled a few people with that who argued with me that it was Van Halen, and there was no way I was playing on that. LOL (These folks aren't players mind you).