100G & THE TONE-VIBRATO FASCINATION
I passed the 100,000 step mark of my ongoing tribute walk last night. Now...four more times.
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/zerofret/annesblog/halfamillionsteps.txt
There are a lot of elements to Kelly Johnson's guitar playing that I like: tone, vibrato, sense of melody, tasteful phrasing, spontaneity, plenty of other things. But it always seems to come down to that basic tone-vibrato combo for me; that's the basis of it. I think I've talked a couple of different times on the Girlschool Discussion Forum about what a spectacular vibrato she had. People probably start to think, 'yeah, yeah, tone - vibrato, what's the big deal'. But I come by the fascination honestly; there is a reason why that stands out for me so much.
Around about 1983-84, two things coincided. I was in my first year at University of Windsor and I started seriously getting into learning lead guitar technique. While those two things might not seem to have anything to do with each other, they actually do. I was a music major, but my instrument major was alto saxophone, not guitar. When I started that first year, I could see I had some catching up to do compared to the playing level of a lot of other first year students. Part of the music program included taking private lessons on your main instrument from one of the music school instructors. I had a great instructor who made the trek to Windsor a few times a week from across the river in Ypsilanti (Michigan). I guess he saw too that I had that catching up to do. So most of that first year consisted of a back-to-basics crash course. And what do you suppose he stressed over and over again as a good basic foundation? You got it. Tone. Vibrato. And lots and lots of scale exercises to practice them with. That year of tone and vibrato "boot camp" left a lasting impression. And since I was picking up lead guitar on my own at the time, those same principles transferred over to that.
Ever since that time, I've had the tone-vibrato fascination. It goes without saying, of course, that all guitarists try to have good tone and vibrato. But they're both pretty subjective things. A person might like a guitarist's vibrato or their tone, while another person might not hear anything special in them.
I guess for me, I heard those two elements combining perfectly in Kelly's playing, that cutting, super-mean Les Paul tone, contrasted with a very fluid, graceful, expressive vibrato. With all the other elements mentioned earlier factored in, as well. I've always said that, with that tone and vibrato, I could listen to Kelly Johnson play C scales and enjoy it.
So I'll sign this post off with a little of that. (No, not C scales.) This is a tribute video done by (fellow Canuck) filmmaker Johnny Terris. A very nice piece of work, set to Girlschool's "A Love Too Far". Anyone who has taken the time to read this whole post has probably seen this video before, but it's well worth watching again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtN8wSG8wqU
cheeky
When I do some tabbing, I generally set up with my guitar, a pencil and tab paper, my CD remote to my right, and I take a guitar pick off of a side table to the left. Then I tab away. Sometimes, when I pick up the remote to reverse, pause, or un-pause, rather than put the pick down I'll just tuck it in the corner of my mouth for a second, then grab it when I need it again.
I immediately thought...Note to self: Remember to retire that guitar pick right away before you stick it in the corner of your mouth without thinking next time you're working on a tab! 
special