“I’ve got to go on stage with him. I better get my sh*t together”: Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith says he “never knew you had to practice” guitar until he met this virtuoso
Despite being a member of one of the biggest metal bands of all time, Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith says he’s never had a practice routine – until one intimidatingly good player forced him to ‘get his shit together’.
The revelation came during a recent interview on the Scars and Guitar podcast, where Smith discusses how he “breaks out of old habits and keeps things fresh” throughout his career.
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“It usually takes working on a project,” the musician explains [via Ultimate Guitar]. “For example, I worked with Bruce’s [Dickinson] band in the ‘90s, and I must give a shout-out to Roy Z, who was a producer and guitarist in Bruce’s band.”
“Roy is a virtuoso guitarist, very talented guy, great producer, great songwriter. He’s a teacher of guitar; he knows all his theory and everything, and he taught me a lot of new techniques. Just sitting down and playing with him, I learned a lot off him, and it really, really had a big impact on my playing.”
The two first crossed paths while working on Dickinson’s 1997 solo album Accident of Birth, where Smith found himself floored by Roy Z’s technical prowess.
“When I grew up, there were no videos on YouTube or anything. You just had to kind of play by ear,” he says. “I never knew you had to practice. I never had a practice regime. I just used to write songs, play them, sing, and do gigs. I never used to sit down for hours and practice, but Roy showed me stuff, and I thought, ‘Hey, he’s technically miles better than I am, and I’m playing in a band with him, and I’ve got to go on stage with him. I better get my shit together.’”
“So, I started practicing, like, two, three hours a day,” Smith continues. “He showed me alternate picking and all that stuff; the whole Drop D thing, I didn’t know how to do that. When I turned up for Bruce’s gig, and I listened to the songs that were all Drop D. I just tuned the whole guitar down, the whole whole thing, and it was like strings all over… So, you shout out to him.”
While Roy Z was the catalyst, Smith says the drive to improve never really stops – especially when it’s time to hit the studio.
“Every time you do an album, you improve, because you’ve got to go in there, sit in front of the producer, the rest of the band, and come up with something good, so you have to make sure you’ve got your stuff together, so that pushes your playing,” the guitarist explains. “And occasionally, I’ll sit down and try and learn something, because you’ve got such great stuff on YouTube. I mean, it’s wonderful for young musicians now for learning.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
