# Helmet's Page Hamilton "Sonic Shapes" DVD



## dorfmeister (Nov 8, 2009)

Page Hamilton - Sonic Shapes, Instructional/Guitar/DVD - Hal Leonard Online

Anybody seen this?


----------



## RiffRaff (Nov 9, 2009)

Yeah, I've got it. It's not bad. You should have a bit of theory knowledge as a prerequisite before you watch the DVD as you'll get more out of it and it may be a bit confusing at times to beginners. 
He goes over the Superchops method of practicing, which is basically a set routine of things to practice. Also, he shows how you should be clearly thinking about the chord changes and anticipating (much like Marty Friedman but in more of a jazz context) them while you solo over them. His phrasing is really sweet as well. Just very smooth and pleasing to the ear imo. He could have gone a bit more in depth regards to what he is actually playing over the chord changes and why he selected those notes though. So this is where the required theory knowledge will prove useful as you can get an idea of what he is playing just from looking at the position of the fretboard and the shapes. 
There is much emphasis on altered chords and Page explores the differences in individual note sound. The start of DVD is quite basic regarding major, minor, diminished and augmented chords but starts to get a bit more tricky with the altered chords. 
There is a *lot* of talking in this one, so be prepared for it. I actually would have preferred it if he supported what he was saying with more musical examples during his speech(es). 

The last segment is where Page talks about his favorite pedals and gives a demonstration of a few. This is really nothing special though and I would have preferred it if he gave us more musical ideas or extended his previous ideas with more examples or explanation. This ten minutes or so just feels a bit like filler imo.

The extra bonus is really fucking sweet. It's just Helmet doing a 4 song set and it's been captured really well. The songs include Swallowing Everything (If you've seen Helmet play this song live you know it's fucking *crushing*), See you dead, Enemies and Unsung. The whole band is in really good form and it's a kick ass way to end the DVD. 

The DVD has extras if you stick it into your PC. These are just Adobe PDF's of a few chord charts. With the idea being you learn the chord changes, record them down, and then solo over it. Nice little touch which I wish every DVD would include. The Chord charts don't have tab so be prepared to read up on some chords if you don't what they are. 

All in all. It's a pretty solid DVD. Good but not great. More emphasis on examples and explanation as to why certain notes are selected is needed but it's really nice to see a DVD not just be like "Here's a scale, play it" and I hope Mr. Hamilton continues on with his teachings as he does have some good stuff which proves he's more then just the gran'-daddy of the Drop-D riff. The added bonus features adds a point.

7.5/10


----------



## DDDorian (Nov 9, 2009)

I'm definitely curious to check this out, mainly because Page likes to talk about how into jazz he is but never actually plays any I still don't understand who this DVD is targeted at, though - is your average Helmet fan gonna get anything from this? Why would a jazz fan grab this rather than something from an established jazz musician? Don't get me wrong, it's exactly the sort of thing I'd want from Page Hamilton, I just think I'm probably part of a tiny minority on that one.


----------



## RiffRaff (Nov 9, 2009)

^ You're right, the target audience is a bit undefined. It won't really please the Helmet fans as it doesn't really explain Page's trademark freak-out solos or have any of that heavy riffing style. Hardcore jazz enthusiasts will probably find it too simple for them with not enough new content. 

I guess I'd say it's for people looking to expand their chord vocabulary and develop solo phrasing. It doesn't really expand upon rock guitar vocabulary like it says on the box.


----------



## Wretched (Nov 24, 2009)

I'm a huge Helmet fan, so it wouldn't have mattered if it was good or not. However the lack of TAB and the lack of having everything he played laid out on paper was a confusing let down.

The performance parts were cool and his jazz runs were awesome. For me it was more about learning what made him tick than anything I could get out of it.


----------



## sol niger 333 (Nov 24, 2009)

RiffRaff said:


> Yeah, I've got it. It's not bad. You should have a bit of theory knowledge as a prerequisite before you watch the DVD as you'll get more out of it and it may be a bit confusing at times to beginners.
> He goes over the Superchops method of practicing, which is basically a set routine of things to practice. Also, he shows how you should be clearly thinking about the chord changes and anticipating (much like Marty Friedman but in more of a jazz context) them while you solo over them. His phrasing is really sweet as well. Just very smooth and pleasing to the ear imo. He could have gone a bit more in depth regards to what he is actually playing over the chord changes and why he selected those notes though. So this is where the required theory knowledge will prove useful as you can get an idea of what he is playing just from looking at the position of the fretboard and the shapes.
> There is much emphasis on altered chords and Page explores the differences in individual note sound. The start of DVD is quite basic regarding major, minor, diminished and augmented chords but starts to get a bit more tricky with the altered chords.
> There is a *lot* of talking in this one, so be prepared for it. I actually would have preferred it if he supported what he was saying with more musical examples during his speech(es).
> ...




Is it John Stanier the original drummer? Or Tempesta the white Zombie drummer? I'm for Stanier any day of the week


----------



## RiffRaff (Nov 25, 2009)

The drummer on the DVD is the new Helmet drummer Kyle Stevenson. 

While I think Stanier was a critical part in the helmet sound, the new drummer is actually really good imo.


----------



## cycloptopus (Nov 25, 2009)

DDDorian said:


> I'm definitely curious to check this out, mainly because Page likes to talk about how into jazz he is but never actually plays any I still don't understand who this DVD is targeted at, though - is your average Helmet fan gonna get anything from this? Why would a jazz fan grab this rather than something from an established jazz musician? Don't get me wrong, it's exactly the sort of thing I'd want from Page Hamilton, I just think I'm probably part of a tiny minority on that one.


Dude, I feel the same way. Everyone who's into them is always telling me how schooled he is and as much as I like Helmet, and I really like them, I never see it the music. Any leads in Helmet are always buried in the music and, to my ears, doesn't sound all that great. Cool, but i just don't see the technique.

Last time I saw Helmet he had a couple of VHT stacks and his sound was huge. I got my nose broken in the pit too. Ahh...the memories...


----------

