How do you do a Windmill?

Putting music theory into practice
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captsandwich
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by captsandwich »

kiramdear wrote:I'm waiting for captain sandwich to find this thread. :lol:
:)

When I was a lad, me & my high school buddies had a punk rock band that rehearsed in my family room. We were all about style over substance, suburban punks who could hardly play, but we looked tough with our low slung, spray painted guitars. We jumped around and posed with our guitars, feedback screaming from our amps, sneering and snarling as we barked out songs about the horrible injustices in our lives. Unfortunately, the family room was in the basement, with a very low ceiling. Doubly unfortunate was the fact that it was built in the 70's, when stucco stalagmites were an acceptable ceiling finish. I still have scars on my knuckles from early windmill attempts.

:(


PS: the secret is to get the guitar out to your left (assuming you are right handed) Open chords are easiest (note the Dmaj in my avatar :wink: ), as is the downward sweeping windmill.
Last edited by captsandwich on Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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scotty
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by scotty »

I remember the first ever gig i did in front of a crowd.I jumped up with my guitar(it was a FG 330) and the lead popped out it wasnt until about 10 seconds later i realised what i had done. :oops: To late the game was a bogey i looked a twit! :wink:
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kiramdear
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by kiramdear »

Greg,

Technically speaking, those were stalactite scars on your knuckles. :mrgreen: Wasn't that stuff later shown to cause birth defects? :shock:
All I wanna do is rock!
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captsandwich
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by captsandwich »

My mistake.

BTW, I almost got thrown out of a show cave a couple of years ago. Maybe that's part of the reason why I don't know the difference.

:mrgreen:
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kiramdear
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by kiramdear »

Good advice, Greg. Out to the left. Maybe I'll try it myself one of these days. In general the guitar smashing has always appealed to me more than the windmilling stunts. But I'm waiting till someone pays me to do it before I start practicing. :mrgreen:
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jps
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by jps »

kiramdear wrote:Good advice, Greg. Out to the left. Maybe I'll try it myself one of these days. In general the guitar smashing has always appealed to me more than the windmilling stunts. But I'm waiting till someone pays me to do it before I start practicing. :mrgreen:
No need to practice that, Kira! :mrgreen:
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scotty
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by scotty »

Seriously who the H*ll windmills? :roll: Jake just play the songs If i saw any artist windmill these days id need a triplecringebypass.
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kiramdear
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by kiramdear »

jps wrote: No need to practice that, Kira! :mrgreen:
Oh I dunno, Jeff. There's very little in life that can't improve with practice :wink:
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Scastles
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by Scastles »

scotty wrote:Seriously who the H*ll windmills? :roll: Jake just play the songs If i saw any artist windmill these days id need a triplecringebypass.
Have to go along with that thought. But, if you're goin' to windmill, clockwise seems the way to go. :D
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captsandwich
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by captsandwich »

scotty wrote:Seriously who the H*ll windmills? :roll: Jake just play the songs If i saw any artist windmill these days id need a triplecringebypass.
Well, I guess I won't be putting you on the guest list anytime soon. I jump, I windmill (sort of), I play solos on my knees with the guitar behind my head, whatever.
I guess I'm sort of an idiot. :lol:
8)
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paologregorio
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by paologregorio »

captsandwich wrote:
scotty wrote:Seriously who the H*ll windmills? :roll: Jake just play the songs If i saw any artist windmill these days id need a triplecringebypass.
Well, I guess I won't be putting you on the guest list anytime soon. I jump, I windmill (sort of), I play solos on my knees with the guitar behind my head, whatever.
I guess I'm sort of an idiot. :lol:
8)
I'm all for onstage antics; I like pick slides, the switch rattle, jumps, kicks, et cetera. I even do windmills on occasion, clockwise, counterclockwise, whatever. I think if a player exhibits enough of a sense of humor while doing the windmill along with the other antics, one can avoid the cringe factor. If one misses the strings completely in mid swing it's even funnier :lol:
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Bighouse
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by Bighouse »

As a connected performance issue, what kind of ignition fluid do you use to burn your guitars? Any good tips? I've never been able to really get it down.
Because I told you before- oh, you can't do that.
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captsandwich
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by captsandwich »

Bighouse wrote:As a connected performance issue, what kind of ignition fluid do you use to burn your guitars? Any good tips? I've never been able to really get it down.
Gin or vodka, usually.

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kiramdear
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by kiramdear »

If it was good enough for Jimi it's good enough for me.

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CappuccinoKid
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Re: How do you do a Windmill?

Post by CappuccinoKid »

Pete nicked that off Keef Richards, credit where credits due lol...

Just relax your arm completely and swing from the shoulder, look at where you want to hit the strings and not at your arm or hand.
It helps to hold the guitar at a 45d-ish angle from the body, and swing the guitar slightly towards your arm as you strike the strings (helps you not hit the top of the body).

Hope that helps lol...

Next week , how to do the Watusi...
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