Posts Tagged ‘learn electric guitar’
Introduction to Electric Guitar Lessons
March 19th, 2010
It was not so long ago that the electrical guitar went out of fashion and lost its appeal. A lot of people naturally thought that it will only be a matter of time before it was totally forgotten by the music world. This was the time when pop music ruled the airwaves. Thank goodness, that the electric guitar has regained its popularity and that means there are thousands of aspiring guitarists and lots of people are interested in taking electric guitar lessons, and there is good reason for it.
Flexibility
One of the greatest advantages to the electric guitar is its flexibility. Somebody who hasn’t tried the guitar before may begin with a desire to play classic rock music, but when he has learned to play, he will find that he can also play other types of music with an electric guitar. You will find many famous electric guitarists who play two or more of the different genres – jazz, pop, blues, heavy metal, country and many more.
Sound
There is a large range of sound that you get from an electric guitar. Highly skillful guitarists can make the electric guitar produce all kinds of sound, anyway they want it.
The Electric Guitar is Just Plain Cool
Classical guitars are great, however there is just something spectacular about people who play the electric guitar. The guys and girls who play electric guitar just shout out ‘Cool’ to everyone.
How do You Begin Electric Guitar Lessons
There are actually several methods you can use to learn to play the electric guitar. You can even use a combination of ways.
1.You can take traditional electric guitar classes. These can usually be found in your local newspaper, or advertised locally. Classes usually run between $20 to $40 an hour.
2.Teach yourself. You can opt to teach yourself using videos, DVD’s and books. This will work if you have a firm self discipline to study, however, you should know that this method usually, will take more time than a regular class.
3.Study online. Advanced technology, like live video feeds, have enabled many people to receive electric guitar lessons from other instructors online. This is a wonderful chance for those people who study well at their own pace.
Make sure that when you start your electric guitar lessons that you have all the necessary equipment. You don’t have to buy the most expensive guitar available, just a good working piece will do for a beginner. This makes practical sense especially when you don’t as yet know whether you will like to have one for long term.
You are sure to come across many other electric guitar players in the course of your lessons. Ask questions that you might have and when you hear something impressive ask them how they did it. Skillful guitarists are normally very willing to share their talents and knowledge to beginners.
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An Introduction to Guitar Effects
July 22nd, 2009
What makes Jimi Hendrix’s sound easily recognizable from Carlos Santana? How can you easily tell metal from funk, even if let’s say the metal player and the funk player are playing the same song (very unlikely, but bear with me here)? The answer: guitarists use effects to color their sound and give it a kind of modification suited to the type of music involved.
Normally these effects can be housed separately in small effects pedals, or in multi-effects hardware, or built into amplifiers, or simulated in computer software. They can be used singly, or you can turn on combinations of effects to get the sound you are looking for. We will identify the different types of guitar effects so you can choose the one that is perfect for creating the sound you want.
Distortion effects are popular in genres like rock, metal, etc. This is what produces the heavy, rough, raw sound you hear in these genres. Distortion effects can be divided into categories like overdrive/distortion (this is the well-known rough sound), fuzz (which is used to copy the sound of a vibrating torn speaker – thus being “fuzzy”), and high-gain (the thick, loud, “chugging” sound used in heavy metal). Almost all rock bands have these as a given, and is a good, basic investment.
Filtering effects are effects which shape the sound by enhancing or minimizing certain frequencies. Here you can find equalizers (similar to how normal equalizers work), and wahs (a foot-operated pedal that lets through increasingly higher or lower frequencies by rocking the pedal). The wah pedal is named because it sounds like a person saying a long “wah” when rocked (the low frequencies are the “w-“ and the high frequencies are the “-ah” part). You can hear this mostly in funky grooves.
Volume effects are just that, they modify the volume in different ways. Examples of these are volume pedals (these are just volume knobs in the shape of a pedal which you can rock back and forth), tremolos (which is used to copy the sound of a volume knob being turned up and down quickly, making the tone “fluctuate”), and compressors (used to preserve a certain volume level as the signal gets louder).
Time-based effects take a sound signal and copy it, making a kind of echoing sound. Delay pedals can change the delay time between the original sound and the copied sound, up to very long delay times, making a rolling echo-like sound (a notable user of delay effects is U2’s The Edge). Reverb pedals, however, copy the sound produced in a large space, where little echoes pile up and decay quickly. Aside from distortion effects, these are also well known, and may be an essential part of your rig.
Modulation effects are effects which actually change how the sound sounds. Examples of these are phase shifters (which makes a sort of whooshing sound by copying the original signal and then putting it out of phase regularly), flangers (which create a kind of speeding-up or slowing-down sound), chorus pedals (copying the sound of several guitarists playing at the same time), and rotary speakers (copying the sound of a signal going through spinning speakers, making a kind of wavy pitch-changing effect). These types of effects are used to create those experimental, space-age-sounds.
Pitch shifters change the pitch of a signal, then combines it with the original sound so that it sounds like two guitars blending together in harmony. It can even be used as a bass guitar if you set it one octave lower than normal, or produce a video-gamey sound if set one octave higher.
You can experiment with combinations of pedals and connect them in chains to figure out what type of sound you want to create. After some time you can hear which effects were used in your favorite songs, and hopefully this article can assist you on the road to creating your own sound, and adding new layers to your musical adventure.
Why You Should Learn To Master A Guitar
June 27th, 2009
Sure you can be the life of the party or someone who is really adored by music lovers or, the list goes on. You can play exceptional music through the playing of your guitar. And people would scream out “Play More!” That would be really nice isn’t it? Do you like the idea? Well, read very carefully as this article states some of the most exciting and fulfilling advantages when you have learned to master the techniques and chords in the phase of guitar music.
Advantage #1
Playing a guitar enhances your brain to work and to initiate such signals that commands your hands on mentally memorizing where to put your finger on a particular fret, pressing on the right chord and engaging in the proper manner of strumming.
Advantage #2
The pleasure of gratification is satisfied. Thus, your self-esteem is working its way through your personality. A psychological book once said, that man has to satisfy basic needs to be able to advance to the highest level which is the self-realization. Something like that.
Advantage #3
Let’s face the fact that a guitar is one of the most convenient instruments there is. You can’t bring your drums wherever you go. It would be exhausting on your part to carry a drum set around your campus and constantly beat it. It can cause so much distraction. Whereas if you have been a full pledged guitarist your whole life, you could play music where you can.
Advantage #4
Being able to drag your guitar around town, might as well earn something from it. A talent like that would hardly go unnoticed. Playing along the streets of downtown is not really the idea but if you consider it, then yes, you could try. You could ask some of your friends to back you up.
Advantage #5
You, yourself, is a unique individual. With any given ten people only one becomes a pure musician. And by some luck, that person is a guitarist. Or can be someone with pure musical talent who can play not only the guitar but similar instruments or some percussion ones. Some say it is learned but true talent comes from deep inside. It is that spirit within you that makes you distinct.
Advantage #6
Nobody can call you a loser with no specific talent. Yes, you could flunk all of your exams and miss every graded recitation during class hours but when school or house parties come, you are the star. Even an A+ won’t come close to the recognition you can achieve from being an accomplished artist.
Advantage #7
You are the “it” guy. Everyone can hate you or mess you up. But the moment you have learned to become a master in your own craft, everyone will recognize how good you are. Even those who never or didn’t know you will find an effort to. People will love you for the talent that you are.
More advantages are seen by simply playing the guitar. Playing is one thing but mastering is another. So if you are still struggling to play such tunes, don’t give up that dream. Although it may be only a hobby or past time, you never know, with skill, it may take you to new heights. Something brighter. Something more intense. Something close to stardom.