Archive for the ‘Advanced Guitar Techniques’ Category

Many people absolutely love blues music, and many love Jimi Hendrix. Some would actually argue that he is the most influential guitarist to ever grace the planet. Blues/rock guitar tends to have a very distinct sound to it. There is of course a very distinct style of playing that goes along with that blues solo sound that is created.  How to play blues guitar is covered in great detail in the new Learn and Master Spotlight Series: Blues Guitar.   However, one question that is often asked is ‘Once I know how to play the STYLE, how do I get that ‘sound’ out of my amp?’. There are many factors that contribute to this ‘sound’. Let’s look at a few of them.

- Of course the ability of the player to play that style is going to be the most important factor.
- Choice of guitar (i.e. Electric or acoustic?? Solid body or semi-acoustic, single coil pickups or hum-bucking pickups??)
- Choice of what amplifier is used
- Settings on the actual guitar
- Settings on the amplifier
- Other items such as strings and effects pedals

So, we can see that there is not any single aspect that will directly change the sound to make it into the blues/rock sound we are looking for. It is using all of these things together that points to the final sound that we get. Of course one of the most important aspects is the ability of the guitar player. There would be no reason in having all of the other settings correct if the player couldn’t actually play blues guitar.

Let’s get started. First, lets look at the settings on the guitar itself. The best type of guitar would be a solid body electric guitar such as a Fender Stratocaster, or a Gibson lespaul. Any solid body electric guitar will probably work. Once you have the guitar then you should look at the settings. You will want to select the neck pickup. This will be the pick up that is closest to the neck of the guitar. It gives you a more rounded and natural sound. The volume and tone knobs on the guitar can also be used. To get the bluesy sound you should roll the tone knob back to about 7 or 8.

Once you have the guitar settings going it is time to look at the amplifier. The blues guitar sound is slightly over driven and distorted. In order to achieve this sound you should make sure that you are plugging the guitar into a hi-gain input of your amplifier. If there is only one input then use that one of course. Next is the fun part. Thats right, you get to crank up the amp! Turn up the gain to a point where the sound coming out is just slightly distorted. Usually this is just beyond halfway. If your amp doesn’t distort or overdrive then there are other alternatives. You could use a distortion effect pedal and that would work just as well.

Now we need to work on the EQ settings. Basically all you need to do is take a look at the EQ and make sure all the knobs are set in the middle. Most of the bluesy sound really comes from the neck pickup and the sightly distorted amp sound. Thats it! You are set to play your blues solo and I guarantee you it will actually sound like a blues solo when you are learning how to play blues guitar.

When buying a used guitar to learn how to play guitar on, you should also check the intonation which is the accuracy of each individual note that the guitar can produce on any string. If it is correct then every note on the guitar will be the correct pitch. If it is not correct then the entire guitar will be impossible to tune and will sound really really bad. A good way to check the intonation quickly is to play the E shaped barre chord on each fret of the guitar moving it toward the bridge and checking that it does not lose its pitch.

If you are looking at an electric guitar you need to plug it in and see how well it works through an amp. You should turn the amp up to a fair volume level and play with the volume and tone controls by turning them to full and then back to zero. Test the pickup selector by flipping the switch back and forth and carefully listen for any noises coming through the amp while doing these things. Scratchy sounds or clicks may indicate worn out electronics in the guitar. After testing the sound of the guitar you can go to a guitar shop and ask to play a new model of that guitar. Play it through a similar amp and see if you notice any differences in sound. If you don’t like the sound of the used guitar don’t buy it.

Make sure when shopping for a guitar that you don’t shop impulsively buying the first thing that catches your eye. It is a major purchase and you want to choose the right one so make sure you leave some time and go away and think about the purchase before you actually buy the guitar. If in doubt you are probably better to wait and see if you find something else you like better. Never rush into buying a used guitar because usually you cannot return the guitar once you have purchased it. Simply wait until you find the one you want for sure and then you can purchase it. In the meantime you might could borrow an old guitar form a friend that you can start to learn how to play guitar on.

You could always find an experienced guitarist friend or teacher that would not mind going with you and helping you make a more informed decision. Most musicians love to help out beginners or newbies. Good luck on finding a used guitar that is exactly what you are looking for!

Some of the best guitars I have had were bought used.You could find a secondhand guitar that is in perfect condition and for a much smaller investment of money get a normally quite expensive guitar. When you are on a budget used guitars may be the way to go but there are a few things to look for in a guitar when you are buying used and you have to watch out for those sellers that may not totally be honest with you about the playing condition of the guitar.

Some great guitars, while expensive when new, are often relatively cheap when you buy them secondhand.Sometimes you can even find a custom or limited edition guitar that someone is selling quickly for the cash and you can sometimes get a real bargain if you know exactly what it is that you are looking for. If you do your research when looking for a used guitar it can really pay off. Some sellers may try to push the price up to cash in. They will especially do this if they know they are selling to a beginner who doesn’t know much about guitars.

What to look for:

Before buying a used guitar you should find out the following:

• The make and the model of the guitar – By getting this information you can then do research on the guitar model via the internet or other sources and find out what the asking price is for it elsewhere. You can also find reviews of the guitar and whether or not people who own it are having problems with it. In addition to the internet you can always just drop by your local music store and ask them about the guitar. Of course you may want to remember that they may be trying to sell you something too.

• Condition of the guitar – If the seller is honest they may tell you about any damage that may not be seen upon initial inspection of the guitar. If they don’t tell you about it and you find it you might consider buying elsewhere.

• How long have they owned the guitar – If they have had the guitar for a long time then they may know some things about the history of its use, repairs, and maintenance. If they don’t give this information upfront then they may be trying to scam you.

When inspecting the guitar you should check the overall condition.You should look over the guitar and make note of any obvious damage.Guitars often have a bit of wear and tear and if its just minor scrapes then it will probably be fine. Also check the parts of the guitar for any rust. Don’t bother buying a guitar that has any signs of rust because it is bound to fall apart eventually. Also, make sure you check the neck of the guitar to make sure it is not warped or out of shape.Check where the neck joins to the body of the guitar and make sure there are no cracks where it may have been previously broken. Also, check where the neck joins the head of the guitar.

Check the action! Action simply describes how close the strings are to the fret board starting at the head of the guitar all the way down to the bridge. You will see to the left a picture of a guitar with poor action. This is because the strings are too far from the fret board. This makes the strings harder to press down and play and also has a negative effect on the sound quality from the guitar. You ideally want the strings to be as close to the fretboard as possible without actually touching the frets. If the string is even barely touching the frets you may get some buzzing when playing it so you want the strings just barely hovering over the fret board as close as possible but not where an open string will hit the frets when played. Action can be adjusted by a guitar technician and typically will cost between $20 and $50.

Fingerstyle guitar is one of the more difficult styles of guitar to master. The term does not necessarily refer to a genre of music but more a way of playing the guitar. Fingerstyle guitar usually involves very intricate finger work on the fret board of the guitar. However, the main thing that makes it fingerstyle is actually the way that the strings are plucked. Fingerstyle techniques involve finger picking or plucking the strings of the guitar with the fingers instead of with a pick (strumming or plucking with a pick is known as flat picking). It requires a lot of dexterity in the fingers and a lot of practice to master the techniques. Fingerstyle guitar is used in many genres of music. When playing fingerstyle guitar the right hand is usually hovered over the strings with the fingers barely touching their assigned strings. The thumb is used to play the sixth through fourth strings which is usually the bass sound of the chord. The index finger then rests just below the third string, the middle finger just below the second string and the ring finger just below the first string. Keeping the hand positioned in this way allows the guitarist to play each string individually when it needs to be played. An accomplished fingerstyle guitarist can play very intricate and complicated guitar riffs with this technique.

Picking Pattern

A fingerstyle guitarist often uses what is known as a picking pattern.This is basically exactly what it sounds like. It is an ordered pattern of picking that is played and then repeated. It is usually associated with a particular rhythm and time of the music. If you listen to a lot of softer songs with the acoustic guitar playing then you have probably heard a picking pattern. A picking pattern is used in most acoustic music when it is being picked out rather than strummed.

There are many positions patterns and exercises that can help you to learn fingerstyle guitar.One technique used in fingerstyle is the alternating bass.This is one of the most widely used techniques and creates an effect from the guitar that actually can sometimes make it sound like there are two guitars being played as opposed to just one.The reason for this is that the guitarist simultaneously plays the bass guitars part while maintaining the playing of its own part of the music. This is done by alternating the bass note that is being played by the thumb.The thumb will switch back and forth each time it plays.

The main thing to remember when trying to learn to play Fingerstyle guitar is simply to relax. Take a moment to make sure your right playing hand is relaxed and does not get overly tensed. This can often happen without you even realizing it simply because your muscles are not used to playing guitar in this way yet. As always make sure you are seated comfortably at the edge of your chair holding the guitar properly in your hands. Then simply choose a picking pattern to try and play consistently with your right hand and don’t even worry about your left hand at first. You can even make up a pattern as long as it is a consistent pattern that repeats anything will work just so that you are training your right hands fingers to work individually.Go ahead and try it out and see how you do.Keep practicing and I know you will get it down!

[adsense_id="1"]Due to the tuning and design of the guitar, some keys are easier to play than others. The chart below and be used with a capo in order to transpose your song from an unfriendly key to a key that is far more friendly for playing on the guitar. The blue top row shows the 12 keys of music and the blue column to the left shows the 7 notes of the scale and the chords that comprise the key. A capital Roman numeral means Major, and a lowercase Roman numeral means minor.

In order to use the chart to transpose your song, find out first what key the original song is in. This method is especially useful in a key that involves a lot of barre chords which are chords that require you hold down all of the strings with your index finger while playing the rest of the chord with the remaining fingers. As an example lets use F#, which is a bad key for the guitar since there are so many barre chords included in it. Simply look to the left of the F# key until you find an easier key that you want to play in. For this example lets use C. You cannot go to the right in the table as it is impossible to move the capo to a lower pitch than the original open chord.

Now you can cound the number of columns away it is from the original and put your capo on that fret. In this example C will be 6 columns away from F# so you would put your capo on the 6th fret and play as if you were in the key of C. You can refer back to the chart and find the chord in the F# column that is next in your song and then move down to the C column to see what the chord is in the key of C. Make sure you maintain the original quality of the chord. If it was a minor chord keep in minor if it was major 7th then keep it major 7th. This all may seem a bit complicated when you are trying to learn to play the guitar.However, learning to transpose music is a valuable skill to have as a guitarist and eventually it will become second nature.Keep working at it and keep using the table below to guide you.

One way to use this new skill of transposing for a capo is when you are playing a song with another guitarist.In order to attain a wider variety of sound rather than both guitarists playing the exact same thing you can have one of the guitarists play with a capo on as if they are in another key. For example if one of you is playing in C the other could capo 5th and transpose the song to play in G relative to the capo. While in effect these are actually the same notes and chords, the different chord positions give them a different sound and a wider variety of sounds while still playing in the same key will be the result.Make sense? Don’t worry! You will get it! Take your time and try playing a song in a few different keys.