Selasa, 14 Oktober 2008

Learn Acoustic Guitar Cords - Play Tons of Songs Fast

First off, it is important to know what a acoustic guitar chord is. It is when you play three or more notes chords simultaneously that are “eligible” to be a chord.

A power chord is usually used in hard rock songs and usually uses 2 chords together. These can usually combine to equal incredible sounding notes even though they are only using two chords.

How to learn these chords?

First off, it is important to know how you can learn these chords. There are many different things you can do such as finding self help books that will support you when you are trying to learn chords! You can also find online website guide that will teach you various amounts of chords individually!

By finding the teaching method that suits you; you’ll be able to learn chords in no time. It’s a great option for anyone out there who is learning the guitar.

Self Help Guitar Books

You probably are searching for the self help guitar books that will ultimately help you out dramatically if you use them. One of the greatest books you can find; is going to your local Barnes and Nobles or even checking with Amazon.

This book is known as the Guitar Chord Encyclopedia which can be bought for a very cheap price. You’ll be able to hear and see the chords as you play them with the book.

Another great thing about this is that you can combine it with a online lesson software or a self-help guitar lesson tutorial that can boost your guitar learning abilities!

You’ll notice that you’ll hear a varying emotion with each chord that you strike. Some chords may be extremely pleasurable to the ears, give off positive emotions; while others are rather mellow and sad. Some chords you’ll just absolutely hate - just be sure to find the best chords that will suit you!

The most simple chords for you to learn in the beginning are going to be the major chords as opposed to the minor. The faster you can learn, the faster you can play the guitar

You also want to consider learning the guitar tabs as well; these can definitely boost your knowledge about learning the guitar as you will be able to know exactly where to place your hand, what note to play, how to play it, and when to play it - guitar tab (tablatures) will quickly allow you to play simple rock songs almost immediately!

Microphone Techniques For Acoustic Guitars

Guitar is a very old musical instrument. It is normally played in an unplugged way. But when played in a show, a microphone is also used. Otherwise the sound will not reach every listener. Acoustic guitars have a unique sound.

Microphones sometimes cause different kinds of problems. And for that reason, the use of a proper microphone is ensured for acoustic guitars. Here we will talk about different microphone techniques for acoustic guitars.

The acoustic guitar delivers a varied range of frequencies. The range is from under 100hz to the extent which is not audible to human beings. The resonance of the largest string delivers low frequencies and the plucking system delivers the high frequencies. In most types of acoustic guitars, the sound hole generates the bass sound.

This instrument has always been so popular that people have thought of making some microphone which will not harm the sound of this instrument. And for this reason, a lot of experiments were made on microphones.

After a lot of experiments, dynamic and condenser microphones were made. These two microphones are suitable for acoustic guitars. But among these two, the condenser microphone delivers the most detailed and the brightest sound.

There are small and large diaphragm microphones available. Both of them are perfect for acoustic guitars. But while playing the lead portion of the acoustic guitar, if you stroke the string hard, then a sharp transient will be produced. It is louder than the sustain portion of the waveform. This will not sound well at the time of recording. So it will be better if you use the dynamic microphones for playing the lead portion.

To get a good sound out of the microphone, it is necessary to know where you should keep the microphone. If you keep the mike just in front of the sound hole, then the guitar will create a very dark, boomy sound. Just like that if you put it in front of the neck then it will produce a thin sound. Even the surrounded portion of the bridge will not be able to produce a proper sound, if you put the mike there.

Actually the proper microphone technique for acoustic guitars depends on the instrument itself and the playing pattern. That means it depends also on whether the instrument will be strummed or plucked, and on the music style and the recording place. The perfect place for a microphone is one to two feet away from the acoustic guitar. The mike must be pointing at a place somewhere between the sound hole and the very place where the neck of the guitar meets its body.

If you use a directional mike, then you have to adjust the distance, to make a balance between the proximity effect and the room ambiance. If you use an omni microphone for acoustic guitars, then you will be able to put it closer to the instrument and also will get a sound which is pretty much well balanced.

The most common microphone technique for acoustic guitars is the use of two microphones. One will be closer to the guitar and the other will be a bit far away.

But the interesting thing about microphone techniques is that you do not always have to use all these existing styles. You can try some technique of your own. And perhaps one day you will be able to make a microphone technique that will help many acoustic guitar players.

Senin, 13 Oktober 2008

Rock Guitar Secrets (Tab & Audio)

AMA Verlag | ISBN: 3927190624 | 184 pages | PDF/MP3 | 2 MB









Playing techniques, solo and improvisation concepts, exercises, licks and jam tracks for: warm ups, pentatonic scales, bending and vibrato techniques, blues scales, string skipping, major scales, alternate picking, modes, economy picking (sweeping), arpeggios, two-hand tapping, minor scales, legato techniques, exotic scales, whammy bar, how to build a solo, improvisation.

The ultimate guitarist's reference book with playing techniques, solo and improvisation concepts, exercises and jam tracks. The purpose of this book is to demystify the relatively simple concepts or tricks around which much of rock guitar is built. The book is designed modularly, allowing the reader to choose any topic at any time, but is can also be sequentially as a method. Topics includes warm-ups, pentatonic scales, bending and vibrato techniques, blues scales, string skipping, major scales, alternate picking, modes, economy picking (sweeping), arpeggios, two-hand tapping, minor scales, legato techniques, exotic scales, whammy bar, how to build a solo, practice planning, and improvisation. Each concept is discussed in a thorough and easily understandable manner. The accompanying CD includes over 80 licks and exercises plus more than 20 jam tracks, helping the student put the concepts directly into practice. In notation and tablature.

Link code
http://rapidshare.com/files/33666743/Rock_Guitar_Secrets.rar (39565 KB)

Minggu, 12 Oktober 2008

An Interview with Angus Young of ACDC

SR: Maybe more than any other guitarist ever, you’re inextricably linked to the Gibson SG? What was the evolution that brought you to this particular instrument? AY I started playing on banjos and re-strung them up with six strings. [But] an acoustic guitar, an old bang up little ten-dollar job, that was probably the first thing I started playing on. Me brother Malcolm got a Hofner off of one of me other brothers and he got a Gretsch and passed the Hofner on to me after much squabbling. It was semi-acoustic and had all been packed with cotton. But I never used to really take it as a serious thing; I just used to fool around with it. When I was about 14 was when I really started playing it seriously. I got an amplifier for about sixty bucks that used to distort all the time. It was a Phi-Sonic. After that I got out and got a Gibson SG that I played until it got wood rot because so much sweat and water got into it. The whole neck warped. I bought it second-hand, it was about a ’67. It had a real thin neck, really slim, like a Custom neck. It was dark brown. After about a year, you lose about half the power in the pickups so you either get them re-wired or put new ones in. Just ordinary Gibsons.

SR: Did these early instruments still have that tremolo arm attached?

AY: They did but I took it off. I used to fool around with them but you begin sounding like Hank Marvin.

SR: And why did you remain loyal to the Gibson SG for the remainder of your career?

AY: It was light [weight-wise]. I’d tried the other ones, Fenders, but you’ve really got to do a number on ‘em. They’re great for feel but the wiring just doesn’t got the balls. And I don’t like putting those DiMarzios and everything because everyone sounds the same. All the other sort of Gibsons I tried like the Les Paul was too heavy. Hip displacement.

When I first started playing with the SG there was nothing to think about. I don’t know how this came about but I think I had a lot thinner neck. Someone once said to me they [Gibson] make two sized necks, one was 1 ½ and one was 1 ¼ and this was like 1 ¼, thin all the way up. Even now I still look all over and I still haven’t found one; I’ve been to a hundred guitar shops and I found the same guitar [model] but with different necks.

SR: Did you ever experiment with the Gibson SGs when they were called Les Pauls [Eric Clapton’s graphically appointed Cream-era guitar is probably the most famous representative of this model]?

AY: Yeah, I had a really old one I bought, a 1962. But it had a very fat neck; it was good to play but it felt heavier than all the other ones. That’s why I stopped using it. And when you’re running around a lot, it weighs you down.

SR: So from High Voltage on it’s always been the SG. Have you ever tried using more modern types of instruments?

AY: Yeah, I tried a Hamer but I wouldn’t buy an expensive guitar – especially in my case. It’s always getting beaten around. With the SG, you can do plenty of tricks with them.

SR: And you’ve been faithful to Marshall amplifiers as well?

AY: Ever since I’ve been in this band I’ve been using Marshalls. I’ve tried Ampeg and they weren’t too good for the sound I wanted.

On stage I have four stacks going, all hooked up with splitter boxes. 100-watt stacks … it’s good for your eardrums. I use a real lot of volume, I turn that up; I turn the treble and bass on about half and middle, the same. I don’t use any presence. If I don’t think it’s putting out enough top, I will kick up the presence.

With Marshalls, if you’re using a fair bit of volume, if you whack the treble and bass at half, that’s where they’re working. We get them from the factory, that’s what we do. We go down there and try them out and fool around with amps and tell them what we want and they doctor them up. At the moment, they’re all back to the old style of Marshalls, they’re very clean. They don’t have these master or preamp settings.

SR: You have entered the modern age of electronics in your use of a wireless system.

AY: Yeah, I use the Schaffer-Vega. I’ve been using that since ’77. On the receiver you’ve got like a monitor switch you can boost the signal and in the transmitter you’ve got the same sort of thing. You can really give a guitar hell with ‘em. I have used the remote in the studio and it worked really good. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a wah-wah or a fuzz box. It’s just the guitar and the amp and if I need anything, if someone says they want a different approach to the sound, then I’ll get it with the guitar.

The History of the Electric Guitar

When most people think of electric guitars, they think of rock music. But electric guitars are more versatile than you’d think. You can find them in jazz, blues, country music, New-Age compositions, and even contemporary classical pieces. Electric guitars are intimately associated with many famous musicians of the twentieth century—and may be the iconic musical instrument of our time.

The demand for electric guitars came during the Big Band Era in the 20’s and 30’s. The big brass bands of the time were very loud, and other instruments had to be artificially amplified to stand up to their powerful sound. Performers experimented with attaching microphones to acoustic guitars. The first manufactured electric guitars were made in 1931 by the Electro String Instrument Corporation.

The first time an electric guitar is known to have been used in performance was in 1932. Bandleader Gage Brewer of Wichita, Kansas, received two electric guitars directly through Electro String Instruments, possibly for publicity purposes. Brewer wrote about the guitars in an article in the Wichita Beacon before the performance.

The earliest known recording of an electric guitar performance was produced in 1938. George Barnes, a jazz guitarist, recorded two songs with the guitar, called “It’s a Lowdown Dirty Shame” and “Sweetheart Land.”

The earliest electric guitars were essentially hollow-bodied acoustic guitars equipped with Tungsten pickups. The problem with hollow-body electric guitars is that the hollow space within the guitar produces vibrations when the strings are plucked or strummed. These vibrations account for the unique tone of an acoustic guitar, but they produce harsh feedback when they interact with the pickups in an electric guitar. Early electric guitar players used to stuff rags and newspapers into their hollow-body instruments in an attempt to get rid of the feedback.

One of the earlier solid-body guitars was an aluminium instrument known as the “Frying Pan” or “Pancake Guitar.” These guitars were said to have produced a sound similar to that of modern electric guitars.

Several other well-known luthiers experimented with solid-body guitars during the early history of the electric guitar. In 1940, during his time at Gibson Guitars, Les Paul attempted a solid-body instrument called the “log guitar,” so called because it was a simple post equipped with neck, strings, and pickups.

The electric guitar did not hit commercial success until the 1950’s, when Fender released its first solid-body model: the Esquire. The Esquire was followed by the Telecaster and finally, in 1954, the Stratocaster. The “Strat” was hailed in professional musical and luthier circles alike, and became a signature instrument of such famous musicians as Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and many others.

The electric guitar produced an aggressive sound very different from the melodic and lyrical tones of its ancestor, the acoustic. The sound of the electric guitar became characteristic of rock and roll in the 60’s and 70’s. It was a high-profile instrument during this time, appearing on stage with hundreds of famous bands and musicians.

This created demand among the general public for affordable electric guitars. In the 60’s and 70’s, electric guitars were very expensive—too pricey for a buyer who wasn’t a famous musician. Although some companies attempted to fill the gap with cheap imitations, the sound of these guitars did not compare to the real thing.

It wasn’t until the 1980’s that Japanese manufacturers stepped forward with affordable electric guitars capable of professional-quality sound. This put pressure on American companies such as Gibson and Fender to provide their own affordable lines. Electric guitars became more and more successful in the consumer market as quality improved, and prices went down as new manufacturers entered the market. Soon, electric guitars were more accessible than they had ever been.

Today, the electric guitar is one of the most prolific instruments in popular music. You can find it in a wide variety of genres, from metal to New Age. You can also buy an electric guitar like the rock stars have—without paying the prices they pay. Because it’s so common in contemporary music and in the hands of amateur musicians, there’s little doubt that the electric guitar is one of the most successful instruments of the twentieth century.

Rock Pop Music

Rock pop music is a style of popular music with an outstanding vocal melody accompanied by guitar, drums, and bass. Many forms of rock music also use keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, mellotron, and synthesizers. Other instruments sometimes employed in rock include harmonica, violin, flute, banjo, melodica, and timpani. Besides, rare stringed instruments such as mandolin and sitar are used. Rock pop music normally has a strong back beat, and often revolves around the guitar, either solid electric, hollow electric, or acoustic.

Rock pop music has its origin in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll and rockabilly, which developed from blues, country music and other influences. The All Music Guide opines that rock and roll in its purest form has three chords, a strong, insistent back beat, and a catchy melody. Initially,rock & roll took from a variety of sources, mainly blues, R&B, and country, but also gospel, traditional pop, jazz, and folk. All of these impact combined in a simple, blues-based song structure that was not only fast and catchy but also foot tapping.

In the late 1960s, rock pop music was combined with folk music ,blues and jazz to create folk rock, blues-rock and jazz-rock fusion respectively.It created psychedelic rock music irrespective of the time. In the 1970s, rock incorporated influences from soul, funk, and latin music. During the 1970s, a number of subgenres of rock, such as soft rock, heavy metal, hard rock, progressive rock, and punk rock was created. Synth-rock, hardcore punk and alternative rock were the sub genres of rock pop music that was developed in the 1980s whereas, rock subgenres in the 1990s included grunge, Britpop, indie rock, and nu metal.

A rock band or rock group is a group of musicians specializing in rock pop music . Most of the rock groups consist of a guitarist, lead singer, bass guitarist, and drummer, forming a quartet. Few groups may skip one or more of these roles and make use of a lead singer who can play an instrument while singing, forming a trio or duo; others include additional musicians such as one or two rhythm guitarists and/or a keyboardist. Seldom, groups also employ stringed instruments such as violins or cellos, or horns like trumpets or trombones.