Guitar / Bass Amplifier Info & Education

Have you ever been in the middle of putting on an epic onstage performance, only to accidentally unplug your guitar cable right in the middle of a solo? Or maybe it wasn’t even your fault and your singer stepped on your cable while he was working the crowd, unplugging your guitar from your pedalboard and resulting in a few unintended seconds of silence. To some, these are simply the byproducts of live performance. But to others, these unexpected cable issues are something that they’d go to great lengths to avoid.

Think about your guitar solos. How do you play quick runs? One common approach to modal scales (such as major and minor) uses three notes per string. This makes it much easier to achieve a fluid legato left-hand technique employing "hammer-ons" and "pull-offs." The right hand tends to carry less of the weight, having only to strike the first note on each string, with the left hand creating the other two. Since the right hand must only synchronize with every third note, it becomes rather easy to produce extremely fast modal runs across the fingerboard. The only drawback is that over-reliance on this technique keeps you locked into triplet phrasing. So, what should we do to produce phrases with accents in fours (such as sixteenth notes)? Here are several right-hand picking techniques designed to put control of your rhythm phrasing back into the right hand!

In our previous article, we learned five essential techniques for string muting with the fretting hand. Now we will examine string muting with the picking hand.

As your playing improves over time, at some point you will want to turn your focus from simply playing the notes to playing them with impact, authority, and enhanced dynamic control. Dynamics will enhance everything you play, and for them to work, you must have total control of everything that comes out of your guitar- intended and unintended. Time to Banish Your Unwanted String Noise!

In a recent article, we talked about how to compose an effective solo. As a great teacher once taught me that means "speaking in sentences" with your instrument. At first, I found his advice difficult to understand, but with time, I found myself listening to the great blues and jazz vocalists and trying to capture their words and expressions with my guitar. I never have quite figured out how to make my guitar shout the way Aretha Franklin did in her song "I Never Loved a Man" as she sang that heart-rending lyric, "How could you hurt me so bad?!?" But I learned a lot of ways to make similar statements in my own playing- and isn't that the point of trying? Therefore, learning to speak with your instrument is crucial. And knowing when to be silent is equally important. Let's talk about music in space- not the 'outer space' kind, but the space between words.

Have you ever heard a demo of an overdrive pedal that sounded so good that you immediately purchased the pedal, only to find that it sounded nothing like the clip you heard or the musician you heard playing through it? In cases like these, it’s oftentimes not the fault of the pedal demo that the sound coming out of your amp is so different, and has to do more with the fact that your amplifier, guitar, strings, and playing style are also different. An overdrive pedal is just one link in your tone chain, so it goes without saying that simply purchasing a pedal in hopes of instantly sounding like your favorite rock star is an unrealistic expectation.

While many musicians specialize in playing "cover" music (written by others), at some point most players find they are interested in writing and recording their own music. If you are a guitar player, chances are that you will be called on to play some kind of original solo or interlude during the recording. You probably already have a broad repertoire of "chops" that you reach for on a cover song, but maybe you want to make a musical statement that distinguishes this recording from your normal working style. This raises the question, "How can I write a great solo?" Of course, that question is one that only you can answer. But how do you decide where to start? Let's look at some fundamental methods of creating original solos, which you can apply to your own specific situation.

In our previous article, we learned the two most common forms of finger vibrato. In the conclusion of our series, we will discover two more forms of finger vibrato that can really add a lot to your phrasing.

When you first get started on guitar, learning the notes, scales and chords takes up most of your left hand practice time. Fortunately, if you are persistent, these are fairly easy to master. However, once your skill improves, you start to notice that your solos and riffs seem a bit flat compared to those of more experienced players. You are playing all the right notes, and after diligent practice, you can play them cleanly and confidently. Yet, what often makes the biggest difference between a seasoned player and a beginner, is phrasing. How you play the note is nearly as important as which note you choose to play.

In this article, we will continue our guide to Guitar Setups for Players. Be sure to check out our previous article for valuable information.

If you are serious about your guitar playing, a little bit of guitar repair knowledge will serve you in good stead over the years. You'll glean the benefit of playing an instrument tuned precisely the way you want it. Not to mention, you will obtain the skills and knowledge you will need to contend with the way humidity changes and the road affect your guitar. You will still probably want to bring your instrument to a good repair luthier for major repairs and maintenance, but minor adjustments will no longer require a trip to the shop (or a frantic search for someplace out on the road you can trust with your guitar).

The traditional advice often given to the bride when selecting her wedding attire, was, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." I have no idea what that could possibly have to do with music. But since you can literally do just about anything to break out of a rut, let's apply the old adage to our current situation and see what happens.