Archive for the ‘guitar’ Category
When you listen to a song what do you hear? When you listen to a song you like, what is it that you like about it?
I have asked musicians and people who do not play any musical instruments at all these very questions, the answers I got were pretty consistently the same. When someone tells me they like a song I ask them in return, What do you like about it? If it is a song that I like also I will ask if they like lets say the bass guitar line, or the sound of the electric guitar solo, or even the acoustic guitar playing on the song?
Most of the time someone that does not play guitar will not even take notice of the instruments on the song, they recognize the singing, or the singer but are oblivious to the music behind them. When someone that does play and is proficient at it they hear that great bass guitar riff that makes the song great, or the guitar solo whether played acoustically or on an electric guitar. Someone familiar with music can also tell you what pedals are used to make the electric guitar sound the way it does.
Through the years there has been many terrific songs. Some songs are responsible for launching the careers of the musicians that played them.
One such song was done by a rock band out of Detroit, Michigan named The Amboy Dukes. They had a hit song “Journey To The Center Of The Mind” that had an electric guitar solo played by Ted Nugent. That song is responsible for launching his career.
Next song up is a song recorded by a Scottish Band in the late 60’s. The name of the band is Marmalade, and the song is “Reflections of My Life”. Junior Campbell who wrote the song also has a guitar solo played on a Fender Stratocaster electric guitar that will make you want to learn guitar. The song also features the vocals of Dean Ford along with some outstanding vocal harmonies. The bass guitar line is played by Graham Knight. For me it is the bass line of this song that attracted me along its’ great guitar solo.
The 80’s was a great time for rock, with some of the greatest bands ever how cold it not be? Most of these bands are still playing today to new audiences as well as their old faithful followers.
One of the best bands of the 80’s has to be Van Halen, with Eddie Van Halen playing his hand made electric guitar how can they lose. AC/DC without a doubt is one of the greatest bands of all time. By now who isn’t familiar with Angus Young strutting his stuff all around the stage while playing his Gibson SG electric guitar.
As three piece bands go Rush is one of the best. On bass guitar they have Geddy Lee who is one the best around as well as a great guitar provided by Alex Lifeson.
When talking about the 80’s you have to give notice to one of the best glam rock bands of all time Def Leppard. As musicians they might not have been the best but putting them all together was like a magnet. They had one of the best songs of the 80’s with “Pour Some Sugar On Me”.
Although they were formed in 1972 the best bands to come out of the 1980’s is Van Halen. This was a band that had so much going for it, like some of the best front men in the industry.
Whether you like them or not David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar were two of the bands frontmen, they each brought their own unique brand of style to the band. The sound of the band was established by their exceptional guitarist Eddie Van Halen.
Eddie like to use his custom electric guitar that he made by hand out of the body of one guitar with the neck of another while using the guts of another. His electric guitar solo on “Eruption” is one of the best solos of all time, Guitar World readers poll had it at #2 on the list of 100 Greatest Guitar Solos.
If you have started playing guitar and have just purchased your first electric guitar with great difficulty because of the many types and styles of guitar, your not alone. The selection is so hard because of the great finishes, and features each guitar has to offer.
The guitar use choose is also very hard to narrow down when you take into consideration there are acoustic guitars, as well as electric guitars, with many different styles in each catagory. Alot of times after you have made your decision you have second thoughts, should I have picked up that other guitar instead of the one I purchased?
As a first time guitar buyer you might be surprised to know that other guitarists like yourself own quite a few guitars. It’s not uncommon for someone to own 4 or 6 guitars. There guitar collection might include an LP style, Telecaster, Stratocaster, they might even own 1 or 2 bass guitars, not to mention a few acoustic guitars.
When you think about rock and roll you can’t help thinking about guys like Jimmy Page playing his Fender Stratocaster electric guitar, or Angus Young of AC/DC playing his Gibson SG electric guitar while he’s strutting around the stage. Men are not the only electric guitar junkies around, since the 70’s there have been quite a few women guitarists that have rocked our world.
You don’t have to look hard to find this first woman of rock, her name is Joan Jett. She’s been rocking with an electric guitar in her hand since to 70’s. The mid 70’s she was the founder of The Runaways, a band where she played rhythm guitar along with lead vocals. After a few years she went solo before forming another band the Blackhearts. The energy she gives off is worthy of mention as one of the greatest female electric guitarists.
Next up is another female rocker that everyone knows, Nancy Wilson from Heart. With her knock-out style and guitar riffs like that in “Barracuda” it’s no wonder she’s considered one of the very best.
Give me a guitar and I’m a happy guy. It doesn’t matter if it’s an electric guitar, acoustic guitar, or bass guitar, to me it meant rock and roll.
There has been several failed attempts at expanding the formula for rock and roll, disco was one of them, thank goodness that’s over with. That brings me to Rap, can someone please point out another way of making millions of dollars with absolutely no musical talent.
You don’t have to play a guitar or even have a good singing voice to be a Rap star. You can hook up with a talented singer like Rhianna with Kanye West, or Alicia Keys with Jay Z but to me that just masks the fact that they have no musical talent.
Disco gave life to quite a number of bands and singers in the 70’s, they even had a porn star with a hit song, “More More More” by the Andrea True Connection. While many of these acts were at least pleasing to hear they didn’t hang around much as Disco faded away. Maybe it’s my age showing but I hope the same thing happens to rap, it needs to go away and never be heard of again.
Being involved in music for most of my life has left some magical memories for me. I have played bass guitar for 40 years on and off, I have also played tenor sax and upright bass for a brief period in my teens, I also played rythym guitar in one of my first bands but only on a few songs.
I was lucky enough to be a teenager at the time of The Beatles and the British invasion. The 1960’s was a time that rock and roll really started to spread its wings, since then it has never turned back. Other forms of music have come and gone, they were popular for a while but the big move for them has past, not so with rock and roll. Thanks to a concrete foundation rock and roll has with-stood the test of time aand show no signs of slowing up.
All of us have been touched by music in some way or another, whether you play guitar or some other instrument or are just a listener I’m sure you have a musical memory that takes you to your own magical place.
Everyone who loves rock and roll has different tastes when it comes to what kind of rock they like, and what is there favorite band. Along with their lists of favorites there is another list of favorites, and that is a list of their best guitar solos.
At the top of my list is a guy that plays an electric guitar in a finger-picking style of an acoustic guitar, he is non other than Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. Other guitarists look at him in awe because of his talent with a guitar. His guitar solo in “The Sultans of Swing” to me is the best. Next on my list I have Jimmy Page for his outstanding solo in “Stairway To Heaven”, and Eric Clapton with Layla. His original version played on his stratocaster electric guitar is one of the best rock songs of all time.
A rock and roll band is generally made up of electric guitars, drums and percussion’s, bass guitar, and sometimes keyboards and or horns. While there are some highly talented musical individuals out there in bands your don’t have to be a rocket scientist to play most songs.
Playing music rock and roll style isin’t all that hard, with practice anyone can do it reasonablywell. Of all the instruments I like playing bass guitar the best. When it comes to playing rhythm guitar, drums, and even keyboards you options for playing aren’t much, you either play the music the way it is written or you don’t play it all. With the exception of the lead guitar’s solo the only other instrument that can show some individuality is the bass guitar. Playing bass you can either being boring and play just the root notes, or you can be an adventurer playing one of the many progressions afforded you by playing bass.