Archive for November, 2009
If James Brown was the godfather of soul, and Elvis Presley was known as the king of rock ‘n’ roll than Charles Hardin Holley better known as Buddy Holly should be the father of rock ‘n’ roll. Although rock dates back years before Buddy it never really took off like it did after his release of “That’ll Be the Day” in May 1957.
Although his career only lasted a few years until his untimely death Feb 3, 1959, those few years were all he needed to create the standard for which bands would follow to this date, a band that used two guitars, a bass, and a set of drums. Buddy Holly wrote, arranged, recorded, and performed his own songs, no artist prior to him ever acted as their own producer, but he did.
He was a roll model even when it came to his choice of instruments, he was one of the first to try a new style electric guitar, the Fender Stratocaster, he made it popular to such artists as George Harrison, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton.
Buddy Holly brought to the front the rhythm guitar rather than it being just a background instrument, he was a first when it came to using the treble strings for lead guitar. If he had lived some say he could have easily been the king of rock ‘n’ roll. He was an influence to many groups to come but none bigger than The Beatles. To me it’s like a relay race with Buddy Holly starting the race and The Beatles finishing it.
If you would like to play an instrument and are not sure which instrument to play there are a few things you can do to help you with your decision. First think of your ultimate goal, are you playing for your own satisfaction or are you learning because you want to be in a band.
If you are learning for yourself the acoustic guitar is good choice for you as you wouldn’t need an amplifier, unless you like the sound from your favorite group and would like to play like them then you might want to pick up a guitar package that would include an acoustic or electric guitar along with an amplifier. If you are thinking of joining a band, you might think about learning the bass guitar. While it is the easier to learn you might find it is in demand the most, as everyone wants to play guitar first. Besides playing bass will automatically make you cool, I can’t explain it but it’s true.
Music is a way of expressing your emotions, whether it is the highs or the lows. Music puts the brain at ease boosting the function of the brain and the rest of the body.
Science has studied music and its effects with the universal fact being it doesn’t matter what type of music you like classical, pop, good old rock n’ roll, it will relax you and make you happy. Want to raise raise your mood then listen to country or rock music. Music has been known to make your brain think more. It is used as therapy for a wide range of medical problems such as depression, seizures, and insomnia. Think about a time when you are worried about something, at that time you can’t seem to get your thoughts in order, listening to music can help relax the brain helping the brain think. Not to get too technical but music raises serotonin levels which has a positive effect on your brain cells.
Ask anybody who play electric guitar, acoustic guitar, or even bass guitar how they feel when they are playing they will all tell you there’s nothing else like it, when your playing you get lost in the music, whether it’s a new song you are trying or a song you’ve played countless times it somehow brings out the raw emotion in you.
How many times have you said to yourself, “I wish I’d said that” or “I wish I did that”. When you hear your favorite artist playing his electric guitar on the song you you love the best do you say to yourself “I wish I could play guitar like that” well with a little hard work and determination on your part you can.
As you start to play guitar your practicing will give you pain, that pain will be in your finger tips. With every day practicing your fingers will start to blister, don’t let this discourage you as it’s normal. The blisters will soon turn to callouses, it is at this time you will see your playing improve.
The only other thing you need to aware of is the better your playing gets the more time you will spending with your guitar, it is at this time that your wife or girl friend will want to know about the attraction between you and your guitar, lots of luck with your answer.
You have decided to play an instrument and that instrument is the guitar. You are either taking private guitar lessons or found online lessons that you like, You’re also finding it boring practicing scales all the time and can’t wait to start playing songs.
I can’t stress enough the importance of learning the fundamentals of playing, but I am also sympathetic because I know you want to start playing songs, Here are a few examples of easy songs that can be played on an acoustic guitar; The first is a song from the 1960′s “For What It’s Worth” done by Buffalo Springfield. You can’t find a song that is any easier, the song involves playing two chords. Look for songs by Bob Dylan “Lay Lady Lay” and a song that was was reintroduced by Guns N Roses “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”.
When you think of a double neck guitar you think of Led Zeppelin and Jimmy Page with his Gibson EDS-1275. A double neck guitar is most often seen as an electric guitar with a bigger body and two necks, although sometimes can be an acoustic guitar.
The biggest thing to keep in mind with this type of guitar is the different variations that can be achieved. The most common double neck guitar is a twelve string guitar on top with a six string guitar on the bottom. You can have two six string guitars one on top and the other on the bottom but with different pickups to give each guitar a different sound.
You can now buy a bass guitar with multiple necks. If you plan on buying a double neck bass or electric guitar you limited only by your imagination.
A Resonator guitar is an acoustic guitar without the traditional sound hole, instead it has a large round metal plate. The metal plate covers the resonator cone which is best described as looking like a speaker. They were original produced to sound louder than the acoustic guitar that couldn’t be heard over horns and percussion instruments in big bands. A by product of this guitar is the distinctive sound for which it is used today.
Steel guitars are more of a style to which a guitar is played rather than the guitar itself. The name steel guitar gets its name from the Steel Slide that is used to play it. You can find steel guitars as a guitar with its own stand also known as a Pedal Steel Stand. It is not unusual to see a pedal steel guitar with several necks and two to three sets of strings, each tuned separately.
Because of its louder and distinctive tone the resonator guitar has found a home a steel guitar (also called a Lap Steel Guitar). While the resonator can be played as a conventional guitar it is mainly played being held across the lap with the lower strings towards the player.
Because of the greater strain on the neck the twelve string guitar doesn’t last as long as a six string guitar, and also requires more maintenance. It is also harder to play since you need more pressure to depress the strings. Oh yeah it is also more expensive.
The most common twelve string is found as an acoustic guitar but you can also find them as an electric guitar. The sound that is produced by this unique instrument is best described as a more ringing tone. This is produced by the use of a second set of strings that are thinner than to original strings, and when tuned they are tuned to that of the string next to, it however it is an octave higher. Because of the terrific sound of this guitar it mainly used as a rhythm guitar.
My favorite bass guitars, they come in 4 string, 5 string, and 6 string models. The thicker strings are mounted on a longer neck and slightly bigger body than an electric guitar, and are one octave lower than a guitar.
The most common tuning for a 4 string bass is from the thickest string E A D G. The most common for a 5 string is B E A D G, with a lesser used tuning of E A D G C, The six string bass used B E A D G C for its tuning.
Although the original electric bass guitar was made in the 1930′s, it wasn’t mass produced until the 1950′s by Fender and was the Precision Bass and is still manufactured today.