Archive for February, 2010
Are you a mellow acoustic guitar picker style, or maybe you like to exercise your guitar amplifier volume control along with some classic rock electric guitar solos. You practice like crazy but feel like something is still missing.
Whether your learning through an instructor, or teaching yourself from the many guitar lessons that are available on line, or maybe you just play by ear it pays to find some other musicians in your area. They can be equal, better or even just beginning ir doesn’t matter, everyone benefits from just getting together to jam.
You might learn something from that person playing an acoustic guitar, or he might pick something up from you on your electric guitar. Jamming alone makes you a better player. You find your own concentration will be better, along with that instinctive quality that makes you try harder not to make any mistakes.
Turn off your guitar amplifier and put down your electric guitar, there is a radio program that will put a new twist on the way you view and listen to your favorite rock and roll songs. This radio show takes your favorite rock songs done by your favorite rock band but the song is done acoustically.
The name of the show is The Acoustic Storm. It normally airs on Sunday morning and it’s pure listening joy. Do you like Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama”, how about Skynyrd doing the song on an acoustic guitar. How about the Rolling Stones doing “Honkey Tonk Women” or Led Zeppelin doing “Going To California” in a way that you have never heard it.
If your a big fan of rock and roll try tuning to The Acoustic Storm one time, that’s all it will take for you to be hooked.
As I’ve gotten older, I have gone through phases of infatuation with just about every genre of rock music. When I first started listening to music in my early teens, I listened to hard rock and heavy metal—the stereotypical style for the inevitable stages of adolescent angst. I then moved on to “more mellow” music: grunge. This led to a stint with classic rock, and, after going to college, I adapted a formulaic affinity for indie. With the exception of the heavy metal, I still listen to all of the genres periodically.
Watching my brother’s music tastes evolve has been quite amusing, as I’ve seen him go through an almost identical transformation. Recently he has branched out from heavy metal into grunge and the sounds of the custom guitars from the classic rock era. Although I dislike pigeonholing anyone, I am fairly confident that he will begin to appreciate the counterculture of indie music sometime soon.
Just a few simple steps can keep your electric guitar looking new and playing new. The same thing applies if you purchased an acoustic guitar, or a bass guitar.
From the time you made your purchase you should have picked up some guitar polish and some soft rages, or maybe you purchased an electric guitar package that has guitar polish and special rags in it. These two guitar accessories when used often can preserve the finish on your guitar, cleaning the strings can result in making them last longer also.
You should get into the habit of keeping your hands clean when playing your guitar along with wiping the guitar and strings down after every use. The oil given off by your fingertips can be one of the biggest reasons your strings would have to be changed often.
With the right playing habits and just a few simple steps mentioned above there is no reason your electric guitar can’t have an outstanding appearance like it did when it was new.
Hollywood repeatedly takes an old movie and tries to bring it to the 21st century. Take the movie King Kong, it was originally done in 1933, and it has been remade several times. When you consider the technology in 1933 this is a masterpiece. In my estimation none of the remakes comes close to the original.
The same idea extends to the music industry. Immediately several songs come to mind. While Elton John’s remake of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” isn’t bad it doesn’t come close to the original done by The Beatles.
“Pretty Woman” has one of the most recognizable electric guitar riffs of all time, and in my opinion is a musical masterpiece. This song has been covered by quite a number of groups from Van Halen to Green Day and none of them can match the original.
Guns and Roses remake of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” comes close, but to me it still doesn’t equal the sound of the original.
Were nearing the end of the winter, this means the end of the cold weather, and the beginning of springtime and the of warmer temperatures it brings.
This is a great time to start up the barbecue, invite some of your along with their electric guitar packages and set up outside. Playing outside your sound is swallowed up by the outdoors so it’s a great time for you to crank up your guitar amplifier to see what it’s made of.
When your playing in your living room or even your basement the sound travels and you have a tendency to hold back, but playing outside all bets are off, you and your friends can crank up the volume and really have some fun.
If the weather is overcast or is raining try setting up in your garage with the doors open, you’ll not only impress yourself with your sound, you will also impress your neighbors and who knows you might even be asked to play at their barbecues.
Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s there was no shortage of great bands. With rock and roll emerging from the late 50’s and with the British Invasion in the 60’s we were also privy to some pretty great music from Motown.
Speaking of Motown do you what Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Temptations, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Supremes, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and Stevie Wonder just to name a few have in common? They all had hit songs that were backed up by The Funk Brothers.
The Funk Brothers made their home in Detroit, Michigan and were probably the best session musicians of the time. One of the greatest electric guitar riffs came from Robert White one of the original guitarists for the band, it is his familiar playing on The Temptations “My Girl” that makes that song catch yor attention as soon as it’s played.
Playing bass guitarfor the band originally was James Jamerson. If you are looking for one bass guitarist for inspiration look no further. It’s his bass playing you are listening to when you hear songs such as “Shotgun” by Jr. Walker and the Allstars, “My Girl”, and the sensational bass line for Stevie Wonders “For Once in My Life”.
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.
When you started your musical career you bought yourself a cheap electric guitar, or a cheap acoustic guitar. After much practice you have now progressed to where you are now an intermediate to good guitar player and are ready for the next step.
The first question you ask yourself is, “should I spend alot of money and get myself a really good electric guitar”, my answer is not necessarily. If you are one of the fortunate people who have thousands of dollars to spend, then I say be my guest and go buy one of the great guitars that are manufactured by one of the big names in the industry. If you fall in the majority of people that don’t have alot of extra money to burn there are alternatives.
Whether you interest is in electric guitars, acoustic guitars, or bass guitars, you get what you pay for. As I stated before when you started you picked up a cheap electric guitar because you weren’t sure if you were going to stay with it but now are ready to move on. Depending upon how cheap a guitar you bought, if it was at the low end you can step up to a much better knock-off guitar, again you get what you pay for, the more money you spend the better the finish, pick-ups and other things might be. If you already purchased one of the higher end knock-offs you can consider gutting it in favor of better pick-ups from Fender or Gibson and improving its sound.