Archive for March, 2010
Around 1955 Elvis Presley made the music scene, with his good looks and acoustic guitar he was a music idol. Elvis was also the catalyst for a black horn-rimmed glasses, electric guitar playing Buddy Holly.
Elvis with some encouraging words for Buddy unleashed a raw talent who would go on to invent the sound we know today as rock and roll. Buddy’s songs had a simple sound that inspired all the great bands of the 60’s. The guitar parts on his songs had a simplicity to them that made other would-be guitarists hearing him to say ”I think I can do that”.
No other artist at that time wore glasses, Buddy Holly’s appearance with his glasses was like a big sign that said “I’m an ordinary guy and I can do this”. His sound and look inspired the next generation and many more to follow.
His inspiration was so great that both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones first recordings were of Buddy Holly songs. The Beatles had “That’ll Be The Day” while the Stones recorded “Not Fade Away”. Buddy Holly”s influence was so great “The Hollies” got their name from him.
The secret to playing great guitar is practice. The biggest problem with that is playing scales all day long can get pretty boring, I have some suggestions to spark an interest in your practice.
I have selected a few Elvis Presley songs that would sound good played on an cheap acoustic guitar as well as an upgraded electric guitar. With just 3, 4, or 5 chords you can put these simple Elvis Presley songs in your repertoire.
If you can play a D, E, and A chord you can play “All Shook Up”, yes that’s right just three simple chords and you could be playing this song. After this song the next song requires 4 chords. “Don’t Be Cruel” is the next song and you only need 4 chords to play it, A D E & E7 are all you need and your on your way. The last song I’ve got for you is “Heartbreak Hotel”, for this song you need to know 5 chords, E E7 A7 B7 & E.
The tabs for these songs can be found on line in Tabs. By introducing these 3 simple songs into you practice you will make it a less boring task and will give you a greater feeling of accomplishment.
An electric guitar is a guitar with steel strings and one or more pickups. A pickup is a devise that uses an electronic signal taken from the vibrations of the strings and amplifies it. Another word for a pickup is a transducer, which simply means something that can change one type of energy (vibration of strings) to another type of energy (electrical signal ready to be amplified).
There are two basic style pickups on a bass guitar as well as on an electric guitar and they are the single coil pickup and the humbucker type pickup. A single coil pickup is nothing more than an electromagnet. These single pole pickups can sometimes pick up interference from fluorescent lights, transformers, or power lines therefore the humbucker pickup was invented. To overcome this interference the humbucker employs two poles for each string with each having a reversed wind to each other. What this means in general is a single coil pickup is in series, which can amplify the interference, while a humbucker pickup with each string having two coils ar parallel to each other, thus canceling out any hum.
The time before the 60’s saw the big band eras. Big bands consisted of 10 to 25 pieces, with the earlier bands have an orchestral section consisting of violins and other string instruments.
The bands had musicians playing saxophones, trombones, singers as the focal point, and a rhythm section that carried the chords and the melody of the songs as back-up instruments. Rhythm sections were that of a drummer, bass player, and a piano or guitar or both.
The 60’s is when things changed, up-right basses were replaced by bass guitars, and electric guitars and drums became the main instruments with some bands used horns strictly as back-up instruments.
The biggest difference to me is the music itself, while the swing and jazz music before was terrific for dance and to listen to, the creativity started in the 60’s. Music was no longer structured with an anything goes attitude, which is why rock is still strong to this day.
The guitar is the symbol of rock. Since the 60’s it has been the turning point in music as the world knew it, and mixed with the electronics of today there is no limit to where rock will go in the future
The 50’s & 60’s ware a great time for music, it was the start of rock and roll with many new innovations. Buddy Holly gave us the idea that a rock and roll band can be just three instruments, a guitar, a bass, and drums.
The 1960’s brought us the British invasion, it took Buddy Holly’s idea and expanded it to two people playing guitar (usually electric guitars), one playing lead guitar and the other playing rhythm guitar. There was someone playing bass guitar now instead of an up-right bass and of course a drummer. Some bands added a person playing keyboards while taking away one of the guitars, some bands just added a keyboardist to make a five man band.
It was this era that was responsible for bringing us what is a common fixture today, the rock and roll band.
It is not uncommon to see the world’s biggest rock stars on stage with five or six guitars, but it is important to remember that most of these musicians came from modest beginnings, strumming discount guitars in the garage with their friends. In this day and age, many young musicians assume that the equipment is essential in becoming an adept musician. But in actuality, the instrument is the effect, not the cause.
There are dozens of stories of musicians rising from mediocrity with rudimentary instruments and little training. Jimi Hendrix, for example, grew up practicing his chords on a broom. And other famed musicians, such as Kurt Cobain, rose to stardom playing used and battered instruments.
Many adults and kids today have no hobbies, they either play video games all day or watch tv all the time. Have you ever thought about playing guitar for a hobby?
I started playing bass guitar as a teenager, I have been paid to play but now I play just for the enjoyment of it. My inspiration was the great sound that came out of the British invasion. I was not alone, many others got themselves an electric guitar and a guitar amplifier and learned how to play.
For me it was the bass playing of Paul McCartney of The Beatles that inspired me to play, for some it was that great guitar sound of Eric Clapton, or the sound of The Who, or another of the bands of the day that inspired them.
Today is no different, find a musician you really like and try to emulate them, let them be your inspiration to play that bass or electric guitar.
After playing guitar for a while you sometimes start to feel a little stagnant. Doing the same thing everyday, playing the same electric guitar all the time can get a little boring and lead you to become less interested in your music career. The same idea goes for playing bass guitar, sometimes the feel of a new instrument brings new life to your creativity.
To renew your interest why not set your sights on a new electric guitar package, or bass guitar package. With so many different styles to choose from pick one that is different from your first guitar. You’ll find all styles of guitars don’t play the same, while one may sound good on one song another will sound good on a different song. Bass guitars players will find different style pick-ups on different style bass guitars that will lend towards them having a different sound.
Don’t overlook the possibility that a different guitar or bass amplifier will also bring a different sound to renew your musical interests.
This piece is on a man who sounds good playing an acoustic guitar as well as an electric guitar. Now I’m not a big fan of country, I can listen to some songs but can’t listen to allot of it.
This man rewrote the book on country by giving it a sound that’s easier to take and now known as the Nashville sound. In fact I can listen to this man all day long and not get tired of him.
His finger picking style was an inspiration to other guitarists from Les Paul to Merle Travis. He has made records with the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, Waylon Jennings and a host of other performers.
He’s one 14 Grammy Awards as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award, nine times he has won the Country Music Association award for Instrumentalist of the Year.
Gretsch has an entire line of electric guitars and bass guitars named after this gentleman. I dare you to just listen once to this man play then tell me your not a fan.
The name of this great man is Chet Atkins.
Everyone always identifies with the guy with the electric guitar whose playing that great guitar solo, but how many people really listen and connect with the person play rhythm guitar, or even bass guitar for that matter. Allot of times those people playing rhythm or bass are swallowed up by the song as a whole.
To me as a musician rhythm and bass guitar are more important than the lead guitar because their the ones carrying the melody of the song. If your a musician like I am don’t overlook the importance of playing rhythm, which means learning all the chords. Playing bass guitar and knowing chord progressions helps you too. It will enable you to interject your own bass riff at times, if your creative enough.
Learning every chord for guitar also enables you to be creative if and when you do want to play that guitar solo.