Archive for April, 2010
It’s very easy to get caught up in the great electric guitar songs that are around. Have you ever stopped to notice the terrific acoustic guitar songs that are around?
“More Than Words” is a ballad from a very unlikely funk metal rock band called Extreme. The entire song was composed to be played on an acoustic guitar by Nuno Bettencourt who can normally be seen playing a Washburn Electric guitar.
Another unlikely song for acoustic guitars is Maggie May. Written by Rod Stewart it has a very strong acoustic influence that can be heard throughout the song with a familiar picking style.
The next song starts out acoustically but quite rapidly accelerates to a quick tempo hard rock song. ”Crazy On You” has a snappy acoustic guitar intro played by Nancy Wilson of Heart, it is often overlooked because of the songs electric guitar riff that can be heard throughout the song.
Have you noticed at a concert whether it be in person, DVD, or TV that most the members in the band playing electric guitar or electric bass guitar have a board on the floor in front of them. That board has a series of effect pedals that help them achieve the sound that you hear.
An effect pedal is either a metal or plastic box that when used alone or with a series of other effect pedals, change the sound of the instrument you are playing, mostly through a series of filters. There are pedals to help your volume like a preamp, compressors that automatically monitor your output and stops the sound from being too loud.
You also have pedals that control overdrive or distortion, tremolo, wah-wah, and equalization among others. There is also a talk box pedal that is used in conjunction with your mouth, Peter Frampton uses one all the time.
If you are looking to purchase a guitar and you are a first time buyer you need to understand the different types of guitars. Knowing the difference between guitars can save you a lot of time and effort.
Electric guitars usually made of wood though some are made of acrylic are made from one piece of wood thus being called solid body guitars and come in different shapes and styles, stratocaster, telecaster etc. Acoustic guitars have a sound hole which makes them playable without an amplifier.
Two other types of guitars that may seem the same but are really quite different are acoustic-electric guitars and semi-acoustic guitars. Acoustic electric guitars are an acoustic guitar fitted with a special pick-up in the bridge and an on board equalizer. A semi acoustic guitar is an electric guitar with a sound hole, these guitars are also called hollow-body electric guitars.
When you listen to music do you think about the production of the songs, and what instruments that are being used to played for each song? When I listen to a song I consider what if that song was played on an acoustic guitar with a little different style, would it sound good?
With these questions in mind some songs are made to be played using electric guitars and guitar amplifiers with the volume turned up quite a few notched, while others are written for acoustic guitars with very little help from amplifiers, and still there are some songs that sound good being played with either method.
Take the song “Crazy Train” by Ozzie Osbourne, it has an incredible guitar riff through-out the song, can you Imagine this song being played on an acoustic guitar, I don’t think so. Same thing applies to a song by the late Jim Croce, “Ill Have To Say I Love You In A Song”, it would unthinkable for this song to be played using an electric guitar through loud amps.
If you want a great example of a song that sounds great played either acoustically or electrically look no further than the song “Layla”. The song was written as a ballad to be played using an acoustic guitar, the recorded version by Derek and the Dominos was recorded using electric guitars with an unforgettable riff to start the song as well as a great riff in the middle of the song when the whole song shifts tempo.
I listen to and have been listening to music a long time. Give me a song with a great electric guitar solo, or a terrific guitar riff and I’m a happy guy.
Something that makes me even happier is when a song has a great bass line. When it comes to bass guitars there are many outstanding musicians that know how to incorporate a great bass line into a song.
The next time you listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd, or The Eagles try and listen through the lead guitar and vocals, their songs usually have a really good bass line. Whether your a new bass player or have been playing for a while, a lot of their songs have bass lines that are not complicated but have enough to keep you busy, and they’re easy to learn.
Two song examples are “Already Gone” by the Eagles, and “Call Me The Breeze”, these two songs have a quick pace but are easy to play, and that makes them good practice material especially if you are a new bass player.
An acoustic guitar is a wonderful sounding instrument by itself, but when you add a pick-up to it you turn it into an electric guitar. Acoustic electric guitars come with adjustable equalizers on them. These can be 3, 4, 5 or 6 band equalizers and they can also include things like phase and chorus.
Another name for the on board equalizer is a preamp. It is designed to amplify the signal from the pick-up before it gets to your guitar amplifier.
Adjusting equalizers looks complicated but is really very simple. The first thing you must do before any adjustment is to zero out all the controls on the equalizer. What this does is to give you what is known as a clean signal. The bands whether they are 3, 4, 5, or 6 represent tones from low to high with each control adjusting a different frequency. A lot of people adjust these controls to look like a happy face, this brings out the lows and highs more. The important thing for you to remember is it’s your guitar and you can make it sound the way you want by adjusting the eq your way.
After everything is zeroed out adjust each band from low to high so you can hear what it does, do this with each band then create the mix that is pleasant to your ears, it’s that simple.
Put an electric guitar in your hand and you’re virtually guaranteed to feel like a rock star, even if it’s just for a moment. Few people stop to consider that jazz musicians employed the first custom electric guitars. The instrument would later come to play a major part in other diverse musical styles, of course, including rock and Chicago blues.
Later on, certain genres widely considered to be “acoustic-only” began to plug in as well. Country music, which had previously been limited to acoustic guitars, banjos, fiddles and the like, joined in with the trend in time. And few could forget Bob Dylan’s controversial move in 1965: plugging in an electric ax at the Newport Folk Festival and razzing the audience with an in-your-face ditty called “Maggie’s Farm.”
A while back HBO aired The 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. For the most of it I thought it was pretty decent, except when some of the artists got together to do play a song that wasn’t theirs.
While the electric guitars played the song I thought they could have toned down their guitar amplifiers. I felt the music was forced and didn’t have much of an appeal. One of the songs I am referring to is “Because The Night” by Patti Smith.
When you hear artists like Bruce Springsteen and his band you hear a sound that is unique to them, but when you hear him doing a song that is not his the result is a sound that you can achieve with your guitar and your band.
The example I used was for an electric guitar but I found the same to be true even for singers. There was a duet featuring Aretha Franklin and Annie Lennox that was hard to listen to. Both artists are terrific alone but in my opinion shouldn’t be singing a duet together.
Sunday is the day some of your favorite artists shut off their guitar amplifiers, put down their electric guitars in favor of their acoustic guitars. The Acoustic Storm which airs every Sunday morning and features hit songs done by almost every major artist.
This Sunday’s show did not disappoint, the first hour had Heart doing an acoustic version of “Straight On” that’s a must to hear. Other songs in the hour were the Moody Blues “Nights In White Satin”, and Led Zeppelin’s “Friends”.
The second and third hours are not carried on some radio stations. These two hours are filled with 24 songs that when done acoustically are killers. For anyone that plays an electric guitar this show is a must. If your a beginner guitarist you could also learn from this program.
What you take away from the Acoustic Storm is, first you get to hear how talented these bands are away from the electronics, and next you get to hear your favorite songs done in a creative way with the use of acoustic guitars which just might inspire you the next time you pick up your guitar.
Stress is all around us today. It may come from your job, or maybe you need several jobs to make ends meet. There always seems to be somewhere you have to be rushing off to, or something that needs to be done, this also adds to the stress of everyday living today.
One thing I have found to relieve today’s stress is music. Listening to your favorite music is one way to take your stress away. For me playing my bass guitar is a better way. If you play electric guitar try turning up your guitar amplifier a few decibels, put on your favorite music and let yourself be transported to a special place where it is just you, your guitar and your music.