Posts Tagged ‘Guitarists’
7 Rules For Every Guitar Player
Learning guitar is an uphill battle, but learning to be a better guitar player involves serious discipline. Once you have developed a good set of skills on the guitar it is important not to let these skills go to your head. These 7 rules will not only help you improve your playing, but also help you to become a more manageable musician to work with.
1. Tuning - Never play a guitar that is out of tune. If you are out of tune, people are going to notice. Electronic tuners are available for less than $30 these days and can help you out in a jam.
2. Keep strings new – Change your strings when your guitar wont stay in tune or if they begin to sound ‘dead’. Some electric guitar bridges need to have their intonation adjusted regularly. This is best left to a qualified professional
3. Know your strengths and weaknesses – It is equally important to know what you are not capable of as it is to know what you are capable of. It allows you to practice more efficiently when you are aware what areas of your skillset need polishing.
4. Play the guitar within your ability – In plain english: Don’t bite off more than you can chew. No two guitarists are the same. There are several areas of guitar that different players excel in. Don’t try to play like somebody else, especially if they are using a technique you are not familiar with. When push comes to shove, stick to the rhythm chords.
5. Take care not to overplay the notes – The listener is always able to hear the sound that was not meant to be played. When Eric Clapton slides his fingers along the strings from one end of the neck to the other, you do not hear a sound.
6. Know your parts front to back – Don’t just learn a riff and start playing. Knowing both the chord being played and the key of the song will allow you more flexibility when it comes to adding solos, fills and harmony.
7. The song comes first – Many guitarists are under the impression that they are the center of attention and turn up way louder than the other instruments. They goal for any musician in a band is to blend with the other instruments and compliment the song as a whole. You can’t do this if you are the only one anybody can hear.
Guitar Amps And Your Guitar – What You Need To Know
The guitar is among the most widely revered musical instruments today. Whether you attribute its widespread popularity to the affection women seem to feel for guitarists or some other consideration, the guitar is a fashionable instrument. There are a multitude of musical bands on the planet playing rock, heavy metal, and many other musical styles. But most have one thing in common and that is the use of guitars.
Bass guitars, acoustic guitars and electronic guitars are among the numerous types of guitars. Each has its own unique qualities. An acoustic guitar, for example, requires no amplifier but an amplifier is absolutely necessary with an electric guitar. It is needed to enhance the sound of the guitar. That is why it is called an amplifier.
There are many types of guitar amplifiers or better known among musicians as, “guitar amps”. Some amps include processors and some are just simple amplifiers. Amplifiers can vary from low to high output. When playing different genres of music (e.g. pop, rock, heavy metal, etc.), the guitar begins to need different types of amplifiers.
Some musical compositions require high treble sounds. For them, the use of conventional guitar amps is suggested. However, if a guitarist plays heavy solos pertaining to rock genre, then he must use heavy amplifiers which have built-in distortion effects and microprocessors for producing different types of sounds. That’s just one example of a music genre for which a different type of amplifier is used.
There are a wide variety of guitar amps on the market these days to match the equally large selection of electric guitars available. The amplifier you purchase depends on the style and quality of music you’d like to play. Also be sure that when picking an amplifier for a bass guitar, you choose a bass amplifier.
It will be simple to select the perfect guitar amplifier case if you know exactly what features are important to you. One key factor is only purchasing a case from a well-known, established manufacturer. If you are going to be playing your guitar inside, you should select a 40-watt amplifier. On the other hand, if you have to play at an outdoor venue the better choice would be high-output guitar amps. Taking your type of instrument, playing style/genre, and location into consideration will enable you to select a guitar amp tailored to your specific needs.