Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Robert Cray The Guitar Tone Legend
Robert Cray is one of my favourite guitarists (I have many of them). Hes not too fast, not too aggressive and he has got amazing feeling of his guitar. His tone, as guitarist, is really interesting, very clean and selective (he is also a great vocalist).
Robert Cray is well known as a Stratocaster user (signature model), but sometimes he like to use other guitars also - I sow him somewhere with some custom Tele. Hes using Matchless and Fender Vibro-King amps.
If you dont know Crays music, here is his website: robertcray.com
Robert Cray is well known as a Stratocaster user (signature model), but sometimes he like to use other guitars also - I sow him somewhere with some custom Tele. Hes using Matchless and Fender Vibro-King amps.
If you dont know Crays music, here is his website: robertcray.com
Lets listen to some live gig
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
12 Dominant 7th Guitar Chords Number 10
Our next chord in our series of 12 Guitar Chords every guitarist should know is another G7 chord on the bottom 4 strings of the guitar.
This guitar chord has its root note on the D string and uses the notes of G7 in this order:
Tune in tomorrow for another guitar chord of the day.
Heres the fingering for this guitar chord:
This guitar chord has its root note on the D string and uses the notes of G7 in this order:
- B (the 3rd)
- F (the b7th)
- G (the root note)
- D (the 5th)
- Lower the 3rd one fret to make a minor7 chord
- Raise the b7 one fret to make a major7 chord
- Raise the root two frets to make a 9th chord
Tune in tomorrow for another guitar chord of the day.
Monday, October 28, 2013
How Often Should I Change Strings and What Kind Do I Get
How long you go between string changes depends on a few factors.
Do your strings look rusty or black? Change them. Have they been on your guitar for more than a year? Change them. Does your guitar keep going out of tune? Change them. When in doubt, its best to replace your strings. The nice thing about guitar strings is that theyre fairly inexpensive, so theres really not much of an excuse for not changing them.
What kind of strings should you use?
Guitar strings are pretty confusing especially to a beginning guitar student. There are multiple thicknesses, brands, materials, and much more to consider. Again, since theyre not very expensive if you find a set you dont like, get rid of them.
There are three basic types of strings, and many variations.
A classical guitar has nylon strings, an acoustic has steel strings, and an electric also has steel strings although theyre usually made of different materials. Nylon strings have 3 or sometimes 4 wound strings which have an inner core of nylon or silk wrapped with very thin wire. The unwound strings are nylon and resemble fishing line.
A steel string, acoustic guitar has strings that are usually made of nickel, bronze or phosphor bronze. The bronze strings have a brighter sound than nickel and project a little better.
Electric guitars have strings that are usually nickel, and theyre generally thinner (lighter) than acoustic guitar strings.
Those are the bare bones basics of guitar strings. In future blogs Ill go into more detail about ways for a beginning guitar student to choose the right strings.
Do your strings look rusty or black? Change them. Have they been on your guitar for more than a year? Change them. Does your guitar keep going out of tune? Change them. When in doubt, its best to replace your strings. The nice thing about guitar strings is that theyre fairly inexpensive, so theres really not much of an excuse for not changing them.
What kind of strings should you use?
Guitar strings are pretty confusing especially to a beginning guitar student. There are multiple thicknesses, brands, materials, and much more to consider. Again, since theyre not very expensive if you find a set you dont like, get rid of them.
There are three basic types of strings, and many variations.
A classical guitar has nylon strings, an acoustic has steel strings, and an electric also has steel strings although theyre usually made of different materials. Nylon strings have 3 or sometimes 4 wound strings which have an inner core of nylon or silk wrapped with very thin wire. The unwound strings are nylon and resemble fishing line.
A steel string, acoustic guitar has strings that are usually made of nickel, bronze or phosphor bronze. The bronze strings have a brighter sound than nickel and project a little better.
Electric guitars have strings that are usually nickel, and theyre generally thinner (lighter) than acoustic guitar strings.
Those are the bare bones basics of guitar strings. In future blogs Ill go into more detail about ways for a beginning guitar student to choose the right strings.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Mark Knopfler The Guitar Tone Legend
Mark Knopfler with the rest of Dire Straits and Eric Clapton - Money for Nothing - live.
BTW, put your attention also on chorus.
Links:
markknopfler.com
ds.mk-guitar.com (about gear)
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BTW, put your attention also on chorus.
Links:
markknopfler.com
ds.mk-guitar.com (about gear)
-
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Good Guitar for Modifications and Experiments
I was reading somewhere in the Internet an article about Fender Stratocaster made in Mexico, as a great guitar for making some mods and experimenting with many ways of wiring. Its true.
Its a good peace of wood for a good price, with three pickups, three pots and a plastic pick-guard, which is easy to drill in some next holes, for next elements.
From my side, I would like to recommend the Epiphone G-400, which is also good value for its price. It can be a good choice for those of you, who like mahogany guitars. This axe has got two humbuckers and four pots (its just a copy of Gibson SG). The in-body space for electronics is quite big, so its possible to mount in some active electronics with battery, like on-board preamp or buffer.
This is the guitar that Im using for playing with electronics. As a mahogany fan, Im pretty happy with this stuff.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Guitar Wiring for Metal Maniacs
There are some electric guitars on the market, designed especially for metal music. This guitars, very often, have just one, high output pickup and just one potentiometer – 500K volume. This kind of simple wiring is not smoothing the sound, so it's a perfect distinct, distorted tone maker.
Here, i would like to present my mod of it. This wiring will allow you to make the tone more crisp and percussive, just by one click. It's something useful for fast palm-muting, or screaming solo play.
All you need to make it, is push-pull 500K potentiometer and some resistor.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
How to Practice More Efficiently
Do you have trouble learning a complete piece of music?
When learning a new song do you always start at the beginning? If you make a mistake do you go back to the beginning? You may be spinning your wheels! Once youve got a good start at playing a song, the next step is to isolate trouble spots. It seems like every song has one. Playing the whole song over and over will make that spot better, the problem is it will never catch up to the rest of the song. Practicing the passage that gives you trouble in a methodical way is how to overcome the problem. Go slow, watch your fingering, and practice with a metronome or a program to slow the piece down if youre working with a recording. In my studio I use RiffMaster Pro (affiliate link) to work with my students. With that program or a metronome, the idea is to go very slowly at first. Beginning guitar students tend to play too fast and if they have a trouble spot, tend to ignore it. When learning guitar you want to remember if you cant play it slow, you cant play it fast. Slowing down is the way to go because you dont want to practice mistakes. Whether youre playing the correct notes or the wrong ones, your fingers will remember and go there again.
Listen to yourself play.
I know it sounds funny, but beginning guitar students sometimes get so caught up in their playing that they actually dont hear their playing. The mind wanders, they get distracted, and so they think theyre practicing efficiently but they really arent.
Set goals and make note of your progress.
When practicing, dont just go through the motions. Know what youre trying to accomplish and write down what youve achieved when you get there. Have a difficult passage youve now mastered? Write it down. That pesky C chord finally sounds good? Write it down. You get the idea. Instead of just going through every song you know without thinking about it, zero in on what still needs work and then make a conscious effort to improve it. You and your guitar teacher will both be much happier come lesson time.
When learning a new song do you always start at the beginning? If you make a mistake do you go back to the beginning? You may be spinning your wheels! Once youve got a good start at playing a song, the next step is to isolate trouble spots. It seems like every song has one. Playing the whole song over and over will make that spot better, the problem is it will never catch up to the rest of the song. Practicing the passage that gives you trouble in a methodical way is how to overcome the problem. Go slow, watch your fingering, and practice with a metronome or a program to slow the piece down if youre working with a recording. In my studio I use RiffMaster Pro (affiliate link) to work with my students. With that program or a metronome, the idea is to go very slowly at first. Beginning guitar students tend to play too fast and if they have a trouble spot, tend to ignore it. When learning guitar you want to remember if you cant play it slow, you cant play it fast. Slowing down is the way to go because you dont want to practice mistakes. Whether youre playing the correct notes or the wrong ones, your fingers will remember and go there again.
Listen to yourself play.
I know it sounds funny, but beginning guitar students sometimes get so caught up in their playing that they actually dont hear their playing. The mind wanders, they get distracted, and so they think theyre practicing efficiently but they really arent.
Set goals and make note of your progress.
When practicing, dont just go through the motions. Know what youre trying to accomplish and write down what youve achieved when you get there. Have a difficult passage youve now mastered? Write it down. That pesky C chord finally sounds good? Write it down. You get the idea. Instead of just going through every song you know without thinking about it, zero in on what still needs work and then make a conscious effort to improve it. You and your guitar teacher will both be much happier come lesson time.
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