I’m a musician, writer, and comic artist. Welcome to my website.
All in Information
Loopers have been around since the 1950s when Les Paul hid reel to reel tape decks off stage and controlled them using a box attached to his guitar. This allowed him to record and play back parts, and accompany himself live. He called the box the “Les Paulverizer” and it must have seem like magic to 1950s crowds. Nowadays, most of us
If you are under 50 you may not realize that Guitar TABs didn’t exist in their current form before the 1980s. There have been different forms of unique stringed instrument tablature as far back as the 15th century (for lutes), but modern guitar TAB is a fairly recent addition. I am not sure exactly when modern guitar TAB became common, but if I remember correctly it was sometime in the early to mid 1980s.
Most people learn to play guitar because they want to be able to play songs. That is the fun part of playing any instrument. There are several ways to go about learning songs on guitar. The most common are printed music, videos lessons (YouTube or paid websites), TABs from the internet, private lessons with a teacher, and by ear.
I play in the band called Peak City Sound, which is a cover band that plays a wide variety of music including soul, rock, pop, and beach music (Carolina style.) I need to cover a lot of guitar styles. But the band is bigger than most, with 14 members, including a five piece horn section and four main singers. So space is always at a premium.
It seems to me that there are five main components (or things) that guitar players use when soloing or improvising on guitar. I’m talking about how guitar players think about or react to music while playing to create solos. The five components are
The original "gut strings" used for classical guitars were made from the small intestines of sheep. The three treble strings were made from sheep intestine, referred to as plain gut, while the three bass strings were made of a silk thread core wound with gut. The production material changed to nylon due to World War II, when all available gut and was used in the production of surgical thread for wounded soldiers.
Did you know that the guitar is a transposing instrument? It is. What’s a transposing instrument? A transposing instrument is an instrument whose written notes are read at a pitch different than concert pitch. What is concert pitch? Concert pitch is a standard set for use in orchestras. In concert pitch the A note above middle C on the piano is 440 Hz.
A good workman knows his tools. Below are diagrams of the two most popular types of guitars: electric and steel string acoustic (classical or nylon string guitar parts are essentially the same as steel string acoustic guitar parts.) Guitars may have variations but the basic parts are similar for all guitars.
Buying an acoustic guitar can be challenging. Many acoustic guitars are similar in appearance and sound. Why do some cost hundreds of dollars, while others cost thousands? In this article I’ll take a look at the different types of acoustic guitars available, what you should get for your money, and what you should look out for when buying.
Buying an electric guitar can be an exciting experience or a source of great frustration, depending on how prepared you are. In this article I’ll take a look at the different types of electric guitars available, what you should get for your money, and what you should look out for when buying.
Types of Electrics
There are basically three types of electric guitars: solid body, hollowbody, and semi-hollowbody. Each type has numerous variations, including 7 string models and “baritone” guitars. I will focus on standard 6 string guitars.
Hollowbody
Deriving from early attempts to “electrify” acoustic guitars, the hollowbody guitar is a blend of old and new. These guitars have large bodies, some are fat and some are thin. Most are arch topped and have sound holes cut out of the body making them both acoustic and electric. Generally, they have humbucker pickups and achieve a very warm, fat tone that appeals to many jazz players.
A common question for first time guitar buyers is “Should I buy an acoustic or an electric guitar?” Obviously the answer has a lot to do with the individual asking. Let’s see what each type of guitar has to offer.
In Part 1 of this blog I gave an overview what effects are. I will now explain some of the more common individual effects and provide some audio examples.
The topic of guitar effects is a huge one. There are many types of guitar effects available for guitar players, and players always seem to be searching for a better model. In this two-part blog I will give an overview of what effects are and then explain what each type of effect does and how they are typically used. I will also include some audio samples.
