WEAPON
& ACCESSORIES FOR GUITARIST
If you already have gone through all that listed above or not interested
with it, you should go to the Truth
About Guitar & Music which is more necessary for guitarist
and musician!
Guitar
I use Yamaha EG303 electric guitar. It looks like Fender's Strat
but the Yamaha's head is more err.. beautiful. (I guess).
My Yamaha
EG303
Fender Stratocasters
No matter you staying or not with well-known brand names, your guitar
is the first weapon, the first thing you need to start playing guitar.
Am I right? Nowadays some names have established themselves. Fender, Gibson,
Kramer, Carvin, Ibanez, Yamaha to mention some. Guitars have been evolving
in their features with stronger bridge work, more sensitive pick-ups, neck-locking
systems and fine tuners. How do you use your guitar? Did you 'treat' it
enough? Use it on it's 'megamaximum' performance. Don't lock up your creativity
by buying an expensive guitar and then 'locked' it so it won't damaged.
One of the most important yet often overlooked areas of playing the
guitar is tuning. It is very common to hear otherwise good guitarists playing
out of tune, which detracts from their performance. Since learning how
to tune accurately and efficiently can take several years, it is important
to train the ear to distinguish differences of pitch. With practice and
a systematic approach, most guitarists, both young and older, can and do
learn how to tune. Even if you are an experienced guitarist, you may learn
additional techniques you may not have thought of that will improve your
tuning ability. There are many ways to tune your guitar: Relative Tuning
(easiest), Tuning to a piano, with Harmonics, Octaves, Tuning Fork and
Electronics Tuners. Learn to tune your guitar correctly because, even you
can finger some killing licks, it's all rubbish if you playing out of tune!
The next thing is about strings. Popular string brands are Fender, Gibson,
Ernie Ball, Dean Markley, Yamaha, Pyramid and Hofner. String is the source
of the sound so what I'm going to say? Find the best string for your guitar.
Pick-up? Bridge / termolo / whammy bar? The present guitars have certain
fixed characteristics concerning pick-up and bridge. Most double coil humbucking
pick-ups are standardized. Neck locking systems fit at the headstock just
before the nut. These things are more for those into rock and heavy metal
as their guitars are worked to the limit. Pick-up: Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan,
Carvin, Obl etc. Bridge / termolo or whammy bar and neck locks are patented
by Floyd Rose or Khaler.
Ibanez
Gibson
Effects
With modern technology, effects can now be captured and transmitted from
sound waves. Some guitarists call them as gadgets. These various effects
are the most consistanly used in rock and heavy metal music. I've listed
them on their position in effect's setup:
-
Compression Sustainer
-
Distortion / Overdrive
-
Digital Delay / Delay
-
Chorus / Phaser
-
Flanger
-
Echo
There are others effects such as Graphic Equalizer, Fuzz, Wah-Wah and
Octaver. These gadgets are built for foot control and battery operated.
Amplifier
Guitarist and band depend on electronics to be able to keep up themselves
in music industry. The amplication of guitar has resulted in two forms
of ampilifer. First is the tube amplication and the other is transistorisation.
Some popular brands are Fender, Marshall, Peavy, Roland, Yamaha, Vox, Digitech,
Mesa Boogie, Carvin and Seymour Duncan. A standard feature that has remained
through the years is the reverb, vibratos and termolos are being dropped
out. A present day amplifier's control has two panels.
First panel has less feature for rhythm guitar use:
Input (High)
Input (Low)
Switch ( On/Off)
Volume control
Treble Tone Control
Middle Control
Bass Tone Control
The second panel has all the features required, including these features:
Distortion
Reverb
Chorus (On/Off).
Master Volume
Power (On/Off)
Set your guitar volume at maximum. Your panel volume is flexible according
to the venue. Tone selector ( guitar) , reverb and chorus are personal
preferences. For distortion, set your tones at high treble. TONE is personal
creativity, either copying the other guitarist's tone or create our own
tone. Different products produce different sounds. You have to experienced
many types of music to get the sound. Playing guitar is not just plug in
the guitar, turn on the amp and then playing!
Chords
I don't like guitarists who want me to teach them songs at the very first
time they pick up a guitar! I want them to check out the basic on chords
first.
THEORY AND STRUCTURE
A chord is a structure of three or more tones sounding at the same time.
Chords are built up with intervals.
An interval is the difference between two notes. On the guitar, an interval
of one fret represents a half step which is the smallest interval.
The whole step is an interval of two frets. The major scale is derived
from the twelve notes of the octave and has an interval pattern as shown
in example below in the key of C.
| Interval |
W-W-H-W-W-W-H |
| Major Scale Letter Name |
C- D- E- F- G- A- B |
| Major Scale Number Name |
1 - 2 - 3 -4 -5 - 6 - 7 |
W = Whole step, H = Half step
The name of the interval is taken from the number of scale degrees,
from the lower to the higher note. By using these intervals we can build
a chord. The basis of chords are triads.
A triad consists of three notes. There is several types of triads, MAJOR(+/M),
MINOR(-/m), AUGMENTED (X/A), and DIMINISHED (o/d). The first note is the
fundamental from which the chord takes its letter name. The second note
is separated from the first by a third-interval. The third note is separated
from the first by a fifth-interval. So if we were to build a C-major chord,
we would use the triad plus 2 or 3 extra notes (usually scale note numbers
1 and 3 just a octave up or down), we would get this result (using example
1):
| First note |
= |
C |
| Second note |
= |
E |
| Third note |
= |
G |
Chord Progressions
Here are some common chord progressions:
G, C, D
A, D, E
Am, C, D, F
F, C, B
G, D, C
G, D, Em, C
Major
Minor
Diminished
Copyright © 1999 Carvel
Avis. All rights reserved.
These diagrams only show the notes on every fret. There are many chords
with different types and names. I can't mention all of them here. Try to
find it on your own.
Scales & Modes
How many scale you got in your head? A scale is a series of notes that
are used by guitar players to play solos, or basically any single note
passage. For example, remember the Do, Re, Mi's you had to learn and sing
in elementary school music class? Well that was a scale. In fact, it is
one of the most common scales used by musicians. There are usually 7 notes
in a scale. All of the Do, Re, Mi scales have 7 notes. Scales are a little
tricky, because with them come many new ideas, definitions, and demands
on your patience. The major, minor, and various other scales that can be
constructed from the same set of notes are sometimes called modes. Here
is a list of the classically defined modes:
| Ionian |
is the major scale (as described above) |
| Dorian |
is like a minor scale, but with the 6th raised to
a major interval |
| Phrygian |
is like a minor scale, but with the 2nd lowered to
a minor interval |
| Lydian |
is like a major scale, but with the 4th augmented
(raised ½ step) |
| Mixolydian |
is like a major scale, but with the 7th lowered to a minor
interval |
| Aeolian |
is the minor scale (as described above) |
| Locrian |
is like a minor scale, but with the
5th diminished (lowered ½ step) and the 7th lowered to a minor interval |
Some of the above modes don't get much use in mainstream popular music,
but they are certainly available to experiment around with. There are also
a number of other scales that have been invented, but not all can be listed
here. Another scale which will be mentioned and is of particular interest
for rock guitar work is the major pentatonic scale which is constructed
from a tonic, major 2nd, major 3rd, perfect 5th, and major 6th.
Here is the Do, Re, Mi (major) scale in C:
|--------------------------------------------|
|---------------0-1-----1-0-----------------|
|----------0-2---------------2-0------------|
|---0-2-3------------------------3-2-0-----|
|-3---------------------------------------3-|
|--------------------------------------------|
Pentatonic scale:
A minor
|------------------------------------------------------------------5--8--|
|-------------------------------------------------5--8-------------------|
|-----------------------------------5--7---------------------------------|
|--------------------5--7------------------------------------------------|
|--------5--7------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5--8-------------------------------------------------------------------|
The Dorian Mode
|--------------------
|--------------------
|-----------5-7------
|------5-7-9---------
|-5-7-8--------------
|--------------------
The Phrygian Mode
|--------------------
|------------5-------
|---------5-7--------
|----5-7-9-----------
|-7-8----------------
|--------------------
Lydian Mode
|--------------------
|----------5-6-------
|-------5-7----------
|--5-7-9-------------
|-8------------------
|--------------------
The Mixolydian Mode
|--------------------
|---------5-6-8------
|------5-7-----------
|-5-7-9--------------
|--------------------
|--------------------
The Aeolian Mode
|--------------------
|--------------------
|--------------------
|-----------5-7------
|------5-7-8---------
|-5-7-8--------------
The Locrian Mode
|--------------------
|--------------------
|--------------------
|---------5-7-9------
|----5-7-8-----------
|-7-8----------------
Motivation
The desire for competence is very strong in adult learners, and stems from
people's desire to control themselves and their environment, rather than
to be passive and let their environment control them. Competency is related
to self esteem, for when a learner realizes he / she has mastered an concept
or skill through his / her own ability and effort, self confidence emerges.
Each successful learning experience thus provides emotional support for
the next learning venture. Reinforcement also is an important factor in
motivation. There are two kinds of reinforcement: positive and negative.
Positive reinforcement occurs when the learner's work is praised, when
he / she experiences individual attention, when he / she is accepted and
recognized by the group, and so on. Negative reinforcement occurs when
penalties, disapproval, threats, and punishments are given in an attempt
to curb undesirable student behaviour. The more effective of the two is
positive reinforcement.
Each learning experience divided into three time divisions, each containing
two of the six factors of motivation outlined above. For the instructor,
each learning experience whether 20 minutes, an hour or a term in length,
has a beginning, a middle, and an end. As a guitarist, we are learner while
trying to master a brand new technique. If you fail to do it, take a deep
breath and start again. All you need is just a little patience.
My personal question: What is your motive to
play the guitar?
For being glorified? Get attention from the public? To compete with
other guitarists? As a hobby? To make money? To meet a lot of girls?
For me, the motive comes from the heart. The sound / music from my
guitar also comes from my heart. If you want to produce something that
carries 'meaning', your motive also must contains 'meaning'!
Keep on playing and I wish you all the best!
Copyright © 1999 
. All rights reserved.