Trip Meter Music » Guitar

How To Play Guitar – Must Have Guitar Effect Pedals: Distortion, Delay, Chorus, and Reverb.

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:26:41 +0000

If you don’t own them already, at some point, you will encounter what are called guitar effects. Guitar effects are used to enhance the tone and sound of your instrument. Guitar effects can dramatically change your guitar sound, or simply make your guitar sound sonically rich.

When you enter the world of guitar effects, it can be quite overwhelming to know what the best guitar effects to purchase are. From stomp boxes, to full rack mount guitar effects, there is an unending supply of sound available to enhance your guitar playing sound and abilities.

Let’s take a look at 4 must-have guitar effects that you will want to utilize in your guitar playing experience.

Distortion
Delay
Chorus
Reverb

Distortion: If you’ve ever heard a hard rock band, chances are you have heard a guitar player that is using distortion. Believe it or not, distortion is not just limited to heavy metal playing guitar players. Many jazz guitar players incorporate distortion into their sound. Even rock and blues players will incorporate a light distortion sound, giving their clean tone an extra edge to the sound that their guitar produces. There are unlimited types of distortion available to the guitar player making distortion a great way to craft your own unique guitar tone
Delay: Think back to a time where you were yelling your name in a concrete stairwell, or shouting your name across a canyon, and while you were calling out your name you heard your name repeat over and over. You have just experienced delay. Another name for delay is echo. Delay as a guitar effect is basically when the sound that you produce on your guitar repeats itself over and over again. There are short delays, and long delays. Short delays are great for adding rhythmic variation to your guitar. Long delays are a great way to add excitement within your guitar solos.
Chorus: The idea behind the effect known as chorus is when you have an overlapping blend of voices sounding together. Chorus on the guitar is similar to having many guitar‘s overlapping together. Chorus is a great guitar effect when played on a clean guitar tone. Both electric and acoustic guitars will sound great with chorus added to the sound mix of your guitar.
Reverb: Very similarly related to delay is the effect called reverb. If hearing the sound repeat over and over again is called delay, the part of the sound that continues onward after you’ve stopped playing is called reverb. Right now, clap your hand in the room that you’re in. If you’re in a small room your handclap will not last very long. In a large auditorium however, the after sound of clapping your hand might last for a few seconds. You’ll also hear the effects of natural reverb by yelling your name in a concrete stairwell, or a canyon. Reverb is a great guitar effect that can add depth to your sound. Thick Reverb guitar effects are generally not recommended playing with live because reverb can muddy up your guitar sound. Instead, try adding reverb to your guitar in a studio recording. In a home studio recording, reverb can make your guitar sound amazing.

Guide For Acoustic Guitar

admin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:16:55 +0000

It needs to look nice, reflect your personality, fit you physically well, and perform as expected, and above all – it needs to be affordable, because we all know that cars and guitars can be expensive.
Acoustic Guitar Guide
The perfect place to begin when considering buying a guitar is with what style of music do you think you are most interested in. There’s acoustics, electrics and classicals to keep it simple. Electrics are more expandable in the sense that you would need an amp, which does cost more money, but makes it easier to record, and also means that you can customize your sound the easiest to play different styles of music. Electric guitars
are typically used on heavy metal, blues, jazz, funk, punk, rock, country, and other styles, but acoustics can be used for ballads in some forms of this music.
Acoustic guitars are great for a more subtle touch, and for a beginner are a little less intimidating since they can be played a little quieter. Acoustics come in different sizes, so make sure that you try out the different shapes and sizes to fit your posture body type. Getting the wrong guitar can make playing it a very bad first experience.
Acoustics can also be electrified for work with amps, or you can buy a simple pickup insert for the sound hole to be used to amplify it. Some people find that acoustic strings are hard on the fingers while the strings used on an electric are are easier to play with. I always recommend going with a classical, as they use nylon strings which are very gentle, but only if you feel this will be a problem.
Always make sure that you try as many different guitars as possible before buying a guitar, and don’t be afraid to ask as many questions as necessary. There is no such thing as a stupid question after all.
Finally, budget is to be considered. It is very possible to get a wonderfully made guitar that sounds great and works for you for a fraction of the price of a high end guitar. You can also find affordable guitars such as this that are made from trusted brand names. Its very possible to purchase a good condition guitar used from ebay, but be careful not to get into a bidding war over something that you may not enjoy, and it should be a guitar that you have actually tried first in real life.
Never just purchase a guitar or a piece of guitar related equipment, simply because someone else recommended it. Everyone has different needs when it comes to buying a guitar. If you want to go off of some online reviews, that’s a little better, but make sure that the reviews reflect that the people who bought a certain model were beginners themselves.

Choose A Guitar

admin — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:17:29 +0000

There are two types of guitars from which to choose. Either electric or acoustical. Beyond that, the choices are many. There are guitars for all size people, from children to adult size. You will find ¼ size, ½ size, ¾ size or full size. There are even some for toddlers. You may also find that there are many colors from which to choose. Of course there are the natural colors of the wood, but there are also black, red, green, purple, pink, blue or almost any other color you want.
As far as sound is concerned, there is the type of wood which resonates with best sound as well as the strings which give the best sound. Many guitars are made of mahogany or birch or some other lovely wood, but strings are equally important. The choices are either metal strings or non-metal usually plastic of some sort. It is really up to the one playing the instrument as to which he or she likes the sound of.
Usually the electric guitars use metal strings as that is what gives them the sound of the electricity. Acoustic guitars use either metal or non-metal. If you are using a pick to strum the guitar, it makes no difference which you use except for the sound. If you strum with your fingers, you probably want to use non-metal strings–at least until your fingers get used to the feel of the strings. Otherwise you may get some serious blisters on your fingers.
There are some guitars which come with a whole kit including strings, shoulder strap, case, and instruction book. There are also many accessories that you may want to consider in the future. And of course there is always the price. Many people feel that the best instruments are the most expensive, but that is not necessarily so. Many good instruments are quite inexpensive and will do a good job. For the beginner, it is better to start with an inexpensive instrument in case the enthusiasm disappears.
You probably should try out some of these instruments at your local music outlet and when you find one you like, check out the ones on the internet where you may find a better price. At least you will be able to make a more informed choice. You may be surprised at how reasonable they can be. It is always good to do some comparison shopping. Happy “picking”