The main aspects of learning the guitar

March 23, 2012 — Leave a Comment

We know there are many beginner guitarists out there, and there will always be!
This article is specially made for you.

Right now is the most important time in your guitar development. As you begin learning how to play the guitar it is vital that you are fully equipped to tackle any obstacle you may encounter.

There are many aspects of learning the guitar which are all very important and all play a part in your overall progress as a guitarist. Below are some of the main themes we think are the most important to keep in mind.

Motivation

Most people are motivated by results. Positive results will usually motivate you to continue what you are doing while negative results often bring progress to a halt. If you pick up the guitar and play it you will find it impossible to get any worse than you already are, so provided you just pick up and play your guitar you will experience positive results which will encourage you and keep you motivated.

You will find some great motivational gems throughout the Jamorama course and we will explore all of these concepts in greater depth as we move forward.

Rhythm:

Many musicians agree that even if you can’t play the cleanest chords, or the smoothest licks a strong sense of rhythm will really help carry a tune home and at times, can completely make up for a lack of skill in other areas. The average person is not necessarily gifted with an amazing sense of rhythm, but regardless of how strong your natural rhythm it is important you establish good rhythmic habits early on.

The Jamorama Metronome is a very helpful tool which will help you stay in time if you are playing along without an audio example and need a definite beat.

Hands

Most of your guitar playing will be done with your hands and although you may experience some challenging times as you begin to train your fingers to do things they have never done before, it does get easier. Much like learning to tie your own shoe laces, the first time is very exciting but easily forgettable as it becomes a normal part of life. Sometimes that tricky chord shape can become a whole lot easier with just a minor adjustment to how you are holding the guitar…

Mind games:

One of the really strange things about learning to play the guitar is the way your mind can work with you or against you. For example if you are struggling to push your fingers down on the fret board you can either get excited about keeping at it until it sounds better or you can become discouraged and put the guitar down as if there is no hope. Don’t be too hard on yourself, everybody has to start somewhere. If you stick at it then one day soon you will be laughing at how easy those chords have become.

You will be amazed at how much your guitar playing will benefit from a positive attitude. Be confident in the fact that it won’t be long until you can impress yourself and others with your guitar playing.

I hope this article can help you connecting with your guitar and I really hope that you are going to keep working hard to find the results you want!

All the best!

Ben Edwards

Posted in guitar zen, learning, music | Tagged , , , ,

Guitar Luthiers

March 23, 2012 — Leave a Comment

smashed kurt cobain guitar Guitar Luthiers

kurt cobain - careless with guitars

Do you know your local craftsmen?

One of the most important factors in developing as a guitarist is building an understanding of how your instrument works and gaining an insight into how playability maybe enhanced or hindered through the way your guitar is set up.

As much as the guitar may seem like a mysterious, metaphysical instrument of musical divination it is in fact still  a mechanical device that needs a little bit of T.L.C.!

In general try to avoid:

1. dropping or knocking your guitar

2.extreme temperature and/or humidity conditions and fluctuations:

Rest assured that a decent luthier will be able to make highly significant improvements in the playability of your guitar; YOU WILL notice the difference between a guitar that hasn’t been set up correctly and one that has had the hands of a master grace it’s mechanics.

broke Guitar Luthiers

There is no excuse for POOR quality service. When you buy a guitar it should be PROPERLY set up before it leaves the shop. A guitar does not necessarily travel from the manufacturer to your retailer and remain impeccably set up. Neither will the set up from the factory, or from your shop necessarily be optimum.  Futhermore as time passes your guitar will age, settle and mature – hopefully like a fine claret, or a good bottle of Chateaux Neuf de Pape!

chateauneuf du pape domaine de la pinede Guitar Luthiers

SO when and why should you take your guitar for a bit of a check up?

Over time general wear and tear, vigorous playing, temperature and humidity can all affect the playability of your guitar. The action and the intonation are crucial contributing factors, and you can set these yourself, but if you don’t have the necessary experience it’s probably best to take your guitar to your local luthier. Because your guitar is a living, breathing, and evolving organism then change IS inevitable but just how can you tell if your guitar needs a little medicine?

Well, the key signs to look for are string buzz, general playability difficulties, tuning anomalies up and down the neck, and action problems. Although fret buzz can also be caused by significant problems, in many cases, simple adjustments like raising string action can make these problems go away. You should not be hearing any rattles, shaking, movement or other unwanted sounds.

When it comes the the action, ideally your strings/action should be set at a height that allows you to fret easily and comfortably at any position on the neck but without ANY buzzing. Buzzing can be caused by a combination of  factors such as the saddle heights, uneven and heavily worn frets, the setting of the guitars nut, the string action and the situation of the neck. You should not be struggling hard to fret or voice chords up and down the neck. If you are finding that chords become progressively more difficult to voice the further up the neck you play then your action may need a little tweaking.

If the neck has become bowed then the truss rod will need adjusting (do not do this yourself). The truss rod is an adjustable metal rod that runs down the center of the neck. Problems with cheap guitar nuts or poor quality bridges and saddles can ruin your playing experience too.

Uneven frets can contribute to buzzing and your expert luthier will be able to locate any inconsistencies and redress them through grinding, replacing or adjusting your frets.

As a guitarist it’s very important to develop a healthy and positive relationship with your local guitar specialist. Take the time to find out which luthiers in your area have a solid reputation for quality and excellence. Preferably your luthier should have a long history of building and repairing instruments. Take your guitar and ask them to have a look at the current set up and show you how, where and why any adjustments can be made.

Choose your luthier wisely because your luthier can contribute so much to the quality of your guitar playing experience.

Posted in gear, maintenance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

B.B. King

March 21, 2012 — Leave a Comment

On September 16, 2011 B.B King turned 86. He has been playing the blues since World War II and he is one of the greatest guitarists who have ever lived. This is the first part in a series that is being made here at Jamorama about the players who have influenced the way we play guitar.

BB was born on a plantation in Mississippi in 1925. His family was poor and as a youth he played guitar for spare change to help his family. Even at a young age he traveled from town to town refining a technique and style that would change the way people played guitar and make B. B. King a house hold name.

The first time B.B. King appeared to a large audience was in 1948 on a radio station in Memphis. This would become a regular set where King would play every week. This along with a gig at a popular restaurant and bar gave King some momentum and popularity.

BB King began to tour around the South then eventually nationally, allowing many people to hear his new style. On one of the many gigs King played over the years a fight erupted in the crowd. This fight led to a kerosene stove being knocked over and a wild fire raged. King along with patrons and staff ran from the building. However King had left his favorite guitar in the burning building. Ignoring the risk he ran back into the fire to retrieve his prided position. When the smoke died down King discovered that the men where fighting over a girl called Lucille. Since that day has named ever guitar he has owned ‘Lucille’ so he remembers never to get upset over a women.

Though BB King was popular until the late 60s his audience was still mainly black. This was until he was chosen to open for the Rolling Stones on a world tour. Also many other famous white musicians were openly proclaiming King’s brilliance. King’s introduction to the mainstream audience caused his popularity and record sales to soar.

BB King’s style and tone is easy to identify. His wild string bending and vibrato are distinctive and his gravelly voice cuts through recordings and adds character to his music. In contrast to many skilled guitarists he has a remarkable economy and restraint with his playing. King only plays for the song and doesn’t get involved in over indulgent extended solos. Also because of the length of his career BB King has been through many musical trends and styles. This has meant that his style is a collection of many genres and in a sense King has created his own style.

BB King has been inducted into the Rock and Roll and the Blues Hall of Fame. He has received a Grammy and many honorary doctorates including one from Yale. Even though he is 86 BB King still tours playing his songs to the world. His legacy to music and guitar playing cannot be overestimated and for that reason the music and the man will never be forgotten.

Ahhh! What a big influence BB king was, is and will be in every guitarists life!

Cheers Riley B. King!

Luis Tovar

Posted in art, Artists, blues, guitar zen | Tagged , ,

BOSS PS-6 Harmonist

March 21, 2012 — Leave a Comment

newsletter34 gear bossps6 BOSS PS 6 Harmonist

The BOSS PS-6 Harmonist is a pedal that, as the name suggests creates harmonies of what you play. However, on closer inspection, it is so much more.

From the simple four knob set up, you would be forgiven for thinking there wasn’t too much to this pedal. The genius of the pedal, however, is that each knob has multiple functions. While there is an initial setting, there is a second layer of settings that each knob controls which have an affect on the different settings of the pedal.

Not only is it a multi-voice harmonizer, it’s also a pitch shifter, chorus and octave shifter, all wrapped up in the ubiquitous, robust Boss stomp pedal.

When you’re playing a lead line, you can dial in one harmony in the key you are playing (major or minor) making what you play sound like two guitars playing in unison. Or add another two harmonies to create a harmonious ensemble of choral proportions. Eat your heart out Keith Richards.

The PS-6 not only works on single note lead lines, but works wonderfully on chords, creating a faux-organ sound. Playing around with this effect will produce some surprising results and path the way for taking your music in a different direction.

Let’s take a close look at the pot controls. From the left you have the Balance knob, which controls the amount of blend the signal has – either dry chorus or very saturated. It also doubles as the Rise time control for the S-bend (short for Super Bend) mode which sets the time it takes the note to reach the desired pitch.

The Shift control takes care of the shift intervals as well as enabling you to dial in two or three part voicings as part of the Voice Harmony control. The Key pot allows you to chromatically set the key from C to B and also controls the Fall time of the S-bend mode – the opposite setting to the rise time.

And finally the Mode knob, which sets algorithms of minor and Major keys as well as selecting the different effects of Pitch Shifter, Detune, and S-Bend modes.

All in all you have a busy little pedal in a very compact form. Options abound for producing interesting and harmonious sound scapes as well as a few wild and wonderful ones too.

Check out the following video for a taste of what’s on offer in the Boss PS-6 Harmonist.

ab4e2097d32a3cfb2d407817c82c42dd BOSS PS 6 Harmonist

Posted by Dan Orr

Posted in gear, guitar effects / pedals | Tagged , , , , ,

Getting Rhythm

March 14, 2012 — 1 Comment

Rhythm makes up a 3rd of the three most important elements in music. The other two are melody and harmony. It’s important to talk a little about what rhythm actually means. There are many different definitions of what rhythm is. Rhythm can often be recognized as the beat of a song.

Some people when listening to music will listen to different aspects of the song.

For example someone might hear the bass in a song, or someone might only hear the guitar. If there is a singer, then that’s usually what most people hear first. When guitarists listen to music they generally hear the guitar, if there is one. Quite often you will be listening to the beat of a song.

If you’re dancing to music you’ll be dancing to the beat of the song. So what happens is you’re listening to the rhythm of the song as you dance. Without knowing it you’re concentrating on the rhythm of the song. Rhythm is the beat behind the music that you might not always immediately notice.

The instruments that are used to make the beat and create rhythm are called percussion instruments. There is actually a huge variety of these instruments but the most common of all percussion instruments is the drum kit. The drum kit is used most often in popular music and you can see it everywhere. When someone is studying rhythm they usually start on a drum kit and then from there they might specialize.

There are all different kinds of rhythm. You sometimes might here someone talking about western rhythms and eastern rhythms. What they are basically talking about has a lot to do with what kind of percussion instruments that are being used and the kinds of rhythmical patterns. Rhythmical patterns refer to the way the beat is played and what kind of variation might occur in the beat.

When referring to western or eastern rhythms it’s also referring to where the type of instrument and rhythmical pattern originate from. So western rhythms are usually American or European, eastern rhythms are usually Middle Eastern and Asian based. African rhythms are often talked about also and like the others has unique aspects to it. Each different area has a specific rhythmical identity to it.

Learning rhythm is very important when it comes to playing in a band situation or anytime you’re playing with other musicians. This is because when everyone’s playing together if there is no agreed upon speed and beat at which to play at, the instruments don’t match up and the music won’t sound good. So as guitarists it’s important to learn some of the principles of rhythm and learn to play in time and play along to a beat. Guitar is an instrument which uses rhythm as well as harmony and melody. Lots of instruments are usually confined to only one of these aspects.

So learning the guitar is not a small undertaking. When thinking about rhythm in regards to your practice think of it as the how a beat would go behind you’re playing. So imagine a drummer playing along with you keeping time and helping with the rhythm of the song.

Posted by Ben Edwards

Posted in guitar zen, learning, music | Tagged , ,
« Older Entries Newer Entries »