It is easy to learn guitar tabs. Only one basic idea needs to be understood, the rest falls into place. To illustrate this idea I will be using tabs for a simple piece of music called Peter Gunn. Guitar tabs are seen by learning guitar players as an easy way to start playing guitar right away. That is true but it is wrong to think that guitar tablature just needs to be read. Like all languages it needs to be understood. So if you have an idea that you would like to become a guitar player and tabs would be a great way to sidestep any difficult learning, there are a couple of things you need to get straight.

For somebody who just wants to play along with the singing around a campfire, it must look like a fairly easy job to play the guitar. Lots of people can do it and many of them are idiots. But when you look at a piece of guitar tab it looks kind of scary. Well, look again. It is just a picture of a guitar. Visualize it in your imagination. The tuning end of the guitar is to your left, the body of the guitar is to your right. The thinnest string is on the top, the thickest string is on the bottom. Nothing scary about that.

Moving on, we see numbers on the guitar tab. What are they? The numbers running down the left side are the notes sounded when you play the open strings, the numbers that run along the strings represent frets. Frets are the metal strips on the neck of the guitar. You put your fingers a fraction behind the frets to alter the length of the string, so that when it is plucked, strummed or picked the sound is higher or lower depending on how far up the fingerboard you are. So the number one, for example, indicates that one of your fingers must be placed behind the first fret of the guitar. This is the fret closest to the tuning gear on the end of the neck.

Now let us look at a section of guitar tab. This is a short riff from a piece of music called Peter Gunn. It was written by Henry Mancini who probably wrote most of the orchestral music that most of us have ever heard, and it has been recorded by many artists, notably The Blues Brothers, Jimi Hendrix and Emerson, Lake And Palmer. The first recording of it was a hit for electric guitar pioneer, Duane Eddy.

All the notes are played on the sixth string – the thickest string, remember? If you play the piano, try it out, the notes are E E F# E G E A G# played as one bar in 4/4 time.

e——————————

B——————————

G——————————

D——————————

A——————————

E–0–0–2–0–3–0–5–4–

To play the tabs use down strokes with the pick or your thumb. Once you have played the notes once, go back to the start and play them again until you are tired. Congratulations, now you know first hand that it is easy to learn guitar tabs. Really you have all you need to go on and learn your favorite songs. Not many songs have not been put into tab form, so it is just a matter or searching on the net. As your technique gets better, you will find that there are symbols that represent any left hand guitar technique you will learn. If you find tabs for a song that you like, and it contains symbols you do not understand, the tab often has an explanatory key at the top or the bottom. Or you can just look on the popular tab sites for explanations of any symbols you do not know.

By: Ricky Sharples

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.

Metal guitar is a very popular genre with people who feel that negativity and hopelessness are not getting a fair go in modern music. If you are reading an article called “Metal Guitar Lesson” you probably have an idea about what Metal is but if you don’t, the best way to describe it is by listing some Metal groups.

The genre originated with the loud, in-your-face music of the late sixties and early seventies pioneered by guitar players like Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. This style quickly moved onto another definition of the word “music” where melody fades into the background to give way to the quantity and quality of sound the guitar player is able to produce. Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are early Metal guitar groups. Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth, Motorhead and Slayer, Sodom, Kreator, Destruction, Children of Bodom, Tankard, Testament and Pantera are also well established but represent the more ruthless Metal guitar music known as Thrash Metal.

Every metal guitar player needs to be a fantastic string bender. The whammy bar on your guitar will change the pitch of your strings but if you have a cheap guitar you might have a problem with strings breaking. It’s best if you do it the non-whammy bar way which is pick a note and move the string sideways to bend the note up.

To get that chugging effect so desired by heavy metal guitarists, you will need to learn to mute the strings. If you have been listening to Metal guitar, you will have heard the sound, so now follow the description to find a comfortable way of MAKING the sound: simplay hold your pick in the usual playing position and place the pinky side of your hand on the strings to muffle the sound. Now take a few minutes to slowly find a way so you can pick notes on the sixth string while your hand is still muting the sound. As you become more familiar with picking in this position, you will be able to extend your range of palm muting techniques.

Once you have palm muting working for you, you could start to master machine-gun picking. This is lightning-fast up and down strokes with the pick. It takes some practice but you will be glad you did when you start combining this standard metal guitar technique with palm muting.

Vocals are not the strong point of Thrash Metal so let’s get to the equipment you need to become a Thrash Metal guitar player. Distortion is an important part of Metal so a distortion pedal is essential. You will need the usual guitar stuff like plectrums and a tuner and a metronome.

The musical background you need for learning Metal guitar is much the same as for blues players. The major, minor, pentatonic, minor harmonic scales will be handy plus the phrygian, lochrian and byzantine modes. You might want to learn to read music or at least, tab.

Another characteristic of Metal guitar is the use of drop tunings. If you play Metal your guitar should be tuned low. It gives you a totally different kind of control over your strings, your sound is more aggressive and you can do more with hammer-ons and tapping. You could just begin by tuning your guitar half a step down. Not a drastic change but it makes your guitar sound more growly without losing all the high range. Or you could take your strings down a whole step so that your guitar is tuned D G C F A D.

If you take your tuning one and a half steps or two steps down your guitar is now sounding menacing. If you want to tune your guitar any lower than two steps down, a longer than normal neck will stop the strings from moving around too much.

By: Ricky Sharples

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.

In the late nineteen thirties a cowboy musician called Bob Willis introduced the electric guitar to his audiences. Nobody knows whether they noticed this historic innovation but ten years later a whole generation sat up and took notice when Arthur Smith released his recording of “Guitar Boogie”. This hit instrumental established the electric guitar as a musical force to be reckoned with. While the world of rock and roll moved to the music of Stratocasters it took a while for country musicians to move from the more restrained tones of the Gretsch archtop to the more “biting” Fender sound.

Many guitarists play their country solos on the Fender Telecaster with a Fender tube “Twin”, Super Reverb or Deluxe Reverb amplifier. On the other hand, if they are on a tight budget they have been known to settle for a Peavey tube amp. One piece of equipment you will not need is the whammy bar. It is not used in playing country music.

In contrast to other musical genres that use the electric guitar, country music does not employ a wide variety of electronic effects in guitar solos. Alot of country guitar players use a strictly clean sound, maybe sprucing the music up with a little reverberation. The only effect consistently utilized by country guitar soloists is compression which enforces limits on the sound waves produced by the guitar. This effect enhances the volume of the softer notes, and slightly mutes the louder notes. This makes the overall volume seem more even.

When it comes to technique you can start off as a flatpicker but many country guitar players will use a thumbpick in combination with the index and ring finger. This naturally increases your level of versatility more than somewhat. There is a technique called “chicken pickin” which involves popping the guitar strings with your fingers. It is a little hard to describe in writing but you can see plenty of examples on YouTube, but to get the general idea, try this experiment: hold your right hand over the guitar strings, then mute your E (sixth) string by resting your index finger on it down towards the bridge. Next, pluck the string with your thumb. This will give you a “thuck” sound. To complete the chicken pickin move, pluck the open string with the nail of your index finger. This move is repeated until it comes naturally.

Country solo playing can easily begin in the first position on the guitar. When you begin to play country guitar solos just play over the chords. Do not go looking for a “country scale”, although the blues scale is quite handy in country guitar playing. The trick is to practice with whatever chord shapes you have at your stage of playing and see what kind of riffs, licks and tricks you can get out of each of them. It is a very interesting way to learn because every chord has its unique character. Start with your basic chords like C, D, E, G, and A.

So if you want to learn to play country guitar solos which guitar players do you listen to? Listening to Chet Atkins will teach alot to a guitarist in any genre. He is largely responsible for the smooth Nashville sound which is so attractive to many music lovers. Chet owes his style to Merle Travis, using his thumb to pick bass notes and other fingers to play the melody and fills. And do not forget to look for music recorded by Merle Travis himself. Another guitar great is Jerry Reed. A guitarist with boundless energy and enthusiasm, he played on the Elvis Presley single of his own compositions “Guitar Man” and “US Male”. This list could go on and on, so let us finish by mentioning Albert Lee, a British guitar player admired by many other famous guitarists.

By: Ricky Sharples

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Do you want to learn to play the guitar? Learn How To Play A Guitar For Free is a constantly updated blog which contains all the resources you need for: learning to play solo guitar, how to learn guitar chords, how to learn to read and play easy acoustic guitar tabs, finding a free online guitar tuner, looking for free guitar lessons online, and how to learn guitar scales.

Let say you play in a band, you have a tune ready, with intro, verses , refrains and maybe some kind of bridge part, maybe that bridges a refrain sequence moving over back to verse part or opposite. Only thing missing is to create a guitar solo. I have a couple of approaches for this for which I try to follow, and I would at the same time introduce some terms of my own, like for instance passive and active approach solos. You will try to make your solos approach the accompaniment actively. Accompaniment meaning the tunes overall content, chord progressions, song melody and the different tune sequences mentioned above.

As a rule of thumb the solo should be a short summary of the expression or feeling the tune gives, so whether its a ballad, similarly should the solo be, and vice versa if its a little heavier song, dealing with maybe some frustration, aggression. At the same way as the lyrics and song melody, the solo sequence is supposed to tell more or less same story. In many cases actually the solo is harmonic variations of the song melody, especially if the soloing is going to be performed in the same melody sequence as the song, whether its during the verse, refrain or bridge part.

1. Brainstorming session
Record the whole tune with song and everything but without any guitar solo, listen to it several times and try to build up a soloing sequence in your mind. Maybe try to make some sequences of harmonic variations of the song melody. At the same time try to follow the harmonies of the chord or riff accompaniment and the drum rhythm. Basically you can say many solos are made up by shorts sequencies of melodic questions and a replies, and maybe some bridging parts in between sets of questions and replies. In that sense the solo becomes an composition within the composition of the whole tune. The dependency is the accompaniment and overall progression, meaning it should consist of the of scales harmonies matching the chord riff progressions and the overall timing.

2. Feedback first trial
Record the solo isolated or type it down for later remembering. Record the whole tune with the solo and listen again. Eventually get feedback from bandmates or friends.

3. Experiment
Try to experiment more with the recording without solo, just with free improvisation, and remember to record everything, maybe there are some parts that sounds cool and you wanna use in addition or in extended variation to the first brainstorming session. Sometimes the first thing that comes to mind or first trial works, like the first intuition or stomach feeling in daily life.

4. Active and passive soloing
Sometimes the solo part will go into a separate solo part sequence or bridge theme. Its overall important in the creative process that this part is such that the original atmosphere of the song totally changes, unless its a longer epic, in which the mood may change, but thats another story. The best solos within rock music in my mind use an active approach towards the accompaniment harmonies, meaning chasing the chord changes, or chord progressions in a proactive manner. Especially if the tones scale changes the guitar solo should change slightly before entering the changed scale accompaniment part, maybe half a beat or bar before. This is especially efficient if you have solo over 2 melody main sequences in different tone scales, maybe the solo bridge parts move into the verse part. Or solo starts in verse part moving into bridge or refrain part which follows another harmony or scale. As you know its called playing lead guitar, try to think whats supposed to be interpreted by this term. Another efficient sound is if the drums are supporting the solo, and some other instruments also do additional fills in.

5. Climax part
A solo might have one or more several climax part depending on the story or mood you wanna tell the audience. Some solos start out strongly with rapid high tones played with strength, some start of more slowly for a later climax it all depends on what you wanna express combined with sometimes the length of the solo part. Try to build small themes played in high and lower tones. Usually climaxes use high tones, long lasting and screaming or very rapid, but not necessarily.

6. Instrument and genre depended solos
If you have listened quite some music you have sensed that solos are not only depended of the genre, whether its rock, hard rock, blues and jazz, but different instruments tend to play different kinds of solos. Like if you listen to a keyboard, saxophone, trumpet or bass. Sometimes they seem to use different tone sequences and intervals, like blues funk jazz organ sometimes use a lot of rapid high chromatic changes. Trumpet or saxophone use more slow tones with bigger intervals. Sometimes it might be good to experiment with playing a typical piano or sax solo on guitar.

I hope this has given some kind of valuable input to those interested. Another vital part is off course the choice of sound and effects, personally Im fan of experimenting with overlapping delays. I wish you good experimenting with lead guitar and future guitar solos.

By: Thomas Wilhelm-15584

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Thomas Wilhelm is amateur musician and researcher on lead guitar technique and online music lessons

“Beck” is an American indie/alternative artist from Los Angeles, California. Although born as Bek David Campbell, he is known as Beck or Beck Hansen on stage. Beck is mainly into making indie and alternative music which covers folk rock, hip-hop, electronic, rock and even blues. Beck is also known for being a multi-instrumentalist where he plays guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, harmonica, percussion, banjo, synthesizers and other instruments.

Modern Guilt dives in with folky opener ‘Orphans’. It has a distant bass sound in the beginning. Once the guitar enters and Beck voices out, the track just hits the jackpot like that. It produces a country-like atmosphere to it, folk and country rock altogether. Indie artist Cat Power also known as Chan Marshall is also featured here to lend her vocals to Beck. In the bridge, the additional flute is a thing to watch out for. Very well-harmonized vocals on Orphans towards the end. Very tempting opener that will haunt especially the adults.

‘Gamma Ray’ is a faster tempo track and i wouldn’t mind if i’ve been hit by Gamma Ray. The music itself speaks for itself. The vocals of Beck just add extra pump and weight to the whole song. The bass and drums keep re-looping themselves until they hit a climax further down into the track. In the verse, the music seems to be taking a break and slowly build itself for a breakthrough in the coming chorus. Every phrase that Beck sings is followed by gospel-like backing vocals. I just love the music on Gamma Ray, infectiously groovy!

‘Chemtrails’ is a track that suddenly slows down Modern Guilt’s momentum. Listening to Chemtrails revokes your imagination, you would like you’re dreaming. The piano and the synthesizers just create a soundscape that is so unreal, you be dreaming away listening to Chemtrails. Even Beck’s vocals on Chemtrails blends in very well with the music. Full of howls and moans to greatly enhance the atmosphere of Chemtrails. The remaining one minute instrumental, you would enjoy the beautiful violin that plays on just before the track ends and fades into silence. What an experience!

‘Modern Guilt’ has a steady drum beats once it enters. Beck moans through each phrase with his vocals. Combined with the music, Beck is twisting his vocals here and there to accustom himself to Modern Guilt. Entering the chorus, the guitar just comes plucking itself in and it’s really good, Beck just goes on with, ‘Modern guilt, i’m stranded with nothing… Modern guilt, I’m under lock and key…’ In the bridge, the piano and violin speak for themselves. Beck just adds in some vocal effects to complement the music. Until the end, the whole track seems to be saving the best for last. It’s very beautiful and i find myself swaying away listening to it.

The bass in the beginning of ‘Youthless’ really revs me up. It’s very tight and fast the way the bass is being played on Youthless. Even Beck sings as if he’s rapping softly at between intervals. When it comes to the chorus, Beck just sings at a slightly higher pitch that seems to be echoing itself through the chorus, ‘And they’re helpless and forgetting in the background holding nothing, and they’re youthless and pretending with their bare hands holding nothing…’ The synthesizers also seems to be having fun from here onwards, coming in and out, creating some cute sounds at intervals that delight us. Towards the end, cello enters and give some extra support to the bass. Very smartly composed music, very tight!

‘Walls’ already surprises me in the beginning. The violin-like sound created by synthesizers is really the core music on Walls. Beck just sings on as the music goes on like that. Approaching the chorus, there’s a lady-like sound in the background, sometime i would think that it’s Alvin from The Chipmunks which is making those funny sounds. Cat Power is again featured on this track in the chorus, where she would join Beck, ‘Hey what are you gonna do, when those walls are falling down, falling down on you…’ The music on Walls just ends almost the way it started. Weirdly good!

‘Replica’ is fast and delicate simultaneously. The beats on Replica are tight and light. Due to a distant sound in the music, it makes the whole track sort of delicate. Delicate enough you would also hear Beck singing in a distant voice. Piano can also be heard in this track as Beck sings. Nearing the end, the violin only comes in and the whole track turns into an instrumental adventure before fading itself to night.

‘Soul Of A Man’ sounds like a rock track for the army. The bass line just follow every lyrics that Beck sings, like a chick following its mother. Handclaps and guitar riffing can also be heard as Beck sings through the track. When the chorus comes, the whole track seems to be floating in mid-air and Beck goes, ‘Cold was the storm, that covered the night…’ Soul Of A Man is at times like a folk rock track that would definitely be appeal to the old ages. It’s not loud, but its groovy beat will get onto you quietly.

‘Profanity Prayers’ is an upbeat track with infectious drum beats and smart vocals that just know how to enter and exit. Beck can be heard singing in a speedy voice in the verse. In the chorus, he just raises his pitch and let go of his vocals that echo back to him, ‘Who’s gonna answer, profanity prayers, who’s gonna answer, these profanity prayers…’ I also like the guitar that enters in the chorus, it has this special rhythm with it. When Beck is not singing, the music just plays itself out. And i have to say, it’s really good!

Beck ends Modern Guilt with slow-driving ‘Volcano’. Beck’s voice on this track gives a hint that he might be tired from all the singing that he has done on Modern Guilt. Therefore he’s taking it slow with Volcano. When it comes to the first chorus, you would hear some backing vocals helping Beck out when he goes, ‘I don’t know what I’ve seen, was it all an illusion? Or a mirage gone bad? I’m tired of evil, and all that it feeds, but I don’t know…’ With the backing vocals, it sounds really great as it adds the definitive weight to Volcano and Beck’s voice. Volcano is slow but it’s able to gulp you down slowly after listening to it a few times. Once you get the hook of it, you would find it hard to drop it. Sometimes it’s just beautiful!

By: Darren Tan

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Darren Tan is a huge avid fan of indie music, indie bands and indie artists.

With Indiesurf.com he wants to share his thoughts, comments, reviews and opinions on the latest (and past/old) indie music, indie bands and indie artists with the world and you. You are also invited to share your views as well, so he’ll see you at Indiesurf.com.

In 1959, James Marshall Hendrix enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as a paratrooper, which is appropriate, because his style was so revolutionary that in retrospect, he seemingly dropped from the sky armed with a guitar and blazed a trail followed by a generation of players.

After being released from the Army, Hendrix cut his teeth on the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a string of clubs in the South so named because they served chitlins’ and other soul food. He was employed as lead guitarist by blues singer/harmonica player Slim Harpo, soul singer/guitarist Curtis Mayfield, rhythm and blues singer Sam Cooke, and rock and roll singer/piano player Little Richard, among others. These varied apprenticeships fed the wellspring from which Hendrix’ musical vision flowed.

Looking to step out of the shadows and into the limelight, Hendrix moved to New York’s Greenwich Village, where he fronted his own band, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames. While playing a gig at the Cafe Wha?, Hendrix was discovered by Chas Chandler, bassist of the Animals, who brought Hendrix to London and became his manager. Upon his arrival in England, Hendrix changed the spelling of his first name to “Jimi,” and formed the Jimi Hendrix Experience, with Noel Redding on bass and Mitch Mitchell on drums.

In the early days of the Experience, Jimi began playing a Fender Stratocaster. While sitting in with Cream, he first plugged into a Marshall, which then became his amplifier of choice. Among the vanguard in the use of effects pedals, Hendrix used Crybaby and Vox Wah Wahs, a Uni-Vibe, and a Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face to articulate his trademark distortion drenched leads. These musical engines fueled Jimi’s journey into the rock and roll stratosphere.

The band’s debut album asked the question “Are You Experienced?,” and the answer was that no one had ever experienced anything like it. “Foxey Lady,” “Fire,” “The Wind Cries Mary,” and “Hey Joe” are among the classic songs that have since become psychedelic rock standards. The LSD influenced “Purple Haze” featured the Octavia, a guitar effect invented by Roger Mayer that mixed the instrument’s original note with a tone an octave higher. The title song was driven by an overdubbed, backwards guitar solo that took the listener on a musical acid trip.

In June of 1967, the Experience performed at the Monterey International Pop Festival on the recommendation of Paul McCartney. Their set included covers of Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” B.B. King’s “Rock Me Baby,” and the Troggs’ “Wild Thing.” Following The Who on stage, Jimi was looking for a way to top Pete Townshend’s guitar smashing finale, “My Generation.” Before the show, Hendrix searched the crowd for a bottle of lighter fluid, which he used to set his guitar ablaze, at the conclusion of “Fire.” With his virtuosic musicianship and outlandish stage theatrics, Hendrix amazed the Monterey audience, heralding his triumphant return to America.

Jimi’s second album, “Axis: Bold as Love,” expanded the lyrical and musical universe he had created. “Up from the Skies” was a science fiction themed single with jazzy, wah wah inflected rhythm and lead parts. A Leslie speaker gave the slow, wistful “Little Wing” a liquid tonal quality. “If 6 Was 9″ voiced the hippie street politics of the Sixties, and “Bold as Love” was colored by a studio produced phasing effect that transported the listener into outer space.

While recording “Electric Ladyland,” Hendrix augmented his musical palette with the addition of various instrumentalists. Keyboard player Steve Winwood and Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady jammed on “Voodoo Chile,” drummer Buddy Miles sat in on “Rainy Day, Dream Away” and “Still Raining, Still Dreaming,” Al Kooper played piano on “Long Hot Summer Night,” and guitarist Dave Mason strummed rhythm on Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.” The album closed with “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” a masterpiece which captured the essence of Jimi’s improvisational spirit.

After the “Ladyland” sessions, Noel Redding left the band, and was replaced by Jimi’s Army buddy, bassist Billy Cox. Mitch Mitchell remained on drums, while guitarist Larry Lee and percussionists Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez were added. This group, named Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, backed Hendrix at Woodstock. On a stunning version of “The Star Spangled Banner,” Hendrix artfully manipulated the Strat’s whammy bar to replicate the sound and fury of “the bombs bursting in air and the rockets’ red glare.”

On December 31st, 1969, Hendrix celebrated New Year’s Eve by playing a concert at the Fillmore East with the Band of Gypsys. Flanked by Billy Cox and Buddy Miles, Jimi tore through a set highlighted by “Machine Gun,” a Vietnam protest song in which Hendrix’ Uni-Vibe laced guitar lines and Miles’ military drum bursts simulated the sounds of battle.

Hendrix then formed the second Jimi Hendrix Experience with Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell. This trio embarked upon a tour which included an appearance at the Isle of Wight, where they played the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” and “Red House,” Jimi’s signature slow blues composition. “Freedom,” “Angel,” “Room Full of Mirrors,” and “Dolly Dagger” are among the unfinished sketches posthumously released on “First Rays of the New Rising Sun,” the album Hendrix was in the process of recording before he died on September 18th, 1970.

Although his flame was extinguished at the early age of twenty seven, Jimi Hendrix’ revolutionary guitar pyrotechnics ignited an inferno that still rages through the heart and soul of rock and roll.

By: Greg Bahr

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Greg Bahr writes about the guitar and related topics. Read more at guitarmojo.blogspot.com