Week 6:Harmonics Part 2 ( Pinch Harmonics)

Just the way Natural Harmonics can make the strings vibrate at frequencies in the multiples of 1,2,3 of the actual frequency of the notes on frets 12, 7 and 5 respectively, pinch harmonics can make them vibrate at much higher frequencies.

Pinch harmonics(P.H from here on) are often referred to as guitar squels, becauses of the high piched sound.

To master this technique, follow these simpe steps.

1) Make sure you are using considerable gain on your amp/processor.

2) Play an E on the 9th fret, 3rd string. When the note is still ringing,make a contact with the string by brushing a part of your thumb with it just for a moment and then move ur thumb aside. If u hear a sound as if someone just screamed, you have done it!

3) Initially other strings will also ring out which is undesirable. Best way to avoid this is to use a bend or a vibrato to get sustain. This will give you sufficient time to focus on touching the string part.

4)Figure out the best way you can do it. I use the following technique - While picking I move my thumb inside out ie I take it close to the strings and then move it away when the sound is produced.

5) I find the 3rd strin the third strin the most convinient one.Once basic technique is mastered on the 3rd string, try it on other strings. IMO 1st string is the most difficult to play a PH on but if u can get it right believe me, its real goosebumping experience for the listener.

6) Also try to play it across the length of the fretboard. Its not all that easy on the higher frets.

7) Experiment by using PH with bends, slides, whammy bar, whatever sounds cool to you.

8) Donot listen to people who say u need to have a particular way of holding the pick to play P.H. Believe me this works with any damn pick holding style. I have seen some people playing PH while picking with their fingers. One guy I seen, can infact make contact with his palm (just the ways one palm mutes) while picking closer to the fretboard. This way he can play a fast run with PH throughout. So the aim is just getting the sound..

9) Finally donot forget to listen players who use PH extensively like Dimebag Darell (Pantera), Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Vai... Try covering their songs.

Go feel the pinch!! [:D]

"This is how I developed scales!"........WHAT THE....!

Now this guy has got the most unconventional style that i have ever seen. But he completely murders the fretboard anyways!
Actually a part of the melodic control lesson by Marty Friedman (ex-Megadeth and Cacophony)....I have the full video which i must have watched over 100 times...still can't get enough of it..

Week 5: Harmonics Part 1(Natural Harmonics)

For someone who enjoys exploring all the areas of Rock and Blues guitar playing, its impossible not to stumble upon the concept of harmonics. Harmonics is an effective means of giving the finishing touches to a guitar solo or a fill.
By definition as per acoustics, Harmonic is the multiple of frequency of signal. So when you play harmonics of a particular note on your guitar, you are playing a sound whose frequency corresponds to the multiple of the freq of the note.
But as I have always been saying that such technical info will hardy help you to get the right sound, lets get down to practical knowledge.

Over the next 3 weeks I will post lessons on this important technique in a series of posts each dedicated to one type of harmonics.
There are 3 basic types of Harmonic techniques used on a guitar (preferrably on an electric guitar.)This lesson covers the first and the basic type ie Natural HArmonics

1) Natural Harmonics

Normally when we fret notes, our fingers make contact with the fretboard and the string in the space in between the two metal bars or edges.
Natural Harmonics are played by slighly touching along with the string, the metal edge itself and not fretting it in between. You only need to gently touch your finger.

Second important point is that natural harmonics will occur prominently on only select frets which are 5th, 7th, 12th, 19th.
There are also other places where harmonics can be played but these positions are between the frets and not directly on it. HEnce these are difficult to strike.For example if you can imagine the 3rd fret divided into 10 equal parts, then 3.2 position will give a harmonic.
Although practice can make anything possible,but still the above 4 positions are sufficient to make your guitar ring like a bell!

Third point is that do not forget to use a good amount of gain on your amp and a sustain if you are using any effects. That will make it sound 'bold'.

Further, use the bridge pickup for playing harmonics so that the sound carries more weight.

NExt thing to do is variation.Try with different guitar effects and modulations like distortion, phaser, pitch shif, tremelo (effect), pedal wah wah etc..etc..etc.
Then there is whammy bar to pull if you have one...

There is no use in learning techniques if they are not used while improvising. Try to fit a NH in your composition or while improvising on a piece.

This technique is extensively used by Joe Satriani in his songs. Learn SAtch if you really want to get this working for you. In his 'Summer Song', a harmonic on the 4th fret has been played. Try getting that right.There are many other arists apart from him who use this to colour their solos and rythem patterns.

Practice Hard and donot forget to bookmark this blog! More coming soon.

Week 4: The Major Scale

Scales

Learning the Scales is an important part of learning music. A scale is where melody comes from and on the basis of which chords are built. Plus, its not all that difficult !

A scale is nothing but a group of notes. As we know there are 12 notes, hence there are 12 major scales just the way there are 12 minor, pentatonic,……’any damn’ scales. The first note of the scale is called the root note and the scale is referred as ‘root note’ + ‘type’ for eg. C major , C# minor etc.

In this lesson I’ll focus on the major scale. But before that a quick refresher…

On guitar, 1 fret = 1/2 step (H)

2 frets = 1 step or whole step (W)

In fact, these intervals are given names like unision, minor 2nd, major 3rd etc. But there is no point in discussing those before knowing the scales. I’ll try to dedicate a lesson to it. For now just make sure the above representation is understood.

The major scale is constructed in the following manner

So in short W W H W W W H

Lets take the G major scale played on 1 string in 1 octave. 6th string 3rd fret is G

Now, to play any root note major scale just start with that note and follow the above sequence. Simple..

This was about playing on a single string. Now we try to compress the pattern by making use of other strings as well. The box is a generic representation of all major scales over 2 octaves. To play any major scale, start with that root note on the 6th string and follow the pattern.

Can you find the other generic major scale pattern? This one is spread over 5 frets and is my personal favourite as an exercise..

Getting back to scales in general, one can create his own scale y just fooling around over the fretboard without having the knowledge of it's name. But there will be already a name given to it for sure.

Which famous guitarist are you?

Which famous guitarist are you? Your Result: Dimebag Darrell Music to you is just a chance to have fun and just play. After the show you like to party hard and drink withthe guys. You are not afraid to be in the spotlight. Heavy music is where its at. You find that nothing cures a hangover like more alcohol.
Synyster Gates
David Gilmour
Jimmy Page
Jimi Hendrix
Adam Jones
Tom Delonge
Which famous guitarist are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

This is my result!.....OfCourse cant be accurate enough but good if you are looking to kill some time!

Week 3: Tips for self-learners (Part II)

So you can manage the ‘Paranoid’ or ‘Smells like ….’ solo note perfect and in time, but the problem is that it ends up sounding sloppy. If this is the case then don’t be disheartened. In fact its time to feel good about yourself that your playing is going to improve soon. And I am not saying, this will be because of my lesson. It will be you, who will be totally responsible for that. Yes, I have noticed that whenever I felt I am not satisfied by my playing, I have improved. And I am sure that this is true for everyone of us. So enjoy this week’s lesson with an open mind…and don’t forget to post any of your doubts.

As I said earlier, if you think your solos sound ‘lazy’ then may be you don’t hear them properly and hastily jump at trying them. Try listening to them through your headphones…over and over again concentrating on each note, each bend, each hammer on, each slide etc… just the leads nothing else. Try to visualize it…your fingers moving over the fretboard. And after listening to it for some 5-6 times you would have already come to know what I am talking about.

1) Vibrato: In case you don’t know…. http://www.cyberfret.com/techniques/vibrato/index.php
All the notes that have a sufficient sustain are played with a vibrato. The intensity and ‘speed’ may vary . For all other notes that are just ‘passed by‘, are played without vibrato…in fact here there is no scope and no requirement either.

2) Bends: If you are not familiar…. http://www.cyberfret.com/techniques/bends/index.php
It is important to bend to the right pitch. And at the same time it is important to use a vibrato (at the higher pitch). The ability to do this properly can single handedly give professional feel to your solos.

3) Are you using too much hammer ons?
We tend to do this to escape from shredding. Well to some extent it is fine ;), but just hammer ons and pull offs and no picking at all can make it sound loose…

4) Finally most important point- Move from easy to difficult songs gradually. The aim should be to utilize our favourite songs and solos to better our technique.

I remember long time back I tried to play Summer Song by Joe Satriani and was totally screwing it up. Then I read an interview of Warren Mendonsa (BlackStratBlues and Ex-Zero) in which he had said, ‘ A guitarist can only play as fast as he can think’. I completely dropped that song and tried it again a few yrs later. Now I can pull that out, although,, of course, only decently.

The point is that aim high but when it’s not going well, just sloooow dooown!

Christmas in July!

Before I post the lesson for this week, here is something I found on an old backup disc and would like to share it here.


This is a tab for a song called Christmas in July, by Zero, one of India's most loved bands ( sadly disbanded after this I-rock). Track # 5 from their album Hook

I had tabbed this around an year and a half ago. You will need Guitar Pro 5 installed on PC to run the file. Guitar Pro can be downloaded from here

and the file Christmas in July

Please excuse the lame drums track and phew! no bass.....
Still drop in your comments about the tab... I try and post more..

PS: Presently I am using Rapidshare for file hosting... any other recommendations are welcome...

Guitar Hero 3 - Raining Blood

Well, I havent tried this thing out but really interesting stuff...
Check out this video. Not a perfect one but a decent attempt considering the song

Playing Chords..

Having a hard time playing chords with clarity? Try this exercise

Take a very simple and a basic chord shape say E major

----0-------
----0-------
----1-------index finger
----2-------middle
----2-------third
----0-------

Use the above mentioned finger positions and strum only down strokes at the rate of 4 strokes per measure (4/4 time signature *) Dont miss out on the metronome.

Between two consecutive strokes, lift the fingers slightly and again press your fingers down without dampening any of the strings. Do this for some time at slow tempo and then increase it. Work on different chords and finally work between different chords and you are done....

A point to remember is that while u switch between chords, continue strumming with ur other hand without bothering whether ur fingers are positioned correctly or not. In fact don't double check. What is important is not stopping.
Once u are able to strum clearly, arpeggiate the chord ie play each note separately, including the open notes.. to ensure that ur fingers are not dampening the open string...

* Don't bother if that goes ununderstood, keep playing following a rythmic pattern..
I ll post a theory lesson soon ;)

Keep practicing!

Week 2: Learning the notes on the fretboard.

It is a frequently asked question whether knowing all the notes on the fretboard is necessary. Difficult to comment whether it is necessary, but it can be a life saver for sure in difficult situations. Say for instance in the middle of a guitar solo, the cord comes off the plug or a string breaks. The flow of the solo is disturbed and if u are accustomed to pulling out note-perfect solos u may find yourself in a soup. The only way out is to improvise ie to follow the chord progression and the selection of notes has to be done runtime! This is where knowledge of the notes helps. Moreover it also makes composing riffs (that don’t sound the same!) a lot easier because u know what u are playing and hence avoid repeating the same pattern.

So this week’s lesson is about learning the notes. But before that it is important to understand the right approach that needs to be followed. Please note that no one is going to ask u the question, ‘What note is 14^th fret on the d string?’, and expect a answer from u in seconds. All that matters is how well ur mind and fingers can recognize notes while playing. So the best way to do this is to learn while playing.

Follow the following exercise regime and see how it works wonders for u in no time..

First take a piece of blank paper and draw a rough sketch of the fretboard and name all the notes on it. This is your reference sheet which will come in handy while starting out.

Once this is done, start with any note on ur guitar ie play the note… say E. Now with the help of the fretboard image that u have drawn, spot (as in play) the note E in all the positions. While playing watch out for how the note E repeats over the fretboard. Do this for all the notes. Soon u will see a pattern developing.

Once this basic exercise is done, try gaining speed. Set a time frame within which u need to spot (play) a particular note in all possible positions on the fretboard.

Start with 20 secs ie give urself 20 secs to play all E notes on the fretboard. Gradually reduce upto 5 secs. Do this for all the notes.

So, in effectively 1 min (12 notes * 5 secs) u should be able to play all the notes on the fretboard. Incorporate this 1 minute exercise in your daily practice and find for yourself the difference in your improvisation skills the next time you goof up on stage!