Guitar Harmonics

Posted by Guitar Harmony on 9:04 AM comments (0)

Harmonics are played every time you pluck a note. Most of the time, however, you do not hear them. What you hear is the fundamental (sometimes called the first harmonic). The fundamental is the loudest sound produced, but it is accompanied by several harmonics. "Playing harmonics" on guitar is actually playing "artificial harmonics." Basically, it is a way of eliminating the fundamental and the other overtones.  It produces a nice effect that many guitarists like to use.  There are several ways to play these.

Open-String Harmonics

Open-string harmonics are sometimes referred to as natural harmonics.  To play open-string harmonics, you can place your finger lightly on the string in the places shown in the diagram below. Do not press the string down. It should not touch anything but your finger. By doing this, you will play the note shown in the diagram over the given area.


Fretted Harmonics 

Playing fretted harmonics can be hard at times. This requires the fretting of a note, plus a "soft touch" on a string which is exactly 12 frets above the note you are fretting. In addition to this you must still pluck the string. To do all three of these tasks at once, you must combine the tasks of the "soft touch" and the plucking of the string. There are 2 techniques of doing this.

Technique 1: Artificial Harmonics

Although all harmonics that you play are actually artificial harmonics, this technique is commonly referred to as playing an artificial harmonic. This technique requires that you "soft touch" with your index finger and then pluck with your pinky finger or a pick held in the other fingers. The other technique is playing a pinched harmonic which is more difficult to learn but will allow you to play fretted harmonics more quickly once it is mastered.

Technique 2: Pinched Harmonics

This is a difficult technique to master.  Consistent playing of pinched harmonics require that you use a modified picking technique along with a steady and accurate picking hand.  The first thing that you must master is how to hold the pick and pluck the string.  You hold the pick by having the pick barely clear the bottom of your thumb.  The key is to pluck the string with the pick but have the thumb immediately hit it to produce the harmonic.  This pick and thumb should hit the string almost simultaneously. 
You must also know where to pluck the string.  If you do not hit the "sweet spot" on the string it will sound like a muffled note.  The ideal place to pluck depends on where your thumb produces the harmonic.  Your thumb should hit the string half way between the bridge and the the fret that you are playing on.   So when you play on different frets, you must also pluck in different places.  This makes it a little harder to play. 
Note: There are other sweet spots as well.  The sweet spots are proportional to the length of the string.  When you play open-string harmonics, there are several places that produce harmonics.  These are the "sweet spots" for a full length string (open string).  When you fret a note, all the "sweet spots" stay in proportion to the string length, which is the length from the fret you are playing to the bridge.  Therefore, several "sweet spots" exist for both open-string and fretted harmonics.  The one thing to remember is that they are not all one octave higher so hitting alternate "sweet spots" will play a different note.

The Physics of Harmonics

Did you ever wonder why a harmonic is produced?  It's quite simple actually.  It is a matter of string length.  When you use your finger to produce a harmonic, you modify how the string vibrates.  When playing open string harmonics, you split the string into halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, and sixths.  So playing the harmonics at the 12th fret split the string in half.  Playing at the 7th or 19th fret split the string into thirds, and so on.  You will also notice that playing harmonics at the 7th or 19th fret are exactly the same notes.  You can also split the guitar into fourths at the 5th fret or the 24th fret (or where the 24th fret would be if you don't have that many frets).  Once again, harmonics at the 5th and 24th frets produce the exact same notes. Notice that the 12th fret isn't included because that splits the string into halves (larger subsections of the string).
So how does it work?  Your finger acts as a pivot point for the string by forcing the string to vibrate in halves, thirds, fourths, etc. This cuts the wavelength in half, thirds, fourths, etc.  Wavelength determines what the frequency of a note is, and frequency determines what note you are playing.  Did you ever hear someone say to tune to A at 440?  The 440 represents the frequency of the A note at the 1st string at the 5th fret.  If you double that frequency, you will play an A that is an octave higher.  This also cuts the wavelength in half.  You might be able to see the relationship between frequency and wavelength.  Frequency is inversely proportional to wavelength.  This basically means that wavelength = 1 / frequency.  In other words cutting wavelength in half with double the frequency, and cutting the wavelength into 1/3 will triple the frequency.

So why do all my strings make different sounds even though they are the same length?  This occurs due to the tension on the string.  Basically the tension of the string modifies how the string vibrates so that it has a different frequency. When you adjust the tension, you also change the diameter of the string.  Stretching or tightening the string makes the diameter smaller.

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More Guitar Tips

Posted by Guitar Harmony on 11:23 AM comments (0)

  • Most people learn how to play guitar on a classical guitar with nylon strings, probably because those guitars are the cheapest. They are not the easiest to play though, an electric guitar is much easier to play.
  • You will learn faster if you have a good guitar teacher. This doesn't mean you can't teach yourself how to play the guitar.
  • Start simple and slow: play easy songs in the beginning else you'll get frustrated.
  • Play songs that you like and are familiar with.
  • You'll fingers will hurt in the beginning, but that will go away eventually.
You see, learning how to play guitar involves a lot of things, but the most important thing is to have fun doing it!

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Understanding The Classics Rhythm

Posted by Guitar Harmony on 11:06 AM comments (0)

Because I can't input music notes I'll use the following letters to represent them.
1 = whole note
2 = half note
4 = quarter note
8 = eighth note
S = sixteenth note
T = thirty-second note
. = dotted note (e.g. 1. = dotted whole note)
| = measure line
We all know the typical 4/4 timing. It's simple, four beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat. Thats the beginning. We also know that it is known as common time, represented on staff music as "C". Here is an example of 4/4:
4
4
|-4-4-4-4-|
Now can also cut this in half, which would be 2/2. Correctly named it's called cute time. This is represented on staff music as "C" with a line running down the middle. Of course, two beats per measure, half note gets the beat. Example of 2/2:
2
3
|-2-2-|
You can go on forever staying in multiples of two. More Examples:
1
4
|-4-|
2
8
|-8-8-|
8
8
|-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-|
4
32
|-T-T-T-T-|
Counting in these sort of timings is usually simple. For example in 4/4 you would count in your head, 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4 etc. For 2/4 you would count, 1-2, 1-2 etc. Sometimes for larger meters (e.g. 8/16) musicians will typically group them in fours. They will count in their head 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4, although they actually only just completed one measure.
Now a little more interesting we get into timings such as 3/4. Usually these were mostly (not only) waltz's. Same concept as before the top number, in this case three, is the amount of beats and the bottom number, in this case four, is the note that gets the beat. So 3/4 would be three beats per measure and the quarter note gets the beat. Example:
3
4
|-4-4-4-|
Just as before you can go through all multiples of three. (note: you may only use certain numbers on the bottom. (e.g. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.)) Examples:
6
8
|-8-8-8-8-8-8-|
9
8
|-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-|
3
16
|-S-S-S-|
Typically when counting these meters, musicians think in groups of threes. 1-2-3, 1-2-3.
Now lets get a little more complex. There are other types of meters that do not fit into these two categories simply because they are not multiples of either 2 or 3. One example of these would be 5/4. That would be five beats per measure, quarter note gets the beat. Example:
5
4
|-4-4-4-4-4-|
Other examples of this type of meter:
11
8
|-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-|
7
2
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|
5
32
|-T-T-T-T-T-|
Usually these are counted depended on the context or feel of the line being played. For example, if the song calls for it, 5/4 could be counted as 1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5, or even counted as 1-2-1-2-3, 1-2-1-2-3.
Now we get into a subject not many have heard of. Have you ever seen a time signature look like this before?:

4 + 3
4     8

This is a combination of two meters in one measure. The above meter would look something like this example:

4 + 3
4     8
|-4-4-4-4-8-8-8-|

Yep, in the middle of a measure you could completely change meter, and every measure repeats as such. Here are some more examples:

2 + 3
4     2
|-4-4-2-2-2-|
 
7 + 4
8     2
|-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-2-2-2-2-|

Now you might look at the first example and think, oh well why can't you just say it's 8/4 and call it a night. Typically when this sort of meter is used they use it to indicate how the composers wants you to count the measure. Counting can affect the feel and also help accent proper notes. That example would be counted as written: 1-2-1-2-3. The second exampled would could be counted as 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-1-2-3-4 or 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-1-2-3-4 or even 1-2-1-2-1-2-3-1-2-1-2.I hope you enjoyed my lesson, if not I apologize. I also apologize for any typos, especially in the examples.

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Acoustic Guitar

Posted by Guitar Harmony on 12:34 AM comments (0)

When you happen to pick which type of acoustic guitar to acquire in order to play your music, you have a variation of choices of style. You can make a choice from Jumbo, Spanish, Classical to name a few. The focus on this talk is on which style of strings you put on there, that is Steel or Nylon strings.
Looking at nylon initially, these tend to be softer on the fingertips and have a more tender delicate twang from the sound. In that sense I would advise that nylon strings are the ideal choice for a learner guitarist as for the first few months you will find the tips of your fingers will eventually be rather tender. Your body will respond to this by developing tougher skin on the fingers you put to work on the fretboard to make chords and in turn will assist you in the future when playing steel strings which are tougher.

The other reason for selecting nylon strings would be if you are looking to play a certain genre of music. For example, classical music and certain genre of Spanish guitar songs favour nylon strings, classical music in the past has been unwilling to accept the guitar as a part of an orchestra and debate has been continued for centuries with no real agreement. As it stands it is on occasion used but mainly on nylon stringed classical guitars only.

A nylon stringed guitar can be tricky to change strings as at the bridge end, close-by the sound hole the strings have a tendency to be placed on with a looping and intertwining manner as opposed to the simpler plastic rod on the bridge of a steel stringed guitar. For that rationale I would suggest you see a person who is an expert in the field when replacing strings if you are not familiar with them.

The steel string variety is a more up-to-date invention, in fact it was introduced as late as the 20th century in a widespread capacity. Nowadays they tend to be favoured by rock and pop contemporary bands due to the crisp sound they generate which can be used towards a more edgy penetrating sound.
Another argument why they are favoured among modern musicians is that for live performances when playing in a full band with drums, bass, keyboards and other instruments the steel strings can be used alongside a pickup which will translate the vibrations from the manipulation of the strings and then can be changed into an electrical signal, then it can be amplified within a guitar amp and this warm personal sound of an acoustic guitar can be projected to hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people in an audience at a show.

In summary, nylon strings are a great selection when you are playing music of a definite style as brought up earlier or if you are a novice looking for a gentle way to become involved in guitar playing and composing, if you are performing to a louder crowd you may boost sound by using a microphone but if you are looking to play music on a louder, more penetrating way then steel strings are the newfangled and more technologically suitable way to bring your sound to yourself or the fans you are performing to.
Best One Entertainment is the provider of live bands to the North West and UK-Wide. We also offer advice on the site for the planning and organisation of your day.

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Bass Guitar Basic Lessons

Posted by Guitar Harmony on 12:46 AM comments (1)

Bass is often one of the most over-looked instruments in a musical group. Many audience members have no idea what a bass even is. Despite this fact, bass is probably the most critical instrument in a group. It is rare to find a performing band without a bass player. As a budding bassist, you should be happy to know there is always a high demand for bassists—especially good ones.

The Responsibilities of the Bass Player

Traditionally, the bass performs two basic and vital functions within a band or group:
  1. Bass provides the rhythmic foundation.
  2. Bass provides the harmonic foundation.

The Rhythmic Foundation

The rhythmic foundation refers to the consistent pulse of the music. A skilled bassist supports the group by providing a good-feeling, steady pulse. Most music that is well received has a steady rhythm, or beat, to it. This is the responsibility and priority of the bassist. Listen to the following recording. Notice how you can tap your foot to the rhythm of the bass. That is the pulse the bass creates.

The drummer, when present, also aids in providing the pulse. However, don’t be mistaken that it is the drummer's job to create the pulse and you are only along for the ride. Your sense of rhythm must be very solid and independent of anyone else in the group. Each group member should have good rhythm independently while playing together as a whole.
Your rhythmic skills are the most important thing for you to master as a bassist. It doesn’t matter how perfect your choice of notes is. If your notes are in the wrong place rhythmically, it won't feel or sound right.

The Harmonic Foundation

Most people realize the bass player helps with providing the rhythm. A lot of people don't realize the other important function the the bass player — supporting the harmony.
Harmony means together. In music, harmony is the playing of several different notes at the same time. Sometimes one person alone, such as a guitarist or pianist, creates this harmony. Other times several people, such as an orchestra, rock band or a barbershop quartet, create the harmony together.
The bass plays a powerful role in how we hear harmonies. When we hear several notes played at the same time, we hear them all relative to the lowest sounding pitch — the bass note.
The following examples let you hear the powerful effect the bass note has on the harmony. In each example the same two notes are played on the piano while the bass plays a different note creating a different musical effect.

The bass player's second major traditional role is to properly define the harmony by supplying the correct foundational notes.

In Summary

As you continue studying music, you will learn that music is comprised of three main elements—rhythm, harmony and melody. The bass lays the foundation for two of these three elements. Studying bass means to study rhythm and to study harmony, and the techniques to create them on the bass.
Bass is a very powerful instrument. A good bassist can often rescue a mediocre group, while a bad bassist can easily destroy a great group. Use your bass-playing powers for good, not evil. Learn about rhythm. Learn about harmony.


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Guitar Harmony

Posted by Guitar Harmony on 12:33 AM comments (0)

Harmony is often used in orchestra and classical music, but on guitar it can be used for two or three guitars to play on each other. Many bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax etc use it and so do solo guitarists like Steve Vai. If you ask someone about harmony, they might tell you and it will probably make you think it's hard, in actual fact it's really easy. Harmony is when one instrument plays so many intervals above another eg. one guitar plays a 5th above the other.

Lets say guitar 1 plays this riff 

E----------------------------
B----------------------------
G----------------------------
D----------------------------
A-----7----8-----10----8-7~--
E--0-0--0-0--0-0---0-0-------

If guitar 2 was to harmonize (for example in 5th's) it would play this

E----------------------------
B----------------------------
G----------------------------
D------9---10---12----10-9~--
A----------------------------
E--0-0--0-0--0-0--0-0--------

I find that to harmonize something in 5th's is easy because...

E-----
B-----
G--9-- 
D--9-- 
A--7--
E-----

The chord shown is an E5, the seven in the chord is the root note (the tonic) the first nine (on the D string) is the 5th and the second nine is the octave. If you were to play the the seven in a note sequence, to harmonize it in 5th's, you take the 5th (the first nine) and use that for the harmony part. you can do this for any note if you want to harmonize it.3rd's.
3rd's are kind of the same except you need to remember what key the note is in if you want to harmonize it, eg in the c major scale:

C D E F G A B C 

C=major D=minor E=Minor F=major G=major A=minor
B=diminished

So if you played C note and harmonized in 3rd's you would play a major 3rd (in this casethe note would E). If we harmonize the first riff we used in 3rd's, this is what we would get:

E--------------------------
B--------------------------
G--------------------------
D----5----7-----8----7-5~--
A--------------------------
E-0-0--0-0--0-0---0-0------

So bascially all you're doing is taking the note and playing whatever the interval is above it. here is a list of different intervals to use. How to use:

5th's.

C D E F G A B C 
G A B C D E F G

On the top row, pick out the notes you are going to harmonize, then take the notes underneath the notes you have picked and those are the notes you would play to harmonize them. eg to harmonize the notes C E G, you would play G B D. List of intervals (5th's listed above)

3rd's

C D E F G A B C
E F G A B C D E

7th's

C D E F G A B C
B C D E F G A B

4th's

C D E F G A B C
F G A B C D E F

2nd's

C D E F G A B C
D E F G A B C D

6th's

C D E F G A B C
A B C D E F G A

8th's (octaves)

C D E F G A B C
C D E F G A B C

One last thing, if you forget these, this is all you do to work it out. Write down the notes C D E F G A B C on a bit of paper and then if you want to harmonize in sevenths for example, you start on C and count seven along which would give you B and keep doing it, but when you come to the last C in the list you go back to the beginning, but miss out the first C and go onto D. Eg. E harmonized in 7th's would be D because you miss the first C the second time you count the notes well there you go, harmony explained, hope it helps, this is a really cool thing to use in a band if you have 2 guitarists.

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Guitar Strings Lessons (Without String Locks)

Posted by Guitar Harmony on 12:27 AM comments (0)

Welcome to the first lesson on stringing your guitar properly. This is a fairly straightforward task, but there are some tips that can be helpful in this area. In these lessons we will discuss some dos and don'ts of stringing your guitar, including some information on string-locks.

A little about string locks

First off, I'd like to say a few words regarding string-locks. Don't use them! String locks are a horrible idea that will only complicate everything from stringing to tuning to breaking strings. Not every guitar has these, but many with fancy tremolo units do. String-locks are the little clamps that tighten down on the strings to "lock" them in place. Though this might sound like a good idea, lets look at some of the reasons why it isn't.

Reason #1 - stringlocks are designed to keep your guitar in tune which would be fabulous except for the fact that most tuning problems are a result of the strings stretching and not slipping on the tuning posts. The locks won't help in this area. I'll show you a technique for locking the string in at the tuning post so that it doesn't slip, curing this problem while avoiding reason #2.

Reason #2 - stringlocks crimp the string, causing a weak spot in the string where you lock it. I am sure many of you have experienced strings breaking right where they go into the lock which is not a good thing. This happens because of the locks weakening the string where they are crimped, causing you to suffer more string breakages.

Reason #3 - it is much more difficult to change strings when using these locks, and takes much longer. When you break a string on stage you need to be able to replace the string as quickly as possible, and the job is twice as fast without these locks getting in the way. Having to search for your allen key or proper tool to use the locks in the middle of a show is a big no-no, you should be able to change strings quickly and easily without any special tools. Seems kinda silly that you would take twice as long to put a new string on only to weaken it and have more chance of it breaking as well.

Reason #4 - fine-tuners are great, when they aren't your only option. If you use stringlocks, how many times have you run out of adjustment on your fine tuners? When your strings are locked at the nut, you can't use your tuning posts. This can be a serious problem in the middle of a tough show where you have stretched out your strings enough so you run out of fine tuner adjustment. And guess what, you can't loosen the locks to make an adjustment for it because of the weak spot in your string from the lock, and trying to unlock and retune will certainly end in a broken string. I don't know about you, but I like to be able to tune my guitar when it needs it.

I should note that string locks are made for heavy tremolo use, and if you are one of those people who like heavy tremolo like diving until the strings fall loose on your guitar, you may be one of the few who should use these. Most people do not use the tremolo that much though, and the bad far outweighs the good here for most people. If you are a performing pro who uses heavy tremolo, then my advice would be to have a guitar that uses stringlocks just for those songs. This makes life much easier and you aren't dependent on your strings for the whole show anyway.
All in all, it is much better to use a nice locking technique at the tuning post so they don't slip and leave these string locks to the few people who really need them. Now lets move on to the next lesson where we will cover actually stringing your guitar up properly, since this has grown into a full lesson on the drawbacks of stringlocks.

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