[QUOTE=Bman212;42172499]i'm basically saying you should at least learn some basic music theory
when someone calls for a different key, you should probably know what scale you're going to switch and noodle around with[/QUOTE]
I know jack shit about music theory and I never find this a problem.
[QUOTE=Bman212;42172499]i'm basically saying you should at least learn some basic music theory
when someone calls for a different key, you should probably know what scale you're going to switch and noodle around with[/QUOTE]
Well yeah kinda but it's gotta be more intuitive than that. It's far more important for your brain to be able to subconsciously decode the language of music on the fly. I know that might sound like horse shit but it's kinda like without even thinking about it you know where to go and what sounds good, and that can only come with time. That's really all you need to be a good instrumentalist, and you can easily get there through emulation of others or simple trial and error, anything as long as it's work over time.
Theory is more like the written language of music. It's what you use to be able to express your musical ideas to others in a simple, direct, universally understood way. Playing music is like speaking a language and knowing theory is akin to being literate in it. And obviously, being able to read and interpret the ideas of others can potentially expand your own vocabulary if you apply it correctly, but you could also get there with trial and error given time.
It just makes things easier. Communication especially, it's mainly about finding a way to communicate musical ideas in a non-musical way. Whether it makes you a better musician depends on how you apply it.
don't get me wrong, i'm not snobbing the idea of just playing how you feel like it
i'm just saying that learning how music works and blends together is very useful as training wheels into bigger things
[QUOTE=Bman212;42172846]don't get me wrong, i'm not snobbing the idea of just playing how you feel like it
i'm just saying that learning how music works and blends together is very useful as training wheels into bigger things[/QUOTE]
Many great guitarists became successful without knowing a thing about music theory.
and many are theory wizards
[editline]12th September 2013[/editline]
if you're genuinely good at guitar you're gonna be good regardless of how you go about doing it
[QUOTE=absinthe;42172909]and many are theory wizards
[editline]12th September 2013[/editline]
if you're genuinely good at guitar you're gonna be good regardless of how you go about doing it[/QUOTE]
i'll just leave it at this
god I love satchel
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr60YNKje8M[/media]
I thank my violin and orchestra directors for all my theory. If I really put my mind to it, I can transfer it to guitar. Maybe I can show off my violin skillz at gigs.
i hated my music teacher because she taught classical theory and i wanted to play sexy jazz and sonic youth on my guitar i didnt want to play piano you dont need theory to feedback a guitar
i fucking hated playing violin. placed in the top region orchestra, though and won some competitions with the rest of the orchestra. i'm happy about it. I know a lot about classical music now, and the fundamentals of classical theory. It's a pain since I have not looked at the guitar the same way I did the violin.
I need some help with feedback. What does it normally take for a guitar to start feedback if you're not using distortion? My tube screamer is pushing the level and gain a little, but that coupled with a loud amp doesn't always get it going. Sometimes if I click the wah on full throttle it'll get going.
i look at guitar the same way i look at piano, i always start at the root note of the chord and always go for big range extended chords like im playing piano with 6 fingers
i think how much feedback you can get probably depends on the guitar, the amp, and the pedal. my modded DS-1 feedbacks very quickly.
For feedback get an acoustic guitar and any amplifier and face the right direction at a loud enough volume. For more controllable feedback that you can work with get a hollow body like a casino or a byrdland or something of that sort plus a nice tube amp, and again, face the right direction (it varies from note to note and depending on your physical location relative to the position of the speaker cone) and more volume. For a little less feedback, go for a semi-hollow like a dot or an ES-335, and work even harder to face the right direction, and get even louder. And for solid bodies, you can get nice controllable harmonic feedback in some situations but it depends strongly on the pickups, and again, get even louder. I find single coils to be far easier to get to feedback, the hotter the better, look for P90's. Or a seymour duncan p-rails with triple shot mounting ring, gives you all three pickup options in one and any combination of them so you can experiment. A good humbucker will feedback great too if it's not potted so there's really no set in stone rules here.
I don't know why the direction you face matters, someone more technical could probably explain it, but that's just how it is, you get good or bad feedback depending on where and how you stand. The early rock and roll dudes like chuck berry were moving around so much but he wasn't just dancing, he was literally wrestling with the feedback, it has to be just right.
the idea is you want some part of the guitar to rattle that shouldn't be rattling and it's most easily achieved by having a moving top that vibrates to create feedback, but with a solid body guitar it's all in the pickups, the components within the pickup itself will vibrate and create feedback.
I don't know if this is the normal reason why it's there but I've found that most acoustic guitars have a phase switch on the electronics thing that seems to invert the direction of the feedback response, like if say I have to face the amp to get it I can change phase and then I have to have my back to the speaker to get it.
[QUOTE=Nazereth666;42172727]I know jack shit about music theory and I never find this a problem.[/QUOTE]
Losing what key you're in with a stringed instrument is a hilarious concept because it's a stringed fucking instrument. It's like losing track of the key on a trombone, they're permanently in chromatic/subtonal bullshitting mode. Bend in a direction and use your ears, congratulations, you're back in key.
That's a problem for five-valved tubas and bassoons, but not anything that can just slur-wank its way across every note in the universe.
[QUOTE=J Paul;42174017]the idea is you want some part of the guitar to rattle that shouldn't be rattling and it's most easily achieved by having a moving top that vibrates to create feedback, but with a solid body guitar it's all in the pickups, the components within the pickup itself will vibrate and create feedback.[/QUOTE]
I don't think that's how feedback works. I'm almost certain it's a loop from the output of the speakers making the strings continue to resonate. I just can't really get it to work all the time, unfortunately.
Now learning Layla.
great song, slow fingers.
[QUOTE=Unreliable;42177798]I don't think that's how feedback works. I'm almost certain it's a loop from the output of the speakers making the strings continue to resonate. I just can't really get it to work all the time, unfortunately.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that's essentially what I'm saying. The question I'm trying to answer though is [i]how[/i] the speaker output influences the strings because understanding the mechanism allows you to exploit it, and this is what I've found: Obviously, the easiest way to do it is when you have a normal acoustic guitar that has a vibrating top to which the strings are anchored. The output of the speakers is so intense that it makes the top resonate which makes the strings resonate because they are attached to it. And that's why it gets harder and harder to achieve the more anchored the strings get, being hardest to achieve with a solid body guitar. You can still achieve it though depending on the pickups, you want your pickups to be unpotted so that parts inside the pickup will resonate and this is almost as good as having the top move because it still creates that feedback loop you want, in the right circumstance.
That's why I suggest acoustics or at least a hollow body or a semi-hollow.
[QUOTE=J Paul;42180989]Yeah, that's essentially what I'm saying. The question I'm trying to answer though is [i]how[/i] the speaker output influences the strings because understanding the mechanism allows you to exploit it, and this is what I've found: Obviously, the easiest way to do it is when you have a normal acoustic guitar that has a vibrating top to which the strings are anchored. The output of the speakers is so intense that it makes the top resonate which makes the strings resonate because they are attached to it. And that's why it gets harder and harder to achieve the more anchored the strings get, being hardest to achieve with a solid body guitar. You can still achieve it though depending on the pickups, you want your pickups to be unpotted so that parts inside the pickup will resonate and this is almost as good as having the top move because it still creates that feedback loop you want, in the right circumstance.
That's why I suggest acoustics or at least a hollow body or a semi-hollow.[/QUOTE]
I definitely have a pretty thick coat of poly on my guitar, I'm not saying I'm going to do this, but if I were to actually sand it off, repaint it, and apply a thin coat of nitro, you think it'd probably resonate better than with the thick poly? It sounds like I need to make my guitar more accepting of the frequencies.
My seven string never seems to stay in tune, I don't know if its the strings or the guitar itself, could the string gauge cause this?
[QUOTE=Leader of Me;42190713]My seven string never seems to stay in tune, I don't know if its the strings or the guitar itself, could the string gauge cause this?[/QUOTE]
Probably user error. Are your strings wrapped correctly? Are you stretching the strings properly?
[QUOTE=Unreliable;42190398]I definitely have a pretty thick coat of poly on my guitar, I'm not saying I'm going to do this, but if I were to actually sand it off, repaint it, and apply a thin coat of nitro, you think it'd probably resonate better than with the thick poly? It sounds like I need to make my guitar more accepting of the frequencies.[/QUOTE]
It's possible. I've watched a lot of PRS videos on youtube and while he doesn't give away all the trade secrets behind how they do their finishes, Paul does often say that you do want your finish to be as thin and as hard as humanly possible. I think they use a nitro/acrylic mix nowadays.
You could absolutely try it and honestly the guitar will at least feel better, or at least most people prefer the feel of nitro, but unfortunately you can never be quite sure how it will effect your specific guitar till you actually go and do it.
I got [URL="http://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier-Affinity-Stratocaster-Electric-Guitar-Pack-w--10G-Amplifier-108120676-i2613561.gc"]pretty much this bundle[/URL] years ago. It's not amazing but it was good for learning.
My question is what would be a better investment: Buying a new amp or upgrading from my Strat? I am eventually going to do both but would like to know which would be better first.
[QUOTE=Leader of Me;42190713]My seven string never seems to stay in tune, I don't know if its the strings or the guitar itself, could the string gauge cause this?[/QUOTE]
In addition to butre's stuff, are you tuning from the outside in? Not linearly across the scale like you would with a small 6, but 1-7-2-6-3-5-4.
[QUOTE=solid_jake;42194310]I got [URL="http://www.guitarcenter.com/Squier-Affinity-Stratocaster-Electric-Guitar-Pack-w--10G-Amplifier-108120676-i2613561.gc"]pretty much this bundle[/URL] years ago. It's not amazing but it was good for learning.
My question is what would be a better investment: Buying a new amp or upgrading from my Strat? I am eventually going to do both but would like to know which would be better first.[/QUOTE]
I'll just say what I always do. Upgrade your amp before any guitar. The amp is more responsible for your sound than anything else.
[QUOTE=Xenocidebot;42194678]In addition to butre's stuff, are you tuning from the outside in? Not linearly across the scale like you would with a small 6, but 1-7-2-6-3-5-4.[/QUOTE]
That's the best method to use when tuning a floyd rose from what I've learned over time. saves you a lot of hassle.
HELP me decide
paint my black rgd7421 white or attempt to swirl it?
In my opinion swirling looks cooler to watch the process of making it than the final result sometimes, you should go for the white but that's me
But still swirling it can give a good result, but you'd better wanna practice a few times first to not ruin it
White. White guitars are the shit.
swirl white and a light blue
shit I can't get the timing on the Layla intro right, ff
[QUOTE=Rapist;42224454]shit I can't get the timing on the Layla intro right, ff[/QUOTE]
Yeah I had that problem a long time ago with the intro for Stranglehold by Ted Nugent, I just slowed it down and figured out where I was going wrong.
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Guitar Discussion V10 - February 2013 edition
