After you learn a few basic chords to play guitar, the key of how to perform a guitar tune well is by creating smooth transitions between each chord. It might appear that learning chords to play guitar tunes is all you need, but the technical ability to play them well is very crucial.
Sometimes all the gunk in between each chord really makes the guitar-playing sound plain pitiful and you need to learn some tempo and style. Here are a few tips that can help smooth out your transitions between each guitar chord when playing a song.
* Learn to use four fingers.
If you were hesitant to attempt chords to play guitar with more than a couple fingers, it's time for you to break out of your shell. Don't limit yourself with how much you can accomplish by only using two or three fingers. I should be praying each night to have even more fingers!
* Keep your thumb in the center of the back of the guitar neck.
An early practice for beginning guitarists is to have your thumb curve over the top of the guitar neck when playing some basic acoustic guitar chords. This might seem acceptable, but learning to control that thumb will prepare you for hundreds of guitar licks and chords to play that require a strict thumb position.
* Put your finger TIPS on the strings not the pads of your fingers.
Your chords to play on the guitar might sound messy if you're placing more than just the tips of your fingers on the strings. If you're developing calluses anywhere but the tips of your fingers you should realize that something's up.
* Start with only a couple chords at a time.
If you're beginning, what's your rush? Begin right by learning only a few chords to play guitar at a time. After you can nail those easily and transition smoothly between them, THEN it's time to move on.
* Try some easy guitar songs with very few chords.
Some simple guitar ballads are really good practice songs when developing a smooth sense of playing chords. They'll teach you to have good technique and pay attention to detail.
Here are a few simple songs with simple chord progressions: - Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty - Knockin' on Heaven's Door by Guns and Roses - Back and Black by AC/DC - Yellow by Coldplay - Wonderwall by Oasis
* Strum through each chord transition without pausing.
A lot of the time things sound spotty because you draw too much attention to your mistakes by pausing in the middle of your chord transitions. Strum through each chord when you play guitar, even the transitions, and things will sound a bit smoother.
* Increase your speed with a metronome.
Start your tempo slow and progress a few b.p.m.s (beats per minute) each time that you practice a song. This can actually measure how well you're progressing through the guitar tune.
Keeping smooth transitions between chords can add bit of professionalism in a performer that may have not appeared before. If you take the time to do it right, you'll notice things flowing a little better from then on.
Oh... and I stuck this video in here because this guy can sweep, but dang does he look goofy.
When tuning your guitar strings, (referring to the individual string as the guitar tuning string) there's subtle things that can affect how well your guitar strings will stay in tune. One of these things that affects your guitar tuning string is the manner in which you turn your tuning pegs on the guitar.
Here's the rule when tuning each individual string whether you do it by electronic tuner or by ear. (It really doesn't make a difference)
Always tighten the guitar tuning string UP to the pitch.
If you were to tune your guitar string by loosening the peg, you're actually limiting the amount of time that the string will have the correct pitch. When loosening to the pitch, the string tends to fall flat much quicker.
As a guitarist, you know that having your guitar strings in tune as long as possible is something you should be very anal about. There's nothing worse than a beautiful piece played on strings that are way off pitch.
So, keep your guitar tuning string in tune LONGER just by tightening up to the pitch. That means if a note is sharp, (above the pitch) first tune below the note and then up to it. If the note is flat, (below the pitch) simply tune up to it.
A nice guitar amp reverb can really add a certain "zest" to sections of a guitar tune. Reverb can create depth, uncover some mystery, or alter the sounding location of your guitar performance just from your amp or pedal.
Even though reverb from your guitar amp is a helpful tool to utilize, there will always be a line between tasteful and grotesque. Here are a few ideas of where you can use a guitar amp reverb to change the style of your guitar tunes.
* Use reverb for solo acoustic guitar sessions.
If you think that your personal acoustic guitar performances are missing a little something and just sound like "blah," then maybe you need to get your guitar reverb out with an amp or pedal. It might add a new roundness and smooth nature to your melodic lines.
* Try it in the bridge of a song with your full band.
Your band might have a formula that they use for every song they create and the bridges all start to blend together. Whip out that guitar amp reverb and create interest and diversity so that a few guitar tunes have their own identity.
* Spice up your next big guitar solo.
Is there a section of a guitar tune where YOU are the star of the show with an awesome guitar solo? Slam your foot down on that reverb pedal and create the illusion that your blasting your licks out to an entire stadium full of people.
* Create an ambient haze for the introduction of a song. Maybe you're the type of band that likes a little mystery when they begin. If so, grab that guitar amp reverb and turn it way up to put the audience a little off ease and they won't know what to expect next.
When using guitar reverb from an amp or pedal, there's a few things that can determine how well it will mesh with the other instruments in any of your guitar tunes. Here are a few precautionary things to consider when switching on your reverb pedal.
* You need to match other reverbs already being used.
If the other guitarist or your bassist wants to use a reverb at the same time (same moment in the guitar tune) you can lose quite a bit of clarity if you don't try to match it. It wouldn't really make too much sense if you sounded like you're playing in a concert hall and they sound like they're playing on the moon. Don't confuse your audience THAT much.
* Keep your sound listenable and not saturated.
Obviously, if you're looking for something abstract, by all means... go nuts with your guitar amp reverb and saturate the heck out of that thing. However, if you mean to stick with a more standard sound, use your reverb to a degree where the notes are still identifiable. Too much, and you might lose your clarity all together.
* Just because reverb is available, doesn't mean you HAVE to use it.
When all else fails and you can't seem to get the sound you want from reverb, maybe it isn't right for what you're attempting. Personally, I enjoy a pure sound most of the time and if the guitar effect from your amp doesn't fit, then it doesn't fit.
Listen to some of your favorite music and identify where guitar reverb is being used. You'll probably find it in more classic rock songs, but hey... it's art and it's used everywhere.
If you're someone who's interested in purchasing an acoustic guitar for the first time, you've probably come to a roadblock having to do with the acoustic guitar size. Doing a little research, you can probably find that not only are there are variety of brands to choose from, but also a variety of sizes for acoustic guitars as well.
A difference in an acoustic guitar size does a lot more than change the perception of your body by comparison, but it has a direct effect on the tone and reverberation strength of the acoustic guitar. Here are a few sizes of acoustic guitars and a little bit about each one in order to give you an intelligent opinion when you decide to make your expensive purchase.
* Parlour
This is a small acoustic guitar size that to my understanding, is used often by classical guitarists. Since the body isn't that large, the sound isn't as loud, but it's easy to hold and enjoyable to play. * OOO
The OOO is just another small acoustic guitar size that supplies a bit of ease for finger-picking, but loses some volume. Still, they're very favorable small guitars. * OM
This model is manufactured by a number of companies since it handles a variety of playing styles fairly well. Unlike the other smaller acoustic guitar sizes the OM supplies a nice balance of both treble and bass throughout all six strings making it a favorable guitar.
* Dreadnought Chances are that any well-known acoustic guitar company makes this size of guitar since it's so popular. They're a bit bigger and not the easiest to play for people of smaller stature.
However, they supply extra bass and volume and are great for a rhythm acoustic guitarist in an ensemble. Even the finger-picking sounds smoother between all of the strings. * Mini Jumbo
Originally, there were only Jumbo and Dreadnought acoustic guitar sizes, but sometimes the waist was just a bit too big. That's why they created the Mini Jumbo.
It supplies more bass and volume, but allows a little more ease of use to those who can't seem to handle a larger guitar like the jumbo. It's a somewhat newer size.
* Jumbo This is just a darn big guitar that supplies a nice round sound. Not for smaller folk, but for guys who really strum the heck out of guitar parts or are just too big for something small.
For any acoustic guitar size that you lean towards, make sure that you do some research first. I actually own a Jumbo-size guitar (Takamine G-Series) and it's great for the hard-strumming that I do when playing live.
The most important thing to do before you make any purchase on a new guitar is to just sit down and play it. That's the only way to decide if that acoustic guitar size fits you and if the tone is what you really want to hear.
Do you have a case with your guitar? If the answer to that question is no then you should probably take a look at some cases out at your local music store on the internet.
A few places to find a case with your guitar online would be Ebay, Amazon, and MusiciansFriend. Of course there are others but these are some of the more popular ones.
Now, the obvious reason to have a guitar case with your guitar is for when you're hauling your instrument to and from performances and you want to keep it safe! Seriously consider purchasing one for that reason.
Another thing to discuss about guitar cases is that they do a semi-good job of slowing down corrosion and dust accumulation.
I know that a lot of guitarists like to keep their guitars on a stand for everyone to view as they enter or exit a room, but unless you're diligently dusting that thing every day, the better choice is to just keep it in the case.
Plus, there will always come the day when it gets very humid out and more moisture will be in the air.
So, unless you have a very well kept room with temperature and humidity control and you like to dust (not me), keep your guitar with its case when you're not using it.
Check out this funny video of this guy testing his guitar case by dropping it. haha
For guitar practice, it's best to have yourself warmed up and flexible before you actually begin tackling some material that you've been meaning to practice your guitar tunes. Guitar practice may not be like other physical actions like running or lifting weights, but being loose and flexible will definitely improve your performance.
Before you begin your guitar practice, think about what you can do physically and mentally to allow your body to perform smoothly for the rest of your private rehearsal. Here are a few tips on what to do for guitar practice.
* Stretch your fingers just a bit.
Hold your hands out in front of you, palms down, and pull each finger back gently so as not to hurt yourself and hold it there for a few seconds. Try bending back at the wrists and pulling gently to feel a bit of a stretch there as well.
Experiment with a few different actions and exercises to get your fingers and wrists more flexible for guitar practice.
* Get some minor arm stretches in there.
Stretch out your shoulder by holding one arm out in front of you, putting your opposite hand on the outside of your erect arm and pulling across your chest. Hold for as long as you need to feel the stretch.
Make a couple fists with your hands and roll your fists at the wrists to get things a little more loose for guitar practice.
* A few scales should do the trick.
Practice a few scales at a steady tempo. Using a metronome to keep a beat is a very good idea. If you don't own a metronome, you can purchase one from my How To Guitar Tune Store in the navigation at the top of the page.
Of course, I could instruct you on some very proper scales to give you a good understanding of notes that work well together, but the truth of the matter is if you find a pattern on one string and then repeat it to all the other strings in a fluent manner, you have a good scale for the purpose of loosening your fingers for guitar practice.
You can view the scales that I personally warm up with in my post: Guitar Practice Scales
* Practice your down-strokes and up-strokes.
Whether you're forming chords at the moment or not, practice your down and up strokes before you begin guitar practice. Hit 4 down-strokes, then 4 up-strokes, then a pattern of both together, all at a steady tempo.
Incorporate different patterns, but keep everything consistent and moving smoothly for optimum results during your guitar practice. Try to strike all 6 strings across the fret board evenly as well.
* Loosen your wrist by going through some picking patterns.
I actually have trouble with my picking personally, but I can feel it getting better every time that I warm-up before trying some guitar tunes for guitar practice. Try hitting a string of notes with just down strokes and then a mixture of up and down strokes.
I like to put in one really fast string of notes with double-picking just to see how much my picking has improved in speed. Use one note and see how quickly you can hit that note with your pick up and down and up and down.
* Try a few chord changes.
This is almost like diving into your guitar practice, but do some chord changes. It's best to name some random progressions so you can focus on the formation of your fingers on the chords rather than what they actually sound like together.
For instance, I pick randomly, A minor, C major, E minor, and F major. Then, I attempt to switch between those chords, in that order, very smoothly and at a steady rate. Once you can move between the chords perfectly at a slower tempo, speed up your tempo.
This whole exercising and warming-up routine should take about 10 minutes tops for guitar practice. But, when you're done, your fingers, wrists, and arms will thank you with a much smoother guitar practice.
If you haven't played the guitar very long, or you really haven't thought much about it, but the position of your thumb on the guitar neck is somewhat important to how you reach the notes and strings with your other fingers. It's something that early guitarists might not think about, but keeping those bad habits at bay is what we're all about right?
Keep your thumb on the guitar in the middle of the neck.
There's some controversy about whether this is the best technique. I've actually purchased Blink 182 tab books (when I was starting to learn guitar tunes) that tell you to play certain notes on the low 'E' string with your thumb hanging over the top of the guitar!
However, I really do NOT condone that. I mean, Tom Delonge has written some crazy catchy guitar tunes, (let's not kid ourselves there) but he's not the most well-trained or impressive guitarist.
So what's going to happen when you keep your thumb on the guitar behind the neck?
* You'll strengthen your fingers.
If you keep that thumb on the guitar in the back, your fingers will be forced to stretch and curve just a bit more as opposed to your wrist and forearm. And stronger fingers means more control when you're playing.
* Getting a tighter grip on chords is a bit easier.
If you have your thumb planted firmly on the back of your guitar, you can really put some squeezing pressure on the fret board if you were having trouble before. Don't go crazy though! You really only need a little bit of pressure to push down those chords, otherwise you might need to adjust your guitar strings.
If it seems weird to keep your thumb behind the guitar in the middle of the neck, maybe you just need to play things a bit slower for awhile. After a few practices it shouldn't feel any different when you're jamming on your guitar tunes.
And yea, I know that's a bass player in that picture. haha
If you're jamming out on your instrument and it appears you have a case of buzzing guitar strings, don't worry. This is a very common occurrence among beginning to average guitarists and how to eliminate it from your guitar tunes isn't difficult..
As a beginner, you may be quick to accuse your guitar of the strings buzzing. "Cease you foul wooden beast!" But, there are very subtle things having to do with your finger posture on the frets, pressure on the strings, and your grip of the neck that can lead to noisy strumming.
* Strum like Bruce Banner, not the Incredible Hulk.
When I'm recording some more aggressive guitar tunes using the acoustic guitar, I'll find that I have more guitar buzzing strings than in other songs. It's usually due to me really wailing on the strings when I'm strumming.
Be mindful and conscious of just how hard you're playing your instrument. Only so much force is required for your strings to vibrate and create a beautiful tone in your guitar tunes.
* Keep your fingers close to the fret markings on the guitar neck.
To reduce a lot of fret noise and the buzzing of guitar strings, when you're placing your fingers on the fret board move them closer to the left fret marking on the neck. This will keep a firmer hold on the string, allowing for better vibration without all the mucky muck.
* Pressing on the strings hard isn't necessarily the answer.
Sometimes if you focus on pressing hard on the strings, you might find that some notes are very clear, while others are still buzzing. (maybe even more than before) You may not realize it, but it's sometimes difficult to press firmly AND evenly on the strings.
Don't get me wrong, you need to put some pressure on the guitar strings, but don't get carried away. Focus on being comfortable with reasonably pressure on the strings for better results with less buzzing in your guitar tunes.
* Your bridge may need adjusted.
Maybe the strings on the guitar are just too high or low from the fret board. That happens. If you suspect that the buzzing of the guitar strings are caused by this, take your instrument down to your local music store and ask for an adjustment. It won't cost you too much and they'll help you out with how to make your playing prettier, and maybe a little easier.
* Is your thumb in the middle of the guitar neck?
It can be easy to let your thumb on your fret hand stray towards the top of the neck when you're not being critical of your hand placement. Remember that the best place for you thumb is right in the middle of the curve of your guitar neck.
* It's a cheap instrument and there's no avoiding it.
Yea, sometimes guitars just plain suck and you're gonna get what you pay for. If you purchase a cheap instrument, chances are that you're going to get a cheap sound. Do a little research on guitars and pick something with a general understanding of the feel and the company.
If you're killing your instrument, lighten up. If you're pressing too lightly, harden up. If you're guitar sucks, replace it. Either way, don't tear your hair out, because buzzing guitar strings aren't the worst thing in the world.
How to strum the guitar well takes a little more patience and detail than a lot of guitarists would like to give. But, it's good to focus on precision early before you start developing some bad habits when figuring out how to play certain guitar tunes.
With bad habits starting to develop, you can significantly slow your learning process even if you THINK you know what's best when learning how to guitar strum. Anyway, here are seven simple tips to focus on when determining the best way for you to strum the guitar.
1. Up and down. Up and down.
If you haven't noticed, there's two basic directions to move your arm that are beneficial to how you strum your guitar. It's simple really. If you can strum your strings moving your arm downwards, you can go pretty fast, but if you go down and then back up, shouldn't you be able to strum twice as fast?
2. Establish your position with the guitar pick early.
This is more about personal preference than anything else. I like to strum my guitar with three fingers holding onto the pick when I'm playing guitar tunes.
Others like to have only two fingers holding the pick with the rest of their fingers spread out and free. Find out what's more comfortable for you and then just expand on it.
3. If you can't do it fast, then go slow. Duh.
There's no reason for you to be strumming and complaining, "Geez! I can't play it as fast as he can!" Well, I guarantee you that even a famous guitar player, when he thought of how to strum his guitar for a specific guitar tune, that was new to him, started slower than the final result.
It's frustrating and sometimes just plain infuriating, but speed only comes after you've developed accuracy. I'm sure you'll see me repeating this tip for a boat-load of other things related to the guitar. 4. Seat your strumming arm comfortably on the body of the guitar.
This tip applies more if you're sitting down and playing the guitar. Keep your bicep resting on the butt of your instrument and bend at the elbow.
If you're using your shoulder to strum, you're doing more than you need too. (Plus, you might look downright odd...seriously look in a mirror...you're creeping people out.)
5. For multiple strings, use your arm.
If you're strumming a group of guitar strings, you'll need the full force of your arm to strum though the notes of the guitar tune. If there's only single notes to conquer, try to limit your movements to that of your wrist.
6. Keep your arm moving parallel to the instrument.
The way how to get a nice ring from your guitar strumming is to brush the strings moving in a path that is parallel to the body of the guitar. If you strum out away from the guitar, you might miss some strings, and if you strum in towards the guitar, you might bust some strings.
Practice keeping your arm moving in a parallel arc that touches each of the necessary strings evenly for maximum clarity.
7. To practice precision and speed, forget about how it sounds for awhile. Say there's a fairly difficult strumming pattern that you would like to master in a guitar tune. Sometimes, the best way to get it right is to take away all aspects of the section, but the strumming.
If the strumming is too difficult, forget about the left hand for awhile. Mute the strings with your left hand and just drill into that pattern for as long as it takes. Seriously, you'll be so pleased with yourself once you can introduce the actual notes back into the pattern.
It's tough sometimes. It really is. But slowing down and starting with patience is just so darn valuable to how your skills will develop. Keep your strumming in good posture and tempo and you should start to improve soon enough.
For beginning guitarists, a common question is "What's a good guitar tuning for metal?" They get to the point where normal rock and jazz just isn't really their style and they think, "When the heck do I get to learn how to thrash?"
Well, typically, a guitar tuning for metal guitarists is one of the "drop" tunings. Learning to play your guitar tunes in the drop tunings will allow for faster chord changes and the ability to play double-picked riffs with a little more ease as well.
So what IS drop tuning?
Well, standard tuning is typically E-A-D-g-b-e from the thickest to the thinnest string respectively and can be shown on this guitar tab I've just drawn up:
--e-- --b-- --g-- --D-- --A-- --E--
This is what a beginner should learn to tune their guitar tunes to. Drop tuning is usually done by tuning your 'E' string to 'D' instead, so your strings from thickest to thinnest would be D-A-D-g-b-e as shown on this guitar tab:
--e-- --b-- --g-- --D-- --A-- --D--
Now, with standard tuning, to play any sort of 5 chord using the thickest string (G5, A5, etc.) you would normally need your index, ring, and pinky fingers in order to make it work. Here's the tab for G5 in the standard tuning:
e----- b----- g----- D--5-- A--5-- E--3--
However, with drop 'D' tuning, this same G5 chord can be played with only your index finger as shown here:
e----- b----- g----- D--5-- A--5-- E--5--
Pretty cool huh? Now, some metal bands go EVEN LOWER by tuning to drop 'D' and then going ANOTHER full step down so the tuning becomes C-G-C-F-A-D. This is called drop 'C' tuning and it's very popular.
With this guitar tuning for metal purposes, not only are your chord changes going to be quicker, but your lowest note is lower, and your double-picking methods should become easier.
I don't normally like to mention any musical acts in my blog for fear that they'll become out-dated and I'll look like an old fogey, but here's a couple videos of metal bands that are known to use drop tunings for metal guitar purposes. (As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, and Bullet For My Valentine)
I hope that you're in good health and improving upon your guitar skills with vigor. You're going to be totally awesome in no time, and everyone is going to be totally jealous. Like pishaw.
This post is only to inform you that I've added the Blogger.com Followers Gadget to my page in order to entice visitors to watch for future posts with a little more interest.
I'll put this new blog item underneath my Recent Posts section, but it might jump around as my mood changes.
All the same, I'll continue to write posts for you, hoping that my experience will help you reach the dreams that most consider unreachable.
P.S. That's the band I'm in in that picture up top. (Wake the Lion... I'm in the camo) Check us out, listen, and/or love/mock us HERE.
Learning to play bar chords on guitar, (or barre or barr or etc.) is an important step to understanding the formation of chords. Guitar bar chords will not only free you to play more songs easier, but give you a Schwarzenegger-like workout for your fingers in the process.
The great thing about bar chords is that with one chord, you can play very full chords all the way up and back down the guitar fret board. It's very nice. Believe me. Honestly, the basis of most radio-friendly guitar tunes written by pop-punk bands are comprised of mostly "power chords."
"Power chords" are essentially bar chords but only the most expressive strings of the chord are strummed on the guitar. A few popular bands that use these guitar chords in their guitar tunes often are Blink 182, Green Day, and Sum 41. So, if you know a couple bar chord formations, you have a whole new library of songs. Ta da!
* The index finger is your man.
When playing bar chords on the guitar your index finger is going to be doing the most work. He is your wing man, your first base man, and your lead singer, so to speak. After playing songs with a few bar chords, you're really going to have a nice strong pointer.
Let's take a look at an A Major bar chord:
e--5-- b--5-- g--6-- D--7-- A--7-- E--5--
If you notice, every string on the neck is has a finger pushing it down, and in turn, every string is strummed.
To form this bar chord on your guitar, lay your index finger across all six strings on the 5th fret. See, I told you he would do all the work. Next, place your ring and pinky fingers on the A and D strings on the 7th fret respectively.
If you haven't started using your pinky yet, now is the time to begin. FYI. Yea, it sucks, but you're gonna blow everyone away with your intense pinky skills.
Last, place your middle finger on the g string (that's what she said) of the 6th fret. Then give a nice smooth strum across all six strings. Congratulations! You just played an A Major bar chord!
* More callouses are going to form, but you can tough it out.
Since your index finger is going most of the work when you're playing bar chords on your guitar, you're gonna have some more callouses showing up. Yea, no pain no gain. Similarly, if you've been neglecting to use your pinky finger, then that little guy is going to grow a callous as well and become a contributing citizen in Chordville, USA.
Not a political figure, but a well-informed member of society.
* With practice comes finger strength.
You'll notice that a new kind of strength is necessary to press your index finger across all six strings and have it lock there for a length of time. The more guitar tunes you attempt with bar chords, the stronger your pointer will get with time.
* The middle finger can change between major and minor chords.
Let's take a look at that A Major chord again:
e--5-- b--5-- g--6-- D--7-- A--7-- E--5--
You'll notice that the middle finger is on the 6th fret of the g string. This time, release your middle finger and play the chord like this:
e--5-- b--5-- g--5-- D--7-- A--7-- E--5--
This is now an A Minor bar chord. You should be able to hear the distinct darkness of the chord as it rings on your guitar.
* Going up and down by half-steps got a lot easier.
Okay, so you have the A Major chord all figured out and you want to play the A Flat Major chord now. Well, take your middle finger and move it here over your ring finger with your index on top of... (buzzer sound) Not.
Take that exact A Major chord and slide it one fret down. It should look like this:
e--4-- b--4-- g--5-- D--6-- A--6-- E--4--
This is now an A Flat Major chord and you didn't have to do hardly anything! Think of the possibilities now. You can literally take that bar chord and slide it up and down anywhere on the guitar neck to form another chord. Awesome. * If there's only one bar chord in a guitar tune, it sounds like you need a capo.
Sometimes you'll come across guitar tunes that have a few regular chords and one bar chord. Well, if you don't want to strain your index finger all for the sake of that one chord in the tune, slap a guitar capo right there where your pointer should go.
You'll keep your index finger at ease and you'll change to that chord just a bit quicker.
* If it's WAY too difficult, you may need to adjust your guitar bridge.
When I first started playing bar chords on my acoustic guitar, it was really terrible, and I noticed that after a few weeks of practicing, it hadn't gotten a whole lot easier. In this case you may need to adjust your guitar bridge (the little piece that keeps your strings off the fret board) down.
You can actually take your instrument into any local music store and they should do this for you for a few bucks. It's fast and you'll find that play action on your guitar is a little bit smoother.
Once you really get the hang of playing guitar bar chords, you'll have so many songs to play that you won't even know what to do with yourself. Here is a Bar Chord Chart provided by www.guitarsphere.com.
There may come a time when you turn on your amp, whip out your guitar to play some tunes, and you feel as if everything is stagnant and dull. If this is happening, it might be best to check out what cool effects are available for your live guitar sound.
What are the best effects for guitar players? This is a pretty broad and opinionated statement and I would be happy to force my opinion on everyone by answering this question.
I kid. I'm merely going to introduce to you what the most common guitar effects are available to a beginning player out there. It can be a rough world and it's hard to know what's best to improve the guitar sound that's become so personal to you.
Keep in mind, this is a very small list and there are literally hundreds of effects that can be applied to a guitar tone in order to create the best sound for an individual or specific tune. I encourage readers to leave comments with an explanation of YOUR favorite guitar effect in order to add to the information that I've begun here.
I decided to add some videos with each effect so that you can really HEAR what the effect sounds like, since that's really the most important thing when it comes to anything with guitar-playing.
1. Reverb
This is a standard effect that emulates the size of a playing area. This effect started with spring coils inside of an amplifier but many companies have turned to more digital versions of this effect.
Whether you want to sound like your jamming inside of a closet or blasting out to an arena of people, guitar reverb can do it. Just be mindful of how much is best since saturating your sound is a common mistake with this guitar effect.
2. Chorus
Personally, I'm not much of a chorus fan, but the idea is to create the sound of multiple instruments digitally. It can be an awesome funky addition to your set and sometimes it adds a little extra "oomph" to that guitar solo.
3. Flange
If you've heard "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love" by Van Halen then you've heard the flange guitar effect. It almost appears as if another tone is moving steadily up and down inside of your guitar tone. Eery huh?
It's pretty neat though. If you're looking for a solid classic-rock sound or something to experiment with, flange might be the best effect for you.
4. Delay
Do you want a solid echo when you strum your guitar? You might be thinking about delay then.
With a delay pedal, you merely hit a single note and by your own adjustment, you can have an echo ring almost immediately or with a few seconds of space. It's a cool effect that's used sparingly like in guitar tune bridges and introductions.
5. Compressor
One of the best guitar effects to add a little more bite to your guitar tunes is with a compressor. It gives you the power to control how slowly or quickly you want your tone to attack and release.
That's what I like to use a compressor for, but its main concern is with balancing your soft playing and your loud playing to create even tones throughout. Kinda cool.
6. Tremolo
Tremolo likes to take bites out of your tone as it rings creating the illusion that your sound is in multiple pieces. Actually, the effect is lowering and raising the volume at a consistent rate.
A couple common songs that use guitar tremolo are "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" by Green Day and "Hate To Say I Told" by The Hives.
7. Vibrato
This effect is best used to create wavering inside of your ringing guitar tones. Think if you were to constantly bend your notes up and down after strumming a chord or single note, that's what vibrato would do for you.
A lot of players will argue that's there isn't much difference between Tremolo and Vibrato, and for the most part, I can't really tell either.
These are just a few effects that add depth and interest to a guitarist's sound and they're best used tastefully and sparingly, but then again... some of the greatest songs every played have been completely saturated with effects. The main thing is to experiment and have fun.
After you learn a few basic chords to play guitar, the key of how to perform a guitar tune well is by creating smooth transitions between each chord. It might appear that learning chords to play guitar tunes is all you need, but the technical ability to play them well is very crucial.
