Transcribing Music With a Guitar

The guitar can be a great tool for transcribing music, and transcribing music can be a great practice for any musician. Some of the factors that make the guitar a good instrument for music transcriptions are that it is portable and can be taken to the computer or stereo that music may be playing from. Also, because you can play chords on the guitar you can handle any type of music that you may need to transcribe. Finally the guitar has a wide range of notes so you should be able to match any pitch in a recording, which makes it easier to transcribe.

Transcribing music is a great practice because it helps your playing, your ears, and your music writing and theory understanding. If you need something transcribed and you cant figure it out there are people who can offer a music transcription service, but if you start practicing with simple melodies you can eventually build up your transcribing skills.

Some things that can help your transcription abilities are learning the intervals by ear. This can be done by playing and identifying the intervals one at a time. First concentrate on minor seconds and then move up through the intervals. Beyond knowing the intervals you need to be able to identify rhythms and being able to slow down the melodies in your head can help with that. Obviously you need to know how to write the music to properly transcribe it. This can be easier if you have a notation software program but it is also good to know how to write music by hand.

January 05 2009 | Free Online Guitar Lessons | Comments Off

Guitar Players Becoming Freelance Sound Designers

Some guitar players have gone on to become recording engineers or freelance sound designers. This is a logical progression because of the technical equipment that the electric guitar uses to make its sound such as amps, overdrive pedals, and other effects. Not only do you get experience working with electronic sound hardware and patching cables, you have to become familiar with equalization and other tone controls to get your desired sound out of your equipment.

This is good experience for being a sound engineer or designer, and the two of those are very related. And if you are an engineer or sound designer chances are you have some kind of knowledge of the guitar. Especially for an engineer, knowing how to play guitar can come in handy. You need to know how to set a guitar and amp up for recording, and most recording projects will involve a guitar, at least an amp. Knowing how to set up an amp and the effects pedals and dial in a good tone is essential for any sound person.

Being a sound engineer and a sound designer can be a good option for people who want a career in music but may not be performers or dont want to tour with a band. Not everyone can do that, but these days with the right software and knowledge you can find many things to do with music.

December 30 2008 | Free Online Guitar Lessons | Comments Off

Music Styles for Electric Guitar

Being able to play and understand the electric guitar is important for many different styles of music. It can also be important if you are a composer or music producer. Film music composers are known to use the guitar in both their recordings and compositional processes. The guitar is a great instrument for composition because it forces you to arrange for a melody note to be on the top voice of a chord.

Besides the usual rock and acoustic styles that most people play guitar in, there are a great number of emerging music styles that the electric guitar is useful for. Electronic jazz is coming out of jazz and electronic music and is a style that people can produce and record on their own without a band. The electric guitar is needed for recording in this style because you can plug it into a computer without and expensive equipment.

The electric guitar is a great tool for music composition and production in a variety of styles and it is suggested that if you plan on being a music producer or composer that you know how to play this instrument at least at a basic level.

November 18 2008 | Free Online Guitar Lessons | Comments Off

Classical Guitar in Southern Spain

I was in southern Spain a few years ago and was exposed to the rich classical and flamenco guitar tradition that exists in the area, especially in Granada. When I was on my southern Spain vacation in Granada I stopped by quite a few guitar shops where master guitar makers were at work on their latest project. They all made high quality hand made guitars that cost thousands of euros, much more than I could afford after paying for my southern Spain villa rental, but they did have some more low cost mass produced models in many of the shops.

Most of the guitar makers were really nice and let you play the less expensive models that were on display in the store. They were a lot more protective of the hand made instruments they were working on.

One guy told me that his instruments were too expensive for me when I asked about them. Another store wouldn’t even let me touch any of their guitars. I dont know how they expect to sell anything they wont let anyone touch.

When I was walking by one of the custom shops one day I saw a professional flamenco guitar player talking to the builder. I had seen him perform a few days earlier so it was cool to see him around the city talking with the well known guitar makers.

Before I left southern Spain I bought a nice spanish made classical guitar that is better than any reasonably price guitar ive seen here. It isn’t hand made, but I made sure it was made in Spain and it feels great to play. If you are a guitar lover, find some way to get to southern Spain at some point.

November 05 2008 | Free Online Guitar Lessons | Comments Off

Soundproofing A Room For Guitar Playing

Soundproofing a room for guitar playing can be an important thing for anyone who lives close to anyone else and wants to play their guitar. If you live in a room next to someone else’s room this can be especially helpful. For guitar players wondering how to soundproof a room, there are some cheap and even free methods of getting effective room soundproofing materials.

Windows and door are the worst spots in a room as far as acoustics and sound bleeding into other areas. Theses are the sections of the room you want to spend the most time soundproofing. Sometimes a big blanket over a window or door can help a lot. There are professional sound blankets you can buy, but this can be expensive. You can also put foam pads on the walls of your room to absorb some of the sound and even improve how things sound within the room itself.

When you are trying to learn how to play guitar, you need to be able to practice whenever you want. One of the most common complaints from neighbors is about bass. Bass can travel through a house and anoy people more than higher frequencies. So to help with bass reduction you can move furniture into the corners of your room. Bass building up in the corners and having big soft items like a bed or a couch in the corners can really help.

There are many small things you can do to soundproof a room so you can play guitar without bothering anyone. If you are creative enough you can probably do it for free and it will pay off by improving how things sound and letting you learn guitar even faster.

October 28 2008 | Free Online Guitar Lessons | Comments Off