Allegro Music World

Guitarists: In Search of the Holy Grail of Sound. Part 1: Guitars and Amps

Mark Teeters — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 20:55:39 +0000

Most every guitarist is constantly looking for that elusive ‘perfect’ tone. Great debates and occasional fistfights erupt over digital multi-effects units vs. analog stompboxes. What is the real truth? How can a guitarist get the perfect tone? Well, I can’t answer those questions for you but I can tell you about my search and hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and my infrequent triumphs.

First things first; listen to your favorite guitar players. Figure out what type of sound you want. Most guitarists have a ‘vision’ of what they wish their guitars to sound like…others want it to sound as close to their guitar hero as possible. Both views are fine, in my humble opinion. Before I go any further, I would like to stress that much of a guitarist’s tone comes from his fingers. My partner, Scott Shelpman, is an incredible guitar player. Amazingly, he sounds nearly the same whether he’s playing through a Marshall stack and thousands of dollars worth of effects or a small practice amp. A lot of your tone comes from your vibrato, your slides, your picking technique and other variables.

Once you have the sound in mind (or at least a general idea), it’s time to scour the internet for clues on how to get it. If your sound is based on a famous guitar player, the web is full of pages on these players and what they’re using. Obviously, you can buy everything Eric Clapton is using and still not sound like him, but it’s a great place to start. Here are some links to sites containing info about some of my favorite guitar players and what they play through:

Links will open in new window.

David Gilmor (Pink Floyd)
Eric Johnson
Tom Scholz (Boston)
Kirk Hammett & James Hetfield (Metallica)
John Petrucci (Dream Theater)
Slash (Guns N’ Roses)
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)
Joe Satriani

The list goes on and on. Just do a search on the web for your favorite guitarists and there’s almost certainly sites on their equipment and effects.

Now comes the painful process of explaining to your wife/girlfriend why you need to shell out hundreds of dollars for new equipment. Just tell her you read it on Allegro Music World so you simply MUST do it. She’ll understand.

The three most important items that contribute to your sound are:

You
Your Guitar
Your Amp

For this article, I will bypass the human part of the equation and concentrate on everything else. The first part of your chain is your guitar. Based on what you’ve learned from your research above, pick your guitar. Maybe you already have it. Guitars come in many styles, shapes and they all sound different. The biggest difference to my ears, however, is in the pickups. To simplify things greatly, there are 2 main types of pickups: Single coil and humbuckers. Single coil pickups are found mostly on Fender Stratocasters and other similar guitars. They have a thinner, somewhat higher pitched sound. With some exceptions, some famous Strat users are Eric Johnson, Eric Clapton and David Gilmour. Humbucker pickups are common on Gibson Les Pauls and others and are used frequently by Jimmy Page, Slash and many more guitarists. They are fuller sounding and they are less noisy than single coil pickups.

As with guitars, you can boil down everything concerning amps to basically two types: tube amps and transistor amps. Transistor amps are less expensive and tend to need less maintenance. But although there are some great sounding transistor amps, I prefer tube amps. They have a certain warmth and character that can’t quite be duplicated. Another big difference in amps is whether it’s a combo amp or a stack. A stack consists of a head with all the electronics and 1 or 2 separate speaker cabinets, usually with 4 12″ speakers in each cabinet. A stack is definitely louder and fuller sounding than most combos. This is up to you. Since I have a dedicated soundman who mics my amp, I only need my stage volume loud enough to get a good tone. Then he can bring it up as loud as needed in the stage monitors and front of house speakers. For this reason (and the fact that I’m getting old), I generally play the the lighter and easier to carry combo amps.

Before you go any further in your quest for the ultimate tone, get the guitar and amp nailed down. It’s much easier to get the desired effect if the guitar/amp combination at least vaguely resembles what you’re looking for. In the next part of this series, I’ll be dealing with “cable vs. wireless” and basic effects.

Enjoy and keep on rockin’!

Mark

4. Booking the Band

Mark Teeters — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 21:28:44 +0000

To play a show in the park…or at a festival, a band normally needs to play about 1 hour. To play in a night club or other similar venue, a band needs 4-5 hours of material minimum. Most bands play 45 minute sets with 15-20 minute breaks in between. Songs vary in length but a good rule of thumb is about 10 songs per 45-minute set. So in order to get a gig in the local pub which hires bands to play from 9:30pm until 2am, you’re going to need about 50 songs.

Keep in mind that if you play the same clubs over and over…it’s nice to keep learning new songs and mixing it up. Playing the same 50 songs over and over will become monotonous to you AND your crowd.
You should assign one or two people in the band to do the booking. This person should be outgoing and a smooth talker. It doesn’t have to be a person in the band. Sometimes you can contract a third party to do the booking for you. This can range from a friend…to a fan…to a booking agencies. The typical fee for booking a band in my area is 10% but this may vary. You should make sure the person booking your band knows your asking price, your bare minimum price and how far you are willing to travel.
Although the person should be a smooth talker as I mentioned above, he or she should never lie to a venue or make the band appear to be something they’re not. If your band is strictly a heavy metal band, don’t let your booking agent tell the local country bar something like “Yeah, they play some rock…but they can mix it up and play country too”. You’d be amazed at how often this happens. It only hurts your band, your ego and your income in the long run. Book shows at places where you know your type of music will go over.
The booking agent should try to find out as much about the venue as they can before contacting them. What type bands play there? What type(s) of music is played? What are other bands getting paid? Who in the club is in charge of booking? If you go in prepared, you’ll do better. Many times you have to call and call and KEEP calling the venue back. Don’t be too pushy, just tell them you’re checking for openings. Make sure you send a CD and a photo of the band. Make sure that every item in your press kit has your contact info on it.

Don’t be too humble to ask a decent price. Music equipment is expensive. You have expenses to cover just like any other business. It’s okay to take some lower paying gigs when the band is first starting to get your name out there, but you have to take a stand sometime…the earlier the better. If you’ve practiced and done your homework and your band sounds good, you DESERVE the money, so don’t be afraid to ask for it. In the rural area where I live, bands can make anywhere from $250 to $600 a night.
Finally, I strongly suggest using a contract. It makes everything easier and makes sure everyone is on the same page. I also recommend that you join your local musicians union. You can get more info on my union (American Federation of Musicians) at www.afm.org. If your band is in the union, they supply contracts and they also offer other services.
So get out there and start booking. Get as many people as you can to your shows. Start an email list. Invite your friends and family. The more heads there, the better you look to the venue’s owner. Next time I’ll go over some of the basics of recording and releasing your own CD.

Comments Encouraged From YOU!!

Mark Teeters — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 19:17:00 +0000

We have recently changed the rules slightly on the site concerning comments. Previously, you had to be registered on the site to post a comment. Registration is free. We still would love to have you register, but it is no longer necessary to post a comment.

Now, we simply ask for your name and email address. We will not add your name or email address to our list. We will not sell, trade or give it away for any reason. This is simply to prevent spam from building up on our site.

We would love to hear from you about our articles. Your input helps us to plan future articles and series. We reserve the right to moderate any comment, but we encourage any constructive criticism; negative or positive.

Thanks - The Allegro Music World Team

Importance of the Wiggle

Scott Shelpman — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 17:33:45 +0000

The “wiggle” or vibrato in playing slide guitar is very important! The “wiggle” can make the difference between a sterile, almost out of tune note and a note that almost has a singing quality to it!

The “wiggle” can be a very slight back and forth movement of the slide or it can be a fret or two movement for a more dramatic effect! Try it on for size and you’ll see what I mean. Place your slide on a note and pick it with no movement of the slide at all. Now hit the same note with your slide, pick it, but this time use the “wiggle”. Hear the difference?

The note comes to life, like hearing a new chorus of spring peepers fresh out of the prison of tadpole. Remember! Slide playing is movement!

Tunings For Slide

Scott Shelpman — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 20:39:21 +0000

For many years, I just used standard tuning on my guitar when I played slide. E-A-D-G-B-E. I mainly used the slide to play the slide-lead guitar part of a song, playing chords during the rhythm parts with my other three fingers or just putting on the slide right before the lead.

Using open tunings for the slide can be very useful for playing rhythm as well as solo parts. An example of a widely used open tuning is the open G tuning, D-G-D-G-B-D. With your guitar tuned to an open chord or an open tuning, anywhere directly over a fretbar that you place your slide will be a chord.

In open G tuning, open is a G chord, of course.

1st Fret - G#
2nd Fret - A
3rd Fret - A#
4th Fret - B
5th Fret - C

6th Fret - C#
7th Fret - D
8th Fret - D#
9th Fret - E
10th Fret - F
11th Fret - F#

And it starts all over again at the 12th fret (G), repeating the above chords.

A song that uses open G tuning in a slide context is the Black Crowes “Twice As Hard”. Other example include “Honky Tonk Women” and “Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones.

Writing Songs for Success

Mark Teeters — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 19:28:38 +0000

How do you achieve success in the songwriting business? I can tell you how I did it. I know what you’re thinking right now; “Mark Teeters? I never heard of you…you’re not successful!”. But I am, in fact, extremely successful. I’ll tell you why and then I’ll explain how you can get there too.

I just looked up the word success in the dictionary.

success: The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted

Now think about that a moment. If you want to write a song about your Great Aunt Gertrude’s trip to the market…and you DO….then you have achieved what you desired and planned. You are a succesful songwriter.

Go ahead! Have your little laugh. I realize that this seems very simple and even a little silly, but there is an unbelievably huge secret that lies at the heart of it.

Write for yourself and your own enjoyment

Let me say that again…read it out loud:

Write for yourself and your own enjoyment

In the song example above, obviously not many people are going to rush out to buy a song about your Great Aunt Gertrude’s trip to the market, but you are still successful because it’s what you wanted to write about.

I write some pop ballads; I’ve written some country music, bluegrass music, gospel music and even some classical pieces. But my current addiction is composing progressive rock. For a long time, I have labored over songs that are 10 minutes PLUS…in odd time signatures. I write what I feel and when I perform them live, it is very satisfying. I’ve had many people ask me why I write in this particular genre. It’s a given that they’re not going to get too much airplay.

I wonder if they told Yes the same thing. “You guys are playing odd time signatures. That won’t do! For God’s sake, your keyboard player is wearing a CAPE!”. I wonder if anyone asked Pink Floyd why they used all the weird sound effects in their songs? Or why KISS used makeup? You can certainly bet that they ALL were ridiculed and criticized. So what would have happened if they had just given up and played ‘normally’?

I am certainly not comparing myself to these great artists, but I challenge you. Think about all the really great artists out there. If you do some research, you’ll find that when they first started, they were different. They broke the rules. They followed their own path and stuck to it no matter what. The Beatles with their long hair; Elvis with his gyrating hips; Eddie Van Halen with his electric drill.

In a nutshell, be yourself. The very worse thing that can happen is that no one else will like your songs…but you’ll still be writing songs that YOU enjoy, so you’ll be happy and successful! Hopefully, other people will share your interests, or at the least, be attracted by your unique approach and buy your songs!

Good luck and keep writing!

Reading Bass Tablature

Marc Teeters — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 17:15:22 +0000

Okay, so you wanna play bass guitar and you want to play your favorite songs right away. Your first thought? Look it up on the internet or buy a book. That works fine if you can read music; however if it all looks like a bunch of squiggly figures and sticks; don’t fret (pun intended). There is another way to do things that might look equally chaotic at first but will have you on your way to rock stardom overnight (all good things happen overnight don’t they?).

Another method of learning songs for those of who are too lazy to read notes and not blessed with a golden ear is tablature. You can find this stuff all over the net but buyer beware, most of it is user submitted and won’t sound 100% like the original. These days a lot of guitar magazines will publish tablature along with the actual musical staves.

For example a piece of bass tablature might look something like this:

Each line represents a string on the bass: The bottom being E string or biggest string on your average 4 string bass and the top being the G or smallest string on most basses. The numbers indicate the fret on the neck where the note is located. Therefore to play the above piece of music you would hit the 4^th fret on the G string then the 5^th note on the G string, followed by the second and third frets on the D string and so on.

There are a few things to look out for, not all people take the timing into account so you might have to figure that out yourself, some may use bigger spacing to represent longer pauses between notes and others may identify tempo with a time signature such as ¾ or 4/4 or they may simply say slow, moderate, fast etc. You will also have to check for odd tunings also either at the beginning or in the notes at the end.

Overall this is a very hit and miss way to learn and it doesn’t always explain everything as thoroughly as musical notes but it’s a great way to get started and can quickly give even the most experienced musician a jump start on any song.

On some sites, mostly user-submitted material, you will find tab written backwards with the heaviest (E) string on the top line. Don’t let this confuse you. If you start playing it and it doesn’t sound anywhere close to being right, check for this common error.

How Do I Copyright My Song?

Mark Teeters — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 04:49:16 +0000

If you have written a song, you certainly want it to be copyrighted. There are many myths and legends surrounding copyrights and I’ll try to debunk a few in this article. First of all, if you write a song by yourself and no one paid you in any way to write it, you already own the copyright! US Copyright law states that as soon as you finish the song, the copyright automatically belongs to you unless it is a ‘work for hire’. A ‘work for hire’ means that you work for an employer who pays you to write songs or someone specifically commisioned a song and paid you to write it. In these cases, the employer or person who commisioned the song would own the copyright.So now you’re probably wondering why everyone is talking about filling out forms and getting their songs copyrighted? Well, it’s very simple. You own the copyright as soon as you put the song in what is known as a ‘fixed form’. This could be a recording of the song…or simply writing all the music and lyrics down on a piece of paper. In either case, it does not have to be professional. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars in a big recording studio just to get your song copyrighted.

The reason for registering the copyright with the US Copyright Office is to simply prove it was you who wrote it and when. When you register a song, the Copyright Office records the date you registered it and keeps it on file along with the ‘fixed form’…music, lyrics and/or recording. Now, if someone comes along a year later and hears your song and claims rights to it, you can prove that you wrote it and the US Copyright Office has the records to back your claim.

There are 2 copyright forms that most of the songwriters I know use. Form PA is used when you have the music and lyrics written down. Form SR is used when you have the song recorded. You simply provide the US Copyright Office with the required form and either the music/lyrics or recordings and your filing fee and you’re done. As of March 7th, 2006, the filing fee is $30.

Keep in mind that you can copyright many songs under one fee. You could take 10 songs and call them “John Doe’s Collection #1″ and copyright them all for $30. You’d just have to be able to fit them all onto a recording or write out the music and lyrics.

I normally use Form SR and also include my lyrics for good measure. That way there’s no doubt if someone has trouble understanding your words!

A common misconception is that you have to copyright a band name. The fact is, you can NOT copyright a band name. A copyright is for works of art (music, theater, etc.), books and other intellectual material. In order to protect your bandname, you have to apply for a trademark…which is a horse of a different color.

To get free copies of the forms and for more information, visit www.copyright.gov.

Seducing the Muse

Mark Teeters — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 05:03:23 +0000

Do you ever wonder where songs come from? Do they magically float through the air and the lucky, chosen ones grasp them and make them their own? Or are they delivered by the Song Fairy? Sometimes these answers are easier to believe than the actual truth. They come from a deep hidden place inside your own head…a place that even you may not be familiar with.If you’re a songwriter, you know what I’m talking about. How does one get into the mood to write a song? How do you travel to that magical land where the notes and lyrics just flow from you?

I believe that everyone will have a different answer. But I think there is also some common ground here. You need to first of all be physically ready. Some have said you need to be physically comfortable. I disagree. I think to write a good song, it has to come from a strong emotion. If you’re uncomfortable, you can be just as emotional as if you were kicked back on your favorite recliner in your favorite pajamas…probably even more so.

I will tell you how I usually find my inspiration. It’s up to you to find your own recipe. First of all, I go to a place that inspires me. This can be a favorite room, house…a songwriting partner….a favorite instrument. I surround myself with a few of my favorite musical objects…animate and inanimate. Also, a candle, incense, etc…anything that enhances your creative mood helps. I find writing in dim light or even total darkness can sometimes be rewarding.

Then I find that I go into a trance-like state. It’s not mystical. I don’t see glitter flowing through the air or anything. But I let my mind wander. I just start playing and sometimes singing nonsense. I don’t worry about meter, rhyming schemes or chords. I don’t worry about singing perfectly in pitch. I let my mind go where it wants to.

Sometimes, you may have to sit with your instrument (or your voice) for 30 minutes or more to reach this place. At times, I never get there. Don’t force it. If it isn’t coming…come back another time.

With me, the music almost always comes first…then the lyrics. This, of course, will be different for everyone. Once I get a musical idea forming that I like, I start trying out hooks..lyrical lines and phrasing. Just keep chipping away at it. Sometimes it’s like a sculpture. You start with a big block of musical ideas and you just keep taking away the stuff that sounds bad…or doesn’t fit.Always keep some kind of recording device handy. I try to carry a portable recorder with me everywhere I go. You never know when the muse will want to dance.

For years I wrote my music alone. I tried several songwriting partners, but it just never seemed to work out. I was perfectly aware that it wasn’t the partners I was choosing that was the problem…it was me. I never felt comfortable enough around anyone to ‘let go’ of myself and write. Recently, I was lucky enough to find a permanent songwriting partner. The benefits of this are amazing. If you are writing alone, I highly suggest you search out at least one songwriting partner. Just having the second opinion helps me a lot. It must be someone you trust and can be very open with. Songwriting can be a very intimate experience. A good song will sometimes require you to open up your inner thoughts to someone else…reveal your own fears, weaknesses and hang-ups.

I’m interested in what inspires you. Leave a comment and let us all know. One final thought: not every song you write will be good. I believe you have to write ‘x’ number of bad songs in order to get the one great song. The trick is to keep writing. Just like playing your instrument or singing, practice makes perfect.

Knowing the Scale in Any Major Key

Mark Teeters — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 20:28:00 +0000

Most songs are written in a certain key, such as C or Eb. This means that that the chords and melody notes will be drawn primarily from the scale of that chord. In other words, if a song is written in the key of E major, then the notes and chords will be constructed primarily from the E major scale.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to know your scales. You can’t fully understand much music theory at all if you don’t understand and practice your scales.

Here’s how to figure out the scale in any major key. The first thing you need to know is the root note. That’s easy. The root note is the same note as the key. Simply put, if the song is written in D, the root note is D. If the song is written in F#, then the root note is F#, etc., etc.

The next thing you need to know is about intervals on the piano or keyboard. We will be moving up the keyboard 1 and 2 notes at a time. A movement of 1 note (up or down) is considered a half step. This includes black notes. In other words, if you move from a C note to a D note (the next white key), it is not a half-step because there is a black note (C#) in between them so technically you have moved up 2 notes. If you move 2 notes (up or down) it is called a whole step. So, in a nutshell, when you move up or down the keys (counting all notes, black and white) 1 key it is a half step; a 2-key move is a whole step.

Now, to figure out the scale you start at the root note. Let’s say your song is written in the key of D major. Your root note is a D note. So the D note is the first note in your scale. To make a major scale in any key you use the following pattern: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step,whole step, half step. More simply put, 2 whole steps, a half step, 3 whole steps and then another half step.

So following this pattern you begin at your root note, D in this example. You move up a whole step to an E note. Then up another whole step to F# and then a half step to G. Then you go 3 whole steps, A, B, C#. Finally, you end with a half step move up to D. Your major scale will always end on the same note it began on one octave higher.

The hardest part of this concept for most people to grasp is counting EVERY key, black and white. Looking at the example above you see that going the whole step up from B took us to C#. A whole step is 2 notes. There is no black note in between B and C, so a move from B up to C would only have been a half step. However, a move from A up to B is a whole step because there is a black note between them, making it a 2-note move.

Practice this concept and learn the scales in as many keys as possible. You can always stop and figure out the scale using the formula, but it is very advisable to memorize the scales…at least in the more common keys.

If you’ve looked at some music theory and seen references to fourths, fifths, ninths, etc. and you were confused, then rest assured. Once you master the concept of scales, the rest will come easier. I’ll save intervals for another article, but as a quick teaser, a fourth is simply 2 notes which are 4 notes apart in the scale. Start at one, move up the scale four notes staying in the pattern you learned above and there is your fourth. There is much more to it than this, but get the scales down first.

Thanks for reading.