Handy Playing Tips
Topics covered on this page:
Do I have to use a pick?
Do
I have to use a pick?
Depends what you’re trying to play. On steel-string guitars playing
modern Pop and Rock the answer is yes. Fingerpicking doesn’t achieve
good enough projection for anything with a Rock edge to it. On the other hand
if you are playing an older Blues style then the pick may be not necessary.
For Jazz most single-note lines are performed with a pick whereas many players
prefer to play chord accompaniment fingerstyle. Electric guitars are designed
for plectrum playing (yeah yeah yeah, we know who Mark Knopfler is) and generally
will lack the sharp articulation needed for Rock playing if fingers are used.
Nylon-string guitars sound good when played with a medium-gauge nylon pick
but the tone will be thinner than if you fingerpick.
If it is Classical guitar you are considering then don’t even bother
buying a pick! This is fingerpicking genre with highly developed techniques.
All in all the issue of pick versus fingers really comes back to the style
you are aiming at. [back
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Is
a pick and a plectrum the same thing?
Yes! [back
to top]
What
is a ‘flatpick’?
A plectrum. [back
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Why
is the use of a plectrum sometimes referred to as ‘flatpicking’?
Seems that this is an old Country/Folk player distinction between ‘thumbpicks’
(picks that curl around your thumb) and the plain flat picks that have been
more common since the Rock era began. The term also seems to imply the style
of ‘flatpicking’ down onto the next string, especially on the
bass strings, that is/was a common technique with the thumbpicks being used
on steel-string acoustics. This produces a louder and sharper attack in the
same way that ‘rest strokes’ do in Classical guitar technique.
[back to top]
What’s
a sus 4?
Or a sus 2 for that matter! The abbreviation ‘sus’
stands for ‘suspension’. This is a music harmony term that is
given to an embellishment note that ‘suspends’ the arrival of
the proper chord-tone that we expected to hear. The technique and term come
originally from polyphonic vocal from many centuries past. In modern guitar
parlance suspension chords are embellishments that are commonly used to spice
up otherwise routine chord progressions. Do not think of D4 and D2 as different
chords to D major; They are simply the chord of D with embellishment notes
added in and are most commonly used in conjunction with the D chord. All ‘sus’
chords work like this. If in doubt about such a chord (unsure what to play)
default to the plain major or minor chord indicated by the chord prefix. (ie:
F#m for F#m sus2 etc.) [back
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Who
invented the open-position chord of F?
We’re not too sure but just wait ‘til we get our hands on ‘em!
[back to top]
What’s
a power chord?
An electrical lead that you plug into a wall socket.
[back to top]
No really, what’s a power chord?
A tonic bass note with a perfect 5th added above and with an optional tonic
octave above the 5th. It is possible to place the 5th below the tonic on some
power chords but in low voiced chords the sound can be so ‘thick’
that they will lack harmonic clarity. Some high position power chords, on
the first four strings, sound good with the 5th as the lowest tone.
[back to top]
What’s
a bar chord?
Oh
that’s easy: it’s the noise you hear when three or more sheep
are going ‘baaaahhhh’ all at once!
[back to top]
Alright
then, what’s a barre chord?
Oh who cares about the spelling – it depends on where you woz brung
up anyway! Bar chords involve the index finger being flatted across all of
the strings right behind the relevant fret. In Classical & Spanish guitar
the term ‘grand bar’ is used to indicate the finger holding six,
or sometimes five, strings down. The term ‘half-bar’ (now that
is so ripe for jokes – but we are restraining ourselves!) indicates
holding two, three or four strings down with the index finger ‘squared’
at the edge of the fretboard. This is also done by the other fingers in sometimes,
especially in jazz chord-voicings.
[back to top]
Chord
symbols – confused?
Well don’t feel like you’re the only one. You practically have
to do a music degree to understand this subject in its entirety! In previous
decades there was a lack of agreed standards for naming some chord ‘extensions’
(various notes that are added to a basic major or minor chord). The result
was a profusion of names that could easily confuse. Even a simple chord extension
like a major with an added 2nd could have many acceptable names. Example:
Cmaj sus2, C2, Csus2, Cadd9, Csus9, C add D, and so on (all the same chord!).
These names are all clear enough to a trained musician but not so to a lot
of students and hobby-players. Fortunately in the computer age there has been
a big swing towards standardized chord symbols. This is in part due to some
international agreements reached in the 1970s & 80s and then, in turn,
to the professional standard music publishing programs adopting these. If
you have found a chord symbol you are unsure of you can pare the chord back
to its essential major or minor element. This will fit what you are playing
but will lack the “pretty note” which will produce a less exciting
sound but will still work as an accompaniment.
[back to top]
What
are chops?
Well down here in lovely, sunny Australia a ‘chop’ is cut of meat
that one cooks on the BBQ – an integral component of Aussie summers!
In America, however, it seems that jazz players refer to single-note phrases
as “chops” – how peculiar! If one talks about “getting
one’s chops up” then one is indicating that one will go home and
practice all of one’s pre-constructed ‘improvisatory’ phrases
until they can be whipped off at high speed!
[back to top]
What
is ‘alternate picking’?
A methodical use of the plectrum that plays downstrokes
for notes on downbeats and upstrokes for notes that come on upbeats. It is
the standard system picking technique for all straight quaver and semiquaver
work on scale, scale passages and basic arpeggios. For an excellent introduction
to this topic see William G. Leavitt’s Modern Method For Guitar Volume
One pages 18 through to 69. That should clarify it!
[back to top]
What’s
‘chicken-pickin’?
Just something chickens do.
[back to top]
Stratocaster
pick-up positions
If you own a Stratocaster, a Fender or a copy, then you are able to use the
pick-up selector to get 5 different sounds out of your guitar, even if you
have a humbucker in there. Stratocasters are renowned for their versatility
and you can play many different styles by knowing your pick-ups. Most
traditional Strats will have 3 single coil pick-ups, and all are very
different. Heaps of great players use these: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck,
Ritchie Blackmore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mark
Knopfler and many more.
Postion1
(neck pick-up)
Gives you a strong lead sound with lots of bottom
end. Tons of tone in this pick-up. SRV uses this one to tremendous effect.
Position 2 (neck and middle)
This is the out of phase position, it
gives you the bottom end of the neck, and the high end of the middle
pick-up. Hendrix used this one a lot, as has Albert Lee on his fiery
country solos.
Position 3 (middle pick-up)
Gives you a bright sound but not as twangy as the
previous position. David Gilmour likes this one. It’s good for reggae
too!
Position 4 (middle and bridge)
This is another out of phase position, it
has heaps of twang and more brightness than the 2nd position, due to the
bridge pick-up's influence. Sounds great for twangy country. SRV uses this
on Love Struck Baby and in his fabulous rendition of Little Wing. It’s
also
Mark Knopfler’s Sultan's of Swing sound too!
Position 5 (bridge)
This is used in country a lot; it has heaps of brightness
and lots of top end. With distortion it becomes a little meaner, and this
is
widely employed for rock soloing, along with the 1st position . Some Strats
have a humbucker in this position for a crunchier sound.
[back to top]
Bridging
channels on your amp
Here’s a neat trick if you have an amp with 2 channels with 2 inputs
on each.
Most Marshall heads will have this, and some combos too. You get a stronger
tone due to the two channels being used simultaneously. Channel 1 has more
punch and brightness. Channel 2 is a little quieter but gives a little more
twang, especially with a Strat.
Mix the two channels together by connecting a short, screened patch lead between the second input of Channel 1 and the first input of Channel 2. If you then plug your guitar into the first input of Channel 1, you can mix the different tonal characters of each channel for greater flexibility. Cool! [back to top]