Rock Guitar

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Rock Guitar; Music & Instruments
Topic Started: Jul 16 2006, 03:31 PM (487 Views)
Blake	Jul 16 2006, 03:31 PM Post #1
Vwls Sck!! Posts: 1,073 Group: Members Member #31 Joined: June 29, 2006 Last.fm: Kick2theOvaries	Rock By the late 1960's, many popular acts had grown tired of producing chart songs, and injected more attitude, experimentation and social conscience into their music. 'Rock' was born. The pioneers of this new style included Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and many others, whose music appealed to record buyers who saw mainstream pop as tame. Clapton first made a name for himself with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1965 when he turned his amp up loud to get a more aggressive, sustained guitar tone. He formed Cream two years later with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Ginger Baker, and they were the first popular group to feature extended virtuoso solos in their music. By 1967, Hendrix had also extended the range of the electric guitar by coaxing sounds out of it that hadn't been heard before. Clapton and Hendrix based their playing around the blues scale and their solos were often long improvisations. Pop guitar solos were usually brief instrumental fills between vocal passages, but 'classical rock' solos would often take up half of the song. Birth of the Riff Another prominent feature in early rock music was the riff - a repeated note or chord phrase over which the vocals and solos were projected. A classic example of this is Cream's 'Sunshine of your Love' (1968), a whole song based upon a simple, grinding riff. Other players such as Jimmy Page, Ritchie Blackmore and Tony Lommi latched on to the sheer power of this device and started to create even more powerful riffs, such as Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' 91969), Deep Pruple's 'Speed King' (1970) and Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' (1970). Rock music marked a shift away from singles and towards albums; projects such as Led Zeppelin's acclaimed Led Zeppelin II (1969), Pink Floyd's psychedelic Dark Side of the Moon (1973) and Mike Oldfield's instrumental Tubular Bells (1973) were all bestselling albums by artists who rarely recorded singles. Punk In 1976, punk suddenly appeared and bands like the Sex Pistols, the Clash and the Damned introduced a basic rock style that relied more on attitude than technique. However, it was a short-lived trend and by the late 1970's rock began to fragment into a number of sub-genres, including new wave (an offshoot from punk), stadium rock (the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Queen) and the various strands of heavy metal that were beginning to develop in the US and UK. New wave was essentially a generic term used for the wide range of British bands that followed on from punk. These included idiosyncratic artists such as Elvis Costello and XTC, straight- ahead rockers like the Pretenders and the Cars, white reggae or ska pop bands including Madness and the Police, and a legion of synthesizer - driven bands. The genre died out when new bands such as the Smiths and REM began to appeal to more alternative rock fans. Indie The Smiths were the dominant British 'indie' rock band of the 1980's, and this was mainly down to the unique combination of singer Morrissey's forlorn crooning and the uncluttered rhythm guitar work of Johnny Marr. They recorded a number of hit singles and albums that laid down the foundations for the next generation of British guitar bands, before splitting up in 1987. REM also boasted a unique singer/guitarist combination - Michael Stipe's cryptic vocals and the ringing guitar hooks of Peter Buck. They are still going strong today. Grunge Despite the influx of fresh indie bands into the album and singles charts during the 1980's, most of the popular bands from this period, including Bon Jovie and Guns N' Roses, were purveyors of straight - ahead rock. By the end of the decade, however, grunge - a vibrant mixture of punk and heavy metal - became a prominent movement with Nirvana, a Seattle - based band, at the helm. Nirvana's success was down to a combination of strong material, stop - start dynamics, and the main intensity of singer - guitarist Kurt Cobain (1967-95). Unfortunately, Cobain suffered from drug addiction and manic depression, a combination that ended in suicide. Variety of Rock Styles A number of major song - orientated rock styles emerged during the 1990's including Britpop, which mixed songwriting - inspired by bands like the Beatles - With the more indie vibe of the Smiths. Suede, fronted by the quasi-glam vocals of Brett Anderson and sweeping guitar of Bernard Butler (b. 19709), pioneered this style, and they paved the way for the huge success of Oasis and Blur, bands from the north and south of England respectively. The decade also saw the rise of inventive alternative rock bands including Radiohead, who combined intense rock sounds with electronic drones and angst - driven lyrics. Today there is an unprecedented variety of rock styles and this range is still growing. Playing Rock If you want to be a proficient rock guitarist, you'll need to know a variety of basic chord shapes. The most common open chords (one that include open strings as well as fretted ones) are A, Am, B7, D, Dm, D7, E, E7, F, G and G7, which will allow you to play songs in the popular rock keys of A, C, D, E, and G. The barre chords you should know are the barred versions of the A and E shapes (major barre chords_ and Am and Em shapes (minor barre chords). These will allow you to play in any key you want, as barre shapes can be played anywhere on the fretboard. Open chords are good for earthy strumming and would suit, for example, an Oasis - style song, while barre chords can be used to create a more powerful, aggressive sound for punk and hard-rock styles. Major chords are ideal for upbeat rock riffs, while minor ones are more suitable for ballads. Power Chords You should also familiarize yourself with the basic 'power chords' used in grunge and hard rock. These are two note chords consisting of the first and fifth notes of the major scale, played on any two adjacent strings with your index finger fretting the root note and your third finger fretting the fifth note two frets further up the fretboard. To play an A power chord on the sixth and fifth strings, for example, place your index finger behind the fifth fret on the sixth string and you third finger behind the seventh fret on the fifth string and then strum those strings only. To play a B power chord on the same two strings, simply move the shape two frets further up the guitar neck and so on. For more information on power chords, take a look at my lesson on them. Strumming and Picking Rhythmically, rock is farily straightforward, with emphasis mainly on the first and third beats of the bar. Strumming is usually performed with downstrokes, as these supply more power, although more intricate rhythms might require alternating downstrokes and upstrokes. Many rock guitarists also play chords as arpeggios (playing all the separate notes in ascending or descending order) with a plectrum or the fingers of their picking hand, to produce a more melodious sound. This is used to great effect in rock classics such as Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven and the Animals' House of the Rising Sun. Most rock solos feature the pentatonic minor and blues scales, and you should familiarize yourself with these scales if you want to play basic rock lead guitar. If you want to take thigns further, the major scale and the Mixolydian mode will add greater depth to your upbeat solos, and the Aeolian mode will come in handy for those haunting rock ballads. Getting An Authentic Rock Sound If you want to get a good rock guitar sound you'll need an electric guitar and some sort of amplifier. The guitar can be a solidbody or semi-hollow. Solidbody body guitars are great for producing a clear, sustained tone with minimal feedback, while semi-hollows produce a fat, warm sound but tend to feedback more when used at higher volumes. Choosing the Right Amplifier When it comes to amplifiers you have a number of options, the most traditional of which would be a hardware amp. These come in two flavours: valve amps, which are expensive but produce a fat, warm sound; and transistor amps, which are more affordable and reliable but not ideal if you're after a 'vintage' tone. If you choose to buy a hardware amp amp, make sure it has a built-in preamp so you can optimize the amount of distortion in your guitar sound. Hardware amps can get loud, and playing through one at home might upset your neighbours. In such case, you should consider using amplifier modelling box such as a Line 6 pod, or a virtual amp software package such as IK Multimedia's AmpliTube. These come with an arsenal or realistic and ready - to - go rock presets, and you can use them at any volume you like. You can even gig with them, as long as the venue at which you're playing has a PA system. The Right Effects Effects pedals have been used extensively by rock players over the years and you too can use them to colour your guitar sound. A wah-wah pedal will come in handy for Hendrix-style soloing, while a phaser or flanger can be used to create psychedelic textures and tones. An overdrive pedal might be useful for adding extra distortion during solos, and a compressor can be great for ironing out excessively loud sounds so that you end up with a more consistent signal. Most virtual amps come with a selection of built-in effects that you can use, so don't forget to try them out if you've got such equipment! -Blake
	The Fog Forever and Ever I forgot what time it is in Madrid


Morgan	May 29 2008, 07:42 PM Post #2
Dinkin' flicka. Posts: 1,950 Group: Staff Member #2 Joined: June 28, 2006 Gender: Male Name: Morgan Location: Sarasota, FL Last.fm: rockon1824	Congratulations, your article has been accepted! It will be added to the Music-Talk.org website in the next few days and 5 MT Points will be added to your account. Thank you!
	Страшный суд скоро, все как свечи гореть будем.


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